SAORI Weaving Class

A couple of weeks ago I headed up to Northern Florida to take a SAORI weaving class.  I have seen so many beautiful weaving projects come from these workshops that when I saw one offered in the same state, I jumped on it.  Needless to say, it was time well spent. I had the opportunity to spend two FULL days weaving to my hearts content.  Instead of taking my rigid heddle loom, I decided to rent a SAORI loom for the workshop.

 What a fabulous loom it is!  I learned so many cool techniques from our instructors and saw such creativity from the other workshop participants that I came home energized, with new ideas filling my head.  After MUCH discussion with my better half, I decided to order a SAORI loom of my own!

Today the tracking info made it into my inbox, and I am tickled pink that it will soon be here.  Here are a few pictures of my finished wall hanging.  It's a sampler of many different techniques and of different types of materials.

Yes, I think I did get a bit carried away.....I'm going to need to find a very tall wall for this!

XO,

Kelly

Summer Wrap-up

Once again I find myself with a gap since my last post.  But boy has it been busy around here!  

The bulk of my summer break has been filled with ordering supplies, dyeing silk and wool, and making samples for SAFF in October.  It has been a huge learning experience already and as always, lessons are being learned.  The classes are filling up and my excitement is growing!!

In between all of the prep for SAFF,  I made a huge decision to leave the district that I have spent my entire teaching career.  After the decision was made, panic set in and I wondered/worried that I may have made a huge mistake.  What if I could not get a job in the district that I now live in? Oh the sleepless nights that were endured....... I applied for 2 positions and got interviews and the happy news is that I did get the position I wanted and am anxiously awaiting the start of another hectic but rewarding school year. Whew!  Now the sleepless nights are full of the standard beginning of the school year nightmares that include losing my class or the entire class refusing to listen, sigh....even after 13 years, these dreams come back like clockwork!  

On the fiber front, back in May, I had the opportunity to sign up for a workshop taught by Australian Fiber Artist Michelle Snowdon. This workshop took place last weekend in Sarasota.  Hands down, it rated at the top of any fiber workshop or learning I have had the chance to be involved with since the beginning of my fiber journey.  Amazing is a word that can be used to describe both Michelle and her work.  Check her out:  www.shop.wooldancer.com

And......of course......animal news.....

We have 2 new members that joined our goat herd.  Twin 8 week old Pygora (pygmy/angora) fiber goats.  Mimi is the female and Moe is her brother.  Once again our farm is experiencing the craziness that new goats bring!  

These little imps can fit through some of the tiniest spaces and have kept us hopping.  Yesterday, as my daughter and I were wet felting a fleece rug outside, she, my daughter, looked over toward the pasture area and gasped.  Of course her gasp got my attention quickly and my eyes followed the direction that she had already started moving.  And what did I see you ask?  Well it seems that little Moe had decided to squeeze between the large gate that leads into one of the alpacas pastures.  So when my daughter looked over all she saw was this little tiny goat sitting on the WRONG side of the fence, totally oblivious to where he was.  Luckily, this pasture was being rotated and the alpacas did not have access to it.  I don't think that they would hurt the goats, but I do know that with all of those long legs and curious noses, it could have turned into a problem.  Thank goodness all is well that ends well!  The babies are doing great and  the other goats are super interested in them because of their teeny tiny sizes.  Knowing that these will be the last babies for a LONG while, I am enjoying every single second I can with them.  

Once again, thanks for the visit!

XO-Kelly

New Design and a Silly Goat!

Quite a few months ago I created a few smaller weavings on a tri-loom with the idea for a new design.  Finally, after many months, I have completed them.  This bag was taken from raw fleece that I processed, dyed, spun and then wove.  I absolutely loved every step in the evolution of this bag.  Two more are awaiting straps, which I am weaving currently, and will be finished shortly.

Now onto my silly angora doe Chessie.  She decided she needed to join me as I was laying on top of a picnic table in one of the shady areas of a pass trough pasture.  Silly goat, trying to give me a kiss! ;)

Have a wonderful day and thanks for reading!

Kelly

oooh look how shiny!

Yesterday I decided to process some of the mohair that I purchased from Southern Mystic, a fellow Phatty for the Phat Fiber Box, on Etsy.  After washing in some Dawn detergent, I started up 2 different dye pots. After mixing and adding colors, layering the colors as the fiber started absorbing the previous colors, this is what I ended up with.  It took longer to dry because it got caught out in a summer rain storm yesterday. But today has been super clear and sunny, and the fiber is warm, soft, and super fluffy.  Might me time for a fiber nap...  I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but this stuff is so shiny!  I thought I would only use it for felting, but I think I have changed my mind. I had to go back and order more today.  I also ordered her Sci-fi spin along, I got a sample in my Phat Sampler box and I was hooked! 

Finished 1/2

Well I filled and then plyed 2 bobbins of the alpaca.  I just cannot get over how soft the fiber is.....I did notice after plying that I probably should have spun the singles a little tighter because they loosened quite a bit when I plyed the two together.  But I am still very happy.  First because my singles were thin enough to be plyed and actually look like yarn and not rope, and second because I took this fiber through almost the entire process- except the shearing part.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with the yarn once I finish the other half. I'm sure I will figure something out.

Dyeing and Spinning Alpaca

Today was another dye day, along with the dreaded grocery shopping, and a trip to my favorite store The Loft at the mall to pick up some really cute outfits for this awesome warm (read hot as heck) weather we have been having.  I'm really not complaining, we have been very lucky- knock on wood- to have really low humidity so far.  Once that starts, we will probably never get out of the pool.

But anywho, this is not a post to yak about the weather.  Today I FINALLY dyed up some of the alpaca that I have been processing.  After I cleaned it, I ran batts on my drum carder and then used a diz to pull off roving.  I ended up dyeing the batch using a super diluted red, pink and yellow.  I love how they merged together to create what I like to call a watercolor effect.  I pre drafted a small amount and spun it up.  OH MY GOODNESS- it spins like a DREAM!  Alpaca is awesome!!!  :) 

Well I am off to make a brownie chocolate sundae...YUM! See ya tomorrow for the details of the BATT GIVEAWAY!  :)

Hi I'm Kelly and I spin rope......:)

I am not going to give up!  Yesterday I went to a guild meeting and picked all of the wonderful spinners heads.  These ladies are spinning beautiful yarn!  We had a demonstration on Navajo Plying, it was really neat watching it!  All I do know is that if I decided to Navajo ply any of the "yarn" that I have made so far, it would then become rope.........I did get some questions answered about the settings for my wheel and now understand that I have had the brake set incorrectly, which has caused me to continue to over spin.  I also learned that I need to pre draft even more than I had been.  So today I am going to sit down and try to put into practice what I learned yesterday.  I did promise to bring my wheel to the next meeting ( so that alone will force me to practice so I don't embarrass myself)!  I also met a wonderful spinner and knitter who lives about 15 minutes from me!  She has offered to help me!  So all in all, yesterday was an awesome day for meeting new friends, and learning new things.
Also, Kimberly, of Woodland Hills Alpacas, sent me home with the prettiest rose gray alpaca fleece.  It is amazing and I cannot wait to clean it up and make something!  The Alpacas looked so silly with their pom-pom heads after their shearing and the stories about how they didn't recognize each other were so funny!

Here is a new bag I made yesterday, using these curly cotswold locks!  I'm trying to use all of this blue that I dyed up.....

Start to finish.......

I only had a chance to play with the green.  I used a bit of everything I dyed on Friday in the batts.  I then made roving out of the batts and spun them up.  I plied the yarn onto itself.

Spring colors everywhere.....

I started dyeing wool (merino, BFL, and polwarth) tencel, firestar and some alpaca yesterday when I came home from work.  It has now finished drying in the awesome Florida sun.  The colors remind me of Easter egg dyeing.  I want to make some fluffy spring batts and now I have some pretty spring colors to add to them.  Also last weekend I ended up buying approx. 3 lbs. of Alpaca fleece at a wonderful local farm.  I am almost finished picking it, and am going to spin it up.  I bought gray, white, a deep chocolate brown, and a wonderful carmel brown color.  I REALLY like the softness of this new to me fiber.  I was given a few predrafts of it last weekend to try spinning, I loved working with it and need to get the rest done so I can finish filling the spool.  Thanks for reading!
Kelly

still practicing....

The blue and white one is all merino, and the orange one is a merino and silk blend.  I really liked spinning the wool/silk blend.  I am doing small batches until I get more consistent with my drafting.

Spinning....

I wanted to try using a drop spindle to spin wool.  I actually ended up with something that looks not too bad!  I am amazed!!  :)  It does take some practice , but is actually pretty fun once you get into a rhythm.  Here is a picture of some that I worked on this morning.