Le Tour de Fleece

Egads, it's been like 5 months since I've updated this blog! What have I been doing? Working... Started a garden - I'll have a zillion tomatoes and cucumbers, maybe some pumpkins and hopefully corn, green beans, and brocolli. And a zillion tomatoes. I plan on canning them and making homemade sauce. Anyway. The wheels have been in motion, right now I have a ton to ply and my plan is in August I WILL learn to weave.

The Etsy store is up and running but since yarn isn't the hottest selling thing during the summer, I won't be listing much in July but will have hopefully over 50 items to list in August/Sept.

In preparation for that, and to get me blogging again, I joined the Tour de Fleece. My challenge is to spin a bobbin a day - anywhere fro 2 to 6 ounces depending on the weight. I also want to do at least one skein of art yarn.



I've spun the first 2 day and will post pictures later.

Fiberlicious Mail!

Ooh did I get some great squishy mail today!

First was 8 oz of Glitz to do some custom batts. Watch for some sparkly roving soon!

Then I opened a lovely box from Spinning Bunny - The Feb Fondle This! Club. Some gorgeous silver baby Alpaca and a knitting pattern. YUM!



Finally was a box from Northstar Alpacas. Maple sells on Etsy - http://www.northstaralpacas.etsy.com Oh my Goodness! 8 oz of BEAUTIFUL wool/Alpaca blend in a silver and blue color. This is going to make a great purse or something, just have to decide whether to ply it back on itself or whether to ply it with a contrasting color.


And this SPECTACULAR silk/alpaca blend. I may need more of this! And it may not be sold to anyone, I have a hunch my crocheter won't let it leave! Look at the adorable card of Luke the Alpaca too!



I only got a bit spun up because I was being good and finishing some Shetland I had almost done but I am so glad tomorrow is Thursday and Friday - Sunday I can just spin! Even though I dye and prep fiber here all the time, I love, absolutely love seeing what other artisans do with rovings and fiber.



A bit of the wool/alpaca blend on the wheel.

The Weather is FRIGHTFUL!

But at least the fiber is delightful!

After I finished organizing some stuff this past weekend, the rest of it was spent creating!

Blue Over U - my EtsyFAST February challenge 'Unexpected Love'

This ADORABLE Rosie Hat made out
of Rose gray alpaca - doesn't it match
the alpaca scarf perfectly? They're for
sale but oh, how I'd love to keep them!






SNEAK PEAK! Both Sides of the Rainbow 2 skeins each about 150 yards - coming to Etsy soon!

Dyed in the Wool

Here is a short tutorial showing how I Kool-Aid paint :)


My supplies lined up. Several colors of Kool-Aid, a jug of vinegar, and a stainless steel pan filled halfway with water.



The wool soaking in a vinegar/water mix



The first color (berry blue here) is mixed into part of the yarn



After adding red (strawberry) to the other. I sprinkle it over, mix it under the water and let the color disperse. If your water is hot enough the color will immediately 'strike' or set onto the wool and it won't bleed into other colors.



The finished roving spun and plied.

Links Added

I added some links to this little blog. Each are people I have dealt with, and who run great businesses!

Carolina Homespun, has a great selection of products and good service. I'm expecting an order to be delivered today from them! (I'll put up pictures of what I ordered as soon as it's unpacked!)

Ok, this isn't a business, but if you haven't read Drunk Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair, run out and treat yourself to this book! It's great! Very funny, and very thought provoking too. Leslie - AKA Crazy Aunt Purl also runs an outstanding blog.

Detta's Spindle, is located just down the road from me. If you are looking for spinning supplies, I highly recommend talking to Detta who is an absolute wealth of knowledge. Her prices are great too.

Little Meadows Farm, is Liese. She's a vegetarian farmer. Here at Spinning Wind, we support small farmers who farm for the love of their animals. She's running an adopt a sheep program! And yes, we are adopting! This summer we'll have some lovely yarn available from that sheep - details to come :).

Shadyside Farm has a great Etsy store, plus gorgeous sheep and wool products. I've been watching and learning about rug weaving in hopes to add that here too. Check out her blog too for adorable pictures of lambs.

Spinning Bunny is a wonderful website. I have ordered many things from them, I love Susan's color combos. Right now I'm doing the Fondle This! Club. Outstanding service and Susan is so nice.

Spunky Eclectic has super cool fibers. I also belong to THEIR fiber club. Totally cool!


And cause no post is complete without a picture - look at this luscious fiber drying here right now! Top is Cormo lamb, middle is California Red lamb, and bottom is some silvery cloudy Shetland! It will turn into yarn this weekend.

Projects a'plenty!

Well, it's time for spring cleaning here at Spinning Wind! So to start, I dyed up some Rambouillet so that I can blend it and card it. It looks like a bunch of Easter eggs! Isn't it gorgeous?



Then I started playing with some other colors. I actually used up the rest of my white merino roving doing this. I'll dye the silver this week and then order up some more.



And we also created the 'World's Best Niddy Noddy' a 2 skein or 1 skein kind (I like my 2 skein, no remembering which way to twist - I get distracted!) complete with a WPI guide!



So now it's off to spin more wool, (and some luscious baby llama from spinningbunny.com!) and finish clearing out the wool closet so we can restock with more fleece! In the works this year, are cormo, California Red, Shetland, Polypay, and even a VERY special adopted sheep named Freckles! Stay tuned!

January Blues

We combat them here with plenty of spring and summer colors in our yarn!! All 3 of these are available right now on Etsy.

This week we've got states on our mind. Stay tuned!