A Whirled Yarn

Undeniable Proof

Okay, it may have been a high of 45F two days ago, but I know spring is here.  How, you may ask?  Well, let me tell 'ya...

First, my boots are muddy...

...and chewed on by the rabbit.  (But he does that no matter what the season, so it really doesn't count).

Second, the forsythia, that will some day consume our house, is blooming.  Now you have to look quick because all the blossoms are blown off by the constant, driving, prairie winds in about two hours.

Here is a close up of the lovely, little flowers...

What's that?  Oh, you mean you noticed the giant bag of Jacob wool?  Now how did that get in those pictures?  But since you mentioned it...I scored a 10lb bag of Jacob wool! I got Jacob wool, uh huh, oh yah!  It's even very soft.  I desperately needed this because I only sent off a measly 45lbs to the processor last week.  So...you know...I needed more.

Don"t you?

It's a lot like my house...

It's made of sticks and mud (okay, for those purists ours is technically plaster and lathe). A good stiff wind would probably blow it over.  And it's got wool sticking out everywhere...

the Big News

I must apologize for being gone soooo long.  I was a vendor at a conference last weekend, and I spent the last few weeks dyeing, and dyeing, and dyeing, and dyeing, and dyeing all over again.  The result was lots of beautiful rovings, batts and "ToeToez" sock yarns (aren't I so clever...ToeToez...ToTos...I live in Kansas...heh, heh, heh,...yah.  Well, it seemed clever at the time.

And I believe I can officially pronounce Project365 dead.  Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead.  (Sorry, I seem to have  developed some sort of repetitive tick.)  Perhaps it is time to start Project52.  If I can't do one a week, I can be officially pronounced a loser.

So, here is my BIG news that has kept me so busy....I AM OPENING A FIBER SHOP!!!!  Yay, hooray, whoo-hoo, loud whistle, lots of sparkly confetti, large cheering crowd, and a hand shake from the President (whoa,... okay that last one brought it down...how 'bout this instead...) and a handshake from the Democratic Nominee for President (to be determined at a later date...)!  My mother, who has been my business partner in our gallery has decided to retire and TRAVEL THE WORLD...well, at least travel to the East Coast to visit ill relatives.  And so I thought, if I am going to work a heck of a lot more out of the home, why don't I do at work what I would be doing at home?  (And that is not housecleaning or laundry...trust me, just visit).

So far I have become a dealer for Louet, Babe, Ashford, Baynes, Strauch and Majacraft.  I want to be primarily a spinning shop with tons of fiber... from fresh fleeces to combed top.  I will have drum carders, spindles, hand carders and combs.  Also dyes (and a dyeing studio for classes) and yarns from indie companies and farms.  Most importantly, I have develped the ever so important image for my logo...

Cute, eh?  I am so freaking excited!!!!

On a completely different topic,... if you have lain awake nights wondering what the stretch of Kansas between Wichita and Manhattan looked like...

what the h*ll is wrong with you?!?

Circle your Wagons

I have lots of fun things to check out all for a very good cause.  The Yarn Museum and Homestead Wool and Gift Farm are co-sponsoring an exhibit, contest and auction/sale of some incredible yarns by some very talented people (blush...me included of course).  The theme is "Circle Your Wagons" and all proceeds from sale/auction go to help pay medical expenses for a very ill fiber artist HollyEqq.

Here is my yarn "Prairie Circle"...

I know. I know, the name sounds like a culdesac in the burbs, but I was thinking about a circle of pioneer women working together on a quilt for another woman in need.  Very deep, I know.

.This only happens TODAY, So go check out the exhibit, vote for your favorite at Pluckyfluff's blog (remember, mine is there, hint, hint) and buy some yarn!

How to make a cupcake...

1. Take one gorgeous batt of pinks, tencel and lots of white merino and angora. 

2. Spin in strings of pearly white and pearly pink sequins.

3. String glow in the dark pink thread with pink and white pearls, pink Swarovski crystals, funky bubble gum pink flower sequins, these yummy beads that look frosted with sugar and some awesome hand made cupcake beads from Candyland.  (Can I say pink one more time!?!)

4. Ply baby, ply!

5. Devour...

Pink, pink, pink, pink, pink.....there I did it.  Feel much better...

Just whirling...

Back to work...making some thick and thin "Cupcake".  You know, Gandhi urged his government members to spin everyday.  Just think how calm and grounded the world could be...

Oi, have I been busy!

Oh, don't worry, I haven't been cleaning my house, or painting the bathroom, or going through closets or anything as useless as that.

I have been... taking pictures of yarn.

 

The weather has been beautiful, and you know, your yarn just has to get out once in awhile... just like your clothes like to drive around in your car for a couple of weeks before you take it to the dry cleaners.  It just makes the world a better place.

Here it is enjoying a nice swing...

Time for a close up...

The new guys got all the attention...

Because you've just got to love fake bugs...

But all that fresh air can be rather exhausting.

 

We'll call it Fiber Fix Friday...

It's too bad she has no interest in yarn except to pose with it...oh, why was I given fiberphobic children?

Spinning love

I've been spinning and spinning!  New yarns should be coming on Monday, yipee!  As you can see, I've had Valentine's Day on my mind.

Speaking of Valentine's Day...what do you do when you are the room parent for your daughter's 2nd grade class and you have lost the only list of party volunteers? (After solidly reassuring the teacher that you would be extremely careful with it...this is just way to much pressure for a volunteer position.)  So far I've done this....&*^#@!@^$#@#**^@#!!!!!!

(For some reason Typepad is insisting my swearing is a link to somewhere...click at your own risk.)

Anyone got time for 20 cupcakes and a party game by the 14th?

Go find a room...

Here it is, the object of my desire since the first Harveyville Spinster meeting...

The Woolee Winder!   

Here is another glam shot of my baby ..

That's it, you've got it, make love to camera darling ...the world is going to eat you up! 

Oh excuse me, I am a trifle obsessed with this thing.  I admit it is not much to look at. Some may call it ugly even. I know I did.  I used to think, "That thing will never touch my period correct wheel, if it is the last flyer and bobbin assembly on the face of the earth!".  But thanks to Nikol and her obvious pleasure with her Woolee Winder, I became, shall we say...curious.  I began to try to slip Woolee Winders into casual fiber conversation, to gauge the reaction from other spinners who are so inclined.  It would appear that anyone who had ever been with a Woolee Winder was satisfied ...and then some.  And those who were with a Winder only once or twice, suffered from a deep longing to have one for there own.  Now that I know what this baby can do (and do so well)...even I, a simple mid-western housewife, just can't go back to my old way of life.

And what could this thing possible do you ask, to satisfy so many women (and inspire a great need in so many more)?  It lays down your spun yarn evenly up and down your bobbin without ever needing to stop and change hooks!  So simple, I don't know why no one else tried it before. It's not as if spinning hasn't been going on since the dawn of time.  Women could have been happy and satisfied since the Middle Ages...the world could have been a different place.  Just think if Gandhi didn't have to stop and change hooks while peacefully protesting?  ...It blows your mind, doesn't it?!

So, I ignore it's awkward looks, and the obvious way that it just does not blend harmoniously with the rest of the wheel.  When the footmen start to go up and down, and the wheel starts to spin, ...and your yarn is smoothly entering the orifice... with ... no... interruptions... it's... it's... yes!... yes!.... YES!!!!

Perfect!