I’m still at it too. I did some more spinning last night. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say I tried more spinning last night. I pulled the previous attempt off the bobbin and started all over again. It was a little better last night, a tiny bit more consistent, but still far from perfect. I have to pre-draft, because I’m not ready to do point-of-twist with the whole roving yet. I can imagine the entire thing getting caught up because I didn’t draft well enough, and winding up with a two-inch thick piece of really ugly yarn. So pre-drafting will do just fine for the next little while, thank you! I’ll probably do a little bit more today, and then I want to play with one of the looms for a little while. I also made an attempt at using my drop spindle, preceded by an attempt at carding a little bit of Thor’s fur, which is what I used on the spindle. Yeah, I know, I said I wasn’t even going to touch his fur until I perfected spinning on the wheel, but the temptation was too much. And let’s just say the results were less than spectacular. I can’t get the spindle to spin for more than half a second, so maybe it’s just too lightweight. Then again, maybe it’s me. Or maybe a little of both. Either way, I was underwhelmed by the attempt.

I have been knitting a bit, because basic knitting is kind of a mindless activity for me, so it’s something I can do if I actually want to watch whatever is on the TV screen. If I don’t want to watch, or only watch certain parts, then one of the looms goes in front of the television, because I can listen and still concentrate on weaving. Most of the time, that’s what I do, because I am really not a TV person, never have been. There are a few shows I like, obviously, but anything I like generally gets cancelled, whereas crap like the Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy stay on the air forever. I apologize to the fans of those shows, but let’s face it: none of them requires any brain activity.

I’m a book person. With a librarian for a mom, this is no surprise. I own two Kindles, but this does not mean I don’t love the smell, the feel, the weight of a book. It just means that I’ll give that up for the ability to carry an entire library in my purse and have it magically weigh no more than half a pound. Plus, I can move that library around, from Kindle to iPhone to iPad to PC to Macbook, so I have some of my weaving and spinning books in it. Not many of them are available in a Kindle format yet, but there are a few, and I have to say it’s nice not to have to hold a book with one hand while trying to follow its instructions with the other. And while the Kindle itself isn’t in color, its applications on the phone, tablet, and computers are!

I’m rambling here. How did I get onto this? Oh, yeah, weaving and knitting in front of the TV. Well, last night crocheting joined the list of TV activities. I had an idea I wanted to try out. You see, I bought a bunch of size 10 crochet thread a couple of months ago thinking I could use it in weaving, then realized it was far too fine for my present reeds and skills, so it’s all been sitting. Then I had what I hope turns out to be a brilliant idea: make the whole spool into a crocheted chain, and use the chain as weft! It should certainly be interesting if it works. So I took the color I liked least and started a chain. I’ve got a long way to go, since it’s a large spool of thread, but I want to make sure that there’s enough yardage for a good-sized sample of chain-weft weaving. Imagine a sample of that done on a rigid heddle combined with some leno weave, or Brook’s Bouquet, or even some Danish Medallions. If it works the way it does in my imagination, it’ll add some awesome texturing. So I’ll keep you up-to-date on how that goes!

A better attempt than previous, pictured here with Smoky, my oldest dog.

Well, I re-watched the spinning video today and realized that at least part of my problem was not drafting properly, so I tried it again, and got a good bit further than my previous attempts. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, great yarn yet, but it is yarn…sort of. It is not pretty. It broke a few times because I spun too thin, and other times because I simply overspun. I haven’t found the happy medium on take-up yet, so I had to unwind the bobbin a couple of times because of spots where the yarn had curled around itself. But I managed to make quite a few yards of yarn. It’s just inconsistent and ugly at the moment. I’m determined to get it right, though, and I am not touching Siberian fur until I have this spinning down pat. I will practice on the cheapest rovings I can get until I’ve got it perfect, then I will try some of the pretty, dyed rovings, and then I will make an attempt at Sibe fur.

A friend of mine in northern Florida has five or six Siberians who, like mine, are very generous with their fur, offering it year round in smaller batches, then once or twice a year is the big gift of coat blowing season, when you could sit and pluck tufts of fur for hours on end and never get it all. A casual grooming session with Thor is generally  a two-hour marathon of just brushing his hindquarters, and the fur netted from that, slightly packed down, will fill a plastic grocery bag. That’s just the hindquarters. I cannot imagine how much fur can be gotten from five Siberians at one time, especially during a blow. I can only guess that her backyard and entire house probably look like a snowstorm passed through at that time, because I know that with one Siberian and three short-haired dogs, I have to vacuum at least once a day when coats start to blow. Thank all benevolent gods for the Dyson Animal. Oddly enough, when all four dogs blow at once, it is my Labradors who leave the most evidence of the season all over the place. Almost none of the fur I am constantly picking up belongs to either the Siberian or the GSD. Go figure.

I have started saving Smoky’s fur as well. She has the softest fur I have ever touched on a dog. Her sister, Bandit, has typically coarse Labrador fur, but petting Smoky is like petting a mink. There is not one person who has ever touched her that hasn’t commented on the softness of her fur, and these are the guard hairs I’m talking about! The undercoat is like a cloud!

The only problem I foresee with trying to spin her coat is the fact that she is a short-haired dog, and the undercoat is only about an inch long. I’m wondering, if I mix it with Thor’s fur, which is at least three to five inches long, can it be done? That’ll be an experiment.

Yes, I said Thor’s coat is about three to five inches long. He is a woolly-coated Siberian Husky, which, if I understand correctly, means that he is a throwback to an earlier strain of Siberians called Monadnock, which were bigger boned and shaggier, and often mistaken for Alaskan Malamutes. Thor is most definitely shaggy (his fuzz makes you want to cuddle up with him even in the hottest Arizona summer), and he is big for a Siberian. I am not short, and when he stands on his hind legs, he can put his paws on my shoulders. Big. That’s my baby boy. I will try to remember to post pictures of him tomorrow, so everyone can see how beautiful his lordship is!

Mirrix 16" Big Sister tapestry loom, now known as Kaylee

I did forget to name somebody!!! The Mirrix 16″ Big Sister tapestry loom arrived yesterday…how did I forget her? She needs a name, so I guess she’ll be Kaylee. That would be the last of the Firefly/Serenity women. Now everyone has a name!

I’ve never done tapestry weaving before. Gee, what a surprise, like I’ve done anything more complicated than a potholder before Zoe came along. Anyway, I already had a book about tapestry in my library, and have ordered one or two more, so I’m reading up on it now. It’s amusing to me how much more likely I am to study when it’s a subject that interests me. Hand me a math book or a general science book, and you need a crane to get me anywhere near it. Hand me animal science, beading, weaving books, and I’m there with bells on, on my own power.

So: tapestry weaving. I started reading the book last night. Thus far, I have learned that it is done in plain weave, and that each color section is done individually, so you aren’t going to be weaving across from selvedge to selvedge unless the color you’re using goes that way. I’m intrigued, and have to read more.

There is a downside to fulfilling almost my entire wish list all at once: I want to try everything right now, which doesn’t work if you actually want to be good at any of them. You have to spend time on each thing, not just fifteen minutes here, five minutes there. It’s hard, because all this new stuff is staring at me saying “Come on, just a little while…” So I’m forcing myself to stick with one thing at a time, and right now it’s spinning.

I’m having a lot of trouble with the spinning. Of course, I’ve only been at it one day, so that might have something to do with it. I called one of my guild mates for help, and I’ll be bringing Anansi to the guild meeting next week and begging for more help if I don’t figure this out. I said something to the effect of not being able to do this, or  something like it, and she gave me a huge compliment! She said that based upon what she’s seen me produce in weaving so far, she thinks I have a gift for it, and I will get the spinning. Wow. That felt really good, to have an experienced weaver/spinner tell me I was gifted in it! I thought I was pretty average! It certainly inspires me to work even harder at learning everything!

Anansi, aka Kromski Sonata spinning wheel. Isn't he beautiful?

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My first stop was Yarnorama! in Paige, Texas; I visit this place whenever I have the petrol to do so. She has tons of spinning fiber and wheels as well as weaving supplies…. oh, and yarn of course! Here’s what I got on this visit:

The first fiber is a bamboo/silk blend, and the second is 100% Polworth (it’s lofty!!). They were both hand dyed/painted by Susan, the owner of Yarnorama.

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Next up – Jessica and one of the cutest things I saw all weekend. Meet Ali, the roomate’s dog.

Seriously. Cute.

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Next – I took Jessica on a little road trip to a REAL yarn store in Lindale, Texas. It’s a little more than an hour from Nacogdoches, but well worth the trip. Especially since she’s been buying her yarn at Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby – shameful!
We drove to Rose Path Weaving. We also went to a place called Stitches ‘n Stuff, but I was less than impressed; they had tons of Noro to choose from, but pretty much everything else was froo-froo acrylic yarn…. I’m not a fan. However, this is what we found at RPW:

So that was my little weekend trip, minus a few alcoholic beverages! We got a little bit of knitting done, but more importantly, I got to visit my best friend and spend time with her on her birthday; can’t beat that! Miss ya, buddy!

Store:
I’ve gotten a few orders for the store, and I’m sooo grateful! Thanks, you know who you are. I can only hope that it becomes a successful store, but I know it’s going to be hard because of the diversity in yarns through the internet. So y’all go buy some yarn, place a request and wish me luck!

Spinning:
I’m excited to show you my most recent handspun. It’s Lorna’s Laces fiber that I bought in Taos, and it’s oh-so-soft as most of their yarn is. It will be made into a gift so I can’t mention much more on here yet.

Life:
Bobo has a bit of a cold right now, so we’re getting through that. I just hope it doesn’t turn into an ear infection or something; I’ll try to get him to the doctor tomorrow if they are booked up already since it’s a Friday and all.

I’ll be working at The Knitting Nest on Saturday so y’all drop by and say hello, and by all means buy some yarn so I can earn my keep!

Donny’s coming to town next week. ‘Nuff said. There may be another absence of blog for a while!

Also, Jason Allen has released his new CD, so go buy it. It’s great stuff.

Announcement:
I changed my major again. And to all of you who just rolled your eyes – STOP IT. For those of you who really know me, know that I change my mind like the wind changes direction. But this time I can assure you it’s going to stick. So what did I change it to?
Are you ready? ART. That’s it. That’s my new major…. oh, and I’m specializing in fiber.

The funny thing is that without knowing it, I went in to college wanting to major in communication design (art), but instead went into Advertising (which was the wrong choice, because I wanted to be a part of the art aspect of advertising, not the PR part).
Most of my knitting buddies have already told me “Well, duh!” while my parents and their friends cringe and say “And just what do you expect to do with an art degree???” And I tell them “a lot, thank you very much.”

So now you can see why I was scared to major in the 3 letter word in the beginning – because I do care about what my parents think of me, and they are right most of the time when they give me advice, but I will inevitably find myself coming back to art for the rest of my life, so I’m going to go with my gut on this.

Whether it be photography, fibers (in all aspects), paintings or drawings – it’s my niche. So there. I’m happy about it, and I have big plans for the future… but it will take time and lots of dyed yarn.

I’m having issues with the link (spinningcolors.com) working right now, but it should work by tomorrow. For now, use this link: http://spinningcolors.bigcartel.com!

If you would like to link to the store from your website or blog, I have a new button for ya:

Life:
Donny came flew himself into Austin on Friday, and I got to meet him at the airport (squee!). It was so exciting to see him taxiing his plane! He landed in a different section of the airport, so I didn’t get to see that part, but I met him on the tarmac (correct word?) along with his parents and brother where we saw his T-34 Mentor up close and personal.

I was able to spend a lot of time with him while he was here, but he left on Sunday, so I wanted to wait until he comes back for his vacation to give him his sweater.

Fiber:
I created the first batch of hand dyed and handspun yarn, and I sold 3 hanks today at The Knitting Nest to Sally. (Thanks!) I will be stocking my store soon, but I have an update about that too. I have registered a domain name, so now you will be able to easily find Spinning Colors through spinningcolors.com. Cool, huh? And I’ve also moved the store from etsy to another host called Big Cartel. I moved because I can customize my shop a lot more than I can on etsy, and I really need that. It’s an issue for me if I can’t customize my own store!!

Enough of that, here’s some eye candy:

In other fiber news, I’m pretty sure I helped a friend catch the spinning bug today. HA!

The day started with fishing at Eagle Nest Lake, where Logan had his first fishing experience. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t biting… only nibbling.

I gotta tell you, Eagle Nest Lake is beautiful, and driving to it is such a spirit lifter! There are lots of open areas, and lots for sale, and I wish I had some kind of income to move there! I’m seriously thinking about relocating here when I get out of school. I only hope that by the time I get out it won’t all be bought up by people who buy land to “vacation” in. USE IT or LEAVE IT. Okay… that’s a whole other topic.

We then proceeded through the various villages and cities, and stopped at a spot near the river in Kit Carson National Forest. My mom did a little more fishing (still no bites), and the boys and I enjoyed playing with nature. They threw rocks and I took photos. I took lots of photos at this stop, so I’ll only post a few here. There are more photos to be seen of New Mexico in my flickr set.

But here’s a few:

Our last stop of the day was in Arroyo Seco where we got a bite to eat at the Taos Cow, and I finally got over to Taos Sunflower Yarns & Fibers! It’s been my favorite yarn store so far. They have really reasonable prices for their hand dyed fiber and yarn, and they carry a very large selection of Malabrigo (pictured here on the back wall).

I just wish that I had enough time to visit all the shops in the village because they all looked so wonderful. The Arroyo Seco link has access to the separate merchants if you want to see what I’m talking about.

]]> http://stephig.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/on-the-road-day-3/ Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:23:55 +0000 Stephanie http://stephig.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/on-the-road-day-3/ We’re not technically “on the road” right now because we’re staying in Taos until Tuesday. But for the sake of titles… “On the Road” seems appropriate.

Today I went to meet a few family members, and that was nice. However, the real excitement was when I went to some of the local fiber shops!! (Is that awful of me??) I first stopped at Weaving Southwest and I gotta say “I’m in love.” This place is open and friendly, and the yarn and woven items they have are exquisite! I wish I would’ve taken photos of this place, but I didn’t even think about it… I was too engulfed in all the splendid fiber. They do have an online store, and I am thrilled about that because I don’t live in Taos. I didn’t purchase anything today, but I will go back tomorrow and buy some worsted wool in their “peacock” colorway.

I also stopped at La Lana Wools where the owner was extremely welcoming and friendly. This time I remembered to take photos, and I was permitted to “take as many as I like” and to feel free to “roll around in the yarn.” Awesome. I did.

I'm definitely a fiber fiend!

Romney/Mohair blend

Hand Dyed Wool

Hand Dyed Yarn

Hand Dyed Romney/Mohair

Did you enjoy that?! I still have plans to go to Taos Sunflower Yarns & Fibers, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to that. Wish you were here!

So far my vacation has been filled with camping, knitting and spinning. Sound great? It is!
We went to the river for July 4th, and here’s some photos for ya:

Monster feeding the ducks

He thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Every year seems to get better and better because he’s more able to play without be held down for fear of him going into the water. He’s really good about not going near it without mommy.

Monster running

Bobo

This little one on the other hand is always the handful! When we first arrived he headed straight for the water, but after repeated “No”s, he gave it up…. but I still don’t trust him to listen! lol

He had a blast along with the rest of us.

River Morning

This was taken around 6:30 am because I wanted to see the sun rise.

I just love the colors in the morning. Well worth getting up early.

I mentioned that I got some spinning done. It was for Stacy’s birthday!

In the next few days I hope to show you New Mexico. Stay tuned!

I finally decided on a name. I like it, so it’s official. I’ve already made some ball bands out with the name on it, too.

If you would like to put a button on your page, use this link:

<a href=”http://spinningcolors.bigcartel.com”><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/2631627310_6a6f125ce5_o.jpg&#8221; width=”300″ height=”48″ alt=”Spinning Colors Button” /></a>

OR you can grab this button and link below:

http://spinningcolors.com

I would greatly appreciate it.

Store News:
I am going on a little vacation for the next two weeks, so I will not be updating the store until I get home. I’ll be going to New Mexico and checking out some highly recommended yarn stores as well as meeting some new family members.
So as soon as I get home I will become a dyeing fool and you will see the fruits of my labor at Spinning Colors.

SO. My problem for the last week has been coming up with a name that suits me and the store well. Right now it’s called “The Little Things”, but it just doesn’t ring in my ear like I wish it would. Maybe if I took “The” off it would sound better?
The store will be made up of mostly dyed yarn and roving, as well as the handspun in the future.

Anyway, I would like some suggestions as to if you think these names are decent, or maybe you could give me some help in coming up with one?! What do you think of these so far?

1. Simply Steph
2. Spun Sugar
4. The Little Things (currently the store’s name)
5. Little Things
6. Daily Dose

I don’t know why I’m incapable of coming up with a really catchy name, because I think I’m pretty witty… but I guess not. lol

Any help is extremely welcome!

Gorgeous? I think so…. but I’m a bit biased. It’s not the most perfect yarn ever, but it was my practice yarn… so from now on it should all be beautiful and hand dyed.

I learned to do a regular ply as well as Navajo ply today from Susan at Yarnorama. Relax. The Knitting Nest still has my heart. . .

The main problem that I can see with my new hobby is that my knitting is suffering! However, I am -> thisclose <- to finishing the Cobblestone. I’m worried though because it’s looking a bit short. Ugh. I’m gonna add some length to it, but I’ve already done the shoulder shaping and I’m not sure if it will drape correctly once Donny puts it on. We’ll see! All I can say is that I really have tried my hardest to get it to fit right.

This is my new Louet Julia (S11) spinning wheel. She spins like a dream, and we have become very good friends within the last 24 hours. Bought from Yarnorama! in Paige, Texas.

I have only been spinning a max of about 2 weeks… but it has been love a first twist for me.
So now I’m trying to think of a name for the wheel…. or maybe I’ll just leave it as Julia, but it’s like a boat in that I have to name it for it to run well.

I will post more photos along with some spinning tips I’ve learned so far for inquiring minds.