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Monday, May 30, 2011

Birthday presents!

My sister's birthday was this weekend, so I can show off what I made her:

Handdyed handknit socks!

stripes!
cuff down, broken rib design, eye of partridge heel flap

wrapped up in...

pieced pouch!
happy birthday!

And basically, I managed to get nothing done this weekend, except a few more shibori bits...

Thursday, May 26, 2011

More handspun yarn

I've been doing too much spinning. actually, I've been doing a number of things I can't talk about quite yet, so I'm showing off spinning.

wool, mohair, silk
three ply - two corridale wool/mohair blend, one silk - 55g

Silk is from lone tree wools, the blend I got at the Spinner's Flock guild sale last September.

wool alpaca angora
3 ply, drum carded merino, coral "wool", peach alpaca/angora - 80 g

The drum carded merino was blended by me, the rest came from the Black Sheep Guild spring sale.

My plans for the weekend are knitting (with handspun! at last!), finishing up my stitched shibori pieces, and predrafting some dark teal silk.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

on a more serious note

I've finally put everything together and listed items in the etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/blotchandthrum

I don't like the pictures of some of the other things I mean to list, so, those will have to wait. Also, I'm working up to another round of dyeing, but I need to get some shibori done first, so it's not liable to be started for at least a week, which means 2-3 weeks before any finished shirts! So, that may be it for awhile.

The pace of the work with the family life is sometimes quite frustrating when I think of what I could accomplish; but if it weren't for the kiddos, I'd be working full time, and the end result would be the same lack of time, plus I wouldn't have kiddos to play with! And if I think about it that way, I am happy.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

50 for 2011: #14. skirt for child

14. skirt
hopefully it fits her...

I got this great tie dyed wrap from a friend, and used the bulk of it (green and black) to make a skirt for myself, but saved the multicolored border for this project, and now it's about a year later...

I also used up almost all my dark spiderweb fabric (I've got some black/white spiderweb, but this is grey on black, and super neat.)

Apart from my poor sewing skills, I'm happy with it. Now, if only she'll wear it. ;)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Minnesota! Shepherd's Harvest Festival

We're just back from Minnesota! And a fiber festival: the Shepherd's Harvest Festival in Lake Elmo (between St Paul and Wisconsin). I did say I plan my vacations around them. I was not kidding.

sheep
a sheep!

This was a good one, with four buildings of vendors and lots of food options. We saw llamas, sheep, goats (angora and cashmere), as well as bunnies. We were there early on Saturday, and by afternoon the place was packed!

There was lots of stuff, and my favorite was a most awesome basket maker - art baskets! Like woven tapestries, only out of basket... stuff. Only, she doesn't seem to have a website.

And I gave myself a $40 limit, and I stayed within it, kinda shocking, considering I spent $25 right off the bat, at Happy Hands Yarn's booth:

roving
"black BFL" I guess it's a blend of black and white, overdyed? anyway, looks amazing.

silk roving
Also from Happy Hands - dyed silk roving

And this falkland roving from HoneyGold Acres:

falkland roving
Funny, has the same colors as the silk... I'm planning on splitting out some of the blue to spin up with the locks in the next picture

And these locks from Red Oak Farm:

wool locks
wool locks, I think BFL?

And this roving from someone who didn't write their name on their receipt:

roving
mohair, alpaca, wool, I think? with glitter.

It's actually a yellow-orange and raspberry, rather than the sort of yucky brown it appears on my monitor. I've got some raspberry roving that it will probably look nice with in my stash.