Meanderings of a Mermaid

First off I finally finished 8 oz of a targhee and bamboo blend. It was a joy to spin, but because I chose thin and worsted, it took awhile. Sila the Polonaise was the workhorse on this one. I have one bobbin full and haven't decided yet what to do next.   I recently picked up some old weaving and spinning equipment, along with cellulose fiber dyes. In the box of gear were two loom cranks that I didn't need. Luckily I quickly found homes for them through Ravelry.     A bunch of window-related work has just begun around the rock house. Many panes of glass have been broken by lawnmowers throwing up rocks in the summer time. For some reason when we mow in the winter this never happens. Tomorrow the glass company is here to replace panes and re-glaze a couple more windows. To avoid any more breakage, I have metal screens being custom made to fit all the windows of the house. The old paint around the windows is mostly black and is overdue for a paint job. Ab...

Here are some more art yarns I am experimenting with. The core is a woolen spun alpaca single. I have it thick and thin because I believe that texture is more interesting than a more even one - at least for this purpose. The glass beads are spring time colours of pink and green and yellow and clear and more. Very pretty. I used a mercerized cotton thread that is pink to purple and variegated. Fun stuff. Now this one is fabric flowers that I tore up. I put them on the same alpaca woolen spun singles. I used a very thin monofilament in a clear colour. I found the thread difficult to work with as it unspooled too easily and wrapped itself around the knitting needle that was acting as an axle. The filament does not feel nice on the hand, but rather feels like it is about to cut in. And it was stretchy which made it hard to work with. So I won't be using that thread for art yarn again (okay maybe "under protest"), even though it is invisible. There are some w...

 It's my frenzied style of learning. I decide a few weeks earlier what the workshop schedule will be for the little guild that I run. Then I have to get down to it and if there's something I haven't tried, or haven't done much of, I have to practise. Odd I know, but this method seems to be working for me. Hey I never professed to be an expert at spinning. I think everyone knows I am just learning. Next week the class is about spinning art yarns; in particular the kind with add-ins. Those can be a wide variety of objects. Things with a hole in them are easier, like beads, buttons, sequins. I have only tried the kind with beads before. So first up is the pink wool singles with the flower petals. I believe this wool was corriedale. Today I took the ripped up fabric flowers, and threaded the clusters of petals onto sewing thread. I added a few clear beads. As I tore up the dollar store flowers I saw they had a perfect little hole in the center already. This was ea...

 You may remember that I knit up a sofa blanket using this Geologee yarn. As often happens, there was a bit of yarn left over. And I had a class to teach about knitting from the top down. So I found a free pattern on Ravelry ( by Joy Jannotti) and quickly whipped it up. It is called Baby Cardigan. I thought I could try to sell this cardigan now that the class is over. I purchased two pairs of pants to match, and a onesie. On the latter I stitched the word "sprout" hoping this will appeal to people shopping at the gardening show I will be at in March. 

Looking at the south window. The big bed used to be to the left. I love the more open feel through the middle - it is so much more inviting to me now. One job that took awhile was to rip out the old air conditioner from that left window. I am so glad that is gone! In the foreground is the Artisat loom and in behind is a walnut desk. The bright green thing is a suitcase I like to use for taking my Lendrum wheel to classes. The desk is already so useful. I realized I had only one table in this whole house, the dining table, and so I was not pulling out the sewing machine much because of it.  The Artisat from the other side. It is a very light-filled space. But I have also installed a lot of lighting so it can be used when the sun doesn't shine. This is my vintage hutch that houses a lot of my spinning fiber. Clearly I still need to get some of the fiber out of bags so it is prettier and more inspiring. The cross thing in front of the window is my Wooden Spinner. It ...

 So here are some "before pictures" as I prepare to convert the guest bedroom to just a craft space. Okay so I have partially started the conversion and the room is a mess. But it gives you a little idea of what I'm up to. This corner with the two looms is a bit crowded! It makes it tight for walking through the door and into the office/livingroom. And here is the opposite corner of the room. This queen bed has been sold now and once out of the way will make a lot of new space for me. I am thinking the bigger loom, the Artisat, will go across to this corner. The biggest loom I have, the Nilus II now lives in the Tuff Shed (very happy there!). You can see this room has great light. That's just one set of windows (south facing) and there is another equally large set on the west wall. I am anxious to gain this new space. Yesterday I made up this floor plan. One square equals ten inches. The furniture pieces are movable and held somewhat with a roll of tape on the...

 Well the starting point for most of these fibers was from some inexpensive Kool-aid dyed mystery wool I bought at a shop. At the Guild meeting the other day we played with this on the drum carder and with the hackle. First we took red and yellow to make orange. From left to right the bundles are: one pass, two passes and then three passes through the carder. You can see how more blended it got each time.  Most of this product went to one of the gals so she could spin it up at home. This was dizzed of the hackle. One pass.  The lustrous white in this shot is pure silk. Oh what a lovely touch. A little silk goes a long way.  For another experiment we decided to try to make a colour to match something in the room. My earring (puau shell) was suggested. So there's the earring in the middle. Too bad about the high reflection off the earring, but you get the idea. We pretty much nailed it. I might have to card a few more batts of this because I do quite like...