IT'S SPRINGTIME!!

These Dutch irises just looked so beautiful in my front courtyard that I had to snap a picture of them. On a recent trip up Hwy 101 to the Bay Area, it was Springtime all over. North of Santa Barbara, for miles and miles, the hills were velvety green with huge patches of purple lupines, orange California poppies and yellow mustard. We were just awed by the beauty. And all this while I hear other parts of the country were still under snow. We are truly spoiled!

My ETSY shop has been doing well. I have had orders from all parts of the US, from Canada and the other day, I had an order from the Netherlands. Thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting my shop, spinning my fibers and knitting with my yarns. And, the best part is that everyone I have had the pleasure of meeting on ETSY has been more than friendly and positive. It's a great online community to put together small craftsmen with customers who want to support the little guys. http://CapistranoFiberArts.Etsy.com

HEADS UP -- SPINNING IN ENCINITAS

Wanted to report on the spinning group that has started at Common Threads shop in Encinitas. We've been meeting thus far on the third Friday of each month (Feb and Mar) from about 10:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m. In March, it was such a surprise to see Jerry and Debbie walk in from OC. I will be heading down to CT again next Friday, April 18th, and then again on Friday, May 16th. So anyone interested in joining a group of spinners for the day, please come on down. (Especially anyone who wants to see what spinning is about!) For more info, you can call Nancy or Carolyn at CT (760) 436-6119. Also, at the end of this week, CT will be carrying some of my Capistrano Fiber Arts sock yarn.

Besides taking a few trips in the past couple of months, I have been doing quite a bit of spinning and knitting (along with my dyeing). Here are some gauntlets that I knit from yarn I spun out of roving dyed by Sandy Sitzman, who I will be sharing a booth with at Black Sheep Gathering this year. I used a mock cable on these.

At Stitches West in February, I bought two rovings dyed by Elff from Redfish Dyeworks of Acton, CA. One was a blend of baby camel/silk (50-50) and the other was a blend of merino/bombyx silk (50-50). I spun them and plied them together into a fingering weight yarn. I am using them in the lace vest below (pattern from LaLana Wools, Taos). I love the pattern (English Mesh Lace) and the subtle way the colors of the handspun knit up. Knit on US4 circulars.

When I was last down at Common Threads, a box of Targhee wool rovings had just arrived from Mountain Colors. The colors were way bright -- so Karen and I picked out some rovings with lots and lots of red. I was thinking socks. Here's the chunky monkey skein I spun (602 yd and 5.2 oz). I have enough for socks, a hat, maybe a vest; to be decided at a later date.

And here are some rovings I dyed recently and spun up. The first is a blend of merino wool/cashmere/angora. I plied two different colorways: "Wine Country" and "Wine Country Marl". One roving was painted with more solid colors and the other, I left white spaces in between the solid colors for a more heathered effect. This skein has 674 yd. and weighs 7.7 oz.

And lastly, I painted this roving the other day. It is superfine merino wool and I wasn't sure about the colors, since they were not calling to me. I was conflicted and thought I better spin a couple of ounces just to see what might happen. Yesterday, I spun two bobbins and plied the colorway on itself. It spoke to me. Wow! I love it. I think I need to do more of this colorway, which I have now named "Sevilla".

So all week I have been calling the court on a daily basis to see if I had to report for jury duty. As of 11:00 a.m. today, I have skated by and haven't had to trek up to Santa Ana. I've got my fingers crossed that they won't need me up there. I hear you can't bring knitting needles. Oh, no!