Late Summer Playtime

I've always got a knitting project(s) on the needles, especially with all the traveling I have been doing this summer.  I can't imagine sitting in the airport or on the plane staring into space.  So here are a few of things I knit up during the summer while sitting around waiting in various airports.

I love this pattern I found on Ravelry, called the Swiss Cheese scarf.  What a great way to use up a lot of those small but precious balls of left over handspun yarn from other projects.

And a pair of socks on the needles is a must have.  A nice little project to take along - fits easily into the purse.

And upon returning from Pam De Groot's class at the Eugene Textile Center, I scoured my local environs for plant materials to do some experimenting with a few of the things I learned in my workshop. I thought I was done with that eco-printing but I'm having some fun.

We have been having brutal weather here in Southern California -- 90's seem to be the new norm around here -- and frankly, I've had it, so I am off to New Mexico next week -- Santa Fe, Chimayo and Taos -- with my special peeps for our annual girls retreat for a week of relaxation, bonding, conversation, wine, roasted chilis, fine dining, knitting and stitching and, of course, the Taos Wool Festival.  The weather report promises 70's but we'll see.  

Freedom Construction

Two weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of taking a workshop from Australian felt artist, Pam de Groot, "Freedom Construction". The class was held at the Eugene (Oregon) Textile Center and was one of the highlights of my summer.  Not only is Pam an amazing artist, she is also a wonderful and patient teacher and a delightful person.  Here is what I brought for my class, my suitcase stuffed to the gills with my "raw" materials.

After two days of work, I had a ginormous garment hanging from the ceiling to the floor, ready to be felted to a garment that actually fits.

After another two days of felting, fitting and dyeing -- the finished garment -- Ta Da!

During the workshop, we created fabric (nuno felt), then constructed a garment, a tunic or dress. The garment was felted to a desired size and then dyed and eco printed.  Natural dyes were used in the class.  We had a dyepot of onion skins, another one with logwood and one with black walnut.   I dyed my tunic in the black walnut dyepot.

I feel so lucky to have seen the advertisement for Pam de Groot's class and then to have signed up immediately.  And I hope that some time in the future, I will again be lucky enough to take another class with Pam.

The week before I went to Eugene, OR, for the workshop with Pam, I had made a short tunic, using my own felt techniques. I was not happy with the results and almost threw it in the trash.  However, upon returning home, I used some of what I learned in Pam's workshop to complete, fit and dye the tunic.  I now feel like I turned a lemon into some lemonade.  

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In another week, I will be winging my way to New Mexico where I will meet three of my peeps for our annual week of relaxation in Chimayo and Taos.  While there, we will also attend the Taos Wool Festival.

And in between travels, I will complete my preparation for the Artistic License Fair that will be held on Friday, October 23rd, and Saturday, October 24th, at Estancia Park in Costa Mesa.  

Also on tap is the Weaving and Fiber Festival (also known as the Torrance Show) sponsored by the Southern California Handweavers Guild.  The Torrance show will be held on Sunday, November 1st, at the Torrance Cultural Center.  My Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio will be a vendor at this show.

And finally, I have been invited back to participate in the holiday fair at the Chemers Art Gallery in Tustin on Saturday, December 5th.  This is a beautiful art gallery with many great artists and is well worth attending.  Many of the artists will be at this holiday fair and will be showing and talking about their work.  

Eco dyeing fun

I've signed up for a four-day felting class with Pam De Groot in September at the Eugene Textile Center. [www.pamdegroot.com]  It's called "Freedom Construction".  Here's the description of the class:

"We will produce prefelt yardage to create garments with twist, pocketing and swales using minimal patterns. We will exploit the amazing properties of felt for garment creation.  Once finished, we will naturally print the pieces.  This course challenges the maker to trust the process of discovery and let their creativity run free.  Be prepared for a roller coaster ride! 4 days."

In preparation for my class, I decided to do a little eco-printing yesterday just to see if I still have the basics.  Both of these were done on silk scarves/shawls.

Can't wait to get on the roller coaster ride and learn more about garment construction from Pam De Groot and then to see what comes out of the class.  It's always so much fun to see the variations in creativity of the finished work of each participant.  This is a class I just could not pass up.  

Indigo in July

A couple of Sundays ago, July 19th to be exact, I participated in a Bandhani workshop with some of the members of the South Coast Weavers and Spinners Guild.  We traveled to Cameron Taylor Brown's "Arts Garage" in Los Angeles for the workshop, and it was a wonderful day.  Bandhani is the Indian way of shibori and the class was taught by several men from India.  One of the pieces I did was a silk scarf that was dyed in indigo.

This workshop got me all excited about dyeing with indigo again so the following week, I set about making a new indigo vat, using Michel Garcia's 1-2-3 method that I had learned from Yoshiko Wada at her Shakerag workshop in 2014.  

My first attempts were a little light and then after the pot sat around and was tweaked for a few of days, I started to get more medium colors.  For experiment purposes, I bought some cotton napkins and am dyeing a set for my son and his wife, both of whom love indigo. 

After I felt confident that my indigo vat was working as it should, I decided I would try dyeing the silk piece I had stenciled with a rice paste resist in Akemi Cohn's Katazome workshop at Shakerag this past June.  I am very happy at how crisp my stencils turned out.  I dipped this piece four times in the indigo vat. Because I did not want to disturb the rice paste resist and have it begin to deteriorate, each dip lasted only about 15 to 20 seconds.  Then it was left to dry thoroughly before the next dip.

One of the skills we learned in the Katazome workshop was drawing and cutting our own stencils using a smoked mulberry paper. It's a very tough paper and you can use the stencil over and over.  From MAIWA in Vancouver, I have purchased all of the supplies I need to do Katazome over this summer.  I am also planning on using other natural dyes, such as lac, weld,  and madder, as well as my indigo vat. 

For this week, though, I am up in Morro Bay with my husband.

Another exciting venture coming up is a workshop September 8th thru 11th with Pam DeGroot an amazing felt artist from Australia.  I just happened upon something on the internet that led me to her website only to find that she would be teaching a four-day workshop at the Eugene Textile Center in Eugene, Oregon.  Of course, I signed up immediately.  I can hardly wait.   

A Tale of Two Good Kittens

Just a brief checking in.  I'm still having fun knitting kittens.  These two good little girl kittens were commissioned by my daughter-in-law for her nieces, ages 4 and 6.  It was quite fun making dresses and headbands so that they would look more girly.  I still have to name them. 

More Kittens and Bunnies, Too

At the end of March, I spent a couple weeks in Issaquah, WA, near Seattle, house and pet sitting for my son and his wife while they soaked in some sun and warmth in Maui.  My friend, Melody, who lives close by came for a visit for a few days and we embarked on a knitting marathon.  Melody has been knitting the most fabulous stuffed animals and cats and so under her tutelage, I learned how to knit my first stuffed animal, a rabbit, and there was born a new obsession.  Here are the fruits of my labors -- all knit since the beginning of April:

I cannot begin to tell you how much fun it is to create these little critters and dress them up.

There is a bit of a story behind the materials I used in these little animals.  Before my trip to the Seattle area, I of course had to search out nearby yarn/fiber stores that I might need to visit.  One of the stores that popped up was Tolt Yarn and Wool, which looked like an interesting shop in the farming community of Carnation about 20 miles from my son's house in Issaquah.  So, Melody and I decided to take a field trip to Carnation in the Snoqualmie Valley. The drive there was so picturesque as the road followed the Snoqualmie River through a beautiful farming valley. 

The town of Carnation is about two blocks long so you can't miss Tolt Yarn and Wool.  What a delightful shop.  I have to say it is one of my most favorite shops. Beautiful yarns, very friendly staff.  It reminded me of an old timey rustic general store, warm and homey.  One of the things I most loved about this shop is that they carry a variety of yarns from locally sourced wool, grown by small farms in Washington and they also carry handspun yarn and some spinning supplies.  (www.toltyarnandwool.com)

As soon as I walked in, I saw a cute hand knit rabbit that looked like a good starter project for me, so I got the pattern, "Bunny Love" by Susan B. Anderson.  Because I was drawn to the local yarn, I decided I wanted to knit my animals with natural locally sourced wool, so I set aside some yarn from Snoqualmie Valley Yarn, a Blueface Leicester and Clun Forest wool yarn.  I bought three of their natural colors and several that had been dyed by Local Color Fiber Studio on Bainbridge Island. Local Color used indigo, madder root, grape skins, and rudbekia for their natural dyeing. I also bought three natural colors of yarn from Small Blessings Farm from Enumclaw, WA, 100% Romney wool.

Naturally dyed by Local Color Fiber Studio

Once I got home and had knit up my first bunny, I decided to embark on the cat pattern, "Meowww Kitty" by Sherry Moore.  And . . . I took off.  Using the wool yarn I bought at Tolt, I combined it with some of the Cormo wool yarn I have purchased at the Taos Wool Festival from Elsa Wool Company of Colorado, another family owned sheep ranch.  And some of the clothing for my little critters was knit with natural dyed yarns from Rainshadow Farms (Kingston, WA) that I bought at the Black Sheep Gathering.  I also used some of my handspun yarn that I have dyed with indigo and eucalyptus. It remains to be seen how big my stable of kitties and others is going to grow.  Many ideas swirling around in my head -- which is not a bad thing.

So that's about it for now.  I am motoring down to San Diego tomorrow to spin with my spinning buddies down there, a great group of women. Love the camaraderie that the fiber world nutures.

Kittens, Kittens, Kittens

My friend in Washington, who I am going to visit later this month when I house/pet sit for my son and his wife, has been making the most adorable knitted stuffed animals.  Her latest are the cutest little kittens with hand knit sweaters, too.

  

These little cuties are for sale on Etsy at MelsNorthwestKnits.etsy.com.   Meow!

My New Toy Arrived

A week ago a lovely new spinning wheel arrived on my doorstep:  my Watson Marie wheel (with beautiful Victoria trim).  The wheel is American black walnut with accents of purple heart and blackwood and was handcrafted flawlessly by Andrew Watson from Burlington, Ontario, Canada. His work is awesome, indeed!  Needless to say, I have been doing a lot of spinning getting to know my new wheel.

In between spinning, I have also been doing a lot of dyeing the past couple weeks, trying to get my inventory of hand painted fibers up to snuff and posted on Etsy. The past few weeks, Blueface Leicester has been my fiber of choice.  Next up is a Polwarth wool/mohair/silk blend. And then more merino/yak/silk and merino/bombyx silk.  When I get in a dyeing mode, I just need to go with it.  But the nice thing about pumping up my inventory is that I have this colorful array of fibers in front of me, and it just makes me want to spin different colorways and ply them, which is what I have been doing every evening.

This skein is 346 yards (4.0 oz.).  I plied one of my new colorways "Tanager" (100% BFL) with a blend of BFL/tussah silk in my "River Dart" colorway.  I spun this on my new Marie.

This next skein was spun on my Rose wheel.  I plied a merino/yak/silk blend ("Palm Canyon" colorway) with a BFL/tussah silk blend in my "Seychelles" colorway. 308 yards, 3.7 oz.

This is the first skein I spun on my new Marie wheel.  I plied one of my BFL rovings in my "Bristol Bay" colorway with a BFL/tussah silk roving from Blarney Yarn (my friend, Miryha) in her colorway "Evergreen".  292 yards, 4.1 oz.

This last skein was spun on my Rose wheel, using to two new colorways in BFL -- "Sand Pebbles Too" plied with "Nosegay".  324 yards, 4.3 oz.

On another note. I had an email from my friend, Debra Sposa, who teaches art at Whitney High School in Cerritos. She is one of the most amazing teachers I know and has been so fortunate to teach at a school that values art.  Inspired by a number of her artist friends, and after a class with India Flint three summers ago, Debra assigned her students a project using quilting, eco dyeing, stitching, appliqué. The work of her students is extraordinary and can be viewed at her blog here:  http://www.artisun.blogspot.com     What lucky students they are to have an inspirational teacher like Debra.  

So back to dyeing and spinning, and spinning and dyeing . . . .

Anticipation

Just a quick check in. I am so excited that my Watson spinning wheel has been completed and that Andrew Watson will be shipping it right after the first of the year.  I have been patiently waiting for four years and after looking at the pictures he sent me this week, it has been worth every single minute of the wait.  Andrew is an amazing spinning wheel maker and craftsman.  There's only one word for his work:  awesome.  So now I have this itch of anticipation and can hardly wait for the time when a big crate is delivered to my door.  Here are a few pictures.  Can I possibly contain myself for the next couple of weeks???

The wheel is American black walnut and the accent woods are Purple Heart and Blackwood.  I am sure the pictures don't do it justice and it will be even more beautiful in person.  Thank you, Andrew.  

Torrance Weaving and Fiber Fest This Weekend

The Torrance Weaving and Fiber Fest is this weekend and I have been dyeing like mad to get ready.  This event is put on by the Southern California Handweavers' Guild. My friend Margie and I will be in the Capistrano Fiber Arts booth. We will have an array of hand painted rovings, other fibery goodness, handspun yarn and some hand felted and hand knit garments. And, yes, I will have bags of my luscious "Pastiche" fiber mixture.

The festival is this Sunday, November 2nd, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Torrance Cultural Center. This is the best local fiber show and well worth the drive. For information: www.schg.org/festival.  Hope to see lots of fiber enthusiasts there.  

Artistic License Fair This Weekend

Looking forward to the Artistic License Fair this weekend -- Friday and Saturday, October 24th and 25th, at Estancia Park in Costa Mesa.  Just working on some last minute items for my booth.   Here's a little peek at some of my felted pieces which have hand stitching on them.  

I'll also have lots of my handspun yarn and pieces knit and crocheted from my handspun yarns.  The Fair is from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.  Hope to see a lot of new, as well as old, friends there.  Stop by and see me in Booth #1.  (Check out the Artistic License Fair Facebook page.)

Artistic License Fair is approaching

The postcards for the Artistic License Fair have gone out.  That means the fair is fast approaching.  It is Friday and Saturday, October 24th and 25th, at Estancia Park in Costa Mesa, a lovely outdoor setting.  Here's a picture of this year's postcard featuring my dear friend Michelle Hoffee's "Living and Dyeing" booth.   You can visit her web page and see her one-of-a-kind superbly and artistically crafted garments:  www.livinganddyeing.com

Visit the AL website to see the names of all participating artists

www.ArtisticLicenseFair.com

I am busy filling my bins with lots of my beautiful handcrafted wares, including lots and lots of handspun yarns, spun from my hand painted fibers and those of my other indy fiber artist friends.  I aim to have a very colorful booth.  Hope to see lots of friends and  lots of new faces.

More Mountain Spinning

Last night, I plied more of the yarn that I spun while on my vacation up in Lassen Volcanic National Park.  This two-ply skein weighs 4.8 oz. and has 338 yards.  One ply is my hand painted roving called "Fernleaf" and is a blend of Blueface Leicester and Silk (75%/25%).  The other ply is another Inglenook Fibers batt called "Cosmos". 

That's all for now.  I have to get back to dyeing.  I am working very hard to restore my inventory of spinning fibers for my two Fall shows coming up.  In the 90+ heat, this has presented quite a challenge.  I hear it's to be cooler today.  Oh joy!