Spring activities

A quick check in.  I have been very busy going through my bins of fibers and dyeing rovings for the past while.  My roving inventory was dwindling as I spun more and more yarn.  And I needed colors from which to choose and needed to perk up my inventory.  This has kept me out in the dye studio quite a bit.  But, as it started warming up and I was getting a taste of summer, I decided to take some time away from working and moseyed over to the great nursery down the road on Mother's Day.  Okay, so I got obsessed with succulents.  You know, there are so, so many different ones. So every weekend, I have been planting succulents in all the many empty pots I have found around our yard, and I've bought some, too.  These are just a few of the 30+ pots I have planted.  And, the good news is that I have such a great variety, I can propagate them.  Found a great blog on how to do that. 

And in the evenings, I plunk myself down at my spinning wheel, watch Netflix, and spin yarn, with a nice glass of wine by my side.  

Baby camel/merino wool/silk

Gray merino wool overdyed and mixed Blueface Leicester wool

Gray merino wool overdyed and mixed Blueface Leicester wool 

And I used my Mother's Day gift certificate to buy this beautiful book on Indigo.

Life ain't that bad at all here in San Juan Capistrano.

Winter Hibernation is Over

I have been hunkered down this Winter, chilling out, traveling, knitting a bunch, and doing lots and lots of handspinning. Having my first grand baby in February has also caused other interests to take a back seat -- but a very welcome back seat -- as you can see. 

So, Spring has sprung, all of my roses are blooming, and we're having April showers. The nice cool weather got my juices flowing and over the past few days, I got back into doing some dyeing.  My roving inventory was getting down, and I need to have lots of choices when I decide I want to spin.  Now I've got some choices!!

Happy Springtime!  This is also time to finish up my plans for attending Black Sheep Gathering at the end of June and the Taos Wool Festival in early October.  

Spin In 2016

Since the beginning of the year, I have been doing a lot of spinning.  My stash of handspun yarn had dwindled down to about 8 skeins and was looking a little sad, but since the beginning of the year, I have spun about 7,700 two-ply yards.  As my friends who are spinners know, spinning is a zen like experience and really gets you centered. The process of making yarn with your own hands is one of the best experiences.

Getting a Start on 2016 Goals

First, I wanted to thank everyone who attended the Holiday Artisan Faire at Chemers Gallery on December 5th.  It was a fabulous event and very successful.  I had a wonderful time and so happy to have been included as one of the artists.  It was the icing on the cake of a great 2015.  Now I am on to fulfilling my 2016 goals, one of which is to knit some super cute sweaters, dresses and other things for my first grand baby who is due to arrive on February 22nd.  Here's her first sweater.  This is the Babies and Bears pattern.  I have knit this a dozen times, and it is fun every time.

Another goal that I have set for 2016 is to start dyeing sock weight yarn again.  I have been on a sort of hiatus from sock yarn for the past couple of years but this past week, I got my dyeing mojo on again and began working on that goal -- only a few colorways so far, but here are the results.  I will be selling my sock yarns in my Etsy shop in the very near future.  

So once I get a good inventory of sock yarn, I will photograph and get them listed in my Etsy shop.  Phew, a jump on 2016 goals.  I'm on track for a great year.

Holiday Faire

Last year, I participated in the Holiday Artisan Faire at Chemers Galley in Tustin and had a great time.  The gallery was packed with art lovers and holiday shoppers.  I am so honored to have been asked to be a part of their holiday faire again this year.  It will take place on December 5th from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. There are some wonderful artists who will be there with their work so I hope you'll stop by, enjoy the festivities, and take home some very special holiday gifts.  Check out the Chemers Gallery Facebook page to see the work of some of the artists who will be there.

Fall in New Mexico

This past week, I journeyed to New Mexico with my good friends, Michelle and Janet, for our annual Fall retreat to Chimayo, Santa Fe and Taos.  It's a week of girlfriend time, relaxing, stitching, knitting, exploring and taking in the Taos Wool Festival. This year we  invited two friends to join us, Dinah and Lorraine, and we think they had as great a time as we did. They got a real education in fiber.  Our first nights are spent at Casa Escondida in Chimayo, an out of the way little B&B -- that's after we stop at Maria's in Santa Fe for enchiladas "Christmas" style on the way up.

We spend a day in Santa Fe, shopping for fabrics, beads, Indian fetishes and just generally poking around until it's time for lunch at one of our favorite places, Il Piatto.  

Then off we go to Taos for four nights, on the way into town looking for a special purveyor of dried green Hatch chilis being sold out of the back of her truck.  We never know where she's going to be and unfortunately, this trip, we couldn't find her anywhere.  Where were you?

Lots of relaxing in Taos at the Old Taos Guesthouse, and then the weekend is full with exploring the Taos Wool Festival. Our girl, Michelle, received a Grand Champion award and silver medallion for her felted dress that she entered in the fiber arts competition, using predominantly raw wool she bought at the Wool Festival, processed herself and then dyed with natural plant materials. The mama bears (me and Janet) were so proud. (That's not the winning dress she's wearing but another one of her beautiful creations.)

We were very fortunate to have been able to watch Patricia Quintana judge the fleece competition.  Because it's such a small venue, we were able to get an up close and personal education on judging a fleece. Patricia has a small sheep ranch down the road from where we stay in Taos -- Rancho La Fina. 

And it wouldn't be the Wool Festival if we didn't come home with piles of wool.  I distinctly remember the conversation before our trip -- we don't need any more fleeces. We're not going to buy any fleeces. Yeah . . .  okay . . . .  Well, I thought I came home with more, but then again, I think I agreed to split a couple of fleeces, too. It is very hard to walk away from the extremely clean, beautiful fleeces at the Taos Wool Festival. 

Wensleydale/CVM/Cotswold/Bond cross (2.9 lb.) -- How can you possibly turn this down?

2.2 pounds of the Grand Champion fleece (one quarter of the whole fleece) -- gotta have it!  Lincoln/Cotswold/CVM.  This is a variegated gray that runs from light gray to charcoal.

OMG!  A Blueface Leicester/Wensleydale lamb fleece.  Only half a pound.  Is this sweet or what?  

A 2.6 lb. Blueface Leicester fleece -- white.  Oh this is so beautiful. It's gonna wash up white, white, white. 

And a 2nd place from a 3-year old colored Blueface Leicester, 2.6 lb.  Had to jump on this before someone else got it.

I guess there are a lot of people out there who don't get what the hubbub is about, but I think my spinning peeps totally get it and that's what counts.  I also made a few purchases of handspun yarn. Even though I spin my own yarn, I like to buy yarn from other spinners when I see something that is exceptional, like these:

Handspun angora from Sharon Dalrymple of Woodlake Woolies (Elbert, CO).  She does an amazing job of spinning the fiber from the angora rabbits that she raises.

And a lovely skein of handspun Wensleydale and Teeswater lamb from Wendy Luna Clarke of Animal Spirit (San Cristobal, NM).  

And no trip to the Taos Wool Festival would be complete without a trip to the colorful mohair curls salad bar at Lisa Shell's Kai Mohair booth. What an amazing color sense Lisa has.  It doesn't get better than this. 

So now it's back to work and prep for Artistic License and the Torrance Fiber Fest, but the warm feeling for New Mexico and the time spent with friends remains. And in the back of my mind, there's something to look forward to next Fall.  

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.