Going Analog

Although the blog is quiet, the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers has been a flurry of color.  I dyed lots of fiber for a felting class and even more fiber for my retail business.  I am a contributing member of a local yarn shop here in Asheville (NC), Friends & Fiberworks (aka FFW).  As one of the friends, I work at the shop several hours a month and they carry an array of my patterns and fibers.  The shop participates in a number of fiber festivals and knitting and crochet shows, so my fiber travels in the booth.  If you were at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival in March or Stitches South in Atlanta a few weeks ago, you may have seen my work.  They'll be at the Kentucky Sheep &Fiber Festival in May, so my fiber will be a large part of the shop's display.

So in the interest of all this retail business, I've been keeping the dyepots warm.  I try to dye around the spectrum, so this weekend I concentrated on the reds.  Rosy golds, rusty oranges, fiery reds.  Last week it was all about the greens - blue-greens, olives, froggy, grassy, emerald, chartreuse, every green I can make - even one that was a rather poisonous neon green seldom found in nature.

But with all this dyeing, why am I ignoring my Etsy shop (and my blog)?  I say that it's my lack of a decent camera.  I tell myself that it is the time factor.  I am right on both counts.  I don't have a decent camera, though I could buy one.  The camera built into my phone is better than any stand-alone camera that I own.  Not bad as you can see here.  Not fabulous, but not bad.  I think that researching the perfect camera (and they keep changing) is standing in the way.  My essential cheapness is an issue too.  The perfect camera is scary expensive. 

The time factor is more telling.  Even though I have a demanding day job that requires considerable travel,  I work most Saturdays and an evening every week in the yarn shop.  I design workshops and teach classes as part of my day job, but I also write patterns and knit samples for the yarn shop and it's fun! I've also taught a number of classes and hosted a knit-along or two.  I'm also doing a good bit of knitting for myself.  This winter I completed 5 sweaters, although 3 were in timeout since the previous spring.  (I couldn't help it.  Spring came in February, 2012.  Who wants to knit on a wool sweater when it's 70 degrees out? I have another one on the needles, but need to figure out what I want to do for the closures, so that will likely marinate until next fall.  Hmmm...maybe a zipper?   I've already started a cotton top.  See what I mean?). 

I think the real 'problem' is that I'm involved in a strong, lively, in-person fiber community, so the pull of digital is not so strong.  I get positive feedback from my colleagues at the yarn shop, for my customers in the shop and the felting teachers who purchase my fibers.  I'm teaching knitting and dyeing classes.  People seek out my help with knitting problems, they want my advice in choosing yarns for projects.  Cyberspace is a wonderful place to visit and indeed I go there everyday, but it is not my main sense of community. 

As I make choices about how I spend my time, I am liking the present time and space.  Yesterday I spent my time doing what I love to do:  I took a walk. I cooked.  I dyed fiber. I worked played in the garden.  I even packaged fiber for the upcoming KY show, but I didn't post a one of those luscious rovings to my Etsy shop!

This doesn't mean I'm going offline - not at all.  I'm getting ready to host an online knit-along on the FFW Ravelry group & Facebook page.  I'm back on the blog.  Watch for some new patterns!  But I'm living in the real world as well as the digital.  They're both good. 

Munch, munch, munch

So spin some silk already! A month ago yesterday, the silk worms hatched out of their tiny eggs and each day since then I have gathered mulberry leaves from a tree a few blocks from my house. As they have gotten larger, they eat more and more and more.  They are now quite large as you can see in this picture.  I've been posting pics every few days on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smoky-Mountain-Fibers/193995020071), so you can see their progress.

Any time now - hopefully when I get home from work - they will start spinning their little cocoons of silk.  One actually started yesterday.  I noticed him (or her) moving his (or her) head in a figure 8 pattern and there was actual silk coming out.  So I put the little guy in a paper bag and turned the top down.  I checked later and there was a good bit of spun silk. I could even hear it.  A nice change from the sound of about a hundred worms chewing.  

In other news at the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers, I have been dyeing fiber for the Carolina Fiber Fest in Raleigh on May 18-20th.  You'll find my fiber at Friends and Fiberworks booth.  There will be  grab bags as well as a healthy amount of hand dyed roving for spinning and feltmaking.  I won't be there.  I'll be back in Asheville, holding down the fort at the shop.  This is a great show for your non-fibery friends as it's at the state fairgrounds and there is other agriculture stuff going on.  Take a look at their website - It makes me want to be there!

But no travel for me.  I have silkworms to feed and provide places to spin cocoons!

Phat Fiber's Sweet Shop: Caramelo

I have been sitting out the Phat Fiber Sampler box for the last few months.  The day job and dance calling responsibilities have precluded adding anything to my workload, even something as pleasant as being involved in marketing opportunities for my Etsy shop.

I did dye some samples for the February box, whose theme was gems and minerals.  As a rockhound, I could get around that.  I had lots of ideas, just not enough time to make them happen.  March's theme is 'Sweet Shop.'  Of late I have been interested in working in brown-copper-olive families.  So it was a short hop to 'Caramelo,' a caramel-colored merino roving that looks and feels just yummy. 

So over that last week or so, I played with dyes & I just finished making up and packing my samples.  They are all a bit over 1/4 ounce and will be shipped to the queen of the fiber sampler on Monday.  Now the Phat Fiber blog and Facebook page are worth following as the contributors frequently donate full-size rovings, batts or skeins of yarn and they are given away to people who comment on the blog.  I've donated rovings a few times and it does seem to generate a good bit of shop and blog traffic.  I've also won a couple of times - that's kind of nice.  There is a supporting Ravelry group that is quite active.

Now I do this to get my samples of my work into the hands of future buyers; but a fringe benefit is that contributors get a sampler box of their own so that I get to see what other fiber artists are doing.  I am so inspired by the work that I see people doing. Join in the fur and you can be inspired too!

Also on the list this weekend:  Knitting on Mossy Cardi II, finishing the tiny sweater for my tiny nephew and getting it sent off, working on the books for Smoky Mountain Fibers, dyeing & photographing fiber, making bean soup (it's gray and chilly out there) and plenty more. 

ATreasury of Blues - and a Sale!

As Labor Day is upon us, I am winding down my workweek with a lunch at my desk that looks like I am cleaning out the refrigerator.  Oh, I am.  The last of the baby carrots, a wee dollop of cottage cheese, a piece of leftover chicken and a clementine that may not as juicy as it once was.  But I always feel rather noble when I finish up bits and pieces and not let things go bad. 

As my regular readers know, I love ending up in Etsy Treasuries - this time, it's all about the color blue, including my Paintbox for Feltmakers, The Blues.  In yesterday's post I mentioned that my dyed fiber stock was nearly gone, so the dyeing frenzy came at about the right time.  I'll be making up these multi-packs over the weekend, so I'll soon know what else I need to dye.

In honor of Labor Day, I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop.  Take 20% off everything (excluding shipping) just by mentioning 'Labor Day' in your notes to the seller.  I'll refund your discount (as well as any shipping overage) to your PayPal account. 

Hope to get in a hike, but my plan is to spend the weekend pretty devoted to Smoky Mountain Fibers.  Dyeing, spinning, knitting, visiting my customers - getting the fall fiber season off to a good start!

At the Dyepot

I've been at the dyepot a good bit lately. My dyed fiber that fills the grab bags in my Etsy store and in the local yarn shop, Asheville Home Crafts  and the Locally Grown gallery has some been depleted.  So for the past week or so, I've been dyeing around the spectrum.  Here is a partial result:

These are semi-solid colors, perfect for felt makers and spinners.  Blues and greens and purples and reds - in a number of shades and hues.  Last evening I made up the blue and green grab bags as well as a few of the totally mixed colors, The reds had to wait,as most of the red roving was still wet.  Seems that I need more greens (as is often the case) so I am dyeing again this morning, including another semi-solid and a bronze-green.  If I can keep up the pace over the weekend, I hope to get back to my more artistic shades soon.

Tonight is my fiber night - dinner with my women friends where we have dinner, talk about our lives and knit or crochet or sew a bit.  Since I have mostly been spinning and dyeing this week, I think I'll take my knitting and mix it up a bit. 

Rockin', Sockin' Grab Bags!

Things were lively in downtown Asheville this weekend, but then they often are.  This weekend was the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands.  Although I did not attend the Guild Fair (as it is commonly known around here), my dyed fiber got a good bit of attention.  In walking distance of the Civic Center, our local yarn shop Asheville HomeCrafts always does a good business that weekend.  People get in the creative spirit - and apparently everybody wants to make felt.  My multicolor grab bags sold like hotcakes! 

I took an inventory Friday evening and re-stocked on Saturday morning but by Sunday at closing they were GONE!  Funny, I started making these grab bags to use up leftovers and sell fiber that refused to be photographed.  Now I have to dye specifically for the grab bags.  In the Etsy shop, I have Leaves of Green, Red Menace, the Blues and the multicultural skin tones packs.  In the LYS I add a crazy mixed up bag.

Although I was already dyeing for a specific project, that was put on hold to dye around the spectrum for at least a handful of grab bags to get to the store in the next day or so.  Let's see... what colors do I need to do next?!

Old Sheep in the News

I heard this fascinating article on NPR (or course) about Navajo Churro sheep and the people who raise them.  Thought I'd share it with you...

Though I admit that I never spun Churro wool, there is a shepherd who brings her fleece to SAFF.  I may test out a fleece this fall.  As the article says, it is a strong fleece, perfect for blankets and rugs - not that I really make woven blankets and rugs, though. I'd like to.

There was very little fiber activity going on at the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers this weekend, although I did some custom dyeing. But on the home repair front, things cooked!  The LR and DR are now painted - and looking good.  Don't look too closely!  We have not lost our amateur status as painters.  But as energetic wielders of the brush and roller, we did just fine.  Pictures to come!

Naturally Clean

Today is another look at creative things that people make with Smoky Mountains Fibers.  Over in St. Louis, Missouri A Breath of French Air is a terrific soap maker who makes scented and unscented soaps for a variety of uses, including the Gardener's Scrub Soap.  Those of us who like to dig in the dirt, know that we need a little help after.  Scraping my nails on a bar of soap is a good start, though I have to remember to do it before I get dirty.  But one solution is this lovely felted soap.  It's a soap and a scrubby all in one, this time in natural, organic shapes and colors.

If you are an Etsy member, you can even vote for this item in the "What's in Your Ideal Garden?" poll.  There are lots of lovely things.  Check it out.  Wish I could vote early AND often!

I spent a bit of time in the garden this week.  The peas, beets, radishes and onions are up and looking very cute.  We have been eating wintered over collards and Kale, but they look ready to go to seed, so it's in the 'get it while you can' mode.  I also planted lettuce plants, but this warm weather is not their friend.

Loves Me Lots

I dye fiber several times a week and ship it to my Etsy customers (thank you very much!) and to local yarn shops ( thank you very much!), but then I often lose track of it.  Roving gets spun into yarn or made into felt, patterns get knitted into hats and worn with style and grace or get lost on the school bus, never to be seen again.  But it finds a life of it's own.  But these simple dyed Romney locks became part of a lovely work of art.

Spin Drift Studios in Maine took a few ounces of moss green locks and felted them to become the background for 'Loves Me Lots,' a hand made piece of art that truly declares love.  In her description the artist states, 'The daisy petals are created from a handmade felt of silk caps and merino wool rovings. A real daisy was used for the petal templates. They are embroidered sashiko style with fine cotton thread.'  Already framed and ready for hanging, 'Loves Me Lots' is available in SpinDriftStudios Etsy shop.  What a perfect wedding or engagement gift!

What have you made from Smoky Mountain Fibers?  Let me know and I'll be happy to feature it here!

DeStash Season

Last week's SnowMageddon missed us here in Western NC - Blogging about freezing rain just doesn't cut it.  But spending a day or 2 housebound can make for some desperate closet cleaning.  That includes yarn.  I have yarn that I purchased on 'spec' with great intentions.  I'll weave rungs and placemats!   I'll make a felted hat - or 20!  I love this yarn - Why not buy 3 in every colorway?!  Love the yarn; hate the ghastly color.  No problem - I'll dye it!

Some things happen; some just don't.  So I am sending yarn out to more deserving homes at bargain prices.  So far, I have only photographed 1/2 of one box and am getting skeins of yarn posted almost daily in my Etsy Shop.  I have plenty more, believe me.

So stay tuned.  We have lovely wool and mohair - some is even handspun!  We have cottons!  We have spinning fibers!  Are books next?  What about fabric?

And even more importantly, will we get more of the snow that the meteorologists are predicting?

How to Spend a Snowy Weekend

Here in Western North Carolina, we had a several inches of snow with a warmish Saturday that melted the top layer into a crust of ice.  I planned ahead so that I would not need to go anywhere.  Plenty of food, a choice of beverages, good reading material and no shortage of fiber!

I baked a delicious Pumpkin Sour Cream Bundt Cake.  The center is a cinnamon-sugar struesel.  The cake is substantial without being heavy.  I plan to add a dollop of Cream cheese based hard sauce this evening.  It's yummy!  But I have 3/4 of a can of pumpkin leftover, so I'll be looking for some more pumpkin recipes to use it up. We also made a delicious beef stew and chicken soup.  Yum!!!

I carded wool.  Last December I was in the neighborhood of the Mid States Wool Growers Coop and purchased a few pounds of natural colored wool. I've been separating it into different colors.  This is the 'Oxford Grey.'  Should be enough for a very nice skein, though I did not weigh it.  Fills a copier paper box; could be this evening's spinning.

I cleared the walk.  With the help of my fine neighbor, we shoveled the snow.  Light and fluffy on the bottom, crusty on top, so not a difficult task.  The street is still icy, but today it should get up to the mid-30s with sun.  Let the thawing begin!  I hope to finish digging my truck out and free it from its snowy bondage.

I started my taxes.  Not thrilling but necessary.  Besides I wanted to see how Smoky Mountain Fibers did.  The short answer:  Don't quit your day job! But with a good sized ending inventory of fiber, yarn and dyes, not bad at all.  2011 will be a year of cost-containment.  Hear that? Watch your spending!  Maybe time for another destash!

I knit!  My raglan cardigan was at the stage where I attached the sleeves to the body.  A dozen or so rows later, it is coming along nicely.  The best thing about raglan sweaters (other than the minimal sewing up at the end), is how each row gets successively shorter as you go from the armpit to the neckline.  Now with 300+ stitches, it's still a slog. 

I also washed hand spun yarns and planned an English Country dance that I'll lead next Sunday. J and I laid out some garden plans for the coming spring and summer.  Won't be long until it's time to put peas in the ground!

Getting Noticed

I love having an Etsy shop.  because of the growing traffic on this handmade marketplace, I am able to get my work out to the universe in a way I never even considered until I found Etsy back in ought-six.  In addition to buying and selling and creating an online community, individuals can create a 'Treasury' - a group of products that fit into the theme.  I occasionally luck into creating a treasury, but the timing is tricky and I find creating them very time consuming. 

Luckily, other people love to make them - and seem to be luckier than I am catching an opening.  Yesterday I got a lovely 'convo' - Etsyspeak for a personal message - notifying me that I was in a Treasury with a number of knitted object, yarn and another (killer beautiful) roving.  Fair warning - the links don't last long!  Such is the transient nature of the Treasury. Thanks, Svetlana for including my Blue Atlantic roving!

P.S. I knit about another inch on my sweater!

Fifteen More Minutes of Fame

Over in the fiber subculture we have the Phat Fiber Sampler Box - a monthly box of samples that go out to several dozen lucky buyers.  They do up on the Phat Fiber Etsy shop and are sold out in minutes.  To drum up excitement, Jessie, the queen of Phat Fiber blogs about different contributors throughout the month and people go check out your shop and talk about what they like. It's a fun community and since I am a contributor I get a box each month.  It's a great way to keep up with what other fiber artists are doing.  At our SAFF meetup back in October, I got to meet a number of the Phat Fiberistas - a fine group we are too!

I'm on the blog today, giving away a full size version of my December sample, Saturn.  I love to make this colorway - a vermillion red with gold - and all the colors in between.  In fact I blogged about it just the other day, but this is a different picture. And I admit it - I like reading the comments to hear what people like about my work.  Besides everybody says nice things!  They want to win!  No place here for that dreaded 'feedback.' No constructive criticism for my own good.  I'll just bask in my own personal glory for a little while longer!  I'll come down to earth soon enough.

Back to knitting:  Calorimetry 1 & 2 completed.  Scarf 1 begun, all of 5 inches knitted.  Still choosing yarn for the fingerless mitts.  Solid or multicolored?  Life is full of difficult decisions!

Progress Check

In my last post, I made a list of what is/will/should be happening. All in all, it has been a very good week! Here is the update...

• The Roofing dude is about to fix the creaking rafters. Check.  We have raised high the roofbeams, carpenter.
  
• The Plumber has my leak on his schedule (as soon as he gets back from Europe!).  Still broken, minimizing the use of plumbing, which means that laundry is piling up and I skipped my shower this morning.  I did spin out some dyed fiber, but captured some the grey water to use in soaking mohair locks
  
• The Solar guys are about mid-way through their installation. And should finish up tomorrow!
• New entry.  The furnace dude comes tomorrow to give the old geezer of a furnace it's yearly tune up.
  

In the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers...

• I'll be working at the Locally Grown Gallery this weekend at the WNC Farmers Market. An excellent day, selling lots of yarn, patterns and hats.  I spun a good bit too! 
• New entry. I weighed, bagged, photographed and listed a few bags of hand dyed locks I have had hanging out in the studio for too darn long.  Send them to a new home!
  
• New entry. Keep on spinning - I'm dangerously low on dyed yarns in Locally Grown.

• The day job has been requiring excessive reporting to finish the federal fiscal year, but they are nearly complete.  Done!

• I will lead my first full program on English Country dancing on Sunday. Although not a groundbreaking success, everybody lived through it and my fans were quite pleased.  Lots of new dancers!
  

Great Things are About to Happen

If I saw this message in a fortune cookie, I would be feeling about like I am right now.

My house is in flux right now. Let's think about pretty dyed wool.

• The Roofing dude is about to fix the creaking rafters.
• The Plumber has my leak on his schedule (as soon as he gets back from Europe!).
• The Solar guys are about mid-way through their installation.

Then I get to finish up the remaining stuff - like those giant cracks and then painting everything!

In the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers...

• SAFF is over and was delightfully successful and fun in so many ways.
  
• My booth-sitting was financially positive
• I'll be working at the Locally Grown Gallery this weekend at the WNC Farmers Market.
  
• My Etsy shop has been quite busy, thank you!
• I hit the blogoshere, thanks to Ms. Ashlee of My Cellar Door!

The day job has been requiring excessive reporting to finish the federal fiscal year, but they are nearly complete.  This makes me happy as I don't enjoy the reporting part of the job.
I will lead my first full program on English Country dancing on Sunday.  Last night I sent the tune list to the musicians.  Wish me luck.

So with this fortune, I am felling happy, lucky and expecting Great Things!

The Deadlines Are Upon Me!

I hate waking up at 4:00 a.m. in a bit of a panic about all the things I need to do.  But that's what I did on Sunday morning.  I began realizing just how many things were due at the end of October.  Some are on the good side of the work/fun continuum.  SAFF for example.  Even though I have to keep up with a web page or 2.  Dyeing yarn and fiber for my Etsy shop and delivering yarn, fiber and hats to my LYS accounts. Knitting and spinning.  Again, a good kind of work.

But my actual day job is definitely slanted in the other direction.  And even though I love what I do, occassionally all the deadlines kick in at the same time.  So instead of lying in bed worrying, I did what sensible people all over the universe do.  I made a List.

So on this very Monday morning, I have taken said List and begun completing items on it.  This blog post, however is not on the List, so it will be quite short and only mention that...

I have been featured on another blog,

http://jennytheartist.blogspot.com/2009/10/farmville.html.  Thank you Jenny!

My house is newly re-roofed, but now has several giant cracks in the ceilings and walls.  Kind of scary, huh?
This was not in the contract.

In the interest of getting back to the List, I'll be signing off! 

Phat October

As the time come near for the next Phat Fiber Sample Box, I have been dyeing roving and making up little 'twists' - small skeins of merino roving that are my contribution to the sampler box for the the Month of October,  This month's theme is 'Harlequin Ball.'  The somewhat mysterious theme and fall weather has encouraged my creative side to dye a dark autumn colorway based on one of my favorites - Carnivale.  I started with orange and purple dye with plenty of white space so the colors would not merge to muddiness.  Then I overdyed the whole roving with a garnet shade to bridge the two colors.  I was very happy with the results and saved out a roving to list in my Etsy shop once the box hits the streets. Watch for 'Dark Carnival.'

The Mars Hill show yesterday was great fun. My students are always surprised to see me and I get a chance to chat with members of my various communities who seem to come together at this event.  The college faculty, staff and students (as well as a few parents), fiber people, traditional music and dance crowd and just plain friends stop by.

All Natural

Just as I have been dyeing, carding and spinning lots of colors into my yarns, I've been selected for an Etsy Treasury featuring - what else? - natural colors.  Not that I am complaining! I love natural colors and just fininshed plying up several skeins of naturals that I have spun up over the the last few weeks.  I wanted to finish the last few pounds of medium brown roving (since the new batch was a tad different in shade) and I like to accumulate a few skeins to wash together so my natural skeins don't pick up any errand dye that may come from washing dyed roving or yarns.

Yes, I wash my yarns after spinning to release any dirt or spinning oil left in after processing,  The yarns have a much nicer hand - softer & fluffier - though they do shrink a bit.  However I think that is much fairer to my customers.  They get a truer hand and yardage.

Here is the Naturals grab bag that was featured.  If it sells by the time you read this blog post, just look in my 'Felter's Paintbox' category.  I just keep them coming! 

Spinning Happily!

Spinning away happily - for pure joy and for a good reason.  Lately I've been on a mission to spin my SmokyMountainFiber colorways.  I'm not quite sure why, but I love to dye roving, but tend to spin natural colors.  Is it because I tend to spin for the shops (who sell a lot of natural colors) and I spin for my hat knitting (again, much of the demand is for natural colors)? Yes, of course! Is it because the dyed roving is too precious to spin up?  I don't think so.  

So it has been my plan of late to spin my way through the SMF spectrum.  Although none of these are actual before and after shots, they do represent the starting point.   I give you Bronze Green.

 And now for something in the warmer side of the color wheel...

Fire is a hot color!  Forgive the pun, but dyeing this colorway has always excited my more than ony other color.  I have more on the wheel right now.

 My favorite  - Beach Glass  - the soothing blues and greens are a delight to spin and to dye.

I've got more, including colors that did not photograph well enough to put in my Etsy shop.  I've also spun some Uglies that went through the drum carder, as they frequently spin up better than you might think.  So I'll keep on spinning and sharing.


Still getting used to the new photo manipulation on Blogger.  Grrr!  I'll get better!

You Dance; I'll Spin

My cranky knee has forced me to give up dancing and hiking for a bit while I let it heal itself.  Self-diagnosed as patella tendinitis (aka runner's knee), I've upped my dose of supplements that are good for joint health and backed off the exercise.  So what's a woman to do when face with a already-paid-for weekend of music, contradancing, good friends and a great location?  Take one's spinning wheel, of course!  I missed the contra dancing, but I knew that it would be impossible to 'dance light' with that fabulous band.  I want my knee to heal - I have to let it happen.


So while 250 of my closest friends danced to Elixir with Nils Fridland, plus Charlotte's Anam Cara with caller Barbara Groh, I hung out in the shade and spun yarn.  Lots of yarn!  I spun hand-dyed roving in my Etsy colorways of Beach Glass and Saturn as well as some hand-carded batts in deep blue with gold mohair and a sweet aqua.  I did some dark brown overdyed in loden and natural medium brown.  Of course I drew a crowd - people want to take a break from dancing, and spinners know that the wheel really draws people in.  Now I can re-stock the Locally Grown gallery at the WNC Farmers Market.

Coming up this weekend, spinning at the Mountain State Fair.  To get ready, I'm dyeing more merino roving this time in shades of reds and oranges, plus Smoky Mountain Fibers Bronze Green, always a good seller. It's also the Wool Breeds sheep and fleece show and I usually treat myself to a fleece at the fair.  I also entered some hats and yarn in the fair and am interested to see if I won a ribbon or two.  I'll see on Saturday and report back!  Look for me in the Heritage Walk area - if I'm not visiting the sheep barns!