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!

It's Raining!

And rain is very good news here in Western North Carolina. The region has been in extreme drought all summer for the 2nd year in a row. But luckily the tail end of tropical depression Fay is bringing us a few days of much needed rain. The garden is looking pretty peaked, the grass and a number of the perennials are about gone, but now looks like we are in for a good soaking.

Progress on the fiber front continues as well. I spun 4 big, fat Louet bobbins at the WNC Farmers Market on Saturday, drawing interested people into Locally Grown, the craft shop that sells my yarn and fiber. In the meantime I made a decent delivery to Asheville Homecrafts in the Grove Arcade, finally filling up the allotted area for hand dyed fibers in spinners' quantities. The sock yarn is doing very well there, selling several skeins per week, so I dye-painted several more skeins this weekend. They have also started stocking my patterns and have requested more.

So I have to complete the development of 'Trailside,' and 'The Mad Russian' - that's it in the photo. Sally was pretty taken with the early version of Trailside, developed for Brown Sheep Bulky, so I've decided to keep working on that pattern as well. It is a good one, and works well for commercial yarns. I've got a healthy quantity of KnitPicks Bulky, which knits to the same gauge. Sounds like just the thing for my upcoming travel knitting!

I have had very good results with the merino that I have been felting. I made a healthy amount of flat felt, made up a number of flower parts and did some assembly, completing at least six pins. Sally gave me a handful of barrette backs for felt hair jewelry. Looks like a job for flowers with lots of leaves. another travel project? hmmm....

Classes start tomorrow. I am teaching 2 day classes of the educational technology course that has become my stock in trade and will start another class for the short semester of the evening program. The class looks better than ever, so I am looking forward to getting started.

Tonight, I'll be calling the contra dance at the Grey Eagle in Asheville. Cailen Campbell is playing his wicked fiddle. Looking forward to it!

Knitting and Dyeing and Felt, Oh Boy!

And beading and teaching and dancing and more!

It's been a busy time at the world headquarters of Smoky Mountain Fibers. Between work deadlines, the regular end of the semester and a seriously kick ass month at the Etsy shop, I have been a busy little worker bee. But I haven't forgotten to have fun.

I led my first English Country Dance on Sunday. After nearly 20 years of calling contras, it was time to start leading English dances. Bob Dalsemer of the John C. Campbell Folk School was our scheduled leader, but allowed me to call one. Our budding English dance is very supportive to one another as we rebuild the dance in the Asheville area. It was so fun! Harder - different terminology, but great fun and good feedback. Yeah!!!

I've been dyeing some of my favorite colorways - red/purple and blue/green. I also sold my first felt flowers! Easy and sweet - with no 2 the same. At least so far... I have also been playing with beads to make stitch markers. Technique is still a bit shaky, but I'm getting better.