And look what he left --
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Color Purple
Weeks ago, a friend asked if I would spin some yarn for her from some fleece she was given by an alpaca farmer. She gleefully handed me a packet of about 8 oz. of purple fleece.
It is beautiful but not ready to be made into yarn -- alpaca by itself isn't the greatest yarn because it doesn't have memory like wool does. So, a knitted item will just stretch out of shape...and stay that way.
I ordered a little bit of white shetland wool fleece and finally, yesterday, I had a chance to color it purple by dyeing it on the stove with pleasing results:
Also, I got a chance to use an Xmas present from SO -- a fleece drying rack that he made for me. The fleece is still drying but soon I will be able to make my friend's yarn. Yay!
It is beautiful but not ready to be made into yarn -- alpaca by itself isn't the greatest yarn because it doesn't have memory like wool does. So, a knitted item will just stretch out of shape...and stay that way.
I ordered a little bit of white shetland wool fleece and finally, yesterday, I had a chance to color it purple by dyeing it on the stove with pleasing results:
Also, I got a chance to use an Xmas present from SO -- a fleece drying rack that he made for me. The fleece is still drying but soon I will be able to make my friend's yarn. Yay!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Season Opener
While baseball stadiums start till fill with fans, certain other folk are jumping in their cars to hit their favorite antique stores the close for the winter. We went to one of our favorites today: the Gatchelville Store. For a change, I didn't buy anything, but SO did buy a couple of things. Instead, I snapped a few photos to share:
Yummo! A big pile of bark cloth at reasonable prices!
Look! 800 Proved Pecan Recipes...800?!?!
Piles upon piles of vintage and antique buttons - I have been known to get lost in these piles:
Pretty starched vintage tablecloths!
SO asked, "You're taking a picture of that???" Yes, because I love the aqua color and the shabby chicness:
Let the games begin...flea markets, yard sales, estate sales...!!!!
Yummo! A big pile of bark cloth at reasonable prices!
Look! 800 Proved Pecan Recipes...800?!?!
Piles upon piles of vintage and antique buttons - I have been known to get lost in these piles:
Pretty starched vintage tablecloths!
SO asked, "You're taking a picture of that???" Yes, because I love the aqua color and the shabby chicness:
Let the games begin...flea markets, yard sales, estate sales...!!!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
New Site Launched!
Come on over and check it out!
http://www.spinartiste.com/
It's live and launched...and I'm tired. I made so much progress on this yesterday and knew I was so close, that I was up half the night...
The feedback from the fiber arts community has been tremendous -- so encouraging.
I've hired a developer to help me with the finishing touches because I never set out to become a wordpress developer. They can get me finished up in a few days and I will be on my merry little way.
Meanwhile, back in crafty-land, I knitted a hat on Saturday:
I needed it!!! SO and I were at an artifact show and it was freezing so in the morning, I knit a hat and before lunch, my head was covered. The yarn is called "Razzle" and it's a "vegan" yarn -- no animal fibers -- made by an up and coming fiber artist named Compassioknit that I met a couple of weeks ago. We are working on a story for Spin Artiste to be published in the next two weeks.
Fun!
http://www.spinartiste.com/
It's live and launched...and I'm tired. I made so much progress on this yesterday and knew I was so close, that I was up half the night...
The feedback from the fiber arts community has been tremendous -- so encouraging.
I've hired a developer to help me with the finishing touches because I never set out to become a wordpress developer. They can get me finished up in a few days and I will be on my merry little way.
Meanwhile, back in crafty-land, I knitted a hat on Saturday:
I needed it!!! SO and I were at an artifact show and it was freezing so in the morning, I knit a hat and before lunch, my head was covered. The yarn is called "Razzle" and it's a "vegan" yarn -- no animal fibers -- made by an up and coming fiber artist named Compassioknit that I met a couple of weeks ago. We are working on a story for Spin Artiste to be published in the next two weeks.Fun!
Monday, March 28, 2011
New Project in the Works
For a couple of months, I've been slowly working on a new project: a new blog that focuses on the making/using of "art yarn". I've got a lot of pieces in place including this sporty logo:
I've got a lot of ideas, notes, etc. scattered around and now time for me to really focus on getting this launched. It's exciting and scary (a lot of times those two seem to go together, right?) and I'm curious to see where it will lead me. Of course, a lot of the time, it crosses my mind that it might be an utter flop...but, so what? What would a flop be in this case? No one reads it but myself, SO and a few friends that will read it because they're good friends. And, the good part is, that would be enough to keep me going.
Spin Artiste is going to tell the stories about the artists making the beautiful yarns that I am completely in love with and hopefully there will be some good patterns and great "yarn porn".
I've got my work cut out for me over the next month as one of the most amazing fiber festivals in the country is at the beginning of May and happens to be in my own backyard. I'd like to be up and running with a post or two by then and a small readership thanks to my fiber-facebook buddies. It's highly doable...I know I will get it done.
This is the heavy lifting stage though so forgive me if I am not able to keep up with my twice weekly posts here!
I've got a lot of ideas, notes, etc. scattered around and now time for me to really focus on getting this launched. It's exciting and scary (a lot of times those two seem to go together, right?) and I'm curious to see where it will lead me. Of course, a lot of the time, it crosses my mind that it might be an utter flop...but, so what? What would a flop be in this case? No one reads it but myself, SO and a few friends that will read it because they're good friends. And, the good part is, that would be enough to keep me going.
Spin Artiste is going to tell the stories about the artists making the beautiful yarns that I am completely in love with and hopefully there will be some good patterns and great "yarn porn".
I've got my work cut out for me over the next month as one of the most amazing fiber festivals in the country is at the beginning of May and happens to be in my own backyard. I'd like to be up and running with a post or two by then and a small readership thanks to my fiber-facebook buddies. It's highly doable...I know I will get it done.
This is the heavy lifting stage though so forgive me if I am not able to keep up with my twice weekly posts here!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Grand Opening!
It was a bit of work, but I managed to get my Etsy shop opened!
Paste this address into your browser: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BelladonnaYarns?ref=pr_shop
Tell me what you think!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Finished Object Alert: Chocolate Mint Scarf!!!
I wish you could see this in person and feel how yummy and soft this is!
This is made with my own handspun yarn and in person the colors remind me of chocolate chip Mint ice cream. The yarn is really squishy and soft because I plyed the wool single with mohair for that fuzzy, halo effect.
It's going into the present stash and it's already spoken for!
This is made with my own handspun yarn and in person the colors remind me of chocolate chip Mint ice cream. The yarn is really squishy and soft because I plyed the wool single with mohair for that fuzzy, halo effect.
It's going into the present stash and it's already spoken for!
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