Southbrook Vineyards, new market, new look!

I'm awaiting my yarns racks, they're getting another coat of stain, they're gonna be all dark and WONDERFUL and match the coat rack that will be fixed by my darling dear. and it turns out, i'm gonna be able to be there for the set up and initial few hours of the market, ALSO be back for break down!  very excited! hope it's as great as i want it to be!

new booth, new look, coming soon, new webname!

it occurs to me that i haven't updated in quite some time, even worse, i haven't shown any pics of my latest work in AGES! i've been procrastinating putting up new listings, as i keep forgetting to get white paper/bristol board to take pics on! bah!

chris' brother has been so kind as to take my words and make them into something(s) WONDERFUL! i asked him to make a yarn rack for me and he so FAR exceeded my expectations, i'm giddy with excitement and appreciation! here's a sneak peek of some of my new work, and some materials for my new booth....new, cohesive design for product/brand/display coming soon!!!! it's all in the works my friends!

last Brocante Lux downtown st. catharines!

hey Y'all! so, this coming friday will be the last day of brocante lux at the downtown market, from then on, we'll be partnering with Southbrook Winery, hopefully you all can make it down this week to see us, and, moving forward, come see us at Southbrook! make sure you check out the links!!!!! I've been working on new ideas, and really focusing my efforts on spinning, so i've got about forty yarns for this week! woo hoo! come see us!
www.brocantelux.comhttp://www.southbrook.com/

dreadfalls here i come...

i'm absolutely bursting with ideas for dread falls, i'm going to give it a go this weekend and see how it goes as far as labour, i think i can really make some unique and amazing hair adornments with these felted beauties! i'm thinking about incorporating silks and beads and locks...it's gonna be awesome! the only question is, will they sell?

pictures and updates

wheeeeeeeee!!!! more to come, keep your eyes here!

DOUBLE FAIL

so, first! i had a bunch of yarns that i've been a busy little beaver spinnin up a mini storm, but when i went to upload, the camera died...fail.
then, i wrote this terribly witty and charming post about graduating sign language and crib training and an etsy sale coming up with my friend at www.neauveau.com , it was all very entertaining. but when "publish post" i clicked, DELETED my post became. boourns!
i promise i'll post some pics later!

doodle naps

things have been on hold a bit for the past few days as the doodle has been having a REALLY hard time sleeping...sigh...

yarn is ART!

i ran into a friend of mine who owns a local downtown organic cafe, she's notorious for supporting local artists, and her walls are coveted gallery space as her cafe gets frequented by many in the artist community. i had been meaning to ask her about getting a yarn installation goin on there. i'd barely got the words out, and she offered up the wall next to the staircase, it's a LOT of space, with lotsa natural light...very exciting. so, just brainstorming what i'm gonna put up there.

in the meantime, i've started spinning the purple stuff, SUPER bulky, corespun, thinking about threadplying it...hmmmm....

PURPLE

Yesterday, i did the first stage in my purple push, i dyed up some teeswater locks, and some baby alpaca roving, and some merino and some neps...pinky purple and some almost periwinkle...they're drying on the rack in the bathroom, i'll be doing some more colour variations today when the mighty one and i get home from sign language class! also gonna pick up some supplies for my new line of product...hope it works!!!!

my triumphant return!

Hello! Wow, it has been a LONG time. Lets get you up to speed...firstly, we have moved, the place is smaller, but we'll save quite a bit of money, it's closer to my work, and closer to my mom, i'm happy to be downtown. Second, the mighty man has decided that he no longer wishes to sleep in his crib, there has been some major attempts made to remedy this situation, but with the move, its been a real nightmare, and is a work in progress. It's because of these trials that i've been slacking in my blogging, and maintaining my online self in general. However, may 1st marks a new day, and a new Oscar and Sophia!

I've been a part of Brocante Lux marketplace for the last three months, my local version of a monthly artisan market, right here in downtown st. catharines on the last friday of every month, it has been a learning experience, and has led me to my next adventure with art yarn, gotta keep up with the seasons, and branch out a little, though that is still in development, so i'll keep those cards close to my chest until i'm ready to reveal!

So, life plugs ever on, bamboo and cotton are my new obsession, waiting on my soda ash so i can use my new dyes, i'm thinking about experimenting with dyeing AFTER i've spun, self striping, anyone? for now, here's a little pictoral update, and i will be updating every other day, if not more, so keep your eyes here for new things!

pictures to be improved!

made some batts and spent some time with a dear friend yesterday, www.designsbyamber.etsy.com. she had some words of wisdom as far as pics goes...so, gonna update the picture studio this weekend, and next week, PICTURES WILL BE AWESOME! so help me.

also, will be participating in Brocante Lux artisan market on february 25th, demoing spinning, and selling my art yarns! so, we hope to see you there, downtown st. catharines market square, i'll be posting again before then with more details as to what i'll be offering, and again, with ROCKIN PICS!

bluey bluerson

 so i decided to be super creative from here on out as far as it goes with yarn that i'm spinning just to spin something, i can be a little more boring when it comes to the stuff i'm spinning for custom orders, but i'm challenging myself to really make my art yarn into works of ART.

so i got my latest batt of the month from www.pancakeandlulu.etsy.com and really tried something. i wanted to make "bandages" out of bits of sari silk ribbon wrapped om satin ribbo, and somehow tie it in a bow. sadly, i cut the bits of sari silk too short, but the finished product is still super cool, i lso used some alpaca/angora roving which i dyed to match. its drying as we speak and its so bulky and bumpy and gorgeous!

i'll use this technique again, but maybe ill use fatter ribbon!

SPINNING FOCUS

SO, i've still got a list of custom orders that i'm really trying to turn all my focus on, and with more coming in every day, i've really gotta stay on track and not just spin stuff, JUST to spin something! but when a beauty of a batt comes in my batt of the month club, i just gotta indulge! especially when i had been sitting with my mom talking about how i never spin anything blue, like royal blue, or sapphire blue, and the next day my batt arrives and it's a BEAUTIFUL mix of blues, with some denim, sparkle, sari silk, merino, mohair, raw silk and gorgeous angelina, i'm excited! but, what to blend it with, it's only about three ounces, so i gotta pair it up with something...as i rifled through the drawers and drawers of fiber, i found a big ole bag of alpaca/angora roving i TOTALLY forgot about. it's SO super soft, and gives such a gorgeous halo, i was instantly inspired. i've been spinning pretty boring yarn lately, well, boring to me anyway, just straight up corespun singles, so i rifled through my stash for stuff i could add to this yarn that's gonna be a show stopper! sari silk ribbons, wrapped with some black satin ribbon...hmmmm, maybe the batt could be used as a sort of add in...hmmmm...the wheels are turning.

in the meantime, this is some yarn i just spun up for a scarf for my friend josh. i found this romney cross batt that i had, and though it felt quite coarse, when it spun up and washed, it's actually quite smooth and shiny! then i dyed a blonde alpaca batt from my alpaca stash, with some gunmetal and brilliant blue...i don't mind telling you, it turned out AWESOME. i did yard length peices of each batt alternately, it's just SO pretty! nice and bulky, i love corespinning on a big fat core! also gives good use to all that commercial yarn i'll never use! who's got two thumbs and is trying harder to be frugal? this girl right here!

has been awhile, hasn't it?

to be honest, i've just been so busy with the little Mighty man, i just haven't had a chance to get on here and show you all what i've been working on. well, really, i've barely been working on anything, cause mister is going through a bit of a separation anxiety patch, so the only place he sleeps is on me/nursing pillow, post nursing! we've got a new plan of attack though, we're going to enact said plan this weekend (starting anyway), and hopefully i'll be able to get back to spinning and creating everyday!


that being said, i HAVE managed to get a few things done. my friend ashley( www.spinningbee.com) has posted an online workshop for the month of january with the theme of "snow". i've been watching a LOT of oasis hd lately, and the other day there was a show that had a whole bunch of gorgeous shots of icebergs...thus, my inspiration was set. i don't know how i did it, but i managed to get the colours i wanted EXACTLY using a bit of luck, and just natural crafty talent, i guess! ;) i love it when you try something with your eyes squeezed shut, fingers crossed, hoping for the best and the best is what you get!

 

 

i mean, come on! that's EXACTLY the colours and shade variations you find in the big sucker icebergs! that pale sapphire, the icy turquoise, i'm so pleased. so then i decided to add some super soft and lofty cocoons/snowballs, i hand carded some snow white angora rabbit with a few little turquoise nepps and a ton of angelina....

 

then i took the merino, and predrafted a super thick and thin thin single, and yesterday it started to come together...

 

aint it purdy? that's all i have time for right now, but i've done more work, i've started knitting with some GORGEOUS cashmere i spun awhile back that's just been sitting there being beautiful and BEGGING me to create something with it. i've been experimenting with knit/purl techniques. and i got my friend sarah's  hat done but for the tassels, and her scarf is next. i also have got a bunch of new requests...mama's a busy gal! 

p.s. did i mention the snow?

SECOND SALE DAY!

well, today i put through my second sale ever on etsy, i should really just make all my friends pay through etsy so it shows up as sales, i've made ten or twelve sales in the last year but it doesn't reflect in my etsy...must remedy that. sleep training didn't go well, i'm waiting for my new book to come "no cry sleep solution", cause the "cry it out" method doesn't work for this fella. he cries and cries and screams hysterical and just gets himself so worked up, he's NOT going to sleep. sigh, so, we're going to try something else.

made my second sale on etsy! it's a custom order for my friend josh. i corespun some custom dyed merino/seacell and paired it with some lion brand handspun. i put a pocket on the one end which i monogrammed by needlefelting some cvm and i tasseled up the other end. it's nice and long and he loves it. it went through as my second ever sale on etsy! gotta get that number higher!

 i took some awesome pictures outside

got a few of them up on etsy, i'm gonna try to get them all up by the end of the day! hooray!