The annual Log Cabin Spin-In was yesterday.  So much fun!  It was held at Templin's Red Lion on the river and is incomparable for hospitality and the view.  Lots of vendors were there as were lots of spinners and a few visiting public.  I had taken my big tapestry loom in hopes of selling it but it didn't sell, sad to say.  There were a few spinning wheels for sale and lots and lots of yarn and fibery stuff.  I was fortunate enough to win the very first door prize, a gift certificate.  It wasn't hard to spend ... I bought two more hand knit caps from my friend Diana at Going to the Sun Fiber Mill in Kalispell, MT who had a booth set up there.  She does beautiful work and her mill processes my fibers.  Here's a picture of the one I had her knit up for me previously.  I want to try dry dyeing it like we did with the yarn balls.  Just dip and hold a portion of the little hat in the dye pot and let the dye soak up as far as it wants.  Then turn the hat and do another section in a different color.  You just have to remember to dye the lightest colors first, then the darker.  The two dyes will eventually run together for a short ways and create a third color.  Its fun and sometimes you get something totally unexpected.  My kind of dyeing.  Unexpected results.  Yeah!

The wonder plying machine is a marvel!  I can hardly wait to get some more yarn singles spun up so I have something to ply on it.  I got some of the wool cones given to me last summer and plyed them and then put it on the ball winder.  Ended up with three pretty good sized balls of white wool yarn.  It looks great and will get dyed in the ball Thursday when a friend comes over.  We will be experimenting with different dyes and techniques.  This should be fun and will post pix when we're done.  Decided a couple days ago that the white LL I've been dyeing is just too bright for the braided rug.  I threw some dark gray, light gray, beige and white in the dye pots all together.  Each color wool turned out different but the same coloration.  The grays and beige are beautiful, but as I said the white was just too bright.  So today I have been blending some light and dark gray into the bright ones.  The blended orange and green is on the left and then blended with the dark and light gray is on the right.  Its turning out pretty nice and when its done it should all be a cohesive unit for the rug.  Hope it matches my carpet and wall paint ok.  I am really enjoying my studio these days.  I also was able to dye up some BFL in a light navy and have been blending that with some Kelly green columbia I had.  It makes a nice heathered dark blue-green yarn.

I got it!  An electric plying spinner from Babe's Fiber Garden.   Not pretty, but it sure does the job.  I just got it set up this morning (took the picture still sitting on the box it came in) and of course didn't have anything to ply.  I did find some old and scratchy mohair blend I had spun several years ago on a spindle.  I needed the spindle for another project so had re-wound it on two empty TP rolls.  They didn't work as smoothly as a real bobbin would have, but I just couldn't wait.  Started out plying the two together, then decided to add some mohair locks I pulled open.  I purchased them in Arizona last spring and they were nice and soft.  Between trying to get the hang of using a bobbin-led wheel and trying to insert those pesky little mohair locks, I've had a great time this morning.  This would probably look good in a wall tapestry or something like that.  Can't imagine where I'd use this yarn, but its fun and very pretty.  I can't wait to try plying some hand spun yarn.   I'm also dying up a couple pounds of wool in different colors and will try braiding a rug next.  So many projects and certainly not enough time.  I'm taking my tapestry loom to the Log Cabin Spin-In this month hoping to sell it.  Got to make room for more 'stuff'.

Well I finally bit the bullet and joined Facebook at my daughter's insistence. We have lots of close relatives that live in other states. It is nice to get to see their pix and see what they are doing. I don't know if I will post much, but I will give it a try. This week I've been plying the blue/green alpaca with some nice white BFL I had spun up about a year ago. Here's a pic. I got so tired from the plying about half way through I called my friends at Paradise Fibers in Spokane and ordered a special electric spinning wheel set up just for plying. My knees and feet are so sore. I should have ordered it before I started. But it should be here in a few days. I have to finish what I started on this old Ashford (which I love) because I don't want to break the yarn and make my skein shorter. guess I'm just finicky, but the longer the better.

The scamers and spamers are at it again. I've had to withdraw my loom ad from craigslist. I've received no less than 20 offers from these weirdo's. Its still for sale, just not on that web site. Our weather has been wonderful for most of the winter this year. The last couple weeks has been near or in the 40's. I'm wanting to get the garden weeded and ready to plant something new. Now, if I could just keep Bella from digging elephant-size holes everywhere ... like the driveway, the front yard ... she loves digging! And so big and strong now she can just about go through concrete. I've been spinning up the blue / green baby alpaca (Wasabi's) I dyed last year. I want to make a baby hat for a friend's new baby. Hope I get the yarn done before the little guy's a teenager! We were finally able to find a new home for the Q-bed. A friend is coming today to pick it up and take it to the family. I'm so glad they can use it. My little Harley will be gelded next Sat. He has gotten so amorous with me! I'm sorry to do it to him, but it will be better. The two other little guys aren't ready yet but the vet says he can 'fix' that so we can do them this year (I hope).

For Sale: Ashford 24" Tapestry Loom - $350 (Cost New $525) I will be at the Log Cabin Spin-In in Post Falls in March and can deliver it then. Or you can see it / pick it up at my home studio. Email me at WovenDreamsFarm@wildblue.net if you want more pictures or have any questions.

I guess its time for me to pass this beautiful loom along to someone else. I purchased it used about five years ago from a nice lady in Wisconson. I have never used it and realize now I probably won't. I have four other looms and although I have always wanted to learn how to do Navajo weaving or make a wall tapestry, I just don't have the time any more. So I am downsizing a bit. This is a great deal for someone with the time. Whoever purchases this has to promise to send me pictures of what they made with it, though!!

Poodwaddle.com

A friend sent me this utube video link. I had to post it here as it is one of the best I have ever seen. Take a look at this and be sure your sound on on. All I can say is Beautiful ... Bravo, Bravo!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds8ryWd5aFw
I also have it listed under Favorite Links. Here is the email I received with the link:
In November 2009 at the central market in Valencia, Spain, opera
singers disguised as shopkeepers were selling produce at the
various stalls there. Suddenly music from Verdi's Il
Trovatore starts playing over the loudspeakers & they burst
into song. None of the shoppers has a clue what's going on. Sort of
like candid camera but completely charming.
Click on this & watch and enjoy the music and the faces in the crowd.

What a beautiful month we've had. Rather than snowing, its been raining. So different that the last couple years. The tree and bush branches are starting to have some color so buds won't be far behind. Sure hope we don't have a hard freeze in Feb which would kill off the new growth. I went to a natural dye class Sat. The product we used is called Earthues and is mostly comprised of bugs and roots and is a very ancient form of dyeing used around the world. The picture shows the nine different applications. We used cochineal, logwood purple, cutch, Qyellow, Qred, pomegranate, weld, lac and chestnut. Cochineal and lac are bugs, the rest are roots or seeds and plants. We were told not to wash the yarn for at least a week so assume it will soften the colors just a little when I do. It was very interesting and a lot of fun. I've used other dyes, but never anything like these. The colors don't turn out like you would imagine so a basic class is helpful. I've more confidence now and would love to try them. They are very expensive so I'd sure hate to mess it up. Got to get my tax stuff done this week as my appointment with the tax preparer is next week. No playing and fun for me until its done.

WELCOME 2010 !

The new year is finally here. Out with the old, in with the new. Just like our lives we throw away what we don't need any more. One of the things I like and will continue in 2010 is recycling. We usually re-home our older clothes to the Salvation Army, reuse grocery plastic bags and all the stuff most folks do also. One or two interesting ideas is to shop thrift stores, find a sweater (or whatever they have) that's not particularly attractive but the colors are beautiful. Then frog it, or unravel it. Knit or weave the new yarn to make yourself a scarf or hat for near to nothing pricewise. Last summer I carded small batches of left over fiber together and got some very interesting combinations. Some people (not me) use the thurms from weaving and spin them in with other fibers for a colorful interesting yarn. I'm still working on spinning the brown / white / black alpaca. It will be a 2-ply yarn and so far I have one bobbin full, ready to start of the second bobbin. If finances get better this year I would love to get an electric spinner to be used for plying. That's the only part that makes me so tired, because there's a lot of it and I'm always anxious to get it done (so I can play with it!). My resolution for this year is to get my desk cleaned off. Happy New Year everyone.

Six days until Christmas. I finished up my shopping and things I was making this last week. No more trips to the mall. WooHoo! I had done most of my grocery shopping for Christmas before Thanksgiving and put a lot of stuff in the freezer in the spare refrigerator. Right after turkey day I cleaned out that frig and turned it off. Unfortunately I also turned off the freezer somehow and we just discovered everything was lost. All the meat including my beautiful big lamb roast I was planning on for the 25th. Another trip to the dump was in order. I did manage to get the hat finished for my daughter. Now I'm working on a little crochet purse for her that I don't know if I will finish or not. Pix when I do. We still don't have any snow to speak of. We had about 3" this last week, but today its raining and most of its gone now. We got Bella spayed this week. She did just fine. I'm disappointed because I wanted to breed her in a year or so but with all the coyotes up here I was too afraid one might get through our fence and get to her. So now, she can just concentrate on her wonderful guarding capabilities. Already she's a great watch dog. And at 7 mo old and nearly 75 pounds, I would certainly be afraid. I've been reading on-line about a new dyeing technique I'm anxious to try. Its similar to tie-dyeing but with a much different look. As soon as the holidays are over and things calm down again I am heading back into the studio. BTW, here's a picture of my poor bamboo scarf that got 'kitty-handled'. Keep in mind that threads in this are about the size of sewing thread.

Brrrrrrrr. Temps much colder than they should be. Here's a sample from around 6am Tues morning. Bella is tolerating the cold by sleeping comfortably outside every night. So does Dolly with the alpacas and goats. I visualize them all huddling together in the sheds. Probably not. I'm trying to get my second bamboo scarf done. I've set a goal of six inches each day. I can't seem to stay on schedule every day but was doing pretty well until I found one of our kitties had sharpened his / her nails on the woven part. What a mess. I will have to un-weave about the last four inches and just hope the warp isn't damaged. The weft isn't so important and it could be replaced. Right now I have the bamboo warp on the Ashford, I'm winding the wool warp in the studio and plan to space-dye it when its all wound off, I have white-brown-black alpaca blended and on the spinning wheel, a hat for my daughter about half done with the knitting, my knitted sox about 3/4 finished, a cashmere knitted hat started, and a knitted scarf from dyed alpaca roving started. Anything else? I'll never remember. In addition, I've ordered two more painted warps and have one I want to paint myself and make a scarf. With only a couple weeks left until Christmas there is so much other stuff to do I wonder when I can get back to my studio. I went shopping yesterday and returned home nearly empty-handed. I can't seem to find what I want and the rest is way too expensive. We have no snow yet, just cold and wind. At least that wind has stopped for the time being. Good excuse to stay in and complete at least one project.