Blue Skys

Blue Skies Flower Power Art Yarn with Gourmet Mix-Ins

I had a request for my Flower Power yarn, so I spun some up, with a few little twists, I thought I'd share a picture for this week's Fiber Friday post. Like all my art batts/yarn, this contains multiple colors, distinct textures from multiple types of fiber, and added elements, all spun together to make (hopefully) a beautiful, interesting yarn.

As autumn approaches, folks (including me!) are thinking more and more of cozy spinning or knitting projects to keep our loved ones warm. With that thought, I'm off to do some spinning, two pounds of alpaca is calling to me!

Have a wonderful weekend! Blessings Friends!
Melissa

This Just In...

When I'm interested in something, I like to learn as much as I can about it, so I am always on the look out for useful books. I recently picked up the wonderful book, Beautiful Sheep by Kathryn Dun. It's chock full of gorgeous, full size, glossy, color photos. Each breed gets a two page layout. The left hand page outlines all sorts of useful information about the breed and the fiber. It's such a nice reference book. It will go right on my desk next to the book, In Sheep's Clothing, by Nola Fournier and Jane Fournier, this is my "go to book" when I'm sourcing fleeces and fiber. It's well organized and it's a good size to tuck in your bag when you head off to the fiber festivals.

At spinning recently, one of my friends recommended the book Sheepish, by Catherine Friend, which lead me to another book of hers, Hit By A Farm. Both are great reads, they are the perfect combination of information, paired with hilarious anecdotes.(And some not so hilarious, but it's important to see it all, right?) I came away with an honest glimpse at their path as they became sheep farmers.

The last two are oldies but goodies, Raising Sheep The Modern Way and Turning Wool Into A Cottage Industry, both by Paula Simmons of Pat Green Carders fame. I have quite a few of her books, love them all!

Now you may be wondering, why does a spinner need to know so much about raising sheep? It's interesting for one, but also, I have learned so much about the fiber I work with everyday. There is also the dream of so many spinners, me included, that someday I will have a little spinners flock on my own little farm. Stay tuned for that!

If you have any books you would like to recommend, I'd love to hear about them!

Have a wonderful weekend! Blessings Friends!
Melissa

Love All the Way From South Africa!!

Look at this awesome package I received from Natalie, all the way from the Republic of South Africa! We were paired in the Sending Love Heart Swap over at Natural Suburbia and I couldn't be more thrilled! Natalie sent me these wonderful red fingerless gloves, which I really need, since my hands get so cold sometimes. I will get just as much use from them indoors as I will outdoors, very nice. Plus she made me a beautiful little silver plaque embossed with a tree and a moon and star. I need more trees in my life, maybe this will be the first of many beautiful trees to come into my life. Natalie also makes and sells yummy seasoning blends in her shop, Marigoldsloft and she shared a delicious blend of herbs, Himalayan salt crystals and sea salt. I used it when I made chicken soup the other day, it was a good complement to the soup. I love it! And I really love my heart swap parcel, thanks Natalie!!!


This is the little stained glass panel I made for Natalie, it's about 8x8 inches and I was so relieved that it made it all the way to South Africa safe and sound!


It has been a good week for crossing things off that old to do list, and some of those things were knitting UFO's which are now complete. This is the Mystic Midsummer Wreath Mystery KAL I had been plugging away on. As you can see, I have finished it and it's all blocked, YEA!


I really enjoyed this KAL, and now it makes the boring vanilla socks I cast on so that I would have something on the needles, a big giant snooze fest.

It's hard to tell, but I added a little sprinkle of clear iridescent and silver beads in the rows between the two lace charts.


My bobble sleeping socks/slippers, became my mum's slippers. As I was finishing them she made so many comments about how nice they matched her robe...Sooo


How could I resist? They look so cute on her, and she is tickled with them, plus they're really warm and her tootsies get cold. I think I'll try for another pair for myself, we'll see how that goes LOL!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Blessings Friends!
Melissa

Busy, Busy, Busy!

( It's my spinning wheel-iversary, I bought my Lendrum in 2008 at Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan. My cat Ciss loves her as much as I do, as you can tell!)

Golly have I been busy! I wish I could share photos with you of all the projects I have been working on! Some are top secret for the moment ;0)

I don't know about you, but these seasonal changes always inspire projects which involve organizing, paring down, setting goals and working toward completion. For me the turn toward fall inspires the same kind of clean up energy that spring invites. In that spirit, I have put together an awesome shelving system with plenty of room to store all my fleeces. No more piling them willy-nilly all on two shelves, they are all sorted and organized, even more importantly, they have a bit of breathing room. (and I have more space)

The next thing on my list was to set up a separate studio space for my glass work. This was a big, big project! I had to totally rearrange an entire space in order to still accommodate my dyeing area, while bringing in my work bench, tools and glass, much of it was in storage and all of it was very heavy! I still have a bit to go, the glass is now all on site and will soon make it's way to the happy, organized work area! My goal was to have this done before the snow falls, so that I can work on some stained glass windows over the winter.

In the fiber world, it's been a whirl wind of activity, August is a busy month! First the Michigan Fiber Festival, then Stitches Midwest and I think there might have been a couple of other things thrown in there too, it's been such a blur of activity! I love fiber, don't you?!!!

I hope you are enjoying all your fiber activities and projects, I look forward to checking out your fabulous (fiber) creations! (Next time more pictures, I promise!)

Blessings Friends!
Melissa