One more show to go…

And this will be my last show for the year, at the Bazaar Bizarre on December 3 and 4th at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Booth 177. I love that the event is for FREE. I don’t understand why people should pay to go shopping when they are trying to support crafters.

I’m cranking on the dyeing, although since this is a craft fair, I’m kind of guessing what to bring with me. It will be definitely a learning experience. I need to dye some wool locks, card batts and try to have a little bit of everything and see what will sell. In the meanwhile, I managed to spin a couple of skeins for a client in Canada.

It came out well balanced which can be a challenge when spinning single ply yarns.

Well, this is the time of the year when we get to stop and be thankful for what we have and who we are. I want to thank my family, my wonderful and loving husband, my dear friends (Yes you! I know you are snooping), my great costumers that supported my shop for another year, my aches pains and, because of your gentle way of reminding me to slow down, and for being able to breath every day which I consider to be these days a privilege.

Great weather at the Craft Fair

The weather was in fact wonderful! Whew! I was nervous about having a rainy and cold day, but the day was sunny with a nice warmth during the day and afternoon. We received visitors of all ages and from all over the Bay Area. One of the most fun aspects of doing these fairs is meeting people that support handmade, but not necessarily know much about fiber, so they come up with the most interesting questions.

I really love these ceramic coffee mugs made by Dana Hooper.

Ceramic bowls by Marlie DeSwart

I have one more show to go. The next show will be held in San Francisco at the Bazaar Bizarre at the Concourse Exhibition Center. More info to come…

And the quote of the day:

Holiday Craft Fair

I almost forgot to post about Mimi’s Holiday Craft Fair. I will be participating along with other local artists. As always Mimi’s events are a lot of fun!

I hope you can visit! Oh, by the way, we will be there rain or shine!

The gathering of fiber lovers…

The Fiber Fair at Windrush Farm was a success! I’m not talking about the amount of sales here, I’m referring to the fact that this event attracted spinners, knitters and many, many fiber enthusiasts that came from far away to visit us. It was nice meeting people that told me that have been reading the blog (thank you) and watch spinners arrive with their wheels, spindles, carders (we had a man arriving with a carder and a whole fleece), knitting needles at full speed and a Celtic Harp! The weather couldn’t have been more cooperative with us. Every year it just gets better and better!

Third Annual Fiber Fest, Sunday October 16

Save the date! Sunday October 16th. I can’t believe a year has passed since we celebrated our Second Annual Fiber Fest. I will be participating again as a vendor at Windrush Farm with my hand dyed fiber. Mimi has lined up some demonstrations regarding fiber processing and I will be taking part in doing a mini demonstration on felting.

I hope you can visit, bring your spinning wheel and don’t forget to grab a hat, because it can get warm during the day. Marlie de Swart will be there representing Black Mountain Artisans, Charmaine Krieger will be selling her naturally dyed handspun yarn and will be doing a demo on natural dyeing. If you haven’t visited the area, you will be greeted by beautiful rolling hills and impressive scenery that surrounds Windrush Farm. It’s really a treat for the eyes and nourishing to the senses. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Directions

From San Francisco and the East Bay

Take Hwy 101 N to Petaluma Blvd South
Exit on Petaluma Blvd S and stay on that road into downtown Petaluma.
Take a left at the sixth stop-light which is Western Ave, just underneath the clock tower.
Stay straight on Western Ave for about 2 miles until Chileno Valley Rd. Look for green Walker Creek Ranch sign before your left turn onto Chileno Valley. Turn left on Chileno Valley Rd.
Follow Chileno Valley Rd for 3.6 miles. Look for the “Marin County Line” sign and a “narrow bridge” sign.
Windrush Farm is the driveway on the left just before the bridge. 2263 Chileno Valley Rd.

From Santa Rosa and the North

Take Hwy 101 S to Washington Street Exit, Petaluma
Exit and turn right on Washington Street.  Continue west and turn left on Petaluma Blvd.
Take a right at the next stop-light onto Western Ave, just underneath the clock tower.
Stay straight on Western Ave for about 2 miles until Chileno Valley Rd. Look for green Walker Creek Ranch sign before your left turn onto Chileno Valley. Turn left on Chileno Valley Rd.
Follow Chileno Valley Rd for 3.6 miles. Look for the “Marin County Line” sign and a “narrow bridge” sign.
Windrush Farm is the driveway on the left just before the bridge. 2263 Chileno Valley Rd.

From Pt Reyes Station

Take the Petaluma-Pt Reyes Rd and after the Marin Cheese Factory turn left onto Hicks Valley Road.  At the Petaluma-Marshall Road, turn right towards Petaluma.  Go up the big hill, come down, and at the intersection where Chileno Valley goes left, GO STRAIGHT.  Cross the narrow bridge, and immediately turn right into the driveway of 2263 Chileno Valley Road.  The intersection is confusing, but Chileno Valley also continues straight, hence, do not turn left.

Spinning at the Farm

  What a pleasure it was to meet my friends to do nothing but spin and talk about fibers for the whole day. We met at Windrush Farm on Wednesday morning and set our spinning wheels near the swimming pool. It was a great way to enjoy one of the lasts day of summer. The day was warm and beautiful, so we made sure that we had plenty of drinks near by.

This looked very promising…

Mimi has yarn hanging just about anywhere you look… Not that is unfamiliar to me.

Yes… Spinners also have to eat like the rest of the world…

My friend Mimi…

Oh, yes… we got to spin some yarn…

And feed the animals…

This fellow seemed a bit mischievous to me.

Getting ready for dinner.

I was able to spin a couple skeins of Suri Alpaca.

And got to see how Mimi and Charmaine prepare an Indigo vat.

Looking forward to our next meeting…

Do you want to see change?

BE THE CHANGE…

 

 

And pass the message,

☮❤☼ (◠‿◠) ☼❤☮

                NAMASTE

Blending fibers

One of my biggest pleasures of spinning is the fiber preparation that goes beforehand. Finding the right compliment that won’t overshadow each of the fibers that I have chosen to blend together can be a little tricky with some risks involved. Here is where planning, discovery, and a little bit of serendipity takes me to new appreciations where my own expectations takes a second role.

But that is exactly what makes it fun and almost addictive. And I know I’m not rediscovering the wheel here, but I still jump screaming  ”Eureka” when I get something soft and pretty. I’ve been spinning a batt lately made with Icelandic lambswool, alpaca and border leicester.

I find the alpaca and the soft undercoat (thel) of the Icelandic similar in softness and it produces a yarn with a pretty halo that I suspect will be just more obvious once I soak it and  full it.

This is another good combination:

Gotland, Wensleydale and Mohair, and all three of them take the dye with so much vibrance. I have about 7 more pounds of the Gotland to go through, so I hope to post more of my progress before I find another thing to do…

Enchanted Forest

I want to share a few pictures of my samples for next month. I’m excited because I haven’t been contributing to the Phat Fiber Box for the past two months and also because I’m sending samples of my Teeswater Combed Top which is a new fiber in my shop.

Spinning Teeswater is like spinning Wensleydale. The staple length is usually about 6 to 7 inches long for the combed top, as for the locks, they measure between 10 to 12 inches long and sometimes even longer than that. The top has a softer handle than Wensleydale, and much similar to the silkiness of Mohair.

And so, the theme for the month of September will be  “Enchanted Forest” and the name of my colorway is “Forest Path”. I tried to recreate the colors of the Douglas Fir and Redwoods that grow around my area up in the mountains.

If you don’t know how to get hold of a box, you can sign up here: Phat Fiber Box, and you will be notified when the boxes will go on sale. If you don’t know about the boxes and you would like more information, go here: Phat Fiber Samples

A knitting prank

I had to share this video about a prank that Tom Hanks played on Julia Roberts. She has mentioned how much she likes to knit, and Tom took the opportunity to put the entire crew to knit before Julia walks into the set. It is so funny to watch that some of them don’t know what to do with the needles. : ) But they had a good laugh.