As We Say: Tis’ the Season

I don't know what it is about sunshine. It seems that every time I come into this season I go into a fiber frenzy. Suddenly I have this unquenchable urge to wash skeins of handspun that I have hoarded all year, wash and spin raw fleeces, dyestuff, and spin everything in sight. I guess 'tis…

My Underground Railroad Story: The Patchwork Apron

The things we see with our eyes influence us even when we are not conscious of them. I saw a picture of my grandmother wearing a patchworked apron a few years ago while looking through my grandfather's scrapbooks. The apron was improvised, meaning the pattern was incomplete. Grandma clearly used whatever fabric she had on…

God Provides: from His hands to mines

Living in an industrial age our surroundings can cause us to forget where things actually come from. Most of everything we need is purchased from a retail marketplace. Rarely do we pause to consider where it all actually comes from. Yesterday I finished spinning up my 2018 cotton crop. The entire experience of watching the…

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

I've been making. Yes! my crafty fire still burns as bright as ever. I feel like I am in such a whirlwind of ideas at the moment. Inspiration to create new things is flooding me from all directions. I want to do more and more. This year has been filled with unexpected changes both at…

Working with Camelids and Other Fiber Shenanigans

The latest cold snap has got me suddenly working with the camelids . Back when I first started spinning I would search out as many different types of fibers as I could find. In my search I found myself driving to a local farm to purchase my first Huacaya alpaca combed top. It was so lofty and soft. I ended up…

When You Spot a Unicorn: Betty Roberts Spinning Wheel

I first saw one of Betty Roberts’ wheels in 2007 in a Google Search. She uses exotic woods to make her double accelerator-wheel style spinning machines. What makes these wheels truly unique is that Betty painstakingly inlays each wheel with beautiful natural flora, insects, and even rattlesnake tails and porcupine quills she finds near her home…

Oh, This Old Thing?: Flax Wheel

It's been 11 years now since I bought my first spinning wheel. I can remember scouring the internet during this "Renaissance Spinning Era"  digging up all the information I could find about wheels. I had just moved to northern Indiana from college and had finally landed a full-time job. My first wheel was an old…

Smiles and Sparkles with Knits and Spins

September was a month with lots of knitting and spinning on-the-go. I literally took a project with me to school, BSF, restaurants, and everywhere else. I am so done with hiding away one of my dearest past times passions for the sake of appearing conventional. I have truly enjoyed the liberation and made some new…

Wait but There’s More

I did get a little housekeeping done. The Tour De Fleece skeins are finally washed. There was so much to wash that I just filled up my kiddie pool, added a little Dr. Bronners Castle Soap and gave them a swirl to set the twist.   I bought some stuff. I bought a lot of…

Spinning Under the Influence: Artsy Yarn

Every since I joined a few Ravelry spinning groups last month I've been under a bit of a trance with my spinning. No, stranger to color it was only natural that I would see Inglenook fibers and need to spin some. They have the most imaginative colorways. I decided to follow the technique of the Ravelry…