Two Functioning Brain Cells
My girls, Bertha, Ethel, & Elphaba
I'm going to post the new ideas I come up with here and pictures of the demos as I perfect my ideas or decide to put them in the circular file. This will also be the place I showcase Bertha's (My Fancy Kitty Kitten Drum Motorized Drum carder) spinning batts, Ethel's (my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel) and Elphie's (my Ashford Scholar) latest handspun. Feel free to email with opinions, constructive criticism, etc....
2/24/10--Remember those gorgeous batts Katie made me and then packed them up so I couldn't spin them? Well, I got to spin one this week and it came out beautifully!!! It's a dkish weight plyed with a metallic brown thread.
2/18/10--I finally got the Greener Shades dye in the mail and I've managed to dye a 4oz batch of mixed fibers with each color useing the manufacturer's directions. This was a real pill for me since I 1. hate following directions 2. like to dye granny style 3. HATE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS! I got it done though for product testing purposes and I was thrilled with the results!! As a treat to myself I dyed some cormo fleece with the Greener Shades dye using the granny sprinkle it method. Beautiful stuff! Oh, the white stuff on the 1st two pics is a piece of wool on my camera.......wonder how that got there?
Mine!
2/10/10---wow, almost forgot about this page! Well, of course, I've been making batts and spinning lots of goodies. Katie made some batts for me and then packed them up for my birthday. That was evil in my opinion. She made me two "pity batts" to spin which were very pretty and I saved a set of Random Beauty Honeybuns for myself and got those spun. Lovely stuff!!
12/23/09--The girls and I have been cranking out lots of fiber goodies!! I've been making luxury art batts with cormo, silk, bamboo, lots of sparkle, and other goodies thrown in. I've also been working on what I call luxury combed top.......combed top with luxury fibers,glitz, and sparkle. Alex named the gray and silver top "Gandalf's Beard". I'm also working on corespinning batts that I got in my Fancy Kitty ravelry group swap and I've carded up some luxury fiber to spin for the shop. I'm having lots of fun but noticed today that if I brushed all the wool and sparkle off my sweatshirt I'd probably get enough for another batt!
12/18/09--Sorry but this is going to be short........I'm busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest! Eric and I have been playing with his demo hackle and comb set. I'm blending different fibers and getting some gorgeous combed top and he's been making Border Leicester and Cormo combed top for the BMH shop. We just sold out of the Cormo so he's working on another batch of that now. Here's the cormo....
12/4/09--Bertha (my drum carder) and I have been working on making smooth spinning batts. This is not easy when you're using hand processed fleece and try as I might I just can't get out all the little nepps. Eric is working on a comb and hackle set for me which should help in processing and getting out the nepps. Ethel and I have been spinning gorgeous skeins of what I call Random Beauty. The skeins are spun from roving, batt bits, straight from the lock, and fluffy clouds of fiber cleaned off the drum carder so you get random striping in various colors and textures. They are really gorgeous and I think the next skein I do I'll keep for myself!
11/18/09--to much going on. I've been sewing like a crazy woman and have worn out my sewing machine. It is 10 years old so it's ready to give up the ghost anyway. I've been making Monkey Sax which is like a backpack for large knitting/crochet projects, also makes a great purse. Lots of neat batts coming out of my new motorized Little Kitten drum carder and I've been a spinning fool. Basically, I'm cranking stuff out as fast as I can. Sorry no pictures. Uploading to the site is a bit of a pain and I've been lazy. You can see everything at the BMH etsy shop.
10/26/09--Hmmm.....it's been almost a month since I posted on here. My brain cells are still functioning, they've just been in overdrive. I've been dyeing BFL combed top that I'm now carrying in my shop and am sure my hands will be a brownish purple forever. Oh well. I've also come up with a new bag. Actually , it's more like a backpack and could be used for taking your knitting/crochet projects with you, drop spindle and some fiber, a purse, etc. I call them Monkey Sax....for the fiber monkey on your back ;)
9/28/09--I've been carding, washing, and spinning wool trying to keep stuff in the shop and get samples together for the October Phat Fiber box. I have 10lbs of various types of wool on the back deck drying and managed to put a dent in the 50 samples I need to come up with. Here are some of the goodies I've been working on.
9/17/09--well, the 2 braincells hit overload and are on vacation.....no new ideas. I have dyed some wooly locks and spun some yarn for socks....for me this time! Spinning lots of my fun batts too!!
9/1/09--I dyed alot of roving last week and have been working on making batts for the shop. Unfortunatley, Katie uses the same table for her sculpting as I do for batt making...........she usually gets to it first. We are very limited on table space here. The kids dyed some superwash roving (with supervision) for their own sock yarns. I've spun Alex's and it came out beautifully.........lovely greens and blues. Very calming and mellow like my sweet guy. Katie, being the wild woman she is, choose hot fuschia, pumpkin orange, and yellow which got somewhat mixed up and made a wickedly bright orange with spots of yellow and hot pink. Suits her perfectly. Alex's is spun and Katies just needs to be wound off the bobbin.
8/22/09---I've been spinning goo gobs (that's Southern for ALOT!) of yarn and am trying new things. This is my latest art yarn that I'm still on the fence about keeping or selling.
8/12/09--Boy, have I been busy making stuff!! I've been spinning lots and even managed to make a skein of art yarn with fiber, trim, and ric rac spun into it.......it's awesome!! Agatha, my sewing machine, and I have been cranking out needle cases and a new project bag line I call Caddy Sax. As if I didn't have enough to do, I had another creative inspiration and put together kits to use for spinning art yarn, scrapbooking, or crafts in general........I call these Just Imagine kits and am putting them together in different colors. I really need to card some batts but the table I use always seems to have little clay figures being made on it...............this is what I get for passing on creative genes to Katie ;).
8/1/09--Well, the girls and I have spun 4oz. of superwash merino to make Katie a wild pair of socks. We've also been doing some more corespinning and art yarn stuff........you can see some of the corespinning on my previous Wildwood post. I started making these great little project bags (they also make a cute purse) called Caddy Sax. I've only go two listed with one in the wings but I do have 3 or 4 cut and ready to sew. My sewing machine has gotten a workout this past week with bags and needle cases and kids shorts. Sorry no pictures this time, things are crazy busy here with the kids and life in general.
7/16/09--Spinning and carding batts and roving, as usual. I made some gorgeous yarn I called Strange Brew that I had to keep for myself. I'm making a bag out of it (you can see my progress on the Homicide Prevention page). I also decided I needed a "Show & Tell" bag to pack all my goodies in for the knitting group meetings. I made this bag for me and it's HUGE! It was a "quick and dirty" project.....this means I eyeballed all measurements and didn't worry about perfect sewing, just strong and functional. Despite my best efforts, it still came out great. You could hide a small child in this bag and it is sturdy! I need to do some more sewing.......my machine is getting dusty from nonuse. Not good.
7/9/09--The girls and I have been busy spinning! Elphie has a bobbin of superwash merino rainbow colored yarn waiting to be plyed with the second batch of the rainbow colored superwash which I haven't spun yet. She's so patient. Ethel has still been getting her work out. She made some gorgoeus art yarn Tuesday with coils and Granny Stacks......it's awesome!! Of course, I've been carding batts and it takes all my self control (3/4 of a thimble) to not spin the batts myself.......they're sooo soft and fluffy!! I've also managed to dye about 4lbs of the fine merino fleece I got a month ago. It came out great!!!
7/1/09--WAHOOOO! I got my Ashford Scholar on Monday and have been spinning fingering weight yarn with no problems. Ethel really didn't like spinning thin yarn on the Jumbo Flyer, bless her heart. I named the wheel Elphaba (Elphie for short..........Eric just calls her Squirt). Katie and I put some cool prism stickers on her and I made her a spinning wheel caddy that hooks with a parachute clip. I'm so tickled with her!! I spun the roving Katie dyed a while back into a fingering weight yarn and am working on the Beakin Bay batts that were sitting in the Etsy shop. They're spinning up beautifully.
6/27/09--Well, Ethel is getting a friend. Yep, I got another wheel. It hasn't arrived yet.........should be Monday. Got one cheap on Ebay. It's an Ashford Scholar which is basically a Kiwi but the treadle folds up so it's considered a travel wheel. I justified this everywhich way from Sunday and am selling some of my personal items to repay the bill fund. Eric didn't even fuss a little, I couldn't believe it. All he said was "It's a tool you can use for your Etsy shop and the spinning and yarny stuff is what makes you happy so get it." Holy crap! I'm still wondering if aliens took over his body and if so how long they will be in residence...... I'd like to get a Louet drum carder down the road at some point. He's a sweet heart but spending a little over $200 on something I don't "need" was not something that was done before. Maybe he's mellowing with age.................no, he just knows that this "wool thing" isn't going away and he's accepting it. Anyway, I'm about to climb the walls waiting for this wheel. I've been washing some absolutely fantabulous merino fleece that I got a couple of weeks ago. This stuff is cloud soft and a dream to spin. I've washed a little over a pound and have over 8 more lbs. to go. Here are the before and after pictures. It looks a little yellow in the picture but it is snowy white.
6/18/09--Ethel and I have been busy spinning and working on my carpel tunnel syndrome....hmm, I guess that means its time to make some batts or maybe even get some knitting done. What a concept. I've decided that batts sitting in the shop for almost two months is driving me nuts. Yes, not a long trip but that few feet between here and there makes all the difference, at least that's what I tell myself. Anyway, I'm going to start taking the batts that have sat for awhile and spin them so if there are batts that you've been watching and they're getting past their almost two months date they may turn into yarn. Consider yourself warned. I had that Ashford Joy dream again last night.................I hope Eric remembers to buy a lottery ticket at the grocery store today.
6/5/09--I dyed a ton of wool (well for me anyway) last week....I think. Anyway, I've carded up lots of batts trying to get new stuff in the shop. I spun up the roving Alex dyed and it's beautiful........tempted to keep it. I got to thinking. Yes, I know that's dangerous and potentially life threatening not only to myself but to anyone within a 2 mile radius....I was in a risky mood. Anyway, I decided I've been carding up all this stuff for the shop to pay the bills and damnit I want some batts for me! I carded up a little over 5oz. of Whatever I Damn Well Felt Like batts (wish I could call them that on Etsy....I think they would frown on my exquisite grasp of the Foul language though). I spun up those babies and got 225 yards of a lovely worsted weight yarn that I think I'm going to combine with some batts I got from Hobbledehoy (Apricot Tree) to make a tunic like vest. I was worried about the yarns matching but then I thought "Whatever....." They just sort of go with anything, well as long as you're not anal about everything matching perfectly and I'm not. It adds to the air of eccentricity I'm trying to achieve (okay, maintain). Here's MY skein of Whatever...........I loves it!!!!
5/27/09--I've been carding alot and spinning some. Katie is learning how to spin as well...........we'll see how long this lasts.
Katie's 1st handspun Whatever Doodles Mini Batts
5/18/09--The girls (Ethel and Bertha) and I have been very busy doing fibery stuff. I've spun, plyed, and carded lots of stuff and I've been dyeing with my acid dyes too. Here are some of the goodies we have made.
5/9/09--Ethel and I have been spinning some of the batts I made. Did I take pictures? Yes. Did I upload them to this site? No. Cripes! I knew I forgot to do something. If you really want to see them (they are pretty) you can go to the BMH Etsyshop. My favorite at the moment is "Bugalina". I've got several new ideas for handspun yarns now it's just a matter of time to do it. I've got another Q style bag cut out of some retro vintage fabric that is wild and needle cases ready for the sewing machine and some lovely fluffy clouds of llama I want to dye and card. That's all I can think of off the top of my head but I'm sure there are 6 million more things running around in there. I really do need to clone myself so I can have time to do all these things. Clones will clean house and do laundry won't they?