Love my friends!

Without my friends I would be lost.... the gals that I talk with, share with, laugh with, care about & know that they care about me. Many of you are spread across the country & beyond. And I cherish you just as much as if you lived next door. Thank goodness for the internet, most of you feel as if you are right next door! If only! :) 

So I say thank you to each & every one of you! Sending some big hugs to all!!

And speaking of friends.... Jessi sent me a most awesome late birthday package! I like 'em all, early ones, on time ones & yes even the late ones, pressies are good to get any time! Right? Yep!
Take a look at the lovelies that Jessi sent...

Gorgeous handdyed purple yarn!!!! A cute zippered pouch filled with yummy goodies & a little bitty tin with the cutest purple & lime stitch markers. Thank you soooooooo much Jessi!! I just love it all, & the yarn is just so "me". I don't know what it will be yet, but I know it will be something just for me!

I got another package that included some scrumptious yarn recently too! My friend Kata sent me this lovely green mix handdyed yarn, she dyed it just for me. It's gorgeous Kata!! Thank you sweets! And it was well worth the wait. :)  You know I love ya! Yarn or no yarn.... 

And here is my latest handspun yarn.  Lovely soft Alpaca/Merino from Upstream Alpacas called Rosebud.

I ended up with 223 yards of sport/dk weight, soft & squishy yarn. I tried spinning this roving a little different. I split the roving in half lengthwise. Then took one half & spun it just like that, with very long repeats. The other half I split into smaller & smaller strips so it would have shorter repeats. Then I plied them together. It think it will knit up really interesting. Some of it will be striped & some will be more blended.

So much yarn, so little time....

What it takes to create...

I was curious to see just how much time it takes me to make a set of clay stitch markers, so this time I kept track. And took some photos of the process. I thought it was interesting. And I discovered that I was pretty dang close to my time estimates.

Here we have the creation of Alpaca stitch markers, 7 sets of 4...

Making the parts - 1 hr & 15 min

Next comes the sculpting...

After putting on the final details - 2 hrs & 48 min

My little heard ready to go in the oven!

Out of the oven & ready to finish up. (I didn't include oven time)

7 sets of 4 Alpaca Stitch markers - Glazed, finished & ready for packaging - 1 hr & 13 min

Total time for 7 sets - 5 hrs & 16 min

Total time for 1 set of Alpaca stitch markers - 45 min

(actually just over 45 min, but under 46. close enough)

I think this is a good time estimate for just about all of my markers. There are a few sets that I have that are more time intensive (it's all in the details!), and some that are less time intensive. I think they would all be fairly close though. I could probably make a set of the hot peppers in about 30 min, but the sheep probably take at least an hour for a set.

So.... if anyone was wondering how long it took to make a few clay alpacas, now you do. :)

Look! It's a Sheep!

Well, I never did get around to showing off my weekend at the fiber festival with Chan. Let's just pretend that I did, I'm just too overwhelmed with things I need to be doing, want to be doing to go back over all that. :)  Anyhoo, while I was at the fiber festival I purchased my very first sheep fleece. Here is a photo of me & Beth who helped me pick out my fleece since I had no idea what I was looking for.

I've started processing a little bit of the fleece now. After washing & combing a little of it, I realized that I will have quite a bit of neppy stuff that I wouldn't want to spin. And I really thought it was such a waste to throw all of that away. So what to do with it? I just can't seem to make myself like the artyarns where nepps are a usual occurrence. So what to do with it? Make needle felted sheep of course!!

I searched online & found Felt Alive Needle Felting Shop, ordered some needles (great needles with cushioned grips) & a foam pad. It arrived today! So without further ado....

My very first needle felted sheep! Made from the neppy wool from my fleece. Not too bad for my first one if I do say so myself. :)

Just look at that cute little fat butt. he he

I also have a couple new listings in my Artfire shop. As well as a SALE! In honor of getting my Artfire shop up & going again, everything in the shop is 10% OFF!!

Here are the two new WPI Gauge Tools.  Alpaca WPI tool...

And a cute Flower WPI tool...

Back to work tomorrow, poo. Hope everyone has a great week!

Wish List...

Wish List

Curated By: Yarndemon

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Craft Tutorials

Doghouse Yarns & More

Let me show you some photos of my trip to VA. I stayed with my pal Chan, thank you Chan for letting me stay at your home & entertaining me. :)

On Friday I met up with a good friend, Aimee, at Dog House Yarns & More in Culpeper. You can check out Aimee's etsy shop HERE. I got these gorgeous silk hankies from Aimee, she sells similar ones in her etsy shop.

Later that afternoon Chan joined us at Dog House Yarns & More. Aimee & I spent the good part of the afternoon at the shop. Rosanne was the perfect hostess, we had a great time visiting. And I have to say that if you are ever in the area you should stop by the shop. Rosanne has some beautiful stuff there! It was very hard to choose which ones wanted to come home with me. :)

Aimee, Me, Chan & Rosanne

 Here is what I came home with.... lots of gorgeous yarn & fiber goodies! First up is this lovely Plymouth Mushishi yarn. This stuff is sooooo soft & smooshie!

Two yarns from Seacoast Handpainted Yarns.... Raspberries & Spring Flowers. I couldn't decide between the two so got them both. he he

 And Chan got me this cute little project bag!

 And finally I got 8 oz. of this beautiful merino roving from Greenwood Fiberworks.

It was a fun day. I hope to visit Dog House Yarns & More & Rosanne again next year.

Stay tuned for more photos & goodies from the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival!