New Swirl DIZ & Threader Sets Listed!

New Swirl DIZ & Threader Sets listed in the shop today!

 

The Clay Sheep

What is a DIZ?
A diz is used in the final step of combing fibers for spinning. You can diz off of combs, hackles & even a drum carder. The hole in the diz controls how much fiber can come through at one time -- it gets all bunched up and hard to pull, if you are pulling too much through. So, it does control the thickness of the resulting top.
You can still draft it out finer in spinning, and dizzed top usually drafts very easily, if you want a finer yarn.

Sheep, Alpaca or Llama Buttons

I took the itty bitty sheep & alpaca/llama design & made buttons too! Got them listed in the shop The Clay Sheep.

 

 

 

NEW Sheep DIZ Sets Listed!

I tested the sheep DIZ today. It worked great. I tried rubbing the sheep side in the fibers & it wouldn't snag anything, awesome!

Here is a photo with it in use.

 

And here is the yummy braid of hand pulled roving that I made.

 

I got four different ones listed in the store. Check out the colored sheep & the little alpaca or llamas.

Sheep DIZ Ready for Testing!

Here is my latest idea for a DIZ design. I love this, the little sheep are just too dang cute!!

I will be testing this one tomorrow, just to make sure the sheep & flowers aren't "snaggy" when dizzing fibers.
I will let ya'll know how the test goes (hopefully great) & when/if they will be listed in the shop.

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The Clay Sheep - A little about me...

Making fiber arts more fun!
                          

I knit, crochet, spin, & weave. When I learned to knit I starting making my own stitch markers with polymer clay. Which led to selling them. And as my fiber interests grew to spinning & weaving my clay creations have also grown to include DIZ sets, Orifice hooks, Loom Heddle Hooks, buttons & shawl/scarf pins.

What started out as a way to support my fiber & yarn addiction has now become a full time job for me. I was able to quit my “day job” this past year & give my small business the attention it deserves. I love what I do for a living now. It brings me a lot of enjoyment & I hope my creations bring my customers the same.

 

My blog has had a makeover! This is now the official Clay Sheep blog.
Thank you all for your support!

No Big Deal

We didn't get blown away by Hurricane Irene, thank goodness!  Truthfully I slept through the worst of it last night. We got a lot of rain & some really strong winds. We were lucky though & only had some minor limbs down in the yard, nothing major, nothing that could hurt anything. Keeping my fingers crossed that everyone else in it's path fares as well.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes last week! I got a surprise package from my friend Grace. She sent a couple little friends along to keep me company. :)  Aren't they cuties? Thank you so much Grace! It really made my day to get that package in the mail.

I got myself a great birthday present! LOL. My Comb & Hackle set came from Blue Mountain Handcrafts. They are beautiful, Eric does an amazing job! And a bit dangerous looking too. The whole family got into it & decorated the package for my birthday. he he

Beth & Katie made these awesome covers for my tools too!!!

Thank you Beth, Eric, Alex & Katie!!

Here is what I've been combing, and I've only poked myself once with them. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm still here!

I'm still here believe it or not! I work so many dang hours in the summer I have a hard time keeping up with everything. Good grief, where the heck did the month of July go?! And I really do miss it all.... blogging, my blog writing friends, my crafts, my family, etc...

I have squeezed in a few crafty things this summer. Here are some photos of what I can remember, LOL.

I got some yarns spun during the Ravelry Tour de Fleece. And created a cute little logo for the FIX TDF Team.

Outerspace Batt from Knottie Girl Designs...

Truffles batt from Blue Mountain Handcrafts.



A batt that I got from Shannon...

My first coils, superwash merino roving from Bumblebee Acres.

Superwash roving from Blue Mountain Handcrafts.

And with my first coils I wove this scarf & hat. I picked up stitches for the border, ribbing & button band & knitted those. And I made the buttons out of polymer clay.

I started this sock, we will see if I get it finished... and then the second one! This is my first toe up sock. The jury is still out on toe up sock knitting. I'm knitting this with some of Kathy's awesome sock yarn that she dyed.

Well, that's about it. Other than making a few clay stitch markers & such here & there, that's all I've gotten done craftywise since the last time I posted. Hopefully sometime in September my hours will go back to something near a normal 40 hr week & I'll be able to catch up on everything & everyone.  Take care! And if anyone needs me, just shoot me an email. Most of you have it. :)

Spin Artiste.... and other things

Has it really been that long since I posted here?! Sheesh! Where does all the time go?

I remember when I was little the summers seemed to last forever.... and that was usually just 3 short months. It's amazing as we grow older how fast time gets away from us.

What have I been up to? Working, that's pretty much it. It starts in March with all the new products coming into the store to be checked in, stocked & stored. Then the weekends start getting busier. Summer help needs to be trained, crazy busy holiday weekends that we work through so others can have that pleasant vacation they have been needing. Now school is almost out for the summer & it's only gonna get busier.

I get tired, I work hard, a lot of times I'm working in the stifling, humid heat of the southeast coast, my feet hurt, I don't have enough free time to keep up with all of my online friends (I miss all of you guys!!!!), I don't get a lot of time to knit or read or spin or any of the other things I love to do.... but I'm so grateful that I have a job, and a job that I like (most of the time, LOL). And I'm grateful that I have friends who are understanding & welcome me back into the fold when my "busy season" is over. And I'm grateful that I have a husband who understands about the long hours that I have to work & who doesn't mind eating leftovers & sandwiches for dinner. :)

I have had a few hours here & there to spin a little bit.... and I've come up with a few new clay stitch markers even though I'm so far behind in orders it's ridiculous (thank goodness for understanding customers!).
Here are the elephants that I came up with recently thanks to Jenn of KnottieGirl Designs, they were her idea.

Our F.I.X. group has been growing, we have several great new members. If you have time to check out their shops I have updated the links on the FIX tab at the top of my blog. We are also having another Gift Certificate Giveaway this month. So if you purchase anything from any of the participating members don't forget to post your purchase in the FIX Ravelry Group Gift Certificate Giveaway thread so you don't miss your chance to win!

The F.I.X. group was also featured on Spin Artiste today! Arlene & Beth (Blue Mountain Handcrafts) had a wonderful interview. Several of the other FIX members also participated in the interview. I'm so proud to be associated with such a wonderful group of people who honestly care about each other, how they are doing, how their business is doing, & go out of their way to help each other out. Go check it out. You really should check out the Spin Artiste site anyway, Arlene does a wonderful job & brings us great interviews & articles every week!

I also recently got the Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook... what an awesome book! I am now on a quest to spin as many fibers from the sheep in that book as I possibly can. LOL. If you love wool, sheep, spinning, or are interested in them in any way I would highly recommend this book. There are wonderful photos & lots of good fiber & breed information, but also a lot of really good reading material as well.

I hope all of you, my friends, are doing well. I'm gonna try my best to get some blog reading done so I can get caught up with you all! Have a great weekend!!!