Dye-In

Recently the spinning group I am part of had a Dye-in.  What a great time playing with color with such a fabulous group of people, a beautiful day, and the perfect setting. Here is a link to the group's blog - A Day of Dyeing and Spinning. 

There was a lot of fancy dying, and I was a bit embarrassed to bring my tiny attempt at color-making with Kool-Aid!  You might remember my first attempts:  Kool! and Valenine Hearts. I should have known that most of the ladies had done it before and would be completely supportive!  

Here is what I started out with.  Teddy's roving. 

This is the mess that came out!

This is after spinning!

Another friend decided to give her yarn a dunk.

Some of the pretty projects. 

Here are a couple of things I've made with Kool-Aid dyed yarn.

Yes, the color is permanent, and yes I need to try something 

other than Black Cherry! 

If you'd like to try it yourself, I used this tutorial:  

Dyed in the Wool at Knitty.com.

DIY Hackle and Diz

You know how I like to do most things for myself...by hand from top to bottom.  Maybe you are just like me!  I wanted a way to make my own roving since I am no closer to getting our fleece to a fiber mill.  I found this tutorial for making a hackle using a piece of lumber, hair picks or combs, and self-tapping screws.  You can do it, too.  It is really easy!  

Here are some pictures of Chris making mine: 

Use clamps to hold hackle steady on the edge of a table, counter, or TV tray.

Now you load on the fiber.  I used lightly carded fleece.  A hackle is really for blending fibers and colors, but it works for my need to have long strips of roving rather than smaller rolags. 

I just used a button for a diz and pulled the fiber through one of the holes while moving across the hackle from right to left.  

I eventually switched to a larger coconut button which I think works better due to it's larger shape and hole.

There are lots of youtube videos showing this process.  Here is one I really like: Blending Fibre with a Hackle I've been able to make beautiful roving.  It works in a pinch.

If you are looking for the real deal, here is a link to one sold by The Woolery and this is what a diz looks like. I am lucky enough to live near this shop and get to stare at all the neat yarn, spinning, weaving, and fiber goodness they stock!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Pinterest Addiction

I'm addicting to Pinterest.  Thanks Lindy!  Pinterest is a virtual pinboard.  It lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To start your own pinboards you might need an invite.  Let me know if you want one. 

Here are some neat things I'm finding.  Come join us!

So many neat ideas!

Cuties that make me smile.

I love windows.

Pinterest

Invite me please!

Ringtones Gone Wild

A Gray Treefrog was hiding under a feeder yesterday.  This is the first one I've seen, so I went online to identify it.

Did you know you can download nature ringtones?  The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife have a site for that called Ringtones Gone Wild.  You can get everything from an angry bear to a bluebird, and they have the Gray Treefrog, too.

Now I have a little surprise for you.  Here is an alpaca ringtone I made.  It is Mystery humming!

Listen to the Alpaca Hum Ringtone
(might take a few seconds to load)



Free for your personal use.

mp3 - DOWNLOAD

iPod or iPhone - DOWNLOAD

Please link back to this site or give credit
if you use these files on your own site.  Thanks! :)

Here is a great website to upload the ringtone from your computer and send it to your phone.  It will also let you convert the mp3 to another format compatible with your phone.   Make Your Own Ringtone

The Vintage Tax Man Cometh

This is a fun treasury I made today featuring vintage and vintage inspired tax finds.

I made this one featuring some buddies on Etsy.  Lots of great Mom's Day ideas here!

Finally, my alpaca baby booties made it into this treasury today by PamelasJewelry.  Aren't her finds gorgeous?

Treasuries are sort of mini-galleries shop owners create to feature items on Etsy.  It is a big gift-giving time with Easter, Mother's Day, and Graduation coming up.  Everything you'll find has a story.  Buy handmade!

Homemade Glass Cleaner

With the flurry of spring cleaning looming, I thought I'd share my favorite homemade glass cleaner. I watched my mom use vinegar and newspaper growing up, so it was easy for me to grasp  the concept that I didn't need anything blue or fancy and I likely had the ingredients already on hand to make something suitable.  

 

Here is the recipe I think works best.

1 cup of water

1 cup of isopropyl alcohol 

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

That's it.  

Just put it in a spray bottle.

I haven't tried to make laundry detergent yet but the blog  Home Sweet Farm has a recipe for it, so I might be giving it a go soon.  

Another resource for homemade substitutions is EarthEasy.com.  They have a great list of green solutions and ideas.

If you have one you like, please share!

Donkey Otie

This is as close as I could get today to show you Otie, the donkey that lives across the street.  I don't really know what his name is but I call him Donkey Otie.  Get it?  Say it fast.  (Don Quixote)  He is the spotted one.

There are four donkeys in the pasture.   They are so cute!  I've heard some people use them as guard animals for other livestock because donkeys really dislike dogs and coyotes and will run them out of the area for you.  Here is a fun story about one person's experience  in Grit Magazine.  "Sweet Pet Gives a Mean Kick"

There are many things to consider before choosing a donkey and I'm not convinced guarding alpacas is a good mix but some people have had success.  A friend of mine has one and he wanted all of my attention for himself when I visited recently.  If my eyes and hands wandered to another animal, he would nibble and grab my clothes with his teeth until I came back around to only having eyes for him!  What a hoot!

I'd love to read stories about anyone that has donkeys or different types of guard animals.  I hear geese are good alarm systems!

Why I Love Knitting

I found this list in a Knitting Daily post once.  I LOVE IT!

1. It fills my life with color.
2. It encourages my creativity.
3. It keeps my hands busy.
4. It introduces me to new people who share my love for the craft.
5. It loves to travel.
6. It likes the same TV shows that I like.
7. It keeps the same schedule as I do; if I want to knit in the middle
    of the night, it's there for me.
8. It likes to change bags as much as I do!
9. It challenges me.
10. It keeps me company, even when I'm cranky.

If you are on the hunt for a pattern, Knitting Bee has links to lots of free ones.

Here is an example of what you can find.  Easter Bunny Egg Warmers

How cute are these?  They will definitely be keeping MY hands busy!

Spinning Friendships

A friend introduced me to a spinning group that meets once a month and I love it!  What a joy to share a common interest.  

The chairs are empty because we were off visiting other spinners across the room, oohing and ahhing over their fleece and fiber, colors and crafts, but don't the wheels even look like friends?  Wow, the stories they could tell!  I had to grab the picture.

Mine might be giving thanks that I finally learned how to keep the wheel going in the right direction.  She (I think she is a she) might have a favorite alpaca fleece that feels softest to her.  She might be telling on me for the choice words I've used when I've messed up! :P

I like really old spinning wheels, painted pretty ones, and small ones.  My spinning neighbor sitting to the right of me had this wheel:

Majacraft's Portable Little Gem

It is just the coolest little travel wheel!  I bet it still can tell big stories though because of all the places it can go.

You don't have to have a spinning wheel to spin.  You can use a drop spindle or even make one.  The Joy of Spinning website has lots of tutorials to explore.

Here is what a basic drop spindle looks like:

Ashford Drop Spindle

Drop spindles can be fancy-schmancy or made with items from a hardware store.

An online buddy from Canada tells of her new adventure with a drop spindle in her blog, JADA Farms.  She mentions her spinning workshop and the camaraderie of shared stories.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I am remembering an old tale about sitting on the porch looking out at the world with friends.  I'll close with the basic gist of the tale... the bond is stronger sitting side by side than facing one another as you experience the scene  playing out in front of you together.  

Kool!

I have been resisting dying my own fiber.  Fear of chemicals, the mess, and the fact that I just love the natural, pure colors alpacas come in has kept me in a brown and beige world.  Well...I took a tiny little plunge last night and tried the nifty trick of Kool-Aid dying.  I thought it was an easy place to start, simple, and I'm not afraid to do it in my kitchen.  Who knew Black Cherry would turn Sabrina's fleece into this lovely shade?

Here is where I learned how: knitty.com

Tickled Pink

 I didn't have what I needed so I made a call to my "source".  

We met up at the designated spot...a side parking lot where we could make the exchange.  

She brought the goods and I had the coin. 

After a speedy transaction I was on my merry way.  

Another successful roving and yarn purchase! :-)

Yes, I have my own stash of natural fiber and yarn, but when I want color I make that call to Lindy.  She dyed this for me on special order for a project I am working on for another friend, who is giving something special to yet someone else!  How neat it is to see this travel through our hands.

Lindy, also, carries things on Etsy occasionally, so keep an eye out for her beautiful, and colorful creations.

http://www.alpacalindy.etsy.com

Tickled Pink

Make Your Own Lightbox

Inexpensive Lightbox

Here is a great tutorial to make a lightbox.  

Click here for a tutorial on wikihow.

I use mine to photograph items I make for my Etsy shop and websites.

Felted Bowls

Small Felted Pouches

I'm getting ready for fall and winter holiday shopping!  

COLOR-ful Names

Is it Ash Gray or Battleship? Bittersweet or Carmine Pink? 
Here is a neat List of Colors on Wikipedia.  It is a great resource for describing something or looking for colors for image editing. Now, is it Tan or Tumbleweed?  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors

Hummingbird Feeder Recipe

My mom asked me for the hummingbird feeder solution I make and it occurred to me that you might want it, too. I boil 2 cups of water for a few minutes and then add 1/2 cup of sugar.  Let it cool and fill the feeder.

Basically: 4 parts water / 1 part sugar

I love the Stokes Birding Blog and they have a nice post about it. You can see it by clicking here.  The Stokes have wonderful field guides and bird identification books which helped me to identify my first Blue Grosbeak earlier this month.  I, also, took a tip from another one of their posts about filling a suet feeder with fiber for birds to use for nesting material.  Lovebug and I did that together this morning.  It was fun mother/daughter time.  She took a couple of pictures for you...

Maybe I should make up some nesting balls using alpaca fiber for the Etsy shop.  Or maybe kits for families to do together... hmmm... off to think...

Farming With Disabilities

I found a neat resource from the National Ag Safety Database.  As a person with disabilities I am excited at all the ideas and suggestions here.  You'll find ideas and resources for farming with back problems and arthritis, to modifications for those of us with mobility issues, and health and safety articles.  Handsome Hubby has made many modifications for me already so I have to give him big kudos for that before I give him my next "wish list".

Here is the link: http://nasdonline.org/browse/194/farming-with-disabilities.html 

I hope it helps!