New Year's Resolutions

     The first real snow of the season 12/26/12

     When I started this blog, I thought it would be a good place to share lots of interesting things about fiber. All things fiber! From the sheep that grow the wool that makes the roving that spinners use to make the yarn that the weaver uses to make the rug. In a nutshell. Anyone familiar with this occupation understands the dynamics involved in making a good rug, or what ever the final product is. Whether it is a rag rug or a wool rug there are a lot of factors at play.

Colors that inspire.

     I am a weaver of rag rugs, working on a 1940's model Union Loom, who likes to explore other avenues of rug making. Those other avenues include different methods, tools, looms, and materials and I am also very nosey about what other weavers are taking off of their looms! There are so many projects in my head that need to come to fruitition, it is maddening. I also have so many looms that need attention. They seem to grow lonely just sitting while I bang away on my old Union.

Colors that soothe.

     I am also a spinner. Again, I want to explore and learn all there is to learn about spinning. I have only scratched the surface, I am sure. So many fibers to try, blends to make and techniques to learn. And what about all of those fascinating wheels?! I know I have shown you my Ashford but I have more to show even some that aren't mine! And like the looms, they seem so lonely while I work primarily on that little junk store find.

What, you expected more plants?

     I am also a fiber processor. The weaving lead to spinning which in turn, lead to processing. For now, we only wash and card fiber into roving, small batts and clouds and offer hand dyeing and blending. We are dedicated to the hand spinner. For the future, we dream of spinning frames so we can turn your lovely locks into a usable yarn for those of you who do not spin. Our goal is to produce a yarn that will make the animal who grew the fiber, proud.

One of mom's Glass Drop Spindles.

     Yes, these are our goals here at the mill. I also have some simple resolutions this year.

     First off, I want to say, I generally do not make resolutions but felt the need this year. My life has become too chaotic, too messy and far too unorganized. I have left things too unattended for too long and it is time to get back on track.

     So, this year.........my big resolutions for the up coming year........

1. Organize my weaving supplies and make some shelving to house it all on.

2. Organize my spinning stash and find a way to store it safetly with the ability to find what I need when I need it.

3. Organize my household. This includes the basement!

4. Organize a schedule so my time can be put to better use and I can find more time to spend with family and friends.

5. Organize my online activities. This includes, my Etsy store as well as this blog!

6. Delve into all of those non-fibery projects I have been longing to attempt.

     Now, that is a very nice start. I am not saying I will be able to accomplish all of those things, but it will make a good guide to follow.

     The way I look at organization is "if I am organized well enough, then I should be able to handle things that come up unexpectedly a little better".    

    

 

What are your resolutions this year?

My very best to all of you.

                          ~Vickie

Rooftops, Holidays and a Passel of Kittens!

     Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays. I hope your Christmas brought you loads of joy.
     I must first start off by apologizing to all of you for not posting in such a very long time. I see it was August when you last heard from me. Did you think I fell off the face of the Earth? Well, not quite but let me give you the quick update on what's been happening.
     Between eye surgery (mom's), injured animals and two weekends of the Bag Lady Tour, the spring was off to a hectic start.
A Passel of Kittens!
     Now, back in May during the Great Lakes Fiber Fest, we had several kittens and two mother cats show up. To make a long story short, we ended up with a total of 11 new kittens and two female adults (who have produced all of said kittens). So far, all except the two littlest kittens have been spayed and neutered and the one mother who is still nursing one of those kittens. We don't know where they came from, but we have taken them in.
     Then, during all of this, mom's cat Annie went missing. Here is a photo of her. If you are local and happen to see her, please contact me. She is sorely missed.

Annie is a small cat but was very filled out. She is a real sweetheart but not likely to be too friendly to strangers. She has been spayed and is about 6 years old. She went missing in August 2012. Please let me know if you have seen her. Mom would really like her home.

   
Rooftops
     Now, in 2011 I lost a lot of shingles off of my roof. So, I decided to change my roofline as long as I had to re-roof. In short, the original contractor I waited for 7 months for, was replaced with a new contractor who did a wonderful job.  I have now had a new metal roof for two weeks and couldn't be happier with the whole thing.
     Now, to just throw out a little buzz for my contractor, I used Diamond Gutters and Windows, who came highly recommended to me by someone I trust. I am so glad it worked out the way it did in the end. Danny and Brad went above and beyond getting this job done quickly. I can't say enough about them. Thank you again, guys!
     Now, that should update you on what I have been doing and why I have not posted in such a long time.  
     I did manage to open an Etsy Store in Nov. though. I will post about that later.
     Well, there you have it. Again, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all good health and happiness in the coming year.
     So, Merry Christmas to all of you and a Happy New Year.

~Vickie (and the gang)

Ahh, finally an update....

Hi All,
     I have finally gotten a chance to get back here. Thank you all for your patience with me. Also, I'd like to thank all of you for the positive and encouraging comments and emails. I appreciate you guys taking time to stop by and I enjoy hearing from each and every one of you.

     So, this morning I am enjoying a quiet mid-morning coffee and thought it would be a good time to catch up a bit with you. I sure hope your summer is going well. I know it has been a hot dry one, but we are enjoying cool nights now so we should all be getting in the mood for fall. I know mom and I are and with that comes lots of new ideas from around the kitchen table.
     We have been talking about colors and some new blends as well. We're also in the process of experimenting with some natural dyes. We're anxious to get the dye pot fired up and hope we come up with some interesting things. We'll see what happens.
     We have some shows coming up as well as some demonstrations starting this month. As always, I will be demonstrating spinning on the drop spindle and may even have my little Ashford along. I will try to post an event schedule for this upcoming season soon, if any of you would be interested in dropping by and seeing us. I will try to post photos after each event.
     I did the Balloon Festival in Wellington this year with LOCO and I forgot to take my camera out of the bag. It was hot as can be though and I ended up leaving at 4. All in all it was a nice time though and it was lovely meeting up with everyone and getting to know some of you better. My good friends Etta and Ed were busy spinning and talking to the onlookers, engaging them in the craft of spinning and explaining a little history for them. Thanks Etta and Ed for all you do for us! I think Etta deserves a "Good Shepherd" award for all she does for LOCO and the art of fiber in general. They both work tirelessly in promoting the fiber arts and the guild.

Object below on woven hot mat. Failed.

     Now, on to some fun stuff. About 6 weeks ago, Etta invited me to a group that meets informally every week. The group's purpose is to explore and expand beyond the structured basics of fiber arts. Here, you are welcome to experiment, try new things out and just share your wildest fiber ideas. It's the place to discuss and do. This time was all about rust dyeing. Now, I have seen some of Etta's rust dyed pieces in the past, so I was anxious to try it for myself. It is quite easy to do, not too time consuming and you have interesting designs when you are done, whether or not it turned out as you had imagined, it is always interesting.

     Here are the basic instructions.

Materials: plastic (saran)wrap, metal objects such as horse shoes, steel wool, wire, etc. Just be sure that what ever you use as your dye object is rusty or has the ability to become rusty. Salt (we used rock salt on the objects in the photos but most people use table salt), vinegar and water. You will also need a tub of some sort to soak your fiber in and a spray bottle to later spray the solution on your piece after you place your objects, and of course a canvas. Silk scarves are absolutely beautiful rust dyed, but you can use other things as well. Below you will see some experimentation that mom and I did with a yellow curtain, and lavender sheet. Unfortunately, the curtain which was intended for my kitchen window is too small. It may end up in my Etsy store soon if I can't think of another place to use it.

Some sort of rusty thing I found in my dad's barn.

Now, we worked on a picnic table outside. First we soaked our fiber in a vinegar and water solution. We used a wheel barrow about half full of water and added about 5 or 6 glugs of vinegar. We soaked it for probably 15 minutes or so, wrung it out and laid it on the saran wrap. At this point, place your objects to rust on where you want them. You can arrange half of the canvas and fold it over for a matching pattern or cover the whole thing with objects. Use your imagination.



Sprinkle salt generously over the objects and spray with vinegar solution of 10 parts water to 1 part vinegar. This will activate the rusting process. Or maybe it just speeds it up.


Next wrap it up tight in the saran wrap. We had to wrap extra around the rolled up piece.

This is a yellow curtain patterned with steel wool.

Then, place a heavy object on the whole thing to keep the fabric smashed tight against the objects and let it sit for 48 hours.

When you unwrap your piece it will be very dark and will probably have a layer of actual rust on it. That's ok, you will wash that off later.

We shook the remaining salt out and washed in the wheel barrow again with Dawn Dish Washing liquid and rinsed until clear. You may have to pick off some of the thicker rust areas but rubbing it together vigorously seemed to get most of it out.

Look closely, you can see undissolved rock salt.

After it dries, you can over-dye it or leave as is. Since the pieces in the photos were already colored before we started, we have left them as is. I am not sure what we will do with the sheet yet, I am thinking of weaving something out of it. Then again, maybe we'll try Etta's trick of sprinkling with Kool-Aid and steam coloring it. It serves to be a nice design element and can come out looking like a piece of marble or turquoise. Very interesting effects.

It makes me so happy to have a group of such talented and knowledgeable women to turn to for advice and help. Thank you to all of you who share your wisdom with us!

This was patterned with coils of wire. Another fail. I may end up weaving it up into something.

Well, I certainly hope you have enjoyed this post and have fun with this technique. Please send me photos of your results.

Thank you for visiting.

Until next time,
All my best,
~Vickie



   

As Promised...

     Well, the weather here has finally given us a bit of a break. Although, the heat and humidity are sure to return shortly, we are enjoying a much needed few days with more normal temperatures.
     The plants were suffering, the animals were testy and so were us humans. My heart goes out to those who have been enduring the tremendous heat for so many weeks.
     On a happier note, the garden is giving us wonderful vegetables already. We are looking forward to our very own tomatoes soon. They're by far my favorite and I will be eating them daily until they're done.     
     There's just no tomato like the one picked fresh from the garden.
    

 Here is my Ashford, as promised in my last post.

And as I said I am already spinning some lovely Alpaca for my Aunt to make a scarf out of.

I'm spinning fine and will Navajo Ply it.

This is Kool-Aid dyed, amazing as that is. Mom does a wonderful job with the coloring and she is starting to work with Acid dyes now, so I am excited to see what magic she can work with that!

     Soon, I'll be posting some photos of our fiber and the heart of our mill, Scarlett, our carder.

Thank you for visiting.

Until Next time,

All my best.

Vickie

Here we go...

Hi All,
I hope you find my little blog just a little bit interesting and possibly a bit inspiring at times as well. It has taken me a couple of years to make the plunge, but here we are. I didn't know if a blog would be to show-offy, or vain, but I love reading blogs and thought it would be a good way to let people know what's going on at the mill while sharing a bit about life here on my little patch of the world. So here we go......

It's summertime here in Ohio and the weather has been very hot and muggy. This year, again, I have planted a few vegetables in pots around the back yard along with some lovely Eucalyptus to stand as a greeter at the door.

I planted my first fiber crop this year and am hoping I didn't get it in too late. We'll see if I have a successful Flax crop this fall or if my efforts were in vain. This is my first attempt at Flax and I am hoping it will be a learning crop for processing and spinning as well as blending experiments. If all goes well, I will plant more next spring.

My time lately seems to be fully occupied without much time for spinning or weaving, but last night, I stayed up 45 minutes late so I could try out my new Ashford Traditional. She works like a charm by the way. Funny thing is, I almost purchased one last winter but decided it was too risky since I had never spun on one before. Well, I have been borrowing a Lady Bug from my local fiber guild and decided it was time I bought a wheel for myself. So, I tried a few at The Great Lakes Fiber Festival over Memorial Day Weekend and immediately knew when I sat down at the Kromski Minstrel, that I had found my wheel. This would be a great time to say thank you to Carol and Deb from River's Edge Fiber in MI. for all of their help in choosing this wheel. I bought the unfinished version and have dabbled at it for a few weeks now only to get the stain on it. I am very excited about this beautiful wheel and anxious to start spinning on it. Meanwhile, my mom found an old wheel in an Antique's shop last week and I told her to buy it since eveything seemed to be there. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it was an Ashford Traditional. Badly neglected but not abused. I took about 4 hours to oil and clean her and she is working really well. I worked on Alpaca last night which I will ply Navajo and give to my aunt for a scarf she wants to crochet.
I will be posting photos of my 4 lovely wheels soon. I am lucky enough to have my Great, Great Grandmother's Great Wheel, a vintage Cowichan wheel, my not yet put together Minstrel and my new and wonderful to spin on Ashford. I will also be posting some of my drop spindles at the same time. I like working on the drop spindle at shows and demonstrations. They're so easy to pack up and people are less intimidated by them and more willing to sit down and give one a whirl than they would be with a wheel. I'm not saying I won't be carting my wheels around to some shows, but I will still make sure I have plenty of drop spindles handy.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and Happy Independence Day to all.
Until next time,
All my best.
Vickie