Saturday, February 11, 2012

What fun!  My dyes from Victorian Elegance arrived yesterday.  Today I was able to get in some play time with them.  The lace is going on my little jacket!




Wednesday, February 8, 2012

More Bookmarker Samples

Still working on bookmark samples for the senior ladies at Garden Plaza in Post Falls.

The LOVE one is finished...I'll finish the rest tomorrow and take them over to tantilize them ;-)



Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Mohair Madness!

Hello,

Okay... I have gone back to the seam side out version of my little jacket and I have selected some divine mohair yarn from Mountain Colors out of Corvallis, Montana...my home state!

http://www.mountaincolors.com/  These two ladies have been doing their own dye work for 19 years.

And if you go to http://www.paradisefibers.net/Mountain-Colors-Yarn-Mohair-p/999014.htm you can browse all the wonderful colors available.  Maybe you have a project that needs a special touch.  The color I have selected is Bitterroot Rainbow.  I think this will work better than the Gold Rush I have on hand...it is going to be awesome...I can hardly wait!


The mohair yarn is all fuzzy...not smooth like the yarn in this sample...but it will be these colors.
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Monday, February 6, 2012

Hey Fiber Fans!

Well I have my little jacket put together!  Now I am stuck on how to finish the edges.  My original plan was to put a bead and mohair crochet edge on it like you see on this cuff.



...but now I am thinking I might want to use the nice finished edges from my sheet of felt to make a 'ruffle' edge.  The next question is should I put it seam side out and attach it with the bead and mohair?  Or should I go with the more traditional look and put the seam in?  What do you think?  Let me know.  You don't have to leave your name you can sign on anonymously.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Oh my!

Just a few minutes ago my little dog sat up from his sound sleep and started barking like a crazy dog.  Then he ran to the back door so I let him out.  Mistake!  Skunk!!! I smelled it just as my dog got to the edge of the patio.  I ran out and grabbed him and we ducked back in as fast as we could, but the odor followed us in.  My husband has sprayed air scent now and hopefully it will dissipate before bedtime.  Haven't had a skunk around here before...just makes for a more interesting evening I guess.  I just hope it doesn't stink out there in the morning!  I remember my step-sister getting sprayed by a skunk once.  The solution to ridding her of the odor involved a whole lot of tomato juice...glad we didn't have to go there tonight.

I have made a great deal more progress on my custom order pillows.  I finished laying the silk on the wool I had laid out for both pillows.  Next I added a golden ribbon yarn and some beautiful mohair yarn to the surfaces.  A few sparkles here and there and today I was ready to roll!  The photos will give you an idea of how much shrinkage there is in this process.  In order to achieve that I first use cold soapy water so that the merino wool  and mohair yarn will travel through the silk before felting.  This is critical to the process and takes a while.  After I can feel and see that it has traveled through then I reduce the size of my inside roller and continue.  After a while of that I shed the bubble wrap, add warm soapy water and reduce my roller even further.  This is the stage you see my rolling in the photos.  Finally, I add warmer to hot water and throw my new piece of felt onto my table.  This shock locks the fibers even tighter together.  Was a bit of a workout for the day as I also did some small pieces for another project.

Now I am off to read, relax and knit for a bit before bed.  Hope you all have a wonderful, sunny Sunday!