I like Podcasts!

 

For about a year now I've been listening to podcasts, most specifically knitting or spinning podcasts that have really added a deeper dimension to my crafting life.  I enjoy hearing the reviews on products and books, as well as tips and thoughts that others share on crafts so instrumental in my life.  The podcasts fill a desire I have for information and conversation (even though it's just me listening).  Although I belong to a knitting group that meets fairly regularly, most of the members are new to the crafts and I tend to the be the one everyone asks for advice.  Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoy the group but I feel an additional need for peers that are more equal in ability and interest or nerdy obsession!  My guild, Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild (VCHSG) http://www.venturaweavespin.com/, is a fantastic resource for information and comraderie -many of my fellow guild mates are extremely knowledgeable- but I only see them once a month.  And my local LYS Anacapa Fine Yarns http://www.anacapafineyarns.com/ in Ventura is also fantastic but it's kind of far from my home so I don't get there as often as I'd like.  You get my drift...I want more fiber craft input.

So far my favorite podcasts are The Knitmore Girls Podcast and SpinDoctor.  I'm wondering if any of my readers also enjoy podcasts I haven't found yet...there are so many and I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

The projects pictured were inspired by books I learned about on the Knitmore Girl's Podcast. The fingerless gloves are done a handspun single made of wool and silk, the pattern is in the book A Knitter's Book of YarnThe Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn: Clara Parkes: 9780307352163: Amazon.com: Books.  

The dark blue is also handspun merino wool and is a sweater I'm making for my husband out of Knits Men Want Knits Men Want: The 10 Rules Every Woman Should Know Before Knitting for a Man~ Plus the Only 10 Patterns She'll Ever Need: Bruce Weinstein, Jared Flood: 9781584798408: Amazon.com: Books. 

2/2 Twill Rug Weaving class

I just had 3 days of class learning 2/2 Twill Rug weaving from Jason Collingwood and wow am I tired!

There was so much information I am going to spend the next few days trying to reinforce what I learned and saw.

Unfortunately at this time I don't have any photos of the workshop but I have some of my weaving in progress. 

In the meantime here is a link to Jason's website. jason collingwood If you ever get a chance to take a class from him I think you should do it. He is a very kind and patient teacher who is extremely knowledgeable in his craft.

County Fair 2011

Every year my guild the Ventura County Handweavers & Spinners Guild gets very involved in the county fair...

The general public is very interested in what we do and lots of people stop to watch & ask questions. Riley came along with her spinning wheel this year and enjoyed telling people all about the process of spinning.

On the first Friday of the fair we get together and make a shawl from start to finish. Maybe it's a little bit of cheating because the weaver had already warped her loom with handspun, and the fiber was all dyed up for us.

So 12 carders, spinners, & pliers prepared the yarn for one weaver.

But still it's a pretty amazing feat to get all the carding, spinning & weaving done in one work day. Here is the finished shawl it was auctioned off at the Cattlemen's dinner for $320 the money goes to charity.

We took a little break so Riley could ride a pony. She is almost too big for this : (

The ongoing cotton project

Still catching up on the last 2 months of stuff...

These pictures are of our cotton tree...yes I said TREE! I was given the seeds for this tree by another member of my spinning and weaving guild a couple of years ago and I finally got around to planting them. She got them at a demonstration that our guild does annually in the herb garden at the Huntington Library where the parent tree lives. When I was at SOAR I met Phreadde Davis who recently wrote an article on growing cotton in the Spin Off Fall 2009 issue on natural fibers. She told me that these seeds are very special and were saved from extinction by a lady (who's name I wish I could remember) that did a lot of work to preserve cotton varieties. Phreadde (pronounced Fred) gave me some seeds for naturally green colored cotton that I plan to plant on the opposite side of my house so they don't affect each other with any cross pollination. Phreadde also taught me how to spin cotton straight off the seed. It's such a great thing to learn, now I don't have to sit around picking seeds out of the cotton balls. I plan to post video of how to do this soon!

In an earlier blog I posted pictures of the cotton bolls before they opened. Now they have!

We picked as much as we could before the rain this weekend. It's mostly mine & Riley's project but we have had to enlist Robert's help because the tree is so high we can't reach the topmost branches. When Robert helps us with the picking Riley and I run back and forth in the garden with baskets catching the cotton he throws over his shoulder! I wish I had pictures but then it would require enlisting another person in our project.

See how big our developed cotton balls are?

Here are pics of Riley & I carding cotton (before we learned the new way of spinning straight off the cotton balls), and spinning on a takhli.


I'm just now teaching Riley how to spin, pretty good for a 6 year old I'd say!

I was made to GATHER!

The guild I belong to "Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild" has an annual harvest sale -this is anachronistic because it happened before I went to SOAR, so it's actually in the wrong spot in this blog- and I did a bit of what I am genetically designed to do gathering. Oh! The fibers!

This is a camel/silk roving purchased from Redfish dyeworks



Which became this yarn, I think the pictures do not do it justice...



I am planning to knit it into a lacy cowl, it's 4oz and 370 yards.

This is some purple yarn that I purchased, I aspire to spin something like it eventually. But my intentions for this is to make a jacket w/ this yarn at the cuffs, collar and front. I found an Eggplant (dyed) colored Polworth fleece at Soar that will make up the body of the jacket.




And I also purchased this Alpaca/wool Indigo dyed roving that I spun up into yarn. It is not spun as fine as the camel silk but it's pretty nice. I just don't know what it will become yet.



I purchased a few other necessities a beautiful handmade niddy noddy and some unnecessities but did not take their pictures! And can you believe that Robert asked me when I got home if these purchases were part of my SOAR budget? Of course they were NOT I didn't buy them at SOAR! : )