Spinning Wind

Le Tour de Fleece

2008-07-08T11:10:00.003-05:00

Egads, it's been like 5 months since I've updated this blog! What have I been doing? Working... Started a garden - I'll have a zillion tomatoes and cucumbers, maybe some pumpkins and hopefully corn, green beans, and brocolli. And a zillion tomatoes. I plan on canning them and making homemade sauce. Anyway. The wheels have been in motion, right now I have a ton to ply and my plan is in August I WILL learn to weave.

The Etsy store is up and running but since yarn isn't the hottest selling thing during the summer, I won't be listing much in July but will have hopefully over 50 items to list in August/Sept.

In preparation for that, and to get me blogging again, I joined the Tour de Fleece. My challenge is to spin a bobbin a day - anywhere fro 2 to 6 ounces depending on the weight. I also want to do at least one skein of art yarn.

I've spun the first 2 day and will post pictures later.

Fiberlicious Mail!

2008-02-13T22:52:00.008-06:00

Ooh did I get some great squishy mail today!

First was 8 oz of Glitz to do some custom batts. Watch for some sparkly roving soon!

Then I opened a lovely box from Spinning Bunny - The Feb Fondle This! Club. Some gorgeous silver baby Alpaca and a knitting pattern. YUM!

Finally was a box from Northstar Alpacas. Maple sells on Etsy - http://www.northstaralpacas.etsy.com Oh my Goodness! 8 oz of BEAUTIFUL wool/Alpaca blend in a silver and blue color. This is going to make a great purse or something, just have to decide whether to ply it back on itself or whether to ply it with a contrasting color.

And this SPECTACULAR silk/alpaca blend. I may need more of this! And it may not be sold to anyone, I have a hunch my crocheter won't let it leave! Look at the adorable card of Luke the Alpaca too!

I only got a bit spun up because I was being good and finishing some Shetland I had almost done but I am so glad tomorrow is Thursday and Friday - Sunday I can just spin! Even though I dye and prep fiber here all the time, I love, absolutely love seeing what other artisans do with rovings and fiber.

A bit of the wool/alpaca blend on the wheel.

The Weather is FRIGHTFUL!

2008-02-11T23:17:00.001-06:00

But at least the fiber is delightful!

After I finished organizing some stuff this past weekend, the rest of it was spent creating!

Blue Over U - my EtsyFAST February challenge 'Unexpected Love'

This ADORABLE Rosie Hat made out
of Rose gray alpaca - doesn't it match
the alpaca scarf perfectly? They're for
sale but oh, how I'd love to keep them!

SNEAK PEAK! Both Sides of the Rainbow 2 skeins each about 150 yards - coming to Etsy soon!

Dyed in the Wool

2008-02-07T19:51:00.000-06:00

Here is a short tutorial showing how I Kool-Aid paint :)

My supplies lined up. Several colors of Kool-Aid, a jug of vinegar, and a stainless steel pan filled halfway with water.

The wool soaking in a vinegar/water mix

The first color (berry blue here) is mixed into part of the yarn

After adding red (strawberry) to the other. I sprinkle it over, mix it under the water and let the color disperse. If your water is hot enough the color will immediately 'strike' or set onto the wool and it won't bleed into other colors.

The finished roving spun and plied.

Links Added

2008-02-05T11:58:00.000-06:00

I added some links to this little blog. Each are people I have dealt with, and who run great businesses!

Carolina Homespun, has a great selection of products and good service. I'm expecting an order to be delivered today from them! (I'll put up pictures of what I ordered as soon as it's unpacked!)

Ok, this isn't a business, but if you haven't read Drunk Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair, run out and treat yourself to this book! It's great! Very funny, and very thought provoking too. Leslie - AKA Crazy Aunt Purl also runs an outstanding blog.

Detta's Spindle, is located just down the road from me. If you are looking for spinning supplies, I highly recommend talking to Detta who is an absolute wealth of knowledge. Her prices are great too.

Little Meadows Farm, is Liese. She's a vegetarian farmer. Here at Spinning Wind, we support small farmers who farm for the love of their animals. She's running an adopt a sheep program! And yes, we are adopting! This summer we'll have some lovely yarn available from that sheep - details to come :).

Shadyside Farm has a great Etsy store, plus gorgeous sheep and wool products. I've been watching and learning about rug weaving in hopes to add that here too. Check out her blog too for adorable pictures of lambs.

Spinning Bunny is a wonderful website. I have ordered many things from them, I love Susan's color combos. Right now I'm doing the Fondle This! Club. Outstanding service and Susan is so nice.

Spunky Eclectic has super cool fibers. I also belong to THEIR fiber club. Totally cool!

And cause no post is complete without a picture - look at this luscious fiber drying here right now! Top is Cormo lamb, middle is California Red lamb, and bottom is some silvery cloudy Shetland! It will turn into yarn this weekend.

Projects a'plenty!

2008-02-04T23:39:00.000-06:00

Well, it's time for spring cleaning here at Spinning Wind! So to start, I dyed up some Rambouillet so that I can blend it and card it. It looks like a bunch of Easter eggs! Isn't it gorgeous?

Then I started playing with some other colors. I actually used up the rest of my white merino roving doing this. I'll dye the silver this week and then order up some more.

And we also created the 'World's Best Niddy Noddy' a 2 skein or 1 skein kind (I like my 2 skein, no remembering which way to twist - I get distracted!) complete with a WPI guide!

So now it's off to spin more wool, (and some luscious baby llama from spinningbunny.com!) and finish clearing out the wool closet so we can restock with more fleece! In the works this year, are cormo, California Red, Shetland, Polypay, and even a VERY special adopted sheep named Freckles! Stay tuned!

January Blues

2008-01-21T22:00:00.000-06:00

We combat them here with plenty of spring and summer colors in our yarn!! All 3 of these are available right now on Etsy.

This week we've got states on our mind. Stay tuned!

Where We've been

2008-01-08T12:51:00.001-06:00

Well busy creating for one. This business is really taking shape and after meeting with people over the holidays, we have part of a product line developed.

The Etsy store is going, with several sales (YAY!!) and hopefully more on the way.

Today, we launched the beginning of the website: http://www.spinningwind.com I'll be linking in the blog later this week or today, and we'll soon be adding a shopping cart. In the meantime if you see something you want to buy and are not a member of Etsy, just let me know and I'll invoice you through Paypal.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and here's to a great 2008!

Weekend Warrior Syndrome

2007-12-10T00:06:00.000-06:00

This weekend was my plying weekend. Meaning, all that I've spun the last week needed to get finished (plyed into a 2 ply generally, washed etc). So between working on Christmas cards (almost finished!) playing with 2 kids, a little Christmas shopping, and housekeeping (ick) I got the following done:

Variegated pink romney roving: 220 yards.

Wild Card: 90 yards

Orange: 150 yards

Orange: 50 yards

BlueL 150 yards

Natural BFL cross: 160 yards

Mini Sunset Seas (was a leftover from before) 50 yards

Another Wild card (an afterthought, that I spun while watching a movie tonight) 50 yards

Pink and gray Romney/superwas blend (this is a PRETY yarn!) 310 yards in 2 skeins

And 520 yards of silk singles dyed.

I'll have individual pictures and named once they're dry, but here's a look :)

Etsy Update

2007-12-08T20:31:00.000-06:00

Another new product I have finally listed on Etsy (along with a simple scarf) is a cell phone bag.

Adorable isn't it? Also the most functional little designer bag you'll ever find, just big enough for your cell and a credit card or 3. Check out all my new stuff (and remember, I'll do custom designs for you!) on my Etsy site!

Soap with a Sheep!

2007-12-08T19:44:00.000-06:00

Introducing a new product here:

Handmade crocheted soap bags. These are made to order in a myriad of colors. Either superwash merino or merino/viscose blend or natural wool. The bag has a threaded hanger for use in the shower or bath. It's lightly exfoliating and feels absolutely decadent. Available either as a bag only for 10.00, or with a luxury bar of Goat's milk soap (ask about available scents) for 15.00. Anyone else think this would make an adorable purse for a little girl too? We're working on that :). Watch for 2 new products to debut this week both on Etsy and here.

Yup that's a loom....

2007-12-05T18:53:00.000-06:00

Sitting behind the yarn in my last post.

I did buy that loom I talked about a bit back. She's still sitting unwarped, but I'm figuring it out. I've been working on reconditioning the wood and I have one tiny repair to make before I really start weaving on her. Then hopefully I'll be able to offer woven scarves etc for sale!

Here's a picture - barely visible behind her is my Country Craftsman spinning wheel. My fave wheel for using for silk and fine spinning, and one I just HAD to have :):

Etsy Store on it's way

2007-12-03T21:35:00.000-06:00

I started on my Etsy storefront tonight. Just put 3 skeins up, more coming soon, I'm sure :). I have a whole cache of yarn waiting to be plied, (a few are pictured above, bluefaced leicester, some dyed romney, peppermint twist merino blend, and a bit of solid black merino) so watch for a whole bunch of new yarns to be added soon! In the meantime, check us out at: www.oceanrose.etsy.com

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2007-12-02T12:01:00.001-06:00

And a white one at that!
We got our first big snowfall yesterday and this morning the world is
silent and white. It's beautiful out. Perfect for fiber arts but all
work and no play isn't good for the soul, here's a video of what we did
yesterday!

Mint Melody

2007-11-26T22:41:00.001-06:00

A twist (Ha ha) off the Green With Envy.. I spun and plied 210 yards tonight, with probably 200 or so more to go. I have more Tangerine Dream in the que also. Plus a surpise Romney style! (and I'm not talking Mitt Romney ;))

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-25T20:29:00.000-06:00

.. A little late due to company, and of course Thanksgiving dinner!

Despite the festivities, I did get several skeins completed, or partially spun. Tonight though, we just have one new picture of Tangerine Dream, a new colorway. This skein is already sold, but I have another almost done, and will be redyeing roving soon to do more. If you have requests for colors you'd like to see as we build up our stock of yarns, just drop me a note.

Pictures :)

2007-11-14T20:01:00.000-06:00

To the right is Sky Blue. A 2 ply hand painted skein. I have 2 available. Doesn't this just beg to be made into a baby blanket? Sky Blue is Merino/viscose superwash!

Here is some 2 ply Merino/Viscose. Hand painted. I'm calling this one Green with Envy.

2 skeins each approx 170 yards. This will be for sale.

Christmas is coming!!

2007-11-11T23:58:00.000-06:00

Today, we decorated our tree, and also taught some little spinners to spin on my Little Louey Louet wheel. They had a fun time learning, and make Pokemon ornaments out of the yard they spun. Kids are great spinners (since they learn so much easier than adults) and they're so creative, the overspun yarn is perfect in their minds and wonderful for a craft!

While not decorating and singing Christmas songs, I managed to finish plying 3 skeins of hand painted yarn. I tried a new plying method, and though the first time it was a pain, the next 2 went easy. These skeins have a little more interest due to the fact I was learning so the ply isn't quite as even, but they are gorgeous all the same! My helper also finished a hat out of green and white merino. It's beautiful! The next project is to get my loom up and running. Yes, it came home! And yes, it is gorgeous!

Spinning Seas all finished!

2007-10-28T10:54:00.001-05:00

This yarn feels like I took all the colors of sunset, from the lightest palest pinks and lavender, to the deep deep almost black purple and then swirled them together capturing their essence in the ply sportweight. I even got the illusive green flash, seen over warm oceans though you have to look closely to spot it.

I love the look, and it's soft, and warm too, just waiting to be made into a beautiful purse, or scarf, maybe even a sweater as I have enough roving left for probably another 2 skeins.. This one is 280 yards.

To Loom or Not to Loom..

2007-10-27T23:51:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow I go to look at a loom. Is there a market for woven garments? I'm not sure. Do I really need it? Probably not in the way I NEED a drum carder... But would it be a good purchase? We'll see.

But the price is good, so we'll see whether I bond to it when I look at it..

Tomorrow, I'll have pictures posted of the Sunset Seas yarn, and some gorgeous oatmeal colored shetland I just finished this week. I just need more hours in the day!

Welcome to Spinning Wind!

2007-10-24T23:37:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our blog! Here you can view our new projects, and what we're up to these days.

Our newest news? I brought home a gorgeous Jensen spinning wheel yesterday to do more production spinning on. Here's a picture of the new wheel!

And our first project on it? Sunset Seas - handpainted superwash merino/viscose roving. Soon to be for sale in the form of 2 ply handspun.