Froggy's Fiber Followings

By The Wayside

2011-05-07T06:25:00.000-04:00

Recently in my life I realized that I have neglected things. I seem to be good at that overall. Nothing criminal or anything. (My child is perfectly safe, ya know.) However my crafting suffers. Honestly I've always had tons of ideas in my head that never get produced. Sometimes, that's just because I do not have the skills to move forward with the idea. (Seriously, I'm that annoying person who can always come up with another way something could be done or how it could be done better. At least in theory.)

However, for the better part of 6 months or so I feel like I've been completely craft stagnant. I know that there are a lot of reasons for this happening. For example: we are in the process of the eventual move. This move was sprung on us 2 months before the Christmas holiday and pitched as something that we would have to do by year end. Now, 6 months and counting later we are still here and waiting to move. (There is good and bad that happened in between that explains this but it is a really long story.) In addition to (or possibly because of) all the drama , it seems my depression has kicked it up a notch. *sighs* Old faithful friend depression.

So that sorta brings me to here. I've totally become lost. Sometime during this period I announced that I was going to place Froggy Fibers on "hobby status." Meaning, I would create and update as I could. Problem is that this is not what I really want. Next problem is I'm in a long term crafting funk. (And having all my crafting items packed up does not help.) So please excuse me for being off the beaten path and probably slightly off kilter. I don't blog like I want to, even though I enjoy sitting down to post things. I also don't craft like I need to at the moment. These things have become tedious and painful to do mentally and so they never get done physically. I don't know when I will cross the bridge and coast to the other side of this. That's the hard part. The easy part is... well I'm not sure there is an easy part yet.

Wow, what a crappy way to end a post. Since I couldn't come up with pleasant words I will end with a friendly photo.

Good thoughts to everyone, no matter your place in life!

Learning New Skills

2011-04-04T00:52:00.000-04:00

The old girl is back. I never quite got the hang of my machine when it was new. In fact, it sat lifeless and unused in a box more often than it saw the light of day. However, when I got a part time job working at a craft store I just knew that was going to change. Here is the picture I took on my phone while working on my very first completed sewing project.
It's great putting Ms. Kitty to use for a change. (I think I'll come up with a different name for her though.) I made 2 more by the end of the weekend as well. I'm quite excited about learning a new skill and hope to have more to show for it in the future. It might even help revive my blog posting. Well.... Maybe. I'm not looking for miracles. I'm just excited.

Good things are coming soon...

2010-11-14T18:48:00.001-05:00

Until then take a look at some Etsy banners from the early days.

These were lovingly made by my husband with tons of cute sayings. The banner has come a long way since then but I still adore these.
Which one is your favorite?

Until next time,

Froggy

Evening Guest

2010-08-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday after dinner the family and I got out of the house. Getting out of the house is just a fancy way of saying we bummed around at a couple of local stores due to the fact that we were bored at home. It was about 7pm when the journey started and about 8:30 pm when it ended. It was an abrupt ending with a small bit of a fuss with the boy. Sad.

Then we were home and the dog must be fed. After the dog is feed it is inevitable that she must go out. So out she went on her leash to the front yard. On the way back in I glanced at my potted plants on the porch. (Oh the story of trying to grow tomatoes in a back room. Trying only to find out there wasn't enough light and forcing you to stick them on the porch late in the summer.... oh the story.) Glancing away from the pots to open the door my eye spotted something in the dim porch light.

Oh my, it looks like we have a temporary guest and we didn't even know it.

I wondered were the holes in the dirt were coming from. Silly me, I thought it was the neighborhood cats. Nope, not so. It was just a fellow froggy.

Just a quickie....

2010-07-19T07:47:00.000-04:00

Is that how you even spell quickie?

So, I don't have any pictures to go with this post at the moment but I felt I needed to write something. I think it is because I am so enamored of the new layout I keep checking back to the blog just to look. Silly me.

Mostly, I am sort of doing informal brainstorming ideas for my little fiber world. Things in the bigger world may have just taken a turn for bad again, but nothing that can't be handled. We will definitely manage. So, I turn to my fiber world for a little bit and it both calms me and makes me scared and nervous and excitable. Hard emotions to have all at once. Since my job should slow down some (basically go from 40 hr/wk store set up to 15-20 hr/wk store's open) I really want to create a bit of a schedule for Froggy Fibers.
So here is my current thought. I will try to make and create yarns and fibers between working and attempt to list every other week. I once tried every week and that wasn't good for me. Naturally I can work out listing new things about once a month but that isn't good for business. So let's try the in between.
Only time will tell they say.

New News!

2010-07-11T21:53:00.004-04:00

Almost two months since I posted! Wow time flies. So here is a quick update on the most recent fiber news.

Tour De Fleece yarn - handpainted roving made into 2ply

Froggy Fibers has ended participation in the local market. Sadly, I believe we were no longer a good match. I'll miss my Saturdays there. However, due to a "miscommunication" with the organizers we were unable to attend in June. We were advised they were at full capacity. So apparently there was no regard for a regular vendor who advised them of our attendance at the end of the previous market and emailed prior to the deadline for June. Well..... lesson learned. No matter how good things seem, it is bound to come to an end.

Also, for those who look forward to my Phat Fiber samples..I'm going to miss this month. The good news in this is that my reason is taking on a new part time job starting mid-June. My new job schedule was almost 40hrs for the last 3 weeks. However, once the store opens (this Friday!) my hours will drop closer to a normal part time schedule. Which means we should be back on track for the August box. =D

Other occurrences on the fun side of things is that I choose to try to participate in the Tour De Fleece again on Ravelry. I joined back up with fellow fiberistas from last year (previously Rawfish's Ravelry forum now all grown up into LaiGrai.)I haven't been 100% successful but since the July 3rd start I've spun 3-4 days. I even have pics... just not uploaded to Flickr yet. Which means... lucky you blog friends! You get first peek at my recent yarns including the one above.

spun pumpkinhaus batt and froggy hand painted roving

more handpainted froggy roving to be plyed with white (maybe)

Always end on a good note! (It's going to be my new blogging motto... I just came up with it and decided that when I wrote it. Serendipity is a wonderful thing.)

and there goes May...

2010-05-16T20:52:00.000-04:00

I've been in and out of a little funk this month so not many... *ahem* any, posts from me. I did still manage to attend my local market and drew tons of attention even though there were no sales. I also got back in touch with an old work friend. Well, I would call her a work friend but I guess these things are always so iffy when you lose your job.
Anyway, outside of the market the only other thing I've managed this month was contributing to the Phat Fiber Sampler. I sent a mix of 27 yarn and fiber samples in and slipped in just by the skin of my teeth so to speak. I didn't get my market set up photos this time but I did get the Phat Fiber samples before boxing them up to go.

Hopefully I'm back on the upswing and will be posting here more. Until then.....

Surprise!

2010-04-29T18:42:00.000-04:00

I'm having a surprise sale starting NOW everything is 25% off. Money refunded via PayPal after payment clears. Tell me you saw it on my blog. (disc. does not include shipping, can not be combined, etc)
Good through May 2, 2010

Shop Froggy Fibers

Phat Froggy Fibers Giveaway!

2010-04-21T18:40:00.000-04:00

If you've ever wanted to get your hands on some Froggy Fibers then now is your chance. Just pop on over to the Phat Fiber blog where you can be entered into the giveaway.

All you have to do is post what your favorite item is in my shop. Just go to this post and you will be entered into a chance to win 2 oz of Froggy Fibers Red Eyed Tree Frog Roving. What's better than free when it comes to good, quality fibers!

Store update and Policy Change

2010-04-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let you know that lots of new things have been added to the store throughout the week. More fiber and more yarn for you at Froggy Fibers.

I also wanted to send a quick note for those who are not signed up for the Froggy Fibers Newsletter that there is a new policy going into effect on May1st regarding renewing items in the store. After this date no yarn or fiber product will be renewed so if you want something in the store it is best to go ahead and purchase it.

Thank you for viewing and purchasing from my store.

Shop update, Phat Fiber Samples and Market Pictures

2010-04-13T09:14:00.002-04:00

Hello!
I don't really have much to say at the moment so I'm just going to post a few important things and some lovely pictures. Not lovely cause they are extraordinarily good but lovely just cause they are pictures.

(#1) Starting Monday April 12 (yep, that was yesterday) I will be updating the shop. New items will go up all week long so please check back regularly.

(#2) My samples for the April PhatFiber box was sent out on Monday. (I did double sided business cards for the tag again! Such fun!) Hopefully it will make it to HQ in time to get in the video but in case it isn't I will be in the box!. Full size listings will be available in shop on Friday.

(#3) Market Pictures! I participated in my local Market last Saturday and seemed to draw some good interest. People came by who remembered me from last year. I even had someone ask me if I did lessons! I think in the future I will bring more yarn and less fiber but then I feel like I'm losing an opportunity for someone to learn to spin. It just seems like the primary interest is in the yarn. It's really a hard balance doing shows in person and one I just haven't figured out yet. (Side note- I wasn't selling the sweater or (my son's) hat. They were there as examples of what can be done with handspun. Just thought I should note that since they are in the picture.)

Well, that's it for now!

Come see me at the Market!

2010-04-05T21:14:00.004-04:00

We just confirmed today that we will be attending the Wesleyan Market again this year starting April 10, 2010 from 9am - 1pm. Last year was a blast and it was great to meet people who spun or were interested in spinning.

So if you are local, in town or driving through please make plans to stop by and see us (my husband and I) this weekend. If you make a purchase from Froggy Fibers and decide to wish me a happy 30th I will give you a special birthday discount as well.
Thanks!

Join a spinalong with me!

2010-04-04T18:48:00.004-04:00

Hey all! I wanted to invite all the spinners out there to come do a spinalong in the Friends of Froggy Ravelry group! We don't have a theme yet and are still working on it so jump on in and voice your opinion. The great part about this spinalong (besides me... bats eyelashes) is it's totally NO PURCHASE NECESSARY!

Sorry for the yelling but its an important point. I like doing spinalongs but I don't always have the money to pony up for one. This spinalong would also work great for if your doing the 2nd Annual Yarn Everyday Challenge! Some ideas so far have been Critters and Assymetry. Please stop by check and check out the others. Let's have a fun, no stress spinalong!

April Phat Fiber, Yarn Everyday Month and 2 Questions

2010-04-01T23:27:00.008-04:00

Hello! I have my roving all dyed for the April Phat Fiber sampler! I'm really excited and plan to make sure there are full size listings in the store. (Maybe I should do 2 ounce listings and offer custom requests on the colorways?) So... do you want a peek? It's probably too late now, You've seen the picture.

Now just to divide the roving up and label it. If I have time I may work up some yarn as well.

In other yarn news, Yarn Everyday Month is back. This year I am going to work really hard to get some yarn or fiber work in everyday. Last year I also tried to blog each day but it didnt really work after a few days. This year I can do it though. I have a new (to me) awesome Fricke spinning wheel and just under ten pounds of wool to work with. Plus I have fiber reactive dyes so I can handpaint milk fiber for the store now. I'm really rather excited to be honest.

So, I did a lot of typing on an earlier blog post so I'm trying to keep this one more to the point (and tons lighter!) But I have two questions that I would love assistance with.

1. I plan to sell at the local market again this year. I thought that it would be a good idea to have a few yarns that were multiples for people who don't want to be limited to smaller (70-150 yard) projects.

Currently I am spinning 3 ounce bundles to get the amounts close to the same yardage, aiming for 100 yards/piece. For the three skeins I have done 2 are 74 yds/piece and one in 102 yds before dyeing and setting the twist. I will probably bump it up to 4 ounce bundles so that I know I have 100 yards.

Originally my idea was to provide 3-4 different colorways that had 3 skeins each. Do you think this would be enough? Should I do more than 3 skeins of each color I offer? Would it be better to test the waters with only 2 colorways and have 4-5 skeins of each?

2. I am thinking of moving my blog back to wordpress (froggyfiber.com) because it would give me a better chance to monitor comments and reply. I like talking to everyone but I don't always want to reply back on the post. I really like sending back a personal email. Plus, I'm tired of it just sitting there unused! So, is there anyone knowledgeable about importing posts and themes? I need a cleaner nicer theme for wordpress that is easy to install and change the banner on. Is that too much to ask? (Ha! that was totally rhetorically but if you know, do tell!)

I will be forever indebted to you if you can help with either question. Thanks bunches!

A public admission

2010-04-01T22:15:00.014-04:00

Hello My friends! *sighs* Yet again it has been a while since I wrote. Then when I did it was to talk about the death of my poor bunny. So, I am going to write this quick post and then write another post to drown out this one because I really hate to bring people down. (ETA: it's not as short as I thought it would be so feel free to skip it.)

It may not be obvious to the people that read this blog but I have a condition that millions of people have. For YEARS I really thought I could just make myself work. I felt like I was just being a lazy slack ass. That really deep inside I had all these brilliant (or at least really decent) ideas and all I had to do was make myself do it. Maybe I just needed to be more organized. Perhaps if I learned to structure my day better by scheduling my time I could totally capitalize on the GENIUS that was my brain. (Yes, I do think highly of myself at times.)

Sadly, as I grew up, finished college, married (and adopted my then stepson) I realized that my life wasn't going to work out that way. See, I was constantly switching modes (and stress only made it worse.) I would hear my husband say something and just snap. Sometimes there was a point to it but more often than not I just associated the comment wrongly in my head. I always felt like I was being attacked even when he was being encouraging. I was always tired minus a few good days any given month. Seriously, I was all drama. Of course I managed to keep the main damage at home. However, it was stressful trying to be Ms. Personal at work and that just upped the ante whenever I was home. Eventually it got worse. I knew it was bad when everything my son said grated my nerves, ever thing my husband said grated my nerves and everything I did just sucked, all the time!

So I finally went back to the doctor. I say back because every time I previously went I was doped up on medications that made me feel like crap and gave me extremely poor sleep including vivid and scary dreams. Starting in college I was diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, Anxiety and Bi-polar. Really it shouldn't have been surprising that I would need medication to help with the day to day tasks of life. I can't even begin to count how many times my mom said "It's not fair for everyone to have to tiptoe around you like you are on eggshells." Or better yet, the number of times I was told I was throwing a temper tantrum... so much so one of my sisters wrote the definition and taped it to her door. (We're not talking under the age of ten either.)

So a few years ago I went back to the doctor to seek help. He was just a general practitioner but I felt comfortable with him and described my problems. I also made it very clear that while I was willing to take medicine, I was not willing to be doped up all the time "trying to find" the medicine that was best for me. I was working full time and was the sole income provider so I couldn't miss time from work for crazy side effects.

Well, the first difference was that the doctor said that all my symptoms were classic signs of depression. Depression! Ding Ding Ding! Hell, I can deal with that but why did people keep telling me bi-polar. Did you know if your depressed you have to take different medications then those with Bi-Polar? If your misdiagnosed and take the wrong meds it can have serious side affects. So, after talking through my previous trials and errors we discovered one medicine I had taken in small doses during college that didn't have bad side effects. And it was an antidepressant dammit! All that wasted time on bi-polar meds that were screwing me up and making it hard to navigate the day... harder than before.

Well, I took medicine for the depression for around two years and then I lost my job. My prescription, thankfully, didn't run out for another 6 months. Sadly, I could afford the prescription itself on the unemployment income, but it was the office visit to the doctor that was out of the question. Then we considered the Health Department but unfortunately there was like a 3 month wait on appointments and I just kept thinking I would get a job by then so I could go back to my regular doctor.

That didn't happen and that hasn't happened. So now I am here. Sometimes its a few days and other times its a few weeks. Most of the time it is somewhere in between. I don't know if it was worse before, when I didn't know or if it is worse now that I know it can be better. I can actually fly into a rage and midway through know I'm being irrational and still not be able to stop myself. That hurts. It hurts me and its not fair to my husband or my son.

We finally got up the courage to call the Health Department again and I have an appointment in approximately 2 weeks. I both dread it and look forward to it. I'm just tired right now. I feel lost a lot of the time. What I really want right now is to be in the mental position I was a year ago. True, I was without a job but I was more together than I had been in years. I just want that feeling back.

So don't worry if I don't post for long periods of time. I'm still around just not in the mood for in depth conversations. Hopefully by the end of this month I won't have to worry about that as much though. Seriously, I'm naturally very talkative... so much so, as evidenced by the nature of this post. I've just been feeling painfully honest and needed to get it out. Tonight seemed as good as any but I promise not to write such dark posts in the future. Cross your fingers and wish me luck. Thanks!

Smokey Joe

2010-03-31T23:21:00.005-04:00

Our poor bunny passed away sometime between last night and this morning. It was quite sad to see him go as he was a real trooper. Smokey Joe was a Jersey Wooly who came to live with us on July 1, 2007 along with his two sisters Opal and Ladybird. They were all about 4 years old at the time. I 'm sure it was time for him to go but its always hard. Doubly so when you have to break it to your 10 year old son. He will be missed.

Movement

2010-03-15T08:00:00.002-04:00

Sometimes brilliant thoughts strike at the least likely moment.
Today, I took my dog out to the yard to do her business as I often do (or as my husband often does... it seems often anyway.) I took a step off the porch and stopped to let her do her thing at which point I immediately noticed the post sunset chill that had crept into the air. Suddenly I was ready to go back inside and quickly. Since Ms. Pepper didn't seem to be ready to do anything I started to pull on her leash and make a motion toward the door. She wasn't ready though and so I stopped. (You can't rush a dog or you'll find yourself in the same spot five minutes later.) Funny thing was that I stopped mid-motion. I had literally just stepped forward to turn and that was how I stopped.

And it hit me.

How do you get anywhere? By placing one foot in front of the other.

What's so funny about this? Nothing.

So why are you telling me this dog goes poopy story?
It's because of what I learned (or realized or better yet remembered) in that moment. It's because movement is about taking one step and placing it in front of the other. That is such a hard concept sometimes but it is so very literal. I deal with this issue a lot right now. Whether it's dealing with family, friends, unemployment, "being froggy fibers" or even handling my issues with depression. I have to learn when to move. And it's hard. I mean really hard. Some issues are harder than others even.

When do you move forward? When do you stop? How do you change directions? I don't know the answer for me so I'm certainly not going to pretend that I can tell anyone else. I just know that it was a very light-bulb moment for me. As I stand there frozen one foot forward, arms mid-swing waiting for my dog to go. I realized that the only way I'm going to see some change in my life, in my online store, in my job/career choice is to start putting one foot in front of the other and create the movement I need. Sure, there will be bumps in the road that will set me back a few paces. But when they do, I'm going to make sure that I turn around and face those steps head on. Because even if I have to retrace some steps, once I turn around those steps are in front of me again. Now I will have the experience of having walked that path before and I can put one foot in front of the other and decide what my movement will be. I will know that a few steps back down a path I've already tread doesn't mean I lose control of what road I will take in the future.

See, I'll be thirty next month. I have my whole life ahead of me. Sometimes that seems like such a weight, sometimes a relief, sometimes like I am just really, really old and have accomplished nothing. Tonight, when I go to bed, I'll wonder how something as simple as taking the dog out to go poop can bring about inspiration. (Yes, there I said poop!) I'll probably giggle a little too. Cause, you know, I'm sooooo mature.

******

On a related note, not 5 minutes after having this epiphany I found myself reading Tingling Towards Progress over on Make & Meaning. It's good reads... even if it has to do with feet. Talking as someone who only likes to see feet on the floor and no where near me, it's kinda odd the inspiration they can prompt.

On the flip side

2010-03-10T09:27:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I get amazed by the little things. Silly as it sounds, just the other day I was thinking about how cool business cards can be. Very multipurpose. You can get SO MUCH on the back of them.

For instance, I did my PhatFiber sample cards and added this info to the back. So if your front is catchy and creative enough, you have the back that could be filled with loads of useful info. I wouldn't do this all the time but its a great trick and reduces paper use too.

Baby Belle has rung!

2010-03-08T14:15:00.003-05:00

Completely corny title I know. I just have to announce that my first sweater has been finished. No more knitting, no binding off, no weaving in ends. Woohoo! And now, introducing my little ladybug (that's what I would call a baby wearing this)...

Also, my fascination with sweaters is done too. It was great fun and a learning experiment but I'm not sure how much I want to do it again. I certainly don't want to make a full sized one, even if I had my eye on the Handspun Babydoll Tunic SAL/KAL on Ravelry. Maybe the feeling will subside and I will have another go. For the moment, I am quite happy.

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #4

2010-03-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

Today, a quick and easy tip for any messy medium.

Over the last 6 months or so after washing clothes I have discovered towels that have aged beyond repair. Mostly towels with multiple small wholes and large tears. So instead of throwing them out I decided to put them to good use.

The first thing I did was use the towels to soak up water. Since I live in a small house I often dyed my wool and leave it hanging on a wooden laundry rack. However, no matter how much you try the wool will drip water and the last thing you need is water puddles on the floor. Then later I got a bit smarter in my old recycled towel use. Now, whenever I sort my fiber I will often lay out old towels to pick the fiber over. Since I do small scale picking I can grab my bundle(s) and sit in front of the TV while working. Mostly I'm listening to what's on the TV but it keeps me entertained and focused. This also makes for easy for cleaning up all the fiddly veggie matter and dirt that falls out. Just ball up the towel and shake it out outside (or over the outside trash can.)

Try using old towels as a drop cloth for painting sessions or clay work. Keep the water in check when wet felting and keep the sticky guck (for lack of a proper term) in check when working with papier-mâché. Finally, don't forget kids craft time. It's always better if they decide to decorate the towels then the tables or the walls!

Do you know a great low cost crafty tip? Something you want to share to make crafting easier without breaking the pocketbook? Please email me at adminat...froggyfiberdot...com (using all the necessary email symbols and removing the periods) and I will add it as a post on the blog. Be sure to give me a link to your blog or store so you can get credit. If I get enough I will start posting a new one each week or biweekly.

Customer Creation - Mountain Eagle Crafters Hat

2010-02-27T18:37:00.002-05:00

I always love to see what becomes of the things I make and sell. In this case, I sold a single skein of handspun yarn to a lovely repeat customer who has an Etsy shop. As it turns out, this customer was in town visiting when she made the purchase so in order to save on shipping we agreed to meet at a predetermined location.

After I handed her the yarn we talked in the parking lot for 30 minutes in the somewhat (no actually really, really) cold weather. The skein of yarn she purchased was only 102 yards but she still made this lovely adult sized hat. A great example of what you can make with a single skein of handspun. (Bulky yarn requires even less yardage.) So please, pop on over to Mountain Eagle Crafter's etsy shop today.
Thanks for sharing!

Things that make me happy

2010-02-27T10:43:00.000-05:00

I went to my son's school yesterday to speak for black history/careers day presentation. I had actually done a career day for his school middle of January but I agreed to do it again. Last time I was supposed to present for my son's class but a "mix up" in communication caused them to be at the art teacher when the should have been at the presentation.

Yesterday I got the chance to speak to his class about spinning. He was very excited and wanted to talk about it all the way to school. I was less enthusiastic. I didn't want to do this. I felt ambushed by the teacher at the last minute and that morning my husband had tooth pain so bad he couldn't come to help. I dropped my kid off to school and grabbed breakfast at a local fast food chain. I felt pathetic as I sat eating my chicken biscuit. Still, I didn't chicken out. My son was expecting me.

Once I got to the school I walked in and realized the organization wasn't the greatest. Once most of the presenters got there we were given a tour by the student ambassadors (e.g. fifth graders.) Then we went to the class to present. There was already a presenter in the room when I arrived and I was in no rush to get in the room. Then another presenter showed up and walked in while I sat across from the door. Still, no rush to get in. But eventually she finished talking and I had to.

I went into the room carrying my wheel and the kids started to stare. They had gotten quite rowdy because their teacher was organizing the event and couldn't be in the room. I failed to get everyone's attention but the room mom had just gotten there and she could. I summed up all my courage, took a deep breath and talked about what I did.

When everything was said and done, all the kids seemed really interested. I spent all this time really nervous about talking. I felt like I was just another kid talking in front of the class and they would judge me. (Yes, the 4th graders who are 20 yrs younger than me...) In the end they all wrote really nice cards thanking me for coming and that just made my day. I know they did that for every person but they seemed to genuinely like hearing about what I did.

Photo post - winding down the dyeing fun

2010-02-23T08:28:00.006-05:00

Fibers that are almost dried on the rack. Winters are brutal on the drying times.

Hand painted Tussah Silk and Milk fiber in Cardinal, Chestnut and Baby Blue

Milk fiber in Baby Blue (same as above) Chartreuse and Lavender

Close up of the Hand painted Tussah Silk (pre fluffing - dyeing compacts a little)

Squeeee!!!!!!!

2010-02-21T23:33:00.003-05:00

Because sometimes there is nothing better to say. Just wanted to quickly post about my new wheel. This weekend my family and I traveled back to Atlanta to purchase my second wheel. I had a second wheel, but with being in a small house I really needed to something that was good for both bulky and thin in one wheel. So here we have the Fricke Double Treadle.

I read tons of good reviews and talked with fellow fiberista KnittinKbyAB aka Adrian. She was very sweet and answered all my questions. This is my second "sight unseen" purchase. I know that people always say you should try your wheels first but that's not always possible. However, I really believe you can at least get a really good start if you do your research. Sure, if you can try before you buy... totally do it. If you can't, just ask around and make sure you are getting well balanced opinions regarding what matters to you in a wheel. (If your new there are tons of places for advice, one that I just ran across via Ravelry is Abby's Yarns. She hits on several great points, especially for the newbie wheel buyer.)
I'm really excited. I have a few knitting projects I am working on but a couple of them will be taking a back burner so I can get more spinning in!

Thoughts of Sewing

2010-02-15T09:52:00.001-05:00

I purchased my very first sewing machine roughly this time last year so I think its so appropos that I have purchased my first real and focused sewing book this year. Not that I didn't have resources. My mother in law gave me a ton of books on sewing and the Friends of the Library sale netted a cool Reader's Digest book on the subject. After a practice sewing session I even made my very own craft tote.... a year later it still doesn't have handles but who cares!

This book... I am so excited about finding this book. I always go to the crafty section of the local Barnes & Noble to see what's been added to the stock. Earlier in the week while we were just wasting time trying not to lay about the house my husband found a great little sewing book. I took a look and fell in love. The reason... simple, I want to make bags.

I practically sat down on the floor of the craft section to read this book. (Okay, I actually did...) I love how simple this book is and I really look forward to using it as a guide. My goal is to make simple lightweight totes that are cute and fun for craft projects. Simple. Lots of work but its not about the work. It's about the journey.

Grassy Fun

2010-02-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

Just a peek at some wool that I got in a swap. I washed it the other day and boy is it soft. Sadly, there is a ton of VM in it. When I say a ton I mean lots... grass... all over the place. When I pick it up it falls out. When I set it down, it falls out. When I look at it... IT FALLS OUT.

So very disappointing. However, I'm going to break out the handcards in hopes to salvage the wool to spin. It felt fairly soft even with all the grass which pleases me since its my first go at Shetland. I guess we will just have to see what happens.

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #3

2010-02-08T22:26:00.001-05:00

The last tip for keeping things inexpensive in your crafting mentioned reusing the cutouts from a cardboad light tent. Keeping in that vein I've got a quick and easy fix for people blocking swatches.

Since I only need to support three areas of the light tent I had plenty of cardboard cutouts left. In my case the size of my box was 12x12 so that left me with an approximately 10x10 square. (I've never, ever been able to cut a straight line..... even with a ruler.) In the close up picture you can see that I have pinned a swatch to the cardboard to help set the shape. Obviously this isn't going to work for really large items but it can work. I've seen some really big boxes around. I also don't like to soak my material because it takes longer to dry. Instead I choose to use a spray bottle and get the object signifantly damp on both sides. Then I shape the item and pin it to the cardboard, using the pins to get just a slight tension so the items doesnt pull back up. That may not be the way to block "officially" but its my way.

I don't know how long I will swatch yarn. I really am much more the run with whatever I have type knitter/crocheter/spinner/dyer. However, I get left over yarn all the time so I'm sort of brewing in my head what I should do with them. I'm sure it would make a great piecemill blanket or something. Until then I am very happy to know I have a quick and easy way to "perfect" my sample knits.

(A Disclaimer - this swatch was already blocked but the previous photos weren't great so I "staged" these photos.)

WIP: Baby Belle

2010-02-05T20:58:00.004-05:00

Good News: I am almost done! Bad News: I will probably run out of the red yarn for the sleeves.

What I am hoping to do in order to compensate for this complication is lengthen the main color and use just a tiny amount of red to balance out the sleeves, maybe ruffle it or something. I don't know, I should be done in the next few days so I will definitely put up the finished object. This is really my first time working with a pattern so I feel bad having to variate from it but I don't see any other choice. We shall see, we shall see!

Spoiler: Phat Fiber Samples

2010-01-29T14:35:00.004-05:00

Want to see what Froggy Fibers will be sending into the Phat Fiber box this month? If the answer is no, you've come to the wrong place cause I have a picture!

Hopefully I can do a few more samples if I can finish kicking this cold in enough time. Wish me luck!

Make & Meaning

2010-01-28T00:29:00.006-05:00

I haven't blogged in over a week because every time I opened up the blog I wanted to vent or rant or whine. Very Literally. And that's not cool. Its fine for people to occasionally talk about things that are going wrong but that's not the place I was in so I didn't feel it fair to those who read the blog to listen to that. I can't really say that I am in a much better place but I really want to write a little post to share some goodness I stumbled on to.

I can often be found perusing my Twitter feed on any given day. The other day whilst I was perusing a link was put up by the fabulous Kim Werker or perhaps the equally fabulous, Diane Gilleland I honestly can't remember. It doesn't really matter which 140 character twitter turned me on to this site. What does matter is the content that is being produced on the site. It is absolutely fabulous. (I need a new word... lets say Wonderful!)

Obviously I have you hanging by a thread because I haven't told you what site I am talking about yet. (Oh No! don't look at the title, I forgot I wrote it there.... just stay with me.) The site is called Make & Meaning and is jam packed with great conversational articles about making things and the meanings behind it. There are probably ten million conversation that can be had on any topic. You certainly could have a million conversations on the meaning behind being able to create.

So I RSS'd this into my Google reader immediately and I will tell you why. There is a genuine feeling of openness to this site. There is no feeling of the many assumptions rampant in crafting nowadays. It's not about how to make a million dollars selling your craft. Its about how being and crafting and making affects people.

At least that's what I see in it.
I could be wrong.
I suggest you take a look for yourself.
Make and Meaning: Creative Community in Conversation

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #2

2010-01-18T22:25:00.010-05:00

I hate when ideas go by the wayside. I didn't get a real chance to get this recurring theme started due to my internet outage during the month of November throwing me for a huge loop. I am, however, prepared to do so now. So let's begin!

**************

This post is not a new idea but it's still meant to be a useful add on to the crafty repertoire. So lets proceed to talk about the light tent. There are tons of blogs, youtubes, and instructables for the do-it-yourself light tent. The problem is that sometimes your measurements are off or you pick what you think is a good size to cut the hole in the cardboard only to find out you were wrong and its to big. In some cases, you just don't like the strength of the cardboard structure. I did just that and wanted to share the solution I found.

I simply took the scraps of cardboard from the lid and used them to secure the parts of the lightbox that felt flimsy.

As an example, here is half the flap cut from the top of the box. In the case of the box pictured here, I could get 2 cardboard strips cut from the flap and tape them on either side of the openings with shipping tape to create a more stable setup. Sure, cardboard box light tents don't last for ever but at least with this tip in play it's less likely to fall apart after your first photo session.

Now I can add the fabric or posterboard, set up the lighting and take some pictures without worrying about tearing up my box.

WIP - Baby Belle Update

2010-01-12T22:36:00.004-05:00

I was soooo wanting to have this done by the end of the year and I totally think I could have. Only I didn't. By mid month TheBoy was getting out of school for holiday break and was the unfortunate recipient of a cold. Colds spread. Especially when you kiss little children good night before bed. So got sick and so did my husband. My lovely husband however managed to keep it together as well as the house. (I am so thankful to have such an awesome partner in life!)

What does all that have to do with my current unfinished object... a baby sweater... you say? Everything because I was so sick I couldnt think straight, which lingered through Christmas. Then by the time I was feeling better we tried to visit my parents and the car water pump exploded. No time for serious thinking and I wanted serious thought put into my first knit sweater. Plus, after being sick I totally lost my motivation for like... well... everything. So now I am getting it back.

I would say I am about a quarter of the way through the Baby Belle sweater but having never completed one its hard to guess percentages. My new goal is to complete it in the next two weeks. Okay, three weeks. I agreed to do career day at my son's school this Friday and I have to prepare so I don't embarrass my son and myself both.

Experimenting in Fiber

2010-01-10T19:35:00.016-05:00

The last few days have been about experimenting with different things. Some techniques, some not. I love sharing the results of experiments, be they good or bad so here is a tiny glimpse into my laboratory. (Okay, no fancy lab but lots of fibers and tools sitting around looking for use.)

Knitting:

Knitting is hard enough for me without all the technical aspects creeping into my life. Sure I can knit and purl. Heck, I've even made a pair of socks... once. But cables, intarsia, entrelac... heck no. Yeah, I'll get there one day. Probably sooner rather than later to be honest but for now its a taboo knitting world once you pass Stockinette Avenue.

However, I did do a not so technical thing with knitting this past week. I took some left over yarns from an order I was working on and made swatches.

Okay... I haven't blocked them yet, but that's because I have one other yarn I intend to swatch. Once that is done I will block all three and take another photo. Not that I need another photo of yarn, spun, swatched or blocked on here. (Plus my blog seems to suffer from bad photos... my shop photos are better though not perfect... something to work on.)

My other experimental knit is based more on playing with technique and needles. It's just a simple garter stitch made with what I call my "Mugly" yarn. It's mugshot ugly. Really, its just a combination of samples and bits and bobs of handcarded fibers that I had laying around and decided to spin.

I've considered doing some coordinating fibers and spinning several more but haven't committed. For now I am working on this:

It doesn't look like much right now but when it is done it will span several types of yarn and consistencies and (as of this moment) 3 different needle sizes. The large needles I am starting with are a #19 and yes, the yarn is pretty laceweight if you ask me. (See ask me what I think, not for reality. It works best that way.) I plan to go from #19's to #13 to #10 (possibly eight for more dramatic effect... haven't decided yet.) Again, will update with pictures as we go.

Spinning:

On the spinning front, (as if you couldn't read the bold print that signifies a subject change instead of a normal and gradual verbal transition....) I was inspired by a thread on Ravelry's Fiber Prep group about gradient carding. I have seen people tackle this before but never gave it a second thought.

This time, however, I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with some wool that I dyed prior to selling off my drum carder. So I broke out the handcards (at which point I wish I had just broke the handcards) and went to blending the fibers together. (Yes, I miss having a carder... and a wheel that doesn't break when I use it more than two days at a time but... that's a whole other story.)

This picture may be a bit deceiving. I was working with cheviot dyed Mulberry (Gaywool acid dye) and Cormo dyed with Baby Blue (Cushings.) On one end is an all cheviot rolag, on the other end is three all cormo rolags. In between are various combinations that should represent a gradual change. Well, let me tell you... Cheviot and Cormo do not blend well together. Period. In all actuality, I had to place the purple on one end and the blue on the other just to make it look like there was more transition then there was.

That all said.... it was a great spin! Plus, the cheviot still had a little lanolin in it and with the cold winter my hands have been super dry but not after spinning that. (Well, at least for the rest of that day.)

This is the finished yarn on the bobbin. Since I ended with the cormo you can sort of see the bits and bobs that are present in the cheviot on the left side.

The yarn itself looks lovely to me as well. I quite like the striping and difference in colors. There is just one thing, and of course my husband pointed it out. I knew it was there... I just didn't notice it as much until he said it. Cormo and cheviot have two different textures. The cheviot is not course like Scottish Blackface but its not soft like merino. The cormo is soft.. maybe softer than merino. So put the two together and its a bit of a stark contrast.

But that's it. These are the fibery things I have been exploring. What about you? What explorations are underway in your world?

New Fiber!

2010-01-06T19:16:00.003-05:00

Lookie-loo what I've got for you. Well, for me and you as it turns out.

This is Milk Fiber. It is processed from the casein of milk and is non-wool. I don't have much to add about it now but I am definitely excited about it. More to come soon.

finito!

2010-01-03T15:54:00.004-05:00

I am in love with this yarn. I almost hate to say that because it really is such a standard monotone yarn. I call it Ray of Sunshine. It just feels warm and inviting. Plus the sun has so many different levels of intensity that it just makes sense. This is one of three yarns that I spun for a customer. I enjoyed all the color combination's and it gave me an idea for the Wesleyan Market and the online store. Now just time and patience will tell where this gets me. Today was also a bit nice because I got some really nice photos of the yarns, both together and individually. They were almost artsy in nature. I have about ten yards of this left and so I'm going to make a little stockinette stitch swatch to see how it knits up.

My Husbands New Years Resolutions

2010-01-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

I love my husband and he is very silly sometimes. Here is his resolutions list he posted throughout the day on Facebook. Enjoy!

News Years Resolution...No more bottles of cheap red wine($3 - $5 bottle)....Now only the finest most expensive red wine($7 - $10 a bottle)!!

New Years Resolution #2...Losing weight ( I figure if I cut out fruits and veggies I can increase my cake/pies/sweets intake and still lose weight!!)

New Years Resolution #3...Better organization(This means taller neater piles and less small messy piles of things)

New Years Resolution #4...to be more manly this year and stop buying no tears shampoo and no pull hair scrunchies!!

New Years Resolution #5...Since we have spent the last 10 years rightfully accused of miscegenation this is the year to go all the way and have a kid!!

I wish everyone out there a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Christmas Tree 2009

2009-12-22T08:35:00.003-05:00

I need a larger house/dedicated craft space

2009-12-15T17:34:00.008-05:00

AKA... We started unpacking decorations for the impending holiday. Talk about stress, this picture is near the end of moving all my items out of the dining room so that we can set up the Christmas tree. In the back are the Christmas decorations, in the front of the picture are the bits and bobs left to move to the bedroom.
Said Christmas tree which has not been put up yet. That was Saturday, this is Tuesday. hmmm......

My first sweater

2009-12-12T14:39:00.006-05:00

Well, for my first post back after being AWOL I decided to show you a work in progress.

This is the Baby Belle designed by Cosette of Cosymakes. I have never ever knitted a sweater before so I am working really hard to do it right and per pattern. On that thought, I have never knitted anything to pattern before. Well, my socks, but I was walked through it week by week with the creator before I ever knew there was a written pattern. So this is really important to me. I'm even willing to frog back things if I make a mistake. (none to date that I know of though.) I must say I am quite impressed. Many people suggested that when I do my first sweater I make it a baby sweater because it will be quicker and easier and you will see the progress sooner. Boy were they correct. I can see this developing along as I knit and love it, even if the colors don't match the way I imagined they would. Don't worry, I will post more pictures when this cutey is complete.

hi!

2009-12-10T23:51:00.004-05:00

So, I haven't written over a month and there is almost no excuse for that. Several times I wanted to write but it just didn't happen...

Okay... to be honest there is an perfectly valid excuse. I lost my internet connection. It's not unknown... or at least I think its not unknown that I was laid off from my job in February 09. That said money is tight... it was before the job cut and it definitely is now. However, I try not to bore people to often with my trials and tribulations. I leave the earful to my husband (who in his own right is headed into crazy with all this.)

I just wanted to pop in to let everyone know that I now have a reliable internet connection and I will proceed to start making posts again. I've already got one in mind for the next couple of days it just depends on how this shopping trip goes tomorrow.

So... that being said, how are you? I missed talking to my friends via Etsy, Twitter and Facebook and would love to catch up. I hope all of you are doing well as we end this fabulous year. =D

Try this! (not for the weak of heart)

2009-11-04T21:16:00.004-05:00

This month is National Novel Writing Month. The idea is basic. Write a 50K novel in 30 days. Seems impossible, right? So why would anyone do it!
I don't know but thousands are and so am I. I'm not very far by all means but thats alright for me. I would love to finish 50K words in 30 days but seriously, the 576 words I have already written to date is more than I have done in years. If you want to take up the challenge its not to late. Join the fun at NaNoWriMo.

Another fun thing to try for all you knitting fiends is National Knit a Sweater Month. Goal here... you guessed it, knit a sweater in one month. Check out this post on knitgrrl's blog. I may take this one up too since I have a baby sweater pattern I am supposed to be knitting on. Baby sweater means takes less time, right?

And finally, last but not least, is National Blog Posting Month. Are you the type of person who swears this time they will be a better blogger. I know I am. So much so that I haven't even looked into this because that's a sure FAIL. However, you might do well at this. You may even be a natural at daily blog writing and just really need that extra push. If that's the case then this is certainly for you. Check out NaBloPoMo.

So, if your up for a challenge then there's something for everyone this month. (Outside of avoiding the mad cap crazy crowds at 4 am the day after Thanksgiving.) If nothing else take a trip around these sites and be inspired by those who have time in their schedule to participate in these different challenges. Heck, even leave a comment cheering them on!

Beware the Sith Lord!

2009-11-03T08:08:00.003-05:00

Okay, so there isn't anything to be afraid of really. I know. She is just so cute. Pepper had just gotten her bath from being all dirty and was sitting in my husbands arms. We like to wrap her around with a warm towel because she is so small she starts to shiver when wet. This last shot was just so perfect though because she was looking dead on at the camera.
The Darkness is with this one....

Monkey See, Monkey Do!

2009-11-01T22:11:00.004-05:00

On Saturday I got my super duper MailChimp shirt in the mail from the Twitter giveaways. I know it was random what design I would get but this one is absolutely perfect!

Since I'm looking for work maybe I can get on at MailChimp by sporting the shirt around. I might just get lucky being not far south of the MailChimp Headquarters . One can dream anyway. =D

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #1

2009-10-16T09:53:00.006-04:00

Look at this neat contraption. This is my tubing to keep yarn from collapsing in on its self once I take it off the ball winder. This works especially well for sock yarns and thinner weight handspun yarns. Yes, its bootleg but effective. Plus depending on how much yarn your winding, you can get about 3 tubes of cardboard from one paper towel roll but only one for each toilet paper roll. Plus you can reuse the tubing until it starts to get to soft to hold its structure. I have found this to be a good way to avoid tangling up yarn but I do concede that I use a old plastic gallon ice cream container and knit (or ply - when spinning) these yarn from the outside instead of center pull. That way the yarn can turn and bounce in the bucket and I don't have to worry about the center tangling and pulling apart as much.
Its a great way to reduce, reuse and recycle all in one!

cut cardboard tubing from paper towel holders

(This is something new I just came up with today because I found something I wanted to share. As I was writing this post I decided to try to find a new one each week or two to share with everyone.)

PS - Join in on the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

Ashfords, Alpacas and AlpacaFarmGirl!

2009-10-09T09:48:00.004-04:00

Wednesday I took a trip with my husband to Montgomery, AL to meet the FABULOUS Katy from AlpacaFarmGirl.com so that she could purchase my Ashford Country. It was quite easy to get there even though my husband and I got lost on the way back home. We had a great time meeting Katy and I got to hear all about alpaca raising on her farm. Afterwords I even convinced my husband to seriously consider alpaca farming as a future option. (Although sometimes I'm not sure how much is convincing and how much is smiling and batting my eyes..... j/k)

Part of the purchase was the exchange of these wonderful, soft and gorgeous fibers! I got a little sample of 5 different alpaca fleeces that Katy so lovingly raises. Did I mention they were soft. I love soft fibers and these are soft... it makes me feel like the merino top I purchase is second rate. I totally want to roll around in these fibers.

Here is a close up of a little tuft from Luminescence:

Its a silvery gray color and I think its my favorite color from all the picks. I keep wanting to dig my nose in and rub it all around... don't worry, I haven't.... yet..... but it does make me want to grab up my handcards and brand new spindle and take it for a test spin. This is lovely fiber and I would totally suggest ANYONE purchase alpaca fiber from Katy whenever they have a chance. Did I mention it is soft?

Join in the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival here!

Fancy Spindle!

2009-10-06T21:54:00.004-04:00

Today I sucked up any pride I thought I had and went to the DFCS to ask for some assistance during my unemployment. (Which is by far longer then I expected but even that's hard to say because I don't know what I expected...) Since we have to drive our son to school my husband dropped me off and picked me up when I was through. Graciously (and in an effort to have something to do) he went by our PO box to check the mail. Guess what!

I got a new fancy spindle!

Someone of Ravelry was destashing and I yanked up this Graftons Fibership. It's my first fancy spindle, my others being an Ashford Student top whorl, a Louet bottom whorl and a half dozen hand assembled toy wheel spindles. I'm quite pleased and believe this will only encourage me to spindle more. It is especially good for laceweight so I can practice my patience as well. Completely made my day when he handed me the box as I got in the car. I love that man, he is totally awesome!

When all else fails....

2009-09-29T17:11:00.006-04:00

Do a picture post. For some reason I've been feeling kind down so I will just show off pictures of the things I was working on lately... Enjoy!

I will be at the last Wesleyan Market of the season this Saturday, October 3rd 9am - 1pm. If your in the Middle Ga area, stop by and say hello!

Goodies!

2009-09-17T23:12:00.005-04:00

I am so happy to have a chance to sit down and post about my new goodies. Up first, I purchased 5 pounds of uncoated coopworth wool from Homestead Wool and it arrived on the Tuesday. It really is just as nice as it looks on the site.

Look at that crimp!

Then Wednesday I finally conquered my fear and purchased a pair of rotary cutters and mat. I don't do alot of fabric cutting so I just stuck to Walmart. I've been really scared about getting the rotary cutters because of my nine year old and I can be rather clumsy sometimes. =P

I plan to take a few scrap fabrics to practice on then make a couple of fleece tie blankets. Hopefully my lines will get a little straighter now. I'll even have to break out the sewing machine again and continue to practice my stitches.

Join in the fun with the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival.

Boy's Fleece Tie Blanket

2009-09-13T22:09:00.004-04:00

I finally finished doing the work for my mom yesterday. I completed the fleece tie blanket for a boy. It's more for crib decor until the kid is older though. The blanket would also be good as a cover for long trips with the kids (toddler and below.) The final product is quite spiffy in my opinion, just take a look.

Also, I am pretty excited because I was working on my repurposed handspun yarn scarf tonight. This is a pretty big deal to me since I hadn't worked on it in a few months. Tonight I braved the needles though and fixed the mistake that paralyzed my progress. I picked up slipped stitches and you know what? It worked. Oh happy day. Now I can finish it sooner rather than later.

Pet Post: Pepper and Family

2009-09-12T20:27:00.007-04:00

I really adore my our puppy dog. She is so lively and fun but so peaceful and cute at the same time. Here is a picture of her chilling on the coach with TheBoy. (Which is amazing in itself since he is laying on the couch and she is not licking him.)

This is her and Jay watching TV on any random night. Well, he is watching TV, she just wants to be close to her people. They make an adorable couple, don't you think. ;D

Protege and Knifty Thrifties

2009-09-04T08:42:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I didn't get much spinning done for the September Challenge. What I did do was spend some time attempting to teach my son how to spin on a wheel. He previously tried spinning on the spindle which was moderately successful. We both tend to have short leashes on failure and frustration so the spindle went to the wayside. However, the other day he expressed an interest in learning to spin on the wheel. So yesterday we worked a little on treadling and then on trying to add the twist to the fiber. (Okay, we actually did some "drafting" but we will have to come back to that later.) At the end I had him practice his treadling some more. 30 -40 minutes was all we spent working on it but we will try again today. Short lessons are definitely best for our collective temperaments.

Outside of the yarn challenge I wanted to share my recently thrifty finds. Okay Okay... really its another eagle-eyed husband find and some books. While running some errands we stopped by the local Goodwill in town to see what type of items they had available. As we were passing by the normal section of goods my husband turned me into an aisle and said "Look, isn't that one of those knitting things?"

Sure enough he had found a Knifty Knitter Loom at the Goodwill. Even better, it was only $2 bucks, the complete loom set and came with instructions. After securing our purchase, we moseyed over to the GoodBooks Cafe to browse. I went to my normal craft and hobbies section but didn't expect anything. Usually the books in the craft section are old and not very useful but I got a great surprise this time. Two relatively recent knitting books in hand and a knifty knitty loomy thingy. Not sure what to do with the loom since I know how to knit already but I always wanted one so... there you have it. A little spinning, a little knitting, a little reading and a little thrifty adventure.

Come Join the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Fun at AlpacaFarmGirl.com.

So we meet again... Everyday Yarn Challenge Sept 2009!

2009-09-03T10:47:00.007-04:00

Last April I participated in the Yarn Everyday Challenge hosted by blondechicken on Ravelry. I found it to be really challenging and everyone's enthusiasm was contagious. While I wasn't quite able to make it to the end of the month, I really enjoyed seeing everyone's progress.

Fast forward to mid-August and I felt the urge for another spinning challenge. I started with one goal but feel that is best to revise it to spinning everyday with a total of 15 finished yarns by month end. Here is my first and second day's worth of spinning.

Other fiber artist on Ravelry you are more than welcome to join in the fun, just post in this Ravelry thread. You don't have to join the group, its just a place to share. Everyone is welcome, the more the merrier! =D

Done and Done!

2009-08-31T21:27:00.000-04:00

So I finally finished the hand knit blanket for my Mom's co-worker. The finally specs ended up being 90 stitches wide times 6 skeins. So instead of having vertical stripes we ended up with horizontal stripes.

This picture is from Friday night. Saturday morning I wove in the loose ends and traveled to Atlanta to take it to my mom.

Also, here is a picture with the original blanket for comparison. If I went with the original 7 skeins of yarn the blanket would have been both longer and wide. Still this is a good size for a baby blanket.

Mom also picked up the pink fleece tie blanket for her other co-worker's baby girl and commissioned a blue fleece tie for the baby boy. Whew! No more blanket knitting for a while. =D

Working, Working, Working....

2009-08-25T18:36:00.007-04:00

At least, that's is what I try to believe I am doing. I spent approximately a week long period being ill. It was just a summer cold but being uninsured can make any cold feel longer than it needs to be. Early this month I got started on a custom blanket for my mom. She has several co-worker in various states of pregnancy. When we went to visit my parents back in July she asked me to make three blankets in the same soft materials I made the yellow and white one. She just wanted three blankets, 2 girl blankets and one boy blanket by the end of September. Of course that makes you feel like you have a little time but in reality you don't. So then Mom calls up at the beginning of August and says, "one of the babies is due end of this month." Okay I say... "I will work on the blanket now." Which is fine even though I need more content for the market this month. But guess what? a week later Mom calls up and says. "The baby came early... she was born on Sunday." ARGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!! So now its super crunch time.

But needless to say... I have pics!

I really dig these colors and I am not even a fan of pink. Lovely! =D

I'm a little further along now but technically I said I would be done by Wednesday. Something about talking to my family makes me overestimate my abilities...... Hopefully by Thursday's knitting group. *fingers crossed*

Etsy Chat Team Giveaway Winner...

2009-08-18T21:35:00.004-04:00

The winner of the Gruppleberry roving from last weeks giveaway is Elizabeth of SheepShape on Etsy. Congratulations Elizabeth!

Friends of Froggy

2009-08-08T21:35:00.006-04:00

Just realized that I twittered all about this but didn't add this to the blog. I started a group on Ravelry called Friends of Froggy. If your on Ravelry.com I would love for you to stop by and chat with us. Drop by and tell us what your spinning, knitting, crocheting or felting. Let me know what you would like to see for the group as well.
Thanks! Froggy

PS - Check out my modem guard purchased from StaceyRebecca!

Enter to Win a Free Froggy Fibers Roving!

2009-08-07T09:12:00.003-04:00

Or enter to win and have it spun!

There is a chat team interview and giveaway on the Chatter's blog. There are multiple ways to win the giveaway prize so please join in the fun. The more the merrier!

Here is a picture of the prize:

Weekend at the Market

2009-08-05T18:19:00.009-04:00

This weekend my husband and I spent the day representing Froggy Fibers at the Wesleyan College Market. We had a good deal of fun even though it was sweltering hot, humid and threatening rain. This time I did get pictures!

Here is the whole table shot with my Babe DT Production.

Here is my sheep complete with button necklace

Handspun Yarns bottom, Hand dyed sock yarn middle and a knit and fleece tie blanket

Hand dyed Wool top (of many colors!)

Bagged Batts!

Newsletter sign up sheet and business cards

Spinning in Action!

I've learned from the 2-3 times I have done something like this that the crowd is really drawn in by spinning in progress. You don't always get a customer but sometimes you get a good conversation and that can be just as much fun. I also realize after last time and this time that I need to work on a "proper" display. I want something to draw in the customers visually with highs and lows. (I found a couple of big baskets at Goodwill that I plan to fix up and incorporate into the next market.) Also, I am going to search for a good craft banner tutorial so I can have some pretty signage up too. Don't know what the banner will look like but it will be pretty, darnit! =D Craftster here I come!

August 1st Market and Blog Interview

2009-07-30T10:40:00.005-04:00

This weekend I will be participating in the local Market at Wesleyan College. This will be my second time there and I am very excited. Luckily TheBoy is going to his grandparents for a few days so We have plenty of last minute prep time. =D Let's hope this day is not as insufferable hot and the previous one... If your in the Middle Georgia area please stop by Wesleyan from 10-2 on August 1st. Its a market of plants, fresh vegetables and crafters and artists!

***************************

So lately I am no good at transitions so I am just drawing a line (literally) and jumping to the next subject. I had a chance to do a blog interview with a fellow Etsy seller on her blog. It was tons of fun and I feel like I opened up quite a bit. Pop on over to FiberArtistToo and have a look!
One of the pictures I sent that didn't make it on the blog is of my first handspun yarn. Okay, loosely its handspun yarn.... I have come a long way from where I was.
Take a look:

This is why I tell people that it takes patience and persistence to spin. If I had stopped here I wouldnt have any of my beautiful yarns to show for it. So for all those newbie spinners who think it should be just so that first time.... relax. It just takes time.

July 11th Wesleyan Market and Pepper

2009-07-14T21:33:00.008-04:00

I have to say I am pretty proud of FroggyFibers. Its always a work in progress and it has it ups and downs. However, getting to sell your product in person is just awesome. This past Saturday Mr Froggy and I spent 5 hours in the heat. (Mr Froggy has the sunburn to prove it.) We attended our first ever Wesleyan Market. While there I spent a large portion of the time spinning to help draw in customers. We plan to go back for the next one which is sad cause it may be the last one of the season. =( It was so much fun though and I sold a few things but we forgot to take the camera so there are no pictures to attest to my good fortune and fun.

Instead I will show everyone our new puppy!

This is Pepper. She is a lovely dog about 3 months old and as cute as a button. My in-laws had a neighbor with this dog and both me and TheBoy would jump out, leave the car running and pet the dog through the gate. One day the owner was outside while we were petting her and I casually said if you ever need to let her go we'll take her off your hands. Well last week as we were dropping TheBoy off at his grandparents (the day before market) the guy walked up to the car and asked us if we still wanted her. Goodness, TheBoy was happy. Turns out that his 16 month old was scared of the dog and he wanted the dog to get more attention then she was getting at his home. So now Pepper is our dog and we get to pet on her all the time. We are pleased as punch! (But don't worry all our yarnie friends. She is kept separate of the store supplies and inventory.)

Tour De Fleece

2009-07-07T23:49:00.008-04:00

This year I decided that I should participate in the Tour de Fleece on Ravelry. It's this fun challenge that takes place each year during the Tour De France. I figured that if I can do the Everyday Yarn Challenge back in April then this should be a breeze. There are even built in break days. Originally I was going to join the rookies team but a fellow fiberista named Rawfish has a Ravelry group that got together and became team "Tour de Fish." Its a nautical theme galore. See I even have a temporary avatar made courtesy of Laila of Rawfish. =D

So far my progress is well... pitiful. I have barely spun anything at all. I did finish a navajo plied yarn from some hand painted roving that I just had to spin.

So that is what I have to show for my July 5th spinning. July 4th saw BBQ, Beer and Friends and I just didnt sit still long enough to do any spinning. I did start some beautiful purple merino/silk blend on July 6th and worked some more on it today but my progress is still so terribly slow. I am so embarrased. To top all this off, I will be participating at the local college's Market selling my goods this Saturday and have a job interview on Friday. So much to do, so much to think about, so much worry about.... ahhhh! *Whew* just needed to scream a little. Hopefully I can get back on track with Tour de Fleece, ace my interview, and score big at the Market. With everything going on my First July update was delayed but I hope to have a small update by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. Until then... lots of fiber-y love to all!

Photo Tutorial - Wool Washing

2009-06-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

I made the decision to place the wool washing tutorial on my own domain as opposed to blogger. (Makes it easier to locate and link to in the future)

It can be easily accessed here: Photo Tutorial - Wool Washing

If there are any questions regarding the process feel free to contact me via the comment box.

Customer Creations - Easy123

2009-06-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

The other day I received the best type of message on Etsy that a seller could hope for. Michele from Easy123 had purchased some yarn called "Parakeet" from which she made a beautiful scarf.
Just look at it!

Michele has lots of great items in her store so be sure to check them out!

Fiber Samples

2009-06-09T20:13:00.004-04:00

I have the absolute best husband in the world. I don't care what anyone else says. =D Today he helped me place cards on my Phat Fiber samples. I was having a little difficulty because of some tenderness in my wrist. (Perhaps this is a sign I am over using it.) So he offered to staple the cards to my baggies for me. Yea husband!

This of course comes after he played photographer yesterday. My samples are raw wool and I didn't want to direct people to just any random wool cleaning page. It's not a superiority thing, its just because I needed a short link for the back of the business card. So he took photos and I will be writing a detailed photo tutorial for those who received the wool so they can spin or felt with it. (To be posted in the next 2-4 days.)

I also added simple instructions direct to the back of the business card. Unfortunately, I missed the editing mistake so I have extra words on it. *hangs head in shame* All together I sent 30 samples of raw cheviot wool. I'm not real sure how well raw wool is received but I guess we'll see.

Try to forgive my error in communication. It's been ages since I got that degree. (Okay, about 7 years... =P)

Repurposing Old Handspun

2009-06-07T10:29:00.010-04:00

I have been working on this project for a few months now. This isn't a time constraint issue as I am unemployed at the moment. The issue was that due to the number of stitches my hand was falling asleep or going numb before I could get through just one row. Since I had the corrective surgery I picked up this project and suffered none of the same aliments. Yea for progress.
Okay, to be honest, I haven't progressed that far since the surgery but I am looking forwards to getting finished with this project. I love red and I believe this will make an awesome scarf. I'm not sure how long it will end up because of I am knitting it lengthwise to create long rows.

I started out with these handspun yarns:

This is actually just three yarns since I split the 2 ply and blended yarn to go on either side of the solid red. All of the yarns were made from commercial merino wool dyed, you guessed it, red. The blended yarn is made up of the wool plus tussah silk plus some soy silk (I believe, its been a little while) that was hand carded prior to spinning.

Here is the scarf so far:

Here is close up:

I'm going to have to give myself a deadline if I want to get this done. I'm convinced that without a job I have lost a lot of structure in my life. This is sad though because you shouldn't have to rely on outside factors to provide your daily structure. Certainly, if they impose limits on you then you have to take that into consideration but when those factors are not there you should still have a sense of structure. Or so I would think. So, its June 7th. I think I can safely say that I can have this finished by July 1st. Cool, now I have set a deadline... call me on it July 2nd! ;P

ALL FIXED... kinda.

2009-06-02T23:03:00.007-04:00

So I don't want to bore anyone with the details of getting stitches pulled out after carpal tunnel surgery. I will say... yes, you can feel them being removed... and it stings!
However, since I didn't bore you with those details, I will instead gross you out with up close images of the surgeried area. Is that a word, no... well pretend it is.

Here is a how my wrist look immediately after having the stitch removed. (Well, after we got home....) That my friend is the extent of the cleaning they did. Apparently those moist towelettes you get at the chicken wing joint is cleaning enough err... just add alcohol.

This is how my hand looks now that I have been able to wash it (first time since the surgery) and let it air dry.

I have to go back in 4 weeks to make sure the tenderness has gone away and that I will not have to do any physical therapy. Until then all I have to do is use it like normal typing, knitting, sewing etc as long as I don't lift anything over 1b and massage the area at the crook of the hand to relieve swelling.
So... I guess that's it. I promise not to have anymore gross out photos of scars in the future. Mostly cause I don't plan to have anymore.

Look at my scars, I'm really really brave!

2009-05-23T21:06:00.005-04:00

Isn't that generally what warriors consider marks of pride? Well, I don't know what type of scar I will have but I thought I would show off the initial battle damage.

I had surgery to correct carpal tunnel syndrome in my right wrist. I am predominantly right handed, used the mouse with my right hand and regularly used a ten key calculator at my former place of employment. Due to all the factors, regardless of being laid off, my former employer is responsible for my pain (and suffering.. but that's another story and they actually aren't responsible for the mental suffering but sometimes I think they should be... =P)

So, after months and months of waiting to find out what can be done to correct this.... the workers comp people finally approved my surgery.
Typing is tiresome because I am back to pecking the way I did before I had two corporate, manual entry style jobs. Also, the problem with this blogging is that I tend to go with stream of thought and my hands can't keep up. Well, I always thought quicker than my fingers can type but this is almost painful. (Thank goodness times two for spell check.) Here is a side ways view of my arm. I'll have to keep this short... maybe stick to Twitter for a few days, I dunno. Luckily, the percentage of improvement is high statistically and once the initial pain goes away I should be able to do just about everything I normally do even with the bandage wrapping still on. I mean everything from knitting to crocheting to sewing. Okay, I can't dye any since my wrist can't get wet but its only a few days till I can. Wish me lots of patience that I don't try to over extend my wrist/hand the next couple of days. Once I'm healed though.. watch out, I'm taking this hand for a workout. (Get yer minds outta the gutter!)

Craft Fail

2009-05-20T08:54:00.005-04:00

Everybody makes mistakes.... and that's what CraftFail is for. I just wrote my first post there all about my baby blanket. Read More here and be sure to leave a comment and read other peoples experiences as well.

Writing and Working

2009-05-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I find it difficult to find topics that I believe others will find interesting. Even though that is not necessarily the point of a blog I have difficulties writing about things if I think no one would be interested. That's the primary reason this blog will go 7-10 days without a post. It's a crap reason, but its a reason. I try to break myself of this habit as I am at the computer everyday without fail. I chat in the Etsy forums, I stare at my Etsy shop, I tweet away on twitter. I mean I am literally and without fail on the computer but for the most part it is a time suck. Productivity is a far and distant place in my life right now but totally something that needs to come visit and stay for a long time real soon.

One thing I have made progress on is applying for employment. Problem is most of it is out of state and I just don't believe people are taking me seriously. Seriously, you can send all the resumes you want but when unemployment is at an all time high since the Great Depression (or whereabouts) I'm less likely to convince an employer to higher me from way across the country. My current state is 1 - 1.5% higher than the unemployment rate for the nation. The state I'm looking at moving to is about 1% lower than the national average. The rate of new (legitimate) job postings for my state is maybe 15 a day, none in a reasonable range of my experience. The rate of postings for my possible future state is like 35-40 per day at least 5-6 of which includes positions utilitzing my most recent work experience.

What I've Been Reading

2009-05-14T12:00:00.002-04:00

About a week ago my family and I went to the library. My husband went with TheBoy to find children's books he would be interested in and I walked to the adult reading section. Our main mission was to find a book on renter's rights to make sure we weren't being screwed over in our current living arrangement. There are tons of tiny things wrong with the house but we can live with most of it. Then there are things we are not sure we should have to. Mainly, our neighbors have recently created a fuss about one of the other rental houses and we just want to make sure we stay on the up and up.

Once we found the most recent Nolo book to cover our needs, I immediately went to browse the business and craft sections. (I swear they are so close that they should just be the crafty business section!) I found tons of books that I hope will be helpful but I was particularly surprised by finding Craft, Inc at the library. So I grabbed up a bunch of books and the Craft, Inc by Meg Mateo Ilasco and made my way to the check out.

As an adult I haven't been much of a reader. Occasionally I will grab book to read but I rarely finish them. However, I am happy to say that I sat down and read this book over a few days. I found the information useful for people in multiple crafts. I was seriously hesitant when I first heard of the book. (Keep in mind I am reading this a couple of years since it was issued. I tend to be a bit behind the times on my reading list.)

Overall I enjoyed the book. I think that it has great and easy to read advice for the small business craftperson. I admit, there was one or two subjects I skipped over but it was no more than 3-4 pages total. Definitely light, friendly reading that has helped me gain some perspective. I wish more craft books were this easy to digest.
(Of course, this post was 4 days in the making as I started May 10th and have suffered some bad writers block. Since then, I am almost through reading Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich.)

Twitter-tasticness! April 26th - May 2nd

2009-05-02T23:59:00.000-04:00

Okay, highly doubt that is a real word but I'm rolling with it.

Starting today I will be offering a Twitter Item of the Day from my shop until May 2nd. The specials only apply to the item listed on Twitter and only for the day listed. I got a late start today so Sunday's Twitter Special will run through 9 am EST on Monday. The remainder the specials will run until 11:59 pm the day listed.

So you heard it here first... if you like fibers, follow FroggyFibers on Twitter for special deals this week. As Kermit would say "YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!" (*waves arms madly in the air*)

In between working and being sick

2009-04-29T20:37:00.004-04:00

comes writing.

I have been trying to keep up with my Twitter Item of the Day this week but I have to admit it is very hard. The concept was good when I came up with it, but then coming down with cold the same day gave me pause. Maybe its a sign. =P
I did get a little more done on the yarn of many colors but didn't get it finished. Hopefully with feeling better it will be finished before the weekend is over. I'm very excited about it *crosses fingers.*

Also, I'm hoping to participate in the May PhatFiber sampler box. I got started Sunday (or was it Monday) but didn't get as far as I'd like to. Hopefully tomorrow will see a fresh day and plenty of catching up to being done.
Here's a photo of the work station at the moment:

and here is the progress to date:

Thanks for stopping by!

The odd things you realize...

2009-04-19T20:26:00.005-04:00

...when you go to a spinning group meeting. I had an epiphany today.

We were all enjoying a late spinning group this month due to the Easter holiday and luckily one of our regular spinning buddies was able to make the meeting this month. Catching up on past events I mentioned the accident we had and the fact that I got laid off from my last job in a pretty nonchalant sort of manner. I hadn't put much thought into it but November to January happened very quickly. Of course, anyone who knows me can tell you I was more shaken up by the car accident then the job situation. Sure, the economy is lousy and we don't have a bundle saved up... but really whatcha gonna do? A little later I was talking with the same spinning friend and mentioned that my birthday had just past and that I was really excited this year. Seriously, this has been the first year in several that I have truly and honestly been excited about my birthday. (I'm really looking forward to 30 next year!)

That's when it hit me... staring me right in the face for the last 3 months. I am 100% happy more than I have been in years. Those two jobs that were a bad fit just sucked the life from me and I don't want that to happen again! I recently started looking for a job again... somewhat seriously anyway and found myself immediately sucked back into applying for the same type of job I just left. How crappy is that. Its like this great fall back but in 2 years or less I will be unhappy again. So now I am running wild in my head trying to figure out just how I can possible keep this feeling. How can I make it last longer. I'm happier (and by proxy my husband and son are happier. =P) The only problem is that life doesn't run on happiness, we need funds to make it go. So... now to brainstorm!

For the fiber folks, I have spent the last 3-4 days spinning the roving below. Its coming along well but now I am stuck. When I made the roving my idea was for it to be a semi-striping single to knit or crochet. Now I'm thinking I should ply it... then I saw the lovely coils on the Ravelry forum and thought... this will make great coils. ARGHHHH! I can't decide. So, lets take a poll, what do you think?

This is brilliant!

2009-04-17T09:43:00.003-04:00

I was trolling twitter, as I often do when I wake up and someone posted the greatest thing ever!

Visit now to see a lamb nursery!

(The area isn't visible at night.) If you like fiber animals then this is just the most adorable thing.
Courtesy Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm and Hudson Valley Fiber Farm.

Keep it or let it go...

2009-04-13T11:16:00.006-04:00

So I totally bailed on posting everyday this month. It really is hard enough to get in a habit of spinning everyday without having to write about the yarn (or portion thereof) that I spun. So, lets just keep the posting true to being about the interesting things.

One new thing is the shop has been updated recently. Recently being within the last 3-4 days. I also plan to finish listing items that have been photographed today. I got a little off track around my birthday and didn't log time spent working. I decided to pick up again today. It's not easy though... I have a 9 yr old distraction.

The spinning everyday thing is going pretty well. I went pro on my Flickr account so that I can add multiple photos. I can now also add more sets (which I have) to organize things a little. I even uploaded photos specifically to put in groups. I always limited myself a little when I knew there was only 200 photos available to view. One of the new fiber photos I put up is on the right.

I originally dyed this with the knowledge that I would spin it up. I wanted it to be something of a semi-striping roving. However, because of the limited amount of counter space, when the roving was dried and braided the colors were virtually solid blocks. It photos so well, looks so good that I am sorely tempted to list it for sell. That's doesnt mean that it would sell but at least it does look good.

Outside of adventures in fiber dying... I have completed two more yarns due to the spinning challenge. I haven't set the twist on either yet. One is part of a de-stash one of the ladies in the spinning group did. She gave a way a ton of pretty fibers including this variagated blues. I'm not sure what brand it is, reminds me of Lornas Lace fiber and it spun extremely soft. The other yarn is merino/silk that I carded when I had the Strauch Petite. It was pulled (by hand) into roving and I could never get it to spin quite right. I picked up a portion of it that was pulled into pencil thin roving and when that was successful I found the remaining roving and spun it up. I guess some things just take time. Speaking of which, I have been working on my "long term project" and I honestly think I lost my determination for it yesterday. I actually lost my yarn multiple times in a five minute setting and finally just had to stop. I'll probably try to find something nice and easy to spin tonight. Maybe coils, a few people have been doing coils and its been a while. Guess we will just have to see.

It's my Birthday and so.....

2009-04-09T11:13:00.004-04:00

My Gift to You!

April 1oth is my 29th birthday and so I am having a 1 -day sale. 10% off purchases of $29 dollars or more.

Write "Almost30" in the Notes to Seller Box and I will send a revised invoice.

Total must be before shipping, can not be combined with any other discount. Valid only April 10th from 12 am EST - 11:59 pm EST

non-spinning yarn stuff

2009-04-06T22:00:00.000-04:00

Just a little update on what I have been doing the last few days... that's not spinning yarn.

Saturday night we had a guest over in the form of my 11 yr old nephew. This is a good and a bad thing. Good because it keeps the 9 yr old son busy, bad because I am convinced that boys can't play together without getting on each others nerves. So, my kid went to bed about 10:30 which is late for him but not so early that he misses time with his cousin. The 11 yr old went to bed an hour later. So from about 9:30 till 12:30 I did some dying.
This is the result. I am trying to stay away from to many pastel like colors and get more saturation but I didn't have any luck that day.

I have discovered that so far, my new baby blue dye is breaking funny. Its really annoying because it creates spotting on the yarn/roving. I purchased two packets so I may need to open the other and see if I get the same effect. Also, instead of hand painting I may need to opt with a soak in a pot. Just in case the dye is not mixing well. I'm not sure why it would since all my other dyes used while hand painting mix up fine.

I also got some carding done. I don't have a really good picture since I wasn't planning to take any. However, my husband was playing around with the camera and got several fiber pics (after he took my spinning pictures.) So in case you can see through the clear plastic enough, thats my new batt set. Its pink and black with sari silk and bamboo and glitz and some regular silk as well. That's pretty hard to see but I will be sure to upload more pictures in the future.

In the store, I went through and remeasured the yarn that had been dyed in block coloring such as "Parakeet." Surprisingly that yarn was listed at 114 yards and it was actually 132 yards. However, most of them were roughly the same yardage as listing. The only difference is that instead of using the word "approx" the measurements are more exact.

So, on a final note I wanted to mention that I got some samples sent in for the April PhatFiber box. I didn't mention it earlier because I had some restraints that made me unsure if I was going to be able to make it. (Now, lets just hope the PO doesn't have issues.) I hope to contribute on a regular basis or at least bi-monthly. Since it was my first time I only sent in a few but next time I will be more experienced in what I need to do to get more samples made. If you happen to make it here after getting a box, be sure to leave a comment. I'd love feedback!

Challenge Yarn Day 4, 5 & 6

2009-04-06T20:55:00.003-04:00

So I spent my spinning the last 3 days working on ANOTHER teeny tiny yarn. Luckily, I only had a small amount of this to spin up so its all done!

Above is a spinning shot and below comes the "it's been plied and I'm all done" shot.

Pre-set this measures to approximately 58 yards, 2 ply.

Fiber not Yarn...

2009-04-04T08:50:00.007-04:00

...because we all get tired of talking about the same thing over and over and I plan to do a lot of yarn talk this month with spinning everyday.

So here are the first two batts I carded on my new (old) carder. Well, not the first but the first I plan to put in the store. The batts are purple-ish pink and have gold glitz and sari silk in them.

My other fiber treat is a picture of my washed cheviot fleece. I purchased this sometime last year but I just sorted it this week. This is some of the nicer, crimper fleece washed up in hot water. There is still a little vegetable matter in it but I'm hoping to work through that with additional processing. I think I will take some and carder it up bit to spin. The carder is coarse cloth but I think it should be enough to open up the locks before spinning.

Hopefully I will have more to post later today but now I must go watch a soccer game!

Yarn Challenge Day 3

2009-04-03T21:19:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow morning I am going to post about a couple of new batts that will be listed in the store and some cleaned cheviot fleece complete with pictures. Today, however, was a long day so you will get a picture of me spinning a yarn. A long... tedious yarn. I expect to be spinning this until I die.

This is 1/4 of a future cabled yarn. The theory is it will be plied with a dark purple single. The I will spin a light purple single and another black single that will be plied together. Then the two plied yarns will be plied against each other to become a cabled yarn. All for the purposes of matching this yarn and becoming the bottom and the straps to a knit (or maybe crocheted) purse. It's a lot of the work in the interim.

Everyday Yarn Day 2

2009-04-02T20:35:00.008-04:00

So, I thought since I was trying to push myself to spin more it should be a natural connection to blog more as well. One of the *many* things that I regret not doing more of is writing. I don't know why but I could write a mean paper. On the other hand, I like blogging because it has a bit more personal and informal touch. So I will try to write everyday to show what progress I made in the spinning challenge (and anything else that comes to mind.)

Day Two's yarn was more of an unfinished object than it had any right to be. It was originally spun at one of our Second Sunday gatherings and I had every intention to ply it with thread. Then I got home and started wishing that I had core spun it... should have thought of that before I went to town though. So I took this off the bobbin, wound it into a ball and wondered if there was a way to unspin it into a thread and make it a corespun yarn. After that I just forgot about it. Until today.

Today I was searching through my "misc" bin of fiber related goods. Basically, its a big bin of things that I have used or purchased that hasn't found a permanent residence anywhere. (Or as my mom would say... that I hadn't put away.) I looked at a bunch of fibers that one of the ladies was destashing at the spinning group and realized that I still had this ball of blended, glitzed, thick and thin handspun. Then I sorted through another bin and found some embroidery thread. SCORE!

Now for the result...

The top yarn is approx 49 yards (pre-set). The bottom was what remained when I ran out of thread so I just plied the remaining yarn back on itself. It's a little tadpole of love. =D

(At the end of the month I will try to upload better pictures of my yarns. I usually end up spinning at night so my pictures are not as nice as I would like them to be.)

Samples, Goals and Yarn Everyday Month

2009-04-01T22:49:00.010-04:00

It's April!
Guess you didn't need me to tell you that but I thought I would mention it. Especially since it is an extra special month for me. Those signed up for the newsletter will get details later. ;D

So, past the fabulous news that we have started the 4th month in 2009, I thought I would do some updates. First I have pictures of my goodies that will be sent to a sampler box in the next couple of days. I only have 20 but that is because I underestimated how much would go into making each of the samples at "sample-size." Included are 11 skeins of hand spun yarn in the color "Faded Forestry" and 9 tadpoles of roving in either "Strawberry Lemonade" and "Ladybug." LadyBug is actually made with dark gray dyes though it probably appears black in photos.

In making my samples last month I started to think about my goals for April. Last month I tried to log my time so I knew when I was productive. It's harder than you would think when you don't have anything to schedule your time around. Funny thing to me is that before I was laid off I would excuse myself because I was always too tired after work to do anything. So I sort of built myself into a no win situation by that logic. Last month I tried to log time... completely ineffective. This month, I am challenging myself to do it as one of my goals. I plan to log 40 hours a week just as if this was a day time paying job. The plus side is I set my own hours (yay!) and I can work weekends if and when I want. I started today and have already gotten in 3 hours including photos, spinning and carding. Now, if I can just get it lined you so that I am using the time most effectively. Either way, 40 hours is better than the maybe 5 hours a week the last few weeks.

One of the ways that I am trying to challenge and motivate myself is by participating in the Yarn Everyday Month. It's a group over on Ravelry that was started by BlondeChicken. Her original goal was to spin some everyday as motivation for herself but she invited others to join. I am so glad she did. I need to do this and I just always found a reason not to. (Really, I guess my goal for April is to stop making reason why its okay for me not to do what I want to do. Yea, that's it.) So on a successful note, I spun a corespun yarn from a technicolor batt I made on my new(to me) carder. Its just a coarse carder but I wanted to be able to continue offering *some* batts until I can afford to get a larger (costly) carder. So this was my first batt to see how everything would work. I think it will be fine for arty/novelty batts and I already spent a little time carding a beautiful purple based batt tonight. But this isnt about that... its about this:

One Batt, 34 yards, corespun on a #10 weight crochet thread. I have no name for it but will be loading it on Ravelry and Flickr with other photographic proof of my spinning today. =D

Breaking with Symmetry

2009-03-25T09:48:00.007-04:00

I have a horrible, horrible secret. Well, I guess its not much of a secret since I started the title of this post talking about it. I lean toward symmetry. All these beautiful art yarns and fiber batts elude me. I don't think anything is wrong with them, in fact I think they are downright creative. However, I never feel quite right when I break the rule of symmetry. (Everyone is thinking "what rule?" well its more a guideline that keeps everything looking neat and "normal" for me.)

The rule of symmetry is something people learn at a young age. I remember being in kindergarten and having to draw a heart for valentines. When I couldn't get it just right the teacher showed me how to fold the paper in half, draw one side of the heart and cut along the line. Perfect! One side looked exactly like the other. Only, that's not even what a heart looks like! I didn't know it at the time so I happily trod along with my art project.

Since those days I have tried various things to break the hold that symmetry has on my life. I even thought about poking out an eye... but that felt too extreme. I already wear glasses, I don't need to be missing an eye and wearing a monocle over the other just to see. (Disclaimer: This is a joke... I'm not crazy.... mostly not crazy anyway.) So now I think I've started on my way to breaking the life long belief that symmetry has to exist. Maybe.

This is Princess Goldilocks' Precious Cupcake. I made this using Rambouillet roving purchased from my friend Sayra at Atomic Blue and mohair locks purchased from Split Rock Ranch on Etsy. I had fun while I was spinning this which is always a good thing. Each roving was spun into a single and then while I plied them I added in the mohair locks by tucking them between the plies and pulling them down through the yarn. The yarn is a total of 94 yards and probably fairly bulky. I'm tickled. Perhaps this is the start of my less than symmetrical creative life!

You know you want to do this...

2009-03-21T17:12:00.003-04:00

My husband stumbled upon the cutest YouTube video the other day and I just had to share.

Bet you thought you had to much time on your hands. =D

Talk about Insane Knitting!

2009-03-13T20:08:00.003-04:00

So I know I'm a little late posting this but its still just as interesting. With the new Coraline film out in theatres interest has been growing in this website. The owner knits detailed, miniature clothing the size that a doll would wear, perhaps smaller!

Check out the YouTube video about it:

But seriously, check out her galleries on the website. If you think accountants are detail oriented, they've got nothing on this fiber artist.

Fiber!

2009-03-05T22:50:00.007-05:00

Fiber is good for your diet!

Here are 6 - 4 oz merino top hand dyed for a trade. I worked on making the colors brighter and/or darker. Apparently I have a thing for white as it managed to peek out a little in each of these. I think I will be recreating some of these colors for the store as well.

Misgivings...

2009-03-05T15:14:00.006-05:00

I'm sure this isn't going to be a popular post but I feel compelled to make it anyway. I had 4 listings remaining in my ArtFire store. I haven't canceled my verified subscription in case something made me change my mind. I don't think that will be happening anytime soon though. I went into "My ArtFire" today and tried to customize something that irks me. The feeds. I don't want the feeds in "My ArtFire" and I don't really need them so I was hoping at the least I could remove the feeds, if not the whole box.
Unfortunately this is what I saw:

This in my humble opinion is the height of unprofessional. ArtFire states that they are a venue to help you sell. They state they are in the business of helping YOUR business. So, what business do they have adding an EtsyB**** Blog as a preset feed. Yes, its pretty well known there are former (and sometimes current) Etsy sellers/buyers with a vengence on ArtFire but that should not preclude common sense.

If ArtFire is a venue, they should not be utilizing ArtFire's Preset Feeds to spread the message that people hate Etsy. If you go and look for trouble there will always be something. (One day, I'm sure there will be an ArtFireB**** blog potentially run by the same people) To add to the insult, I have no option to delete this feed because it is "preset." I don't have to view it but I also can't remove it. That my friend sucks donkey balls. (Sorry, I'm just matching the scale of professionalism I am writing about.)

I know that everyone is not in love with Etsy. I know that many people have ill feelings towards Etsy because of months and years of aggravation and disappointment. I know that Etsy IS NOT PERFECT! I guess I just can't believe that a site that is taking so much pride in working toward being "better" than Etsy would stoop to the level of promoting material that can be potentially defamatory towards its competitor. (I'm not debating what EtsyB**** says or if its right or wrong.) At this rate, ArtFire is only going to be as good the next guy because they can't seem to stop dissing Etsy long enough to focus on the real issues at hand. (Yes rapid cart is nice but what about fixing and finalizing categories, site design and search in an effort to keep the buyers, that ArtFire is willing to pay an arm and a leg in advertising to get, on the site. None of those things are worthwhile if the buyers don't also have something to benefit from.)

Now, don't get me wrong, I still believe that ArtFire has a lot of potential. I wholeheartedly believe this and that there is time to re-energize their focus away from the competition. ArtFire, if you truly want to learn from Etsy's mistakes... you don't have to drag them through the mud to do it. I'm just embarrassed. I deactivated the remaining listings in my store and I am canceling my verified subscription. I just can't be associated with that kind of behavior. If this is how they are starting out running a company, then I'm afraid to see where they end up. To me, it speaks volumes.

I'm a Convert!

2009-03-04T08:24:00.008-05:00

Not a religious convert as it were. (Not sure there is anything to convert from some days.)

I'm a vinegar convert. Since I do dying of the wool and yarn kind it is necessary for the pH levels of the water to be lowered so that the dye will set/exhaust properly and not run. Since I have to use space in the kitchen for all my dying activities (not using the same pots I cook with) I was always afraid of the myriad amount of chemicals and how they would affect our space. So it was an easy fix, use vinegar as an acid.
Vinegar is easy to use, nontoxic and cheap. However, vinegar has a strong smell or so I was told by Sniffy McSnifferson aka my husband. It had never really bothered me before. I guess all things change with time though cause I started noticing it just didn't know what to do about it. As luck would have it there is Twitter.
One day I was sitting on the computer and people were talking about the smell you can get from vinegar. I was quietly observing this conversation in 140 characters or less about something called citric acid and it was supposed to be odorless. I decided to do some research. I even told my husband what I was looking into and why. Being the absolutely brilliant man he is, he told me not to buy anything yet. When he came back (he left the house for a little while) he bought with him a 7 oz bag of citric acid from an Indo-Pakistani store in town. Who knew? (I didn't even know that the store existed.) Since then I have been doing my dying with citric acid and you know what? When I smell my hands they smell of wool! It almost smells wrong. Almost.

As for projects with my new found information here is one of the things I plan to start dying next:

This is a cheviot fleece that I purchased last year. I pulled it out and skirted any remaining tags and vm in it. There wasn't much just stuff that I didn't care to work with really. The plan is to sort it into 3 pile - very crimpy, crimpy and not so crimpy. The very crimpy and crimpy are the best softest of the bunch. The not so crimpy might be good for felting or rug yarn or blending for strength. I'm excited and hope to get more pictures along the way.

March 1, 2009 - Macon, GA

2009-03-03T18:05:00.003-05:00

It was a very beautiful sight indeed.

Quitting the Multiple Venue Gig

2009-03-01T20:59:00.004-05:00

For now....

I have a fascination with all things new and sparkly. Truth be told, I just have a fascination with sparkly things... forget the new. So, last November I came across this site called ArtFire. Since I had been on Etsy (darn near three years at that point) I remembered always hearing people say, don't put your eggs in one basket... don't put your eggs in one basket. I thought, "oooohhh... Shiny, ooohhhh Neat... ooohhhhh... I wanna touch."

And touch I did (not in a bad way). I talked to my husband and convinced him that this was the next big handmade site. This is the first site I had heard about and thought "They've got lots of potential and aren't just your runofthemill overnight coat-tail grabbers." I dove straight in and got my $7 verified for life. My husband said... "Give it 3 months." I said, "Ok," knowing all the time that I would have an excuse to keep the renewal going.

Lo and behold on the third month, I was laid off from my job. Sucks to be me you think. Nope, more reason to keep the ArtFire store open. I would have two places to sell my wares and more time to do it in. Yay me! I didn't even have to think. Well, until I did.

I started trying to keep a spreadsheet of all my sales and expenses and this is what I found out. $7 isn't alot, but its alot to someone with no daytime job, no investment money and a small leash. I don't have $84 dollars to see where they go in a year, I didn't have $28 to begin with, I just liked to think I did.

So yea, I'm keeping my eggs in one basket at the moment. It makes the best business sense for me and for my scale of business at this time. Besides, why not... the grocery store keeps my eggs in the same styrofoam carton and it's rare that they ALL break.

I'm keeping my eyes open though......

Just a little laugh to keep you going...

2009-02-21T09:40:00.006-05:00

I walked into my bedroom yesterday and saw this:

According to my husband he has .... are you ready

"Sheep Apnea"

I admit, I laughed... it was funny. But wait, there is more. As my husband left the house a little while later he said "If he doesn't wear the mask at night he Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa's the whole time." My husband had just stepped outside so I did what any logical wife would do.... I closed the door. =P
Yes, I know I married a nut!

WOOL!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-18T22:19:00.004-05:00

I waited all day Monday for the UPS man to bring this:

10 Pounds of Merino... and I have already started dyeing! *happy dance*

A lot of love and a little mingling

2009-02-14T16:23:00.009-05:00

I have always thought that my family was perfectly suited to me. Sure I gripe and grumble and yes I nag at TheBoy and TheMister to do this and do that. Really that's just part of what being a mom/wife calls for sometimes. Fortunate for me its days like today that remind me that they really know me, love me, and want the best for me.
Growing up, Valentines Day wasn't all about celebrating the "love" of your life (i.e. significant other, sex partner etc..) but just showing that you cared. When we hit high school my mom bought us little Valentine's Day to showed she cared. Also, high school is when kids are at their worst and I wasnt getting any cards or candy because I just wasn't popular enough. Sometimes being an adult is not much different unless you have a great family and a great bond. Sure some adults don't feel the need to spend money to show they love someone, and thats perfectly alright. My family just gifted me with the sweetest surprise gift yesterday.

To start is this:

On the left is a brand new enamel dyepot so that I can work on dying more than one batch of fiber at a time. More effective for the store and less time consuming. Jay said he really wanted to encourage me to keep up with the progress and level of productivity I've gotten since losing my job. YAY hubby! Oh, and there is more....

Inside the pot was a special selection of goods just for me. The "U-R GR8" heart, frog stickers and a teddy bear card from my baby boy, Dyl. I also got another (personal =P) card from hubby, a tub of jelly hearts and everything else you see in the picture above. The small scissors are to complete my scissor trifecta so now I have 8-inch Ginghers, Fiskars pinking shears and small embroidery/detail scissors. I also got a mini (1.5 inch) sticker maker with a refill adhesive cartridge.
I'm so happy with my little gifts I could squeal! I won't but I could. As I've gotten older I realize that family is very special to me and I couldn't have married a better fellow or had a better son!

On another quick note, here is what I was working on yesterday that I hope to add to the Mix and Mingle section of the store soon.

It's handspun mill ends in the same color set as Faded Forestry. I noticed in Etsy chat people would like the colors but they were not spinners. Hopefully this will add some options for those who really like the combination and are able to knit or crochet. Unfortunately since these are spun from millends, I can't guarantee that the yarn will felt or not felt. There is also some variation in color in certain areas because of the varying wool composition .

Shop News - Shipping Rate adjustments!

2009-02-08T12:08:00.004-05:00

Just a quick note:

Effective immediately the Shipping has been updated for Froggy Fibers merchandise at both Etsy and ArtFire. The main difference is the return of First Class shipping for the US.

Also shipping times are currently being posted on a 1-2 business day turnaround due to recent changes in my availability.

Thanks!

*****

As a side note: I have created a mailing list for future Froggy Fibers Newsletters. Sign ups are in the left column of the blog.

Labels and looking professional

2009-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

One of the first things I did when I found out I lost my job was make this blog three columns. That was a great since of accomplishment and something that was easy to do at the beginning. I also want to get my website renovated to become the portal to Froggy Fibers on the web. It would include links to my blog, my Etsy, my ArtFire, my Flickr etc... etc... etc. I, however, and not a web designer, graphic designer or similarly knowledgeable design type person. I am just a budding fiber artist.

What I have done recently is an effort to look more professional on my meager budget. So by using the banner from the blog, some cotton stationary, and a 9 inch paper trimmer I was able to create wrap around labels for my listed goods. Prior to this, I attached a business card and a cute little info card via hole punch and yarn. While I am not saying that using a business card isnt useful, there really are so many other things that they can be used for.

In order to avoid the commitment of Etsy vs ArtFire, I chose to commit to using my own website address. That's why its even more important that I can utilize that space appropriately as a portal to the world of Froggy Fibers. I'm sure there is more progress to come so stay tuned!

Froggy's Funky Fun Scarf

2009-02-06T07:37:00.000-05:00

Hello all my bloggerinos!

I recently spent some time knitting a scarf from my very first novelty yarn. I love it and its so colorful. I started out making it into a crocheted hat. Unfortunately that was one of those UFO's that never got finished. I guess in the long run that's just not what it wanted to be. On my trip to Sheepish I picked a pair of jumbo needles. Jumbo you say... yes... size 19 in fact. Its weird though, its like I knew that I was waiting on these needles and the minute I got home the yarn just hop, skipped and jumped on to them. (I encourage hopping when every I can =D )

Here is the humble beginnings of my scarf. I started out thinking I would do ten stitches but it seemed to small at first so I added five. Then I knit 1 row, purl 1 row to create the stockinette pattern. Once I was finished I bound off and lightly blocked it. I'm actually a fan of the curl from the stockinette stitch but thats probably because it adds to the scarf's novelty look. Plus, since I used stockinette instead of a simple garter stitch there is a lot of play in the scarf. It will be nice and stretchy and can be draped across the back or around the neck. Total length is 41 inches and width is 6 inches across. I added it to my Etsy shop yesterday and is my first finished item on Etsy! (i.e. not a supply which can be made into another finished product.)

I really enjoyed making this scarf. I'm even all riled up to make another scarf to add to the store in the next week or so. Will have to see how everything works out first. Comments are always welcomed!

Recent "hop"penings 'round the lilypad

2009-02-05T07:07:00.005-05:00

Corny I know, I couldn't help it.
I haven't posted much on my blog and I am a bit ashamed considering the extra time I have on my hands. In between entertaining the idea of getting a new job I have been working on my two storefronts. I have added a couple of listings to my Etsy and I'm up to ten listings on my ArtFire. Just a few more and my $7 dollars a month will be in use. No point paying if I'm going to keep ten or less items so I'll be listing a few more items there.

Recently I visited Sheepish in Decatur, Georgia. This was only my second visit but it truly is a lovely store. True, its smallish, but its really going to have to grow in its own time. Both times my family found the staff friendly and I found them knowledgeable. Huge plus! I was at another local Atlanta yarn shop that day and people clammed up the minute we walked in the door. Well excuse me for invading your quiet little home away from home! If you don't want to be around people, keep your knitting in your house.

I got some sweet goodies at Sheepish. First, I picked up some Lorna's Laces wool top in nice, bright colors. I'm pretty tired of winter right now so its a nice pick me up. I also picked up a bundle of Alpaca with a Twist (pictured above) in white and a pair of size 19 needles which have already been put to use. All in all, it was a nice relaxing daytrip and one I was able to enjoy it without waiting through all the weekend traffic. YAY!

Writers block...

2009-01-29T00:13:00.004-05:00

I wanted to write about the sales to shipping process. I have a post all ready to publish but to be honest, I don't think its good enough. So I will not publish my post but will work on something more interesting.

Speaking of, I have added three new listings to my Etsy store recently and a couple to my Artfire. I plan to add more and do more in the coming months. I have a little extra time between "looking" for a job so I hope to fill out both stores.

Please leave a comment if there is something you would like to see in the store!

Thanks for your patience during my sudden "life change."

Sincerely, Froggy

Productive?

2009-01-21T19:45:00.004-05:00

Well, I feel productive.

I changed the blog to a 3 column layout using this guide. (I could use help centering the header though...) Then I created a label based on the header up there. Also, I fixed my resume to be up to date. This is all since the whole layoff thing and no, I haven't actually applied for a job. I am in no means wanting the job I had or anything similar to that again. I just don't know what option that leaves me to look for. Everybody says we should be so happy to have a job in this economy, but at what cost? That's what's really bothering me at the moment. Why should I be mentally and sometimes physically stressed over my work. Psst, don't think so!

On a different note I need to work on updating the blog more often. I'm on Twitter several times a day but it's still a week or more between posts. Plus, I'm at home. Can't ask for more than that can I?

My next post will touch on the Sales to Shipping process. Until then.....

big HUGE news

2009-01-15T16:19:00.003-05:00

I got laid off today.
Seriously, I'm doing a happy dance. Money may not be great but I was needing a real mental break. I'm taking an extended weekend and then I can worry about making decisions come Monday. =D