How Long Has It Been ??????

OMG, I had a lady from my list ask me about my blog, I dropped by and took a look at my post, I am shocked! What in the world have I been doing??

I made a promise to myself I would keep up on this, this year. I haven't done a good job! I should have something to show for it shouldn't I?

This is the "to be studio".

That's what I have been doing.

It is an old mobile home that was left here on our lot. Let me tell you, it was not a pretty site! I have put up wall paper, painted,ripped out walls,gutted the baths. Torn off siding and am residing. Put in new windows, am putting in new floors, un packing, organizing, and trying to get something done to put on my Etsy store :)

I was pleased with my organization, till I decided to rip out the front wall dividing the master bedroom ( the rest of the storage that hadn't been gone thru) and my room and decided I couldn't possibly finish putting stuff away till I had everything un packed! So now I have a huge mess again. But when it is done it will be done!! So far I have the living room, kitchen,laundry done. Baths are storage for my fleece. You know how usually you end up having more than you thought you did? I didn't :( I actually need to purchase much more wool to get me thru the season till next shearing.

I love having the kitchen to do my dyeing. I removed all the cupboard doors, painted the cabinets lavender and cream, crackle glazed them, and they are presentable now. One of the nice things is I don't worry about my mess or spills. I have a cupboard above the sink that has all my dyes where I can see them. Pots underneath the sink where I can grab them. Very good lighting now that we have them all installed.

I have the living room area for my looms, which aren't set up yet :( The dining area is my sewing quilting area. I have a wall for blocking my knitting, a wall for yarns for weaving, and yarn hanging everywhere. As you can see from the pictures, it is still a work in progress. After I get thru all the stuff I have strung from one end to the other, I will take finished pictures!!

My last post was when I had first gotten the Texel. I have had more time to work with it and have been dyeing it in the grease. I have been experimenting with that method with several of my fleece and am having good results! Here are some pictures of the Texel

Here is some Border Leicester I dyed in the grease

Here is some Salish Cross I dyed in the grease

This is Cotswold dyed in grease

I picked up 150 lb more Texel over the week end! Hubby made me the nicest skirting table right out my front door and to the right of my "to be studio". It is waist high so I don't have to lean over, we cover it in a nylon type chicken wire so it won't rust. Everything falls right thru! I am saving all the skirted parts of the fleece to put in the bottom of the holes of the Leland Cypress that we are planting at the beginning of the drive.

Now that I have at least posted something to my poor blog, it's time for me to catch up on the blogs I subscribe to. I'm sure everyone has been much better at keeping current than I have!! My desire is to post here at least once a week. Lets see if I can get it done thru the rest of April!!

New Fleece!!!!! What is it???

I have been soooo bad about keeping up on my blog! I actually have been bad about keeping up on everything! But I had time to find some pretty fleece :) Priority's you know!

Look, hardly any VM and it's not coated!

Interesting huh?

Let me tell you all the good things about this so far. It is low in grease, hot tap water will wash it. It has good crimp, and lock length, about 4" average. It is a beautiful cream color when washed. It spins into a soft,springy yarn.

So below is what it looks like after it is washed

Isn't it a pretty color?

Here it is combed for spinning

Here is a sample skein

So I'm impressed. IMO I think it is as nice or nicer than Cormo or Polypay. I am in love!

It goes on my Etsy site this week :)

So if anyone would like some raw or washed, let me know. It will be 10$ a lb raw, and 12$ washed.

I know you are going to love it when you get it!!

What is it?

Texel

Post? What's a Post?

I know I have been moving, but geeez you would have thought I could have atleast kept up a little on my blog!
We have had such a time during this move, my hubby said we would have made a good country song! It really was one thing after the other. But now we are here and I am hoping I can get settled. Of course I hurt my back, to old, to out of shape and in too much of a hurry to be doing the things we had to do in the move. I have had to slow down, which is frustrating as I don't slow well :)
We have the mobile up here, it was quite and ordeal to get it up here and then the rain made it so much worse! We had to have the area graded so the mobile would sit level and not be to high in the air. So of course the rain made the wonderful NC clay slick and muddy. The drive is 350 feet up hill and narrow,we had a business that has a special house tractor pull it up. I couldn't watch. It took all day to get it up here and then a day to get it settled and hooked up. I often thought it would have been easier to just wait and get the house built!
On the property there was an old mobile. It really is a dump. We had to have it removed to a lower spot before we could do anything. That was also a ordeal because of the slope and it hadn't been moved since 1990. It is going to be a studio, but has much work it needs. First to reside, then paint,flooring and rip out the baths and replace with half bath and storage. It will be really nice when it's done, it won't take too long ( I hope!) A few week ends!
I am so excited about having a dyeing kitchen and all the comforts of the house in my own area. And I'll finally have room for all my quilting things out at the same time. I really love to sew.
Of course we had alot of timber cut to get up here and the guy that did it was so great. He cut all the timber for free and stacked all the small limbs in nice neat stacks for us to dispose of. But now, we need to do just that. I don't think we have an area where we can burn safely, we have a chipper so that's what we will probably do, and maybe haul some off. That will be a few more week ends!
We also have some cosmetic things to take care of as when they were getting us up here the bottom of the drive got tore up a little as did the back yard as they had to go down the hill to hold up the mobile! So we need to get the shovel and rakes out and do some work. A few more week ends!
As you can tell, going to be busy for a few week ends!
I am having such a good time with the group on Yahoo. Everyone is so nice and so imformative! We have had a few people on the list that have gotten ill and everyone has been so supportive tolerant of them.
As far as fiber things, as you can imagine they have been limited! I am knitting and have finished a the purple scarf,hat and gloves for the Dear Daughter. I have also been knitting on the CVM vest for hubby and the shawl I have been picking up and putting down for a year! Then because it was so darn cold here for a while I knitted a quick hat and gloves for me!! Of course my blocking board is taken apart so nothing has been blocked! Do you block hats or gloves?
Hubby's job is going well he has been busy and like the people he works for. Soon he will have his client list built up and will be working alot from home. I like that, as he is really great company and gives me a good excuse to sit and spin or knit while I spend time with him!
Hopefully I can get it together enough to find my camera and get some pics taken to post. Hopefully I can keep my blog more current! I would like to add some more links,patterns and instructions of interest. I need a blog update!!

1. 
   

Yes It Is!!

So it is the first day of the New Year, I haven't posted forever! I think it is a good feeling. A New Year { new start} , we will move on Monday { new place} don't know what is ahead { new experiences}. I'm ready for NEW! I am looking forward to all of the above. I feel kinda of an anxious calm, how that for an oxymoron?

No New Year resolutions for me! I'm not setting any expectations. My goal this year is to have a calm,relaxing,soothing,enjoyable year. I am going to be good to myself and make sure hubby is the same. This is going to be a healing year for me. I have been wound up so tight I have felt like I was going to pop any minute. It is time for me to stop talking the talk and walk the walk, let go let God, kay sura sura,go with the flow,exhale, well you get the point!

So without further ado, I'm going to go and do some knitting and spin for a while today, may take a nap (not really can't sleep in the day) but might sit and watch a movie.

Hope you all have a great New Years day and many more to follow!