Taming Wild Camels..and cashmere and alpaca and mohair...

Most common spinning fibers, even Merino, are not too messy to deal with. You get a few fibers on yourself, easily handled with a lint brush or a ball of masking tape. But, whenever I spin the camelids or the cashmeres, or even adult mohair, I am covered head to toe with fiber...A LOT OF FIBER. At the last WILD WOOL MARKET of the season, I was spinning cashmere. Now cashmere costs more than most fibers, even when it is a deal. I got up to service a customer or put on the coffee for the exhibitors or something... I think there may have been more cashmere on me than on the bobbin! Most of the fiber on my leg was reclaimed, but not in the lovely aligned manner in which it had begun! So, I began to think about what was needed to tame these wildly luxurious fibers.

AN APRON! But not just any apron. It had to be long enough to cover a reasonable amount of your lap. OK, that kept the fibers on your lap, getting tangled and sticking, waiting to be brushed off. HMMM.

Eureka! a pocket!

DANG! The fibers stuck to the cotton pocket.

DOUBLE EUREKA! A satin lined pouch to hold the fiber! Less fiber sticks to satin, less waste, and it is contained in one small area.

I'm starting to make them and soon they will be in my Esty shop.

Happy New Year!

The wool nook is open! OK, it's not really complete...space and baskets are still being sorted out. More wholesale accounts are in process. But it HAS begun. One corner of the gallery is now devoted to wool and silk and cool fiber related stuff. The gallery is open on MONDAYS, 10-5 and by very generous appointment. Since the storefront is on the first floor of my building, and I live above the store, and I work at home....Obviously, appointments are easy. We just compare schedules and see what works.

What will you see in that tight little corner? Lots of roving, hand dyed and ready to dye, mohair locks, yearling mohair top (YUMMY!) It is so glossy! There are art batts, hand dyed silk and cotton scarves, lots of handspun and art yarn.

So much color! It is exciting!

Ashland Bay fibers have arrived!

The beautiful colors have arrived! 2 ounce balls of Red, Blue, Purple, Autumn, and, my favorite, Sea Mist!
I will have these ready for you at the Women's festival this weekend, $6 for 2 ounces.
Back at the studio, waiting for the dye pot, mine or yours, is Polwarth, creamy, merino soft, a shockingly low $2 per ounce, 2 ounce minimum.
OMG! 75/25 BFL Tussah! I just want to dive into it! $3/ ounce, 2 ounce minimum
DOUBLE OMG! 70/30 fawn alpaca and tussah silk. I can hardly stand it! It is too beautiful! $3.50 per ounce, 2 ounce minimum.

For now, only the colors will be at the festivals. But, come to the Wool Market on December 18 or contact the Susan Hensel Gallery anytime to purchase the full range of fibers.

South Minneapolis Wild Wool Market

Returns in time for Holiday Shopping

Come Saturday, November 27 & December 18, 10-4, to Susan Hensel Gallery, for wooly, silky, alpaca goodness!

•spinning

•weaving

•felting

•re-using!

Demos and shopping!

Fresh food!

You will find art dolls, handspun and hand dyed yarn, tote bags, tapestry, weaving, spinning materials. It is an ever changing roster of artists!

Almost all the artists will be demonstrating! Some teach, so talk to them. All invite you to sink your hands into the marvelous world of fine fiber.

WHERE? Susan Hensel Gallery, 3441 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Round Robin Red...red studies

I have begun spinning some of the reds. The 3 dyes spun and plied in various iterations so far are Wash Fast Watermelon, Wash Fast Paprika, and Sabraset Deep Red. They were plied 2 ply of each combo and 3 ply of the lot. I also used, part of the time, my new Ashford sliding hook flier and a stretchy drive band. Felt like a whole new wheel...in a good way. Mechanically smooth.

The combat yarn project continues...this time with additions of silk and alpaca and natural cutch dyed wool. the fiber was blended on a hackle, making a wonderful, smooth prep. The radical single was plied with a fine commercial mohair I picked up in NYC this spring. It adds a wonderful halo.

Stay tuned. The gallery show for these yarns will be in December.

Australian Colors

The Outback of Australia encompasses many ecosystems, from dry desert to tropical rain forest. The quintessential Outback, the one we Northern Hemisphere types think of, it the Red Center, the desert throughout the middle of the Australian continent. It is dry, dusty, brick red to golden ochre, with smatterings of purple and sage green. The mulga trees and other eucalypts have bark colors that range from nearly white to dark, dark brown. The spinifex grass is everywhere, spikey and dusty green. When it is hot, the trees give off their eucalyptus scent. I can't get the colors and textures out of my mind. Indeed, I do not want to.

These materials

spun on the Aura. Oh how I missed the Aura! What a delightful wheel to spin on.

The last 2 photos show the yarn plied, but unwashed and then washed. I did something different this time. I spun it in the Spin Dryer and then put it in the electric dryer. I figured it was so close to dry that any felting would be minor and welcome as the yarn was looser than I prefer. Success! It came out poofy and nice.

Combat Yarn Photo Shoot, cont'd

Across the knitted battlefield.

Battle scarf?

Battle yarns are being photographed and composed by my son, John Hensel, who is a profesional photographer. Stay tuned! The process is fascinating.

Meanwhile, I have chosen one hank to knit and that process is also fascinating.

The stich definition is good, it is easy to pull the added elements to the front. It looks normal and transgressive all at once. A very odd piece of fabric. A battle scarf?

Can Yarn Function as sculpture?

This yarn, COMBAT CHAOS, begins to achieve what I set out to do. Combining specially chosen colors and fibers to express the emotional turmoil of the battlefield, little army guys are pinioned in beehives, cocoons of black wool, felted camouflage felt flags, mounds of netting and desert camo. Both sides of the conflict climb around and shoot in the confusion. Small flashes of light, tiny sequins, reflect the flash of the guns or the twinkle in a mute night sky.

Wool Market Fun

The South Minneapolis Wild Wool Market was, once again, well attended and so much fun. Even if no one came, I think we would enjoy ourselves! What's not to enjoy about people engaged with fiber?
This darling little one finished her fiber day with Grandma at our place. She had started the day by making fairies at the Fiber Studio and ended by making a Wild Batt with me.


Jenn Cuff spent the day spinning (So did I;-)) Although I have no photos to prove it, my friend Carla brought in her Navajo spindle and taught us how to use it. Several of us took turns on it while she tried out my new Majacraft Wheel. Her hand can be seen somewhere in this fluffy, curly single made from loose locks. I spun 3 skeins during the day, totaling nearly 300 yards.

You never know what will happen at a wool market. If you stay long enough, you are bound to learn something new or make a new friend.

Next market? July 24.

The wars rage on.Why shouldn't my yarn talk about it? The yarn's message is not yet clear. All war appalls me...it is a failure of human ingenuity, of human goodness. We fail in our ability to live in community and solve our disagreements with out drawing battle lines.

Tiny corkscrews enliven this tiny skein.

Larger, poofier corkscrews.

Neither of the corkscrews have been set. I hate to see them lose their perkiness.