Updates? Meanwhile I have been weaving.

Since most of the dyeing has ceased for a while and my hands need a rest from spinning all the kinds of silk I can find,

I have resumed weaving...trying out the commercial stash and the handspun stash in various combinations.

Anemones in the Garden

Anemones

I have been spinning on the Country Spinner HUGE hanks of yarn that , when plopped (that's a technical term), take on the character of Anemones. This first photo is a lighting anomaly...the yarn is NOT orange. I think my hand was partially blocking the flash! But it is a cool photo.
I then arranged them across the floor. I like the difference in size of the strands...from super-bulky to Ginormous Bulky( another technical term).

Then I covered them with silk organza net. Then I placed a net of lights beneath them.
I LOVE HOW THIS LOOKS! I think I will continue working with this.

Now I wonder how they would look in the garden?

Yarn about art? Art that is yarn?

I was talking with my friend Ann today, a fabulous spinner. We both share the utter enthusiasm for the variety of fibers, breeds of sheep, styles of spinning available to us as spinners. We get so excited talking about prepping new fibers and the discoveries that lurk around the corner! We see each other as our primary supports in our quest for spinning as fine art.

I seek to make the skein that is so beautiful, or so odd, or so laden with meaning that it can only be perceived as sculpture!

Ann seeks the skein that so expresses its "selfness," the twist, the color, the crimp that expresses the uniqueness that that fiber can become...often in garments. She spins yarns that cannot be found in the natural habitat of the yarn store.

Are we nuts, or something? Are we tilting at windmills? I don't know the answer to that question. But I do know that she and I will talk again soon about an idea that is beginning to form for us:

What if we formed a group of like minded spinners, who were interested in stretching the envelope of what yarn can be?

We are thinking of forming spinning group, but not just another spinning group where we eat and drink and spin. ( Even though we do like to drink and spin especially well!) We don't know what this group would look like, but we know that we want to create a more prominent place at the fiber table for spinners. We want spinners to be noticed as spinners of art, not imitators of store bought yarn.

What could we do? spin together, study together, encourage one another to stretch our skills and ideas, create exhibitions together...other stuff?

You tell me. Are you interested? Do you have ideas? Share them.

Shepherd's Harvest ...until next year!

I borrowed this photo from the Shepherd's Harvest Facebook Group to let you know how much fun we all had and how grateful I am for your business. I probably could have taken photos with my ailing iPhone...but I had no time, nor presence of mind, as the day started with a bang on Saturday.

The organizers did a grand job!

I do the festival because I love fiber. I love everything about spinning and dying different wools, bast fibers, sparklies. (Maybe I don't like pricing and labeling so much.) I do all of this for my pleasure, sure, but also to help spread the word about the rewarding and peace-giving nature of fiber work.

I joke about being an

enabler, about Batts being a gateway drug to further fiber addiction, about the potential for world peace through spinning.

But seriously, while I more than half believe we would ALL be better off with fiber under our fingernails, I also seriously want to pay it forward.

5% of the gross sales from Shepherd's Harvest and recent ETSY orders has been given as a KIVA loan to the Sayhua Group in Urubamba, Peru, to help Maria Acurio Paredes buy materials to make jewelry.

And lest I forget, my work at Shepherd's Harvest would not be possible without the help of my dear friends who work for peanuts and popcorn:

Carla Mantel & Gwen Schagrin who have helped me at every Shepherd's Harvest for the last ...is it 6 years? The three of us came as spectators and students one Mother's Day and returned as vendors the following year.

Thank you to Pauline Mitchell who came for the first time this year, And Dale Kennedy who has helped both at the festival and at home in the studio and the gallery through out the years.

Hooray for great friends!

YARNOVER!YARNOVER!YARNOVER!YARNOVER!

Come Saturday, April 30, to Yarnover and see lots of the new products I have accumulated!

25th Annual Yarnover – Mark your calendars for the 25th annual Minnesota Knitters’ Guild Yarnover, an all-day event. Featured are a market with vendors from the Midwest and Canada, along with classes taught by nationally known teachers.

Location: Hopkins Senior High School, 2400 Lindbergh Dr, Minnetonka, MN

Contact: (612) 436-0464, ext. 115

Time: 7:45 a.m.–5:45 p.m.

I will be spinning on the Aura wheel, from Majacraft. Come see.

BFL/silk hand dyed roving!
Ashland Bay merino Silk roving: these are the samples spun up!
Baby Llama roving

Alpaca silk roving

alpaca, baby llama all spun up!
And boxes of handspun, hand dyed yarn!

At the Textile Center...NOW!

Just a little note to let you know that some of the new fibers are at the Textile Center shop....right now! I just placed a selection of Firestar, Mohair and silk noil, along with some beautiful new batts, roving and mohair locks.

Coming soon! YARNOVER! There are still openings in some classes...and I will be a vendor there this year. Come by and see me. Tell me you have been reading the blog and receive a 10% discount! I will be emphasizing the finished yarns, but will have a selection of knitting and felting fibers.

Shepherd's Harvest is coming soon!

And I am busily working on new products! These are the first little two ounce hanks of firestar roving. Firestar is a soft, sparkly add-in for you spinning and felting. I have received mixed information about what it is made of: polypropylene or nylon? It dyes like nylon. It adds strength and luster to your wool. It is not scratchy at all! A great addition to sock yarn.

Out of Karakul's and mud

I few days ago I drove about an hour north of the Twin Cities, up a muddy road with 2 inches of slippery thawed mud on top of "Minnesota permafrost" into a small waiting flock of Karakul sheep, with one elderly Polypay. The 8 or so sheep surrounded the truck as I came to a stop where the herding dog had herded the truck. Soon the guard dogs were barking, the geese were honking and the sheep and the dogs were urging me toward the house.
I tried out the little used Ashford Country Spinner, and bought it.
2 pounds + 2.6 ounces of RH Lindsay medium wool later!
Now the 2 pounds, 2.6 ounces are herb green.
It is a lively, 220 yards of thick and thin yarn. Too much fun!

Cinnamon Baby Llama

You can almost smell the cookies baking! The natural cinnamon color of this baby llama fiber is remarkable! $4.50 per ounce....and an ounce will spin 40 + yards 2ply sport weight. Just think how many yards you could spin laceweight! Available from Sue's Luxury Fiber and Susan Hensel Gallery

Alpaca silk!!!!

The Alpaca silk is a dream to spin with! Holding it in your fiber hand is a cloud-like experience! Talk about luxury! And an ounce only sets you back $4.50! Such a deal!

Sue's Luxury Fiber

Silver Baby Llama

The silver baby llama is a dream to spin with. I spun around 40 yards of sport weight 2 ply from one ounce of fiber (The tag on the yarn is inaccurate! I wrote down the revolutions on the swift rather than the yardage! duh!). The fiber cries out to be laceweight though! Think how much yarn you could get from an ounce then!

At $4.50 per ounce, it is truly affordable luxury. Come to the Susan Hensel Gallery to shop or shop on Etsy!

I've been thinking...

Since the fibers have been occupying more and more of my imagination, it seemed like time to begin working on the mission and planning . Here's what I have so far. Any comments?

The Mission of Sue's Luxury Fiber is:

• to spred the joy of fibers

• to offer affordable luxury fibers for spinners, knitters, weavers, felters, dyers

• to donate 5% of each sale to KIVA.org

What is KIVA?

Kiva.org is a micro loan agency that helps people in third worl d countries start-up or maintain businesses. Sue' Luxury Fiber lends to women in the arts or crafts. The re-payment rate at Kiva is very high, enabling the lender to re-loan and pay it forward.

How does Sue define Luxury?

soft, fine, shiny, colorful, and sometimes rare

What might you find at Sue's?

beautiful baby llama roving

lustrous yearling mohair top

merino/silk blend top

BFL/silk blend top

Alpaca/silk blend top

sparkling Firestar

twinkling Angelina

hand dyed tops and roving of various sorts

silk noil

handspun yarns

hand dyed scarves

handmade bags and aprons

The Sampling has begun...with the baby llama

Over the last few days, I have begun sampling the new fibers. I withdrew one lovely ounce from each of the three balls of baby llama top. OH MY! What a treat! I spun the yarns on my Hansen e-Spinner. I set the machine to allow me to spin a moderate, sort of sport weight, reasonably fluffy yarn. When you spin from top, you are spinning well aligned fiber with little air, making, generally, a firmer, smoother yarn. I attempted to maintain a certain drapiness and luxury, and succeeded. My favorite may be the three ply I did with one ply of each color: cinnamon, silver & grey. The silver reads as sky blue when plied with the grey and cinnamon!

Affordable luxury at $4.50 per ounce. Each ounce made approximately 40 yards of sport weight yarn.

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!

18th annual Women's Art Festival

All things Fibery and Good! Come see what is new at Sue's Luxury Fiber this holiday season!

Saturday, December 11

10am-5pm

Midtown YWCA

2121 E. Lake S.

Minneapolis

There are new greeting cards, new scarves, new colors and designs of yarn, wondrous batts, lots of mohair, and shiny, shiny bamboo roving. AND...maybe more? I am awaiting my first shipment of Ashland Bay Trading Company fiber. Will it come in time?

For SALE! The Roberta Electronic Spinner!

Well loved, well used, this Roberta Ertoel Spinner production spinning wheel is moving out to make room for the other sweet wheels that seem to come home with me like stray animals! It's not that I do not love her. My spinning needs ahve changed. She is an Irish tension wheel, with a ferocious pull, making her ideal for lofty, bulky yarns or lightning fast plying. With lacing, you can easily spin thinner yarns. Speed is controlled by an infinite dial. There is an on/off foot pedal. It comes with the standard flyer and 3 bobbin set-up as well as Woolee-Winder with 6 BIG bobbins! It is about 5 years old with a new motor. Full retail is currently over $1400. I am asking $700, firm.