Complex Silk

Sometimes you just have to START!

I started by dying these with Eucalyptus and rust. I got the silk too wet with vinegar and water, wrapped it around Eucalyptus leaves and flowers and around rusty bits & tied it up tight. I cooked it. Got just the palest bit of a print. SO, I re-wrapped and plunged it in my rust bath (garden rust, vinegar and water) and placed it in a baggie overnight. Much rust and some Eucalyptus prints. Not much. It just looked mysteriously dirty. I learned that the Eucalyptus buds will leave intense prints and that the rust makes the prints turn black.
The scarves did look dirty, with tiny bits ofloveliness. SO I got out my new SilkDyes, instant, non-toxic dyes. Fun! Saved one of the scarves from the compost heap/scrap bin.
They both actually look good when worn. But this one, I will stitch on to try to improve the look.

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!

Which spindle/project bag suits you?

This past year, I purchased several antique Japanese obi's...the long elegant sashes used on kimono. I have made spindle/project/evening bags from them! Each bag is unique and will hold a sock project or several spindles and roving or you evening necessities! I think I have either 6 or 8 different fabrics so far. Check them out at:

Yarnover or Shepherd's Harvest

FIRESTAR!

Firestar is HOT! Or, at least the colors are! Firestar is a form of nylon that reflects and refracts light for sparkle almost as bright as glitter! While it can be spun alone, it is usually spun carded with wool to add sparkle and strength. It is a fun way to add strength to a sock yarn. Don't worry, though, Firestar is skin soft.

see it at Yarnover or Shepherd's Harvest.

Poor man's silk?

All that glows is not silk. Bamboo Rayon is so shiny and soft that you want to roll around in it. It can be spun as is...slippery though it is. It is reputed to be antimicrobial. I don't know if that is true, but it's neat to think about. It is not strong like silk, so I would not knit socks with it. But for a drapey scarf? yummy! I like carding it in with other fibers to add luster and drape to otherwise springy fabric.

Not so old goats

In addition to the hand dyed wool roving, I have lots of dyed mohair this year...from goats. I found a reasonable source for young adult mohair, yearling, in combed top. It is sleek & shiny...like fine jewelry!

It is great to spin very fine for lace or for making boucle's. Spun thick, by itself, it will be heavy and probably last nearly forever. Mohair is strong. It is wonderful added to a batt of wool to increase the luster or used as a single ply with plies of different fiber.

See it at Shepherd's Harvest and Yarnover

Sometimes an artist visits& goes batty

In the run up to Yarnover and Shepherd's Harvest, I sometimes invite another artist in to dye with me. I find it mixes up, in a good way, my eye for color. This year I had my friend Dale Kennedy come dye and "batt" with me. He batted up some beautiful subtle blends of colors, all with a bit of bamboo for hand and a bit of firestar or angelina for fun.

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!

KIVA loans

One of the most amazing gifts I ever received from my son was a KIVA card for Mother's Day last year. Although we do not live in the same state, John and I are close. We talk often. But gifts? for Mother's Day? Not so much. I'm usually working on Mother's Day anyways. But last year, he blew me away with a KIVA card. What a superb gift!

I loaned the $25 gift to Ana. She is 27 years old, a widow and has a young child. She lives in the jungle of Ayacucho, where she has her own house made of wood. Ana had wanted to study agronomy, but due to her economic situation, she couldn’t finish her secondary studies, and her plans never worked out. She understood that she could not depend on her parents, so she began work as a laborer on her neighbor’s farm. All the money that she earned, she saved up. Now she has her own land to cultivate, produce and sell cacao and coffee. “It’s not possible” does not exist for her. For this reason, she has already found her niche in the market, generating quite a degree of success for her young age. Her success is due to her early mornings at her farm, to give it needed attention. In general, she works Monday through Saturday, from 5:30am until 6:00pm. Normally, her products are sold at centers in her community. In the future, she plans to put in a grocery store to diversify her market. ... Ana invested this money in fertilizers and other consumables, with the goal of improving her cacao and coffee plantations.

Ana's story appealed to me because, like me, she was widowed very young and had to figure out what to do next. I had far more luck than she, being born where and when I was. When I was widowed I already had my education and deep roots in my community.

Ana paid back her loan right on time. I have subsequently re-loaned the original amount to Sebastiana Gutierrez Quispe, an artist, also form Peru. She is right on schedule with her payments as well.

I want to expand my activities on KIVA with your help. I announced a few days ago that I will be lending 5% of the gross sales of Sue's Luxury fiber to women associated with the arts at KIVA.ORG. The minimum loan is $25 and we have already almost reached that benchmark! WOW! THANK YOU! I'll keep you posted!

Meanwhile, you, too, can make a difference. go to KIVA.ORG and see.

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?