Nature's Colors

How often do you use Nature's colors for your creations?  The colors are around us all the time--winter, spring, summer and fall. 

My favorite nature scene is a winter sunset--there is nothing like a sunset at the beach.

The colors bounce off the water and there must be clouds to have the full effect

My camera has a section where you take different color sections--this is definitely an interesting way to view the same natural scene

Take a look at this sunset from the same location as one above with different tints and hues

And when I take photos like this I can revisit the evening over and over

The daytime flashes of lights off the water is awesome

The blue green of the waters against the white of the sandy shore

And of course, the ruby red of fresh strawberries.  How can we not use Nature for our color selections?

and I love this feature on my I-pad--kaleidoscope feature in the photo booth.  This is a photo of a ball of yarn that I was knitting from--ah technology! 

Have fun with nature and the settings on your camera!

Can Not Resist??!!

How can we resist so much yummy fiber? It's there! Easy to touch and feel! Easy on the eyes! That was the problem at our annual January spin-in--vendors who bring the latest and greatest in the fiber world! yummy, delicious, elegant, exotic, unusual, novelty...................

Walking through the vendor hall is exciting--your eyes are glazing over--so much great 'stuff''--yes, fiber stuff!

Spun yarn, unspun fibers, colors deep, colors neutral--

Here is the beginning of a disaster to your pocketbook--but, we have saved and planned all year for just this occasion and we are ready to SHOP!

We stop in each booth to savor and drool--how about Raspberries? or Gale's Art

Then there is Dreaming Dragon Alpacas, Rivers Edge Fiber Arts and Daily Fibers

Fiber Arts Republic, Ewephoric Fibers

Dicentra. Skyloom Weavers and Maple Row Stock/Wool from Michigan (no web page)

Alpaca Joe

Sunshine Knit Designs and Long Hair Dog. Far Out Farms

 

The Spinning Seahorse. Rovings out of Canada

Weave Been Sew Busy

Deila's Notions featured great hand lotions, natural soaps, creams and embroidered shirts

We have such a nice affair with our vendors!

They love our 'captured' spinners!

Can you think of anything better than a buying spree?

We LoVE our VenDors!! 

Wool Blending Board

I guess there are times I feel so left out of the fiber world! Where have I been? why can't I keep up with the trends? The latest and I assume the greatest in the fiber (spinning) world is a blending board. Have you seen one of these boards? I had seen the 'rolags' produced but had not seen the board in action, so I was happy to see one of our vendors at January Spin-in demo-ing what actually takes place.

Valarie of Dreaming Dragon Alpacas had loaded up her board and I stopped cruising the room to watch as she worked the fibers.

She has the wool fibers lined out nicely on the board and she is using a dowel rod to lift a small amount of the wool

She continues to lift and drafts away from the board

Now, she has the rod completely covered and is ready to take off the rolag

Neatly done!

And you have your rolag! Valarie is able to get many rolags from one blend on the board.

Here is the additional tool she uses to process--you can also see her locks of fiber to the side

Hello Purl has a wide variety of rolags

And blends!  Now, if you think you would like to dive into this interesting part of the fiber world--how about creating your own board?  DIY Blending Board

Happy blending!!

WEAR RED DAY!

Friday, February 7, you can make a difference by wearing red! Go Red For Women is an organization that brings to the fore front the topic of heart disease in women.  So, in celebration of 'wear red' day, I've chosen these wonderful woven items to bring to your attention.

At our recent weavers' meeting Pat brought her yardage to show off--she has different sections suited for placemats and towels. 

We love this weaving structure!  So here is Pat's hand at giving us RED for the day!

In this towel she added purple in the weft--hard to tell it's purple, but it makes a nice contrast to the red and white

 

Her selvedges are grand-- 

How about the plain weave in between the sections?  This will give a nice hem

Dottie showed her latest handwork, counted cross stitch, on hand-woven fabric.  She will turn this into a pin cushion as an exchange gift

We are discussing our next study--rug mats.  Now, there are various ways we can go with this topic so Rosemary bought several of her double woven mats to give us some inspiration

Rep Weave

Stuffed double weave

 

Rosemary has a weaving student, who is a pianist.  He is making great progress with his weaving.

He has the weaving 'bug'!

Go out and wear red on Friday and remember--every day is a good day to think about your heart health!