My two Bosworth Birds Eye Maple spindles

I received the mini spindle on the left today, to go with my featherweight on the right. I also got a new book, `Respect the Spindle'. Yea for me :)

And more makes 50!

row 1: Pat H, Patricia S, Sue B
row 2: Rebecca H
row 3 and 4: Terri P

Still more!

row 1 and 2: Mary Anne R
row 3: Michele K, Pamela A
row 4 and 5: Pamela B

More!

row 1: Debbie M, Denise E, Elise F, Joan S
row 2: Elni L
row 3: Linda L
row 4: Lou D (2), Mary J

Blue and Brown swap!

row 1: Bernadette S., Beth A
row 2: Cecile F
row 3: Cheryl C
row 4: Connie W
row 5: Cynthia B

Secret Pal Scarf

I finished the scarf for my Secret Pal's birthday. The picture makes it look very teal-ish. It is blue. I am early, and will mail it in time for her birthday!! Finally, I am not late.

Secret Pal Gift

I made this tote for my secret pal. I have been late in sending gifts, so this one I just sent is for August! Yikes!
This is strips of batik, sewn in one long strip, folded then sewn around clothesline. Then this strip is zig-zagged to itself around in an oval. At times a little tedious, but not bad. And it looks really nice in person. I did line it, but it is quite crooked. And mine will not be lined!

S's scarf

This is the matching scarf for S. It matches her felted tote bag I gave her for her birthday. I finished it on Sunday, and sent it out with the blue alpaca I just finished. Merry Christmas! :)
I tried it on, and it is very scratchy-so it might be a scarf that stays on the outside of the jacket lapels.

3rd package-cotton

I love spinning on my spindles. But the dilemma is what do I do with the wool yarn? I don't wear much wool, and I can only give away so many scarves. I have some bamboo, milk and other fibers I will try spinning. But I love cotton...so I needed a new type of spindle. And a kit to try different cottons, punis from India, seed cotton, organic sliver, natural green and natural brown.
Wish me luck with the new type of spindle! It is a tahkli, and I hope I can master it. I am contemplating buying a charkha, a wheel for cotton. I can get one for a little over $100. But should I go on a waitlist for a Bosworth? They are more expensive...but I know I love the quality of their drop spindles, and are well worth their price.
Still haven't decided on a regular wheel. I love the drop spindles, so why would I need one? Can I spin cotton on it?

2nd package

This is my new Thuya burl spindle. It is a Bosworth. Can you tell I like these? I am also on a few more of their lists for other specialty woods. The handle of this has the most beautiful feel. I wonder if it is the finish-a type of wax or something-or the wood itself? My other Bosworths have a very light wood that just don't feel as nice. Not bad, but this one is perfect. The picture just does not show how beautiful the Thuya burl is. And of course it spins and spins and spins.

Again, 3 packages in one day

Ah, 3 packages in the mail today. I so love getting mail, I just wish they would space themselves out. I am pretty sure I ordered everything not on the same day. The first package is crochet books. And a DVD about needle felting, I hope I will get some inspiration, and finally unpack my new needle felting machine!!

Finished!

I love finishing a project! I finished this alpaca scarf today on the airplane. Crochet is so easy to take along. I'd like to do more quilting, but the scissors, and needles, and pins make it not quite so easy.

GC's crochet hat

I finished crocheting this hat today for my mother.
It matches a blue one I made for my daughter.

New Bosworth Maxi!

I just got a new Bosworth Maxi spindle yesterday!
It is made out of Canarywood. Isn't it gorgeous? It just spins and spins. :)

Lots of Alpaca!

I love my alpaca fiber from North Star Alpacas. I couldn't decide which to get, so I ordered 4 different colors. A black, a brown, a light fawn/brown mix, and a white/grey/brown mix. There is a white sample peeking in on the side. And always included are wonderful smelling sachets.

Thyme Merino

Some new fiber for me. Merino in a `thyme' colorway, from wildthyme.etsy.com
Can't wait to see what it looks like spun up!

New Spindles

Gorgeous new spindles for me! They are from Greensleeves spindles. A Fox in Masur Birch, and a Hound in Australian Red Gum. I love both of them. Now to try them out....

9-17
The Birch spindle is so pretty to look at. Very nice to spin on.
The larger Hound is fabulous to spin on. I love it. It is currently my favorite. (I think my favorite is the one I've just used!)

Merino, Mohair, Falkland and Punta

My newest fiber. :)
I got a sample of the Mermaids Home in the phatfiber June sample box, and loved how the color spun up, so I ordered some. And I couldn't resist trying a few other fibers and colors too.

My SBS blocks

These are the blocks I sent in for the block exchange. The last one is not quite finished!!
All the blocks I received in exchange are gorgeous. I haven't decided how to put them together yet, but I do have some Charleston pinks and browns to use. I just love pink and brown!!

SBS Blocks 4th picture

by row:
1) Patrica Stefanowicz, Pam Bruner
2) Cynthia Barger, Julie Birbeck
3) Louise Dutove, Connie Wood
4) Krista Yokum

SBS blocks 3rd picture

By row:
1) Brenda Griffith
2) Pat Harrell
3) Mary Jordan
4) Beth Arenburg
5) Linda Long

SBS blocks 2nd picture

By row:
1) Cecile Flegg
2) Barbara Firesheets
3) Linda Starkey
4) Cheryl Langshaw
5) Debbie Madigan

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler block exchange

My lovely Brown and Pink blocks from the SBS exchange!
by row:
1) Mary Anne Rhodes
2) Becca Abney
3) Bernadette Smelik
4) Terri Pearce

3rd Mail

With all that fiber, I need more spindles! This is the Rainier from Cascade Spindles (I happened to order from Paradise Fibers). It is Rainier Flame wood with a walnut shaft, and is so lovely. I also ordered the Niddy-Nosty. A combination of a niddy noddy and a nostepinne. :)

2nd Mail

I think I had a coupon for these (yes, I love coupons). But I will put greenwoodfiberworks.etsy.com on my `buy from again' list. My pictures aren't great, but I love the soft colors of these 2. I can't wait to see how they spin up.

I love getting Mail

Somehow, though, I place orders on different days and they all get here together. So yesterday I had 3 mail packages arrive. The first, in no particular order, is some lovely silk from zebisisdesigns.etsy.com My pictures do not show just how pretty they are. Perhaps it because they are on muslin, rather than on something a nice bright white.

More fiber, from the PhatFiber blog

I just love giveaways, and so I check PhatFiber.blogspot.com everyday to see what I can try to win. Well, I didn't win from here:
intothewhirled.etsy.com but I did find a sampler pack (I love samplers as much as I love coupons and sales). I also fell in love with the winterberry merino. The picture is a bit dark, so it is much prettier in person. I have started to spin up the 1/2 ounce sample that was sent with my order-it runs from blue/teal to grey to maroony/purple.
7-15-09
The second picture is the finished yarn from the `mixed berry daiquiri' fiber sample.

Another PhatFiber sample

I am spinning 4 different samples from TactileFibersArts.com
I like the coral and kelp the best. I tried to order some, but the coupon code that came with the sample did not work. And if you know me, you know I love coupons. So, I did not get any :(

New spindle and Phatfiber

I got a new Bosworth spindle, a featherweight, made of Birdseye Maple. So I spun up a little sample from the PhatFiber box, specifically from fiberfancy.etsy.com.
I did not know how it would turn out, as I have not spun much yet. But I like the colors, and how they went together.

bridesmaid dress

I finally hemmed my bridesmaid dress today too. We are wearing flip flops as shoes. I took off about 5 inches. Tried to get rid of the funny tan on my arms, but didn't quite get the shoulders dark enough. And now it is raining. Whoever invented the rolled hem foot for the sewing machine is brilliant! It isn't perfect, but it made it soooo much easier.

M's tote

I finally finished M's birthday present:)
I was going to use a different Amy Butler fabric, but I just got this pink last week. And M wanted pink! It is the dec. weight, and it sure makes a nice tote.

Lucky Duck

I have been a Lucky Duck lately. Now if only my lottery numbers were lucky...
I won this nice reclaimed alpaca yarn, from the phatfiber blog: phatfiber.blogspot.com/
and it was donated by Lisa of Strike My Fancy: www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6269830
So I have started to crochet a little scarf:

S's birthday tote

Finally finished!! This is the crocheted, then felted tote I made for S for her May (!) birthday. I really like the finished product. Before felting it was really floppy, and I had doubts it would turn out. My next felted project is much smaller.

Block Exchange

This is my finished April block for the block exchange. The requirements were something April-ish and to use the umbrella fabric.
I don't often do any applique, so I am very happy with how it turned out. I am making an extra one of each block (every month) to make myself a sampler quilt. This month mine is exactly the same, since all the fabrics were mine. The block owner said we could keep the supplied fabric if we liked it, so I kept enough for my own umbrella.
I think this also quelled my urge to make a sunbonnet sue quilt!

Market Tote

This is my crocheted Market Tote. I dyed the yarn myself, but didn't heat set it. I went to the movies before it was done, so most of the color washed out. The yarn is organic cotton and bamboo.

Another win!!

This time I won a giveaway from phatfiber.blogspot.com.
The contributor was Maple from NorthStarAlpacas.etsy.com
I chose this lovely, lovely, lovely alpaca roving. It is even more gorgeous in person!! Thanks Maple!!

I won!!

I dashed my way through the yarndash at playyarndash.com last month.
I won this gorgeous tote from handknitting.com.
What a great win!

Hats

I finished the hat for E, and made the `flower' hat for V yesterday.

Needle Felting

I needle felted this landscape today. You start with a piece of felt. Add roving on top, then use a special felting needle to punch the fibers together.

Pillowcase

I was sewing a few charity pillowcases, and V wanted one for herself. These are the fabrics she picked out. Pansies and little pink flowers on a brown background.

Skirt

I made this skirt yesterday. It went together super quick. I just used straight pieces of fabric, and an elastic waistband.

Yellow Octopus

I just finished this Octopus for my littlest cutie.

Felted scarf

This is my first felted piece, from the fiber arts class I am taking.
It is hard to tell from the picture, the purple (with a little green in it) is the felted wool. the bright colors are bits of silk that are placed on top of the batt, and is held in place by the felting process. This was wet felted.

Heart to heart swap

These are some of the swap blocks, I made 41 total.
They are all the same. 20 pieces of fabric, in each heart.
I am not paper piecing for awhile!!

Quilted purse

I tried out an easy quilted square pattern. I gave this to a charity auction.

Civil War Love Letters blocks

These are my first 10 blocks for my Civil War Love Letters quilt. The book is by Rosemary Youngs.