Tie-Dyed Roving

I've been experimenting with different ways to dye rovings. I recently got a couple stainless trays and I used them in the oven to dye some Merino wool rovings. It was an idea that had been floating around in my head for awhile. I love it when an idea works just like I think it should!

What do you think?

Spin in Your PJs Day Follow-Up

Spin in Your PJs Day was a rousing success!!


Several of us from around the world came together and spent at least part
of the day spinning in our jammies. Some of us were even brave enough to post pictures in our pjs.

For many of us, this was a day to enjoy spinning again. In our busy lives
it can be difficult to find the time for our fiber hobbies and we occasionally need a push in the direction of relaxation. Coming together in a group where we can encourage and nudge each other helped me get back to my spinning wheel and I know a lot of others felt the same way.

The day was so successful that we've all agreed that we want to do it again next year! I'm already super excited and planning some fun. I'll be sure to let you know in plenty of time in case you want to join in. In the meantime, you can read through this year's thread and see some of the great pictures posted.

FAF: Spin in Your PJs Day

Happy Friday! I hope your Thanksgiving was a happy one!

How are you spending your day after Thanksgiving? Did you brave the dark and stand in line for great deals? Did you sleep in and do your shopping online? Or did you skip the post holiday shopping altogether?

I did a little shopping online yesterday after the big meal and was able to score the couple of "doorbuster" deals I wanted. I really liked the fact that most retailers were offering their sales online yesterday instead of waiting for today.

So today I am celebrating a day that I have officially declared "Spin in Your PJs Day". It's a simple concept. Just spend the day relaxing in your jammies and do something you love. In this case, spinning.

I started a thread on Ravelry so people can gather together and it's taking off. At least I'm not celebrating it alone! I've even offered a prize drawing for anyone that posts pictures of themselves spinning in their jammies.

 I was a good girl and posted this picture taken of me this morning spinning in my Christmas pjs.

Today will be a day of relaxing. I needed one and I suppose it's a little sad that I had to declare my own holiday to get it. I'll enjoy every second of it though and hope to get some yummy silk yarn spun. Maybe I'll even get a few more rows of my Georgiana shawl done.

Have a great one!

Crafty Friday 8/26 - Going Batty

Happy Friday!! For those of you on the East coast....I pray that you stay safe from Irene. For the rest of you....Enjoy your weekend. It's supposed to be beautiful here!

This past week I finally managed to clean my studio. For most of the summer I haven't been able to walk in it easily or even find it because there was stuff everywhere. Projects were stacked on top of each other and bags of alpaca fiber seemed to be multiplying like bunnies when I wasn't looking.

I finally just did it. I really don't like cleaning, but I was running out of fiber batts to spin so I had to find the studio.

I'm so glad I did! I was able to create nearly 2 dozen batts in one afternoon on the carder. I made so many that I even had extra for the shop.

Here are some of the ones I made......

This is "Genie in a Bottle"

"Dracula's Curse"

And "Nebula"

So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the linky form below.
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
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Oh What a Batt Can Do!

We were recently at the Michigan Fiber Fiesta with all of our fibery goodies and I ran into a lady that I had met last fall. We first met at the Fiber Festival we were at last October. It was such a cold damp weekend that we didn't leave our booth much, but I did wander out once and met Diana of Spin-a-Web. She has such fun things!

Well, last fall I bought one of her rovings and she bought one of my very first alpaca batts. I loved that batt colorway and had spun several myself.


None of what I had spun compared to what Diana did with that batt.

When I arrived at the fiber fiesta 2 weeks ago, Diana took one look at me and scampered off. I can honestly say I was a little baffled. She came back really quick though with this amazing shawl.


My one little batt (it was somewhere between 2.5 and 3 ozs.) had turned into a couple hundred yards and she knit this little shawl with yarn to spare. I was just in awe. It was such a lovely treat to see one of my batts all grown up.

If any of you have a project you've made from something you've purchased from us, I'd love to see it!

Crafty Friday 12/17

Happy Friday!! Oh what a week! All of my holiday orders are out the door and custom orders are completed so I've had some time to do other things this week. Things that I have been wanting to do for some time.

The big project was spinning some yarn. I realized that I had only spun 1 skein of yarn since July! I've been so busy concentrating on other fiber things that my poor wheel has been sadly neglected.

I fixed that this week with 2 skeins already completed and one more on it's way. It felt so good to sit down and make yarn. What do you think of them?











So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




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Wordless Wednesday - A Rainbow in the Snow

For more Wordless Wednesday visit the home of Wordless Wednesday and A Beautiful Mess.

Meet Peter Rabbit!

Our little farm just got a little more cute and cuddly this weekend. Instead of just raising alpacas for their awesome fiber, we've now added a second type of super soft and gorgeous fiber to our fiber crop.

Meet Peter the Angora Rabbit!


I swear he is the softest thing I have ever put my hands on and he snuggles! The alpacas may be cute and soft, but they definitely are not snuggly. I like a little furry creature I can pick up and carry to someone to pet.

I've been playing with angora fiber recently and even added some into a yarn I spun the other day. It's great to work with and compliments the alpaca really well. Now I have my own source of angora fiber! :o)


For now I'm stopping at just one, but we'll see how long that lasts. Hehe.

Fiber Arts & Animal Festival

Sorry it's been so quiet here folks. I was so busy getting ready for this festival that everything else got pushed to the side. I'm back though and ready to tell you all about this past weekend at the Fiber Arts & Animal Festival.

Last week was a gorgeous week especially when you consider that it was the end of September. 70's in the end of September is an unusual occurrence, but a welcome one. It allowed me to get a bunch of dyeing done.

We spent last Friday packing everything up into 2 trucks and a trailer. It was sunny and warm with just a light breeze. What great weather!

We got up bright and early Saturday morning and all that wonderful weather had abandoned us. It was 40*, rainy and really breezy. Not the way to start an outdoor fiber festival. Off we went though hoping that the rain would end soon.

It took us an hour or so to set up and then we just sat there trying our best to stay warm. I'm not sure it ever even reached 50 that day and it rained and misted and then rained some more.


Despite all that, there was actually a good crowd that went through on Saturday. They were all excited to see our products and of course the alpacas were a huge hit. They were constantly surrounded by a crowd taking pictures and asking all sorts of questions to learn about these animals. Very curious people. I love that!

I was very happy that we had stocked up on socks, gloves and hats for the weekend because we were nearly sold out by Saturday afternoon. It seems no one really realized how cold it was and they were freezing at the festival. Nothing warms you up better than alpaca socks and gloves!



Next to us was a farm that had brought their llamas and an obstacle course for the kids. You would have thought my kids had never walked a llama before because they just had to do it. I guess it's more fun to walk someone else's animals than it is your own. :o)

Sunday was a better weather day overall even though it was still cold. At least the rain and clouds had left us. The kids stayed with Grandma that day so I was able to visit more of the vendors around us.

I fell completely in love with an angora rabbit that was there and bought some of it's fiber. I also bought some mohair to try.

Overall we had a great weekend and I will definitely go back again. The people were great and the location was awesome! I'll just hope that next year the weatherman cooperates.

Crafty Friday 9/10 - Drop Spindle Ornaments

It's my favorite time of the week again.....Crafty Friday!! Hi and thanks for joining us!

It's been really busy around here, but I think the coolest thing I've done this week is make these.


What are these you ask? What you see are mini drop spindle Christmas ornaments. For those of you who have absolutely no idea what a drop spindle is:

**From Wikipedia ~ A spindle is a wooden spike (known as the shaft) used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom (sometimes called a drop spindle) middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without these are also common. Spindle whorls have been found in archaeological digs around the world.**

If your still confused here's the simplistic definition....you use it to make yarn.

Anywho, I made these really adorable mini drop spindles for all of you spinning enthusiasts to hang on you tree or anywhere else you'd like.

Wait, the hubs is saying he made them, I just decorated them. Hmmm, whatever. :o)

We are going to a fiber fest in a few weeks and we've been trying to make stuff like this to take and sell. I think they'll be a great addition to our fibers and yarns. What do you think?


So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




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New Alpacas are Here!

There's nothing like a day full of new arrivals. Our fiber herd keeps growing by leaps and bounds and today we added 3 awesome boys.

Grey Hawk is a beautiful dark silver grey with a micron count way under 20 (It's 16 I think). He's going to make some fabulous yarn!

WileyWind is a med. rose grey male with a serious attitude, but he'll fit in just fine. He's also gorgeous!

And Gold Rush is a fawn colored macho man with some great color markings. Can't wait to see how his fiber grows over the winter.



Of course, boys being boys, they had to wrestle around a bit to say hello. Haven't they ever heard of just shaking hands? :o) They settled down after about 20 minutes, but it was an interesting time before that.



No alpacas were hurt in the making of this video.

Crafty Friday 8/20 - Felted Slippers

Happy Friday!!

Welcome to Crafty Friday and if you're new to the neighborhood it's simply a gathering of friends sharing their crafty ideas. It doesn't matter if it's knitting, spinning, painting, gluing, cooking, baking or creative recycling. We love all the ideas that come through here and it doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect. We'll still love you!

Last week I mentioned I had written my very first knitting patterns to make little mini knits. Those were a lot of fun and I hope to have them ready to release to the public soon, but I couldn't just leave it at those so I had to make something else up.

Once again I went on a search for a type of pattern and found nothing that met my needs. I've been wanting to try making felted slippers or technically fulled slippers (we'll save the distinction for another day). I love the idea of knitting a project and then felting it vs. just felting it around a mold or freehand. I think it gives a bit more control over the final size.

Anyway, I wasn't able to find anything so I just kind of started and made it up as I went. I knitted the slippers, finished the seams and then used the washing machine to felt it. Like magic I had a beautiful pair of slippers. Now the only trick is if I can do it again! :o)


Oh I also dyed up some certified organic merino yarn in a sport weight. We've got a few festivals coming up so I won't be putting it up on Etsy, but if you're interested in it don't hesitate to speak up.


So what are you up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




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I've Been Featured in Another Etsy Treasury!

Yippee!! I've been featured in another Etsy treasury! That's makes 5 in the last 4 weeks and each time it's a different product. And this time she went above and beyond and featured this treasury on her blog for extra exposure. Thank you so much Lovinsoap.com!!

I can't prove that these treasuries are bringing me sales, but it's still nice to know that people are finding and liking my items! That alone gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling!


That's my felted soap in the bottom row 3rd from the left (the brown and white). If you'd like to view this product for yourself, you can find it here.

Farmer's Market Fun

The last few weeks we've been hanging out at a farmer's market not too far from here. It's a lot of fun with some great people and they have a big playground to keep the kiddos occupied for the 4 hours we are there. What more could a girl ask for?

It's definitely been worth our time to set up a table down there. We've encountered several knitters and this last week a spinner happened by from Texas. I'm still trying to figure exactly what she was doing in that teeney tiny little town since she said she was up visiting her daughter in Chicago, but hey, she loved my alpaca!


Our newest addition to the farmer's market fare this past week was baked goods. Michigan just recently passed a law that allows for some non-commercially prepared foods to be sold directly to consumers. (I'll be writing more on that later). The granola I made up was the hit of the day! Everyone loved the fact that the Cherry granola was made with actual Michigan cherries. Next week I think I'm going to make up a blueberry granola.

Anyway, we have a lot of fun and if you are ever around come visit us at the Athen's Area Farm Market on Fridays from 2pm-6pm. It's right on M-66....can't miss it.

Crafty Friday 7/30

It's that time of the week again. Crafty Friday is here!!

I don't have anything super fancy this week to blog about because all of my "crafty" time has been taken up with making yarn. Specifically, this one skein of yarn. {sigh} This skein took forever!

Normally I spin yarn without much thought to what it's going to be when it "grows up", but this time I had a project in mind. Maybe that's why it seemed to take so long. I guess I was impatient.

Anyway, I had decided I wanted to make a lacy alpaca scarf kind of like this one and I needed a thinner yarn to make it. Mostly I spin chunkier worsted or bulky weight yarns because they make great hats, gloves and sweaters so spinning such a thin yarn was an eye opener.

Spinning up fat yarn is quick, but when you take the same amount of fiber and spin it into a really thin yarn you get a lot more yardage, but it takes that much longer.

My skein turned out just as I'd hoped. After nearly 2 weeks of spinning (about an hour a day) I had more than 800 yards of absolutely gorgeous silver alpaca for my scarf. Um, that will actually make 2 scarves I think.
What have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




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New Items on Etsy!

I've been working my tail off these last few weeks and finally have something to show for it!

Lots of new items have been added to our Etsy shop. Right now it's mostly rovings for you spinners, but there are few new yarns too.

I'm hoping to get the multi-colored sock yarns up later this week for all the knitters out there.

Here's a little sampling of what's new. To see these and more visit out Etsy shop.

Holiday Weekend Fun with the Alpacas

Do you remember all that yarn from Friday's post? Did I tell you what it was for? Well, I don't think I did so I will now. All that yarn and alpaca fibery things were for the alpaca display we had on Saturday.

There is this really cool place here in town (actually just south of town) on M-66 called Station 66. It was an old gas station in the 50's and it sat on the property untouched for 50 years after they closed before anyone did anything with it. Now the younger generation has opened it up using a lot of the original stuff as decorations. It's got a really cool nostalgic feeling to it.

They've opened this place up to sell local fruits and veggies plus promote local and Michigan made products. Oh, ice cream too! Now how awesome is that?? And guess who's veggies they are selling. Yup, yours truly. :o) They also carry our yarns and handmade soaps.

On Saturday, as an effort to both promote our farm and this new business, we took 3 of our boys down to visit with the visitors. Of course I couldn't go without taking product. I took everything we had done and displayed it right near the alpaca.

Now not everything is alpaca, but most people get the fact that we are fiber people who just happen to raise alpacas. A lot of alpaca products sold, but the merino sock yarns were by far the biggest seller. I sold so many I only have 3 left! I need to dye more this week.

We had a lot of people who asked tons of questions that we were more than happy to answer. The boys got tons of lovin' from the kids that came by and hopefully the grown-ups all learned something new and exciting. I even got a big custom order! People are loving our products and I can't even begin to tell you how good that makes me feel. There's not always a lot of feedback when you're getting a business going.

My favorite part of the day though was listening to some of the conversations going on around me. (I know eavesdropping is bad, but come on...they were talking about my stuff!) Everyone knew we were the alpaca people, but none knew we were also the veggie people.

Listening to the comments on the veggies "these are the best! how do they grow them so big? I've never seen them look so good!" was a great time. I loved the feedback because it was so completely honest. How could they fake it when they didn't know we grew them?

I think I've finally recovered from the day and am already looking forward to the next time!

If you are in the Battle Creek area at all, check out Station 66. The ice cream is great, the food and drinks awesome and what a super way to promote MICHIGAN!!!

Fiber Fun Friday -- Yarn!!

This week is all about the yarn. So many yarns in all sorts of flavors.

There's the alpaca, of course, bamboo, merino and even certified organic merino. And they come in fingering, sport, dk, worsted and bulky. Whoa! that's a lot of combinations!

I can't just leave them alone though. I have to turn them into pretty works of art. The stripey sock yarns are my favorite!



And if the yarn wasn't enough...I couldn't resist dyeing up some 100% alpaca rovings too!