caracolina

We got up at 5 AM after almost oversleeping because I accidentally had set the alam clock to 4.45 PM. Luckily John has been turning into the human alarm recently! Driving up North was pleasant and we arrived at the Sheep is Life celebration in Tuba City around 9.30 AM. As we approached, John said, “If this is it […]

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Last weekend I spun up the first half of my hemp roving, inspired and encouraged by the hemp spin along in my ravelry group (garden spinning group, yay!). Sadly, the result feels very much like spun straw, or the twine that you’d use to tie up packages. I think I have to learn how to do […]

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I managed to finish a crochet hat and a headband, both made out of my very first handspun yarn. About time! The hat is based on a pattern from the book “Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker”. I used the first yarn I spun, the first fiber I dyed, and some other handpainted fiber that I spun at […]

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John got me a variety of cotton fibers for my birthday, among them were two large bags of Pima cotton, from Cotton Clouds in Safford, AZ. He thought they said it could be spun right out of the bag, but I just couldn’t do it. Instead I used a set of Strauch hand cards which I bought at […]

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Here are my first 5 inches of rug mark II. I certainly learned a few things and I’m pleased with how it is turning out, but I’m curious about that big dip in the middle. I wonder if the warp is too spaced out in those areas. I’ll find out at tonight’s class! Also, I […]

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A few days ago John found out about a farm near Yuma, AZ, where folks can go pick their own blackberries for less than $4 per pound! And they don’t count how much you eat while picking! Well, we couldn’t eat that much because we were on a fast, but a few were sampled and […]

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Tonight we tied our warps on our looms, made heddles, wound yarn on shuttles and got started weaving. Never mind if you didn’t get all that, it’s just weaver lingo. Two things were very exciting for me: 1) John was doing well, enjoying himself while appreciating the challenge and 2) I got to use our […]

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I bought a share at Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm a few months ago but just received my shareholder’s certificate in the mail, yay! MVFF is the first “official” fiber CSA that I’ve heard of and buying a share means I’m getting a bunch of unspun fiber in the mail after Fall shearing. In a CSA the share is […]

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I haven’t been able to get much practice done on the charkha because I’ve been so busy doing stuff with my mom, but I wanted to post these photos anyway. They were taken beginning of March and show the progress I made within a day using punis. The top is my very first attempt at spinning cotton […]

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My fingertips are sore but the rug is done! Tonight was the moment when I clipped the strings that held my maiden Navajo rug to the training loom. The class (which I attended with my mom) started on March 4th and ended on April 8th. On that day I had about an inch of warp left to go. My mom […]

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