Customer Creations

Hi, gang! In the last week, I've been contacted by a couple of customers who were kind enough to send me photos of their creations with my yarn or fiber. So exciting! I love love love seeing what people come up with!

Knitted Baby Jacket by Littlepearl on Etsy.
(So adorable! What a lucky baby!)


Felted Hot Pad by Margaret from Dolores.
She felted this from fiber in the Johnny Jump Up colorway. NIFTY!

Felted Tea Cozy by Margaret from Dolores.

Wow. I think I need to felt a french press cozy.
I'm really loving that floral detail!


Thank you, ladies, for sharing your photos with me!

Making stuff and doing things.

Various skeins of drop-spindled yarn, all ready to start a project.

If Winter was a house guest, it would be on day 7 of a 3-day stay. I live in a high, semi-arid climate. Allegedly. I think we may have had approximately 1 week of sunshine out of the last 6-8 weeks. I've never seen a winter so gray. Yeah, it's snowy and cold, but that's to be expected, isn't it? The snow is great for those of us who rely on irrigation water that is collected in reservoirs in the high mountains, which allows that collected water to trickle down to us via irrigation ditches during the typically dry months of summer. So, yay! Moisture! But, boo, weeks of cloudy days. I don't live in the Pacific Northwest, or England, or anywhere else where cloudy days are the norm. This has been a long, long stretch. Everyone I speak to feels the same. We're all biding our time until glorious, glorious SPRINGTIME. Amen.

The sun is shining today. It's wonderful.



Drum carder, odds and ends of wool.

The only way for me to combat the ennui that accompanies these long, gray days is by staying busy. Mentally and physically. I had an unfortunate stretch of time a few weeks ago where I had an injury to my wrist that kept me from doing anything with my hands that I normally do. No knitting, no spinning, no dyeing, no typing, no writing, no drawing, no painting, no shit. Let me tell you what, folks. That was a hard damn time for me. I can only stand to go for so long without making something, and making stuff and doing things is intrinsically tied into my happiness/sanity. A day without some sort of physically creative process is a long and cranky day, and I can only read or watch television for so long without feeling twitchy.

Fortunately for me, my friend Christina did her magic on my arm, shoulder and wrist, and I've been pain-free ever since. I still have this weird knot of tendon at the base of my wrist, which is kind of yucky, but it doesn't hurt. My mother-in-law told me she had the same thing once, when she had a huge garden that she had to hoe, so it's apparently an over-use injury. She had cortisone injections to make it go away, but I'm taking anti-inflammatory enzymes and hoping to avoid that route. So far, so good.



Hand-made herbal soap.

Taylor and I have been experimenting with bath products recently. We're planning a market garden this year, and we want to supplement any produce with things like soap, bath salts, lip balms and bath bombs, jams, jellies and baked goods. Tay is so psyched about selling her baked goods. We're planning on selling our wares at the farmer's market in Ignacio, which was such a huge success last year. Making plans for the garden and our stall has been something else to focus on during these long days. It's kind of hard to visualize when there's still 2 feet of snow in the garden plot, but we'll get there. We get a little closer every day.



Bath bombs.

And so we're waiting and biding our time, and I can't help but think about budding trees and the life that is waiting inside of seeds. There has been a very real feeling around here of being curled up and waiting for the opportunity to expand. It's all very cyclic and earthy, where right now we're waiting for life to bloom and expand, and in the fall we enjoy the feeling of the slowing down of things and the end of that period of hurried growth and long days packed with activity. I'm not a mystical person, nor am I particularly spiritual person, but I do admire the cycle and the way it makes me feel like a part of something larger than myself.

I think I'm going to go bundle up and sit in the sunshine a while.

Winter Is Messy. Also, Some Other Stuff.

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours." ~Robert Byrne

It's been a long week. When it rains in L.A., it snows here. It's been raining a lot in L.A.

I haven't left the house since...when? When was the last time I left the house?! Maybe it was to go to Cynde's party. No, wait. We helped Christina move on Sunday last, so it's only been six days. Six loooooong days. I think Taylor and I are beginning to get a little nutso with the Cabin Fever. I spent a buttload of money on craft supplies this afternoon, because we decided we needed something different and nifty to do, and all most of our other supplies are buried in storage somewhere in Oxford. I'm guessing they're going to stay there until Spring. The UPS dude (or dudette, whatever) will be bringing us all sorts of goodies to make incense, soap, lip gloss, wool wash, and bath bombs. You know why? Because I cannot do fiber arts all the frickin' time. (Blasphemy!) Also, I gave myself tendonitis with all the dyeing/spinning/knitting, so I need a change of pace. Specialization is for insects!

Icicles of doom. They broke a window downstairs when they fell, sending snow, ice and glass all over the computer area. Fortunately, no one was sitting there at the time. Now we have sexy styrofoam instead of a window.

The weather has been a bit of a drag, but there's other stuff nagging at me this week. We lost our friend Emma earlier this week. She had been very ill, so it was not unexpected, but still. She was a fun, feisty, awesome lady. She adored her children. She loved her friends. She never did quite get the hang of knitting, but she liked the company and we liked having her around. She insisted that I spin her some yarn, so I did. I will miss her.

Also, my daughter, my only child, is turning 13 tomorrow. Birthdays aren't a sad occasion, but they certainly do mark the passage of time in a very glaring and obvious way. It really does seem like yesterday that she was born. I don't know where all that time has flown, but I'm a deeply grateful for it, even in the bittersweet way that I'm feeling right now. It's been an wonderful journey so far, and I'm really looking forward to the next leg of it, even the difficult stuff. Because, you know, it's all about the journey, right? Right.

The New Year, Spinning, and Resolutions.

I keep thinking, oh, hey! I need to blog this, or I need to blog that. Because I said I was going to be a better blogger, and my google analytics are making me feel guilty! But, I'm a big damn liar. It's been two weeks or more since I've last blogged, and so there's that resolution shot to hell! Alas, I am ever-hopeful. I like blogging, I just need to be more consistent. Consistency is not my thing.

This print came from Made By Girl. When I saw it, I had to have it, because it states the truth.

Okay, what else was I going to say?

Dudes, I'm so glad the holidays are over. Really, really. It seems that I dislike them more and more each year, and how Scrooge-y of me, but it's the truth. Christmas is kind of obnoxious. I'd skip it altogether if I didn't have a kid I needed to spoil rotten. (That's the fun part, actually.)

Anyway. I am excited about the new year, since 2009 was actually a great year for me. (!) I am feeling really hopeful and happy and I'm in a really great mental space. Let me tell you what, that's been a long time coming. Seriously. The time frame from about 2006-maybe about a month of 2009 can suck it. I would like to forget most of it. I look back through my journals and wince at all the shit that was going on. Frankly, the only really consistently awesome part of my life was my daughter, who was and continues to be my favorite person ever, ever, ever. Her marvelous take on everything never fails to surprise and delight me.

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late!), the three of us are pretty peachy fucking keen right now. I hope my readers can say the same.

Speaking of resolutions, one of mine was to get my ass in gear and learn to spin on the wheel I bought 2 years ago. I tried it out around the time that I bought it, and I could NOT get the hang of it. No comprendo. So, instead, I focused my energies on knitting, especially sock knitting, and that eventually led to dyeing, which led to my starting a business based on my love for fiber arts and color.

This summer, at one of the fiber fests I attended, a friend of mine showed me her technique on the drop spindle and it was like everything clicked for me and from then on, I was drop spindling like a mofo. I took one everywhere, and eventually I became really good at it. I have dozens of hanks of drop spindled yarn. LOTS. I love it. I always will love the zen-ness of the drop spindle, and enjoy the feel of the fiber slipping through my fingers and be amazed at the very simple process by which wool becomes yarn. It's awesome. But now I think I'm ready to master spinning at the wheel, and I felt confident yesterday, when I drug the wheel out of storage, that I would have an easier time spinning than I did the first time I attempted it two years ago.

I was right. All of that drop spindling experience really paid off for me. The process of drafting and letting the spin travel up the fiber was easily apparent to me, and I was spinning tickety boo.

All that yarn spun up in about a minute and a half. It's ridiculous how fast you can go. I'm still getting the hang of things and I need to find the proper chair/height from which to spin, but dayum! So cool! So easy! I think things just went *click* again.

You just can't beat the portability of the spindle. I don't see myself giving up spinning this way. It's so old school and people just love to watch you do it. Instant ice breaker! It's like a gateway drug to the fiber arts. You can hook them young and old. Last week, I made two new converts to the Fiber Madness. Last summer, I taught a little boy to spin at a fiber festival because he was so completely taken by it. He was all, omg, I need to do this now, right now! It was awesome.

Alrighty then. Blog updated. Go, me! Right now, I need to get ready for Stitchers for Pitchers, which is a knitting group that meets monthly in Durango at one of the brew pubs (woot!). Tonight, we're hanging out at Ska Brewing, and there's going to be a benefit for Tony Miely, who lost his hand in an accident a few months ago. Maybe I'll see some of you there!

Merry Christmas

I've been a bad blogger. I apologize. The days, weeks and months just fly by. I will do better.

Happy Holidays, gang.

xoxo,

Blair

The yays and the boos for the week.

Yays:

Hunting camp, snow, lots of firewood. Family. Living in a beautiful place. Blackjack. Awesome sleeping bags. Hand knits that keep you warm.

Dandelions at 8700 feet. In October.

Reunions. My daughter. A warm house to come home to.

Halloween movies. Beer. Anticipation of a party.

Starting a new project and loving it.

Boos:

Getting ripped off by a wholesaler.

Gigantic ideological divides.

No snow plow service for our road.

Recession.

Friends who are hurting in one way or another.

--------------------------

Hugs and kisses to those of you who need them. xoxo

Halloween Crafts Link Roundup

Halloween Craftiness:

Haunted Paper Toys

Papercraft Skull

Paperkraft has a searchable site with some super-cool Halloween projects.

The Toy Maker (papercraft)

Nifty vintage-looking printables

Owl Awesomeness

Now that I've we've run out of printer ink, onto general craftiness:

Martha, natch.

Whipup's roundup part 1

Whipup's roundup part 2

Swell Life's 24 Halloween Projects in 24 Hours

Halloween on Craftster

Make's Halloween Archive

Finally, where would this blog be without knitting? Here we go:

Whipup's Ultimate Halloween Knitting Roundup

I'm going to post a question meme, since I have no substantial content to share this week. It's been business as usual here at Chez Color Fest. Yarn, Halloween, fiber, fall, food, cats, lather, rinse, repeat.

1. Is there anybody you just wish would fall off the planet?

Yes. The list is very long. Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, and the Taliban are at the top.

2. How do you flush the toilet in public?

With the magic of my mind. Or, my hand. Whichever works.

3. Do you wear your seatbelt in the car?

Yes. Always.

4. Do you have a crush on someone?

Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter.

5. Name one thing you worry about running out of.

Refried beans. We must never, ever run out of refried beans.

6. What famous person do you (or other people) think you resemble?

I don't think I resemble anyone.

7. What is your favourite pizza topping?

Mushrooms.

8. Do you crack your knuckles?

No. My husband does, and it grosses me out.

9. What song do you hate the most?

That stupid Skater Boy song. Avril Levine, I think? Ugh. HATE IT.

10. Did just mentioning that song make it get stuck in your head?

Yes. Shit.

11. What are your super powers?

Sleeping late. Endless drop-spindling. Coffee drinking. Shopping online. Google-Fu. I can knit AND watch tv at the same time. Ignoring deadlines. Beer Snobbery. Farting in Bookstores.

12. Peppermint or spearmint?

Spearmint in gum, peppermint for anything else.

13. Where are your car keys?

Hanging on the key rack. I always hang them there, which is really my one consistent habit of organization.

14. Last song you listened to?

A Record Year For Rainfall by the Decemberists.

15. What's your most annoying habit?

Procrastination.

16. Where did you last go on vacation?

The Gulf Coast of Texas.

17. What is your best physical feature?

Probably my eyes.

18. What CD is closest to you right now?

Nada. Everything is on MP3.

19. What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator?

Half and half, some form of cheese, and tortillas.

20. What superstition do you believe/practice?

I don't like to talk about really bad things happening to people I care about.

21. What colour are your bed sheets?

They are blue with telephones on them that have the words "pillow talk" coming out of the earpieces. They don't match anything, but they were 50 cents at the thrift store, so that makes up for it.

22. Would you rather be a fish or a bird?

A bird. I'd be an owl.

23. Last thing you broke?

I really don't remember. I'm not typically the one who breaks things in our family.

24. What are you having to eat tonight?

I don't know. My mom is cooking for us tonight.

25. What colour shirt are you wearing?

Grey sweatshirt. I stole it from Adam.

26. If you could be doing anything else today, what would you rather be doing?

I'd rather be at Rhinebeck.

27. Do security cameras make you nervous?

No.

28. If you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?

I'm Not Who I Thought I Was: A Memoir.

29. Last time you went to a cemetery?

It's been a while, and that's good and bad. No one has died recently, but on the other hand, I love cemeteries.

30. Last concert you went to?

We saw Three Dog Night and REO Speedwagon at last year's rally.

31. Favourite musician(s)/bands you've seen in concert?

Smashmouth.

32. Next concert you're planning to attend?

I think Adam wants to go see the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

33. Do you talk to yourself?

Yes.

34. Have you ever adopted or purchased a pet?

Yes. Cats and kittens from the Humane Society.

35. Have you ever been present when an animal is being born?

Yes. It's messy.

The last of the Farmer's Market bounty until next year.

The Ignacio Farmer's Market was quite the success, especially for its first year. It was such a great addition to our community. Tay and I are talking about growing a market garden for next year in order to be able to participate in it.

Hand spun yarn drying indoors.

I have been one obsessive drop-spindling mofo lately. I have so much hand spun right now, which completely rocks. I love to knit and spin year-round, but when the weather cools down it becomes something of a seasonal imperative to start churning out hats and mittens and scarves. Warm socks. Blankets. The list goes on. (Also, Anne, if you're reading this, I have your mitts 90% done. I just need to finish the thumbs.)

Ice ring around the sprinkler. We've been trying to give everything one last good soak before we run out of irrigation.

I love this time of year. The feel of autumn is just so peaceful. The quality of the sunlight is just a little more golden, which seems to bathe even ordinary days in a kind of nostalgic glow. It's hoodie weather, which works for me, since they're my favorite item of clothing next to a comfortable bra. You can stash your phone, keys, and a drop spindle in that front pocket if you don't mind looking a bit bloated.

There's the smell of woodsmoke in the air, which I love. I haven't lit a fire yet, because our house stays pretty warm and I'm holding out for that morning when I just can't stand the cold, which will have to be pretty extreme. I'd like to hold out until November, but we'll see. I'm really used to being cold. We froze our asses off last year in that glorified tent of a trailer and our firewood supply ran out, so we spent a lot of time huddled over space heaters. I woke up one morning and found that my water bottle had fallen to the floor and frozen solid. Taylor and I spent a lot of time at coffee houses, with their seductive combination of central heat and wifi. Now that we've moved home, we have central heat, wifi, and two wood stoves. It's kind of like heaven only with out the clouds and harps and such.

Week (ish) in Review

We were vendors @ Bayfield Heritage Days. I made a little money, and we got to visit with folks we knew and make new fiber contacts. It always amazes me how fiber people make instant here's my number, come to my house and we'll hang out kind of connections. Very cool.

The Mr. turned a year older. He seemed slightly freaked out about his advanced decrepitude, and now he's on a diet and thinking about marathons. He does that every year, though, so I'm not worried. I haven't heard the OMG LET'S SELL EVERYTHING AND MOVE TO NEW ZEALAND spiel lately, so it's all good.

Kittens keep us on an even keel. If we sell everything and move to New Zealand, where will the cats live? Answer me that!

I set up shop at home for some customers a few days ago. Much easier than setting up and tearing down the vendor tent. Also, I always have access to coffee and a clean bathroom. The only thing I don't like about vending is port-a-potties. Ugh.

We had some seriously glorious days, so we went on a picnic.

Chimney Rock.

Taylor.

One of my favorite things about where I live is that we can drive for 15 minutes and be somewhere gorgeous and completely away from everyone else. I don't think we even saw any planes in the air. It was wonderful.

Dead deer. You can't go anywhere around here without finding deer or elk bones. Which is pretty cool, actually. Tay took this photo. She's a girl after my own heart.

The champagne of beers! Now in handy dandy quart size!

Adam and Taylor took their annual colors trip. This is Engineer Mountain, north of Durango. It's a fourteener.

Silverton, CO. Taken 9/29/09.

So, that's the week in review. I expect my next blog post will be about how Halloween preparations have taken over our lives.

Finding Normal

Adam and me. Weminuche Wilderness, September 2009.

Things are good. We've gotten through all the overwhelming stuff, and we're in a really good place now. Things feel normal and not frantic. We're relaxing and kicking back and spending time doing things that we want to do, not have to do, which feels like playing hooky or something.

I have a show in 9 days, but I'm not sweating it. It's nothing at all like that first show where I was freaking out about being a complete N00b and dyeing everything I could get my hands on until 2 in the morning and such and being worried about putting my products next to the pro's. It was all ohmygodohmygodI'mgoingtosuckaaaaaggggghhhh!! Now it's more like, yay! Show! We love doing these shows because invaribly, we end up meeting really cool people and making instant friends.

Taylor at the stream.

We are back home, back in the community we love, back in the home that we love, and there are fresh kittens to squeeze. The firewood has been gathered, and I'm slowly rebuilding our pantry supplies. We're working with that instinct that says to gather and save at this time of year. Battening down the hatches. It's a nesting instinct, only we aren't pregnant. More of a seasonal nesting instinct, I suppose. If I had a garden, I would be canning and freezing like mad right now. That'll have to wait until next year, though.

Winter heat. You have no idea how good this pile of wood makes me feel. It's like a big, splintery security blanket.

Fresh Kitteh. Johnny Rotten is his name. This little dude rocks so hard. Too bad they don't stay this tiny and evil forever.

Coffee on the deck with Jack, our constant companion.

The biggest thing on our plates right now is planning our annual Halloween blowout. The party we had last year did not rock as hard as it had in past years, owing mostly to the fact that we didn't live here and it is hard to pull off a party like that in one day of decorating/cooking/etc. This year though, look out.

Ode to a Dead Lizard

Ode to a Dead Lizard

On the path to my front yard I spied,

A tiny lizard who had died.

Oh, little dude, all gnawed and chewed,

I blame my cats, they are so rude.

In other news, we have moved. At last! There are about a metric fuckton of tiny annoying and hugely annoying things that are pressing and or not so pressing right now, thus the lack of blogity blog on my part.

Things like my husband saying, "blah blah, blah, refinance the house, blah, blah, blah, good interest rates, blah blah blah, appraisal in a week or so." Did you catch that last part? Yeah. My husband is a great guy, but I don't think there's any question why I intend to take up slurping vodka tonics for my cardio.

Oh, and he dropped a washer/dryer combo on me last night. I'm only slightly exaggerating here.

Emma's Yarn

100% Punta wool, hand-dyed and hand-spun by yours truly. I am really digging the drop spindle these days.

Thick and thin single, 236 yards. This yarn is for Emma, who saw me spinning it at our knitting group and insisted in her very charming way that I let her buy it.

Sock Summit Dye For Glory Yarns

Hola, yarnies and non-yarnies. These are the yarns I submitted for Ravelry's Dye For Glory contest. It's limited to those of us who will have yarn at the Sock Summit, so I figured, hey, give it a shot, free exposure, etc. I dyed up three batches of yarn, all based on the colors in the Sock Summit logo. In each batch I emphasized a different color and then fiddled with the other colors randomly. I kettle-dyed these yarns, which means that all of the dyeing took place in a kettle of hot water. I combined dip-dyeing, hot-pour method, and then sprinkling the dye powder directly onto the yarn. They are gorgeous, and my pathetic photos really don't do them justice.

All of the skeins, just in from drying outside. There's the Sock Summit logo for reference.

Batch One, side by side. Before re-skeining and after.

Batch Two.

Batch Three.

So, if you like my yarns and you're on Ravelry, please vote for me starting tomorrow 7/23.

In other news, our renters are officially moved out. Taylor and I start painting and cleaning tomorrow.

In other, other news, I completely lost my damned mind and ordered myself some more sock yarn. Commercial yarn. Not dyed by me. Because, you know, I didn't already have hundreds of skeins sitting around the house. It's an illness, I tell you. Sock Yarn Fever.

Also, we are going to go see the new Harry Potter movie AGAIN tonight. That's probably another form of crazy altogether. I don't wanna talk about it.

Catching up here, but not in real life.

So, hey! I thought I'd take a few minutes to semi-catch up here. Life's a bit mad at the moment, but that's alright. I wouldn't mind at all if I didn't have so damn much to do! Adam and Taylor are out fishing. I suspect that we'll be having trout for dinner.

Adam w/ last week's catch. They aren't very big, but they're damn tasty...and I don't even like fish.

Anyway, we did the SLV fiber fest this last weekend in Monte Vista. It was fun. We got to catch up w/ Mac and Monica, make a little money, make new friends and generally enjoy the mellow atmosphere. I am totally digging vending at fiber fests. Fiber people are just so nice to be around, and there's always something to talk about.

My vendor tent.

We stayed at the Movie Manor Motel, which is a motel w/ two drive-in screens. So we watched a couple of movies, both of which sucked, (Year One, & the new Sandra Bullock one) but whatever. The novelty, people! We have to leave town to go to a drive in, which is sad. I keep hoping maybe the tribe will build one or something.

My friend Mizpah groping the fiber. Her husband, Chris, makes all sorts of wonderful drop spindles and tahkli spindles and other beautiful things, so we arranged a trade. Fiber for spindle.

My new toys. A walnut tahkli spindle and a darling beehive yarn guage.

A little bit of my yarn. There's so much that I have trouble displaying it all. We're working on that, though. Hopefully for the next show I'll be more organized. We can always hope, anyway.

Also, many people asked me if I dyed it all. The answer is yes. Everything you see comes to me with no color at all. That's where the fun starts, dawg. Ya dig?

It puts the color on the yarn or it gets the hose again.

Anyway, now that we're past SLV, I have to think about Sock Summit. I was contacted by a business owner who wanted to represent my yarn at Sock Summit, and naturally I said yes. So I need to prep a bunch of stuff to ship out w/in the next few days. Also, Ravelry is having a yarn dyeing contest for people who's merchandise is going to be at Sock Summit. Naturally, I also need to do this, as it would be good exposure for me. I understand that there is DRAMA over on Ravelry because people are all butthurt over not being able to enter the dyeing competition. I shall make a point of avoiding that shit. It's yarn, people. Get over it.

Taylor is such a good sport. Both Adam and Taylor are, I suppose, and invaluable helpers. These shows are lots of work. I couldn't have gotten that tent up all by myself, that's for sure. Plus, Adam can make small talk. This is such a bonus for those of us who can't seem to master the art of random bullshitting.

And now, on my horizon: I'm moving. We're moving. Back to Allison, back home, back to my house and my land and my pond and my trees and my garage and my storage shed, and my driveway....did I tell you that I missed being home? Well, now you know. I told Adam that he is not going to be dragging me away from home again. And now he knows.