fun colors

I had some fun with a little color this morning-I had read somewhere that there was a Mexican equivalent of Koolaid out there, and just happened to find some at the local PicknSave. It's called Klass and comes in several flavors-but my store only had Tamarind, Pineapple and Mango. So I just grabbed one pkg of each. I had no clue what Tamarind could be-but really needed to find out-so it was first. I just used a canning jar, and poured in the powder and some water. It smelled very strange-and I had to try a teeny bit---eeeyukkk--but it was a light shade of brown that could be nice. I put in a glug of vinegar, and 1 oz of wool. Then I "cooked" it in the microwave for a few minutes. I did the same with the pineapple and mango, and they all took turns for a few spins. I then let them sit for a bit to cool-but not long, cuz I was too anxious to see what I got. Well, let say for some better color it would be a good idea to put several pkgs of tamarind to get a nice brown-but I'm ok with the pale tan I got. The same goes for the pineapple-its a very very pale yellow-but pretty. The mango turned out the best. It's a pastel-but definitely the prettiest of the lot.

So what did I learn from this adventure? The taste of tamarind is hard to rinse out of your mouth, I need to find the other flavors of Klass, and I need to get many packs of each kind to get a more saturated color.

All in all-I learned a lot today.

Last week I checked out the Fiber Arts Friday blogs and read about cardboard looms for weaving. I searched the web like crazy for more info and found all kinds of fun stuff. So I proceeded to snag some huge pieces of cardboard from the garbage at work to make all kinds of looms. I started small-first a round loom to make a beret...then I figured out how to make one to make a nice long scarf-I finished the beret-its cute but I don't look good in a beret-so someone will be getting it for Christmas--and the scarf has only just begun-but I'm lovin' it so far. I plan to use up all my practice spinning stash. The next project will be an attempt at the big triangle loom. Cross your fingers for me.

working with fiber

I've been trying to make a dent in the fiber projects waiting around the house. From the huge bin of wool that I recently washed, to the wild colors I've been carding to use in the Fiberwire I've been spinning and also, the Romney wool I've had in a bag for a few years that I carded and have now started to spin. Nothing is organized and I keep hopping from one project to another-I must have wooley attention deficit disorder. Oh well, I love playing with wool in all its stages, and will be up to my ears in it for quite a while.

Had some fun trying some core-spinning with wire as the core. I first carded some random wool with lots of angelina and firestar for glitz. I put lots of different colors. I then took the batt that I made and split it into four long strips. Then I predrafted each strip til fairly thin and just barely holding together. I used 24g wire on a spool and attatched one end to my leader on the spinning wheel. I let the spool just roll around on the floor while spinning Z (clockwise) and just feeding the fiber on , from the right, at a 90 degree angle. I let the wire just glide across the top of my left hand. The only problem is the spinning wheel doesn't pull it on to the bobbin. You have to spin a length and the wind it on by hand, but that is really the hardest part of the process. I just love how it turns out and plan to make much more. I'm sure it will make great necklaces and bracelets.

another class

took another class from Mystele-I enjoy her style and creativity. Had fun painting a couple little items.

Twirling

It has been way too long since my last post. I'll blame it all on work. I'm lucky that I have a good job, but we are working way too much overtime for me to enjoy the fun stuff I like to do. I did squeeze in some time to make paper beads--LOTS-- of paper beads! They are very addictive. I cut up several, brightly colored, magazine pages. Now that I have a shopping bag full, I just sit in front of TV and twirl away. After I get a large amount done, I've been stringing them onto a length of twine. I then plan to take them to work where we have a nice ventilated area (that we use for spray glue) and I'll spray them with gloss varnish. After all of that I hope to whip up some simple bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. I'll be back soon to let you know how they turn out.