Welcome to the blog of Fibrefanatic Designs. For those of you who have a love of texture and colour in relation to fibre, we have something in common. This blog is a journal of my passion for Art yarns and also the bits of my world that add to the mix. Thanks for popping by.



Sunday, December 18, 2011

Follow up!

When I worked in the corporate world (sounds so phoney doesn't it), one of the biggest things we found out regarding any facet of business is that many fail to follow up.  They would spend all their time, money and person power, on doing a marketing campaign or inviting people to an event, have great products etc and then for the want of a phone call or letter lost at least 60% effectiveness of the campaign.

I said I would get out my needles and so I have.  Here is the follow up!

Firstly, I am not a knitter, but I don't mind admitting that.  However when it comes to creative yarns that's not a disadvantage really, because I am not hung up on stitch design, the yarn will do it for me.  The other side of the coin is that whilst I know what I want to do with my yarn, working out size has been a challenge.  I have fallen in love with swatches, yes the impatient part of me has learnt the benefit of a small square versus pulling out large quantities of knitting.

Finally, having found a needle size I liked, I had to choose how to knit it up.  I wanted the beehives to sit on the surface of the cowl (that's what I am making) so this is what I am doing.  I cast on stitches and started with a knit row then whenever I came to a beehive I would knit up to the start of it (using up all the fine yarn right to the last stitch possible before the beehive starts) and then I would slip however many stitches it takes to get past the length of the beehive.  With this yarn it was either 2 or 3 (sometimes 4).  Slipping more stitches rather than less, meant that the beehive would sit firmly against the surface of the knitting.  This method does tighten up the knitting and with this in mind I did cast on a few extra stitches at the beginning to compensate.

This is what I have achieved so far and I am really looking forward to the rest.  I will keep you posted!

Really wanted the Beehives on the surface of the knitting, not chopped in half amongst the stitches

Here you can see I slipped 4 stitches to get past this big beehive!  I wanted it to slit flat against the surface and not sag.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Yes, it's been a while.

I could go into all the details about why I haven't blogged, and yet I have had time to post on face book.  Short chats were the order of the day for quite a while, it's a bit representative of the pace of the world really, but that's a bit too deep.  True though, and now that there has been a shift in my world - time versus work, versus family = a re-prioritising, with a generous dollop of encouragement from my darling husband and Mandie from ewegivemetheknits.com I am able to spend more time.....doing what?

Sharing, sharing my love of spinning, textured yet functional yarns, and the creations, that is, the  finished garments that appear as a result of all this activity.  It's natural for me to work with them, but I realised that there are many people who like the look of them but don't know how to work with them.

So many people knit, crochet and work with fibre in the Textile Art field, but when it comes to Art Yarns they don't know what to do with them.  They are more than eye candy!

I want the talented knitters and crocheters to realise that they can use Art Yarns like you use an ingredient in cooking.  Sometimes the addition of a fresh, well prepared thoughtfully added ingredient can make all the difference to a dish ( you get it, I am meaning garment).  Then again the same Art yarn (dropped the ingredient thing) with the appropriate construction method can create a garment all on its own, a statement piece that will draw comments every time you wear it.

It's not just here in Australia that we textured spinners find ourselves in this conundrum. It's happening all over the world where Art Yarns are being created, there is movement afoot to emphasise the creation of stable and functional Art Yarns.  However on the other hand there is a void, a lack, a black hole relating to what to create out of them.

There's work to do, and I am putting my fingers in front of the wheel and picking up my knitting needles, crochet hook etc (it's the etc that I worry about) and going on a creative journey.  An Art Yarn Exhibition of my own.

Here is the beginning and I am starting with the beehive coil yarn.

A full bobbin on the Aura from Majacraft , Merino Wool coiled back on a Linen yarn.  Nice and strong and it adds to the functionality.

Straight off the bobbin, reasonably balanced, but will be more balanced once the twist is redistributed with a hot soak.

This is what a hot soak and a spin can do = balanced yarn.

Lovely to dry yarns hanging freely and not stretched.  This means that when the garment is washed later on the yarn will behave and remain just as it was when you first knitted it.
I have 200 grams and 152 Metres of yarn, now to get out my needles and create something functional!


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Just the right weather for a scarf!

My good friend Jess from SofTrope and I ventured out to the Rose Street Market today for our first market there.  The weather was fresh to say the least but just what we needed for people to think of warm scarves and knitting in front of the fire.

We were joined in our knitting pursuits, by stall holder neighbour called Steve, who was also working with needles.  I was concerned by the fact that they were metal, and suggested that wooden or resin needles would be kinder to his hands.  "I'm a rock climber" was his succinct reply.  Happy knitting Steve!

Just the weather for a Tailspun Scarf!
SofTrope and Fibrefanatic Designs will be at Rose Street again on June 19th, say hello if you are in the area!


Fibrefanatic at Rose Street


Jess of SofTrope

Steve our knitting rock climber and sparky!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

It's all happening!

You know how they say that there is no rest for the wicked?  Well all I can say is that I must have had a very 'wicked' previous life - :)  Am I complaining, not at all, as my busy lifestyle is all fibre related and I am loving it!!

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I took my Mum for a drive to Healesville to see some wonderful sheep and Mohair goats owned by Annette!  Boy are these animals looked after!  They all sleep undercover at night and never get stressed. It shows however, in the wonderful fleece that they produce and how soft and sound it is.  Needless to say Mum and I traveled home with a few fleeces in our boot and back seat. I drew the line at Mum's lap, even though she would have been willing, bless her!  I was rewarded with a lovely lunch at the RACV club where we 'played ladies' and then a lovely drive home with the smell of fleece wafting through the car!




The start of the school holidays saw me put my yarns on sale at the indoor market at Apollo Bay and this coincided with the Music Festival held there also.  The weather was challenging to say the least, but it didn't put off the dedicated music lover.  The Market went for two weeks and included the Easter holidays and Anzac day holidays.  Local artists displayed their work and visitors enquiries, questions and purchases were enthusiastically catered for by Beth who had organised the whole event.  It was a fantastic opportunity for me and I was very happy with my sales.


In between all this I helped out the Guild at a North Carlton Community Market which was raising money for the Japanese disaster.  It was a lovely day and the organisers did a wonderful job at providing so much entertainment for the public.  Dorothy and I were very lucky to be serenaded by two wonderful Japanese entertainers!  Who could have asked for more, sun, spinning and music!




Time for a rest........no way it's time to get out those fleeces I bought in Healesville and to spin some more yarn!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Pluckyfluff in Melbourne

I got to spend last weekend spinning in the company of some wonderful spinners!  I attended an Art Yarn workshop run by Lexi Boeger who's book started me off on this whole journey of Art Yarn spinning.

Like minded spinners attended this two day workshop, and together we experimented with the techniques shown to us by Lexi.  Lexi's approach is from the artistic perspective, and it really inspired me to consider a new approach with my colour choices.

The spinners who attended are going to start an Art Yarn Spinning Group here in Melbourne, so I am really chuffed about that. It is so good to get together with like minded people, it makes you feel part of something and gives you support when you're having a fibre challenge.

Well, off to the Victorian Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild today, so that I can check out their new shop front premises!  I am really looking forward to it and will post about it later.

Lexi of Pluckyfluff fame

Fibre fibre everywhere!

Spin and chat

Yarns galore

Navajo ply a really thick and thin single. 

This method is called Mohairy - I need to work on it!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Great Day at the Yarra Glen Artisans Market

What could be better than to spin in the open air with other wonderful Artists to talk to and have a constant stream of people looking and buying your work.  Well, that was the type of day I had at the Yarra Glen Artisans Market at Alowyn Gardens, it was a beautiful setting and the weather was perfect!
'Hand' knitting by Gayanne and beautiful felted flowers.

See the white chair, well the spinner who usually sits there is taking the picture!
Beautiful felting by Zephlyn


The beautiful gardens before everyone arrived.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Getting ready for Yarra Glen

Busy day today getting all my yarns and scarves ready for the Yarra Glen Artisans Market at the Yarra Glen Art Show.

Matches the gold fish!
Apart from labelling all my yarns etc I had to cover the prefect body hanging up in my work room in Linen.  Up until now she has just been an uninspiring plastic and when I draped a scarf around it didn't look very 'arty'.  So in an effort to make her look a bit more 'organic' I cut up pieces of Linen and got out the trusted PVA glue.  I was pleased with the result.

My basket of goodies ready to be received by the orgnisers
One of my latest scarves was inspired by several fibre artists in the states - Natalie from Namaste Farm being one of them and some fringe scarves I did last winter that went very well.  Whilst the fibre they used was Wensleydale I used Mohair and the result was rather yummy.  I dyed the fringe in graduated shades of brown, amber and orange.

Tonight I tidied up my work room, how does it get so messy, but at least I feel like my creative mind is a bit more organised. I will be having a fibre friend coming to stay soon so I feel like my room is ready for a visitors!





Sunday, March 6, 2011

Bangle inspired

After dyeing lots of fibre a while back and spinning the most obvious colour combinations from them, I was just about to pack them away.  I often do that, and then later something will come along, some form of inspiration, that will make me hunt for a colour or a fibre to go with a completely different colour combination than was initially intended.  However, as I was packing them away, I came across a bangle that had not made it to my dressing table and I took a moment to study the colour combination.  It seems that my untidyness was truly inspirational.  I wish I could say that this was the reason for all untidyness, but in this case I was happy to use that excuse, and started to grab the fibres that would match the bangle.

Sometimes there are rewards for untidiness!


 Having got the fibre together I decided to make a fibre sandwich as I didn't want to blend the colours too much and I wanted to create a lot of texture in the yarn

Finally it was time to roll it all up and start spinning!   




Layer upon Layer
Time to spin!


Bangle inspired!




Thursday, March 3, 2011

Where has the time gone?

It's a bit scary how fast this year is going, I mean we are at the begining of March for goodness sake.  Where has the summer gone, today I am really feeling a chill and had the heater on in the car this morning!  Never mind I love the change of seasons, and feeling a chill in the air means only one thing - I need to spin faster and more often.

This might be a bit of a philosophical question  and right out of 'left field' but do you believe that you create the coincidences in your life because you were already thinking along those lines, and want to see them as that?  Or do you believe that coincidences happen because these are confirming the direction in which you should go and you should take notice of them?  Complicated I know, but I feel a change coming on and I am sitting on the fence at the moment, one thing for sure, it hurts your backside well and truly!!

Enough of that, especially as I have some new yarns to show off.  One especially I am very fond of, a Tailspun yarn from Wensleydale Fleece.  Why special you say, well I come from Yorkshire and as a child loved the dreadlock sheep out on the moors.  Now this fibre came from Namaste Farm in California - small world now - and Natalie does a wonderful job in producing this lovely fibre. The fibre is so soft and the locks were a good 12 inches long in some cases, it was a dream to spin.  Now what colour will I dye it, that has to be given some thought.
                                         

At the moment I am preparing some work to go in the Yarra Glen Art Show in the Artisans Market, I am really looking forward to it and hopefully I will sell some of my yarns.  Even if I don't  it will be a lovely event and when I am there they want me to spin......like I was going to say 'No', try and stop me!  They are also promoting some Art Yarn Spinning workshops in August so it looks like the year is getting booked up! Can I hear sleigh bells?  Who said that?














Sunday, January 30, 2011

What a scorcher!

Well, it is one of those days that you plan to do everything early.  They are estimating that it will get to 42 degrees here in Melbourne!  When it get's like this the one thing I don't want to feel is that I have wasted a day, so I got to washing some fibre and taking advantage of the hot weather for drying.  My D.H. hates the smell of wet fleece drying over the heating vents so this is a perfect opportunity to stock up on washed fibre.

Add to that an old washing machine that is parked outside my Laundry door and I am set.  I have really found that washing a fleece is stress free as long as you keep the water hot and maintain the temperature whilst you are washing and rinsing.  Any change in the temp and you risk felting your fleece, but if you work quickly and use plenty of dishwashing liquid in the wash/soak  and vinegar in the rinse/soak it really comes up a treat!  I now have fluffy fibre with no residual grease.

In a perfect world I would go on to dye it, but if you felt how hot I was, and how hot I looked, you would forgive me for letting it dry and leaving the dying for another day.

An old washing machine makes it a lot easier

English Leicester fleece going into hot soapy water

Just the odd toss to dry it all through - four fleeces in all!
I have also taken advantage of the time indoors to organise photos of some of my latest yarns.   I love the combination of Wool, Mohair and Silk (in all it's various forms)  and it is from these three combinations that I then dye and spin my yarns.  Then of course you choose a method of spinning and that is really based on how the fibre 'speaks' to you - yep, you are right, it is an exact science! These yarns are all in preparation for markets coming up, some of them will be used for scarves and cowls and might eventually go on my website.  Winter will come soon enough but until it does, I am making yarn while the sun shines!











Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day to all, hope you share it with those nearest and dearest to you.  I have been spinning in earnest lately as I have quite a few events coming up.  Yarns going in to CCCK's in Northcote in March, an Indoor market at Apollo Bay in April and the Queens Birthday Market in June, and then of course the Bendigo Wool Show with my friend Mandie from Ewe Give Me the Knits.  I can't stop now otherwise I will lose momentum!

I am going to try a new method of making faux tailspun yarns that I found on You tube.  I think this will be a wonderful way of utilising some very long Mohair that I have.  I just love the scarf that Natalie creates it takes me back to Carnaby Street and the Beatles era!  However I also love the English Leicester Tailspun yarn I recently worked on, I just know it is going to dye up really well and has a softer curl than the Mohair, not to mention it is also more economical.

I have posted all my new yarns on my Flickr site, so if you are interested please go and have a look!

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks to Ethel for her lovely English Leicester Fleece

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year from Skenes

Finally taking a breath and getting into a holday routine.  I promised myself that I would take this opportunity to spin and spin and spin, as my D.H is pottering around on the Pearlah and thoroughly enjoying himself.

The one modification you have to overcome is a certain lack of equipment, I mean as accommodating as D.H. is there is only so much room in the van and unfortunately the  carding machine, picker and all the dye pots had to be left behind.  I had hope, but hey all spinners can facilitate their passion with a minimum of equipment.   Needless to say, I still brought four large hampers of pre dyed fibre and my hackle so I am determined to make a dent in it.


Circular Hackle

This is a circular hackle, a prototype produced by Julie of Petlyn Fibres and this is the perfect opportunity to test it out. 

It will get a work out as I am filling it up with every type of fibre I can think of and drafting off some mighty 'rough rovings'.  Just what I want for this Skenes inspired yarn. 






I just looked out of the window and there was the inspiration! 

Colours out of our window
 So searching through the hampers this is the result.


This a truly loaded Hackle
 

A roll of rough Roving


Spun single



Coiled back on commercial threads
Well I have better get back to it, as I am sure the "Captain' might return soon and besides I have the another colour way coming on!