First BFL skein

First BFL skein, originally uploaded by Gaminelle.

So soft.. 48 yards spun from combed top, out of the lighter colours of the fleece.

Navajo plied. This is going to be the main colour of the sweater body, I’m really excited!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

Holy whirlwind!

These last couple of weeks have been awesome. I did the Olds Fibre Week thing, the Master Spinner level 2 thing, the dreadlock my own hair thing and the absorption of inspiration thing.

First things first – my new dreadlocks!

I backcombed sections of my hair and then used a small crochet hook to basically needlefelt it and hold it all together. I’ve been washing with some Neutrogena Anti-Residue shampoo and using some aloe gel to help keep them soft and hold them together. It’s been awesome so far, they’re 2 weeks old and holding together really nicely.

Here’s my beautiful Katelyn and I, enjoying our time in Olds.

The weather was crappy a lot of the time, lots of rain and thunder storms and it was quite cold, but we still had a fantastic time! I hardly bought anything at all during my stay, despite our having spent much of the time in the merchant mall. I resisted! I caved on some gorgeous Louet top I just had to have, and a silk scarf for my hair.

I blended the separate colours of the top on some hackles and came up with this beauty.

.. but we knew there were better things on the horizon for us…

FLEEEEEEEEEEECE!
Pardon the crappy pics, I was shaking with excitement!

We won our first ever fleeces at the fleece show/auction. The top photo is of a magical glowing, bright white alpaca fleece I saw and HAD TO HAVE ABOVE ALL OTHERS. The second fleece is our Blue Faced Leicester which won second place in the coloured long-wool category. It was eyed up by so many people, but we won it! It’s 2/3 light slate blue with blonde tips, and 1/3 dark slate blue with brown tips.. from one sheep! Just stunning. I started combing the BFL fleece, keeping the different shades separate and the results have been AMAZING. They were both so worth it.

I’m thinking I’m going to design a Fair Isle pullover or cardigan spun and knit from the fleeces. I want the main colour to be the light gray, one of the secondary colours in dark gray and the other to be the white alpaca, nature dyed some other color. If I pay attention to my book requirements for my 25hour project, I can make it count for that, even if a sweater, scoured, hand combed and spun from raw fleece takes longer than 25 hours.. I’m sure my teacher wouldn’t mind

All the people at Fibre Week were amazing. I was floored by the amount of people who I recognized, who I picked up with where we left off. Everyone was so kind to us, and a few even drove Katelyn and I into town the few times we needed provisions and such. I felt even more welcomed than last year and I can’t wait to see everyone again next year!

I created a flickr pool for other people to add their photos to. There are some already uploaded from the fashion show, the fleece auction, our classes and the merchant mall, go look!

Dreads

Dreads, originally uploaded by Gaminelle.

I dreadlocked my hair and I love it.

I like changes. This is a good summer.

RIP, Bill.

RIP, Bill., originally uploaded by Gaminelle.

I sewed a thing!

In preparation for my trip to Olds next week, I’m kind of gathering all my supplies together so I can account for everything and pick up the things I still need. I had the idea a few weeks ago about making a pouch/cover for my hand carders. Carding cloths (the red things staple to the wood that has all the tines sticking out of it) are expensive and I want to protect them as much as possible. I found an old pair of jeans and decided to use the fabric – it’s durable and easily sewn. They took literally 10 minutes from beginning to end. I have yet to decide what kind of clasp/attachment I want to use over the top, by the handles to keep them together.

Now, I didn’t take measurements, I kind of eye-balled it, but if anyone wants them, it’ll just take me a minute to write them up. My hand cards are Ashford 108-point Fine cards, which are thicker than the student cards.

What do you think?

Sketched face.

Sketched face., originally uploaded by Gaminelle.

Another sketch.

Hibiscuslily.

Hibiscuslily., originally uploaded by Gaminelle.

5 minute sketch to get my pencil going again.

It’s been too long since I tried to “art”.

This is how plants grow

My pasty pallor reflects the sunlight onto the plants which then photosynthesize my face whiteness and exhaled whispers into food for themselves.

Kitty..

Virtue -
The most photogenic feline in the world.

FO super modelin’ – owls

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