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My second anniversary with Etsy is coming up. On December 8th I will have been selling online for 2 years. I guess that still makes me a relative newcomer, but I seem to be starting some traditions already.
Last year on my anniversary, I went nuts! I opened 2 additional Etsy Shops and joined up at ArtFire. Overnight I went from running one store to four. Why? The main reason was that my store was just so crowded. I was up to more than 20 pages of listings and it was getting ridiculous every time I needed to manage my products, I had to scroll through page after page. If I didn't enjoy it, how could I expect my customers to search through all of my work.
I dye so many different kinds of fiber, I knew I had enough there to support a pure fiber shop. That's what I did and I took my yarn and made a specialty shop just for art yarn. I placed all of my handmade goods into a boutique. I loved how organized I was able to become, but I didn't like having to handle so many accounts to make it happen.
Not long after I had my three Etsy locations sorted, I signed up with ArtFire. Many of my creative friends were singing the praises of this new venue and there is just something fun about being part of a ground breaking. It's exciting. I also really love the philosophy there. These are my own words, but they really seem to believe that what is good for the handmade movement, will be good for ArtFire. It's not just about building ArtFire as a business, but there is a real focus on supporting the artists that I respect and admire. Best of all, I can have as many categories in my shop as I want to! This may seem like a small detail, but when you are a bigger shop, it makes all the difference in the world.
So now here I am a year later and I'm changing things up again. With ArtFire as the happy home to my handmade and an ever growing supply of roving, I went ahead and closed my boutique and I'm getting ready to close my Art Yarn Shop. I struggled with where to put my handspun yarn, but in the end, I chose Etsy. I'm sentimental towards my Etsy store. It's my home and where I got started.
I think that there is enough in common between yarn and roving for them to live in harmony. Plus, when I feature a new yarn, I can also feature the fiber I used to create it. I like that you can share the story of a skein from ecru to dyed to finished handspun yarn. That's why I decided to name my new yarn section Hand Crafted Yarn. It's so much more than just spinning. It's washing and dyeing and carding and in some cases, beading or felting. There is so much that goes into the finished product.
So now I'm getting down to a more manageable two stores. Everything has a home and it still feels organized. I'd like to think that I'll keep it this way from now on, but you never know what the future will bring. I think it's good to stay flexible, maybe not too flexible. LOL! :D
Over the past couple weeks I've been blogging about the roving I dyed with natural ironwood. I did list some Ironwood Merino in the shops, but I also saved wool to spin.
The first yarn I made was Ironwood Stripes. It is pretty typical of the kind of yarn I like to spin. I went back and forth between my lighter and darker shades of ironwood wool to create a striping yarn and I added some Firestar for sparkle.
Then I got to thinking. I've gone to all the trouble to dye two shades of wool from wood shavings, I should make some yarn that reflects this wild and natural process, something with more personality and life to it. The result is my newest skein of yarn that I named Wild Wood.
The first thing I did was card my two wools. I layered the light Merino over the darker BFL and wound it through my carder. Then I sent it through a second time to blend it even further and to make it light and lofty. This created the wool batt that I used for my thick and thin single. Because half of my fiber was BFL, I had some nice long fiber and could make pretty long thick sections without compromising the stability of my twist. I had a good time making my thick and thin single.
Next I had to make a lace weight for plying. I spun this from one ounce of the lighter Merino wool. I knew one ounce would be more than enough to ply my two ounces of thick and thin. Spinning lace weight yarn has become second nature to me. I can sit and zone out in front of the TV and have a couple hundred yards in no time.
Finally I was ready to ply. I started off slowly. I really haven't made a thick and thin in a long time, maybe not since those unintentional ones you spin in the early days of learning. My main concern was that I would over spin my ply in my need to make sure my thick areas were secure. I was pretty happy when after a soak in a warm water bath, I picked up my hank of yarn and it hung nice and straight. That's really the Ahhh! moment in handspinning. Isn't it?
I feel like this skein of yarn is more worthy of the wool and the process. I like how the thick areas are a little carefree and wild. Consider. It all started with a gift jar of finely ground ironwood. I imagine a knitter with a large pair of needles whipping up a scarf that's soft and full of texture. That would be a scarf with a story to tell.
I'm probably a little late getting on the holiday bus this year, but I'm here and I'm trying to fill up Wind Rose Fiber Studio with great gift possibilities.
I've been making my Drop Spindle Kits for a few months now, but it occurred to me that some people might like to just buy a drop spindle without all of the roving. For some, they may already have a nice stock of wool just waiting to be spun. Others might like to select their own wool and goodness knows I have plenty of that to choose from.
I was just going to list the plain drop spindle and then I couldn't bring myself to offer it without at least including the directions I wrote for my kits and a leader cord. So that's what I did. Otherwise, the Top Whorl Drop Spindle is 9 inches long with a 2.5" whorl and weighs 1.8oz. Drop Spindles make a wonderful gift for anyone who enjoys crafting. Kids love them too. Often when I'm visiting with friends or at the park, I'll take an extra drop spindle. There is always a boy or girl who doesn't quite know what to do and that's when I bring out my spindle and a little roving. It's amazing how much time kids will spend with this simple wooden activity. It warms my heart!
At some point I'm going to have to stop all of this listing and go buy a turkey, but let me procrastinate a little longer and show you what I've been up to today.
I have one more sampler. This is a big six ounce Corriedale Wool Sampler. These are commercially dyed and I know that makes a difference to some folks, so I want to be clear. On the other hand, these would make a wonderful gift along with a drop spindle or perhaps some felting needles.
Corriedale has a longer staple length, between 4 and 5 inches. This makes it much easier to handle if you are using a drop spindle or even a spinning wheel. The fibers just won't come apart on you that easily. Felters like that they can quickly cover more surface area in less time.
When I look at these colors, Jet Black, Silver Grey, Pagoda, Dark Blue, Olive Green and Crabapple, I can see so many possible combinations. You could spin some striking skeins of yarn and that's a fact!
I had to make one more sampler. You just gotta have those classic Christmas colors! So here's my Classic Christmas Hand Dyed Wool Sampler.
There are .5oz each of Fire Red BFL, Happy Green Merino, and Silver Falkland. All have been hand dyed right here at Wind Rose. This sampler also includes .5oz of sparkling snow white Firestar.
This is perfect for needle felting holiday ornaments or embellishing your Christmas handmade projects. It would also make a lovely gift for someone who loves working with fiber. Happy Holidays!
Here is something brand new at Wind Rose and just in time for the holidays. It's my Contemporary Holiday Sampler. I get asked to make samplers all the time. With my hand dyed roving, it's almost too labor intensive for me to keep samplers in stock and keep up with everything else I do. Yet, it's the holidays and I know people are having fun making small felted ornaments or shopping for gifts. I don't think I could call myself a proper fiber studio if I didn't offer something for the season!
This is a 2oz sampler offering Four Modern Holiday Colors. It contains .5oz each of Crabapple, Olive Green, Dark Blue and Silver Grey. This is Corriedale wool so it wet and needle felts great! The generous 5" staple length of the fiber makes it a perfect choice for both beginning and experienced spinners!
So if you just can't resist a sampler, or if you have a friend who spins or felts in your life, this will make a perfect gift for the holidays!
On November 12, I wrote a post about some finely milled ironwood I was given and my plan to work on my natural dyeing techniques. Next I came back to show the results of my first batch of wool dyed with the wood. Then I played around with a couple more batches of ironwood dyed wool.
All of this has led up to my brand new skein of yarn I'm calling Ironwood Stripes. To create this yarn, I used an ounce of the darker ironwood in BFL and an ounce of the lighter in Merino. I alternated between the two to form a striping single.
To make this skein a little more interesting, I joined the two colors with a short length of Firestar that I dyed with the ironwood as well. This gives the yarn a subtle sparkle which I think is nice given the neutrality of the tones.
All in all, the yarn comes to 2.4oz and 262 yards. This is a sport weight single and the twist is very well set. I confess that I kind of pride myself on that. This yarn is seriously one of a kind so I am hoping 262 yards is enough for a complete project. As a crocheter, I know there are quite a few accessories I could make, but I'm less familiar with knitting and the amounts needed to knit different items. Of course it could always be combined with other yarns to create a larger project.
I have enjoyed my little journey with ironwood and natural dyeing. I still have some left so there is more adventure to come!
As of today, I am selling 21.5 Micron Merino Roving by the pound. I'm excited to be able to offer it at a great price. I usually don't talk money on my blog, but I can't help myself. (shhh... $18.85)
Your pound of merino will ship in two 8oz bags. Domestic orders will ship priority mail and orders placed outside of the US will ship First Class International.
Long live Fiber Arts!(Click on the word link to go to Wind Rose on Etsy and the photo to head over to Wind Rose on ArtFire.)
Good Morning! Just a quick note to let you know that I have Highland Peruvian Merino, Ecru Thick and Thin Yarn, back in stock!
In Wind Rose on Etsy
In Wind Rose on ArtFire
This yarn is incredibly soft and wonderful to work with. It comes in 8oz hanks of 250 yards, just perfect for those quick knit and crochet projects. Enjoy it in the natural ecru or have some fun dyeing your own yarn with the Jacquard Dyes that can also be found at Wind Rose!
When I sell a drop spindle kit at Wind Rose I get so excited! It means I get to go into my studio and play. I walk in and am surrounded by bins of fiber in every variety and color. I'm kind of used to this, but the luxury of fiber at my fingertips is not lost on me.
I try to pick colors that are generally well liked. I use wool as a base because it is easier for a new spinner to handle, but I add softer fibers too. This roving has soy silk and even cultivated silk. Finally I go for the sparkle. Every Drop Spindle Kit must have some sparkle! For this fiber I included generous amounts of purple Firestar. I believe that learning to spin is even more fun with gorgeous fiber!
Find this Top Whorl Drop Spindle Kit on Etsy too!
Hi. One more quick post today. If you've been admiring the Ironwood Merino and thinking, "I wouldn't mind trying out some of that," you're in luck. I dyed a few extra ounces and they are now listed in my shops!
I find myself with a little free time this Monday afternoon so I thought I'd show you what I'm spinning right now.
Over the weekend, I did some more ironwood dyeing. I experimented with how the natural dye would work simply using my regular dye method. This time I used Merino roving and even threw some Firestar into the pot. The result is the lighter shade you see in my swirl picture. It's very soft and natural looking. My first thought was that it would make an excellent skin tone people who do lifelike felting.
The darker color is from my first ironwood dye batch. That time I used BFL and let it soak for a long time.
For my yarn, I'm making a striping single alternating between the two colors and using shorter lengths of the Firestar that I also dyed in the ironwood, to join the colors; dark, sparkle, light, sparkle, dark, sparkle.... and so on. I only have 50 yards or so done, but I can tell it's going to be pretty. I'll be sure to post pictures of the yarn when it is complete.
