Just listed at Wind Rose, an incredible 7oz and more than 225 yards of craft fiber in an assortment of earthy hues. Every single strand of fiber measures over 4 yards long and there are at least 12 different varieties. You'll discover ribbons, eyelash, boucle, thick and thin, fur and novelty yarns.
With each length measuring at least four yards, you have more than enough to create beautiful ties on gift packages. You can bind handmade books or embellish scrapbooks and greeting cards. Use them to add another dimension to your mixed media pieces or texture to a handmade doll or toy. The possibilities go on and on.
My Craft Fiber Collections are the result of years of my own hunting and gathering, but now I have decided to create a little wiggle room in my studio and pass all of my lovely fibers on to you. There is a limited quantity but I do have a few more color families on the way.
I'm just popping in today to say that I have some Firestar back in stock. I've got one Sampler Pack and five individual colors: Yellow, Crimson, Altered Sky, Turquoise, and Berries. The individual colors are being sold in .5oz lots; just enough to put a little sparkle in your life!
One of my goals this year is to expand Wind Rose Fiber Studio to offer more hand dyed options as well as supply you with a wide variety of fibers.
In keeping with that, I'm now offering Jet Black Mohair in 2oz lots.
"Mohair is a silky textile produced from the hair of the angora goat. It is most often spun into a thread that can be woven, knitted, or crocheted depending upon the application. Mohair is durable, warm, insulating, and light. It also has moisture wicking properties that carry moisture away from the skin of the wearer. The hair of the angora goat has been used to produce textiles for centuries, and the term mohair entered English usage from the Arabic mukhayyar, referring to a type of woven head cloth."
I try hard to listen to my customers and recently I've had more than one spinner ask me if I ever planned to make roving in mixed colors. As a spinner myself, I totally understand. I love variegated fibers and the yarns they create.
So I'm just getting started, but I'm working color blends into the shop. These are kettle dyed and each dye lot is unique. I'm still experimenting with color combinations, so be on the lookout for many more to come. Over time, together, we'll find our favorites!
My Color Blends are named for the colors that create them, but they may not always look like their names. They are the result of what happens when the colors in the name come together. On the left: Fire Red/Bright Yellow, In the middle: Sky Blue/Bright Yellow and on the right: Periwinkle/Crimson.
There is no fiber quite like Bamboo. It shines like silk, feels and breathes like cotton, and drapes beautifully. Not only that, but you can feel good about using Bamboo. As an annually renewable resource, it's not harmful to the environment. More and more I see clothes made from bamboo or bamboo blends not to mention a whole host of other products on the market.
I don't dye bamboo often, so when I do it feels like a special event. So allow me to introduce four bright new shades of bamboo to Wind Rose. There's Amethyst, Avocado, Wild Raspberry and a brilliant Red. I have a couple more colors on the way. They'll make their debut soon!
I was dyeing some bamboo last weekend and I thought to myself, "Why not dye a little Hemp while I'm at it?" The process is basically the same and though I have to admit, working with Procion Dyes is not one of my favorite activities, once you're set up and in action, you may as well go for it.
Hemp roving is a fairly new product for my little shop at Wind Rose. I started with a small order this past fall mostly because I wanted to try spinning the plant fiber. Like many spinners, my fingers are used to handling all sorts of wool and silk, soy and even bamboo, but hemp was definitely a new texture. Most of the adjusting had to be made by my draft hand. I needed a little more force, but at the same time I had to be careful not to allow the fibers to fall apart. It didn't take long before my fingers found their way and I was able to control the hemp. Occasionally there would be slightly larger pieces of grass and I had to decide whether to allow them to add texture or to pick them out as I spun. Once I got going, I really enjoyed working with the hemp. It's such a unique fiber.
So now I'm offering hemp in a few new colors. I love color and I'm hoping the variety will appeal to the fans of hemp out there. So far I've dyed Avocado, Rose, Amethyst, and a Soft Red. I can't wait to see what people think of them. To tell you the truth, I don't even know if there is much of a market for dyed hemp, but I can't wait to find out!
Whenever I get asked the same question by two or more customers, I like to write about it here on my blog. I'm guessing that there are others who might have the same curiosity. The question I've been getting lately is whether or not Firestar will needle felt.
For anyone who may be less familiar with this fiber, Firestar is a sparkling nylon that is manufactured as a roving and can be spun like wool or teased apart to work with in smaller amounts. I wrote about it in greater detail not long ago in a post about Firestar Sampler Packs that I'm beginning to sell.
After being asked about Firestar as a needle felting fiber, I did what I usually do which is to experiment on my own and see what I find out. I took a small piece of Firestar and piled the teased fiber in a criss cross pattern on a piece of felting foam. Using a medium needle I worked with the Firestar to try to felt it into a circle. I didn't take the time to work in every last fiber. Firestar is light and a little more "fly away" than a wool would be. I wasn't going for perfetion, I merely wanted to see if it would felt and how much effort it would take for it to felt. After just a few minutes, I'd say less than 10, I had this circle formed. I was very pleased by how easily it felted. I was even more impressed when I picked it up from the foam and gave it a tug. The fibers had a very strong hold on each other. I felt like in no time I had created a very solid and secure piece of fabric.
So the answer to "Can you felt Firestar?" is a resounding YES! The only thing I might add is that if you want a really clean finish, you might have to spend a little more time working in stray or "fly away" fibers although ths kind of furry look may be fun for some projects. You could also trim the occasional stray unless that's against the felter's code. If you've never tried Firestar, you may enjoy investigating this fiber for yourself!
I just ordered an enormous lot of Firestar for Wind Rose Fiber Studio. The First batch I dyed sold out in less than a week, so I'm increasing my volume. If you have color requests, I'm always happy to oblige and I'll be dyeing every color of the rainbow as soon as that box comes in the mail!
OK! It's just a Soy Silk day today at Wind Rose Fiber Studio! While many may be enjoying a Friday Happy Hour, I am catching up on my work this afternoon. I just listed these three lovely shades of Soy in the shop, so I popped over here to give you the links. On the Left is Twilight Blue. This color is a really gorgeous blue with purple undertones. In the middle is my Earthen Rose. This is a pink I developed this fall with more of a brown base. Then finally, on the right is Golden Brown. I love how the soy silk brings out all of the notes in this warm brown.
First of all, I can't believe I just gave this post such a silly name. In my defense, I was just watching Rachel Ray and if you are familiar with her show or her recipes, she names many of her dishes with cute word plays. I think it rubbed off on me today.
Really, I'm just here to show off my latest from the dye kitchen. This is Soy Silk dyed a deep Slate Gray. I really can't say why I love this shade of gray, but I do. It seems counter to my sensibilities. After all, I did move to Arizona to have fewer gray days. I have no gray in my wardrobe to speak of. Maybe it speaks to the jewelry side of me. I do prefer white gold to yellow and silver over anything brassy. Perhaps that is where my love of this shade comes.
I do think we need these darker hues to showcase complimentary tones. I mean, just imagine this with a red or a royal blue. Though with Soy Silk, there is such beautiful shine, It can really stand on it's own.
New in the Shop at Wind Rose this week are three pretty pinks in Merino/Silk. I just can't say enough about this fiber. Merino is a familiar wool to many of us. It's loved for its softness next to the skin and for its smooth feltability. (That's right... feltability) What could be better? I'll tell you what; blending in gorgeous Tussah Silk. By adding Tussah Silk, the already soft merino becomes even softer and more luxurious and to top it off, you get that incredible silky sheen throughout the fiber. The silk adds so much vibrance and life to what is already an irresistable wool.
This week I had a special request for pinks. I alway dye a little extra to share. the pink of the left is called Earthen Rose and has an earthy brown undertone. The one in the middle is Palest Pink. This is a wonderful shade for the felters who are looking to add a blush to a cheek or dimention to a skin tone. On the right is just Pink because sometimes you just want Pink! What is nice about the three of these colors is that I created them all with the same red base so that they interact and blend well together. Basically, they're just one, big, happy family!
Hello to all. I know I have not been my ususal bloggity self lately. I feel so guilty, but the truth is, I've had a few events in my life that have placed demands on my time and my emotions. My mother-in-law just passed away from cancer. Well now you now the emotional part. I have actually mentioned her before on this blog. This past fall I designed beaded yarn for her birthday and shared that with my blog readers. Kathleen has always been one of my great supporters and probably one of the first people to leave a comment on this blog. There are so many things about her that I'll miss, but sharing our creativity will be one of the big things. We had so much fun showing each other the projects we were working on. I'll always remember sitting in comfy chairs in her living room working on our latest, and talking about this, that and everything in between.
I may go into it more on another post, but I have also taken on a new job. It's a labor of love sort of job, but it's still extra work. I'm also determined to hold onto my fiber work because it keeps me balanced and happy, but with my time divided, things like blogging every day haven't quite happened. Many of the things that I used to do in my down time have taken a hit because I just don't have much down time right now. When my husband and I were sharing New Years Resolution thoughts, I said that I have only one this year, to be Superwoman. I need to tap into that Superwoman within to find the energy to do all the things I want and need to to and to do them well. So that's my resolution ... to be Superwoman.
I guess I haven't even talked about all of the fiber I'm dyeing yet. Please come visit Wind Rose Fiber Studio this week and see all of the lovely new fibers and colors. All weekend I've been dyeing Soy Silk as you can see in the picture. I've also been working with Merino/Silk, a gorgeous fiber, and bamboo and hemp as well. I've been busy, busy, busy! I'll be listing new items all week and posting pictures here.
I hope everyone is having a great New Year! Blessings to all!
I just listed this beautiful Silver Merino at Wind Rose. It represents a change of heart for me. I never thought I would dye wool silver because there are breeds of sheep that are naturally shades of gray and silver. I thought, "Why dye what already exists?"
Yesterday I found myself with the opportunity to dye a few ounces and I just sort of spontaneously picked silver. I dyed silver Firestar last week and it was so pretty. It made me wonder how the merino would take the dye.
I have to admit that the outcome has changed my mind about dyeing in silver. I really like how soft, light and almost ethereal this fiber turned out. Also, I haven't even begun to explore blending silver with other colors. It just make me say, "Hmmm....."
I finally got in a nice large shipment of Hemp! I tried spinning hemp for the first time earlier this fall and really enjoyed working with it. I listed the rest of my hemp roving for sale at Wind Rose and it flew out of the shop. I quickly ordered more, but it took some time to come in.
Now I'm back in business with pounds of Hemp to share! I've made listings for 2oz and 4oz. If there is a special amount you would like, feel free to contact me here or through the store. Have a great weekend!
I'm still listing all of the Firestar I dyed yesterday, but there are now sampler packs and four packs available at Wind Rose. I'm feeling kind of sleepy tonight, so I'll write in more detail tomorrow. See you then!
I'm starting off the new year with lots of new choices at Wind Rose Fiber Studio. This is a picture of a Firestar sampler I listed yesterday. It sold so fast I didn't have time to blog about it.
I have been planning to add Firestar to my inventory for a while, so there is no time like the present!
What is Firestar? It's a sparkling nylon fiber, created like roving with a generous (around 4") staple length. It can be spun on its own for a shimmering skein of yarn that would be stunning for warm weather garments. More commonly, it is used to add sparkle to projects. A little Firestar can go a long way. Simply tease loose the fibers and introduce them sparingly to your roving as you spin. The end result will be a skein of yarn full of lustrous shine. Firestar blends so well with other fibers. As a nylon, it will not wet felt, but I've added very small amounts to felting projects and it works right into whatever fibers I'm using. I have also blended it with wool for some of my needle felted creations.
So why am I getting you excited about Firestar when I've sold what's in this picture? I'll tell you why! I have a rainbow of Firestar colors drying right now and I'll be listing them by late tomorrow afternoon. I'll be making sampler packs similar to the one in this picture and also selling it in larger amounts in case there is just one color you want. I literally dyed all of the colors of the rainbow as well as silver and bronze. The silver was so striking I dyed four extra ounces in silver alone.
I'm so excited about finally getting Firestar in the shop! I hope you will love working with it as much as I do. I am such a fan, that I tend to put a little firestar in almost everything I spin. I'll leave you with some pictures of my own handspun that feature this beautiful sparkling fiber.
I've been working hard the last few days to bring more colors back into my shop at Wind Rose. Most of the colors I dyed are already staples in the shop, but I did create one new shade.
I'm calling this one Burnt Orange Khaki. I am in love with this new color!!! This is not a solid, but more of a variegated roving with a khaki base, a deeper brown that I have to say makes me think of teddy bears and areas of rich burnt orange. If you like warm colors, you are going to delight in this roving! Imagine it with all of the colors of fall. I can see mixing this roving with a host of different hues from red, orange and yellow for a more harmonious blend to green, blue and purple for striking contrast. It would also be fun to spin on its own and watch each unique tone come to life!
OK, I know I said I'd be back yesterday, but after dyeing two lbs of wool, photographing and listing eight new shades of roving, I was ready for a break. It's a lot of work to do bulk batches! I am however, loving that my stock levels are back up to where they should be.
Here are the two new sampler packs. each pack has one half ounce each of four colors. On the Left is Sky Blue, Lichen, Pink, and Chestnut Brown. On the right you have Deeper Brown, Wild Raspberry, Teal, and Burnt Orange Khaki. Once again, all of these colors can be purchased at Wind Rose separately by the ounce.
Two of the samplers from my previously listing have already sold. I have a feeling that the samplers are going to be pretty popular. It is a fun way to try out new colors and I know many of those who felt, like the smaller amounts as well. I'll keep them coming! :D
It feels good to be back to work and getting some great dyeing accomplished. It's gratifying to see my inventory levels rise. Over the last two days I've dyed four pounds of Merino Wool. One of the new things Wind Rose Fiber Studio will offer this year is a variety of sampler packs. I think it's probably been my number one request over my first year of business at Etsy.
The pictures above are of my first two Merino 2oz Sampler Packs of 2009! Each sampler give you one half ounce each of four unique colors. On the left you have Golden Brown, Gypsy Wine, Prcelain Fair, and Pewter Blue. On the right are Happy Green, Earthen Rose, Purple, and Golden Ochre. All of these colors can also be bought separately in one ounce lots.
I've got eight more colors on the way tomorrow. See you then!
