I'm back, kind of

I just thought I'd pop in to say that I haven't died yet, but I swear, finals need to get here and get over. I'm on sleep deprivation to the nth degree.

so fun stuff. I finished my first panel piece and placed it in the context of the color study collages. There will be about ten times as many color studies and at least 9 more panel pieces.
Also I would like the band of color to be at least 5 feet wide and wrap all the way around whatever place I install it in.

Here's some details:


And then there was Art Chicago this past weekend, which was awesome.


I'll post more pictures on that subject later.

Right now, I'm really close to the semester being over. I had my painting portfolio review today, and I don't want to brag or sound like an ass, but hell, I did really good.

I'm also plugging away at my weaving project and more color studies. There is also the Fashion and Labor Trade show on Sunday that I'm trying to get ready for. Knitting about 3 socks in one week is a doozy on top of everything else.

But then things will calm down a bit. There will still be a lot to do, but it will be calmer. Then there is the 6 day vacation to Ames to look forward to at the end of May, that will be nice.

Well, I'm going to turn in early tonight, have a good week, hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!

Math is good!

Okay, so I'm really glad no one bought any yarn yet because I have decided to drop the price to 18.50 a bundle (two skeins). During the experimental stage I'm just trying to cover costs of the yarn and dyeing process so I rechecked my math and figured out that I could cut my margin a little and make it cheaper for you to buy. So go get your hands on some super nice super wash naturally hand dyed yarn.

Have a good week!

Green Prairie Fibers

It's up in the shop, go check it out.

I'm finally getting to it. I'm going to put some of my naturally dyed yarn up for sale in the Green Prairie Fibers etsy shop by 10 a.m. tomorrow (April 25, 2007). There will be 4 bundles of sock yarn, one reddish brown (in the background of the image) and 3 dark brown (foreground). Each bundle is actually 2 skeins at 276 yards each. It is enough to make long knee socks or large men's sized socks. I have size 7 1/2 feet and I can actually make exactly one pair with one skein. They even have a cuff the length of my hand and a 2 1/2 inch heel flap. Pretty sweet right? They are $18.50 a bundle during this trial time (about the next year or so I am thinking). I'm not sure if I posted about Green Prairie Fibers or not, so I might be repeating myself here, just to warn you.


I've been scheming for awhile now about starting my own brand of yarn called Green Prairie Fibers. It will be/is, all natural hand dyed yarn. I'm starting out with just sock yarn. I was going to just jump on the scene and dye a ton of yarn, but I've decided, for now, I better start small. Plus I want to nail down dyeing processes and figure out what works well and what doesn't and what types of colors I can get. You know, really become an expert at natural dyeing.

One of the other main reasons why I'm holding off is that I'm not done experimenting with fiber content either. My ideal would be an organic wool blended with hemp, cotton, flax, or soy silk.... something of that kind. Getting a supplier when I'm not really sure what I want is pretty difficult.

I use only collected dye stuff at this point, things like: cuttings from my mom's garden that normally get bagged up and taken away from the city, walnuts collected over a wide variety of places so as not to mess up ecosystems, lettuce and leafy veggies that start to go bad in my frig, etc. I use a minimum amount of mordants because they in themselves are pretty harsh stuff.

So all the boon for you guys out there! While I am in this experimental stage I am going to dyeing more yarn than I can reasonably knit, so I'm going to put it up for sale as I dye it and you will always be the first to know. I'm setting up a mailing list just for green prairie fibers and I'll let you know when that is ready. I will always post notices in the shop and on here when yarn is on the way.

Speaking of, I just recieved what to me looks like a huge order of sock yarn, so I will hopefully have some more browns up in the next couple of weeks.


Well, back to cleaning, prepping yarn, and working on my c.v. (yuck). I think that all calls for a pot of tea! Have a good week!

Windy in the Windy City

Here are some pictures from this past weekend at the Sewing Rebellion at Mess Hall. It was a super fun time. It was really great to see everyone crocheting and sewing and making great stuff from patterns they were creating themselves. The pictures are not so great, but they aren't so bad either, really dark, maybe kind of blurry, don't look too close okay.



Also, while in the windy city I picked up a drop spindle ($6!) and some green wool roving ($8 for a whole bag full!) and tried my hand spinning... It kind of looks like yarn... hehe.... So I went and picked up a book at the local library called something like "Spindle Spinning: Beginner to Expert," which sounded pretty good. I haven't had time to have another go at it, but this weekend Jason and I are going to get our whorl on! (I bought him a bottom whorl spindle for his birthday and then got a top whorl for myself). I'll let you know how it goes.


Okay, so this was the best picture I could get, but the story is more interesting anyway. Basically I knit that sweater for Catalina Yarn and they (the owner) decided that it should be a display for the yarn shop I work at! ah... I don't know, it just made me feel a little weird. Anyway, after being up for a couple months it disappeared and a green one replaced it (one I didn't knit) and so I wasn't sure if they just didn't like it and I didn't want to ask about it.... Then, when I was working last Saturday, I saw this:

It's the sweater I knit, in print, on a model... I was pretty happy about that and I was confident in my sweater knitting skills once more. (granted I still think the pattern needs some shaping to help it out, but I was instructed to knit it "according to the pattern").

I also just received an order from the UK! my very first out of the country order, how exciting!

And just so you are the first to know, I'm going to put some new items in the store. I have some Crocheted Head Wraps and some tea pot sized reusable tea bags that I'm going to take pictures of and put up for sale. I would say by midnight it will all be up. You should go check it out.

Have a good week!

MIA

Or at least that is what has been said. Sorry about the lack of, well, anything, I've been way off the radar this past week. I haven't even really been reading blogs, let alone writing on my own. So I thought I would let you all know that I'm still around, and give you a few quick updates.
1. The multi panel piece for the endangered species series is almost finished. Actually more so than these pictures imply because I have worked my way to the right and only have 5 smallish panels left.I'm going to cut more wood on monday to start the second in the series. Oh and I've also been doing more color study collages, I'll post a picture of those after I hang them to take slides from... that's right, i'm putting together my c.v./portfolio and sending it out to galleries and residencies. One of the many things taking up time right now.
2. The performance went really well, but I haven't received the images from it yet. It went so good though, afterwards we ended up talking about textile labor and the american consumer mentality, but I will speak more to that when I get the pictures.
3. There is a new craft leftover pattern up. It was so hard to figure out how to write it up, let me know if it doesn't make sense. I really do like the project though. It's tote for bike baskets to go grocery shopping with! And it's reversible!And on another Craft Leftover note, I'm now posting on Saturday by 2pm.
5. there is another performance, more of the same and some new stuff, coming up at mess hall in chicago on Sunday May 7... or is it the 6th.. it's sunday and it's listed in the sidebar. If you are in the area you should come check it out.
6. I just got an email today saying that the sock yarn finally came in and she (my supplier, Jennifer of Stick Chic Designs on etsy) is going to ship it out asap so there is more dyeing in the near future and hopefully, some will finally go up for sale in the etsy shop.
7. I'm tired and working tomorrow so I'm going to bed, have a good night!

Boo hoo!

So the sale is off, I just got an email about it today. I'm so disappointed. There was just a lack of vendor response, I understand, we can't just have an Ars Nova Art and Craft Sale with just 3 people... the president, the vice president, and one member. It's so annoying too because we had such a good response last semester... it's okay though... there will be more sales. And on top of that, I now have 34 catnip pillows made, 12 crocheted head wraps, fabric cut for 15 pencil clutches and 15 travel tissue holders, 10 dish cloths finished, and it's all going to go into the store once I get pictures taken. I'm still a little sad though, I was really looking forward to having a physical craft leftovers presence. Ahh... so it goes.

In other news, I have pictures up (finally) of the finished craft leftovers pattern for this past week. There are more pictures on the blog.
Oh, there won't be any pattern this week because of the Chicago performance I'm helping out with at Links Hall, I'll post pictures of the performance though on Saturday if I'm able to get any.

Have a good night!