Tour de Fleece - Just for Fun

Even though I'd rather be spinning than most anything else.  I find I have to schedule my time to fit it in to everything else.  The Tour de Fleece, a, mostly on-line fiber marathon promoted very effectively by Ravelry, allows just that for me.  Everything else that is not vital gets pushed aside while I schedule time to spin as much as possible.  Here is a bit of the the results from this last week.  Still not as much as I'd like.  More spinning will be scheduled into my life.  It is like Food, Air, Water, Spin.

There are many fiber preps to choose from and each gives a different result.  Spinning from a layered batt is one that I love.  From making it on the big Strauch Double Wide to the finished yarn:

The Layed Batt from one end.

Opening up the treasure chest.

Stripped and rolled into pretty rolags.

Spun into a thick and thin singles on my Schact Matchless.

Plied with a fine laceweight on my Gorgeous Green Country Spinner.

Skeined and ready to wash.  

The question remains: Shall I keep it or sell it at the shop.  It will be there, till I decide. Lots more pictures and information are on my FaceBook Page ( Blueball Mountain Spindle and Needleworks ). 

Hop on over and become a Fan, if you like.

Handspuns from Luna Loca Batts and Roving

It's been a while since I've had time to spin but in the last few weeks I have been focusing on getting back to my first fiber love.  All the ingredients to spark creativity is all around me all the time. This started out as a 10 color layered batt of merino top spun thick and thin and then plied with a fine commercial blue thread.

I had a fun time with this bulky single spun loosely from loose Cotswold locks around a commercial lace weight. One of my most favorite styles of yarn has become popular and several have already sold at the shop.  Another is on the Green Queen Country Spinner now.

On the left is a self plied bulky thick and thin spun from a crazy batt filled with bamboo, merino, angelina in blues, violets and greens. In the center is a thick and thin single softly spun from two bright sun filled colored batts stripped and held together in a racing strip. And on the right a rich worsted weight evenly spun yarn from roving I made on my Patrick Green Cottage Carder from bamboo, corriedele, merino and Shetland. 

I now have available at the shop a variety of Little Looney Bags full of goodies that can be combined with the great color variety of Merino Top that I keep in stock for making your own batts. Lots more in the shop. Come in and get inspired.

Old Towne Revival

I live near the wonderful old town of Elizabeth KY, full of historic old buildings each with its own wondrous past.  In recent times it has been a bit quiet down in the old town square.  Many business and shops have moved out to the many newly developed highway malls all around. BUT, there is movement afoot to revive the energy that once thrived here.  Driven by the Renaissance of the Grand old State Theatre (historicstatetheater.org/) and the efforts of the Heritage Council, this year there is a wonderful ArtWalk bringing those lights and sounds of the holiday back to the square.  The once empty shop windows have been transformed by local business  Inside, the shops have been turned into Galleries featuring fine, graphic and folk artists from all around the state. Find more details here.

Wool Comes to Town:

I have been having a great time participating in the Elizabethtown "Old Towne" Artwalk. The new venue prompted the inspiration  to get back to doing some serious felting:

 such as this Art Doll called 'The Singer',

and some bold new Art Yarns like this plush hand dyed thick and thin plied with gold and dark green threads, felted balls and yes, tiny hand knit socks:

and this huge skein of core spun multi colored hand dyed locks called 'Holiday Lights'. 

There will be more of my handspuns every week as I get them off the wheels and prepped and felted pieces as inspiration hits.

For more fun and variety, I have invited fellow fiber artist Stephanie of  LunabudKnits to join me.  A beautiful selection of her hand dyed yarns will also be found in my shop space including some she whipped up with some of my fibers.  The girl is multi talented indeed. Follow the link above to check out her blog and Etsy shop and

learn more about her wonderful fiber arts and her visit to AllOneFarms recently.  She will be visiting the ArtWalk again next weekend and we just might put some combined "luna power" to spin up some new yarns or felted creations to add to the shop.

It has been a fun event with a variety of activities that began with the Thanksgiving Day Parade and continues every weekend (5 to 8 pm) evening through December 19. In addition to the programs at the State Theatre, which include screenings of vintage Holiday Classics such as "Miracle on 34th Street" this weekend, there is always live music and variety of quality vendors and artisans.  Last week a Harpist and Singer sat by my door and crooned to passers by while the vintage train ran between the Theatre and Santa Land. A couple of doors down at another huge Gallery Space the Dulcimer concert drew a nice crowd. Come down and check it all out and be sure to stop in to say 'hi' to me.