Introducing... ARTinis!

ARTinis are teeny little 1/2 oz. batts bursting with color and texture, just waiting to be spun up into a fabulous art yarn! ARTinis generally contain a little wool and a LOT of special fibers like bamboo, milk fiber, SoySilk, tussah silk, sari silk, tencel, Ingeo (corn firber), locks, snippets of yarn, etc.

Try them! You will like them! They are a lot of fun to make, so expect to see more of them showing up in the shop in the future. In the meantime, these two sets are sitting in the shop already, glimmering and sparkling and waiting for someone to take them home.

First set is here, second set is here.

Cheers!

Dyepot preview!

See Rachel dye.

Rachel likes to dye.



See Rachel dye wool.

See Rachel dye tussah silk from happy caterpillars.

See Rachel dye super-awesome MILK FIBER.

See Rachel dye angora from happy bunnies at Evergreen Vistas.




See the shop on Tuesday & Wednesday for brand new 1/2 oz. batts!

English Rose

Today I whipped up a batt set that instantly became one of my all-time favorites. English Rose is 3 ounces of hand-dyed mill ends (domestic wool with a touch of mohair) in two super soft squishy floofy batts just waiting to be spun or felted. If you spin it as is, the resulting yarn will alternate between rose by itself and barber-pole sections that twist dark green around the rose. Or you can separate the sections and spin it any way you choose! If you want it, grab it quick, before I decide to keep it for myself! And be warned... whoever spins this one up had better send me pictures! I can't wait to see the yarn it becomes!

Announcing... Phat Fiber!

Big news... I will be contributing to the April Phat Fiber Box! If you're new to Phat Fiber, check it out here. Basically, it is a box filled to bursting with little bits of fiber joy from dozens of indie fiber folk. Every box is unique, and each month is completely different. Past boxes have included such goodies as mini skeins of handspun, mini carded batts, locks, dyed roving, stitch markers, and hand-carved wood buttons! It's also stuffed full of coupons each month to the various shops contributing to the box. If you want one, you'll need to join the notification list so you'll be emailed when the boxes become available in the Phat Fiber Etsy shop. Phat Fiber is only a few months old, and the whole thing (box packaging, blogging, videos, Etsy shop sales, etc.) is all run by one woman, Jessie, and her husband Marcus. There are never as many boxes as people wanting them; last month they sold out in 90 seconds! So be sure to visit their website and get on the list so you'll have a chance of snagging one. If you aren't quick enough, there is a consolation prize... anyone on the list who doesn't get a box gets access to a secret website filled with coupons to the various shops. Did I mention there are frequent giveaways of full-sized items on the blog? Phat Fiber rocks! Come join us!

I sent in several kinds of samples this month. Here's a sneak peak at what some of the mini batts looked like:

The photo came out a touch too yellow, but you get the idea. 1/2 oz. is a nice size for batts. You can do a lot with mixing and matching them, and they're fun to card, so I think I'm going to make a few zillion more. I hope to have them in the shop by the end of the week.

To that end, I will be dyeing up some of this fabulous fiber:

Plus lots of tussah silk:

So stay tuned for great things hitting the shop later this week!