Advent time and fresh yarns

I have finally finished spinning the 4kg bulk order of merino slub yarn, and the first kilo is already swimming in the dyepot. Man I can’t wait for the yarns to be fully painted and dried so I can feel really good about the results. Here they are waiting to get some colour:

 

I also finished some new handpainted slub yarns for my ebayUK store, they are all of super bulky yarn weight and sold in small quantities so people can choose various colours for smaller projects, like e.g. freeform knitting, felting and also for dreadmaking of course!

 

Plus I drum carded a gorgeously soft handpainted lot of 4 merino wool batts this morning, which I have also displayed in my ebayUK store. The colours are really wonderful, all warm and earthy shades of lilac, peach, apricot and lemon, YUMMY!

I am currently spinning the same colours into a fingering weight yarn. Something I hadn’t had time for while I was working on the slub yarn order, so now I am thoroughly enjoying spinning a very fine yarn for a change )

 

It has been quite warm again recently, we are talking about 16-20 degrees Celsius, which is very unusual for November, and I don’t like it.  My blood pressure plays up, and I feel dizzy most of the day when the temperature jumps up and down like this. Nevertheless I am preparing for advent and christmas time,  I have to admit that if my sister hadn’t mentioned advent I would have forgotten about it, drowning in yarn orders and making fresh soap batches day and night,  no wonder I sometimes lose track of what season is currently up and around…Last week we there was a huge rainstorm pouring down for hours and hours.  Towards sunset the sky started clearing on the edges, and this is what it looked like -  It was very impressive and so breathtaking!!!!!!

 

 

Below is my advent wreath I bought 2 days ago. Over here in Germany we celebrate the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sunday until christmas eve by lighting a candle for each Sunday, meet with friends, bake christmas cookies and stollen, drink a lot of tea and  be merry and reflective…yes, people also go to church of course, but I admit that I am not too crazy about that part. I prefer to worship the supreme power through my work and through being with my family.

 

Well, it’s time for me to get back to the dyepot.  Everyone have a very good weekend!

 

 

COLOUR SWING

I felt like carding today and finished some mighty fine merino/silk blends! They are now out and displayed in my ebayUK store, and here they are, have a look:

And two handspun super soft merino yarns made it off the wool rack. Oooooh I am delighted and very pleased with the colourways, especially my “MON COEUR EN AUTOMNE”, here it is:

I think I will never ever get enough of those automn shades, they just make me feel so ad ease and are therefore a joy to spin.  The second yarn design is called “OPHELIA”:

 Both yarns are now displayed in my Etsy store and can also be custom made at any time. Feel free to contact me for more information.

New Yarns and Fibers

Yippieh, finally almost all of my latest yarns and fibers have made it off the wool rack! Handspun & handpainted extra soft merino slub yarns (= thick and thin yarns), handpainted fine wensleydale fleece locks for all feltmakers, handspinners and dollmakers, and ultra soft handpainted merino-silk rovings, all now out and displayed in my ebayUK store. Here they are in all their splendor:

 

 

And this new yarn beauty is called “INDIAN SUMMER” and is now displayed in my Etsy store )

 

There are some more rovings and also a new set of custom made felt strings that I haven’t taken any photos of yet, but I will display them in my next blog. Until then, everyone have a very find autumn season!!!!

Autumn Impressions

All my newly spun and painted yarns and fibres are still not ready to come off the drying board, BUT I have already finished half of the human hair custom yarn, which has come out very lovely, I am quite pleased with the result:

 

 

And because I have nothing else to show on my blog right now, I took my camera with me today when I went out for a walk with Sam. The forests and fields look so lovely  now with all their autumn colours, this season is so marvelous indeed!!  I hope you will enjoy my autumn impressions:

 

 

 

 

These three fellows here are beautiful Heischnucke sheep, and I have already told the one with the black fleece that I would very much like to have his fleece next spring when he won’t need it anymore… ;o)

AUTUMN SPLENDOR

So far I have finished 3kg of the 5kg bulk order of handspun and handpainted merino slub yarn …..yayh! The yarns are truly coming up nicely, and in between I have finished another custom order of 4 handmade felt strings, or oversize dreads if you like )

 

Plus a new custom order of handspun human hair yarns has popped in – yep, you read right, human hair. It will be part of a degree project, and believe me it’s not easy to spin human hair at all. I have received a total of 300g of hair, so that’ll keep me busy for at least 3 weeks. Hair does not stick to each other like sheepswool or plant fibres, it needs to be spun quite close to the orifice and get just the right twist so it’s not overspun but also won’t come apart when plied…a bit tricky.  As soon as the hair yarns are finished I will display them on my blog!

As to fresh batts, handspun yarns and rovings, I have finished the following fibre babes that I have all displayed in my Etsy store )

 

 

 

Okay, back to the wheel and on with my custom order.  Everyone, have a very good autumn season!!!

Baby Alpaca Beauties

In between spinning yarns and meeting deadlines for custom orders I have managed to finish 3 very beautiful handpainted ULTRA SOFT baby alpaca wool rovings, perfect for handspinning the cosiest yarns and for making gorgeous felt. I have shared them out among my Etsy store, my website and my ebayUK store:

 

Plus I have been painting fresh Bluefaced Leicester and Wensleydale fleeces, which will soon be listed in my ebayUK store for all the feltmakers, art yarn spinners and dollmakers out there )

So sorry that I haven’t got much time to write more but my spinning wheel is calling again, and my dyepots are filled with wonderful Bluefaced Leicester rovings that require some extra attention.

Brownies and custom orders

Okay, I have finished some of my present custom orders, and in between I had this strong urge for sugar, sugar and more sugar…it’s just that working-around-the-clock thing that makes you wish for a really good boost of calories to jump start your engines. So I took some time out one afternoon to make those:

A yummy lot of brownies, filled with chopped walnuts, lots of chocolate and cream cheese…HEAVEN!!!! They contain a wicked 1lb of sugar, and the fats…well, let’s just ignore those, okay? What a joy to eat  brownies and what  calorie bombs they are… I do not regret munching them down in no time at all!! )

Here are some photos of custom orders I finished this weekend:

One set of 5 double ended pitch black dreads, finger thick and super long with 200cm (that’s long!!), made from merino wool. NICE!

 

1 handpainted lot of ultra soft (18 micron) merino-silk roving, handpainted in various vintage pink and lilac shades. This one will go to a very lovely lady in Belgium who makes these marvelous award winning “HeartBear” teddies below:

The sweetest things I have ever seen indeed!

 

And last but not least my first kg (2.2lb) of the 5kg custom order of handspun/handpainted merino yarns in various colourways.  It will go to another very nice lady in…yep…Belgium ;o)

 

Apart from the custom orders I also finished 2 handspun slub yarn designs for my Etsy store, and a handspun and handpainted merino plied yarn beauty:

I have got more yarns that are still drying on the wool rack, so I will display those in my next blog. Now it’s time for me to eat…no, not brownies, but proper healthy food, and then get on with my yarns and fibres )

Winter Soaps and Rosemary

Again I haven’t got much time for my blog, so sorry! I just recently accepted a bulk order of 5kg … yes, you read right… 5kg of handspun and handpainted merino yarn. That’s 11lbs! Don’t ask about the deadline…Yep, autumn season is about to start, and I will be a very busy bee again. I will also be working on other incoming custom orders, which is actually good fun because having to spin and paint different types of yarns or fibres gives me variety and keeps me happy )

But today I would like to show you my latest soap batches that have just finished curing and are now displayed in my ebayUK store. I love every single one of them!!!

This one is a marvelous sandalwood scented frothy lot and very rich in unsaponified skin nourishing almond oil and silk proteins! It will help your skin stay ever so supple and smooth )

 

This  soap is particularly good for problematic skin because it contains lots of rosemary oil and henna extract.  These two ingredients both contain antibacterial components and are known to help  inflamed and itchy skin.

 

And of course I had to make some of my chubby goddesses!!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! This lot will make the perfect winter soap as it is packed with unsaponified cocoa butter, apricot kernel oil and  silk proteins.  It is indeed a very luxurious soap and good for all skin types, especially dry skin.

 

And didn’t I have some time left to create a new yarn design as well? Have a look at this one. I called it “FELLS OF CUMBERLAND”. No need to guess twice…yes, I miss Cumbria very very much….SNIFF…. I wish I could be there during autumn and just visit old friends, breathe the clear sea air, watch the clouds race across the sky and fill my soul with the impressions of green green hills and dales… YES, I do miss Cumbria very much, what can I say. So this very beautiful yarn, which represents the greens of the mountains and meadows and the dark purple of the blooming heather across the Northwest of Britain, is now out and displayed in my Etsy store:

33rd Medieval Market in Hirschhorn

I have just come back from the 33rd medieval market down in Hirschhorn, which is only 10 minutes from where I live.  Hirschhorn is a small and very beautiful town on the left side of the river Neckar. It has got loads of wonderfully restored medieval buildings,  a medieval market place and of course a great fortress/tower right above the town (you can actually walk up there with ease). Not to mention the great taverns and restaurants in the town centre, and the pastry shop, where I have not yet managed to walk by without buying at least one piece of cream cake……YUMMY!!!!!!!  Well anyway, here are some photos I shot from the medieval spectaculum, it was absolutely awesome!

First there was a parade starting at the market place down to the medieval village. The drummers are part of the Hirschhorn traditional groups that play and march several times throughout the year during various occasions and fests. I SO LOVE HEARING THOSE LARGE DRUMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

There was plenty of opportunity for children to try out the old crafts, which I thought was really great, and you could tell that the kids all had a ball!

There was music played at almost every corner, plus two large stages, one of which was taken by this very popular band, “MUSICA CANORA”,  with their enormous bag pipes and truly great songs. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their powerful music indeed! Plus the guys looked really handsom in those leather garments…. ;o) I said to my sister, who had accompanied me with her partner and their little son that I am a bit of a sucker for men with long hair, and all she replied was: “Yeah, as long as you don’t need to always remove that hair out of the sink and the bath tub!!!” I was crying laughing, mind you, her partner has got long hair too, so she probably knows what she’s talking about….

and yes of course there was also a handspinner around ) Her yarns were gorgeously soft and spun on a drop spindle. I sort of felt sorry for her wools and fleeces though because they caught on veggie matter and dust that was flying around from nearby stands ever so quickly, it almost made me wheep! Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I am still a bit reluctant to participate at such an event with my labourously spun yarn beauties… I think that they would need some sort of protection from the surroundings. But that lady was very relaxed about everything. Hey, it’s a medieval market after all!

 

Right, before I go I will display two new yarns, that I have listed in my Etsy store a few days ago….sorry….didn’t have time to show them on my blog any sooner:

Both yarns actually have the same colours in them but the top one is spun with a mix of white and grey wool, whereas the bottom lot is a handpainted skein that was spun with white wool. They are called “ILLYRIA” and “ILLYRIA II”. Hope you like them )

New Colours!

Just to let everyone know that I have added a new range of colours to my ebayUK store in the silk and merino wool section ) The first 2 are wonderful taupe and cafe latte Merino wool rovings, perfect for handspinning cosy yarns, for felting and dreadmaking projects, and the last 2 are pure mulberry silk rovings/tops in aubergine purple and turquoise, also fantastic for handspinning, adding to felting projects and for paper making. Hope you like them D