atomHEART fiber art

Black Forest Truffle Natural Black Merino

2008-01-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

This was my next project.....what to do with the natural black.

I ended up carding the raw black fleece with bits of handpainted merino locks and spun up the single with the sparkle that is midnight blue. I think it came out pretty good, the yarn is so squishy, it would make some really nice wristwarmers or a super soft hat. It is so amazing that I have like 7 pounds more of this fleece....must think of new ideas for it.

Black Forest Truffle is also on sale at my shop...which incendently I can' t figure out how to make clickable here.
(If anyone wants to help my make this blog more, um cool, please leave a comment and I will be very thankful!

http://www.atomheart.etsy.com

Parisian Twist Novelty Yarn

2008-01-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

Back to my wheel! We had a major storm and power outage that got me off my computer and back on my wheel.
I decided to work with the pounds of raw fleece from the Monterey Fleece Auction that I attended (and overspent at) this summer. White is easier to see in the dark.....

So here is what I carded up...

Soft white Romney locks, these were especially soft for Romney and provide a nice base to the batt when mixed with the shorter fibers of Targhee. The Targhee was a dirty little fleece when I got it, but is was the only one so I put in the elbow grease to get it scoured. It turned out really nice after 3 washings. I carded these two fleeces with some organic bamboo that I scored locally.

For fun I did a couple batts with some Champion Black Merino that won all the awards at the show, was the most expensive fleece per pound, but I couldn't let those old ladies have it!! Auctions can be scary....you forget what is going on and are just determined to win. But this fleece is SUPER soft, and I split the poundage with my aunt so it cut down on the price, which I will not repeat outloud.....lol!

I also snuck in some brown alpaca from a dear female alpaca that died this summer. Sad story, she died and then her son died. Her name was Nutmeg and her son was Hank... :(
Now that you know the details of this fleece you can see why it is so much more fun to process your own and buy locally from people who treat their animals well and don't use chemical. Plus it costs SO much less. I love it.

So I then spun two singles from these handcarded batts with some tailspun locks of romney and some polka dot bows spun, not tied into the single. I then plyed it onto itself and voila, we have Parisian Twist.

This yarn is for sale at my shop:

http://www.atomHEART.etsy.com

and was submitted to the Yarn Museum's Current White Show... check them out!

http://yarnmuseum.com/gallery_shows_changing/white_gallery.html

Redemption

2008-01-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

Mama redemption is mine as I cleverly decide to make the yarn into a gift for son's birthday.
Coupled with a special crystal from our collection, Tejah now has a little gift and his normal mama back.

Striking a pose with his new bag...

When the spindle is most useful.....

2008-01-01T23:05:00.000-08:00

Versatility is definitely a plus when working with a spindle. But what really helps when you are running away from an angry two year old is the spindle's portablity.
Here is my Crazy Mama Art Yarn. Seriously if you had been in earshot of me while spinning this you wouldn't question the name. I swear there are good vibes in it though!

On the niddy noddy (that broke later....)

And all done up.....mama is crazy yarn
hello to crazy.." />

Just for good measure- a pic of my innocent looking two yr old to show you what a nice kid he is, and because I feet awful about how crazy mama really got trying to spin her yarn.... on your birthday! :(

Trials and tribulations of the spinning mama.....

2008-01-01T22:36:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to share a little story about how my fiber frenzy went astray, how I lost my cool, fell in love with my spindle and then turned my obsession ( see crazy woman face here) into a gift for my son because, gulp, today is his birthday...

It all started harmlessly. I decided to try and make something resembling an art yarn with all this weird ribbon and sparkle and stuff even tho I had a number of things going against my idea.

First, my old traditional Ashford dosen't have flyer suited to spin super bulky yarns and the little hooks entangle the ribbons and (%*)_#(#__#(**!

Second, I had exactly one hour between making breakfast and getting my 2yr old ready to go to his birthday party which was held at my mothers because I am too bleeping pregnant to pull it together...literally.

Third, I am 33 weeks pregnant and weighing twice as much this time, and damn it if I didn't feel like I wanted to see anyone today, or think about the fact that I would soon be birthing another little person who would innocently take me away from my fiber obsession.... (oh poor me...)

This is what happened.....pictures included but swearing and sweating removed for your mental safety...

Tackling my merino I decide to attempt to just make it work on my wheel....
Twenty minutes later I am swearing and am feeling like NOTHING will stop me from making MY yarn.
Wheel is not cooperating.....innocent son decides to take my angelina and sprinkle it all around the room....then the bamboo.
I walk out of the room to get the phone and when I get back this is what I find......

Tejah had done some.... "rearranging".
He also decided to oil my wheel with lavender salve, the orfice was full of it.
Instead of taking a pic I decided to put the camera down and take some deep breaths....go to my happy place.

Where is my bobbin?

Spinning Wheel Aftermath!

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle Knitted Set

2007-12-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here is the full life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.
We have the eggs on the milkweed plant.
The catepillar.
The chrysalis.
The butterfly!

Monarch Butterfly and Chrysalis

2007-12-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

After 2 weeks the Monarch emerges from the chrysalis and flies away!

Monarch Catepillar and Chrysalis

2007-12-20T14:13:00.001-08:00

This is a knitted set I made up for my 2 yr old who loves "bubbles". The butterflies are wintering here in Santa Cruz at Natural Bridges Park down the street. It is so nice to watch them flying about in the last warm rays of sun.

2007-12-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

2007-12-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

My Knitting Basket

2007-12-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

How I love the random order of my knitting basket.
Mine now contains an unfinished sock, a finished baby sock, a pair of finished longies, a baby sweater, booties, some loose bamboo fiber, my carders, some Christmas cards and cough drops, all topped off with some unwashed handspun.
Ode to the basket o' fiber!

Third Skein.....Desert Sunset

2007-12-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

So this is a single ply BFL that I divided up and plyed to make a aran/bulky weight yarn. The single that I knitted up into a baby hat is so super soft and sheeny, I love this colorway. It was handpainted by vedabliss.etsy and was part of a wonderful trade.

Be Kind- Rewind and Recycle Wool

2007-12-18T23:43:00.000-08:00

This little skein called out to me this morning as I noticed a lonely gapping hole in a favorite purple sweater from my childhood. Instead of sending the sweater to Goodwill I decided to recycle it and turn into something new.
TaDa! Violet Fire was born.
It is a two ply wool mohair blend mixed with a handspun BFL single that was hand dyed.
Now I must decide what to make with it.... a new way to love my old sweater.

Three Skein Day

2007-12-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

Here is the first skein I worked on today. It is a laceweight merino single and a chunky BFL single plyed. It is so super squishy, the best of both worlds, my two favorite fibers. Both are from humane no chemical farms which make them that much more snuggly. :)