Yarn Treasure Box

It arrived!  My first wholesale order of yarn as Three Strands Fibreworks.  A 23 pound box full of Mango Moon yarn.   Mango Moon is one of several companies in the yarn world that work through women's cooperatives in needy areas of the world.  In this case Indonesia and Nepal.  Got to http://www.mangomoon.com/ to read more of their story. 

30 hanks of recycled sari silk,
20 skeins of recycled dyed viscose and
6 skeins of recycled rayon from sarongs

This yarn is amazingly soft and pliable for being a recycled product.  The colors are bold.  I have spent most of the day working out combinations of my new "toys" with existing stash. 

I have a wonderful mom who spent most of the day helping me wind it into centerpull balls so it's ready to weave into scarves, totebags and pillow tops. 

Getting ready for a large craft show in Joplin this December. 

I Love Yarn Day 2011!

October is a fiber rich month!  Not only is it chock full of Fall Festivals, it hosts both National Spinning and Weaving Week (Oct 3-7) and "I Love Yarn Day."  Having the day off work allowed me to actually spent my time elbow deep in fibery goodness.  Last week and today sported some pretty Fall weather, which meant spinning sessions on my front porch.

Having come back from 2 wonderful festivals, I have plenty of roving options to be working up.  I have my order in for good weather and an extended Fall season here in Missouri(at least on my days off).

 Left: an ounce of Angora/silk/mohair blend I bought at Toas, then plied with handspun ingeo                                                               Right: Alpaca/merino blend with added sari silk for color that I purchased from Ozark Carding Mill at Fiber Daze

I finally had success spinning something close to worsted (the alpaca/merino)!  An accomplishment given that I default to lace weight if I don't pay close attention.  I love how soft it turned out since I, for once, didn't strangle the single plies with overtwist.  Practice really does help - so does having good friends to mentor you...

Taos Wool Festival

Missouri meets New Mexico!  Several of us fiber fanatics made the flight to New Mexico for a week of classes (and shopping). 

Monday:
Arrived in Albuquerque - 159 miles of driving through some beautiful mountain country...this is NOT Missouri anymore!

Tuesday
Triad Dyeing Class

Triad Dyeing class taught by Peggy Doney from 100th Sheep.  This was a fantastic, very full day.  We started with 3 colors of dye...8 hours later we had a notebook full of 196 little snips of yarn all in different colors!  If you ever get a chance to take a class from Peggy, do.  We are already making plans!


Then after class we were encouraged to visit the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  Okay, I don't like heights!  But I went...

 The highlight to me was catching sight of a trio of Big Horn sheep at the canyon edge!

Wednesday:

Free day to go exploring and shopping!

Southwest Weaving

Wonderful displays of yarn sculptures, working weaving artists and of course lots of yarn to gawk at!

Then there was La Lana Wool...  Plant dyed natural fibers of all kinds.  Wonderful salespeople and too much yarn to choose from.  Check out the skeleton in the corner!!

I have already learned so much...and we have more classes to come....

Fiber Daze at Neosho, MO

What a weekend!  Two days of fiber fun with new and old friends.  There was lots of fur flying at the Crowder Agriculture Building in Neosho!  60+ knitters, spinners, weavers all in one place. 

Of course the vendors were wonderful.  I won't hold it against them that they way over tempted me (or show pictures of what I bought!).  We limit to Missouri fiber vendors and it always amazes me at what variety, quantity and quality we have right here.

I finally got up the nerve to join a class on knitting socks on 2 circular needles.  Now, I am a devoted DPN fan but our instructor Adrienne Rieck was great at explaining this and ....well I may consider it now.  She invited me to join the Ravelry group Year of Sock Stash.  Check out her blog:  http://www.knitandrun97.blogspot.com/.  By the end of the class I think we all had it figureed out!

The folks at Sarah Kate Fibers (http://www.sarahkatefibers.etsy.com/)
encouraged me to try Gottland wool...
ummm, so soft!

Another new to me vendor was Morning Moon Alpacas from Monett, MO.  I fell for her carmel colored batt of blended alpaca, merino and silk.  She had an alpaca cria born Friday and we got to see pictures!

Stay tuned for info on next year's Fiber Daze events.  Held the 4th weekend of September 2012.

Mozzarella Success!

One of the most magical things in the world is watching the transformation of "plain" old milk into cheese!  It amazes me that with a few very similar ingredients you can make so many very different types of cheeses.  I know just enough to make a real mess in my kitchen, but I keep trying.  The last few batches of mozzarella had been, well, okay, but not the fantastic creation I knew it could be.

So, today I made my next attempt.  The crazy thing about cheese making is the wait to see if it turns out the way you want it to.  Fortunately with mozzarella the wait is short.  The curds looked good, the whey clear and then the magic of stretching it (like taffy if you can imagine).  And this time...

Success!  You have not tasted mozzarella until you have it fresh and warm.  The garden is finally producing an abundance of tomatoes which means fresh, homemade sauce---I can taste the pizza already! 

Want to try it for yourself?  New England Cheesemaking Supply Company  has a lot of information for beginners including Ricki Carroll's book Home Cheese Making with all the recipes.

One warning ... like all the other hobbies I have, this one is addictive too!

Welcome

Welcome!  Thanks for stopping by. 

My name is Danelle and my life is hopelessly tangled in skeins, balls, hanks and bobbins of yarn!  I will try about any craft involving some form of fiber.  So far I have dabbled in spinning, crochet, knitting, tatting, weaving, quilting and sewing.  Having widely varied, yet loosely connected, interests can lead to some very interesting combinations.  My workbasket is never bland!  I also enjoy sharing these skills with others.  This Fall I will be attending several workshops and conferences-as both student and teacher.  I hope to give you a feel for these events as they happen.

Over the past several years I have found my hobbies becoming more and more tangled up with my faith is Jesus Christ.  As a Christian I believe that we can serve God with any talent He gives us.  I have been amazed at how He has used me and yarn!!  I look forward to sharing some of these discoveries with you.

Like many of you, I am a serious dabbler - meaning I still work a full time job to support myself and my addiction.  Also like many of you that I visit with, I have dreams of someday supporting myself with these skills and interests.  Dreaming doesn’t hurt right??  I have run out of people to give my creations to, so I have recently started a shop on Etsy, ThreeStrandsFibrewrk.etsy.com.  It is in the beginning stages as well, more on that later…

Well hopefully this gives you a feel for who I am and where I am going with this blog and that you are still willing to visit again.  I am learning as I go, so please feel to drop me comments.   I am eager to visit with you…