Sheep Painting

Like the new header for the blog??  My mom painted me this picture of a sheep!  It's so cute!!  She loves to paint, and she's also really good at it.  She said that if anyone here was interested in buying a sheep painting, she would be interested in selling them for $20 (plus shipping).  Just email me (cutler05@gmail.com) or leave a comment if you're interested in buying one to decorate your home or weaving room!  I have it flipped on my header because of the title, but this is how it really looks:

 

 
 Lately I've been collecting sheep things because I love wool!!  I love to spin wool and weave wool!  I love things made of wool and from sheep!

The Fair results are IN!

All I have to say is, Wow. 

 
In 2010 when I first entered the fair, I was amazed that I won best of class with this one:

Then, in 2011, I thought it was grand that I received best of show for my pinwheel scarf, and it felt like I outdid myself from 2010!

And this year, in 2012, I didn't think it was possible to outdo myself from those other years, and yet I think I did!  I received two best of class ribbons this year on my animals!

The alligator and lion were entered under the home decor class as a group of stuffed animals:

The armadillo won best of class for weaving!

 My table runner won 1st place in the woven design category!

 My blues dishtowel won first place in the woven kitchen item category!

 My hand-dyed hound's tooth scarf won 2nd place in the hand-dyed category!

 

 

Here are some other woven items that I liked and they were made by fellow weavers, although I don't think I know them.  I didn't recognize the names anyway. 

This dishtowel had a great use of color and design! I want to make something like this!  In fact, it has a great texture, and I know this because I helped volunteer in this department this year and was able to feel and play with everything!

This shawl has a wonderful texture, and it's so lightweight and warm feeling!  It's also very soft.  And when the light hits it just right, you can see different designs.  Very beautiful!  It deserves its first place ribbon!

I came in after school one day to volunteer to arrange and hang things.  I did all the quilt hangings on my own!  It was so much fun to touch, see, and feel the things up close.  I had a really great time!   I loved this behind the scenes experience, and I hope to repeat it next year.
 

I love this arrangement of jars... it looks so organized and neat!  The department superintended did this while I worked on the quilts.  It looks so nice!

 

These were the hardest to hang!  I had to climb up on a ladder and then stretch to reach the top of the inch-thick plexiglass.... this is a professional hockey stadium!

 I really liked this sheep cross-stitch!  It's so cute and it inspires me in more than one way.  I can see potential with this one...
 

And here are some fun pictures from the evening!  I had a jolly good time!  I also got to see some of my students and their livestock projects.  It was fun to share in something that was not school related!   

Adios Fair...

Until next year...

...And I wonder what that will bring!!

The county fair

I almost didn't do the county fair this year... I decided to, then I would change my mind, then I would change it back, and then finally I said No WAY!  Then a friend from church finally talked me into it last weekend.  So at the last minute, I decided to enter my armadillo.

I also got roped into volunteering 2 nights this week to help set-up, and a 3rd night during the weekend to help gather projects and clean up.  Our local county fair is struggling pretty bad in this area, in fact, last year we almost didn't have one but because people were willing to give up their time, the fair was a go, but barely.  I figured I needed to give some of my time to this good cause.  Besides, it's good, healthy entertainment for families, and I wanted to be a supporter of it.  And everyone knows you can't support from the sidelines!

Here is the armadillo, to remind you:

This exact one belongs to someone else in Kansas, but mine looks somewhat like this one.  I like this ones eyes much better though!  They're so big and blue!

I also entered the lion and alligator in the sewing section, under the set of toys category.

I entered the overshot table runner that looked like it was colored by crayons.

I entered the blues dishtowel.

 
And my dyed hound's tooth scarf in the dyeing section.

Later, I remembered my cool blue and white rug, but I figured I had enough with what I entered this year!

The gray area

This person wanted the hounds tooth design but not quite so much black.  They wanted black, white and gray.  I didn't really want to do 3 shuttles, so I came up with this plan that only uses 2 shuttles, but all 3 colors:

They loved it!

And here we go again!  Warping these is SO fast!  I will forever be jaded now.
This person wanted gray and white fringe, so that is why gray and white are here but not in the pattern.

 And it looks JUST like the picture!

This particular white is SOOOO soft!  It's almost like a phony mohair... a "pho-mohair!"

And it's off to California!!!

I had another friend request one JUST LIKE THIS ONE!  So I'll add it to my list of polyester scarves that I need to weave!

I'm going to meet my goal of 10 well before the craft show!  That means I'll have to restock my supply of polyester yarn!  Ayi yi yi!!  Who would have predicted?! 

Mastering the Art of Polyester Weaving

The pink hounds tooth scarf was so popular, I need to make another one for someone who wanted the first one, but I didn't have any more of the first yarn!  It worked out really well though because the person who wanted the first one didn't like fluorescence at all, and the first one had a slight fluorescence to it.

Perfect matches all around!!

(This is the 2nd pink scarf, by the way!)

 1st is left side / 2nd is right side

 

And I've sold 5 more... back to the loom I go!!!

Plus I need to weave 1 for my sister!!

And 1 for myself!!

 Good thing these scarves are quick and easy!

5 months of Trees

The days of the month are in the 20's again... and so here is another tree update!

Oddly, I feel obligated to make it to next May with these pictures!

 

I think this is a really cool project!  I'm almost half way through the year.  I bet next month we will start seeing changes in the leaves!

Sizzling polyester scarf!!

"Sizzling" is the word for this scarf... it's almost too hot to touch!

With this scarf and the last few, my world has been flipped up-side down!

It's polyester.

POLYESTER!!!!!  From a consignment store (next step up from a thrift store!)

What the heck is wrong with me?!

Polyester wasn't even in my vocabulary for years.  I rid my whole yarn collection of polyester a few years ago.  I was a wool, cotton, and natural fiber fan.  I was a purist.  I was a naturalist.  I was a YARN SNOB!!!

But a different world exists around me, they have the money to fund my weaving adventures and they are not always fans of wool and cotton, or the prices of those either.


So I changed my perspectives.  Polyester is so cost effective and these scarves are so fast to warp and weave, why not lower my prices for my customers?  I'm already competing with stores like Old Navy and Wal-Mart, whether I like it or not.  But why can't I compete?  Why can't I cut my prices, too?  If I'm saving time and money by using polyester, I should pass those saving onto my customers.  Besides, if I sell more stuff, aren't I the one winning in the end?  Not only do I get more money to put back into the weaving, but I also end up with more things to weave!  A win, win scenario!!  I love weaving for work.

Welcome to my new world of polyester yarn.

There is a craft show coming up this fall and for the last 2 years I haven't been able to sell a single handwoven item... not a single one.  My biggest sale was 3 jars of apple jelly.  Things will be different this year.  This year, I hope to master the art of selling polyester scarves.... I shall officially name them "Not Your Grandma's Polyester Scarf".

My goal is to sell 10 scarves.

 I already have orders for 2 more, thanks to Facebook!

Oh, and my nephews LOVED the scarves!  And my sister LOVED the scarves!!  She threatened to steal one from the kids, so I promised her I would make her one so the kids didn't have to share 1 scarf for their birthdays.  Here they are modeling their lovely scarves! 

The one on the right has it pulled nearly to the floor, although I assure you it really isn't that long!  Silly guys!

Mental note to self: I LOVE the short color changes!!
 

They pack a much more powerful punch in this pattern than the long ones like on my rainbow hounds tooth scarf.  I will keep this in mind next time I dye some wool.

On The Good Ship Lollipop

Remember the rainbow yarn I dyed in mason jars in my pressure canner?

 

Well, with my new addiction to the giant hounds tooth pattern, I decided to give this yarn a try.  I figured it would probably work out, but if it was an epic disaster, it at least has super softness on its side.... And if all else failed, I was pretty sure my dad would accept it as a gift and at least hide it sight unseen under his jacket on his cold morning walks.  So, I figured I had nothing to lose!

Up close, it's a little confusing of a pattern and doesn't stand out real well.

 But from a distance, it looks really cool!

This was raw wool that came from eastern Washington state.  We checked it in our suitcase when we flew back to Arizona and we ended up with an inspection that trip!  I'm sure that the drug dogs found it because it smells so animal-like, and then I'm sure the TSA wondered what the heck was wrong with this passenger!  And our luggage smelled like a farm animal for a little while after.  It was super dirty, even though I washed it many times.  Finally, in this last wash it came out white.  Really white!  Like snow white!  There's a few bits of grass that's stuck here and there, but the more I work with it, the more that falls out.

  And it's SOOO soft! 

It's harder to see the hounds tooth pattern in this scarf, but it's still very pretty in its own way and also so colorful!  But most of all, I love how soft it is.

So much fun!!!