Learning to spin yarn has not been an easy pursuit for me. But after several classes and a good bit of practice, I’m starting to see some progress. It has helped me to use colorful fiber that I liked working with. The natural browns and off-whites looked so much like kitty hairballs that it was discouraging.

With gorgeous, bright colors it’s hard to not love the outcome – even if it is a bit over twisted.

My workload on the farm has increased heavily recently so I am having to cut back on some of my “responsibilities”.  After about a year of running the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival here on the Alpaca Farmgirl Blog, I am sad to say that I will not be hosting it anymore. That’s the bad news. But the GOOD news is that it is just moving….

…to Wonder Why Gal (Andrea’s) Wisdom Begins In Wonder Blog beginning next Friday.

I would still LOVE to see what you are doing with Fiber Arts. Please feel free to send me anything you’d like to share and I will blog about it. I’m always up for good ideas for fiber! There will still be Fiber-y posts here each Friday, but the Mr. Linky will be moving.

So next week link your fiber blog posts to the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival at Wisdom Begins In Wonder. Your hostess there, Andrea, raises suri alpacas. Her passion for alpacas and fiber is contagious. I believe she is the perfect person to carry the torch for Fiber Art Fridays!

January 22nd, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, fiber, Fiber Arts Friday, hand spun yarn, merino. colorful hand spun, over spun, spin, suri alpacas, Wisdom Begins In Wonder, Wonder Why Alpaca Farm, Wonder Why Gal, yarn | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (9)

Picture this but as a HOUSE! photo from the Yurt Alert

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about yurts on an alpaca farm in the Green Alpaca video. I just learned about Kate Pokorny’s mission to crochet a yurt. Her plan is to create a functional yurt out of a continuous strand of felted wool to create a lovely self-supporting housing structure, like a wooly igloo. In this short video Kate talks about her project:

Kate is working with Kickstarter to raise funds for the yurt. Your donation will help her be able to create the wooly yurt, and depending on the level, you can get your own mini-yurt or even a visit to stay in the yurt. Learn more about donating here. Read a great article about Kate knitting an entire house at The Daily Green and at The Daily Grommet. You can learn more on Kate’s site, the Yurt Alert. Please consider donating (even a dollar) to this project. It’s huge!

So what have you Fiberistas been up to this week? Baking? Shopping? Wrapping? Cooking? Have you had time for your fibery pursuits? Let us know below. Link your blog posts.

(And Don’t Forget to Shop with our Fiber Arts Friday Participants this holiday season. Their links are to their shops. Consider buying handmade from these fiber artists.)

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. In the Mr. Linky wigdget below add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related .
2. If using a blog, Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s shops! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants’ blogs as possible. Leave them some comment luv.

December 18th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca farm, crochet, felted wool, Fiber Arts Friday, Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival, Green Alpaca, Kate Pokorny, Kickstarter, The Daily Green, The Daily Grommet, wooly igloo, wooly yurt, yarn yurt, yurt, Yurt Alert | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (3)

Santa Reindeer Knitting Pattern

What’s not to love with this precious reindeer pattern from Fuzzy Mitten? You can purchase the pattern here. The minute I saw it my Christmas spirit soared! Be sure to visit all the Black Friday Fiber Arts Participants’ shops and think handmade this holiday season.

What have you been up to this week? Share it with Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. In the Mr. Linky wigdget below add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related .
2. If using a blog, Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s shops! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants’ blogs as possible. Leave them some comment luv.

December 11th, 2009 | Tags: arts, Christmas, fiber, Fiber Arts Friday, Fuzzy Mitten, knitting, knitting pattern, pattern, reindeer | Category: Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (8)

My first hand spun yarn

At my latest spinning class (yes, I have needed several) my instructor suggested we get a lovely little basket, place the basket on the counter with our very first hand spun yarn in it. Display it where people would ask about it. Tell them that, yes, this was hand spun yarn. Your first, actually.

Other spinners have told me to be sure to save my first hand spun yarn. That I will look back on it later after I have become a fabulous spinner, and smile fondly at the first yarn with satisfaction for how far I’ve come.

These are such nice ideas, such wonderful sentiments. And the people who have suggested them are some of the most kind, talented, and generous people I know. But these suggestions just don’t work for me.

I’m sorry, but my first hand spun is ugly. Not charmingly uneven. Just plain butt-hair ugly. My mother would say, “It looks like a bad accident.” It looks like what the cat throws up. My first hand spun yarn (and my second) are way unusable and heinous. Now that I think about it, I think the second one is even worse than the first. I will never look upon them lovingly. Spinning has been a challenge for me. A Herculean task to learn it. I am not good at “stick-to-it-ness” but somehow I trudge on, trying to learn.

Along the way, the yarn that was made is full of swears, curse words, and frustration. I cannot give it a place of honor on the mantle, so what in the world to do with it? I mean, I hate to throw it away…

As I pondered this while unloading the dishwasher, a blip of inspiration zipped by me. There she was. The answer. My precious new kitten, Tabitha! As she ran past me, sliding around on the kitchen floor, gleefully batting a lego around, a light bulb went off over my head. Maybe SHE will like it. A kitten playing with a ball of yarn is as classic an icon as Coca-Cola.

I rolled it up into a ball, and gave it to kitty.

Kitty checks out the ball of alpaca yarn

She looked at it. She sniffed it. She may have pawed it once or twice.

"What else ya got?"

She did not like it either.

Any other ideas on what one can do with early hand spun yarns?

What have you been up to this week? Link below to the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival.

Shop with last week’s Fiber Arts Friday Participants this holiday season. Their links are to their shops. Consider buying handmade from these fiber artists.

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. In the Mr. Linky wigdget below add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related .
2. If using a blog, Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s shops! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants’ blogs as possible. Leave them some comment luv.
   

December 4th, 2009 | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (17)

Hand Dyed Alpaca Yarn on Etsy

This week on Fiber Arts Friday we want to highlight our Fiber Arts Friday participants’ shops. You can link your blog if you want, but you are welcome to use this week as an opportunity to promote your Etsy (or independent) shop.

Buy Handmade this Christmas and shop with our Fiber Arts Friday participants!

Fiber Arts Black Friday Carnival!

To participate:

1. In the Mr. Linky wigdget below add the permalink to a specific blog post or store that features something Fiber Art related .
2. If using a blog, Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s shops! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants’ shops as possible. Heart their products you like on Etsy and shop til you drop!
   
4. Tell your friends about this carnival. Let’s all help each other and promote each others’ shops on Facebook and Twitter. Stumble and/or Digg this post. Blog about it. Spread the word! Vote for small farms and indie artists with your dollars this holiday season. Happy Holidays!

November 26th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca yarn, Black Friday, Buy Handmade, fiber, Fiber Arts Friday, shop | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (17)

Quick Announcement: On Black Friday (next week) – we will be having you link your store, Etsy or otherwise, to Fiber Arts Friday. While I love promoting blogs, this will give fiber artists who don’t blog a chance to participate in Fiber Arts Friday, and for us to be able to promote buying handmade for the holidays. Spread the word!

Needle Felting

When I attended the Southeastern Fiber Fair I took a class called “Painting with Wool”. It was awesome! I love the technique, and the results. I’m not much of a 3-D thinker so the “in the round” needlefelting is more difficult for me, plus sticking needles into a flat surface was much safer for me. I tend to prick myself otherwise.

Here are some pictures of what people in our class created:

Want to learn more about wool painting? Check out Pat Spark’s website. Leave a comment with any other good needle-felting and/or wet felting resources you may have.

So what have you been doing this week? Share with us on Fiber Arts Friday.

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. Add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related, rather than your general blog address and not your Etsy store. (Please DO put a link in your blog post that takes us to your store though.)
2. Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s projects! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what helps us all connect!

November 20th, 2009 | Tags: Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday, needle-felting, wet felting | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (7)

Announcement: On Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving) – we will be having you link your store, Etsy or otherwise, to Fiber Arts Friday. While I love promoting your blogs, I  know there are many fiber artists who don’t blog. This will give them a chance to participate in Fiber Arts Friday, and for us to be able to promote buying handmade for the holidays. So tell your friends and get your shops ready!

This week I’ve been dyeing up a storm. (all the alpaca fiber and yarns are still wet, so pictures will be coming next week) During this process I wanted to create a color that isn’ t one of the colors I can just find already made up. I was stumped. Remember I’m a novice... I finally figured it out. Use the color wheel. duh. Here’s a site with an interactive color wheel. These things are so helpful. Reading about color theory is probably another good idea. I particularly like Color Choices: Making Color Sense Out of Color Theory. Do you have any color resources that you’d like to share with us? Either leave a link in the linky or in a comment.

So what have you been doing this week? Share with us on Fiber Arts Friday.

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. Add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related, rather than your general blog address and not your Etsy store. (Please DO put a link in your blog post that takes us to your store though.)
2. Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s projects! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what helps us all connect!

November 13th, 2009 | Tags: color, color theory, color wheel, Dyeing, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Category: Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (6)

Hand-dyed Alpacafarmgirl yarn knitted by Janet Metzger

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Whether it’s learning to play an instrument, speak a new language, or learn a fiber art skill – it takes the p-word. This can be a challenge.

Yes, the fiber/yarn/supplies are fabulous. You love them. You’re dying to learn a new skill. You can’t wait to create that special project…

But what happens when you don’t pick it up easily or quickly? Or you get frustrated? What do you do? How do you handle your “stuckness”?

Those who know me know that I struggle with learning to spin. Knitting is fun, but can also occasionally make you want to pull your hair out.  How do you fiber artists do it? Leave a comment and tell us your tips for pushing  through the pain?

Then share your fiber-related blog posts with us on Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. Add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related, rather than your general blog address and not your Etsy store. (Please DO put a link in your blog post that takes us to your store though.)
2. Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s projects! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what helps us all connect!

November 5th, 2009 | Category: Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (12)

Last weekend at SAFF I took two classes on dyeing. It fascinates me how many ways you can dye things. Different people use different methods. Some use acid dyes, while others use plants, Easter egg dyes, or food coloring. Some use kettle dyeing, others use steam, a crockpot, or a microwave to activate the color of the dyes. I find the whole process magical, and I enjoy hearing of other cool ways to dye!

Dyeing Supplies

Immersion Dyeing

Dyed Roving

What’s your favorite way to dye? Any cool techniques that you have to share? Leave a comment and tell us.

Time to share what you’ve been up to with your fiber this week.

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. Add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related, rather than your general blog address and not your Etsy store. (Please DO put a link in your blog post that takes us to your store though.)
2. Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s projects! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what helps us all connect!

October 30th, 2009 | Tags: Blog Carnival, crockpot, dyed roving, Dyeing, Easter egg dye, fiber arts fridays, kettle dyeing, microwave, SAFF | Category: Events, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (10)