Spin-Off Poncho contest!

Update: Spin-Off finally hit the stands... so I think it's fair to include a pic. of my poncho here




















Well, I didn't mention this before because I didn't want to jinx it ya know... but it's now official! I am one of the winners (2nd place original design) in the Spin-Off Poncho contest! Woo Hoo! My poncho will be in the Winter edition of Spin-Off and I can't wait to see how they photographed it because it wasn't easy for me to photograph! The colors are yellows and lavenders which are sort of muted and it's hard to get the beauty of the color to show in a photograph. The poncho is a lace poncho, but sort of robust lace, not laceweight. I designed it myself... and it's really soft because I spun the yarn from a merino/silk/angora blend. I don't know if I'm allowed to post a photo so I'll wait until the magazine actually comes out... but you can color me tickled pink!

I am starting an online magazine!
It will be called "Spindlicity" and will be all about handspindles.  I am currently planning articles on spindle techniques, different types of spindles, a gallery of handspindled yarns, projects for spindlers, making spindles, interviews with professional spindle makers, ethnic and historic spindle use, peripheral projects like dyeing, knitting, weaving etc.  The target market is new spinners who haven't yet made the commitment to a wheel, re-enactors, spindle collectors, and spinners who love spindles.  I am sort of patterning it after both Spin-Off and Knitty.  The magazine will be quarterly with the first issue scheduled for December.  I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but already it's been a lot of fun!  It's certainly a lot more fun than thinking about my housing problems!





















If you're interested in writing an article or If you have any ideas for this magazine, I'd love to hear them!

I hope you'll all read Spindlicity in December!

My first pattern weave!

I just wove this scarf on my new (to me) 4 harness LeClerc jack loom. This picture shows what I think of as the "back side" of the scarf. The warp is a 2-ply silk... 1 ply bombyx and 1 ply tussah. The weft is a merino/bombyx blend that I dyed myself in shades of blue, green and purple. This is the first time I have ever done a pattern weave. Years ago I fooled around on a school loom doing some plain weave. This is ever so exciting!

Spindle of the week














This is a gorgeous spindle from Israel by Avi Wasserman. Those wood colors are inlay work and it's delicate and gorgeous. In addition, it spins quite well! I purchased this at the Black Sheep Gathering from the Carolina Homespun booth. If you haven't been to Black Sheep and you live on the west coast you should plan to go sometime. We don't have as many fiber festivals out here as they have on the east coast and Black Sheep is a really nice one.

Losing my house...

I have had a horrendous week... my landlord called to say she is selling our house. We've lived there for 13 years and it really feels like OUR house so it was quite a shock to learn we really don't own it! And to add insult to injury... apparently we've been living in fairy tale land, because we rudely found out that we can't really afford to live in Los Angeles anymore... If we have to move we will end up paying twice the rent we pay now, which will possibly eat into our savings and erode our house down payment money.... so we are in a quandary. In two weeks we will wing our way to Eugene Oregon to see if we can visualize ourselves living there... where one can still afford a house. Eugene is lovely and we'll probably end up liking it there, it's just that most of our friends are here...

sigh...

But on the bright side... hmm wait... I dont' think there is a bright side....

Oh wait... yeah... Eugene is lovely!