First Fibre Stop Was...

Wool hand dyed by Lucy Richards and Heidi

Heidi Wulfraat of London-Wul was our first stop. She is located outside of Moncton, NB in Lakeburn. We went there last year for the first time and knew that this was a definite stop this year. Heidi was so helpful and friendly. Her website is www.thewoolworks.com. She advised me on the spinning wheel I should be looking for (at a reasonable price). Her variety of wool is awesome along with her own hand dyed wools and fabrics. It is eye candy for fibre artists for sure. Dare I stop on my way home:)...

While there I met Lucy Richards of The Wooly Mason Jar. She has a wonderful method of gradation dyeing in mason jars. There were quite a few samples of her wool so I bought a couple - oranges and purples. I am going to be using them in my new design for the Creativity class I am taking at Deanne's in October.

Shibui yarn for Stephen West Mystery Shawl Kal

These were some Shibui yarns I picked up for the Stephen West Mystery Shawl KAL that is happening right now on Ravelry. If you are a knitter or crocheter this is the place to be. The challenge is that this is going to be a colourful shawl...out of my normal colouring box. I have no idea of the design so should be interesting.. anyway I love the colours so anything done with them I figure will be good...if not fantastic.. got some apple, honey and raspberry. How yummy is that?

Have a great day...Joni

In the Dyepots Today

Today I am in dyeing mode. I have been putting it off because of the rain, since I like to hang my pieces outside to dry. I am going to be doing these colours, Wooly Sheep, Tantramar Marsh, Homestead Blue & Lemongrass Tea. Ohhh I just love the blue and the lemongrass. 

When I was in Maine in May I bought myself two white dye pots. They are great as they can hold 2 yards at a time and give the wool that nice mottled look I love. This run I am dyeing 15-1/2 yards - a whole bolt! 

Guess it is going to be over 3 days - no way do I have the time today for all that. Closing ceremonies are on at 4:00PM and I am an Olympic junkie. I only watch sports every two years... isn't that a hoot! Have a great Sunday! 

an earlier dye run of pink posey 

Quiet Moments for Dyeing

It's a busy household with a new puppy.. when he's awake, it's a constant check to see what he is up to. Amazing how quickly they can get into mischief. I must say he does take puppy naps so during that time I get things done. This weekend I did some dyeing of colours I felt were lacking in my stash...
They are done on 5-6 different textures and all in the same bath. I like to vary it up a bit when I dye. Rarely do I dye yards of natural wool unless it is for the Island Cottage Needlearts end of the business. I like bits and pieces of variety.

I am going to be using the Robins Egg Blue for my background on this Honey Bee rug hooking pattern. I think I may offer it as a kit also on my website. The paper pattern is available there as are all these wools.

Sharon just e-mailed me with a new rug she designed. I love bunnies. This one is called Bunny Umbrella. Her rugs are so whimsical! This one will be available the end of May along with her other 3 new ones. She is so productive! Wish I could have just a quarter of her output...

Happy Hooking...

Creative Musings!

This book was recommended by someone on another blog. I ordered it and it is a fabulous book on American Folk Art. I have been looking through it and it has given me lots of creative thoughts. This week I have been spending time just mulling and cooking in my mind. Looking at things around me with a different eye. I have been madly pinning to my pinterest board, which to me is a great tool for inspiration. It can be a colour, a design element, the line of something in a photograph or a feeling from a photograph. It is a whole lot of everything that gets melded down to one or two thoughts of what I would like to put on paper and then hopefully a rug. It's been a week of dyeing fabric and cutting it into little rectangles. It allows me to let my mind wander....freely....

The second book of the collection, which I have not received yet, but if it is anywhere as good as the first it will be worth the price.

This was another book recommended on a blog. I have always wanted to add a braided border to a rug and this book has loads of information and is beautifully put together!

... and this is what I have been up to - dyeing yards and yards of wool to cut up in these little rectangles. I also learned something new about photography from one of my pins on pinterest.. white balance - now who knew about that - not me. I am terrible about not reading manuals that come with things. Let alone finding them after the fact. So the wool above was taken with white balance - and how true is that to the colour - pretty true I can say. The next picture.. hmmmm.. not so good..before white balance trick. You'd think it was a different wool. I have a really nice camera - I should use it more instead of my quick and easy iphone LOL...lesson learned. Important if you want to sell your stuff - good pictures will make or break a sale...

Oh - and exciting news for today - February 1st...this is THE DAY when I start my on line course with Deanne Fitzpatrick. Can I say on top of the world - buzzing with creative thoughts.. hook ready to wiggle across my linen. So the last couple of nights I have been reading her book "Inspired" - wow! A wealth of information and talk about a confidence builder. Loved it....and I can see I will be going back to it often. I don't know where this course will take me. I want to revel in the feel of the wool and be free of constraints. So maybe my loops won't be oh so perfect and maybe they will squiggle, wiggle here and there and maybe there will be a tuck of sparkly yarn hidden among the wool loops but if I love it and think it is a thing of beauty then that is ok. I have to hook for myself and maybe that is a whole new path I am taking... we'll see. Have a great day.. Joni

Dyeing the Season

I am off to the Vermont Rug Hooking show at Shelburne today, but had to put together something to work on while there. So a quick sketch and a selection of wool and I am ready to be inspired! No snow here - YET!!! So had to design something with a snowman to get me in the mood. This one will be a pillow with a prodded edge - more on that in a later post.

Also got the dye pots out yesterday and dyed up some seasonal colours. Hard to tell but each colour has four different textures to the dye run. I think I may have to go darker with the patterns. The picture really does not show the subtle change in textures. To me  it is always an exercise in experimentation. Sometimes you never know what you may get from the dye pot. That is the adventure in the whole process! Off to pack....Have a great weekend. Joni