New towels.....

 Newly woven towels are now in my etsy shop ready to find new homes.  

I love these bumbaret towels, so colorful. They are a pain to warp though with a warp color change every three ends..….but worth it, I'll weave these again in the near future, maybe more tropical bright colors next time.

Making progress......

It feels good to get to spend some time in the studio again. There will be disruptions throughout the year with some house renovations but for the most part I'm getting back to spending more time being creative........hope I didn't jinx it by making that statement........

Today I did some photography work - here are the latest towels to come off the loom, they are now listed in my etsy shop for sale. I hope buyers like them because I sure do, so much so I may end up keeping a few for myself.

I also took photos of these scarves, they've been waiting in the wings since spring but when we started packing up the other house getting it ready to put on the market they got packed away. Now they are up for sale in my etsy shop. Making headway here and there in the studio and it feels great.....

Next up is to pull out some 6/2 cottons for towels, I don't often weave with this thicker cotton but it does make a nice thick and thirsty towel. Would love to use it all up and empty that section of the shelf to make room for the cones of chenille I brought back home from the beach cottage. So, new project planning coming up next.

Last February I joined in on a quilt project from Sew Cute quilt shop in Dillard, it's between here and the coast. Each month for 9 months I religiously picked up my packet, the first month also included the booklet and some templates. Did I start any of these, heck no, I didn't have time..........I was getting a house ready to put on the market and packing up much of my studio so it showed better. So, a year late I will be starting it - whoo hoo.  I'm not going to get obsessed with working on it all the time, will just do it here and there because I want to have plenty of time to weave, spin, knit, sew, etc.

Southwest Sunset Shawl

I finally decided to sell this shawl. It's handspun and handwoven. I kept thinking I'd keep it for myself but I haven't worn it so it's time to see if someone else would love this lovely piece. It's handspun merino wool, tussah silk, mohair, bamboo, tencel, ribbon, rayon with a bamboo weft. Lovely autumnal colors. It's listed in my Etsy shop HERE.

Towels back in stock.........

Yesterday was spent at the embroidery machine stitching up some towels I had sold out of and stitching up a new design, the autumn wreath. These are all for sale in my etsy shop along with many other holiday and everyday towels. I just love the designs available from Embroidery Library and Urban Threads.

I made this fun holiday star at the American Sewing Guild meeting earlier this week. It's fabric, 2 different fabrics bonded to each other. I was using stash from my cupboard, I love the black fabric with colorful snowflakes on it. I think this will look fun hanging in our octagon window in the stairwell.  I can picture these in different sizes in red, white & blue fabrics, hanging on the front porch railing for July 4th. They would do just fine outside since we get no rain in the summer.

Two new shawls & stash sale yarn update

I finally got the shawls recently woven finished up - they needed to be washed and have the fringes twisted. These are woven in an undulating twill pattern in rayon, rayon slub, bamboo, rayon cotton novelty and rayon seed novelty yarn. These make me think beach wedding or beach/cruise vacation.

There are shades of taupe, peach, off white and pale mint green in the warp.  In this one I used a white novelty rayon for the weft. This shawl is so light and lovely, almost fly away......

.....this one I used a heavier weft in a peach rayon seed yarn - it's a heavier shawl but still perfect for cool summer nights.  Both are available in my etsy shop in the Shawls - Handwoven section of the shop.

There's an update to the Stuff for Sale section of this blog - more destashing of yarns. Details can be found in the Stash Sale Section of my other Etsy Shop.

Etsy shop update

New embroidered towels added to my etsy shop.

Check out the shop section titled embroidered towels to purchase them and others.

Close-out Sale

I'm having a close-out sale on felting/spinning kits in my etsy shop. I'm no longer going to be making these up and am ready to move them on out of the studio.

This kit is regularly $22.00 - it's now on sale for $17.00

These kits are usually $28.00 - they're on close-out sale for $22.00

Click HERE to purchase

Notecards listed in shop

I just listed 7 different styles of handwoven blank notecards (with envelope) in my etsy shop for sale - they can be found in the Notecard/Greeting Card section of my shop. Many of these will work for holiday cards in addition to everyday all occasion cards. And what a deal - buy 3 cards and I'll throw in a free card of my choice. So much nicer than a plain old mass produced printed paper card for the same amount of money.

More ice-dyed scarves

 I have more ice dyed scarves up for sale in my etsy shop..........well, except for the one above as I decided I needed to keep this one for myself. I might even embellish it a bit with beads on each end.....will be giving it thought.

Here are the new ice dyed scarves that made it to my etsy shop. I love them all but isn't the lavender/coral one sweet. It's tempting to keep that one for myself also but I listed it and will give it more thought.   I've got some more that I washed out this morning, they need ironing and photographing before they're ready to sell.

Feeling like I'm spinning my wheels these days with administrivia, both in my business life and personal life....unfortunately I can't do much about the personal administrivia, it's just a part of life. I'm working on some changes to alleviate some of the time sucking business administrivia though, have one exit strategy worked out, still thinking on what to do about the other stuff. My goal is to free up more time to create but not necessarily create for sale. I have to-do lists that are miles long but I never free up time to work on those projects. I talk about change each year yet it doesn't seem to materialize but this time there will be changes come winter.....some will be immediate, some just scaling back with long term change in mind. I'm excited just thinking about it. More details to come later on what my plans are. I should start prioritizing that very long to-do list as I'll want to do everything at once.

Speaking of adminstrivia - I'm off to photograph silk scarves..........

New towels in shop

New false damask towels ready to purchase in my etsy shop.  I have to admit I'm in love with this weave structure and the block arrangement I designed........that's why it's back on the loom again in a multi-colored warp.

New handwovens in shop

I finally did a bit of photography work......dreaded photography work........so I could list a few items in my etsy shop.

The handwoven table runner using a hand-dyed warp.

A white chenille shawl - perfect for a wedding or any ole' time.

Another white chenille shawl using a seed rayon as weft to give a nubby or pearl like look

Etsy shop update

Newly woven towels up for sale in my etsy shop. I love the spring/coastal/beach/seaglass look of these.

It was tough not to keep all of them as my towel drawer is full but I did manage to squeeze one more towel in for my own use.

For anyone that hasn't ever used a handwoven towel they're really missing out.  They last what seems like forever. I wash and dry mine weekly and they just keep looking nice for years. I could never go back to store bought hand towels for kitchen or bath.........well, except for the cute embroidered towels I create and sell in my etsy shop.........

Bunnies!

New bunny towels in my etsy shop just in time for Easter and Spring.........or really anytime of the year as they're not pigeon-holed to Easter with having eggs or Easter greetings on them. Perfect for those who love bunnies or have bunnies.  I'm thinking I need a set but which design - I love the cute little bunny with the flowers but then also love the leaping bunny with the vines........decisions, decisions.

As I posted recently I rarely get time to put out any holiday décor anymore so I'm going to stock up on holiday towels for my own house, woven and embroidered, as they're easy to pull out of the linen closet and put out for the holidays/seasons. I always use woven towels in the kitchen and bathrooms but usually they match the décor, not the holidays so that will vary in the future.  So, which will it be.......maybe the bunny with the vines..........or maybe the cute little bunny with the flowers.......or maybe both..........guess I better get back to the embroidery machine........

Summer shawls........

I finally washed and twisted the fringe on some summer shawls in beach/sand colors. A mix of cotton and rayon slub in tans, peach, pale aqua and off white - very comfortable on the shoulders on a chilly summer evening. Now up for sale in my etsy shop.

After I weave off the scarves on the Macomber a white summer shawl warp will be going on. Need to get another scarf warp on the AVL too.  But for the immediate I'm back working on the bow weaving program with putting together warp & bead kits for guild members.  A very time consuming chore but it will be so much easier than having all guild members stringing beads at the guild meeting - I can work on it while watching movies/shows on Netflix.

New roving colorways

Yesterday morning and then again today I started dealing with a big Ashland Bay roving order - photographing, weighing, bagging, labeling, listing in the etsy shop and putting into inventory records - way too much administrivia for my taste, would rather be weaving. Above are some lovely new colors of Superfine Merino. Here's the section of the shop with all the superfine merino including the variegated discontinued colorways I have left.

And here's a limited offering of a merino in natural, brown and grey. It's lovely and I keep eyeing it wondering if I should spin some.

The shop is also restocked with some sold out merino colorways in addition to ecru merino and ecru superfine merino.  And now I can move on to something that's a little more fun.........

New scarves........

I finally finished twisting fringe on newly woven scarves....photos taken of 4 of them and they're now listed in my etsy shop for sale.

Sand Castles Buttercream

 

Sand Castles Taupe

 

Raspberry Cream - Lavender

Raspberry Cream - Fuchsia

 

 

Incredible bamboo

Yesterday after coming home from my spinning group I got around finishing weighing, bagging, labeling a big fiber order - it's been sitting for weeks waiting for me to get around to it. It's not one of my favorite jobs so I chose to ignore it but the roving won't sell if it's not listed in my shop. Out of this order there are 5 colors of bamboo roving/top (in addition to the natural and black) - it is incredible. It's a special offering by Ashland Bay which means it won't be around forever - I'm not quite sure why I hadn't already ordered it. I've set aside some for myself to blend in with other fibers on my blending board or on the drum carder. The colors are so intense and beautiful.

Today, after I put away all the roving weighed out yesterday that is covering the floor of the studio, is my day to be at home to weave. So far this morning I've spent time packing up orders and relisting roving in my shop. As soon as Bailey and I go for our walk I'll be heading to the loom - whoo hoo.

Books for sale.  I just put these books up for sale in my fiber etsy shop.  They're all great books but just ones I never used. If a person loves to spin art yarn the spinning books are very fun. They're in the Sales/Specials section of my shop or right on the front page.

Felting fibers

Yesterday I needed to go into the walk-in closet in the hallway outside my studio to get a few things......only I couldn't get more than 1 foot into the closet.  No time for a complete re-organization but there was time for a mini clean-up. In doing that I found the bag, well that's multiple, bags of roving bits from when I weigh out the rovings for my etsy shop. I often use them for my own felting projects but those are few and far between so I decided to put together some fun colorful grab bags which are now up for sale in my etsy shop in the Specials/Sales section of the shop. These will be great for needlefelters wanting small bits of many colors - also great for nuno/wet felters and really fun for adding to art batts or colorful batts on a drum carder, blending board or hand carders. In the past when I've done this they've sold quickly - we'll see what happens this time - at least I can now walk into the closet and reach anything I need to get at.

Nothing else to show as I'm finishing up on holiday gifts which I can't post here......still have some knitting to finish up, a little wood burning too.

Scarves

I've been selling so many scarves in my etsy shop and locally it was time to work on a little more photography so more can be listed......one of my dreaded jobs.  It's done, 7 more scarves listed in the shop for sale.......now back to work on gifts......then I need to get back to the loom......