Ashland Bay Fibers

Yesterday was spent taking pictures of all the Ashland Bay Trading Co fibers I've got here in stock so we (Sam and I) can get the website up and running soon. At the end of the day we laid out an assortment of the merino multi-colored top to get a picture that may end up being on the front page of the site as the banner. Aren't they scrumptous looking?! Such hard work yesterday fondling all the fibers!

I can't wait to get the big job of the website behind me so I can get back to weaving..........and then there's all the roving dyeing ahead of me this summer - will start on some of that, hopefully, next week. Oh to play with dyes!

Ashland Bay order

My huge Ashland Bay roving order arrived today - 5 gigantic boxes, many many pounds. We're still working on the plans for the website to showcase these fibers but in the meantime I'll be listing some in my etsy shop as I take pictures of them......that will be a very lengthy process.

This is the first fiber to be listed - Colonial Wool in a multi-color teal colorway. I've just listed a small bump of it but more is available.

What's on my drop spindle

Here's what's in the process of being spun on my Golding drop spindle. This is 2/3 shetland wool and 1/3 merino from Sporfarm in The Dalles, OR. It's a dream to spin! And no, I did not buy this fiber at BSG (Black Sheep Gathering) - it was in the stash from a purchase 2 years ago at OFFF (Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival).

Black Sheep Gathering

I just got back from the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR, just 2 1/2 hours north of here. I had a great long weekend visiting with friends, old & new, and enabling them to buy lots of stash! I get just as much enjoyment spending someone else's money as I do my own. For the first time in a number of years I didn't take any workshops, just hung out visiting, watching demo's, cheering friend Jeanie on in the romney (sheep) judging and spinning. I bought very little stash myself - I just don't need a single thing.......of course, I couldn't get out of there without buying anything! I got a couple of new shawl patterns, a fun small project bag that will be perfect for sock or scarf knitting, some fun gel sheep to put on the window in the studio, more No Crack handcream that is the absolute best, a quiver bag (for carting a drop spindle) and new spindle......like I really needed yet another Forrester spindle. Oh and a great dichroic glass pendent that says spin on it - it's sitting on top of the quiver bag above, here's a close up below. I'll either hang it from a piece of leather or rattail (not a real rat's tail!).

I'm on a fiber diet at the moment - I have more fiber stash than I could ever spin in my lifetime. I was admiring some that fiber pal Janis (Dyelots) was putting out in her booth and she just gave it to me! That was so sweet of her, and so unexpected. It's pictured below - unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice, it's very sparkley. The quiver bag also came from Janis's booth, a friend of hers makes them, as well as the pendant that another friend makes.

What I'm current spinning.........

Here's what I'm currently spinning - it's a blend of 80% merino/20% silk hand-dyed by Shelley of Butternut Woolens. The colorway is absolutely beautiful and it's a dream to spin. Shelley always had a booth here in Oregon at fiber events but moved to Montana this past year.

Kat's Handspun

Here's a picture of Kat's handspun from some of my hand-dyed roving - this roving is a superwash merino, colorway 'flame'. The roving didn't turn out how either of us would have guessed but it's beautiful. Was experimenting with putting the pictures side by side - doesn't show up the handspun as much as I would have liked.

I thought I'd post at least one picture from our trip - this was taken in Leavenworth at our campsite on the Icicle River, those rapids were literally a few feet from where we were sitting and reading - the roar of the snow runoff was deafening but oh so lovely. It was hot, around 90, but when the breeze blew over the water it sent chills through me.....definitely not a spot to swim this early in the season.

I did finally get to the loom yesterday for just a bit, hopefully will finish up the summer shawl warp soon, it's been on the loom for way too long. I'm also working on planning for setting up a new website to sell Ashland Bay Trading Co. spinning & felting fibers and yarn. It takes so much time just to figure out what company to use for e-commerce, what I want on the site, etc. And next comes figuring out what stock to order first - so many colors & fiber! When I get everything up and running I will post an announcement here.

It's been too long..........

It's been way too long since my last post - I've been traveling and overwhelmed with things I've needed to get done here at home (which are still not done!). I'll post some pictures later - they're still on the two cameras.

We left in the RV on May 23rd for Big Fork, MT - what a long trek - two long days of traveling. Spent time visiting with family, seeing the town and a trip to Glacier........but we couldn't go far in Glacier, Going to the Sun Road was still closed due to high snow drifts on top of an avalanche that wiped out part of the road. My big thing was to have a moose siting - I would have settled for a mountain goat, big horned sheep or grizzley but we saw none! But at Costco in Kalispell who was in line next to me but Jack Hanna - he's much cuter in person, so I had a Jack Hanna siting. The day before we drove past his compound on Flathead Lake which is within walking distance of relatives house. I really wanted to meet him but held back and gave him his privacy. I wonder who those cases of oranges & watermelons were for - some critters???

The 27th we hooked up the 5th wheel and were on our way to Gonzaga Univ in Spokane, WA for the ANWG (Assocation of Northwest Weaving Guilds) conference. I'm very glad my seminars were good (Woven & Knitted Devore, Shadow Weave with more than 2 Colors and Beaded Cardwoven Amulet Bags) or else I would have been very upset with traveling that far. The conference was very disorganized, the accomodations and food bad which made me very happy I was staying in the 5th wheel. I was very disappointed in the lack of vendors, but I suppose that was ok because it was so hot in the vendor hall I didn't want to spend much time there. And to top it all off it was unbearably hot inside the majority of the buildings including classrooms. A few bright spots - they did a nice job of the fashion show, the exhibit of guild booths was incredible, and I got to see a dear friend from Idaho.

We left early on May 31st heading to Leavenworth, WA. It's a little Bavarian town set in the mountains, mountains that look like the Alps. The majority of the shops and buildings were of Bavarian style but I was a bit sad it find most of them full of touristy stuff that could be bought anywhere. But the scenery was well worth the trip. We stayed at the Icicle River RV Resort, had a site right on the river, 10 feet from our door were class 3 rapids, the roar was deafening but we loved it. Lots of outdoor activities in Leavenworth - rafting, biking, horseback riding in the summer months; all types of skiing, snowmobiling, sled rides, etc in the winter. Lots of German restaurants too, I'm not a big fan but did enjoy one really good meal. Of course we had to stop for some German pastries, a lunch of typical German fare and big hot pretzels with over 15 different mustards to choose from for dipping. Oh and then there was the artisan chocolate shop!

June 3rd we packed up and headed off to University of Puget Sound in Tacoma WA. for the NWRSA conference (Northwest Regional Spinners Association) - Sam and Bailey stayed in the RV in Gig Harbor while I stayed on campus with my fiber friends. The conference was so much fun, but then I expected nothing else. My classes were great - cable knitting, long draw (spinning) and continental knitting. I brought handspun/handknit socks to hang on the sock line decorating the tennis pavillion where the spinning circles, vendors and exhibits were. I entered two items in the gallery and got a first place on each..........hmm, not sure who they were up against, never figured out the category. You can see them in earlier posts: Feb 12th Scotch Thistle Shawl and April 6th Streaming Leaves Scarf. I did win a door prize of some romney batts that I'll spin in the long draw to practice that technique.

It was a long trip but we had fun, way too long to be away from home and my studio. It's time to play catch up but would really love to just sit down and weave or dye some fiber.