RABBIT ON ! |
RABBIT ON ! |
the Island of sheep |
Tourists flocking around a spinner showing them spinning soay (1900s) |
close up |
spinning magic |
now the same street is deserted... except for the grazing soay sheep that have been there for centuries |
Soay sheep fleece |
HAPPY WEEKEND everybody!
There’s a definite cold snap in the air here ! Crispy weather or not, we are keeping warm, with new fabulous fibre blends and staying hot in the dyeroom!
All the June clubs have been dyed and are dry, skeined up, braided up and ready to be packed into nice bundles of joy for all the club members. I will be busy over the weekend making lots and lots .and lots of batts in studio for the June Batt club members and all will be ready to ship on Monday.
in the meantime I have been spinning up custom orders and cleaning up the dye room for the next batch of excitement heading your way, but more on that later.
I have so much on my plate that it feels like being at a conveyor belt at a factory, desperately trying to keep up. For some reason that comedy skit with Lucille Ball and Ethel wrapping chocolates on a speedy conveyor belt trying to keep up, always comes to mind (I seem to have grown up with lots of 1950s and 60s musicals and shows my parents and grandparents fed me with🤣).
There are some pretty awesome new fluffs on offer this week : fabulous hand dyed rare breed Guanaco blend and Romanov blend PLUS something I could have kept for next week, but I couldn’t help myself: New BUNNY BISON BLISS. You can find the new bunny bison bliss tops here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/bunny-bison-bliss
I can only offer you the natural new “snow bison” tops you see on top of this email this week, because the hand dyed tops are not ready yet. I guess that’s the downside of winter here in the Yarra Valley…everything dries at a glacial pace…
In the coming weeks and months I will be able to offer you lots more rare breed blends again, like the very popular “Outlander tops” with soay sheep and a new batch of Navajo Churro with agave cactus! Exciting times ahead!
I almost totally forgot to share freshly batted possum batts and wallaby batts!! They are soooo soft and fluffy !! Like a cloud!
The wallaby blend batts are here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/wallaby-batts
And the possum blend batts are here: https://ixchel.com.au/products/possum-cashmere-merino-silk-batts
A reminder: the sign ups for the clubs, starting in July, are almost at full capacity, especially the batt club! You can find all the details here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new
I will be sending out messages to all the combo club members this weekend. If you don’t want to miss out on monthly club parcels, make sure you sign up sooner rather than later. Please let me know if you have any questions: always happy to help and enable.
Wishing everybody a funtastic and crafty weekend!
Big hugs,
Charly
A big yarn and fibre show is on every year in Melbourne, more precise in the suburb of Coburg at Merribek town hall, organised by the fabulous handknitters and crocheters guild Victoria and, Paul and I are there like clockwork. It is fun, it’s super well organised and all the people the and the “vibe” is amazing. This year, like the last few years since the pandemic, it runs over two days and this time it’s next weekend: Saturday June 1st and Sunday June 2nd (from 10-3pm).
Exciting ! It is a fabulous event and so, like every year, I have been preparing special fluffy products for..well, since the day the last show ended..lol. So many yarns, so much handspun, so many special fibres on offer and so many gorgeous spindles, bowls, tools and more.
This year, this handknitters guild Yarn and Fibre show will be the ONLY show I will be doing so, if you want to take advantage of seeing both Paul and myself in action like Kermit the frog flailing about and trying to get our stall up and running in…eh..two hours (we only get two hours to set up) this is the time!
Also, every year, I think the same thing: do we have enough stock?I don’t have enough…I need more of this and that and wouldn’t it be a great idea to do this extra bit? By the end of all that excruciating deliberating, it is safe to say I ALWAYS come to the same conclusion when packing the van AND when putting up the stall for the show: “I need a bigger boat”! 🤣 Clearly, 20 years of doing this have not taught me anything because I still think, until two hours before the show that I do not have enough 🤣
So, here I am, done all the dyeing (finished yesterday!) and yes, I am still spinning and plying yarn ! Paul has been doing some great organising to get everything labelled, and packed into tubs ready for transport and entering all of our stock into the Square payment point of sale system we will be using at the market so everybody can shop using their various cards if need be but if you want to pay by cash that is equally very acceptable. Actually, I think cash is always better for us stallholders, because the bank fees are excruciating..and sometimes shows are at places where there is limited reception (not this one !) so it’s always safe to have several options open I always say. Anyway, I digress…(see I’m a bit hectic atm, trying to get as much done as possible..lol).
Well, I have promised all of you an overview of what will be on offer at the show (call it a shopping list) so, here it is ! Get ready! Set? Go!
YARNS
Handspun yarns
Angora bunny natural and hand dyed
Angora bunny, cashmere and silk yarns in fabulous colours
Wallaby, Cashmere, Silk, Merino yarn
Possum Cashmere Silk Merino yarn
Guanaco yarns
Rare breed yarns with bison and vampire deer
IxCHeL sock yarn :merino, silk, nylon (100g,410m) 33 colourways !! About 20 kilos of it!
IxCHeL silver star sock yarn: merino, cashmere, nylon, silver stellina (423m/100g): 24 colourways ( over 12kilos of silver star yarn)
IxCHeL tweed yarns ! Fabulous for colourwork! 28 colourways! More than 15 kilos of solid dyed with fun tweedy colour pops!
IxCHeL cashmerino Lace yarn : 30 hand dyed colourways: over 14 kilos of yumminess
IxCHeL kid mohair Silk Merino yarn: 11 colourways!
IxCHeL Gaia DK organic merino yarn: 28 colourways with about 10 kilos of knitting fun!
Silk ribbon yarns (great for weaving and art yarn accents!)
Cotton Spiral spun yarns
Blind date yarn surprise packs !
AND THATS JUST THE YARN SECTION! Now on to the Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and tools:
LAIR OF THE BEARDED DRAGON SPINDLES: there will be LOTS of spindles WITH AND WITHOUT INLAY in all shapes and sizes and weights. There are drop spindles with top and bottom whorls, Tibetan support spindles, Lotus phangs, Scottish style dealgans (mini and full sized ones).
Spindle Bowls and Chalice lapbowls!
wood turned Orifice hooks, with WPI gauge (twist it little helpers)
Nøstepinne!
FIBRE
Will there be fibre? I hear you ask?! OH YESSSS! Sooooooooo much fibre! And here’s the list:
BATTS! (Wallaby, possum and angora batts!!)
Babydoll Southdown tops
Black Bunny Tops
Blossom Bunny tops with rose fibres
Camelbunny silk Cashmere tops
Cashmere Fling tops
Cashmerino Silk tops
Castlemilk Moorit tops rare breed
Diva Tops
Fire Star tops great for adding to batts, felting or art yarn for that extra bit of glamour shine
Flower Power tops with alpaca
Gothic tops super black merino with lush silk in 10 colourways!
Grå Trønder rare (breed tops)
Guanaco blend tops (rare breed)
Happy Bunny tops with hemp
Hog Island sheep tops (rare breed)
Machu Picchu tops with superfine merino, silk and merino
Magic tops with rainbow glitz
Manx Laughtan tops (rare breed)
Merino Silk tops
Merino Tencel Silk tops
Mulberry Silk tops
Navajo Churro tops (rare breed)
North Ronaldsay blend tops (rare breed)
Ouessant Bfl silk tops (rare breed)
Pearl bunny tops with chitin!
Romanov tops (rare breed)
Shetland dream tops (rare breed)
Tundra tops with qiviut (rare breed)
Viva Frida tops with Navajo Churro
Wensleydale tops (rare breed)
Yak tops
.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz… I was thinking of getting some rest after the show, but I need to prep and dye the June club immediately when I come back!
also: important notice! The online shop will still be available but with very limited offerings. Unfortunately we can’t be in two places at the same time ..lol
Safe to say there will be NO Friday shop update but I will definitely make it up to you when I get back from the show.
I hope to see you at the show. Please say hello and do some wool and yarn diving!
have a fun week!
hugs
charly
It’s been almost a month between blogs! For years and years I have been consistently blogging every Friday at 8pm and it “only” took the upkeep of an online shop, social media marketing, emails and what have you to let me totally lose my medal in the consistency department.
And if that’s not the only thing: keeping lots of hand made and hand dyed fibre, yarn and spindles consistently stocked up, is proving to be extremely hard as well. In short: I cannot keep up! Hilarious but true, I thought having an online shop and not going to weekly markets and lots of big shows would take the pressure off. Hilarious! Hilariously out of touch with reality you mean! Lol
Anyway, Paul has been nudging me to look into having a holiday, but at this point, even remotely looking into that proves amazingly hard. And yet, I always said to myself, if it is important you will find time. And that, proves to be hard as well. I think it’s to do with the fact that I have been so conditioned to working all the time, through everything: whether it be sickness, pandemics or even just hard times. My brain can’t seem to cope with anything that is not productive or creative. As soon as I sit down with a book for half an hour or even when thinking about having a relaxing bath, my mind goes in “guilty mode”…as if I’m a naughty kid doing something wrong! Am I the only one ? Do any of you experience that as well? You know, that guilty feeling of doing nothing..well, I mean something for yourself instead of working. It’s really strange and it’s obviously not sustainable or healthy. So, I had a relaxing bath last night, I read for an hour, but…I still am not closer to deciding where or when to take a holiday. If I don’t decide fast, Paul will rebel I’m sure and I can’t have a rebelling bearded dragon on my hand..lol
Anyway, no time to relax yet because in a months time there’s a fabulous market I will be attending and I still have about 30 kilos of yarn to dye, numerous yarns to spin and dye, oh! And a May club to dye and ship out…. If I was organised enough to abide by lists, I’d be freaking out….!
so, the whole house is currently filled with drying yarns and fibres and a manic bunny, me, trying to do all the things all at once🤣
The April clubs have been shipped two weeks ago so it’s about time to show you all the photos:
The May clubs are currently being prepped and getting ready for a dyebath ! The teaser for the May club will be posted on my social media over the weekend so keep an eye out!
This week I have some amazingly soft and rich chocolate …. Yak tops for sale ! Check them out in the “what’s new” section on www.ixchel.com.au
Also: new tulip wood and beech twist it little helpers aka orifice hooks with a WPI gauge.
plus NEW anniversary products sale : Stitch markers!
you can find them all on the IxCHeL website in the what’s new section!
well, this bunny is off to cook some dinner and feed the hungry masses before I have a revolution on my hands!
wishing everybody a fabulous craft and fun weekend!
Let the adventures begin !
big fluffy hugs
Charly
Happy Friday everybody! Its been another exciting busy week here with lots of new carding, blending and dyeing.
The new quarter of art journey clubs are starting again this month so that means heaps of extra prep work and getting everything from pigments to fibres and yarns, organised and ready. I will post a teaser label of the April clubs over the weekend so all of you can see what art journey adventures we will be getting into this month.
Ixchel is an Australian Fibre Farm in the Yarra Valley,Victoria, blending and dyeing all types of fibres and breeding fluffy animals. Charly McCafferty (ixchelbunny) does the painting, designing, spinning, dyeing, knitting and weaving,loving every second of it. Angora Rabbit, Cashmere, Mohair, Merino, Alpaca, Camel and rare breeds.Paul McCafferty is juggling his woodworking to make spindles and fibre tools and organising the farm harmoneously.