IxCHeL Fibres, Yarns & Art: May 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

Eye see Yarnzzzzzzzzzz

Nip’n’tuck yarn close up

Something I have been working on for a long long time: Art yarns. I have been spinning art yarns when I first started selling and going to markets with my fibresbut somehow "normality" set in when I got requests to spin yarns that were 12ply, then 8ply then 4ply and last but not least the fans of lace got to me....spinning laceweight is hard work and takes a long time and somehow the art yarns like the nip'n'tuck yarns (slubby singles) and the art yarns with all bits and pieces were lost...but...not for long!

I love spinning coils, beehives, turkish knots, slubbies and experimenting with all kinds of "weird"stuff. the good thing about art yarn is that you can make a project so absolutely special by just adding a little bit and using something that is unique and stands out like an art yarn is by far the most creative juice you can imagine: it gets the blood flowing :)

Apart from the art yarns I have been spinning lots for the hand knitters guild mini wool show tomorrow at the brunswick town hall. These three tubs are filled with hand spun yarns ! and there are three more tubs filled with art yarns and hand dyed sock yarns and laceweight. Why oh why am I tired and my arm is almost falling off? lol

Tubs overflowing with hand spun for the show !

Paul will be filling the car up with all these goodies tonight together with all the hand dyed tops and bunny fibres :) who needs airbags when you have a car filled with fibre eh? lol

Yesterday was a fun day : another bunny spin in and thank you all for coming: there was a lot of bunny cuddling and hugging of yarns and fibres and a lot of chatting ;-)

Here is Dot cuddling Babe, our blue eyed white english angora bunny

I am going to leave you with some photos of a selection of the art yarns I have been working on (more to see on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/ixchelbunny and tomorrow at the hand knitters guild mini wool show ofourse :) )

Eyeballs on the bobbin

I sea monster yarn

(hand dyed and core spun superfine blue faced leicester , bunny and seaweed tops with added needlefelted eye balls made from hand dyed merino)

I fuzz yarn

(hand dyed and core spun superfine Merino , bunny and Tencel and silk tops with added needlefelted eye balls made from hand dyed merino)

Late nite at the diner

(hand dyed and core spun superfine angorino (merino + bunny) with added needlefelted eye balls made from hand dyed merino)

I yarn

(hand dyed and core spun superfine blue faced leicester , bunny and seaweed tops with added needlefelted eye balls made from hand dyed merino)

Autumn Bunny hop yarn

(hand dyed angorino, gold thread angelina angora bunny bits japanese bunny fabric)

Nip’n’tuck yarn (hand dyed and hand spun angorino, slubby single)

The Bunny scream for the Ixchel Art Yarn Label

adapted from the famous painting by Munch :))

NExt friday will be a "regular"update again with all new fluffy stuff :) Now it is time to pack up all the fibre and sock clubs and get stuck into making some very fluffy waca pacabatts and funky bunny batts :) wooohooo !! :))

Dates to remember:

Hand knitters mini wool show, Brunswick town hall

The next Bunny Spin in will be on Saturday June 19th ! from 11 to 5pm

Friday, May 21, 2010

Wild rides

It has been a wild ride last week ....eh....metaforically speaking that is , because my ride was actually dead in the water..yes you got it: the hand me down car from Paul I got to drive because my car died of old age would not go anywhere. I tell you: as soon as I get a car in my name it is its' deadsentence..lol..anyway, after two tows ! we got it to a workshop that diagnosed it as a gas thingy-me-bobby-failure & that would cost ..well....an arm and three legs. I am seriously thinking of getting a horse and cart, at least I get to cuddle the horse and get lots of good stuff from it for the veggie garden..lol.
I had lots planned like going to my friend Mandie to do some serious yarn winding on her magical machine but as it stands I am doing that by hand now since I could not go anywhere. so, it has been seriously medieval here at the fibre farm: hand winding, handcarding, handspinning and handdyeing. Two hands are defenitely not enough and I have put an application in at the genetics engineering lab to please consider at least 4 hands for any human cloning or humanoid robotics they are probably working on in the future....;-)
I am furiously working because I am desperately trying to get as much stuff done for the hand knitters guild day as I possibly can...(to pay for the arm and three legs I had to give to get the car fixed).
I spun about a kilo + of yak camel silk yarn (see blog), got heaps of tops and silk done (so silk yarn is going to be on the menu at the handknitters guild day on the 29th of May as well !) and some awesome pure angora yarn as well ! Don't worry : my fingers are not worn to the bone yet...lol
I am experimenting with lots of additions to my art yarns as well and Jazz is sure to keep an eye on them :)

At the mini wool show next week there are going to be lotsof different art yarns (thick 'n'thin, bunny fabric yarn with bling!, and the gothic bunny yarn :)

On the bunny front: Minne is going fine and still eating like a pig. I have to tend to her about two hours a day though to clean her up and make sure that she is all comfy and give her extra greens and herbs. She is such a good bunny and she is enjoying being with her two daughters Pippi and Max, and her granddaughter Flopsy so much:) Almost all the bunnies have been clipped and all the fibres are almost packed up with their bunny photos or spun up into yarn :) Well, without keeping you much longer from the NEW stuff: here it is:

Hand dyed silk tops
*vegan or peace silk(made from silk peacefully collected after the moth has vacated the coccoon) AU$23/50grams

Cradle of Life

Sure'nuff

Kommeniezuspadt

palm reader

Misfit

Hand dyed Angorino tops

(Angora 5%, superfine merino 18miron 95%)

AU$17/100

First kiss

Wild Ride

Fish in the jailhouse

High plains drifter

Sea of Love

Hand dyed and hand spun yak camel silk plyed with cashmere AU$25/50grams wpi15-18

Shiny thing (224grams available) dreamland (238grams available) army ants(250grams available) road to Peace(248grams available) Mexican divorce(243grams available)

Dates to remember:

Thursday 27th of May BUNNY SPIN IN here at the fibre farm (11am-5pm)

Saturday 29th of May Handknitters Guild Vic Mini wool show @ Brunswick town hall

Friday, May 14, 2010

The Mystical Mimicry

super shiny Wensleydale top close up, followed by Angora Hand spun Yarn showing off its fluffyness :)

This week has been filled with bunny clipping, yarn dyeing and spinning and lots of preperations for the hand knitters guild mini wool show coming up (Saturday 29th of May at the Brunswick town Hall).

I have finally finished the herb patch : Yeah! and just in time for the very wet and cold weather we are having. The chooks have a great time foraging and every worm that pops its head up to see what the weather is doing takes a big risk. I tell you those chooks are fast !
The parrots are coming to our verandah in huge numbers now looking for food and I always have two bowls filled with seeds ready for them. If I dont fill them up in time they complain by sitting on one of the chairs outside on the verandah and looking into the studio window saying "come feed us now or I will stare at you all day"..lol. It is a great sight to see all the wild birds perching on the verandah and enjoying a feed and being out of the rain and in a safe place. The chooks have wisened up though and think that bird seed is a pretty nice treat as well so they flock up onto the verandah as well. One of our chooks,Funny Feet, has taken the staring down tactic up as well: I found her perching on the verandah just like the parrots do and looking at the bowl and then looking at me, looking at the bowl and then back at me : making a very clear demand : either you fill the bowl with bird seed or ...I'll drop my egg NOW !......

The fire is on all the time now : it is so nice and cozy inside. It's a fabulous time for knitting and spinning and I only wish there were more hours in a day to do more of that. I am blessed being able to "play"with so many fibres and colours and fluffy animals and I enjoy every second of it. I am preparing the studio again for this Saturdays Bunny Spin In: so lots of my yarns and tops will be available for cuddling and adoption :) The Bunny Spin In Day is this Saturday from 11 til +/- 5pm so if you are in the neughbourhood and want to cuddle a bunny or snaffle some yarn or tops, have a knit, a chat and a spin please feel free to drop in! Coffee and tea is ready and I am planning another batch of yummy cakes as well :) This weeks offerings are special: I have hand spun and hand dyed Angora and angora/silk yarns, hand dyed yakbunny merino yarn with a whopping 500meters/100g and also a numnum selection of shetland and blf bunny sockyarns on special this week ; Normally they are $26 per skein (90-100grams) now you can take advantage of ouyr offer that ends Thursday 20th of May and pay only $20! Alos this week some special Wensleydale tops: this sheep has style! It has an amazing lustre, softness and most of all SHINE that will knock your socks off. It is strong, has a very long staple and has a crimp you just have to see and feel. It is one of my favourite sheep for sure! Feel free to contact me at any time if you have any requests or questions: as you know I am always happy to help/enable:)

Handspun Angora Yarn plyed with cashmere

(8ply, 25grams/AU$13, WPI 15)

Rembrandt revisited in angora