Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween and Attack of the Zombie Bunnies !

Bear has grown so much ! still standing on his hind legs AND sniffing as if to say "you lookin at me?! Huh!?” and, what's more:…did you see his red eyes!? ..hmmmmmmm


There was a very strange message on my answering machine this week and I could not quite figure out who it was or even what it was about. It wasn’t so much as a message but a series of sounds that could best be described as a mix of anguish, surprise and laughter? It was eerie and haunting: the only thing that I could make out was a kind of yell in the middle: “Charly !!!!!”.

A friend in LA did tell me that she thought there were some very strange things happening lately involving bunnies. Maybe that was her???
Apparently, in the last couple of weeks, her bunnies, had totally changed their behaviour and in a very strange way, started to stand up on their hind legs more. She had contacted me immediately after she read my blog update about the bunny meerkat phenomenon, because she was worried.

“Charly! What you call the bunny meerkat phenomenon is just the beginning!”, she said at the top of her voice.
“But it’s so cute! What could possibly be wrong with that?”, I replied. There was a silence on the other end and I could just pick up her whispering “They are not what they appear to be …..shhhhh”.

Her phonecall had me totally intrigued. I just thought that Bear and the new surprise bunnies were extra intelligent and cute and cuddly. Natalie insured me it was not and here starts her story that filled me with absolute terror:
Natalie and her friends have a large amount of rabbits in the high desert in LA. It is a beautiful place and remote: hours away from LA itself, but close to the mountains, where it is cooler and very quiet.
She started noticing something strange happening a couple of weeks ago with one of her 8 week old babies, just the same as I had noticed with our surprise babies: What I called “the meerkat phenomenon” in earlier blog entries. It took her a week to realise that something was going very wrong.
The bunnies displaying this Bunny Meerkat behavious, were also showing an extremely high intelligence and what can best be described as a heightened empathy or , how should I explain this? , well, it was almost like they were communicating with you on a higher level. Almost mesmerizingly so.
Natalie said that the baby bunnies also were growing much much faster! In a weeks time, 8 week old babies were already the size of their mum! This was bizar!
The next morning when she checked on them again, they had grown so much she had to take them into a bigger cage and separate them from their mum. Up to that point it was all pretty okay but what was really bothering her was that these bunnies just did not act like bunnies anymore: they stopped hopping and doing binkies even, all they wanted to do, was stand on their hind legs and look you in the eye and sniff! Sniff! SNIFF!
She called me again in the middle of the week saying that she had to put most of her baby bunnies in dog pens because they just couldn’t fit in their cages anymore, especially because they wanted to stand up all the time. Her partner tried to force them to “act like bunnies” and hop around like normal, but all he got was a scratch and a bite on the hand. He figured just to let it be and that they would grow out of it. Little did he know that on Thursday night things would get a lot worse.

The scratch and the bite he got on Wednesday was not a huge pain but it did started to hurt a bit so he drove off to see the doctor and get it looked at, just to be on the safe side. That left Natalie alone Thursday, but she figured “what could possibly go wrong?” Just like me she loves bunnies : they are cute and cuddly. Yes, cute and cuddly………until they start standing on their hind legs, look you in the eye and ….and…..sigh….sorry , it’s getting a bit too much for me…

That’s when I got the phonecall late on Thursday. The bloodcurdling screaming of my name and there was nothing I could do!

I tried calling back but all I got was a dead line. I called friends that lived a hours drive away from Natalie and asked them to check on her. They did…and what they found was horrifying !

They could not find Natalie immediately……there was blood….cage doors broken and bent like match sticks, huge footprints of “things” walking and running out towards the farm gate ….their flashlights showed no sign of cougars (which they thought were the cause of all this mayhem) but there, in the shadows, at eyelevel, were huge eyes staring at them and they could hear sniffing sounds coming from all around them. They ran to their car, locked the door and in an instant something was hammering on the doors and the bonnet: no cougar or mountain lions, no wild boars…..they were huge! Enormous! Their eyes wide open and ears moving like wild snakes around their heads and all the while, their noses constantly sniffing and white, big teeth ! Oh ! those teeth ! Wait! Is that blood? OH NO!!!!!
Wait! What was that?! Can you see that?! Can you hear something? Oh no!!!!!!! It’s the attack of the KILLER ZOMBIE BUNNIES !!!!!!

Soon invading a city near you………….

(names and events are fictional and no bunnies or humans were hurt while making up this story. Happy Halloween !)

Ofcourse its fiction…or is it? ……..




Bubbles thinking up evil attack plans…..waahaa haa ha……


This week I have some art yarns for sale which I could only have made with the help of a fabulous Fibre artist and friend: Siobhan Colley or evil-mcweevil. Here’s her blog: http://evilmcweevil.blogspot.com. Please check her stuff out : what she does is amazing !

Here is a OOAK bunny head going through the Majacraft Spinning wheel orifice : or should I say "Zombie bunny attacking Majacraft wheel?"

My good friend Chantelle, owner of the wonderful Fiberific ! and an amazing crochet artist made me this amazing top: I hand dyed the silk yarn and she crochet the top : it’s a Jenny King design “Mooloolaba shells” It drapes amazing and is a joy to wear ! Thanks so much Chantelle ! I finally got Paul to take a photo of me wearing it yesterday at the Spin In ;)





The IxCHeL Bunny Foster Sponsoring Programme or BunFoSP for short , is still open and there are still bunnies waiting for a wonderful foster parent. For more information on the foster program please visit my blog of last week or email me for information!

Bear, our cute chocolate angora bunny, has now been adopted by his loving Foster mum Sheridan :) Thank you !

Tribble, our gold fawn angora bunny, has been adopted by a loving foster mum Koren :) Thank you !

For photos of all our bunnies and our little fibre farm please visit my flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/ixchelbunny and go to the set Ixchel farm or angora bunnies.

This weeks fibre and yarn update is here: Zombie Bunny Art Yarn and Camelbunny Silk Tops ! Get ready to Stalk and Snaffle !

How To Order:
You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny. I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods. Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !
(((HUGS)))
Charly


Zombie Bunny Art Yarn
Slubby Spun yarn with great yardage and amazing needlefelted OOAK Bunnies !


Pink Zombie bunnies spun in a slubby yarn with angora, merino, tencel, cashmere and novelty threads. +/- 120 meters , +/- 110-120 grams. In two colours: blue/brown or Morticia black /grey AU$55. Each zombie bunny is needlefelted and a OOAK! A work of art in its own right!



Bear Blue Zombie Bunnies art yarn -SOLD-



Bear Blue Zombie Bunny Art yarn close up



Morticia Black Zombie Bunnies art yarn -SOLD-



Green Zombie bunnies spun in a slubby yarn with angora, Blue faced leicester, glitz, cashmere and novelty threads. +/- 100 meters , +/- 110-120 grams. In two colours: Rainbow or red/purple/yellow/orange AU$55. Each zombie bunny is needlefelted and a OOAK! A work of art in its own right!



Sunset Zombie Art Yarn



Happy Zombie Art yarn -SOLD-



Happy Zombie Art Yarn Close up -SOLD-




Camelbunny Silk hand dyed tops



50+ grams AU$19



Dawn




Blood moon




Witch Bunny Mountain




Bunnies at Dusk




Happy Zombie Bunnies




Bunny Bear Witch Project




Beware of Pink Bunnies !




Happy Halloween !




Dates to Remember:
Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-5pm)


There will be BUNNY SPIN INS again in November !! Yeah!

Saturday November 19th


Thursday November 24th
Bring a plate to share your wheel or spindle, knitting or crochet, yourself and a smile and have a fun day out amongst bunnies and friends ! Please contact me to secure a spot ! Bunny food like cabbage, bok choi or broccoli is always welcome: the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D

December 3rd, Saturday
Victorian felt Makers , melbourne
I will be doing a bunny talk , showcasing angora fibres and yarns AND also launching a new IxCHeL product that will blow your mind ! More info on times and location next week.

Contact me on Ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny, message me on facebook there or email me on Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.au


RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly

Friday, October 21, 2011

The IxCHeL Sponsor a Bunny Programme is a go!

We had a very special week: Last Saturday we had the Bunny Spin in and our good friend Christina brought us some rescue bunnies: Boy Blue and Fifi. Both of these bunnies were very underweight and had gone through a lot! Being the survivors of a myxo and calici outbreak when they were living with another breeder. Apparently after they survived it all went pearshaped for their owners and that is how Christina rescued them and brought them to us. They are now living in the studio so I can see how they are doing at all times. Fifi especially seems to be very skiddish and has probably been through some majot trauma but I am sure she will be settling in just fine. In a weeks time she has already calmed down and is showing a very sweet personality. She might also be pregnant? So I am keeping a close look on her and giving her lots of attention and fresh greens and snacks.





Fifi





Boy Blue




On the Sunday I visited a wonderful Stitch n Bitch /spinning and Knitting group in Gippsland and was made very welcome when I took over Dawns house filling it with heaps of yarns and fibres for the ladies to dive into.. We had a great time and there was lots of enabling done! I was amazed how gorgeous all the projects were that everybody was working on and I was introduced to a whole new world of sock blankies ( it’s like quilting with gorgeous handknitted hexagons! Made from sock yarn scraps –at least that’s what it started out as ..lol…and now everybody is swapping MINI SKEINS ! _ its so cool! Also amazing shapes that reminded me of Eschers work only knitted into an African inspired blanket made all of what seemed to me like little bow ties ! and then there were socks ofcourse: magical gorgeous socks. I had a fabulous time!

The rest of the week was super busy grooming and clipping and taking care of all our bunnies. There was also heaps of spinning and I am very happy with the super fine natural coloured English angora yarn I spun on the Schacht Sidekick wheel. The more I spin on that wheel the more I think: yeah, I really think I need that wheel….it is an amazingly nice wheel and allows me to spin super fine. The Majacraft is great don’t get me wroing and I won’t be able to survive without my Majacraft spinning art yarns, for spinning fine yarns however, the Sidekick is amazing and so light!

I have also done a lot of batt making ! Going batty just before Halloween was definitely on the cards and I am very happy with how these batts came out ! lots of gorgeous fibres put together with some bling will make for the most amazing yarns or felt !

Bunny Naming Competition
As you know , one of the bunnies in Tawnees last litter had not been named yet. Bear and Buttercup had a name but the big golden fawn bunny just did not seem to want to own a name yet.




Saturday , Christina and I tried to see if it was really a boy or a girl just to be on the safe side, but it seemed to be more of a mystery than anything else. Sexing a bunny can be quite hard. When they are very young they will not have all the "appendages" so to speak and it can be very deceptive. So the jury is still out. As promised a name has been chosen although it was a hard call.




We had names like Aurora, Beauty(from sleeping beauty) , Narcolepsia (lol..because the bunny was showing great joy in just rolling over and falling asleep a lot), Blossom, Jemima, BamBam, and many many more.




It was a hard decision but here is the winner of the naming contest: drumrolllll……the winner is







Sally Gridley from Victoria, with the name BUBBLES.







It just has a nice ring to it and lets face it: applicable to a boy or a girl and it just describes the bunnies’personality: from rolling over in a sleeping position to a bubbly binky-ing bunny in a flash ! Sally your special bunny prize pack will be in the mail to you next week !





Thank you all so, so much for your enthusiasm and support ! and don’t worry if you have not won the bunny naming this time, there will be plenty more opportunities in the future!




Bubbles




the IxCHeL Bunny Foster Sponsoring Programme or BunFoSP for short

We have had a lot of requests of people who wanted to support our little fibre farm and our special English angora bunnies. Here is what we have come up with for all of you who would love to sponsor/virtually adopt/foster an IxCHeL bunny.

When you decide to foster/sponsor an IxCHeL bunny you help in covering part of the costs to provide a safe, comfortable home for your bunny for a year. This includes grass hay, straw, grains, seeds, vegetables, fruit, food supplements, snacks, clipping and grooming, housing and any medical supplies/assistance needed.





You can feel good knowing that you are supporting a small farm in which your bunny can live out the rest of his/her life in a friendly and loving environment. On the IxCHeL bunny farm, our bunnies are treated with respect, love and great care.




Once you pay your adoption fee I will immediately send you your bunny adoption pack: a Bunny Foster Parent Certificate, the name of your bunny and a photo plus a special lock of its hair, a personalised bunny badge and a birth certificate.







In the course of your year of sponsorship you will receive monthly email updates of your bunny with stories and photos. Twice a year you will receive 50+ grams of your bunnies fibre, a batt or roving/top or handspun yarn ( you will have to tell me what you would like: yarn, batt, fibre depending if you are a spinner, knitter or crocheter or felter) together with some special bunny gifts.





When you want to adopt a bunny that is younger than 1 year , the yield of fibre we get off the bunny in that first year is minimal: we only start clipping them after 6 to 8 months and the quantity of the fibre is very low (about 60 grams at most). You will receive grooming fibre and still receive your 100 grams of fibre per year, but it will be from a surrogate bunny. For bunnies older than a year you will receive your bunnies’ fibre. You can enjoy your bunny fibre throughout the year and know you are supporting your bunny at the same time.




All shipping charges are included in your adoption fee! And you can opt for yearly or half yearly bunny sponsorship payment.








The cost of an IxCHeL Bunny Adoption is AU$250/year or AU$125 per 6 months. You can pay via direct bank deposit, credit card or Paypal.





To secure a spot to sponsor your special bunny you need to commit for at least 6 months. You can opt out of your adoption at any time and then the bunny will be made available for sponsorship again.






The bunnies that are available for sponsorship are:





Mickey: our oldest bunny (born in 2005), a gorgeous buck with a floppy ear and so affectionate and cute. He has a silver white coat and is just adorable





Gandalf: Dad to Elvis and an amazing silver buck. Born in 2006 and totally gorgeous and always wants a hug.





Tribble: son of Topping and Chewie. Born in 2009. A fabulous looking bunny boy with gold hair and very cute. He was one of the brokeback mountain boys with Ooki , who unfortunately passed away when a mutant calici strain hit our farm june 2011. Tribble survived and now lives happily next to his brother Spot.





Spot: son of Topping and Chewie and born in 2009. A cute little bunny boy with a funny white spot on his nose (hence his name). Spot is a very shy boy but loves a pat and his special treats. He has a gorgeous light brown coat that is just divine to spin.

-Spot has been adopted by his foster dad Daniel from Whorled Domination :) Thanks Dan!-




Topping: Mum of Spot, Tribble and foster mum of Elvis, when Elvis’mum Mojo died just after giving birth to her babies. She is an amazing mum ! and has the most fabulous chocolate coat. She loves a hug and being groomed.





Elvis: Born late 2009 , daughter (yes daughter! Only named Elvis because she made this funny noise “a-ha a-ha” when she was little ) of Mojo and Gandalf. A super shiny silky smoke grey coat that is just to die for. Extremely smart ! a wonderful escape artist and has a super personality.




Pippi: Born 2006, daughter of Minne and Gypsy. A super silky soft smoke grey coat and can sit still for hours on end being groomed and clipped. A very friendly natured bunny and lives with her sister Max. Pippi is a famous bunny and was featured on the back cover of Grass roots magazine in 2006 !




Max: Born in 2005, Daughter of Minne and Gypsy and a cover star of the magazine Grass Roots in February 2006! The most affectionate and quiet and friendly natured bunny ever! She has a super silke smoke grey coat and loves cuddles.




Tawnee: Born in 2009 and mum to TicTac, Tilda, , Trixie, Bear, Buttercup and Bubbles. She has a super sweet nature and is a fabulous mum. She is a chocolate otter (meaning chocolate with light coloured bands in her fibre). Super soft and a pleasure to spin!





Millie: born in 2010 and a super character!! Escape artist extraordinaire and with a personality that could match Sarah Connor from Terminator: “don’t mess with Millie”. She loves a pat though, always coming up and pushing her head into your hand but she has to have her way or the highway..lol..She recently lost a litter unfortunately but will be mated again soon with our new boy Blye She has a glorious thick blue grey coat!





Blue: a gorgeous blue angora boy we recently rescued. He is settling in nicely and has a very laid back nature. His coat is super soft and blue grey.





Fifi: Fifi is the daughter of Blue, rescued together with Blue and a red eyed white angora. She was immensely skiddish when we got her and she lives in the studio with me to try and calm her down and get her used to her new safe environment. She is very underweight and needs a lot of special care , together with Blue, to get her health and her coat in tip top condition. She has the most gorgeous blue/red eyes and a very pretty face and Im sure that Fifi will settle in just fine. Fifi might also be pregnant so we could expect a litter from her in about 3-4 weeks ! Fifi is also very special in the way that it is the only bunny I have known to respond to her name immediately ! Call out “fifi !”and she listens! Amazing!

Fifi is now proudly sponsored by a wonderful secret benefactor :)


Bear: Born in 2011 and son of Tawnee. He is amazing. What can I say? Major escape artist, bunny meerkat impersonator extraordinaire and a gorgeous looking chocolate boy. Named after Bear Grylls because of his antics. A super affectionate bunny and a very smart one. He almost did not make it and had to be resuscitated after he feel out of the nest box when he was just born. So a very special bunny indeed.





Buttercup: daughter of Tawnee and sister of Bear. Buttercup is the smallest of the litter with golden cream coat and a fabulous personality!





Bubbles: Son?(yes the jury is still out!) of Tawnee and Dudley and brother? to Bear and Buttercup. A big golden fawn bunny who likes to eat and sleep. Give the remote and Im sure the bunny will change the channel for you..lol..Bubbles is the biggest of the litter. Super soft golden fawn coat that will be divine to spin.




TicTac: Daugher of Tawnee and Dudley, born in 2011. Golden fawn girl and the tiniest angora bunny when I got her. She has grown heaps though and has a super friendly personality and just wants to do binkies and run through her playtunnel with her sisters.





Tilda: daughter of Tawnee and Dudley born in 2011. Lives with TicTac and Trixie and is a golden fawn girl with gorgeous hair. She is quite laid back and loves her greens and running through her playtunnel with TicTac.





Trixie: Born in 2011, a chocolate girl, daughter of Tawnee and Dudley and a very independent character and obviously head matron of the bunny house with Tilda and TicTac. She hates being groomed but has the most gorgeous chocolate hair !




Please message me or email me the name of the bunny you would like to adopt, your postal address, email, if you would like to pay by the year or 6 months and whether you would like yarn, fibre or a batt and I will send you all the adoption information.

For photos of all our bunnies and our little fibre farm please visit my flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/ixchelbunny and go to the set Ixchel farm or angora bunnies.

This weeks fibre and yarn update is here: Funky Bunny Batts and handspun natural angora yarn ! Get ready to Stalk and Snaffle !

How To Order:
You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny. I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods. Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !
(((HUGS)))
Charly


Funky Bunny Batts
merino, blue faced Leicester, angora, yak, mohair, silk, soy, cashmere, glitz, Angelina, seaweed, tencel and mink


Arctic Bliss 111 grams AU$33 -sold-

Cherry Picking 121 grams AU$34

Pink Power 132 grams AU$34

Arctic Storm 142 grams AU$36

Roccocco 118 grams AU$34

Steampunk Magic 88 grams AU$25


Lime Fizz 125 grams AU$34





Arctic Sky 129 grams AU$34






Halloween 148 grams AU$39 -sold-




Berry Chocolate 121 grams AU$34


Halloween Party 107 grams AU$32







Handspun Pure fine English angora yarn ply spun natural colours
Amazing to knit with with an amazing yardage of +/- 150-170
Meters per 50grams !



Wild one, an English angora from Christina, a dark gorgeous grey 51 grams AU$28





Millie a beautiful blue grey yarn 47 grams AU$25


Tribble, a lush gold hand spun angora yarn from our angora Tribble 58 grams AU$30-sold-





Elvis, a silky soft smoke grey handspun yarn from our bunny Elvis 55 grams AU$28




Dates to Remember:
Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-5pm)


There will be BUNNY SPIN INS again in October !! Yeah!

Thursday October 27th
Bring a plate to share your wheel or spindle, knitting or crochet, yourself and a smile and have a fun day out amongst bunnies and friends ! Please contact me to secure a spot ! Bunny food like cabbage, bok choi or broccoli is always welcome: the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D


Contact me on Ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny, message me on facebook there or email me on Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.au


RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly

Friday, October 14, 2011

Dyeing Trees and the Bunny Meerkat Phenomenon

Bear in Meerkat pose




It is a well known fact that rabbits stand on their back feet to have a better view of what is going on, similar to the meerkats. Meerkats however keep it up , pardon the pun, a whole lot longer than bunnies though. They can stand still in that famous Meerkat pose as I call it for a very long time. It’s a hilarious pose and always puts a big smile on my face. The surprise bunnies have a meerkat gene in them I'm sure: especially Bear is a super Meerkat poser: he stands on his hind paws and surveys the surroundings all the time. Not that he is alarmed or stressed, he just likes having a tall look around I guess. His sisters are copying that pose too but do not seem to keep it up for as long as he does. It’s all in the practice ofcourse and Bear has been know to stand up so straight, leaning slightly backwards that gravity takes its toll and he topples backwards. Those are the times I wish my camera could be on stand by and record at an instant: it is just too funny.
The surprise babies are all doing great and I can proudly say that Tawnee is a wonderful mum. We have two girls and a boy in the litter. Bear , as you all know already. Buttercup, so named because of her gorgeous darkish gold coat , by one of the Bunny Spin in visitors last month inspired by the Princess Bride movie. We are still looking for a suitable name for the biggest golden fawn girl of the surprise bunnies though. She is the most quiet and low key one of the litter and that makes it hard to think of an appropriate name. The thing she is very good at though is to all of a sudden just roll over on her side and sleep in an instant. If you have an idea of a fun, appropriate name for this gorgeous bunny message me here or on Ravelry or email me. The Winner of the naming competition will win a nice IxCHeL Prize pack.




The Bunny soon to be named……

Here are some photos of the bunnies in their Meerkat poses :




Buttercup in Meerkat pose , showing off some gorgeous belly fluff





another meerkat pose by Bear (see how much lighter his coat is becoming?)
and normal cute cabbage devouring pose:








I have been busy this week dyeing the fibre and sock yarn clubs and all the prep work for the funky bunny batt clubs as well. The fibre and sock clubs have all been posted this morning and the batt club is going to be finished in the course of today for shipping Monday. Then ofcourse I have to get the studio in tip top shape for this Saturdays Bunny Spin in ! All the fibres and yarns will be displayed and cakes baked. This weekend is a particularly busy one because on the Sunday I will be going to the Spin in happening of the Gippsland Fibre Groupies : I am so looking forward to it ! I am taking the super foldable Schacht Sidekick sheel with me as well and heaps of spindles of Whorled Domination so everybody can have a play on them as well and I will be bringing heaps and heaps of new hand dyed fibres and yarns, including some mink and new angora yarns. It’s going to be great fun !

Apart from all of the above, I couldn’t help myself and had to try something new: first of all the dyeing of pure Tencel tops.






Now Tencel is a plant fibre and made from wood pulp. It is extremely soft, resembles silk in its shine and you would have no idea that you are actually spinning a tree. Tencel® is the registered trade name for Lyocell, which is a biodegradable fabric made from wood pulp cellulose. The manufacturer of Tencel® claims the fabric to be environmentally friendly and a good choice for people with sensitive skin. While Tencel® is made from wood fibers and is biodegradable, it is difficult to dye the fibres. At least that is what is told. True, it is easier to dye Protein or animal fibres and you cannot dye plant fibres like Tencel, cotton or bamboo with landscape dyes for example. The pigments also have a harder time to totally exhaust into the plant fibre cells so you will always have run off and that means rinsing and washing and rinsing again.

How to dye Tencel
First of all make sure that you soak the tencel fabric or tops in a solution of luke warm water where you have dissolved 2 cups of soda ash in 5 liters of water. This solution is necessary to get the fibres in the right Ph value so that the pigments can stick. It’s the mordanting fase you might say. I leave the tencel to soak over night in this solution. Always wear gloves and protective clothing as you would do when dyeing anything anyway. Always take care not to splash anything around and be careful. Dyeing is like working in a chemistry lab, so take care.
After the soak, squeeze out excess liquid. You can keep the soda ash/water solution for a bit an dmordant more fibres or yarns if you want. The longer you keep it, the less potent it becomes though.
Lay out your tencel yarn/tops on a gladwrap on a bench and then start painting or adding the pigments. The dyes I use for Tencel (or cotton for that matter) are so called Procion MX dyes. You will only need a tiny amount of dry pigment. Dissolve the pigment in luke warm water, sprinkle it over the segment you want in that particular colour and then sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and soda ash over the top. Wrap it all up and steam it for about 30minutes. Leave the top to cool off naturally and preferably as long as possible.
Akl the pigments won’t exhaust in the fibre. About 10% of the pigments wont stick to tencel, but the longer and the more patient you are, the deeper the shades will be and the less run off you will get.
Wash the tops/yarn/fabric in dishwashing liquid, rinse in clear water and then hang to dry.
The result can be spectacular ! Especially when you start experimenting with colour blending. I only have 4 Procion MX colours : black, turquoise, yellow and red and with some very inventing mixing and blending you can get an amazing array of colours. I love it because it reminds me of my days mixing oilpaints and pigments. It takes a long time to get it right and it is very timeconsuming but it is well worth it. See it as an adventure in colour!
As with all dyeing, you do not need many colours to create a wonderful world of different dyed fibres, just your imagination.

On the subject of trees: I have found some wonderful Bark from a Paperbark tree that is just magical and soft! It consists of different super fine layers of cellulose fibres that are almost ready to spin as they are! So I brought a whole bunch of them into the laundry to prep them a bit and then later separate all the layers. A kind of ran out of time so I left the whole lot in the laundry and wento to make dinner for the hungry masses. Later that evening it was all bout packing the clubs so the paperbark spinning just had to wait. Very late at night I wandered towards the laundry on my way to the bathroom and out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadow….not right I thought, so I looked again and yes, there it was the shadow was actually a humungous SPIDER! HUGE! A huntsman spider! I hate spiders..well actually I am absolutely terrified of spiders. So much so, that I did not return to the hallway but sped out of the laudry outside and did a run around to get into the house bypassing the spider all together to wake up Paul so he could physically remove the Huntsman. I know its stupid to be so afraid of a spider that isn’t even poisenous, but I guess Im just very wary of all things with 8 legs and 8 sets of eyes. I ofcourse did not tell Paul my hunch that the Huntsman probably came from my Paperbark stash in the laundry….Im just happy that it did not pop its head and legs up while I had the paperbark layers on my lap while spinning ! That would have totally freaked me out! Lol









the wafer thin soft layers of the paperbark…so spinnable (without the spider!)




Anyway this weeks fibre and yarn update is here: some Tencel tops, Camelbunny silk tops and silk/merino sock weight yarn ! Get ready to Stalk and Snaffle !

How To Order:
You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny. I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods. Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !
(((HUGS)))
Charly


Camelbunny silk Tops
(70% Baby Camel, 10% Angora, 20% Mulberry Silk) 50g /AU$19


Rolling in Clouds

Sparks fly

Paradise

the whole Love




Merino/Silk Sock weight yarn
(Merino 50%, silk 50%) +/-100g /AU$26 +/-425 meters per 100grams!

Purple Haze -sold-

Black Purl





Pixie





Galah






Clouds






Kangaroo Paw






Natural




Tencel Tops Hand dyed or natural 100grams $22
Super lush to spin with exquisite lustre and shine
Some main characteristics of lyocell or Tencel fibres are that they are soft, absorbent, very strong when wet or dry, and resistant to wrinkles; lyocell fabric can be machine- or hand-washed or drycleaned and it drapes well.


Soft Touch -sold-



Arctic Lights





Steampunk Blues





Party


Alien Invasion


Dates to Remember:
Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-5pm)


There will be BUNNY SPIN INS again in October !! Yeah!
Saturday October 15th
Thursday October 27th
Bring a plate to share your wheel or spindle, knitting or crochet, yourself and a smile and have a fun day out amongst bunnies and friends ! Please contact me to secure a spot ! Bunny food like cabbage, bok choi or broccoli is always welcome: the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D

Gippsland spinners Group Visit Sunday October 16th
I will bring heaps of new yarns and fibres ! Don’t miss out! Contact the Gippsland Group on RAVelry for more info. I will add more info closer to the date as well.

Little Yarra Steiner School Fair & Open Day
Sunday, October 23rd
A very special family fun day : I will be there with heaps of handspun and hand dyed yarns, art yarns, tops, soaps and tea ! no to be missed !

Contact me on Ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny, message me on facebook there or email me on Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.au


RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly