Bear for Prime Minister !

I have always been slightly amused or highly annoyed by politics but it certainly has reached an all high at this moment in Australia..I mean please ! I was listening to ABC radio on my way home to the post office on wednesday and just caught the tail end of a discussion about the battle the nurses here are going through to get the acknowledgement (in pay etc) they deserve and a caller mentioned that their campaign would be more effective, if they would look towards the police union, why? Because nurses are nurses because they love to nurture, not going into conflict, whereas the police, well, they are used to conflict. So, what are politicians good at, why do they choose their profession? In an ideal world , you would say :”because they want to make this word a better place for everybody and fight to make things right for all people”… This is not the idea I get –and I am sure I am not alone in this- with this latest development in the newest Aussie soap opera. The first thing I’d like to say to Gillard and Rudd is “Go to the Naughty Corner NOW!” as if they were a couple of misbehaving kids…. The Message it is giving to the public is that politicians, regardless of gender or political inclination, are just interested in one thing: POWER. So as a nusre you want to nurture, when you are a cop you handle conflict and when you are a politician you are into Power. Forgive me , but I do not think that is the right reason to be a politician. Also a wise (wo)man once said “when two dogs fight , the third one gets the bone”…please, please I hope the bone doesn’t go to you know who….so, in order to make this a clean, well behaved political campaign, with a new front man that will make all of us proud, I am advocating BEAR FOR PRIME MINISTER! I must admit it is bold and I was a bit hesitatent at first, since Bear had shown a bit of complacency going to work lately due to the whole political awkwardness, but just as the going got tough he did not falter, did not put a press conference together in the middle of the night nor accuse anybody else, so, after 2 whole days of silent and careful bunny deliberation, he hopped to the office and got on with it! So, I say: Vote Bear for Change ! ;D

Bear deliberating over portfolios

Sophisticated, suave, intelligent, well behaved (does not back stab or talk rubbish) while having a wonderful sense of humour: great attributes for any politician

This week has been filled with spinning spinning SPINNING –more spinning, trying to get as many yarbs ready for the Sydney Royal and all the shows coming up! AND custom orders-, skeining, dyeing and batt making, just to name a few things..lol I really love how the batts came out: super luxurious and sparkly and very fun to spin or felt with. So have fun snaffling and creating ! Enjoy!

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
Ingredients: Superfine merino, blue faced Leicester, angora, glitz, Angelina, cashmere, camel, yak, soy,silk, seaweed, alpaca, Navajo Churro
These batts have been hand carded with love
You will be able to lay it all out onto a big table, divide the layers and start felting or you can make the most awesome corespun art yarn with it. Due to the fact that it has been carded on a very fine cloth it is blended well enough to spin fine yarns as well !
Enjoy !

Baby 1, 116 grams AU$34

Baby two , 98 grams AU$28 SOLD

Rainbow 110 grams AU$33 SOLD

Pink! 108 grams of pink power ! AU$31

Licorice 99grams AU$29 SOLD

Frosty 111grams AU$33 SOLD

Snowman 128grams AU$35

Luxury 133grams AU$36 SOLD

Purple Monster 129grams AU$34 SOLD

Orange Dream 106 grams AU$32

Too Sexy 118grams AU$33

Dates to Remember:

Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-4pm)
Every Third Saturday and every fourth Thursday of the month!
Saturday March 17th, 11am-4pm and Thursday March 22nr, 11am – 4pm

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 as well ! : the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D


April 9th, Sydney Royal Show
THE Angora Bunny Event of the year!!
Back to Back Bunny World Record
Join the fun and what better way to do it than visit all the Easter bunnies at the Royal Easter Show! Promoting the angora rabbits in Australia for the very first time ! and how ! More information on the Royal Syndey show website and here later !

April 16th
Flower Power Spin in
Grand Valley Spinner s & Weavers
Tapscott-Milbourne centre, Cambridge road, Motrose (melways ref 52 C5)
10am-4pm
It is going to be heaps of fun with lots of new fibres and yarns !!! and lot sof spinning


April 28th
Mini Wool Show of the Hand knitters Guild
Time and place to be confirmed later.
I am preparing heaps of new yarns for that event that will be amazing !!!!!

The Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show 2012
Friday 20th-Sunday 22nd of July
I will be in the Flower (bunny) shed again this year with heaps of new fluffy stuff and in full bunny regalia !!
This year it is even going to BIGGER and more HUGE than ever !!!
Join me in the fun !
The woolcraft schedule is published and the IxCHeL Fibre farm is sponsoring a catergory this year in the handspun yarn classes in Natural Animal Fibres class 23 and 24 !!! We feel it is very important to get the word out . Angora fibre and cashmere and mohair and alpaca and baby camel is amazing to spin, felt, weave, embellish and crochet with! Start planning and working on your entry for the show and get your art work out there for everybody tot admire and win prizes !! yeah ! What could be better eh?
Check out the website here for more details : www.sheepshow.com and for questions relating to the woolcraft schedule and ore contact Dot Vallence at Dotv5 at optusnet dot com dot au

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

RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly

(this is the QR code for this ixchelbunny blog. More about QR codes and how to knit your own in next weeks blog!)

Chaos theory, black matter and a bit of magic

Magical Bunny Dreams

Apparently there is no empty space..anywhere. If you thought space was empty, scientist now have proven that wrong because the whole universe is filled , or should I say cluttered, with matter. Black matter, whatever that may be. So maybe, the universe likes to collect and stuff things away just like we do. Anybody who has a crafty bone in their body, can relate to that. As soon as you have a hobby, it takes over your universe and fills up every possible gap in your existence. And I don’t just mean that on a metaphysical level, no, I mean that in an absolute way…like, love yarn, see yarn, get yarn and although you know there is no more room in your yarn basket, a lightbulb flashes in your brain and presto: gone is the empty space that was screaming at you in the empty space under your bed and done : it’s now filled with luscious, fluffy, adorable magic.

While we are all spinning away at the Eat & Spin restaurant in Lilydale where a group of mad spinners meet up every third Thursday of the month, we got some interested looks from people having their dinners there. They were mesmerised how the process went, from fluff to tops to yarn and the spinning wheel turns and busy hands manipulate loose matter into organised string theory. From chaos , comes order so it seems. They were amazed at how long the process took though and seeing what we were doing , they finally got an understanding that a jumper , a good one, does not happen over night. So next time they go into a clothing store and they can get a jumper for $5 they will know that somewhere along the line, things got totally and utterly illogically wrong.
What was really great was that we all were in total agreement: although spinning and knitting, or making anything by hand for that matter, is extremely time consuming, it is an utter sense of accomplishment of having made something by hand , your own hands. In every piece there is an amazing amount of love, time, knowledge and passion. So, dark matter (read “stash”) is good : the craft universe agrees !

This week on offer: some very special rare breed Manx Loghtan tops and some Magic Bunny tops (superfine 18m merino 70% 5% angora and 25% hand dyed glitz) and ofcourse lots of very soft hand spun and hand dyed yarns! As you may have noticed this shop blog has gone LIVE! A lot earlier than usual. This is because the electricity provider deceided it was time (again) to do some work on the overhead powerlines for a WHOLE DAY! So no electricity for me tomorrow, update day and no internet. (very sad face)…please order like you always do although I might not be able to respond until late on Friday night: I always look at the time stamps on each order message, so first come , first serve. I will email you your order reference nr and all the payment details asap! Happy snaffling ! Enjoy the fibre and yarn offerings of this week !

Manx Loghtan Tops
+/-100 grams AU$19

wonderful to spin and felt with

Manx Loghtan tops in a lush caramel brown colour

The Manx Loghtan Sheep are a sturdy and rugged breed with a long ancestry on the Isle of Man. “Loghtan”is derived from the Manx words for mouse and brown and refers to the breeds light brown caramel coloured fleece. The manx Loghtan is a rare breed and belongs to a group of sheep known as the northern Short tails, other members of this group are the Hebridean and the Soay. They can have 4 horns or even 6 ! Stunning looking animals !

a Manx Loghtan ram in a sexy photo shoot (taken from the fabulous book “beautiful sheep”)

New Blend!
Magic Bunny Tops
70% superfine merino, 5% angora, 25% glitz
100+ grams AU$22

Black Bunny Magic , like a black raven with amazing mesmerising shine and glitz. Looks absolutely stunning ! with copper and blue and gold accents that will light up any project !

close up of the black bunny magic tops

White Bunny Magic Tops, an alabaster base with hand dyed glittery accents that are bedazzling !

Close up of the White Bunny Magic tops..

hand spun Angora yarn, 4 ply , hand dyed

+/- 120meters / 50 grams AU$25

Amazingly soft yarn from 100% pure angora bunny fibres. It will bloom in your hands while knitting and when brushed up gently after knitting, it will have a magical halo !

Antarctica

Rainbow

Boy Blue

Spring

Purple Cyclamen

Black Purl

hand spun CamelBunny yarn, 4 ply , hand dyed

+/- 110meters / 50 grams AU$25
very soft and light yarn from baby camel and pure angora bunny fibres. It will bloom in your hands, is extremely soft and is even lighter than the pure angora 4 ply. When brushed up gently after knitting, it will have a magical halo as well !

I have dyed both types of yarn in almost the same colourways, so you can combine both of them in a project together !

Rainbow

Antarctica

Walnut Rose

Black Purl

(here is an excellent example how Baby camel takes the dye better than pure angora.)

Purple Cyclamen

Boy Blue

hand spun Bunny Mink yarn, 3 ply , hand dyed

+/- 300meters !!! / 50 grams AU$23 ndls 3.25-4mm 70% long dehaired mink, 30% angora
very soft and light yarn that is extremely soft and warm and totally luxurious! I am totally in luuurv with this yarn blend and I am sure you will too!

Rainbow

Rainbow

Antarctica

Heather

Autumn blush

Chanel

Purple Cyclamen

Dates to Remember:


Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-4pm)

There will be BUNNY SPIN INS again in February 2012 !! Yeah!
Saturday February 18th, 11am-4pm CANCELLED SORRY BUT THURSDAY THIS MONTH IS STILL ON!
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 as well ! : the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D

Thursday February 23rd 11am-4pm


April 9th, Sydney Royal Show
THE Angora Bunny Event of the year!!
Back to Back Bunny World Record
Join the fun and what better way to do it than visit all the Easter bunnies at the Royal Easter Show! Promoting the angora rabbits in Australia for the very first time ! and how ! More information on the Royal Syndey show website and here later !

April 16th
Flower Power Spin in
Grand Valley Spinner s & Weavers
Tapscott-Milbourne centre, Cambridge road, Motrose (melways ref 52 C5)
10am-4pm
It is going to be heaps of fun with lots of new fibres and yarns !!! and lot sof spinning

April 28th
Mini Wool Show of the Hand knitters Guild
Time and place to be confirmed later.
I am preparing heaps of new yarns for that event that will be amazing !!!!!


The Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show 2012
Friday 20th-Sunday 22nd of July
I will be in the Flower (bunny) shed again this year with heaps of new fluffy stuff and in full bunny regalia J
This year it is even going to BIGGER and more HUGE than ever !!!
Join me in the fun !
The woolcraft schedule is published and the IxCHeL Fibre farm is sponsoring a catergory this year in the handspun yarn classes in Natural Animal Fibres class 23 and 24 !!! We feel it is very important to get the word out . Angora fibre and cashmere and mohair and alpaca and baby camel is amazing to spin, felt, weave, embellish and crochet with! Start planning and working on your entry for the show and get your art work out there for everybody tot admire and win prizes !! yeah ! What could be better eh?
Check out the website here for more details : www.sheepshow.com and for questions relating to the woolcraft schedule and ore contact Dot Vallence at Dotv5 at optusnet dot com dot au
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 !
RABBIT ON !

((hugs))
Charly

an Existentialistic week

or how to make sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an absurd world

Snugglebunnies

This week has been filled with three new things that have never happened to me before (and lots of stuff that fills up the hours of every day that are recurring all the time …).

1. We bought some Australorp point of lay hens about 2 months ago: gorgeous animals and they have settled in well ;) To my surprise though one of the hens turned out to have a very husky voice early in the morning and started koo-koo-loo-kooíng. That’s when I knew we were the proud owners of a Cockerel..lol a very effeminate one at that , but nevertheless, one that we would never get any eggs off. He is gorgeous and we may as well try to breed our own chooks now. All good. He doesn’t seem to be very loud in the morning and since we are not in suburbia it’s not a problem if he were. At least HE isn’t waking me up early in the morning , but somebody else sure is! Which brings me to new thing nr 2:

2. Monday morning, at around 6am I hear this thumping next to my bed. There it was gain: thump run thump..hop..thump. Peeking over the edge of the bed is Bear , ostentatiously looking at me, in quite a demanding way, so ..I get up. He runs to the door, looks around, I follow, he runs to the kitchen…looks around if I am still following him and spurts off to his bowl in the studio where he sits down, two front paws on bowl and I swear I could hear him muttering “I’m hungry, it’s breakfast time!” Yes, we now have a Bear Bunny Alarm clock..lol It is not uncommon for rabbits to have this behaviour but it is the first time for me and Bear. Bear is very special in another aspect as well: as soon as he enjoyed his breakfast, he is off to “work”meaning: he hops to Paul’s office and starts his working day filled with snoozing next to the desk, looking out the window. He clocks off at 5pm to hop to his bowl again and demands diner. Classic! In the meantime, in between working (read: snoozing) and hopping around investigating and the occasional bathroom break (yes, he hops to his kitty litter tray in the studio!) he has never ever destroyed , gnawed or broken anything, except for that one time that he thought the aloe vera plant was looking yummy and pulled the plant and terra cotta pot it was in, off the coffee table and nibbled at the leaves. He probably wanted a good detox that day..lol

Now, I hear you asking, what is the third new thing? Well, the third new thing is unfortunately a sad one. One of Fifi’s baby bunnies, Sulu, a little baby girl and amazingly cute, was looking a bit strange. Every time I was feeding the bunnies everybody ran to the food bowl including Sulu and started nibbling, at least that’s what I thought! Sulu was chewing on her fur though and when I first noticed that two days ago, I had the scare of my life. The teeth of bunnies grow all the time, they nibble and chew and the teeth then wear off so they are in a continuous cycle of growth. Sulu had two problems: her teeth were growing exponentially AND the teeth did not line up. So when she chewed they did not rub together to wear them off. In no time the front and lower teeth had grown so much in the wrong direction that it was probably starting to hurt , so she started chewing off her fur around the neck line and left the fibre in her mouth, chewing on it all the time. As soon as I noticed this bad situation I made an appointment with our good Vet, Kate, but I already knew that there was only one solution: euthanasia.. If an older bunny is developing this problem it can be helped by sawing off the excess growth , but with Sulu the mis alignment was so bad that she would have had to go into surgery every two weeks. The trauma that would mean would simply be too much and also the risks of the anaesthetic is huge. So we had to make a very hard decision to not have Sulu suffer any longer and put her to sleep. RIP little Sulu....

It is heartbreaking to see that such a beautiful little ball of fluff that has been nurtured for 2 and a half months is suffering and at those times I immediately start questioning why? How? It is so unfair! It is nothing that is anybody’s fault, it is just the luck of the gene draw. Just two chromosomes out of alignment , little things that will mean a life threatening situation. Why? We can try and philosophise about it , ask God, ask Science, ask Ourselves, but in the end existentially, it is little things that make big things happen and someties there are no reasons why. The only thing that we can do is to be strong enough to make decisions, to live or to die, to be happy or be sad, to celebrate life in all its hardship and happiness and be grateful for all the breaths that we have on this earth. Carpe Diem and..RABBIT ON!

Fifi’s babies, nibbling , with little Sulu on the left

This week on offer: some gorgeous very special Navajo Churro tops (Navajo Churro 95% angora 5%) and some angoraino tops (superfine 17m merino 5% angora) and ofcourse the Valentine selection of IxCHeL mini skeins.

I have offered the Special Valentine IxCHeL mini skeins to pre order last week and Im afraid to say that I only have 3 sets left at the moment so if you want to play with these mini skeins and their accompanying valentine hexapuff chart, let me know asap. The mini skeins are blue faced Leicester bunny, bamboo silk and merino silk this time, so an absolute soft and luxurious pleasure to hexapuff with !

Valentine Mini Skeins Selection 10 IxCHeL mini skeins with valentine Hexapuff chart AU$23

Angorino Tops 95% superfine merino, 5% angora
+/-100 grams AU$20

wonderful to spin and felt with, hand dyed with love

Dalek Party

Ood Song

Blink !


Castellan

Navajo Churro Bunny Tops
(5%angora, 95% Navajo Churro)
100+ grams AU$20

Rose

Stones of Venice

Pandorica

Clockwork robots

Judoon

Davros


Skaro

Wokshops in May and June :
MAY Classes

Beginner Spinner classes

Tuesday May 8th, 15th and 22nd 10am-4pm $150
Learn how to spin in a day ! You will receive a bag filled with fluffy goodies to learn with and the use of a wheel! Different types of fibres will be covered from merino, to Shetland, to rare sheep breeds , angora , mohair, yak and alpaca !
Enjoy the relaxing environment of our little fibre farm and cuddle a bunny on your breaks from spinning. Lunch and drinks provided. Brochures on techniques etc will be handed out as well. Limited places available !

Art Yarns

Saturday May 26th and Tuesday May 29th 10am-4pm $150
Make art yarns, dive into the world of creative yarns! Learn how to make the nip n tuck, coils, slubs, core spinning and adding fancy extras!
Lunch and drinks provided. Bring your own fluff or additions or dive into our shop to get your supply. Every student will receive a bag of surprise goodies to work with as well.

JUNE CLASSES

Wire Core Spinning

Saturday June 2nd 10am-4pm $150
Learn how to use jewellery wire in your spinning to make fibre sculptures , baskets, wearable art and more. !
Its an amazingly nice way to make adventurous, multi functional yarn !
Handouts , lunch and drinks will be provided a dn a bag of goodies, wire core and fluff to play with !

Plying Adventures

Tuesday June 5th 10-3pm $100
Learn how to ply a balanced yarn, Navajo ply, flower power ply or do fancy boucle! Lots of new adventurous yarns !
Every student will be given a bag of goodies and lunch and drinks will be provided as well.

Tailspinning yarn

Saturday 9th of June 10am-4pm $150
Learn the spinning technique in a day. You can create your own tailspun super soft mohair curls (fibre provided!) or even angora ! anything goes! It’s exciting to create yarn like this ! aand now is your chance to learn!
Every student will be given a bag of goodies and lunch and drinks will be provided as well.

Flower Power Art Yarns and Fancy Additions

Tuesday June 19th 10-4pm $150
Learn how to make art yarns with your handspun that look like little flowers or beehives ! and how to add little bits and pieces, feathers, bling and more to your yarn to make it extra special !
Your imagination is the limit !
Every student will be given a bag of goodies and lunch and drinks will be provided as well.

To reserve a spot in any of these classes, email me or message me on Ravelry. I will send you all the details. It’s going to be FUN !

Dates to Remember:

Warragul Knitters and spinners group show
February 14th from 9 am til 2pm
Gladstone rd, Fire shed, Warragul
there will be bunnies and yarn and lots of fluffy tops to cuddle !


Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-4pm)

There will be BUNNY SPIN INS again in February 2012 !! Yeah!
Saturday February 18th, 11am-4pm
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 as well ! : the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D

Thursday February 23rd 11am-4pm

February 14th, Warragul Spinners and Weavers Group, Gladstone street
The Fireshed will be filled with fibre ! I will do a bunny talk and bring a bunny with me to “show and tell” and perform a bunny haircut !

April 9th, Sydney Royal Show
THE Angora Bunny Event of the year!!
Back to Back Bunny World Record
Join the fun and what better way to do it than visit all the Easter bunnies at the Royal Easter Show! Promoting the angora rabbits in Australia for the very first time ! and how ! More information on the Royal Syndey show website and here later !

April 16th
Flower Power Spin in
Grand Valley Spinner s & Weavers
Tapscott-Milbourne centre, Cambridge road, Motrose (melways ref 52 C5)
10am-4pm
It is going to be heaps of fun with lots of new fibres and yarns !!! and lot sof spinning

April 28th
Mini Wool Show of the Hand knitters Guild
Time and place to be confirmed later.
I am preparing heaps of new yarns for that event that will be amazing !!!!!

MAY and JUNE: keep your calendar free for exciting workshops ! see above

The Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show 2012
Friday 20th-Sunday 22nd of July
I will be in the Flower (bunny) shed again this year with heaps of new fluffy stuff and in full bunny regalia J
This year it is even going to BIGGER and more HUGE than ever !!!
Join me in the fun !
The woolcraft schedule is published and the IxCHeL Fibre farm is sponsoring a catergory this year in the handspun yarn classes in Natural Animal Fibres class 23 and 24 !!! We feel it is very important to get the word out . Angora fibre and cashmere and mohair and alpaca and baby camel is amazing to spin, felt, weave, embellish and crochet with! Start planning and working on your entry for the show and get your art work out there for everybody tot admire and win prizes !! yeah ! What could be better eh?
Check out the website here for more details : www.sheepshow.com and for questions relating to the woolcraft schedule and ore contact Dot Vallence at Dotv5 at optusnet dot com dot au

How To Order and reserve a spot for your classes:
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 !

RABBIT ON !

((hugs))
Charly