Friday, April 26, 2013

An Ancient Fibre and Vampires

 
I will just tell it like it is…I’m exhausted. Not because I have been standing at the dyepots til 3 in the morning or even spinning yarn til dusk..no, I can handle that. Ask me to work, dye, spin, knit, weave, do farm work without any sleep and I will not be bothered at all, in fact , I will feel energised and have a smile on my face feeling tired but happy. No, what is doing my head in and making me feel unhappy exhausted is this: I have been sitting at my desk doing book work and tax stuff all week, with an afternoon of relief doing some very nice dyeing of what I can offer you on this weeks blog. I now have a huge admiration of book keepers and accountants and want them to know they will never..ever..ever..ever…!!.. see me wanting to become an accountant.  The number crunching has really sucked the life out of me so to speak..lol Well, it is almost done now, Paul will do the double checking and then…I can concentrate on what I love doing: Spinning, Dyeing, Designing , dreaming up new blends and new ideas for fibre, felt and sewing. Yes, sewing! I have always made my own clothes and other crafty things, but I lapsed when my sewing machine died on me…Paul finally said to me..you know what..buy a new one ! yippee! So I have put one on layby and can’t wait to work with that new baby: A Viking no less ;-)
..I have so many plans for Bendigo Show it is driving me insane, especially this last week, because I had to do that “other stuff”..but all will be revealed just before Bendigo show and it is going to so much FUN  !!!!

So, what have I got in store for you this weekend? Well, it is a new blend that will rock your world: my vampire tops. It is a wonderful blend of 17micron merino, cashmere, angora bunny, a bit of black bamboo and wait for it: Flax !!!! Flax or linen, is an amazing fibre, you just have to get to know it better to totally appreciate its history and beauty. It has been spun up and made into cloth since the dawn of time and the beauty of linen is that it becomes softer and more beautiful with wear and age. A truly amazing fibre!

 
Flax is the common name for an annual herb of the Linaceae family, especially members of the genus Linum, and for the fibre obtained from such plants. The stem varies from 60 to 120 cm in length and consists of fibre bundles lying between the outer bark and a woody core. The individual fibres, 10 to 40, are held together in the bundles by pectines. The bundles lie around the core and are attached to it and one another by pectines. Flax requires a temperate, moist climate and good soil to flourish. It is sown around the end of March, and the plant starts to bloom at the end of May. Because it is a 'heavy feeder', it cannot be grown on the same land year after year and so it is be rotated with other crops. It must be weeded often. There are two main types: the blue-flowered and the white-flowered flax. The latter produces coarser fibres and more seeds than the blue flax. The fibres, after processing, are spun and woven into linen cloth. Harvesting flax: Most flax matures in 90 to 120 days and usually is ready in August. There are three degrees in the ripening of the flax grown to make linen: green, yellow and brown.

The yellow has proved to be the most suitable for fibre production. Flax that is pulled too early -green - produces very fine but weak fibres. On the other hand , in overripe flax - brown - the stems are strong but brittle but produce too high a proportion of undesirable short fibres ('tow'). When the flax is yellow, the fibres are long and supple, and therefore ideal for further processing. The mature yellow stems were harvested by careful pulling from the soil by hand (flax pulling) to avoid damaging the fibres in the stem.

The pulled flax was stacked in bundles in the field. The next steps in the processing described below are those used for centuries before the industrial revolution, early in the 19th century, introduced mechanization and destroyed the home-based flax industry. The stems were walked repeatedly or beaten with a flail ('swingle') to remove the seed bolls. More commonly their top ends of a bundle of stems were pulled through a 'ripple', a comb-like tool consisting of a row of 20-30 vertical steel pins fixed in a piece of wood which looked like the 'heckling' comb shown below. This process was called 'rippling'. The seeds were then released from the bolls by walking over them or beating with a flail. The stems were then 'retted' by the action of molds and bacteria which removed gums and resins. Retting sometimes was done by simple exposure of the stems to the weather in the fields for 2 to 8 weeks, the time required depending on the weather. This process dissolved the pectins holding the bundles to the central core of the flax stem and to one another.

Care is needed to stop the process before the pectins holding the individual fibres in the bundles together were dissolved. It was important to keep the bundles intact for later spinning. During this period the dew and rains washed away the digested pectin, leaving the bundles lying within the stems. More commonly, retting was done by soaking the stems in a nearby stream or river. Elsewhere the retting was often done by soaking the flax, covered with mud, in water-filled pits for 1-2 weeks. The stems were then rinsed and dried. Retting loosened the bark (flexible fibrous bark) from the bundles, facilitating the next step, 'scutching' by beating with a stick a shown to the left or with the tool to the right. Both crushed the inner woody core of the stems leaving the desired bundles of long fibres intact. This produced about 60% linen flax (long fibres -60 to 90 cm long) 33% tow (short fibres - 10 to 15 cm long) and 'shiv', woody waste formerly used for fuel, nowadays to make chipboard. The stems were then drawn through a 'heckling' comb shown below to remove remnants of the fibrous core and outer bark and aligned the bundles of fibres ready for spinning. Except the planting and weeding, all the above labour-intensive steps began to be replaced in the early 1800s by mechanized processes associated with the industrial revolution.

Harvesting machines replaced manual labour. Nowadays water retting in streams is rarely used because of its cost and the pollution it causes. It has largely been replaced by soaking the harvested flax in tubs of warm water for about a week. Scutching by hand was replaced by mechanical beaters called swinging machines; hackling was mechanized and, of course, hand spinning and hand weaving were replaced by adaptations of the English-designed 'Spinning Jenny'.

For more information on falx and processing and its fascinating history go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax.  It even has a link there to a video on processing flax.
 
 A close up of the heckle..a very nast instrument really and cause of lots of injuries in the flax processing before industrialisation. In Dutch it's called a "hekel" and one of the origins of the word to dislike something (Dutch: een hekel hebben aan...).


Enjoy this new Vampire bunny blend and know that there is only a very limited supply! So if you wat to try spinning some flax without having to heckle and scrunch…grab a vampire bunny . I promise it won’t bite ..lol


How To Order from this Shop blog
 until the website www.ixchel.com.au is up and running –which will be sooooon-ish!-yeah yeah start laughing will ya.....You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.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.
Payment : direct bank deposit, card or paypal ! easy !
(((HUGS)))
Charly

Vampire Bunny Tops

A new wonderful blend of super fine merino with angora bunny, cashmere and a teeny bit of black bamboo and merino. A wonderfully “evil” addictive spin ! Aalso extremely feltable which will give you a wonderful texture 100 g AU$24
Black Lagoon -sold-

dracul

 
Goblin
happy vampires

Mount Doom

a Naked Vampire



Orc



Outback Vampires



The Kraken -sold-
Treebeard

Voodoo
Werewolf
Vampire after a drink -sold-

Dates to Remember:
Hand knitters guild Mini Wool Show
Saturday May 11th, Bardin Centre Hall at Christ Church, 8 Glenlyon Road, Brunswick
10am-3pm
this event is a MUST and an absolute fabulous way to catch up with fellow fibre fans ! I will be there with heaps of new hand spun, art yarns, lace weight, sock yarn, bunny mink and angora yarns and much much more...!!!!
also a special pressie for all who come dressed as a bunny....ofcourse!.. and ...a chance to win a very special IxCHeL basket full of goodies to be drawn at 3pm at the venue !!!! yeah!

Gembrook Spinners and Weavers Guild Spin in day

Monday May 20th, Gembrook Town Hall  !!!!
10.30-4pm
A wonderful get together with heaps of spinners and weavers in the beautiful Gembrook.

BENDIGO SHEEP AND WOOL SHOW!

Friday 19th of July, Saturday 20th of July and Sunday 21st of July

This is the Ultimate Fibre and fun mix of them all! There will be lots of new things on offer at my IxCHeL stall ofcourse, with prizes to be won and lots of fun to be had!
This is the place to support farmers, fibre producers and independant "Indie" dyers and crafters and have some great fun discovering new things and even win prizes !

In the flower Power Bunny Shed there will be some extra surprises and new things happening as well, including …this is so exciting!!!!: you can see and try out new unusual spinning wheels adn spinning related goodies like andean plyers and nore from a wonderful new fibre fanatic fiberific! vendor ! Don’t miss seeing these new beauties! And ofcourse there will be lots more demos and wheels and spindles on offer as well in the flower power Bunny shed !
There is a woolcraft schedule available at the farm or you can email Dot : Dotv5@optusnet.com.au. Entries for your fiber art closes on June 14th and there are lots of prizes to be won! Our little IxCHeL fibre farm is sponsoring sections 24 and 25 so get started on your entry to win some very yummy stuff !
Any questions or requests?
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
 
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Friday, April 19, 2013

Death and Taxes

 
Last week I told you about “things”getting the way of doing (fun) stuff or remembering what is important in life.. Well if this week isn’t a wake up call I don’t know what is….
 
Who would have known that the horrific events at the Boston Marathon was  part one of another horror event that happened just yesterday in Texas? I must admit my heart stopped when I heard about the explosion of the fertiliser plant in West, Texas. At first I thought they said George West you see….. I lived in a small town called George West, Texas in the 70s/80s and went to the elementary school and the gorgeous junior high / high school there. I have a step-uncle and nieces there, we don’t really keep in touch, but still. I wouldn’t say there was a sigh of relief when I heard that it was West , Texas and not George West, Texas , that would be harsh and insensitive, but it did put into perspective how we experience things. Is it more of a shock to the system when you have a personal connection ? And if yes, why does it have to make a difference whether you have personally been there or not? It shouldn’t really in my book, but there you go.

 It did make me go down memory lane and remember the wonderful Mrs Richards, my elementary school teacher and a wonderful inspiration, my times horse riding (bare back..ouch) with my uncle rounding up the long horn cattle in the cactus ridden fields and burning the sharp needles off the cacti so the cattle would at least have some green and liquid in the dry (I saw on a church sign online they still do pray for rain there…)… and playing the clarinet in the school band, hey I even won 6th place in the George West Olympics (6th place sounds so much better than last, lol.but then again I never was any good at running..lol) and I bet I drove my mum crazy practicing on the porch outside..enough reminiscing…

My heart goes out to all the people who are experiencing so much trauma and loss in Boston and West. Sending healing vibes and love to all.

And then, if all of that horror wasnt enough trauma for the week, I got a letter from the tax office yesterday reminding me I had to do my taxes…..oh joy!..so in short that is why the title of this blog is “Death and Taxes”..the only two things sure in life..

I know what I will be doing this weekend….number crunching and taxes….which I must admit I’m not good at. Give me a paint brush, a spinning wheel, a loom, sewinng machine, fibre, a pen and paper, fabric but please do not expect me to be an Einstein when it comes to book keeping. I cannot thank my hubbie Paul enough: without him I’d be wrangling through boxes and boxes of receipts and bits of paper , at least he has done all the hard work and computerised it all.
That’s another thing: Why do I keep on putting hard things off to do later? ( bashes her head on the desk repeatedly!!!) : It’s much better to get the crap out of the way first and THEN do the fun stuff…but nooooooooo, I didn’t do that , did I ? Again, there was always something better to do first (like keeping alive, taking care of the animals, producing blends and yarns…) …..lesson learnt……maybe….if not, I hope you will visit me in prison..I wonder if they let me take my spinning wheel and fibre?
 
 Female convicts in Australia making clothes….(1900s)


This week there are some more new pure angora 3ply yarn with appr 400m per 50grams!!!!!!. My friend Lindy made me an absolutely gorgeous Jolly Roger shawl from that yanr and I can tell you it feels super soft, is light and is so warm!

And... Also a new IxCHeL blend tops: Magic Bunny with hand dyed glitz in beautiful jade gemstone colourings. It is a blend with super fine 17micron merino and a dash of super fluffy angora bunny and cashmere with a streak of glitz !  and last but certainly not least a fresh batch of newly blended Bunny Bison Bliss !!!!!! Have fun !!! ( the other stuff can wait......just a little while longer......)


How To Order from this Shop blog

 
 
the pure angora 3ply  (huge!!!) Jolly Roger shawl! A work of art !
 until the website www.ixchel.com.au is up and running –which will be sooooon-ish!-yeah yeah start laughing will ya.....You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.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.
Payment : direct bank deposit, card or paypal ! easy !
(((HUGS)))
Charly

Angora 3ply hand dyed yarn

400meters per 50grams+ for AU$22
4 skeins per colour available
faded jeans

forest adventure

 
Holiday
Indigo

Misty Mountain

Rose



Tranquillity



Velvet



Wombat


Magic Bunny Tops

An exclusive IxCHeL blend with 17 micron merino and English Angora bunny, cashmere and a streak of hand dyed glitz! . Super soft and very easy to spin or felt.

100gram+ tops, hand dyed with love for AU$22.

Gemstone

Gemstone close up


Bunny Bison Bliss Tops

An exclusive IxCHeL blend with 17 micron merino and English Angora bunny, cashmere, baby camel and pearly tencel ! . Super soft and very special.

100gram+ tops, natural colour for AU$30 or,       50g for $17.

Bunny bison bliss tops

Dates to Remember:
Hand knitters guild Mini Wool Show
Saturday May 11th, Bardin Centre Hall at Christ Church, 8 Glenlyon Road, Brunswick
10am-3pm
this event is a MUST and an absolute fabulous way to catch up with fellow fibre fans ! I will be there with heaps of new hand spun, art yarns, lace weight, sock yarn, bunny mink and angora yarns and much much more...!!!!
also a special pressie for all who come dressed as a bunny....ofcourse!.. and ...a chance to win a very special IxCHeL basket full of goodies to be drawn at 3pm at the venue !!!! yeah!

Gembrook Spinners and Weavers Guild Spin in day

Monday May 20th, Gembrook Town Hall  !!!!
10.30-4pm
A wonderful get together with heaps of spinners and weavers in the beautiful Gembrook.

BENDIGO SHEEP AND WOOL SHOW!

Friday 19th of July, Saturday 20th of July and Sunday 21st of July

This is the Ultimate Fibre and fun mix of them all! There will be lots of new things on offer at my IxCHeL stall ofcourse, with prizes to be won and lots of fun to be had!
This is the place to support farmers, fibre producers and independant "Indie" dyers and crafters and have some great fun discovering new things and even win prizes !

In the flower Power Bunny Shed there will be some extra surprises and new things happening as well, including …this is so exciting!!!!: you can see and try out new unusual spinning wheels adn spinning related goodies like andean plyers and nore from a wonderful new fibre fanatic fiberific! vendor ! Don’t miss seeing these new beauties! And ofcourse there will be lots more demos and wheels and spindles on offer as well in the flower power Bunny shed !
There is a woolcraft schedule available at the farm or you can email Dot : Dotv5@optusnet.com.au. Entries for your fiber art closes on June 14th and there are lots of prizes to be won! Our little IxCHeL fibre farm is sponsoring sections 24 and 25 so get started on your entry to win some very yummy stuff !
Any questions or requests?
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
 
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Friday, April 12, 2013

The Secret Within

 
Sometimes there are things that get in the way of seeing what is important…big things, little things. We are so focussed on everyday life and distracted by trivial stuff every minute of every day. It’s hard to realise every now and again what really is important. Some time ago I received two gifts: one friend gave me a beautiful hand embroidered canvas and the other gave me two beautiful sayings she had printed out and a story I already was told when I was little but had totally forgotten about..because , well, “things”get in the way….
 
One saying said : “The grass isn’t always greened on the other side. It’s greener where you water it”. So true: instead of looking around and thinking your reality is not as good as somebody elses, it’s much better to nurture and feed what you have and make it grow.

The other saying said :”We don’t meet people by accident: they are meant to cross our path for a reason”.  I have been very fortunate and thank you all for coming across my path !

I will leave you with a  Native American Indian story of a secret. Enjoy!
 
 
The Secret hidden within you
 
The Great Spirit gathered all and said:
”I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. 
It is the realization that they create their own reality”. 
 
The Eagle said “Give it to me, I will take it to the moon”.
The Great Spirit said “No. One day they will go there and find it”.
 
The Salmon said “I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean”.
“No. They will go there too”.
 
The Buffalo said: “I will bury it on the Great Plains”.
The Great Spirit said “No. They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there”.
 
Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth
and has no physical eyes,but sees with with her spiritual eyes,
said;  “Put it inside of them”.
 
And the Great Spirit said “It is done”.

 
Navajo hand woven rug, hand dyed with natural dyes ;  "Secret Within"



This week I dyed for you : some more new bamboo bunny sock weight 4ply yarn with appr 425m per 100grams. One skein will do a pair of socks and ofcourse it knits and crochets up beautifully into shawls and tops as well.
And... Also some new Angorino blend tops: A unique IxCHeL blend with 17micron merino and a dash of super fluffy angora bunny !


How To Order from this Shop blog
 until the website www.ixchel.com.au is up and running –which will be sooooon-ish!-yeah yeah start laughing will ya.....You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.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.
Payment : direct bank deposit, card or paypal ! easy !
(((HUGS)))
Charly

Bamboo Bunny 4ply sockweight yarn

100grams+ for AU$26
hand dyed bamboo, angora bunny, silk and nylon yarn with an amazing meterage of 425m per 100g !
Cosmic Rays

Cupid

 
Spirit
Lagoona Blue

Great Plains

Earth



Eagle



Moon Dust



Salmon Spirit


Angorino Tops

An exclusive IxCHeL blend with 17 micron merino and English Angora bunny. Super soft and very easy to spin or felt.

100gram+ tops, hand dyed with love for AU$22.

SPECIAL!!!! Only this weekend!!!! Special offer !!! If you order 2 or more angorino tops you will only pay $20 per top! Offer ends Sunday AEST midnight !
Sun Spot

Cosmic Rave

Eagle Mountain

Dreamy

Earth and Sky
(similar to Eagle Mountain but with a stronger red ochre and a gorgeous sky blue: great to combine both!)

Grand mother Mole

Wapu

Zen

Grass and Daisies

Rainbow

Treasure

Dates to Remember:
Hand knitters guild Mini Wool Show
Saturday May 11th, Bardin Centre Hall at Christ Church, 8 Glenlyon Road, Brunswick
10am-3pm
this event is a MUST and an absolute fabulous way to catch up with fellow fibre fans ! I will be there with heaps of new hand spun, art yarns, lace weight, sock yarn, bunny mink and angora yarns and much much more...!!!!
also a special pressie for all who come dressed as a bunny....ofcourse!.. and ...a chance to win a very special IxCHeL basket full of goodies to be drawn at 3pm at the venue !!!! yeah!

Gembrook Spinners and Weavers Guild Spin in day

Monday May 20th, Gembrook Town Hall  !!!!
10.30-4pm
A wonderful get together with heaps of spinners and weavers in the beautiful Gembrook.


BENDIGO SHEEP AND WOOL SHOW!

Friday 19th of July, Saturday 20th of July and Sunday 21st of July

This is the Ultimate Fibre and fun mix of them all! There will be lots of new things on offer at my IxCHeL stall ofcourse, with prizes to be won and lots of fun to be had!
This is the place to support farmers, fibre producers and independant "Indie" dyers and crafters and have some great fun discovering new things and even win prizes !

In the flower Power Bunny Shed there will be some extra surprises and new things happening as well, including …this is so exciting!!!!: you can see and try out new unusual spinning wheels adn spinning related goodies like andean plyers and nore from a wonderful new fibre fanatic fiberific! vendor ! Don’t miss seeing these new beauties! And ofcourse there will be lots more demos and wheels and spindles on offer as well in the flower power Bunny shed !
There is a woolcraft schedule available at the farm or you can email Dot : Dotv5@optusnet.com.au. Entries for your fiber art closes on June 14th and there are lots of prizes to be won! Our little IxCHeL fibre farm is sponsoring sections 24 and 25 so get started on your entry to win some very yummy stuff !
Any questions or requests?
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
 
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