After months and months of thinking “ it will never rain again” the downpour has started and so all the tops had to take refuge inside the house to get dry in time for this Mondays’ show at the Grandvalley Spinners and Weavers group in Montrose. You should see the house! Every little spot that I can hang fibery things from has been taken over..we have fibery curtains, clothes horses, chairs…everything…there are piles of braided tops in huge tubs waiting to be labelled and put away into their bags ready for the trip and there are still two loads left to have their dyes set..it is all happening. Next time your partner tells you , your fibery habbit has gotten out of hand, show these photos and it’ll be fine ;-)
I am already setting my sights on the things to come : the handknitters guild in May and the Bendigo show in July! It is going to be a huge couple of months trying to get everything ready and also a lot of new excitingthings happening, including new products !!! It is all very exciting and well….HUGE! lol More on all of that exciting stuff later !!! .
Some people have asked me how I can possibly keep going ..getting up early, dyeing, animal care, designing,spinning..all almost non-stop with hardly any breathing time until late late at night...3 am seems to be my cut off point....lol
Well all I can say to explain that is , passion and loving what I do. I don't see it as "work" in the normal sense of the word as some people use it as in " work is dreary and can't wait for the weekend type of thing".. First of all it is pretty darn difficult for me to look forward to the weekend because it is basically no different from the rest of my week..lol...I do not really have a life outside of fibre and creating and designing. This can make some people put their quizzical face on and say " that is terrible!". The way I see it, the only way that I can do anything is to be passionate about it, love what you do no matter what that is. I was thinking about that "work" thing lately actually because it is really bizarre that my parents wanted me to have a proper job so they said, study to become a lawyer or a doctor, I enrolled in law school did the whole Uni thing and got a Phd in medical anthropology and a master in law, worked in the field for quite some time , only to realise that it was "work' ..I loved what I did but it is so totally different than comparing that to passion. With being passionate about what you do, you breathe, sleep and eat what you do. It is totally enveloping and you never , ever say ...." I will stop at 5 " or " have a smoko" or " I will retire"...there is no such thing when you are trying to make a living in the Arts and Crafts. Not only do you have to cope with less than minimum wage, but you will have to put in long hours. The only way to be able to sustainably keep doing that, is to not only love it but be passionate about it with a vengeance..lol I always wanted to do Arts, always had something going in music and painting and designing from a very early age, so it is something that was maybe "meant to be"..Lesson here is : never let anybody tell you to do something you are not passionate about...Love what you do and do it often I always say ;-) And if you don't know what that is (yet) find out ..
YOu know what the easiest part of it is? Creating, trying out new things on a continuous basis, developing, getting better, discovery. The hard part? Trying to survive in a harsh dollar reality and trying to sell your work while staying true to your ideals, while there are so many people "working" and buying their wares at crazy unsustainable prices. The networking, the selling and at the same time , keep believing that what you do is good. Every artist, whether they are a painter, designer, singer, performer, actor, all of us making something through our passion, always have these devils on our shoulders every now and again..questioning and doubting. Which in a way is a good thing I guess, because otherwise everybody would just be walking around with tremendous egos, that can destroy the passion in no time...hard to deal with as well. The worse thing that can happen is that you come across people that have been around for 5 minutes and think they produce something so amazing never been done before, that they spend more time thinking about how to protect what they have done with copyright or whatever other bs that doesn't work anyway, than doing what is most important: Sharing the passion and creating a whole new generation of passionate, loving, creative minds. I say: Rabbit on! and share your passion and love what you do... always !
Anyway , All the dates and information for the shows and events to come are at the bottom of this weeks “Dates to put in your Calendar!” - bit. There is lots of new exciting stuff planned as usual and I love teasing you all, so I am not saying a thing ……yet…..lol
Some people have asked me how I can possibly keep going ..getting up early, dyeing, animal care, designing,spinning..all almost non-stop with hardly any breathing time until late late at night...3 am seems to be my cut off point....lol
Well all I can say to explain that is , passion and loving what I do. I don't see it as "work" in the normal sense of the word as some people use it as in " work is dreary and can't wait for the weekend type of thing".. First of all it is pretty darn difficult for me to look forward to the weekend because it is basically no different from the rest of my week..lol...I do not really have a life outside of fibre and creating and designing. This can make some people put their quizzical face on and say " that is terrible!". The way I see it, the only way that I can do anything is to be passionate about it, love what you do no matter what that is. I was thinking about that "work" thing lately actually because it is really bizarre that my parents wanted me to have a proper job so they said, study to become a lawyer or a doctor, I enrolled in law school did the whole Uni thing and got a Phd in medical anthropology and a master in law, worked in the field for quite some time , only to realise that it was "work' ..I loved what I did but it is so totally different than comparing that to passion. With being passionate about what you do, you breathe, sleep and eat what you do. It is totally enveloping and you never , ever say ...." I will stop at 5 " or " have a smoko" or " I will retire"...there is no such thing when you are trying to make a living in the Arts and Crafts. Not only do you have to cope with less than minimum wage, but you will have to put in long hours. The only way to be able to sustainably keep doing that, is to not only love it but be passionate about it with a vengeance..lol I always wanted to do Arts, always had something going in music and painting and designing from a very early age, so it is something that was maybe "meant to be"..Lesson here is : never let anybody tell you to do something you are not passionate about...Love what you do and do it often I always say ;-) And if you don't know what that is (yet) find out ..
YOu know what the easiest part of it is? Creating, trying out new things on a continuous basis, developing, getting better, discovery. The hard part? Trying to survive in a harsh dollar reality and trying to sell your work while staying true to your ideals, while there are so many people "working" and buying their wares at crazy unsustainable prices. The networking, the selling and at the same time , keep believing that what you do is good. Every artist, whether they are a painter, designer, singer, performer, actor, all of us making something through our passion, always have these devils on our shoulders every now and again..questioning and doubting. Which in a way is a good thing I guess, because otherwise everybody would just be walking around with tremendous egos, that can destroy the passion in no time...hard to deal with as well. The worse thing that can happen is that you come across people that have been around for 5 minutes and think they produce something so amazing never been done before, that they spend more time thinking about how to protect what they have done with copyright or whatever other bs that doesn't work anyway, than doing what is most important: Sharing the passion and creating a whole new generation of passionate, loving, creative minds. I say: Rabbit on! and share your passion and love what you do... always !
Anyway , All the dates and information for the shows and events to come are at the bottom of this weeks “Dates to put in your Calendar!” - bit. There is lots of new exciting stuff planned as usual and I love teasing you all, so I am not saying a thing ……yet…..lol
Now for this weeks update special fibre blend: the Happy Tiger tops. It is an all Australian grown and processed and blended and ofcourse handdyed here on the IxCHeL fibre farm.
It is an exclusive to IxCHeL and I am extremely proud to give you the opportunity to experience how natural fibres plant and protein fibres of this calibre interact together to create pure bliss!
Hemp has and still is put in the light of “drugs”well, surprise surprise..it is an amazingly strong, beautiful, healthy, lustrous, fabulous plant fibre and is gorgeous to work with.
I have spun it on its own and in a blend if pure angora and ofcourse did multiple tests on how this blend spins up: I am over the moon with it !
It creates a lustrous yarn that is anti bacterial, moisture absorbing, cool and light and is practically indestructible! I will be working on a sock blend for that reason: no need for nylon! Just add a certain % of hemp to your wool blend and voila! Sock heaven!
Other fibres in the Happy Tigerbunny Tops are Suri & silk: this animal fibre is an amazing lush silky addition to any blend. It brings drape and shine and lustre. The Alpaca and Llama I added for its texture and air and softness.
Now why tiger tops? Well, this blend is not all white…every fibre in the blend has its colour: the suri silk is fawn, the alpaca is rose grey and the llama is brown and the hemp is pure honey.
I love dyeing on natural coloured bases : it somehow created this deep, dimensional colour sensation you cannot possibly create with just plain white. So my philosophy in making up all these blends, whether it be this bunny bison bliss blend or the happy tiger tops or the magic bunny tops for that matter , is to put together a base that will give it either texture or dimension or both. Spinning a yarn from that kind of blend will not only give you a unique opportunity to experience different kinds of fibres and how they interact, but also create the most amazing one of a kind yarn or felt you can imagine.
So, enjoy this weeks update and remember: your imagination is the only limit to what you can create AND buying the Happy Tigerbunny tops will mean you are supporting Australian farms, small Australian businesses and making it possible for a lot of people to enjoy a big diversity of fibres and yarns in the future! Have fun !!!
Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!
Happy Tiger Bunny Tops
A wonderful earthy organic blend of organic merino, angora bunny , suri silk alpaca llama and the star of the show Hemp !.
100grams+ (+/-3.5oz) …. AU$24
100grams+ (+/-3.5oz) …. AU$24
Soft Kitty 
Romance 
Pastel Zombie
Kookaburra 
I See Fire
Gimme Love
Frozen Tundra
Frosty
Forest Fairies
Eyemelting Barbies
Deep in the forestHow To Order:
1. You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or ixchelbunny at yahoo dot com dot au
2. 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? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.
2. 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? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.
Thank you so much for your help and support !
IxCHeL Events to put in your Calendar!
Monday 14th of April THIS MONDAY !!!
GrandValley Spinners and Weavers
TOYLAND SPIN IN
Tapscott Hall Cnr Cambridge and Montrose Roads
Montrose
Start 9:30 Am
Everybody welcome !
I will have a stall there with fibres, yarns, batts, clouds and much much more !!!!
Handknitters Guild Mini Wool show
May 17th
Coburg Town Hall, 90 Bell Street, Coburg
10-am3pm
The AMAZING handknitters Guild Victoria is putting on their annual Yarn & Craft Show again ! Yeah ! This market is one of my favourite events of the year and s set in the epic , recently restored Coburg Town hall.
The date to put in your calendar is May 17th 2014, 10am-15pm!!! I will be there with bells on (and ears..ofcourse!) and will have a NEW range of handspun angora, mink, yak, alpaca, bison! and loooooong repeat lace yarns and sock yarns !!!
for the yarn spinners: all the IxCHeL blended tops will be at the party as well! Ranging from my Angorino to the epic Bunny bison bliss! It is going to be an AMAZING day !!!
Address to be on May the 17th is: Coburg Town Hall (pictured) located at 90 Bell Street, Coburg, about 500 metres from Sydney Road. Entry is free. the Hand knitters’ guild 2014 Raffle Rug made by Guild members with luxury yarn from the Bendigo Wool Mill will be on display and $2 tickets will be available for purchase.
Friday 18th July-Sunday 20th of July
Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show
Bendigo Show Grounds
Flower Power Bunny Shed
THE event of the year with heaps of fun and super special fibre happenings!!
Exciting news !!!!!! more info on that later in the year !!!
Friday 15th of August-Sunday 17th of August
39th Annual Country Conference
Camp Manyung Sunnyside Rd,
Mount Eliza
Im doing a talk there about the Navajo Churro Sheep project, Navajo Rug making, Navajo style spinning and more !
Lots of extremely special and hard to find fibres and yarns and SPINDLES will be available there !
Not to be missed!
There will also be a Special Navajo rug display and I will also have a stall there with lots of fluffy stuff to hug..enabling galore!!
To participate in the Country Conference please contact : Dot Vallence , email: dotv5@optusnet.com.au
GrandValley Spinners and Weavers
TOYLAND SPIN IN
Tapscott Hall Cnr Cambridge and Montrose Roads
Montrose
Start 9:30 Am
Everybody welcome !
I will have a stall there with fibres, yarns, batts, clouds and much much more !!!!
Handknitters Guild Mini Wool show
May 17th
Coburg Town Hall, 90 Bell Street, Coburg
10-am3pm
The AMAZING handknitters Guild Victoria is putting on their annual Yarn & Craft Show again ! Yeah ! This market is one of my favourite events of the year and s set in the epic , recently restored Coburg Town hall.
The date to put in your calendar is May 17th 2014, 10am-15pm!!! I will be there with bells on (and ears..ofcourse!) and will have a NEW range of handspun angora, mink, yak, alpaca, bison! and loooooong repeat lace yarns and sock yarns !!!
for the yarn spinners: all the IxCHeL blended tops will be at the party as well! Ranging from my Angorino to the epic Bunny bison bliss! It is going to be an AMAZING day !!!
Address to be on May the 17th is: Coburg Town Hall (pictured) located at 90 Bell Street, Coburg, about 500 metres from Sydney Road. Entry is free. the Hand knitters’ guild 2014 Raffle Rug made by Guild members with luxury yarn from the Bendigo Wool Mill will be on display and $2 tickets will be available for purchase.
Friday 18th July-Sunday 20th of July
Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show
Bendigo Show Grounds
Flower Power Bunny Shed
THE event of the year with heaps of fun and super special fibre happenings!!
Exciting news !!!!!! more info on that later in the year !!!
Friday 15th of August-Sunday 17th of August
39th Annual Country Conference
Camp Manyung Sunnyside Rd,
Mount Eliza
Im doing a talk there about the Navajo Churro Sheep project, Navajo Rug making, Navajo style spinning and more !
Lots of extremely special and hard to find fibres and yarns and SPINDLES will be available there !
Not to be missed!
There will also be a Special Navajo rug display and I will also have a stall there with lots of fluffy stuff to hug..enabling galore!!
To participate in the Country Conference please contact : Dot Vallence , email: dotv5@optusnet.com.au
RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly
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