Friday, January 25, 2019

The Value of Creating with Heart


Bunny bison bliss natural blend beside a grey hill handwoven Navajo rug
Last week I have opened up about my “otherness” in quite a personal way, after a lot on social media was sparked by inequality and discrimination, while lots of people in the craft environment were absolutely unaware of this, except ofcourse, those who are on the receiving end of being treated unfair, and being totally under represented. In a week’s time this situation obviously has not totally changed: still a lot of work needs to be done and a lot of eyes need to be opened. But wait! There is more! This is going to be a bit of a rant I am afraid.

Apparently there is a WAR going on.. I know!…as if the current political climate and heatwaves were not enough! 
I have been made aware that there is a war in the craft community..a price war no less !

Okay, here we go! Get your popcorn out and for those of you in Australia, sit down in an air conditioned room or one with a fan so you don’t overheat and self ignite readimg this AND the 46C degree temperatures we are having at the moment ! For those of you in the States, Canada and Europe: this will get your hot blood flowing. No need to thank me for warming you up ...

I have been in this craft “business” for over 15 years now and I have seen people come and go, I have seen people thinking they were the absolute best thing since sliced bread,who have since left the scene to reinvent themselves and I have seen people who did the most amazing work thinking they were worthless but are still here!

I have seen people dish dirt about others behind peoples back. I have seen cheap quips being made. I have experienced the silent treatment and the exclusion treatment.   
I do not say this happens a lot or by a majority of people in the craft business, but it does happen and it hurts. Not only does it hurt the people who get gossiped about but as I have seen a lot: Karma is a B*tch and acts more or less like a boomerang and hits them right back sooner or later. 

There is also a lot of ….warning: profanity coming…total bullshit, as I suppose there is in the rest of the world. In a community brought together because of a love of something, something that unites us all, that is in my view a total NO NO. We are dealing with heart and souls here. Not with share port folios or investment bankers. 
I have heard some doodles in the past, but just in this last week has my BS thermometer , just like the temperature gauge, exponentially hit record highs. 

I know it is hard to stay alive in the craft business as an indiedyer or a farmer (or both) or a designer, or doing fibre research trying to create new blends, or get new fibres and blends produced. It is a tough gig and not at all the unicorn happiness with sparkles it looks like from the outside. I guess that is what being  self employed means. Doing a bit of everything and making choices. See? Choosing wisely…. 


Nowadays it is hard to stay in business period! You always have to be one step ahead it seems OR, most importantly, BE YOURSELF! Ask yourself what you think is important in your crafting or where you get your supplies from or what you do? Do you realise how many steps have been taken to get the top or the yarn that has been handdyed ready to spin or ready to knit or crochet with to you? 


I have always advocated the importance of taking care of our farmers, because they take care of the quality of the fibre by taking care of the animals. I have always stated that “happy animals, happy fibres”. And, although, in some fibre cases more than others, as an industry, as a small farm, as a small business, the most impportant thing is that you have to be sustainable. One cannot survive on air, unless of course you have a huge profitable share and property port folio and do not rely on what you createmto buy feed for the animals, pay the rates for your farm, take care of the infrastructure, etc etc oh and buy food for yourself...I almost forgot that ! 


If you are overseas you may have missed the whole drama of super cheap milk prices taking out dairy farmers completely. Some have lost their livelihood because the prices they got for their product was so little they could not take care of their animals or let alone their families. The suicide rate amongst farmers is huge. And, if you look at what stress they are under, from getting hardly anything for their product because the market cannot pay them what it is worth ( they are told ),  to being shamed and blamed on animal rights pages by name and address,  where activists are enticed to abduct animals from their farms.


As a very very very small angora Bunny rescue/fibre farm and having been at markets where I sold my angora yarns snd blends at, I know how absolutely toxic it can get. I was accused of murdering bunnies for their fibre (again: I comb and give the bunnies a haircut, I do not kill them). I was told that shearing alpacas and sheep was hurting the animals and we should stop. And then, when I persisted and tried to help other farmers all over the world get a better price for their rare breed fibres from me,  by blending their fibres with mine and become something unique and special , it got great reception. For about 4 years now I have been doing the rare breed adventures ...but….well..there’s apparently a war….a “price war”?????    If anything, we do not need a war in the craft community. We are not big cut throat businesses. We are families, we are farmers, we are almost always small and care for having a small foot print. We are not Bunnings! Or Spotlight. We are crafts and/or farm people in love with what we do and care  for our animals. We care...full stop ! That's how we keep going, even when times are tough.     

We are trying to offer uniqueness, something with character, something different. With everything we create, there is a little piece of our heart and soul that you get as well. At least that’s how I see it. We are not a piece of meat to be offered to the lowest bidder… or be the cheapest. Craft and Art is about heart. I have heard some total BS statements this week that was so absurd it made me HAVE to write this down. If you have read to this point and are still with me: Thank you. If you are offended by what I have said up to now…well, so be it, but I am not the silent type and if last week was a tough blog to write then this week is even tougher for me. I am not trying to stir the pot; I am speaking my mind. All the ideas you read here are my own and you can dismiss them or agree or not, but i felt it was something that needed to be said.  I cannot stay silent.

So, to explain the situation (this is the almost exact prose someone sent me):  If you go to a shop and say I want to buy this and the shopkeeper tells you “ great ! you know what? It’s not exactly good for me, but I will sell it to you under cost if I have to, just to get rid of it.“ what does that make you think of the product ? I think it totally devalues the product and all the people and animals that made that product possible. Isn’t it? Nor is it possible to be sustainable, for anybody. When I was told this little titbit of information by some people who shall not be named, I was totally flabbergasted. I was blown away by the illogical, almost Trumpian dystopia, I had found myself in.

I have been advised by others that their "mission statement" has been taken down from this person's website but since nothing really disappears from the interwebs, I can show you the facts here and you can make up your own mind:



So yeah, apart from that happening ( and some other illogical behaviour which I shall not dwell on here or ever will), we had rather a terrifying event last night:  a driver had a seizure behind the wheel and her son could not keep the car on the road, crashing into the front fence, hitting the neighbours huge gas tank, which catapulted  50meters away and started spurting gas all over the place, while I was performing first aid and keeping the driver conscious. Fire trucks and ambulance arrived. Crisis averted , because who wants a gas tank to explode close to their house in 40C + degree temperatures? In short: it was another fun week at the farm.  

Coming back to the Price War thing: last week's discussion is a good one to have and keep acting on; this week’s discussion is also one not to sweep under the carpet. Whatever we do in our lives has consequences: whether you choose to go left or right or stay put; whether to try to do the right thing for you and others, whether to speak up or stay silent. Choices have consequences. When in the past China lured the Australian fibre industry to their production facilities because we could not compete price wise, ours got demolished. Now we finally see a resurgence of Australian mini mills, production facilities and scouring facilities opening up again, but at what costs? It would have been much better to keep the mills going and not submit ourselves to the cheap lure of production elsewhere.

I have seen too much,been through too much  and I’m getting too old, to take any kind of BS anymore, and you shouldn’t either. Choose wisely. Think logically but with heart and compassion. Think about your actions and talk about it if you have questions. “If something is too good to be true, it probably isn’t”, a fraud investigator once said…lol

For those of you who know me: I love to enable, I am always here for you, I love explaining things and getting information out there (knowledge is power) but ….. I will never be cheap! I will be Fair to everybody. I will however give things away when I feel the need or I want to spread the love for fibre every now and again as a surprise or as a token of appreciation; I will share; I will motivate and be there if you have any problems with your spinning or have other problems to deal with; I will take care of my fellow farmers and I will fly the flag high for a sustainable, low footprint and fibre filled future for all of us.

Please keep talking ! We ALL have to keep talking to each other and not be afraid to take your time and again,choose wisely. It is not all about number one; it is about community and sharing. I have always advocated that. If you are humble as an artist and down to earth? Stay that way! Have fun with what you do. As an artist once said “ It doesn’t matter what you create, if you have no fun, it shows”. So my message to you can easily be explained by the following photo:


End of this pretty personal rant…again.. Let’s hope February is more logical and compassionate to all.


So, in the heatwave I have been blending up a special mix of the IxCHeL Bunny Bison Bliss tops ( at 41C degrees I looked like an abominable yeti at times LOL) : Australian Superfine merino, Baby camel, Tencel, Cashmere, Angora Bunny and yes, American Bison. Bison holds a special place in my heart.

The blend spins up beautifully and you will be thrilled to hear that the bison is roaming free on a huge farm in the States where every now and again they get herded to this gate where people on either side comb the fluff out they have, they are inspected and let out again to have fun with their mates on the plains.

Please enjoy today’s update and relax, sit back and enjoy summer with some Bunny Bison Bliss tops AND a test run I have on offer for you of superfine Australian Merino and a huge amount of Australian Cashmere! I am offering it to you natural but if you want me to dye it for you I will happily do so. Just let me know what colour(s).



Have fun, be you, be unique !!! Peace not War ! and don't forget to Be Awesome.



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 week’s blog entry. Have fun !!!

IxCHeL Australian Superfine Merino (appr 16micron) and Australian Cashmere tops (75/25)

Super soft ; blended thoroughly to ensure an easy spin;
100g tops AU$33


Natural
No extra charge for custom dyeing (only a limited amount available)

IxCHeL Bunny Bison Bliss Tops

Super soft merino, Bison, Baby camel, Cashmere, Angora bunny and tencel
50g    AU$18

Natural

Bumble bee-sold-


Solstice at Salem


Spirit Ice Sky-sold-


Mermaids beat Zombies

Woad  -sold-
Dyed with home grown woad plants

Witches-sold-

Sexy Weatherman
sold



Heather Sunset -4left-

Autumn Revival-sold-

Red Hot -1 left-


Velvet-sold-


Rose Velvet-sold-

Moss Forest-sold-


IxCHeL Club Sign ups for 2019 are closed but here is the overview of all the clubs shipped out to all the members in 2018 !  The teasers of the January clubs will be shared on Facebook and Instagram tomorrow. Please go check it out !

 If you would like to join for the next round just PM me.


Here is a photo compilation of the 2018 clubs to give you an idea what the "Art Journey" Theme has been all about : The interpretation of art into fibre. And I can add 2019 January club to that overview as well now !













Clubs 2019




 Have a fun week Creating your Dreams!



All my contact details are here:



How 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 
3. Message me on www.ravelry.com  where I am ixchelbunny.
4. message me on Instagram 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.







 RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly
qrcode

Friday, January 18, 2019

Cotton Tails and Memories of Other


Layers of “other”
I do not have a huge amount of social media time while dyeing, prepping and carding all the clubs, so I totally missed all the action that was happening on Instagram and other social media about the racism in the craft community. 
I was told about something big was happening  by two dear  friends on two separate occasions though and after I finally got all the January clubs posted out early this week (see teasers on my IG and FB page later tomorrow) I thought I ‘d better check it out. Well, that was eye opening. Let me explain to those of you who do not know me….

I came across this university ID card photo of mine, cleaning up old paperwork.A lifetime ago when I was studying Law, defecting to Medicine and Anthropology the year after. Now, a couple of lifetimes later it seems, I make a living dyeing yarn and fibre❤️




 This week I have seen so many posts about racism and I’m happy people are speaking up. 
We have to keep addressing this, especially since 2016, somehow everything got turned upside down and inside out with white supremacists and Nazis “proudly” coming out in public.

 I’ll tell you something about myself you may not know: I am “Other”; I’m mixed; I have a Native American Granddad, a Jewish grandmother, a true blue eyed blonde Dutch dad and a mum with black hair and super dark skin.
I have experienced first hand how my mum got treated opposed to my dad;how I got treated depending on who I was with. I was always considered a “conundrum”; people could never put an outright label on me and have this American/Canadian whatever accent and look “different”, I ALWAYS get asked “so, where are you from?” And when I now say proudly I’m from this small township in Victoria, Australia, 99% of the time, people keep digging wanting to know what kind of “other” I am. 
At one point I was getting so annoyed with it, I answered Antarctica to leave them totally puzzled. With that kind of diverse and truly battered ethnic background like mine, It came natural to me to acknowledge that I was always going to be “other” so I lived and worked as a medical anthropologist with “others” as well. 
I found out very early on what it’s like to be discriminated against as a female of “puzzled” background.

I will never ask you where you come from.
I WILL ask you what you are creating with your heart and your yarn;
I will ask you what fibre you are spinning;
I will ask you how you are doing;
I will ask you to be compassionate and  inclusive.

I believe that although we all seem to be different on the outside, our bones are the same.

Thanks @su.krita and all of you to have this immensely important discussion.

Please keep talking ! We ALL have to keep talking !

We ALL need to talk AND not feel offended because someone somehow misses the point, feels threatened in their identity/position/belief status. The whole point of having this much needed discussion is to come together; to realise what it is like to walk in somebody elses shoes, what it is like to have preconceived ideas and beliefs shattered; what it is like to open up and talk about your experiences AND to treat everybody as the valuable human beings we all are.

This is not easy! Opening up brings back memories, sometimes surpressed and very painful. During this whole week, it has brought back memories of my mum and me in shops, where we were followed or not even allowed to enter; or those times that my mum was found to be so “exotic” that some wanted to take advantage of her, taking photos and using her face for an advertisement she never got a penny for except the ad as a “gift” and she should be grateful; the times she was tied up in the middle of a school yard surrounded by Hitler Jugend who abused and hit her; My granddad who was a brilliant artist, engineer and workied so hard to keep his family safe, only to be arrested and died because  his skin was dark and his hair was black.  I can remember stories of my grandmother of persecution and destruction; of pain and loss and fear of not being able to be themselves; the hundreds of stories of family members destroyed in camps by hateful people who felt so threatened by “others’ the only way they felt they could survive in the world was to destroy each and every one of “other”.


My Native American Granddad and my Jewish Polish/German Grandma

My beautiful mum


 Lots of memories surfaced and I cried and I tried to make sense of it all and…I opened up to all of you on IG and facebook earlier this week and now to  whoever is reading this.

Opening up and telling our story can leave us feeling vulnerable and to make matters worse, it can have a backlash. Social media can be dangerous! We cannot expect everybody to understand and it can mean receiving bad responses and texts that can make situations even worse, or, in my case, because my little business depends on whether or not people will buy my wares, it can mean either surviving or not at all.

I took the plunge to tell my story and be vulnerable and standing by those who feel like being“other” and whose stories have been untold. Stories are important ! We have to stand together. We have to be able to talk about things that bother us and are not right!
We cannot say ( as I have read in a few posts by quite some instagrammers - or are they called "influencers"?  with a huge following) “Well, we talked about it for a week and now it is all good!” …. I do not believe that is the way to do it. It does not work that way! This is an opportunity! A huge opportunity for all to realise that the world is not a perfect bubble and everything is okay. It is not.

 Changing behaviour  and seeing the reality in a different light takes time. It is like learning another language or learning to play an instrument. Time ! And in that time we have on this earth, we need to talk about how some behaviour is just not right. We have to show compassion. We have to tell our story and we have to let others see the world through our eyes, not feel endangered in some way or offended or threatened by the fact that so many people are going through life having a lot more difficult time than we could have ever imagined and somehow , which almost seems inexplicable to me, thinking that all this time, some people have not been more privileged than others..  It is not something to brush under a carpet. 

The most important thing that got to me doing my Bachelor of Law was the book " the Bahaviour of Law" by Donald Black (Harvard University Press) If you get a chance to get your hands on that , please read it. and yes,  reading books is  essential. Being able to see the world through somebody elses eyes. So, please read Toni Morrison’s Harvard lectures of 2016 “the Origin of Other” and “the absolute true diary of a Part time Indian” by Sherman Alexie.



Well, after that heavy monologue, I hope you are still here  !!! and you will enjoy what I have on offer this week. We have been in a heatwave, even where I live. It made me want to do something new with a new fibre base that feels cool. I have been wanting to do this for a very long time ! And I am happy to introduce a new yarn line which I have called Cotton Tail Yarns: a beautiful, supersoft, brushed 100%pure cotton hand dyed 4ply fingering weight yarn.

Here’s the logo I made and of course I could not resist adding bunny ears, because let’s face it: I add bunny ears to almost everything …LOL



Over the last few weeks I have been doing heaps of cotton tail yarn dyeing and trying new techniques on a plant based fibre. It has been lots of fun and I love the way new colourways have turned out.

I did make a mistake because of my enthusiasm in skeining up the yarn: Instead of 100 gram skeins I skeined a few (well a lot) from the big cones of millspun yarn, as 200 gram skeins. Because of this I will be offering these skeins on a very special introduction price !

Please enjoy today’s update and relax, sit back and enjoy summer with some Cotton Tail yarns.



Have fun and be you !!!



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 week’s blog entry. Have fun !!!

IxCHeL Cotton Tail Yarns

Super soft 4 ply fingering weight yarn, 100% hand dyed cotton 
100g +/- 371 meters

+/- 100gram skeins Special introduction price AU$24 (normally $26) or 
+/- 200gram skeins Special introduction price AU$43 (normal AU$49)


Berry Wine Splash 
 100g skeins Special introduction price of AU$24 
 2 available 
 A cute speckled cotton yarn in colours of rose and wine and dusky purples



Indigo Shibori 
  Indigo dyed in the shibori technique with Japanese Indigo plants
grown in the Yarra Valley right here on the farm 
 100g skeins Special Introduction price AU$24 
4 available



Japanese Indigo
 Indigo dyed with Japanese Indigo plants grown in the Yarra Valley
right here on the farm 
 100g skeins Special Introduction price AU$24 
 3 available



Indigo Splash 
speckled indigo yarn 
 100g skeins Special Introduction price AU$24 
 sold



Rose 
 Dyed with home grown madder 
 100g skeins Special Introduction price AU$24 
 SOLD



The Sexy Caterpillar 
 Speckle Dyed in cute tones of greens and blues and yummy purples 
 100g skeins Special Introduction price AU$24 
 sold



Unicorn Adventure 
 Hand Dyed in fab rainbow happiness 
 100g skeins Special Introduction price AU$24 
 2 available



Absinthe Fairy
 Hand Dyed in fab Chartreuse, greens and sage blues 
 +/-200g skeins Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD


Frozen 
Hand Dyed in Violets, indigo blues and woad 
 +/-200g skein Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD


Dark Indigo 
Hand Dyed with homegrown Japanese Indigo 
+/- 200gram skein   Special Introduction price AU$43 
 sold



Indigo Light to Dark 
  Hand Dyed with homegrown Japanese Indigo 
+/- 200g skein  Special Introduction price AU$43 
 sold



Indigo and Madder 
 Hand Dyed with homegrown Japanese Indigo and Madder root 
+/-200gram skein   Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD



Dark Indigo Shibori 
 Hand Dyed with homegrown Japanese Indigo 
+/-200gram skein  Special Introduction price AU$43 
 sold



Semi Solid dark Indigo 
 Hand Dyed with homegrown Japanese Indigo 
+/- 200gram skein  Special Introduction price AU$43
SOLD



Big Rose 
Hand Dyed with homegrown Madder root 
+/-200gram skein  Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD



Mermaid Magic 
 Speckle Dyed 
+/-200 gram skein  Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD



Neptune vs Aquaman ( goes so well with Mermaid Magic !) 
+/- 200g skein Hand Dyed Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD



Nightfall 
 +/- 200g skein hand Dyed Special Introduction price AU$43 
 1 available



Dark Orchid 
 +/- 200g skein hand Dyed Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD


Woad 
 Hand Dyed with homegrown Woad in a fermented dye bath exhaust 
 Special Introduction price AU$43   +/-200gram Skein
1 available



Seaside Surf 
 +/- 200g skein hand Dyed Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD



Rose Garden Butterfly 
(the rich tones are absolutely mesmerizing! I am in love with this yarn! A true OOAK ) 
 +/- 200g skein hand painted Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD



Big Unicorn Adventure 
 +/- 200g skein hand painted Special Introduction price AU$43 
 sold



Parrot Party 
+/- 200g skein hand dyed Special Introduction price AU$43 
 SOLD


Japanese Indigo Seeds (Polygonum Tinctorium)



Grow your own Japanese Indigo to dye an amazing array of blues ! The pack comes with a planting guide and dye recipes as well as 10 organic seeds !


$ 8




IxCHeL Club Sign ups for 2019 are closed but here is the overview of all the clubs shipped out to all the members in 2018 !  The teasers of the January clubs will be shared on Facebook and Instagram tomorrow. Please go check it out !

 If you would like to join for the next round just PM me.


Here is a photo compilation of the 2018 clubs to give you an idea what the "Art Journey" Theme has been all about : The interpretation of art into fibre.













 Have a fun week Creating your Dreams!



All my contact details are here:



How 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 
3. Message me on www.ravelry.com  where I am ixchelbunny.
4. message me on Instagram 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.







 RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly
qrcode