Sparkles, Unicorns and yarn fun

This is only the second blog of 2023 and somehow it feels like I am already six months in 🤣 lolol

Maybe that feeling has everything to do with the fact that I have dyed a HUGE amount of different blends and yarns already, which are waiting to joint future updates and this one ! I did some calculations and I have already dyed and blended about 50kilos not counting all  the batts. I was wondering why my sides and back hurt so much from all the heavy lifting of wet fluff and yarn but now I know! Lol

So, it has been a busy week again as usual but I did take a day off on Monday to celebrate our anniversary and we did by visiting Healesville Sanctuary! It was a magical day topped off by Paul being serenaded by a lyrebird! It was truly amazing !! Haven’t had a chance to edit the video Paul took but if I get around to it I will post it on Instagram and Facebook for all you bird lovers out there. 

 

The day after it was straight back to work, because lots of carding and blending had to be done. Never a dull moment here I can tell you that!

I have run out of time to organise all the information on the website for the new club sign ups starting in April,May and June, but they will be added over the weekend. In between all the physical work I tend to lose track of the tech stuff that needs to be done in the back ground on the website and there are simply not enough hours in the day to do everything. I try but I fail to do everything I want to do or what is on my list on a daily basis. But hey, better to try and fail than not try at all I always say.

I can show you the January club photos. The January club was shipped out earlier this month so I can show the colours off to all of you now. Here they are: 

Trying to do justice to the fabulous artwork of Maria van Oosterwijck was quite challenging, but I hope everybody loved their club parcels.

I always try and combine the canvas or the base of the fibres used for each club to the art work as well as the pigments and colours used. Even the dye technique makes a difference.

I will show a teaser about what the February club will look like next week. 

It has been about two years since I have done an update with my Rapunzel blend top ! So, I thought it was about time to add some gold bling to January ✨ The Rapunzel tops are a blend of 17 micron super fine merino with mulberry silk, with amazingly luxurious cashmere and fine gold stellina. There’s just enough gold blended in to notice the sparkle. I did put a video up on my Instagram feed (where you can find me as @ixchelbunny , please do follow me if you like to keep up to date with what I am up to 😉). You can see the delicate sparkle and gold when moving around, but it is definitely not over the top.   
There are a few new colourways available and safe to say I am totally in love with those bright greens and gorgeous pinks together, which I called “gimme my tutu”… I love petticoats and tutus! It’s like “instant happy”. I’d love to know which colourway makes you smile so please let me know!

You can find the new Rapunzel blend tops right here on the website: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new or visit the home page and look for Rapunzel in the luxury fibre tops section.

I would like to ask you a big, big favour to please share what you make with your IxCHeL yarns or fibres on your social media and tag me using the hashtags #ixchelbunny #ixchelfibre #ixchelyarn or even #ixchelyarnsandfibres   I looooove to see what everybody is making and I know there are lots of others out there that would love to see too! Plus, it makes a huge difference to us very small producers and makers. Word of mouth means a lot to keep us going.

There’s another big week ahead for me : heaps of dyeing of the February clubs and updates plus a mountain of handspinning! All our angora yarns and rare breed yarns are handspun by me and I need lots to be ready by the next Handknitters guild show on the 13th and 14th of May at the Coburg Town Hall. Please put the date in your calendar: it is going to be an AMAZING weekend of enabling !

Much more news to come next week!  February is ALL about Rare Sheep ! It’s going to be super exciting ♥️

Have lots of fun spinning, weaving, knitting, crocheting and felting! Do what you love and do it often ♥️

big hugs

Charly

  

Happy 2023:Year of the Rabbit !

 

Happy new year and happy year of the rabbit everybody! Of course for me, being a year of the rabbit baby AND a total fan of rabbits 2023 must mean it’s going to be a good year ♥️ let’s make it a magical and fantastic !

So, what’s been happening here since the last time I blogged? Well, both a lot and not a lot I guess…I decided early on that since we were not going anywhere on a holiday, instead of feeling guilty of doing nothing I spaced the “doing nothing” or as they say in Dutch “Niksen” 🤣 …with work..not as much as I normally would do, but a bit of a relaxed kind of working week I guess…lol

I did a bit more baking and cooking, including my (in)famous “oliebollen”

and a lot of reading! I have gone through lots of books while spinning yarn or just plain relaxing with a nice drink on the deck overlooking the back garden: lots of natural history books and paleo-anthropology (let’s just call them dinosaurs and the origins of mankind kinda books for short) and then my other favourite ones : historical and historical fiction, because if you don’t have an imagination and learn from the past, what hope is there I always say.

One book that was a total surprise and very entertaining was “the embroidery book” full of history and magic on the side 😉 just a lot of fun with some magic spells thrown in.

Then of course was the work bit I could not do without: the planning of the art journey clubs, dyeing the eco yarns, dyeing fibres for new updates and a lot and a lot of blending and spinning and preparing for updates in early 2023.

Back to  Xmas: two new Xmas decorations were bought because I just could not help myself and now I have to admit they are both hanging in my studio, because I just love them: a doggie dressed as Frida Kahlo and one in a gorgeous picture frame as Vincent Van Gogh ♥️♥️ I mean, who can resist 🤣

In the meantime the January clubs were all prepared, dyed, packed and shipped early this week!  You can find a preview on my Instagram and Facebook page.   

I always like to put fabulous artists in the spotlight who have seem to be undervalued or not even mentioned in art history books. That means that there are lots of female artists that will be part of the art journey clubs. Maria van Oosterwijck who painted the most amazing still lives that were sought after by so many royals and influential people in the 1700s.

Maria van Oosterwijck portrait

 

and a bit of a preview here:

Let’s make this year a fabulous year filled with doing things we love ❤️ 

A enjoy every single day and create wonderful and imaginative, happy memories. Spinning yarn, knitting, weaving, creating things with our minds and our hands to make ourselves and others happy, that’s what it is all about and I hope that I can help just a little bit this year to put a big smile on your face when you open your parcels. 

Please don’t forget to tag me when you post your creations : I love to see what you make and it is super important to spread the love all over the internet. Word of mouth helps to keep our little fibre farm alive and creatively kicking ♥️

Have lots of fun exploring this weeks update with a fabulous new, freshly blended and dyed batch of super luscious cashmerino silk top, possum and wallaby batts, fragrant Yarra Valley grown French lavender to add to your knitting wear drawer and even some tapestry tools that have been recently added to the website.

Wallaby batts !!

2023 is going to be exciting, creative and fun the IxCHeL way, meaning, sustainable, small and always creative 💕

To see all the new fun stuff, please click here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/whats-new

If you would like to see what more is going on at the IxCHeL fibre farm, please follow me on Instagram where you can find me as @ixchelbunny

Big hugs

Charly