Precious fluff and spindles !

Another exciting week, especially if you are an “eclipse hunter”. People in Western Australia were extremely lucky to witness a full eclipse of the sun, while we, as usual when any major astronomical event is taking place, were stuck staring at clouds 🤣 Thankfully there was a live streaming opportunity so we could watch it even though we were nowhere close:  All hail to technology 😜

I may sound like a bit of a broken record, but it was another busy week here: lots and lots of yarn dyeing and spinning. With the weather being so wet and woolly, I have a hard time getting anything dry, so unfortunately for today, I can only offer you the brand spanking new blended Precious tops undyed, BUT I do offer a custom dye service at no extra cost as usual. The only thing you need to do is add a note to your order saying which colour you would like and I will dye it for you. Anything goes! You can of course contact me at any time to discuss any specific colourways you’d like to see as well. To check it all out please go to www.IxCHeL.com.au and look for guanaco blends or go to the “what’s new section” in the drop down menu.

Back to what is going on here: prior to the handknitters guild show coming up on May 13th and 14th, I try and add as much yarn stock that I can manage. I know I am normally focussing on dyeing fibres and blending fibres and that’s what lots of people know me for, but I do heaps of yarn and custom spinning as well. It’s a bit of a time issue. I wish there was more time in the day to do everything I would like to do, but unless I find myself a gadget that makes time travel possible or make time go slower while I go full steam ahead with every thing on my to-do list, that is unfortunately not on the cards…lol

at the moment ups am spinning wallaby-bunny-cashmere-merino-silk yarn and I have just finished spinning angora yarns which still need to be dyed. Now, you may ask yourself “why do you spin  everything By hand instead of having it all spun by machine by a company for you? Well, that’s easy: I don’t have the quantity of angora bunny fibres nor do the big mills even want to get close to any angora fibres because it is quite challenging even for machines… in short, I would need a few hundred kilos and a ton of money to have it all done by a big industrial mill. I have always said that my goal was not to become a big business, but to remain sustainable, small and able to change up blends and colours. Big industrial processes do not have that luxury. So while it may take time that I am short of, my way of producing yarns and fibres are sustainable plus I am very, very adaptable. I can change up colourways, types of fibres and ply in an instant. And then, of course, there is the investment money wise. since I am not exactly a rich investment banker, money as well as time come in short supply. Limited resources: And in a way I think that is a good thing! That way you have to make choices, try to think ahead and be sustainable. It is not all about growth like the economists and the government tell us, it is about balance and creating what we love.

Paul aka Lair of the Bearded Dragon, has been super busy again and he has been making beautiful drop and support spindles and some nøstepinne too. Some with gorgeous stone inlay like malachite, azurite and rose quartz. You can find them all in the what’s new section on the IxCHeL website (www.IxCHeL.com.au).

I hope you will be able to come and visit me and Paul at the  handknitters and crochet guild show in May and to check it all out please scan the QR  code on the poster: 

All the April yarn, fibre and fibre clubs have been shipped out last Monday so hopefully all the club members will have received or will receive their fluffy surprise parcels very soon! I have posted a teaser video of the batt club on my social media, so be sure to follow me there (@ixchelbunny) to get more day to day insights on my “colourful life in fluff” 😉

The new third quarter clubs sign ups are open on the website btw, so please don’t hesitate to join the fun! I will be sending club membership reminders out to all the combination club members..aka all those who have signed up for a combination of yarn, batt and fibre clubs next week. If you have not joined yet, please feel free to join in the fun of receiving an art work inspired surprise parcel each and every month for three months! It’s a wonderful way to explore different fibres and yarns and colours and you can read something about a very inspiring artist if the month as well. You can find all the clubs here: https://ixchel.com.au/collections/clubs

I am going to spend the next week, with lots more fibre blending for future updates, heaps of yarn spinning and planning some pretty special new fluffy products to make their entrance on the website again soon! It’s a very exciting and busy time here at the IxCHeL fibre farm 💕

have a wonderful creative weekend !

hugs

 Charly