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I would like to present our first free pattern, The Four Pettled Flour, just in time for those special holiday projects. This is a draft for a WAL (weave-a-long) for Weavalution, but I wanted to offer it to all our fans. It is a 4-shaft draft and is 36 picks which should be a fun challenge to most.
For the sample, we used a green cotton warp with a white cotton weft. Over the next week, I will be making a table runner with the pattern for the WAL with red and white weft and a doubled green warp. Just enough Christmas colors to make you puke. I might even top it off with silver bells!
The pattern was created by my very talented partner and husband, CJ Bloomer, to be used by anyone in any medium as long as it is not for profit. All we ask is that if you use it, include a link to the draft and make sure people know it was made by CJ Bloomer of Silver Wheel Yarn. Then leave a comment here so others can see your finish project and hear what you think.
Yes, we know the name is weird, my husband has a funny since of humor.
Enjoy!
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According to a blogging friend October is Self-promotion month. This sounded like a good idea to me, so I think I will help everyone to get to know me, Traci, personally.
1. Who are you?
That's a deep question that I'm sure I'll spend the rest of my life trying to answer. However, I'll do my best with what I know now.
Professionally I'm a designer of fibers, but I'm also a keeper (and passer) of ancient knowledge. I like to call it "experimental archeology."
2. What is your artistic passion?
I hand select all our materials, allowing me to create one-of-a-kind works. Each piece has been designed to bring out the natural aspects of the fibers and highlight what makes something beautiful. It isn't just the whole item that is beautiful, every single fiber is beautiful. That is why my hand weaving is unique. I don't just have pretty yarn that makes something pretty. I will always take that extra step; pick that perfect skein; or learn that new skill, that will make the work breath-taking beautiful.
3. Why did you get into art?
I wasn't born into it, nor have I been doing it "as long as I can remember" like some will claim. I am self taught. As a teen, my hobby was collecting random skills, many which still serve me today. Fiber was one of those skills that I took to like a fish to water. "One day I woke up and knew how to knit. The next, I woke up and knew how to spin. The next, I wove. Now it's my heart's song and I wouldn't know what to do if it was no longer my life."
4. How do you inspire yourself?
I am a prodigal daughter of the Appalachian Mountains. That quest to "come home" and find my lost heritage is my inspiration. The characteristics of natural fibers and how my technique and skills can display them; that inspires me.
5. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years.
In five years I want to be supporting my family with my craft, have shows in the US and abroad, and be THE premiere weaver in Kentucky.
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If you haven't noticed, it is quite a ways into October now and good ol' Kentucky has come through with her customary crazy weather. Despite the 30 deg temperature swings and the constant threat of tornadoes (was that a snow flake!) you can really start to smell Halloween. There something about the chill in the air; wet leaves; and spiced cider that will always make it for me.
I am in the middle of a beginning weaving class. I have three of the brightest and most energetic women. If every student was as enthusiastic as these there wouldn't be a scrap of knowledge not known. The second half of the class in Monday, I look forward to it.
We have been invited to be guest speakers in a Historical Textiles Class at the University of Kentucky on Nov. 17th. This is a good opportunity for us to reach people of our own generation. I think it is so important that people realize that this isn't something that is completely lost. It's really eye opening how much work goes into making cloth, but the main point should always be the beauty in hand made things produced by craftsmen that love what they do. It's something that you cannot find in high production settings. I believe that this is a wonderful class for graduate students and a good chance for us.
I have a large amount of personal projects started, which is crazy since the shopping season is coming up and I should be making things for others. Anyway. I have a baby cardigan on my knitting needles (it's a friends baby, so don't get to excited), a sweater in the works on my drop spindle (yes, I'm crazy for drop spinning enough for a sweater, but mommys are special), and a huge project taking up my wheel, 1 loom, and soon the dye pot for a good friend across the big pond that we have two more weeks to complete.
Even so, we just went on a materials shopping spree and have lots of pretty colors and soft yarns to play with. CJ is warping the big loom today for a shawl and I will be pulling a half finished project that just isn't doing it for me from the rigid heddle. I haven't decided if I want to do a scarf or a shawl...hum?...but, I should even be thinking of that, I have to spin more so we can finish what we have started (bad, Traci!)
So, that's where we're at. I want to post a few new projects, but due to the crazy weather, it's been over cast and wet, and pics don't look good like that. So, you'll just have to wait a little while more.
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We were excited to add to our inventory a wool picker last week. For those of you who are not up-and-up on the primitive techniques of wool preparation, a wool picker is used to "fluff" the wool after washing and before carding. It's a time consuming step when the wool is as dirty as the 20 lbs that we washed the other day was. Now, what we did in an hour we can now do in 15 min. Very good. We choose to go with the Lil Dynamo, a small family company with an innovative (and less scary) design for a wool picker. It works beyond what I could ask, is made sturdy, and is more affordable; you can't ask for much more then that. I highly recommend it.
Talk about a busy month ahead and I'm not sure I'm ready for it; not that it asked me.
We have been invited to do a demo at the IncrEDIBLE Food Show. I know. I'm sure your wondering what a weaver is doing at a food show. It is a big convention dedicated to Kentucky Proud Products and although it is more food oriented there is a area dedicated to the crafts of Kentucky...and there we will sit and work for 8 hours on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. It should be good though. We will be doing the same thing there that we would be doing at home (wink at a friend out there), so despite the thankful random interruptions, we will have an excuse to get a lot of work done.
Mid October brings another Beginning Weaving Class. The last one went exceptionally well and I can only hope that the next one goes just as well, if not better.
Then the end of October. My favorite time of year. The smells, the air, the sights, sounds, and Halloween. I love Halloween. We have a vacation planned; most of it will be with my other family and doing some PR in Virginia, but we have a little "us" time planned on the two most sacred nights of the year; the 30th and the 31st. A cabin in the mountains, a wood fire, and a Parcheesi board. Now, that is Halloween.
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Welcome to the launch of SilverWheelYarn.com . Enjoy looking around, there are lots of great things to look at. CJ and I, Traci, am very happy to introduce our work to people from down the street and around the world. Be sure to sign up for the mailing list and be the first to know all the happenings.
What you are reading now is the blog. Here I will keep everyone up to date with the more personal side to what we do. I will post things we are working on, pictures of classes, or just vent about problems we are running into.
Be sure to not miss the galleries and the events pages. There are always new classes forming and demos where you can come and meet the faces behind the fiber.
I look forward to getting to know all our fans and working for you. Enjoy and let us know what you think!
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Sunday we will have all our new photos taken with our brand new camera (eeeee, it's really nice.) In case you don't know what that means, it means it will be the official launch of our website. We should be sending out the welcome e-mail on Tuesday. I am very happy with how the website has turned out, CJ has proven himself to be most helpful time and time again.
Last weekend my whole family put forth lots of effort and washed 20 lbs of very dirty Cheviot wool. It was dirty, but not stained and the fiber is very consistent, so it was worth the work. It came out a dreamy white, fluffy, and not scratchy as this wool has a tendency of being under bad conditions. I did some lace spinning with it (its not made for this, but I like to put things through its paces when new) and I plied it ZSZ, making some artsy yarn. It looks nice but is still on the wheel, so we'll see if it stays this way. Looks like the wool will be good and soft as a medium weight which is just what we need for weaving. I'll have to switch flyers on my wheel; its been a long time since I have spun thicker; here's hoping I remember how. ;-)
You are now reading the blog of an official Kentucky Proud craftsman. Our paperwork pass through the system easily which means that we can have the backing of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, a formidable group. Now that we have the website and permission to use the Kentucky Proud logo we will start work on new business cards and brochures, maybe some actual advertising.
This week we had to kindly turn down an offer to do demos at the Kentucky Wool Festival in Falmouth Kentucky. We had already accepted a request to do demos at the IncrEDIBLE Event sponsored by Kentucky Proud. However, it looks like we might already be scheduled for the 2010 Wool Festival next year. Wow! Two events already for next year.
Which leads me to the second event for next year. The first annual Sheep and Wool Festival will be May of 2010 and has invited BOTH CJ and I to teach classes during the event. I will be teaching a Beginning Weaving Class while CJ will have a Dye Class. We are exceptionally honored and excited about this chance to work with the general public.
And I have two more weaving classes coming up, one in October and one in November.
If you have made it this far your a dedicated fan and I'm lucky to have you. Talk to everyone soon. Be good and be careful.
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If it seems like a long time since we've had something new, I would agree. We have so many good things in Limbo, but since everything hinges on everything else, I can't show anything until I can show everything. However, I can give you some things to look forward to.
We have completed 4 Shawls over the last few weeks, but because I am in the process of choosing a new higher-tech digital camera, I’m waiting to show them off until I can get really nice pictures of them. I think we’ve settled on the Pentax X70, now we just have to save a little more money and we’ll be good to go.
With in the week we will have our first website up for the business. CJ has been working very hard on it this past week and has it looking quite professional. He’s such a lifesaver. It will start out as just a portfolio site, but we want it to keep getting better. Eventually, I want to have a shopping cart, ability to schedule demos and classes, and a wholesale area. It will take a little time, but I would like it to be full capacity by the end of the year. I’ll keep everyone up dated.
It looks like we might have found a source for Kentucky wool. We have 25lbs of fleece that we will be working up this weekend to see how it goes, but our small test batch did fine and is spinning quite lovely. It’s Cheviot wool, traditionally from Scotland and originally used for the tweed trade. It naturally has “bumps,” or slub, in it that makes it an interesting yarn and creates the recognizable “tweed” look. It wears well, is warm, and not overly scratchy, but it does have a “body” that I enjoy; diffidently an old world feel. We’ll see how it weaves and knits next week. I’m hoping to introduce it as our high-end line of weaving made of naturally dyed, hand-spun, Kentucky grown yarn.
Here’s hoping things keep moving forward.
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So the fair has come and gone and, although we didn't make enough for me to buy that farm I've always wanted, we did meet some great people, make some contacts, and had a good time. It's certainly not the end of the world and we have a whole lot to do in the next few weeks and months.
We did have the good luck to have a happy addition of our third loom to the family. Its a little 24" 4 harness with treadles, but the best thing about it is that it folds up small enough to be put in the trunk (boot, for my other-land friends) of a car. That means that when we set up I can spin while my husband weaves. As if having a third loom wasn't exciting enough.
So? What are we going to be up to? Well, Thursday we are meeting with a representative from "Kentucky Proud." For those of you not from Kentucky, its a state organized guild that helps crafters, farmers, and products made in the state. Its a very very good thing to get into so think about us this Thursday morning and hope for a good "fiber day."
Next, we have an application on the way for The Southern Highlands Craft Guild. Another HUGE guild that has a whole lot to offer its members. Being in ether one of these groups is an honor, but we're going for the gold and hoping for both.
Sometime in September is a fair at near by Shaker Town. Although we wont have to be there (I would like to be) one of our fiber partners will be and our goods will be offered at their booth. We'll be making rugs and baby blankets, I'm sure, for that. *grunt*
Then...yes, there's more, I have two more classes scheduled, one in October and the other in November. A large project to finish for a good friend, if I could only find that perfect material. And I'm designing a knitted cardigan while perfecting my cotton spinning and card-weaving skills. Whew! That's just the things I know about.
One more thing to add. Last night we finally bought the domain name and will have the website going by the start of next week. No only can you see everything made; there will be a way to purchase goods and order for wholesale, info on individual classes and loom repair, and ways to schedule or where to attend demos. Very exciting stuff.
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Ten more days till the festival and we are plugging along. The classes are over with, for now, and I have one more pattern that Flaggy Meadows wants me to do. I shouldn't be hard since it is a hat that will go with the Scarflet I did for them last month. The hard work is done, I just need to knit it.
I finished the pattern for The Woolery. They really liked it, which is good since I used a completely different style then the Victorian Scarflet and was quite unconventional. I don't know if people know what to think about it, yet. Selling patterns is only one step. To be successful it takes people buying them and the company coming back to you wanting more. CJ wants me to do a book, but I'm hoping that I can sell every pattern I make and never have the chance to do so.
I'll be making a shawl this week from recycled sari silk and black bamboo. I normally can picture what things are going to turn out like in my head, but this one is a shot in the dark. I think it is fulfilling my need to do something a little crazy, just like the Woolery pattern was. At times things become a little too conservative and earthy and I need a little shiny hot pink mixed with black to wake me up. Let's hope it attracts some brave person out there as I'm still on the quest to make my bread and butter from this.
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Getting ready for the festival, we dedicated yesterday to dyeing for some twill shawls that we will be making. I tried a different technique because I was "feeling" some variegation in blues and purples. Leaving the skeins in the twist we kettle dyed and the string comes out looking sort-of like tie-dye. CJ's iffy on it, but I think I like it. With a white warp and another blue over dye at the end they might turn out great. It's really hard to tell what will happen with yarn, but that's all part of what I love. I'll have the new stuff on DA around the very end of the week.
I don't get to weave today so I'm feeling a little gloomy. Its such a beautiful day to weave (cool and rainy) and I'm stuck doing something I don't want to in a windowless room. I keep thinking that very very soon I'll get to mess with yarn and fibers people every single day; that gets me through it all. It wont be long.
I'll tell all about my weaving class after the second one Monday. They'll be pictures so I hope you look forward to it.
Be good and be careful.
Yesterday we were finally able to get out to the Woolery to do a little shopping for equipment. We have been so very busy doing weaving for Flaggy Meadow that we have had little time to sleep and eat let-alone shop. In addition to a new reed for the rigid heddle and a tensioned lazy kate, I was able to get that skein winder that I had been wanting. Beautiful, well built, and soooo useful; now I don't remember what I did with out it!. So far I've only used it to wind balls (which I still do the old fashion way) and I'm assuming that the time saved using it has also saved my hands because they didn't hurt half as much as before. So if I was asked "was it worth it" I would say a resounding, "yes!"
Now we have to worry about the Woodland Art Fair coming up. We have so much to make since our inventory is low. Now we have added the Surino line to it all that list has gotten much longer. Good news is that as I look at it, I come to my senses and it slowly is getting to a reasonable size.
Yesterday, I developed the first of our receiving blanket line. Its a minty green made with the Surino and, oh, so light and soft, and that's not to mention the absolute cute simplicity of the blanket. I have planning for striped and plaid in pink, green, and blue. So adorable.
Yesterday we had an awesome meeting with Flaggy Meadows Fiber Works and it looks like the partnership is a "go." In addition to our weaving they will be using a knitting pattern I designed for their Surino line of yarn. It will be advailable as a kit and as the individual pattern. It isn't on sale yet, but I will post a link when it does. To the left is an image of the sample I knitted for them. It turned out well and the yarn is so soft and warm (but by no means hot) that everything works perfectly. Hope everyone enjoys it!
This weekend CJ and I were invited to set up our booth in front of a LYS "Magpie Yarn" during the Woodland Art Fair. This is a great chance to get our woven goods some much needed public eye and finally make our business more retail than freelance than we have been. I think we'll make a good team, I love Magpie's taste in yarn; everything is such high-quality and obviously shows that it's all hand picked. The fair is the 15th and 16th of Aug giving us plenty of time to make lots of goodies. We will have a good mix of summer and winter wears and a little something for everyone's budget so no one is "left out in the cold."
Because of this lucky windfall we have had to start shopping for set-up items. Now I have been wanting a dress form forever (mainly to make dresses that fit the first time as I have a "real woman" sizing) but recently I've wanted more of a display. Nothing will show the fold of material like seeing it on something. I stoped by a local antique store yesterday and luck me found something better then I thought I wanted. Thighs, waist, bust, shoulders, and a head. All this covered in a lovely white material and I have just what I wanted; she's that shape we all hate twhich makes everything look good. She'll be making her self known later this weekend when I start adding pictures.
One more exciting addition to the Silver Wheel Yarn Equipment list is a 32" Rigid Heddle Loom. I've been looking to get one for a while but haven't gotten around to that spurring motivation I need for a big buy. Well, it came yesterday with a good price and now its on its way. I already have a bunch of projects that will be perfect for the "gentile touch" of a rigid heddle. Its also perfect to actually set up and festivals. I can't wait!
I took a quick trip up to Frankfort Monday to get some supplies and look at some equipment that we are thinking about up-grading to. As I love to get lots of things done in one trip I also managed to talk to a woman about some raw fleeces we want to buy after shearing and mention my plans for the next Rigid Heddle class. Whew, lots and lots of planning and plenty of projects for the future.
I'm really looking forward to next month, since we are going to take advantage of a lucky fall of days and get some higher quality equipment that we have been living without. Since we got the Strounch Drum Carder we have been in love with the quality of the equipment. Quality is always worth the money you put into it, but these have the added plus of being beautiful.
Beauty isn't a "have-to-have" selling point for us, but I've learned that I use something I think is beautiful more then something that isn't. I work in a world that needs to be inspired by curvy lines and deep woods. It certainly does not hurt that I am always seeking that "weaver in residence" position and having beautiful equipment is a plus.
CJ (my husband and fellow weaver) has the loom right now and is working on a beautiful pattern for a scarf. I just finished spinning some Surino roving into lace. Turned out really nice, nicer then I thought it would, and I certainly got enough out of it for someone to make something; 570 yds. I'm hoping that FMFW buys the yarn, but if they don't I'll keep it and use it for a swap, a contest, or I'll weave with it. Its that nice.
It looks as if we might be joining forces with Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works, creators of Surino. We are in the development phase, but it looks like we will be producing fine weaving for the fashion scene and developing knitting patterns for kits.
For the past week and the following two weeks we will be testing their yarn, Surino. It's a special blend of US grown Merino and their own Suri Alpacas. I have been knitting with it for a week now and feel I have a good idea about how the yarn works and reacts. I can confadently say that who ever uses this yarn will, more-then-likely, love it. A good, tightly spun yarn is easy to work and does not come apart with the rough use of cables but is giving enough to look lovely as Fair Isle. The colors are earthy at a distance, while close-up there is a variety of shades that add depth and intrest. The yarn is warm, but the coolness of the Suri, adds that extra softness that is unmistakable of that breed. My only complaint (if you can call it such) is that the yarn does have a thick-thin problem and is slightly different from skien to skien. This certainly doesn't seem to be a problem, for the yarn seems to fluff-up and soften with working and I can not tell a difference even after doing Fair Isle. I will certainly give it 4.9 stars out of 5. It's the best yarn to work with the qualities of strengh, softness, forgivness, and beauty.
Nice work Flaggy Meadows.
Yesterday we received our organic cotton sample. Over the next few weeks I'm going to be playing with it. Plying, dyeing, and weaving with it to see how it handles the work load. If this all turns out we hope to be using it in our weaving for place-mats and napkins, and sure as the world I'm going to make enough cloth from it to make a dress. I also want to offer it to coustomers so they can use it since organic cotton is so hard to find right now. I'll report my findings as they come.
Monday we are going to visit Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works at Sunshine Farm in Springfield, Ky. We hope to join forces and allow the high-quality fibers they produce and my skills weaving to take us both to the great place of high fashion. We'll see how everything goes, but they seem very nice and have ambitious goals for the future; I like that.
The date has been finalized for my first weaving class with the Woolery. Its quite an exciting deal for the new weaver. Not only do you get a class you will actually go home with a loom of your own. It might not be the most expencive that you can buy but I've been using it (to learn some tricks) and I am happy with what it does. Its great for scarves and if you don't mind sewing things together then you could make clothes. The class will be on July 27 and Aug 3, 3 hours each day at 5:30.
All day I've worked back and forth with the cotton sellers and the spinners. See how hard I work for you lovely friends of mine. I hope by next summer to be able to offer my coustomers organic cotton yarn by the cone and pound. Yes! You read right real, soft, American grown cotton yarn. I'll certainly offer some hand-dyed in lovely Earth-friendly dyes by me, but for those of you that are dyers this will be an awesome chance for good-weighted organic cotton to knit or weave with.
Horray for the Earth!
