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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Showing posts with label wool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wool. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Holding our breath
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.
............
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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