Dear Ones,
It has been a very, very busy time between working on my fiber art for my Pug Love Fiber Art etsy shop (Click on the link to go to the shop. It is empty in this moment but will be filling up tomorrow.), working on my new book, and balancing art and animals and, well, Life. I am so excited about the shop opening. I have had to wait for the digital scale that I ordered to arrive because the batts are priced by the ounce hence they need to be weighed very accurately. Tomorrow I will begin weighing them and getting them up in the shop. Here are some of the newly finished batts that will be going up in the “Pug Love Batts” section…
“Little Black Babs With A Cherry On Top”
“Sparkling Puggerinis”
(Note: In our house all the boys are referred to as Puggeroos and the girls Puggerinis. So this is for all the Sparkling Girls out there who bring so much happiness to our lives with their joyful, loving, sparkly hearts…)
“Younger Than Springtime”
This batt is an ode to all of the seniors that I, and so many others, love so well. As I now spend about the first hour of my day caring for all of my eleven animal companions and dispensing anywhere from 2-4 meds per pug, it is a bit like a nursing home here, but one where we do more than play checkers and sit in rocking chairs. We ROCK! even if just in our hearts and wide eyes full of love!
There is one more batt on the carder that will go up but I have not yet photographed it. It is in multitudes of purples and wine colors and is called, “She Aged Like A Fine Wine Over Time.” All nine of these batts will be up, as I said earlier, between today and tomorrow.
The Spinning Has Begun…
One thing that I realized is that the handspun yarns that I am creating will fall into three different categories. First are the yarns I call “Pug Love Fairy Fleece Yarns.” I named these yarns so because they are a very special type of yarn. When you are creating batts each time you clean the first roller that moves the fiber on the batts ( some of the material you are carding always remains on that first roller and has to be continually cleaned as you card the many fibers yet to come) you end up with what I call “Fairy Fleece.” They are great handfuls of tufts of the leftovers from the carding process and are lighter than air and chock-full of all of the amazing “ingredients” that went into the batt itself. These may be many different kinds of wools, llama, alpaca, bamboo fiber, ingeo (from corn), silks (silk noil, soy silk, sari silk), and a wide variety of magical materials that make the batts sparkle, glitter and shine like Angelina, Flash, and Firestar, and so much more. Some of my batts have up to 17 elements in them, they are huge over-sized batts, super airy, fluffy, lofty and a dream to spin!
The first Fairy Fleece Yarn I spun yesterday came from the fairy fleece from the first 9 batts so there is such a long list of elements in this yarn it was am amazing joy to spin. These yarns will be spun on hand-spindles, which has always been my mode of spinning, and because the fairy fleece is very delicate before it is spun, and, being hand-done, comes from a very deep heart-to-hand place that embues the yarn with a very loving, gentle spirit and is wonderful to work with. Here, then, is the fairy fleece before being spun, just barely starting to go onto the spindle, and the finished yarn. This will be a week or so before going up because it has to “cure” on the spindle for a week before it is ready to be taken off and prepared to sell.
First Fairy Fleece Yarn spun still
on the spindle and a closeup for a
better view. However, sadly, these
photos don’t half show how colorful
and sparkly the yarn is. You will see
it soon off the spindle and coiled. It
will be a much better picture.
on the spindle and a closeup for a
better view. However, sadly, these
photos don’t half show how colorful
and sparkly the yarn is. You will see
it soon off the spindle and coiled. It
will be a much better picture.
The other two types of handspun yarns I will have in the shop are called “Batty For Pugs Handspun Yarn” which will also be spindle spun and come from batts that I make for myself to spin. There is nothing like spinning carded fiber because it is so super soft, lofty, and you can add unlimited elements into the carded fiber so it is ready to spin. I still add more elements when spinning these yarns, blending them with the carded fiber as all of my handspun is considered “Art Yarn,” though the Batty For Pugs Yarn as well as the third type of yarn, “Big Bertha’s Puggy Yarn,” will be much wilder than the Fairy Fleece yarn in content and design.
Big Bertha’s Puggy Yarn will be spun on my new Babe Bulky Spinner tabletop electric wheel. This will enable me to spin larger quantities of yarn more quickly as I have a garage full of fiber and both the Rescue pugs as well as my own need the funds for care and support. The more yarn I can produce the better! Also, my one-of-a-kind fiber art pieces are made from many different types of yarn I have handspun myself. Here is a picture of a 6′ serpent that I made using 30 different handspun yarns, antique and vintage buttons and beads and using Free-Form crochet as the basic technique, with a few others thrown in for good measure! Her name is Beatrix, and she is a magical, shamanic piece of wearable art. She can also be draped over a piece of furniture or hung on a wall. She sold before I could even get her in the shop, as did the next serpent, so I will likely be making more as time goes along…
Beatrix in all her glory!
So now you’ve had a little taste of what’s to come. The pugs and I are so excited. Sampson, however, just wishes I would get out of the studio and come back to our big, oversized cozy chair to cuddle. He lies on my feet under the table in the studio and looks forelorn as if I will never go back to our chair where I belong. Poor boy, having an artist as a mother!
Well, I’m off to work in the studio, not to mention finding time here and there to work on my book which will also help support pug rescue. Seems I’m always “spinning yarns” (including stories) one way or the other! So much to do, so little time. I’d better get to it!
Blessings and Puggy Kisses to one and all!
Those are simply beautiful! And what a cutey pug! My new neighbor has a cross between a pug, german shepherd and lab. The FEMALE was the german/lab. The male was the pug. A very interesting dog to say the least… and think of the logistics!
Very lovely
Love all the colors, so pretty! Good luck with the shop too.
Congratulations!
I’ve tweeted about it with twit this.
I hope it’s a huge success.
good luck to ur shop opening