Green Dog

May16

What does a green pug look like?

I’m glad you asked.

This is what Targy looked like when I got done dying her.  I applied my fiber arts skills and used the same principles to dye her that I would to dye yarn.  I used kelly green cake food coloring and a lot of vinegar.  She will be green for a week or two!

We entered her into the alien pet costume contest and she won 3rd place.  Good job Targy!  We had a ton of fun at the parade with her, and tons of people took her photo and admired her.

posted under Fiber | No Comments »

Hairy Daisy

May13

I posted a photo the day the babies were born of Daisy so that you could see what she looked like.  However, I did manage to take a photo of her before I sheared her about a month ago.  All the photos I see people take of their Angora bunnies have them looking like lovely fluffy little things.  Not only does Daisy’s hair look totally wild in this photo, she looks kind of angry also.  Oops.

I must say that the shearing I took off her in April was by far the best shearing I have had from any of my rabbits, and I was incredibly impressed with her fiber quality.  I plan to enter it into the Yamhill County Fair if I can keep it off my spinning wheel before then.

I am planning to take some nice photos of the bunnies when they all have grown their hair back up so you can track with who looks like what.  Until then, enjoy this photo of a grumpy bunny with wild hair.

posted under Fiber, Rabbits | 1 Comment »

First Yarn Skein

May12

I’ve taken up the fine art of spinning over the past year. While I was younger, I did some spinning and knitting in 4H, but not enough to really grasp the art and get good at it, it has been basically like starting over. Being the do-it-yourself kind of person that I am, I have been collecting and working fiber gradually while I learn how to spin it and turn it into a useful product. I finally got the wheel of my dreams as a Christmas Present, and I have been working on learning how to use it since then.

Even though I do have a lot of raw fiber (and fiber I am working to process), my wheel came with a pound of free wool to get me started, so I decided to try getting some spun.

With the help of my mentor, I managed over a series of months (I’m a little slow at this) to get two bobbins full of yarn that I could then ply into something I would be able to knit. I got two beautiful skeins of yarn. Though my spinning is not yet consistent, I am getting better. The yarn is a little uneven and bumpy in some parts, but it seems to not really be a problem. I have already made it through knitting one skein. I was so excited to see what it looks like. Although it has a bit of a home-made feel, it does definitely work as yarn, and I’m quite proud of it. Of course, you always have to start somewhere right?

This is the whole skein.  It looks pretty good when you look at the whole thing.


A close up of the yarn.  Not to shabby.

posted under Fiber | No Comments »