squishy but not squid

alpaca is really an incredibly lovely fiber. i find it so soft and a joy to spin. of the 16 colors available i've sampled 6; white, light fawn, dark fawn, dark rose grey, light grey, and dark grey. thus far the browns feel softer and loftier than the white and greys (but not really by all that much, at that).

i've been collecting undyed unspun fiber specimens the last few months so that i have samples on hand to touch and examine when choosing fiber for spinning and weaving projects. i've also come to discover they're an important tool to educating myself on different fibers when you're shopping, or have an unidentified fiber in front of you. i've become very familiar with the samples i have and so it's gotten quite easy to identify fibers based on feel, smell (yes they have distinct smells), length, thickness, and color.

there are two boxes with 25ml jars: one cellulose fibers, and one protein fibers. the protein collection is nearing a somewhat complete state, with a few missing (anyone have any byssus they're willing to part from?). the cellulose fiber box is a little empty, but i'll remedy that when i order another habu sample book this coming december and place the older sample sheet offerings in their labeled jars.

what i've discovered is that vicuna, cashmere, bison down, are the softest, followed by guanaco, camel down, and alpaca. i found mohair and qiviut to be the springiest and least soft. i'm still on the shelf about the qiviut as i'm not 100% sure of the authenticity of the sample i have. i'm in need of new zealand possum (the ones not killed by poison), angora, pygora, and yak samples (the one yak i have is a blend of yak/tussah).

the silks are in a category all their own, they're just amazing; so soft and such sheen! i have cricula coccoons, muga silk, red eri silk, eri silk, tussah silk, bombyx silk, and both tussah and bombyx noils.

in the cellulose box there are 14 shades of color grown cotton from peru, pima cotton, organic cotton, and flax. i'll be adding nettle, ramie, hemp, pineapple, kenaf, kuzu, pine, zenmai (fern cotton), milkweed, and washi paper as i come across them. the milkweed fiber from the pod might be an issue as they don't grow in the south. any cellulose fiber i may have missed? i've left out soy silk, milk protein, corn, and seacell as they require too much processing to manufacture, so i'm a little leery about their environmental impact (actually come to think of it, i'm not really fond of bamboo for pretty much the same reason).

why no wool, you may ask? well...one, there are way too many breeds that collecting samples of them all would be quite a task, and two, i really don't like spinning wool. not at this point in my life. especially when you have soft alpaca to spin; no felting, degreasing, or lanolin to deal with!

p.s. if anyone reading this can help me out with small samples of the fibers i'm missing, i would be incredibly thankful! it's always nice to come across other fiber fanatics like me!

mine, all mine! bwahaha!

one thing that happens when you go to a fiber event is that you come home with a lot more fiber than you had. i purchased some yak/tussah, muga silk, red eri silk, and cotswold locks. my teacher was more than generous with fiber, and i was more than greedy accepting it, so i also acquired silk noil, bombyx silk roving, wool, more wool locks, dyed tussah, a couple of silk hankies, and some wool "junk".

today i was thinking i needed some way to organize all this treasure, so i went about making muslin sacks out of some heavy duty muslin i had leftover from a patternmaking workshop. i was able to make nine of them before i ran out of cloth. i also need to get some cotton twine to use as drawstrings. labeled metal and paper tags will go on the cords so that i know what each is when they become a pile of similar muslin puffs. now i'll have no excuse for not spinning, as i am more than amply supplied with fiber. dyeing all this fiber should keep me occupied for some time as well.

organized chaos

i like organization, it makes creating things easier; i can focus on what i'm doing and not worry about where things are or if i have materials elsewhere. several years ago i bought several of these glass and metal tins and like to keep my buttons and beads in them. here's todays mess; i was working on another brooch, i'll post photos soon. one good thing about keeping things orderly? it makes cleaning it all up go really fast.

pins and other things

while i was in kyoto, i stopped in at mina perhonen on several occasions to obsess over and then purchase little baggies of remnant fabric from the designers workshop. the quality, colors, and designs are utterly fantastic; i'm just sorry i didn't buy a higher quantity, and don't have access to the store anymore.

one of the things i did with the pieces was make an inspiration book. i made the cover from a shopping bag, the pages from a stiff fabric, and embroidered the butterfly logo on the first and last page, i used yellow thread to sew in the pages, which matches the yellow ties. it's nice to have access to such a wonderful source of inspiration.

luckily, i had some duplicate pieces so i added them to my small stockpile of scraps. yesterday i felt like sewing a puffy pin to take advantage of the materials texture. i can think of it as an evolution on the white small puffs i've done in the past. the weather has gotten chilly here, and all i can think about is fluffy beds, warm fibers, and fuzzy textures.

when one is never enough

my little collection of nail polish. and yes, that pink really is that bright. as you can see, i tend to favor the cooler shades. i don't wear polish on my hands, as between work and all the other things i use them for they would quickly become sad, but toes are another thing.

what is your favorite color on your nails?

again with the collecting!

i came across selvedge magazine a little bit ago, then really started paying attention last month. what made me jump and get them all was an offer they have going on and i just couldn't resist. i am so very very glad i did get them; oh my, the inspiration, wealth of textile knowledge, the eye candy, the weight of each page is pure bliss.

i told myself i could get them on one condition; i would have to read, yes, actually read, every single bit even if i didn't at first want to. so ever so slowly i work my way through from cover to cover. and speaking of covers, the back ones are yummy, featuring one delicious marimekko print every issue.

others to join the party

i'm running out of all the pretty scraps, but i still managed to make two more pins. yesterday i was making felt for the backs and got some pin mechanisms. so all 6 of the pins are ready to go. one of them is for keeps, the yellow one; it's my 1st and favorite.

i'm not sure if i'll hold onto them for the trunk show or put them up on etsy. if i make many more perhaps i'll do both. i guess that means creating new cushions so i can stockpile scraps.

i like using tulle in each one, it makes them feel light and it adds another dimension. they kind of remind me of little hats one would wear in the past.

to give an idea of their size, here i am holding my favorite:

a little collection

i've managed to cut down on the amount of shoes i own over the years. but there are still those that i can't part with; either because they're too pretty or because, who knows, one day i may actually wear them. some of the flats i do get quite some action from; but not so much in the summer when it's just hot, or i know that i'll be walking on cobblestones a lot. here's a snapshot of my girly shoes which excludes my birkenstock "entirely too comfy, but somehow still dowdy" shoes. oh, and i've got big feet, like grandma big, so the fact that i have this many pairs that fit is something.

and my favorite pair, aethstetically speaking, are these grey velvet platforms. they make my size 40 foot look like an itty bitty size 5. i've dubbed them my "ode to david bowie" shoes; one day i'll make a shelf for them and display them on the wall.

current books of interest

i tend to keep books that i look at frequently on my nightstand. they're within easy reach, and help me collect my thoughts when i'm exploring something new. i find that these books are also inspiring when one is in a slump. to list:

the cocktail: 200 fabulous drinks
(i love the illustrations by kat macleod)

urawaza: secret everyday tips and tricks from japan
(incredibly useful)

craft, inc.: turn your creative hobby into a business
(excellent resource)

the encyclopedia of embroidery techniques
(i've been using this for years, very good explanations)

mushrooms for dyes, paper, pigments & myco-stix
(mushroom dyes create extraordinary lightfast colors!)

printing by hand
(very clear instructions, great scandinavian designs)

the art of manipulating fabric
(just received the other day, the vast array of techniques is overwhelming and exciting!)

kay nielson
(the illustrations make me drool, such gorgeous details and patterns)

tricia guild pattern
(the colors! the variety of prints! a flocked velvet cover!)

double gauze and nani iro

of all of the fabric in my stash, i must say that my absolute favorites would be the ones from nani iro. they're soft, pretty in a most delicate way, cool, and make the best clothes. i want to collect as many yards as possible. i keep telling myself, "you need 2 yards to make an article of clothing, so figure that said article of clothing store-bought would be more than the cost of fabric, so suck it up and buy it already.", and then i put that on repeat in ones head.
at first i only bought quarter yards, then i bought half yards, now i'm at the full yard cut, so i'm hoping that the next time i purchase some i'll finally be able to get the needed two yards. as far as the rest of my collection? i really can't see wearing any of them as clothes. so that leaves one possible alternative, anyone up for some quilting?

organization...

...is key to living in a small space. i use the same two colors, various shades derived from them, and lots of white. the white acts like a resting stop for your eyes. the second thing that i find helps small spaces is organization. i'm usually drawn to organizing multiples of things in the same scale container, be it a bookcase or jars. also by arranging them in the pattern of the visible spectrum, with whites, browns, and blacks at the end.
my bookcase was getting crazy, and as it's a rather large portion of one wall something had to be done. i have a massive collection of national geographic books that are a wealth of photos that i can't bare to get rid of even though i may look at them once every ten years. luckily they're mostly white spines, and the same size. the top left square is my illustration, painting, and bookmaking reference books. the top right square is my knitting, embroidery, pattern making, general crafting, herbs, and essential oil reference books. along the bottom are books covering everything else. originally they were organized based on content, but i grew tired of that as i continued to stuff new books in any available slot, and that soon lost its function. so here's the photo of my newly organized shelves.

am also into collecting fat quarters. quarter yards of fabric that are squared rather than long rectangles. so after awhile of being stored in a tubberware, where they were mostly forgotten about until i acquired new additions, i decided they needed to be displayed. this would serve multiple purposes; so that i would be consciously aware of them, as a reminder of my sewing machine saving goal, and also hoping that this would lend itself to inspiring me to use them. i repurposed a wine shelf insert that was being tossed, spray painted it white and stacked my fat quartz by color.

some would say this organizing is neurotic, but hey, it calms the mind and the space. or that whole virgo thing i discussed earlier.