Nothing much to say

It's been like 6 years since I've posted.

A lot of things have happened.

While in Germany, my husband (now ex) was throwing his dick into anything he could get it into and I was left to take care of the kids, somehow.

I did meet a sort of "knight in shining armor." A German man who owned a restaurant. I actually thought it was a dream come true, except he was wildly racist, passive aggressive, possessive, and realized how much of a goon he was.

Afterwards, I met someone who is not perfect, but he was real.

Then I let him go.

Then we reconnected a couple years later and my 3 kids and I moved in with him. We have a son together now.

It's been kind of crazy and all over the place, but we have fun, so there's that.

Geeze, I Need to Update More Often

I did end up getting a new wheel :) In fact, I accidentally decided to buy two. Don't ask because..  because.. Anyway! I got a second hand Heavenly Handspinning Bellus and it came with 12 HUGE bobbins!

 See? It's so lovely.
And it's sooo fast! I was able to finally finish 3 skeins in less than a week. This is up from maybe one skein every couple weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love my Traddy, but this little number is amazingly awesome. Don't let the bicycle rim wheel part fool you. This thing is efficient. I guess I only have one complaint though. I can't figure out how to fill the bobbin evenly. The flyer arms don't "reach" all the way to the other end of the bobbin, but maybe I'm doing it wrong, I dunno.
Now to the yarns :)

 

This is a lovely 2 ply yarn made from Merino. It was dyed by Tivoli Creations. From 3.22 oz of fiber, I got about 116 yards, it's about worsted weight.

 

This is a super squishy Merino/Mohair/Silk Noil Bulky weight, slightly thick and thin. This batt is from The Rabbit Wren (They're actually going by a different name now and have moved, but I can't recall it.) It weights 3.32 oz, about 104 yards.

 I was able to get this one done as well. Same as the yellow yarn: Merino fiber, dyed by Tivoli Creations, 2 ply about worsted weight. About 3.64 oz and 120 yards.

I am working on a couple more, including me respinning my Retro Girl colorway yarn from Greenwood Fiber works. Going to see how that works out :P And after that, I will setting twist (I've actually been saying that, but I really want to get them done all at once.) and revealing prices on my FB page. 

Figuring out how to price is probably the hardest thing many crafters have to think about. I would hate to undercut other artists, but I would like for those who want to buy handspun yarn to pay a reasonable price. I think I have it down and will hopefully be able to offer different fibers, maybe even dyed by myself, which is now my current goal :)

A bit of a conundrum

Trying to figure out what to get in order to grow my yarn business. I could upgrade my drum carder, get another wheel for production/plying/teaching, or get dyeing supplies. All are needed really, but I can only get one thing at a time :/ What to do?
I already know my drum carder of choice: Strauch Mad Batt'r, but the price tag.. $775. Would need a few hundred more dollars. How much would I need to sell? How do I sell batts and yarn?
The wheel is a bit harder to figure out. Used or new? Probably going to be used. The Babe Pinkie? It would definitely be portable, but would it be enough wheel? Close behind is the Ashford Country Spinner. Defintely not doable right now.. Then there are Heavenly Handspinning wheels. I really like the Stella Double Treadle. Affordable, but I don't know much about them, other than I used to have a kick wheel from the same maker.
Dyes will be coming from Dharma Trading Company. I should probably go get these first and get the wheel.... anyway!

This is what I'm working on. :) I still have another 2.5 oz to spin. It's hand painted merino top and I plan to Navajo ply it. Can't wait to see how it comes out. It may be the first yarn that I sell :)

Getting there

Been spinning more and have been sewing a bit more too :)

 Scored this free cabinet off post. It was like a community Throw Out What You Don't Want day. Meh, perfect for my wool :)

 Crocheted this cute, chunky infinity scarf. Was supposed to be for my cousin's wife, but it got too hot :/ I'll wear it next year and make her something for the spring. Check out the awesome dress form :)

 Finished the Nebula yarn. A bit softer than I thought it would be, which is awesome :) I think it's 37 yards, but need to recount the yardage. Chunky fluffy awesomeness.

 Llama "wool" dryer balls. :) Started making these and got some orders for 36 balls. 16 down, 20 to go :P

I figured out how to makes hanks also.

Right now, I'm debating on getting a used Babe Pinkie to ply on. I like that it's portable, but I'm getting mixed reviews on it. The one I'm looking at does have a bunch of extras including the plying flyer. $180 shipped, so I just might get it. We shall see :P

Catch up post!

I have been busy for the past several months with birthdays, the holidays and cleaning my new craft room :)

  

I don't understand Blogger anymore :/ Took me forever to get these pictures in order hahaha I will be adding captions later :)

My New Spinning Wheel

Here's a picture of my new spinning wheel. It's an Ashford Traditional Double Drive. Usually cost about $565 new. Got this one for $150(!) and it's in excellent condition. I just need to figure out if I rigged it up right. I also need to learn how to spin on it hahaha I never mastered my kick wheel that I used to have and this goes way faster than it, but the yarn doesn't feed when I spin which causes me to  over twist the fiber , and, sometimes, it will stop me from treadling and spin the opposite way.

The lady that sold the wheel to me will be coming over around noon to show me how to work it. I am very excited! I really want to learn how to spin, and it's been something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I remember when I heard about spinning yarn, I tried to make my own spindles from pencils, CDs, found hooks and little o-ring gasket things, but couldn't source local fiber at the time. So, I put spinning on the back burner until I decided to get an English Angora after my rabbit passed away while my husband was deployed. I ended up getting a kick wheel, but as I said before, I never mastered it, so again I had to push spinning out of my mind for a while, until I came across the ads for the wheel, the drum carder, and the other supplies. The fact that I was able to afford it at the time made it seem too good to be true, but here they all are, and free lessons to boot!

Did I mention that I'm super excited? :3

Clean Slate Clean

For like, the billionth time, I am starting this blog over :P

Hey there! I'm Jess! I'm 26 at the time of this post. I am married to my best friend, and he's in the Army. We have 2 boys, ages 4 and 1 year. We also have a beagle named Buster. We currently live in Germany, which is where the Army has sent us. It's pretty amazing. Before this, we were stationed in Fort Polk, LA. We had a farm before we moved and I raised Nigerian Dwarf goats and Buff Orpington chickens. 

I love crafting. I started sewing during my senior year of high school because I wanted to make pouches for my sugar gliders. My mom had a sewing machine already, but never thought to teach me before, and so she taught me the basics. Then I started selling pet accessories online and to pet stores and was pretty good at it, but I was still in high school at this point, so my business skills and etiquette was something to be desired. 

Then I started picking up other crafts like knitting, which I never was good at, making earrings (just earrings haha), felt mascots, and crochet. I also love growing herbs and veggies, especially mint, can't live without my mint :3 

While my husband was deployed in Iraq and I was pregnant, I decided to get a rabbit. I didn't want to get a regular rabbit, I wanted a rabbit that could provide. Of course I didn't want to eat it, at least I didn't want to raise meat rabbits yet, but I found one that provide wool. English Angora Rabbits. I loved her so much. I have no clue why I ever sold her, but she changed me, and her wool inspired me to want to learn how to spin.

I bought a  kick wheel, but.. I couldn't exactly figure it out. I ended up selling it 3 years later, so someone else could enjoy it, but mostly because I didn't want it to break during the move. I ended up finding something else better here very recently anyway...

I was looking through a online yard sale type website, and found that someone was selling a spinning wheel, wool combs, hand carders, and a drum carder and the prices were unbelievable. Not like expensive, but super super super cheap and these came with lots of extras. Over $1000 (probably) worth of equipment for $250, plus I even got books and equipment to dye wool. I was sure someone else had jumped on this, but nope! and now they're sitting here, LOL but it's only been a few days and I did try it out. The person I bought the wheel from is coming on Wednesday to help me out and show me how to work this and get my rhythm. I just don't want to mess up any more wool! haha 

I'll be posting pictures in a bit of the loot and show want I have been TRYING to spin up.