Fiber Arts – Page 20 – Dutch Hollow Acres

March 25, 2011March 24, 2011

Fiber Arts Friday: Hog Island Sheep

I have been slacking in my fiber duties as of late but this past weekend brought me back into the swing of things.

Saturday I got to enjoy a day of fiber fun with my neighbor Stephanie who raises the rare breed of Hog Island Sheep. I’m told there are about 200 head left in the US but you can see them in their original home setting still at Mount Vernon.

Note: Hog Island lambs are usually born with color but 90% of them end up turning white as adults.

The most fun we had with the fiber was rug making. Using raw fibers and only hand carders we wove the raw fleece straight onto the pegloom. Stephanie really enjoyed the ease of using the loom and tells me her husband is in the works of making one for her. I can’t wait to see her first full size rug on it. I’m rather jealous since my raw alpaca doesn’t hold together even a 10^th as nicely as her Hog Island does for weaving.

One thing I learned about Hog Island fleece is that it is springy! I think a small child could use a pile of their fleece as a trampoline. BOING! She left me a small bag to play with and blend with other fibers. I think I’ll save it for the Tour de Fleece to work with.

I was a total idiot and didn’t take a single photo the entire time! ARGH. I blame it on the fact I was computer-less, the darn thing blew up on my Friday night and now I’m waiting for my new computer to come in.

Be sure to check out Stephanie’s farm. She is new to the fiber side of the business and has tons of this rare fleece. I’m sure she’ll be willing to sell some, if there are interested parties.

Stephanie Dempsey
Clover Hill Farm
2747 Bronson Hill Rd
Avon, NY 14414

Anywho, having a fiber weekend inspired me to finally finish my sock yarn shawl. I am proud to say as of Thursday I finally bound off, wove in all my ends and even got some fringe on it. All that is left is to block it. Oh and of course mail it off to its new owner.

The photo is not a true blocking, I just tacked it up to my cubicle wall at work to have a look at it. I was so proud of my last bind off stitch I could help but get a photo of it too LOL.

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Be sure to check out these other great fiber arts sights!

PS I just read through this post and realized my thoughts are rambling with no real path. I guess that’s what 2 over night shifts this week will do to a person. I’m SO tired!

March 18, 2011March 18, 2011

Fiber Arts Friday: Modern Nature Jewelry

Welcome back to the wonderful world of Fiber Arts Friday!

This week I’d like to take the time to introduce you to my sister-in-law Kathleen Lang Klik, who is a very talented photographer and jewelry designer. You might remember me mentioning her a while back in a post about felting beads with alpaca. Well, as it turns out Kathy took her new found knowledge of bead felting and turned it into a beautiful work of jewelry art. The necklace she created from those alpaca beads was recently featured in the magazine Bead Trends.

Of course I’m very proud that she chose to entitle the piece “Dutch Hollow” in honor of the alpacas who supplied the fiber for her beads. Kathleen has such a great eye for the art of jewelry making and I really enjoyed the textures, shapes and sizes she chose for this piece.

I hope her work and the attention it is getting inspires more artists to look to alpaca fiber beyond its traditional uses.

Fiber Arts Friday Exclusive! If you’d like to see more of Kathleen’s work, she has been gracious enough to offer FAF readers a 10% discount at her Etsy Store!

Modern Nature Jewelry
Use Coupon Code: ALPACA10
Good from March 18^th – 24^th, 2011.

Be sure to check out these other great sites to see what everyone else has been creating this week.

March 11, 2011March 10, 2011

FAF: Needle Felt Ornaments

It’s been a busy work week and with the weather now above freezing I’ve actually worked my horses 3 nights this week despite the rain. What I’m trying to say is, I’ve been fiber lazy.

So I dug through my tubs and photo albums and searched for something I could at least write about. What I found were old photos of some needle felt farm animals I made for everyone at our Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago.

At the time I had just learned how to needle felt and what better way to practice a skill than making cute little giveaways to family and friends? I ended up making 22 of them in all.

I’m not sure what happened to the “alpaca.” It ended up looking like a bizarre cross between a llama and a giraffe. The Pig was my most favorite character. I made oinking noises almost the whole time I felted him LOL

My felting skills eventually got a bit better and I attempted some birds like this chickadee. I should really get back into doing some needle felting. It is a whole lot of fun.

What have you been up to this week? Be sure to check out these other great fiber folks!

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March 8, 2011March 8, 2011

WIP – Even better on Tuesday

Ok So I’m going to do my WIPs on Tuesdays because on Wednesday I want to focus my attention on Fiber Wordless Wednesdays.

Since I started documenting my WIPs I’ve realized how many projects I have started but not finished. I have a LOT more than I’d like to admit but here are 2 that I’m focusing on completing.

The most important of these of course is my sock yarn shawl. I want this thing DONE. Unfortunately I don’t know when “done” is. The measurement currently from neck to tip is 26” but how much will this thing stretch out when blocked? I just don’t know. I’d like that measurement to ultimately be 36” after blocking. Oh well I guess I’ll just knit until the skein I’m using is done and see what happens.

The 2^nd project that I’m now starting to work on again in earnest is my summer afghan. I started this one last year and found and about 30 finished squares in a tub while I was digging through my stash. I figure I need about 60 squares to complete an afghan to fit a twin size bed. M. Hates the colors but I like them, with snow storm after snow storm I need something bright and cheery to look at.

So what are you working on?

March 4, 2011March 3, 2011

FAF: Where do you fiddle with fiber?

I’m often asked how I find time to do all that I do. The key for me is to never have down time. Even a 15 min break can net you 1-2 rows on a project. As long as I can fit what I’m working on into my jacket pocket I’ll carry it with me and work on it little by little. I save the night time for bigger projects that have outgrown my pockets.

I relish the down time I get in the office with a few minutes knitting or crocheting. Sometimes I even bring in a drop spindle and spin on breaks. I’ve even been known to knit away while on conference calls, which by the way I think helps me remember more on the call. There’s something about fiber arts that wakes up your brain. Mind you it must be an easy mindless pattern but having my hands fly away somehow controls my ADD and lets me absorb more that goes on around me. Ah ha! I knew I saw an article about this before. At least I’m not the only one.

Anywho! This week my day job had me playing “field tech” and I toured almost all of Western New York without setting foot in the office. But even as a traveling tech I am allowed lunch breaks! Even the cramp confines of a truck can become a knitting parlor once a day!

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Where was the weirdest place you fiddled with fiber?

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Share in your comments: Where was the weirdest place you fiddled with fiber?

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Share in your comments:
Where was the weirdest place you fiddled with fiber?