SAFF Update

Accepted! Sara, Heidi, and I took the first steps of forming our fiber and book cooperative. It is called Why Knot Fiber Collective. Today we found out that we have been accepted as a vendor for the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (lovingly called SAFF). Here's the link http://www.saffsite.org/index.php . There is also a group on Ravelry called SAFF (link for members is http://www.ravelry.com/groups/saff). The Collective has not yet been added to the official vendor list; however, I am told that we will be added soon. Last year the fair was attended by approx 7500 - 8000 people. We are going to have to be fiber prep machines between now and late October in order to have everything ready for such an important event. Plus we have Kentuck to get ready for in mid-October. I know that I will have to think through the quantity that I'd like to offer, the colorways, the fibers, and whatever else I might like to include like kits and gifts. I've got to get my "brand" stuff in good order, too, and in larger quantities. My 100 Moo cards just won't be enough for an event such as this. Sara is getting her wheel this week, which will really help her to get a lot of work completed. Heidi and I are talking about making some high quality but low cost letterpress printed materials. We need to look and be professional. SAFF will take me from a little Etsy shop where I sell a few items each week and transform WhorlingTides into a potentially profitable small business. I'm happy and terrified. It is my love of fibers that keeps me going. So, look here often for SAFF updates. And please, post any colorway, fiber, product selections you may want to offer. SAFF...October 24 - 26, 2008. Please join me there!

Amazing Find: Fiber Arts and Mixed Media Social Networking Site

Discovery. Social networking, blogs, uploading, downloading, html, http......I'm feeling bored tonight. Okay, bored is not exactly the correct word but it will do for now. But, if you don't like that word, then how about unsettled. Not rattled. Just a little off course. So in between spinning skeins of black bamboo for someone who has turned out to be an amazing "patron" of my little Etsy shop (Thanks Grace at abbigail714 on Etsy), I have wandered over to the computer in vain search of companionsip at least a dozen times. Going from Yahoo to Etsy to Blogspot to Ravelry to Ebay to AOL and any other fiber site that I could find I stumbled into the Fiber Arts and Mixed Media Social Networking Site. Here, check it out for yourself at this link. http://fiberartsmixedmedia.ning.com/

While there, I found a link which sported a phrase saying something like "create your own social networking site." "NO WAY" I think to myself. "That cannot be true!" But it was true. It totally IS true. So like Alice in Wonderland, I kept following links until...I just created a social networking site of my own at this place called Ning. Here's the link. http://www.ning.com/
I have called it Why Knot Fiber Collective: For the Yarn Arts. So when Sara comes over tomorrow, we will be able to finish creating the site.

In case you haven't noticed, I am in awe of the internet and all that it has to offer. It is a vast and creative world this internet. I'm loving it. Totally loving it.

Save the Sheep - Tikkun Olam Tuesday

Okay Fiber Artists,

WE MUST BOYCOTT AUSTRAILIAN MERINO WOOL IN ANY AND ALL FORMS.

http://www.savethesheep.com/default.asp

This Tikkun Olam Tuesday is hugely important to those of us working with wool. When my friend Sara told me about this issue I honestly couldn't believe my ears. Then, I went online and looked into it, and it is all TRUE.

Please look into these horrific and senseless actions that are being perpetrated on Australian Merino Sheep. Honestly, I felt so sickened by the acts of cruelty that I couldn't continue to read about what is happening. So, I posted the link above for you to see for yourself. We must boycott all Australian Merino wool and fiber in order to protect sheep from abuse.

A quote from the Save the Sheep webpage:
In Australia, where more than 50 percent of the world’s merino wool—which is used in products ranging from clothing to carpets—comes from, lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called mulesing, in which huge chunks of skin and flesh are cut from the animals’ backsides, without any painkillers. Millions of these sheep are then shipped to the Middle East on crowded multilevel ships. These journeys, which can last for months, are to countries where animal welfare standards are non-existent. The suffering sheep are dragged off the ships, loaded onto trucks, and dragged by their ears and legs to unregulated slaughterhouses, where their throats are slit while they are still conscious.

As long as Australia is tolerating cruelty toward Merino Sheep, I promise that I will NEVER knowingly purchase Australian Merino Wool of any form and that I will actively seek to avoid purchasing Australian Merino Wool by asking sellers and wholesale venders whether they are selling Australian Merino Wool. I am asking you to do the same - even if it means spending a few more dollars on fibers. Please post your endorsement or commitment on my blog so that we can act in unity.

Sometimes making the world a better place is expensive. This effort will be well worth the cost.

Tikkun Olam Tuesdays

Do you love words ?
Do you like a word challenge to play with from time to time?
Do you want to be able to feed people by playing a word game?
Do you feel the need to participate in making the world a better place?

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes!!!!

I just found this amazing webpage where you get to do word games and give free rice to hungry people through the United Nations food programs. Here's how it works...you are given a word and prompted to choose the definition from 4 multiple choice responses. For each definition you correctly select, you donate 5 grains of rice. In a mere few moments you could have fed an entire family for a day. Please mark their site as a favorite and go there as often as you can. Here's the link to FreeRice http://freerice.com/ so that you can go and play to your heart and mind's content.

And this makes me think...I will offer a special feature every Tuesday on doing something for Tikkun Olam...those are the Hebrew word meaning essentially "repair the world."

Here is the Wikipedia definition of Tikkun Olam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikkun_olam

As I understand tikkun olam...it is the responsibility of people inhabiting the earth to improve things rather than just maintain the world the way it is. I love it and I believe it completely. So play a nice word game today, feed the hungry, and enjoy the first ever Tikkun Olam Tuesday on RitaBooke's blog.

And the WINNERS are...

Take a Look at What I Did Today!!!

Hey, I really like that Tabby roving!





WoWeeeeeee - look at the colors I got with my new ProChem Dyes! So easy to use and the colors are beyond delicious. Tomorrow, I will have a hard time making my decisions. I would like to have a committee...any volunteers?



The box is filled with over dyed silver Romney.
The fibers drying on the towel are dyed Alpaca.




Sorry, one or two of these are not in the contest! But check my Etsy page at www.whorlingtides.etsy.com where they will be posted for sale.

The Dye Daze

Today is the big dye day!!! I'm getting started with my professional dyes. I've selected the last group of contestants to dye. And provided that everything works out okay...they will be finished today...and then I can post the winners! Yay!

Other Fiber News

Alabama's 4th Annual Goat and Sheep Festival!!! Sarah and I went up on Saturday June 7th. Her sweet husband, Austin, joined us. We were the first "fiber" representatives ever to attend the festival. As soon as we arrived, before we could even unpack our boxes, people literally pounced upon us!!! I'm not kidding...we walked in and immediately people were asking questions: What is this? How do you do that? My Granny used a spinning wheel. I want to know how to knit...People learned how to spin on drop spindles. Kids made their own spindles with CDs. They even made knitting needles using foam beads and bamboo skewers. And several people even got to experiment with dyeing in the microwave using kool-aid. It would be difficult to say who had more fun...we the fiber ambassadors or the students. Maybe it was that handsome guy in the upper right pic. Isn't he the perfect pin-up guy??!!

Cute girls making their first spindles!



The following Saturday, June 15th, was World Wide Knit In Public Day. Our friends at Barnes and Noble where we meet on Tuesday nights were kind enough to sponsor the event. We even had news coverage - both TV and Print media! In the lower left pic you will see Carol seated. She is the "permanent president" of the West Alabama Fiber Guild. She inspires us all to learn more and more about what we are doing. In the pic standing beside her is Resha, the PR person at Barnes and Noble. Hush...the secret is that we are all knitting her a scarf for being so helpful during this event. The pic beside that one is Melissa learning how to crochet from Irisema. Irisema was new to our group that day and she is now a regular member on Tuesday nights. Melissa and I are the ones who founded the Tuesday night fiber event.




Obviously he's the camera guy from the TV station. And the studious woman in grey is the Intern from the station who was sent to cover the story.

And then there is Jerome. Jerome made a drop spindle with us that day. He is an amazing knitter having learned from his Grandmother some years ago. Since we met, Jerome has made more than 50 spindles and even came to my home over the weekend to buy up all of my llama roving so that he could knit something for a friend. He's a sweetie. Sarah and I were canning blueberry jam when Jerome came over with his family - his sister and her kids. What a dear, dear family!

Here's Faizah. I'm mad at her. Just as we were getting to know her, she decided to go back to her homeland which is Indonesia. She said that she married her husband 9 years ago, 8 of those years she has spent in the US completing her degree in linguistics and teaching in the English Department. She popped in one day and wanted to learn how to knit. And she went home with some yarn and some needles. Each week she came back with more and more advanced FOs (finished objects) with each stitch knit more perfectly than the one before it. I will miss her. But in this day and age...I know we can stay in touch. It is such a nice group of friends to have. I enjoy having a sense of belonging with these people.

Back to the Contest

Okay, Contestants, The Dye Contest is indeed still in progress. We were just on hold while I completed the required training in San Diego and then adjusted to homelife once again. By adjusting to homelife, I mean that I got my daughter used to following rules again. She thinks that she should get $30 per week allowance, a car, car insurance, and a free weekly tank of gas while she goofs off with her boyfriend all summer long. I (and I'm still the Mom) think that she should earn the money. It is not working out so well for her. She is not working, not volunteering, not taking a college course, and so forth; thus, it should come as no surprise to you other Moms out there...she is not getting the above privileges. (Privileges are NOT rights!!) The car has been retired to the garage officially last week. She is none too happy. And it is a little like living with an IED (improvised explosive device). On to more important blog issues.

For this contest, I decided to learn how to use professional grade dyes. And I decided upon the brand Pro Chemical and Dye. They had clear directions and loads of colors to choose from. The also have "fiber reactive" dyes that I will be able to use to dye bamboo. I think that was what interested me the most about going with Pro Chem. You gotta start somewhere and this company has a good reputation.

In the above pic on the left you will see the PRO WashFast Acid Dye Sampler: Cool Palette. The colors are Magenta, Sun Yellow, and Brilliant Blue. I have mixed the max strength in each canning jar because they can be stored for up to 6 months and then diluted as needed for each dye episode.

In the above pic on the right you will see the PRO WashFast Acid Dye Sampler: Warm Palette. The colors in this pic are Bright Red, Golden Yellow, and National Blue . Again they are mixed to max strength and will be diluted as necessary.

Gorgeous, aren't they gorgeous!!!??!

Now to the next pics...They are PRO WashFast Acid Dye Autumn Sampler.




The pic above shows Purple, Turkey Red, and Maple Sugar.

The pic below shows on the left Spiced Pumpkin, center is Evergreen, and right is Mocha Chino.




I am pleased with how they turned out, and I feel myself heading toward the ProChem webpage to order more colors. After all, I only have 7 lbs of merino roving to dye, not to mention all the other fibers that are in line to dye after that.

Y'all, I want you to know how much fun I am having. My head is swirling with your colors every minute of every day. It is a marvelous focus to have when my day turns to stress...I go to the bliss of the color groupings that you have provided. I am still so honored that all of you chose to participate. Thank you.

Would you like to see some more of the already dyed skeins and braids? I'll put up a few but if you want more than that..please leave a post for me. Okay? Thanks.



I hope we all dream in color tonight.

Thank You CinderLisaDesign

The Lime Tart yarn that you see in the "ad" above was given some great recognition today for being so beautiful. Not only is it in a similar ad for the new knitting mag called KnitCircus, it is now featured in this ad on Ravelry. To top off all that, while I was at work today, I took a quick peek at my AOL email. And there I received a note from an Etsy patron. See below what she wrote:

I just wanted to let you know that I featured your Lime Tart bamboo yarn in the new Wednesday Wants post for my brand-new blog. Thought I'd better at least tell people that I'm flashing their goods around, eh? :)The blog is here, if you want a look: http://cinderlisadesign.blogspot.com/ Lisa

She is showing my Lime Tart bamboo yarn on her first day blogging! That is really amazing to me. I hope she won't mind me posting this link to her blog. Go check it out! She has reviewed a couple of other Etsy items, too. I wish her great good luck and all things beautiful in her life. Maybe she will accept some of the yarn to play with herself....let's see if she will...

Now, I still have to post again about the Dye Contest...that will come in a separate post because I cannot get the pictures to arrange the way that I want them to.

Anyway, thanks CinderLisaDesign for making my day a beautiful shade of lime green!