2015 Florida Sheep and Wool Festival!!!

Tomorrow starts the first day of the Florida Sheep and Wool Festival!!! As always, I have been frantically trying to get stuff made and packaged... what a shocker, lol :)

This time things are a little different though... not only am I trying to work on the show stock... but I have also been working on getting a studio up and running... Most of you do not know what I'm talking about... but with the huge help of my mother, Twin Mommy Creations will have a studio to teach classes and work on projects... Things are moving along... but are still in progress (much further than I could have been on my own... luckily, I have some pretty awesome men in my life who have been doing the majority of the work for me).

I figure tonight will be long night... but I will definitely be ready for tomorrow!!! I head out tomorrow morning around 3am to get to Ocala in time to set up and get ready... :)

Rovings Drying :)

Some batts ready to go!!!

I hope that some of you will come out and see the festival... It runs from Friday, April 24th to Sunday, April 26th... the best day is Saturday the 25th though...

Gates open at 9am everyday... and it is located at 10205 NW Gainesville Road, Ocala, FL 34482

See you there :)

Swamp Thing... Finally Spun!

I bought some Superwash Merino/Viscose roving about 2 years ago... and only ever dyed one chunk of it... "Swamp Thing"... and of course, I could never bring myself to sell it, lol...

"Swamp Thing" was a mix of greens and browns... with a hint of burgundy in certain spots... and I told myself that one day, I would spin it... and it has finally happened.

"Swamp Thing" - 50% Superwash Merino / 50% Viscose

At the FTWG Annual Conference, I started spinning the fiber... I decided that I would split the braid down the middle and then ply the two halves together...

1st Ply

After I finished the first ply, I made the decision that I didn't really want to just spin the other half... so I turned that half into rolags.

2nd half into rolags

Of course I didn't take a picture of the second bobbin full of yarn... but it was a much more muted yarn... without all the bright green (I'm sort of kicking myself at this point, because I love the bright green)

And I finally managed to finish getting the yarn spun... I still have to wash and set the twist... but I am pretty pleased with the outcome... Its 3.9 ounces and 400 yards (technically 410 yards... but I always round down)

The finished yarn!!!

400 yards... 3.9 ounces... Swamp Thing

This yarn took around 10 to 12 hours of spinning to complete... and its the most I have ever spun so far, in one skein of yarn :)

Finished Yarn - "When Clowns Attack"

The "When Clowns Attack" yarn from yesterday was finally completed... It rained here last night and the DirecTV goes out when we have a super hard rain, so I spent the evening plying, lol.

The skein is pretty large... so the plying took over two hours... and I really don't think I'm a slow spinner or anything... its just a lot of yarn :)

I decided to go ahead and stay up... so the yarn was set and hung to dry... and mostly dry this morning...

When Clowns Attack - Mix of Superwash BFL, Nylon, Montadale, Florida Native, Targhee, and more!

Close Up

The Skein :)

I'm still not 100% sold on how I feel about this yarn... but I am going to start knitting with it and see how I feel then :)

When Clowns Attack... Yarn???

I got some fiber from a local shepherdess last year... but when I got home, realized that the fiber was all just too short to spin by itself... It was all from different breeds... and they were all lamb fleeces :)

Since I wasn't really sure what to do, I washed up a few small batches and dyed a little bit of it (Orange, Pink, and Blue)... Its been sitting in bags, inside a basket for about 8 months now... and I think I have finally figured it out, lol :)

I decided to blend the short dyed fibers with some Superwash BFL/Nylon roving... running it through the drum carder in bunches of different layers... Unfortunately, I never thought to take a picture of the batts... but I do have some of the beginning stages of the yarn...

One bobbin spun up...

Both bobbins waiting to be plied...

The start of the ply job :)

Stay tuned to see what happens next!!!

Tatting Shuttles :)

I recently had someone contact me about listing some of that polymer clay tatting shuttles I make... so I finally put them on Facebook, lol :)

All shuttles are handmade by myself, in my kitchen... no two will ever be the same... and there are imperfections on each piece... they are handmade after all.

Once they are cooled from baking, I sand them to a 1200 grit... they are smooth and fun to use :)

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Follow the link above to see the rest of them... and if you have a special request, just let me know :)