Spin This Box - January 2017

The Spin This Box - January 2017 is now available for purchase!

Are you wondering what in the heck the Spin This Box even is? Hopefully I can help, lol. The Spin This Box is a collection of fibers from different indie dyers from around the world! 

Each month, one of the artists will pick a photograph for inspiration... with that inspiration in mind, each artist will then dye their fibers and create either roving, top, batts, or rolags for that theme. No two artists ever end up looking the same either! 

There are a limited number of the boxes available each month... so if you are interested, make sure at snag yours right away!

January 2017 - Winter at Bryce Canyon!!!

What comes in the January box!

Winter at Bryce Canyon

AlohaBlu - Organic Polwarth - 2oz

Fistful of Fiber - Panda - 2 oz

What the Flock! Hand Dyed - 70/30 18mic Merino/Mulberry Silk - 2oz

Spun Sugar Yarns - SW Merino/Nylon - 2oz

Twin Mommy Creations - Cheviot/Romney/Nylon/Sari Silk/Angelina - 2oz

The Wooly Witch Luxury Rolags - Merino/Seacell - 1.5oz

A Sheep in the Woods - Wood Burned Button

Fiber Felt n More - 3 Dryer Balls

Total = 11.5 ounces of Fiber!

http://spin-this-box.myshopify.com/collections/all

or

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/1378332465532229/

Gorgeous fibers from amazing fiber artists :)

2016 Florida Sheep and Wool Festival!!!

Tomorrow is the start of the 2016 Florida Sheep and Wool Festival!!! 

Twin Mommy Creations will once again be vending at the festival... and this year, we will be in the screen room... so hopefully it wont be quite as hot as it was last year, lol.

Ive been slacking on posting updates about what has been going on... but hopefully this will hold you over until next time :) 

Rainbow Pot Locks... using the Redding Method

More Redding Method Dyed Locks

"Color Change Rainbow" Yarns!!!

"Color Change Rainbow" Hat... this is a finished hat made by Sharran Fish!!!

Braids of South American Wool... This stuff is soooo soft... similar to Merino :)

I hope that some of you will get the chance to come see me... Ill be there Friday 9am-close and Saturday 9am-close.

See you soon!

FTWG Conference Starts Tomorrow!!!

The Florida Tropical Weaver's Guild's Annual Conference begins tomorrow afternoon... Thursday, March 17th and runs through Sunday, March 20th. 

The Conference is held at the Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center, located at 39034 County Road 452, Leesburg, FL 34788

There will be classes going on throughout the days... as well as vendors on site for all your fiber needs :)

After talking with one of the coordinators last year, she told me that I should consider teaching this year... so that is exactly what is happening, lol... I will be teaching five classes!

And of course, the Twin Mommy Creations booth will also be open... thankfully, Mara, was willing to come help me again this year... so she will be running the booth most of the time. 

Some sneak peeks at what will be available this weekend :)

#Redding Method dyed yarns

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to the Natalie Redding seminar in Brooksville, FL... I can not even begin to tell you how much she taught me... but one of them was her Redding Method of dyeing... "The Rainbow Pot"... above are my attempts at repeating what I had been taught... but on yarn! They are not perfect... but they did turn out pretty dang amazing :)

3 ounce Art Batt

Art Yarn - spun from a "Random Mix of Awesomeness" Batt

"Color Change" Yarns

If you are in Central, Florida... or really anywhere close... I would highly recommend making the trip to the FTWG Conference this year... great atmosphere, gorgeous scenery... and of course all the fiber fluff you could ever want :)

Present from Dilly :)

I turned 30 on Valentine's Day... my son, Dylan, got a loom for Christmas... he said that he wanted to make coasters for people for next Christmas... so I set up the loom and let him get to work.

Dylan is four years old... same as his brother, lol... but Dylan has always wanted to be involved while mommy is crafting... doesn't matter if its treadling the spinning wheel or passing the shuttle through the loom. So, on Black Friday, Target had the Melissa & Doug tapestry loom on sale... I of course had to get it for him :)

When my birthday came around, he walked into my office and handed me this...

Nana helped him with the packaging... but he signed his name.. and the XO :) 

My Coaster

Dylan decided the I should receive his first coaster :)

Coaster in Use

I have it on my desk at work.. and couldn't be prouder of him... I absolutely love it... and I love that Dylan has the "crafty" gene :)

February Spinning Box Sample - "It's My Party"

Wow, am I every far behind with writing posts... Sorry for being such a slacker and not keeping everyone in the loop about what has been going on in my life... I swear I keep forgetting everything, lol!

Well, the February Spinning Boxes have been arriving in people's mailboxes... so I figured I needed to show you what I sent it this month :)

The February theme was "Hot Stuff"... but since I turned 30 on Valentine's Day, I decided to go with "It's My Party"... with a mix of purples, pinks, and white!

These batts contain: Domestic, Cheviot, Mohair, Lincoln Locks, Bamboo, Pulled Sari Silk, and Angelina

"It's My Party" - 1 ounce Batts

1 ounce batt and resulting yarn

The yarn that resulted from the batt actually surprised me... generally I'm not too into pinks and purples... but I was actually very surprised with how much I enjoyed spinning the fiber, and how much I loved the yarn! The little bits of white and darker pinks/purples really draw me in :)

"It's My Party"

These batts are currently available through my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/268929199/its-my-party-spinning-batt-1-ounce

If you need anything, please feel free to contact me :)

Orlando Distaff Day 2016

This Satuday the 9th, is the Annual Orlando Distaff Day!!! 

Place: Whirl and Twirl - 6949 Venture Circle, Orlando, FL 32807

Time: 10am to 3pm

Distaff Day Flyer

This is a very low key event, no pressure, and a very fun time! Basically you bring a project to work on, and come hang out... There are several vendors to purchase supplies from, we will be set up again this year :)

Most people bring a dish or snacks to share...so bring something to share!

Ive been working on a bunch of new things to bring along... but we all know that Ill still be rushing at the end, lol.

"Box of Logs"

And Another "Box of Logs" :)

Hope some of you all can make it out... I would love to see you!!!

Are you ready for Christmas???

I know we all have those last minute Christmas gifts... whether they still need to be purchased... or you are like me, and are still knitting away, lol.

Of course, being the "genius" that I am, I decided yesterday that I needed another Christmas gift... so I frantically searched Ravelry until I could find a pattern that wouldn't take me forever to knit... and I passed out with needles in hand last night :)

Last minute Christmas gift :)

As you can see, I'm really not very far at all... but I have hope that I will get it finished in time!

The UPS man just dropped off a package... and wouldn't you know, its like Christmas for me... I had ordered a sheep shirt from Ravelry last week... they had a spelling mishap, so the shirts were super cheap... and of course I just had to buy one, lol. They sold out really quickly, so I had to get a size smaller than usual.

Its a little tight, but I do not care... it is amazing!!!

How awesome is this???

Here's to hoping that everyone has a wonderful and very Merry Christmas!!! and I will be sending good vibes that all those last minute Christmas gifts get finished :)

Bead Spindles!!!

If you have been reading the blog... Im sure you noticed the bead spindles that were photographed in the "Fiber In 2015" pictures... well they are finally making their online "debut", lol :)

So far, I have only photogrpahed and listed two of them so far... but I did manage to figure out how to upload YouTube videos of how they spin... Its all a learning process for me.

Here is the Tie-Dye Swirl Spindle:

And here she is in action :)

The other one is the Batman Spindle... I love the colors on this one...

And here he is in action :)

If you are interested in either of these spindles, they are currently for sale... or I can do a custom one if you have something in mind 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/twinmommycreations

Christopher Wayne Renfrow

I have been working on so many things that I wanted to share with you all... but life happens... 

My best friend for the last 17 or 18 years (I don't remember the exact date, but I was 11 when we met) passed away on Monday evening... he and I had gone of different paths after high school, but no matter what, we were always there for each other.

Chris - Senior Year

When I moved to Gainesville, I talked to Chris at least once a week just to check in with him... he eventually moved to Illinois and we continued contact... one night he called and said that he needed a ride from the Ocala bus station back to Winter Haven to see his family for Christmas... of course I drove down to Ocala at 1am and took him and his friend Kenny back to Winter Haven.

We stayed in contact while I was in Naples, and we would make time to see each other when I came back to town.

He had fallen on some hard times the last few months and wasn't really sure where life was going to take him... but he always had that wonderful smile on his face... even on my worst day, he would make me feel better... he decided to move back to Georgia to be with his family.

Not sure when it was taken, but I love this pic of him

The day that he was heading to Georgia, I took him to the bus station... we sat in the truck for a couple hours just talking... I handed him a letter that I wrote him to read on the bus... I figured that it was better to tell someone everything you ever wanted to say to them, just in case... we hugged, cried, and he got on the bus... I cried the whole way home... afraid I might never see him again :(

Back of his sophomore picture

Every week he was in Georgia, he would call or text just to let me know how life was going... he was doing really well up there... spending tons of time with his family... and always gushing about his two beautiful nieces... he was finally completely happy... 

Yesterday, I got news that shook my world like nothing has since Scot (my step dad) passed... Chris was found not breathing and had passed away... 

We had highs and we had lows... we were close and distant... but no matter what, he was there for me, and I was there for him... just blind love... I loved Chris from the time we were 11 years old, and I will love and miss him forever

If you have something to say to someone, say it... you might not get tomorrow!

9th Grade

Goodbye Christopher Wayne... may you rest peacefully... I will love you forever... until we meet again!

Fiber In 2015 Booth!!!

For those of you who wanted to attend the Fiber In and couldn't make it... or just want to see what the booth looked like... Here you go :)

Rolags / Silk / Rovings / Yarn

Sari Silk / Cotton / Camel / and More

Roving / Batts / Angelina Wall

Handmade Spindles

Special Flock of Sheep from Scott :)

It was so wonderful seeing everyone who made it out... got to meet tons of new faces... and see all the gorgeous faces from the past!!! Cant wait til next year :)

Tomorrow, Tomorrow... I hope to see you tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow afternoon, I will be heading to Orlando for the Fiber In... and I could not be more excited!!! I am also terrified (as always)... because as always, I feel like I don't have enough inventory... yada, yada, yada...

Its an internal struggle that I will deal with, lol... I did manage to sleep last night... and I woke up so mad at myself for falling asleep... but such is life... 

I got a little bit done... and hopefully tonight I can get some stuff done, but mom and I got invited food tasting thing tonight from the city... so we sort of have to go :)

Pulled Sari Silk

Pulled Sari Silk

And this baby has been working like crazy!!!

I haven't had much time to work on getting a lot of rolag sets done... but I have gotten a few of them...

See you soon!!!

And Then There Were TWO!

I'll be honest, last night was not very productive... unfortunately I fell asleep... on the couch with yarn wrapped around my wrist and a spindle in the other hand... Decided that I needed to call it a night and just go to sleep... told myself "I'll wake up early"... HA! yeah right... I was late getting the kids to school, lol.

So, here is hoping that tonight is better... 

I did manage to get more stuff put in bags this morning... just cant lose track :)

Angelina and Silk Cocoons!!!

Ill be working on Camel Down tonight...

Lastly, I have been wanting to make something with my hand dyed as a sample for customers to get ideas... Well, this yarn just needed to be knit :)

Rainbow Hat :)

Three!!! Only 3 Days Remain!

Three days til the Fiber In... I have officially figured out how Friday is going to flow... luckily my mother is going to help out greatly and take care of the kids for me... so the most important thing that was stressing me out, has now been dealt with :)

We managed to get to the studio after work last night... and apparently I didn't realize that the boys were sleepy... one minute they were up running around and the next they were passed out by the front door behind me, lol...

Knocked Out!

Hopefully tonight will be productive without the little ones being sooo tired.

Here are some pictures of one of the "secret" things that will be at the Fiber In... Hand Carved Rosewood Shawl Pins... these were made by a small company in India by craftsmen who design and then hand carve each shawl pin :)

Rosewood Shawl Pins

Six Different Styles

I'm hoping to pull another all-nighter and get more done tonight!!!

Wowza!!! Only 4 Days Left!!!

Only 4 short days til we gather and start setting up for the Fiber In!!! This past weekend flew by and I feel like I should have gotten soooo much more done than what I actually did, lol... But I did take yesterday to see some friends (Cori and Sharlyn), mingle a bit, and actually got some stuff done :)

Not much dyeing this weekend... but at least it is all dry now...

Brights... on South American Wool!!!

Fall Colors... on Falkland!!!

There have been some other progress made, but wouldn't you know I forgot to take pictures, lol... I will say that I will have some pretty awesome stuff... I cant tell you what it is just yet... but maybe tomorrow you will get more info :)

Only a Week Away!!!

Ahhh!!! The Fiber In is only a week away... This time next Friday, I will be all set up at the Allure in Orlando... talking to great friends and having a wonderful time... I really hope some of you will make it out to enjoy the weekend with us :)

Yesterday was definitely more productive... but sometimes, I just wish I was a robot and didn't have a job, lol... 

Figure I should let you see some of my sneaky plans... (insert evil laugh)... :)

I decided that I wanted to have different breeds of loose fiber for people to purchase... I know a lot of us just want to try all the sheep breeds... so here you go...

Oxford Fleece

Coopworth Fleece

Valais Blacknose Locks

Yes, you read that right... Valais Blacknose... I got in contact with a farmer in the UK and imported some fleece... I will have separated locks (super long), as well as just fleece...

This is actually one of the sheep from the farm...

And here is a picture of an ewe with her lambs...

The farmer generously sent me some of her pictures to use... aren't they super cute???

Lets see what the weekend brings :)