So I've gotten LOTS of questions on how I card my batts.. mostly HOW do I fit as much fiber onto my drum as I do.. to get those HUGE batts!! So this weekend I did a short technique demo on carding layers with my louet carder.
For me, carding is about layers.. it's like painting the fiber onto the drum. Even when I do more than 1 of the "same" batt or when I "encore" batts (recreate previously carded batts) they are always unique- because I can never "paint" the fiber exactly the same way. I may use the same fibers... in the same colors.. but they will always be placed slightly different on the drum.
PLEASE no teasing on my sweatpants and "IL" trucker hat.. It was Sunday morning! LOL!!! I am proudly wearing my "daily dose of fiber" ravelry shirt! YAY ravelry!
I've gotten some questions on how to "process" a batt for spinning.. so I'll do a few quickie demo's on pulling roving from a batt this weekend (without using a diz). I'll try to get one using diz as well if I have time!
My next technique video will be (core)spinning with locks. I hope to have that up early next month!!
06x01 LAX (pt1&2) WOW!! Feels GREAT to be back on track!! WHAT an episode last night!!
"Season 6 is not about time travel. It’s about the implications, the aftermath, and the causality of trying to change the past" Damon Lindelof
Did you notice in the title.. there's a space between A and X.. It's LA X rather than LAX. This obviously means SOMETHING... could the X represent the number 10.. Desmond, Jack, Rose, Bernard, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Charlie, John- But there were MORE of our characters on the flight.. Cindy, Frogurt, Ernst, Boone were all there too!! Could (as another of my friends pointed out) the X stand for the "sideways/alternate" reality? As in.. This isn't LA.. but LA X? I'm not sure what it means.. but it's there for a reason!!
Ok.. so the BIGGEST "answer" we got last night was about our good friend SMOKEY!! So... Smokey IS the Man in Black AND is FakeJohn!!! Smokey has been manifesting as all of these different people(things) to try and manipulate the people on the island. Could the man in black be FATE and Jacob be FREE WILL? Remember the scene on the beach.. The man in black says "they bring corruption.... it always ends the same" and Jacob says "it only needs to end once, the rest is progress" Jacob keeps bringing people to the island that he thinks will right something that has always been wrong.. and he Man in Black(Smokey) is always able to manipulate them with flashes of their past to get them. I thought it was great when ben said "so YOU"RE the monster" and FLocke said "let's not resort to name calling" LOL!! And he says he want's to go HOME!! Where's HOME?!?
The ASH!! Do you remember the ash ring around the cabin?! So obviously the ash protects the person from Smokey/FakeJohn/ManInBlack. The ring of ash was BROKEN when we found the cabin.. so I think that the entire time we thought we were communicating with "Jacob" it's really been the Man In Black.. It wasn't Jacob that asked John for Help.. it was Smokey. Smokey has been trying to find someone that the "others" would trust.. that he can manifest as and gain control of the Island. Jacob visited all the people that he brought to the island to get them there.. because HE thought they could stand up to Smokey and not be manipulated.. The question I have is.. if TheManinBlack/Smokey can't kill Jacob (he needed to manipulate ben to do it) then WHY would Jacob need an ashring around the cabin to protect him? Could the ash ring have been there to keep MiB INSIDE the cabin? OR was it someone else's cabin? At this point.. since Christian Shepard was instructing John on what to do.. I think we should assume that it was MiB/Smokey that was manifesting as Christian.. setting the plan in motion to manipulate john and ben.. I don't think we've MiB/Smokey manifest as anyone who's still living.. So he had to get everything "right" to create a plan to have the others trust a lostie (John) as their leader.. then get Ben to kill that person, so he (MiB) can manifest and take over leadership of the Others. Jacob's last words were "They are Coming". WHO's coming... The way it was filmed in that it was proceeded by the aftermath of the Swan battle and Juliet's (supposed) detonation of the bomb, I'm convinced that Jacob was referring to the six returning Losties in time: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin, and Sayid. Especially considering the theme of the season 5 finale flashbacks was Jacob visiting these very characters at various periods in time. He was preparing himself just as the MiBwas maneuvering his loophole, and these characters in particular are key to defeating him. Jacob in his last breaths was sending the Man in Black a message: that he had not won yet.
SO when FJohn/MiB/Smokey came out from the Statue.. Richard says "DON"T SHOOT" is it because he knows he's Smokey? I do think he knows Jacob is dead, because the "other" Others set off the flare.. which I think was a warning!! I think that meant that Smokey was in control because they were all putting out the Ash and buckling down the temple in anticipation of Smokey trying to get in. So if he know that FakeJohn was being controlled by Smokey.. why did he looks so shocked, and said "YOU?!" when FJohn/MiB/Smokey mentions Richard's "chains" Could he be referring to LITERAL chains.. as in Richard came to the island on the Black Rock IN chains.. OR could he have been the captain of the boat and had people in chains.. and Jacob gave him a chance to redeem himself.. OR could the chains have been figurative.. as in FJohn/MiB/Smokey is saying "I killed your master" so you are no longer chained to him. is this the first time Richard has seen Smokey in "manifestation of a dead person" form? Could he really NOT have known that FJohn was Smokey.. and the reason he didn't want them to shoot was because he didn't know who he was.. can Jacob take form of the dead?
SO has Jacob been ALIVE on the island the entire time.. as in a "real" person.. since he tells hurly he "died a few hours ago" But Smokey/MiB doesn't seem like a "real" person.. the way he can manifest into the dead and the smoke monster... But if Jacob's been "alive" the ENTIRE history of the island (WAY too long to actually be "alive") they HOW was did he actually die?
The Temple and the "other" others!! We see Cindy with the Kids!! They were TAKEN way back!! Who is this Japanese man? The water obviously has healing powers (this is probably what saved Ben when Sayid shot him. When Richard takes Ben he tells Kate and Sawyer that he won't be the same.. he'll be one of them.. Does this mean Sayid is going to somehow "change") It seems as though it's the first time they've seen it "unclear".. as the hippieguy said "what happened to the water" Also, our Japanese friend cut himself and the water didn't heal the wound.. so if they knew something was wrong.. why did they go ahead and put Sayid in... and then HOW does Sayid die.. but come back? COULD IT BE JACOB in Sayid? Has the island lost it's healing powers now that Jacob is "dead"? Doesn't that water look an awful lot like what ben "flushed" to summon smokey to get him to kill the mercenaries? Cindy also says they were with the "first" plane (referring to jack and crew) so these other others also know of the SECOND plane that landed (the ajera plane) I think there is a big clue in the architecture. The Temple was quite clearly Mayan / Aztec in influence, but with Egyptian overtones to the interior. Could the island be the birthplace of civilization- Atlantis (which by legend sunk) We now have direct island connections with the Phoenicians (Tunisia), Mayans (Temple), Romans (Latin) and Egyptians (Statue).
The plane the plane!! What an interesting progression that is.. from the first episode of the series to last night- Is this an alternate reality/dimension? Hubby and I think it looks as though Jack has aged a bit.. and he had some cuts/bruises he didn't have before (or even seem to KNOW he had!!) Cindy (flight attendant) gives Jack ONE bottle of Vodka, rather than the 2 she gave him in the pilot episode. In the pilot episode, Jack is the one comforting Rose.. and last night it was the opposite!! Also.. DESMOND!! WTF is desmond doing there?!? In "real" time he was ON the ISLAND at this point.. pushing the button. Is there NO Penny in this timeline.. or is he meeting Penny in LA? Jack did look as though he remembers Des.. is it from meeting him while running.. or is it from the Island? Desmond's words "See you in another life Brother" takes on an ENTIRELY new meaning now!!!!! Did Des disappear from the plane.. with Christian's coffin? What about Widmore.. if the island is under water (how cool was that cgi) then where are "the others" or whomever? If in this timeline the island blew up and sunk.. then is widmore and ellie dead? So there are NO penny and daniel? How about that cgi.. we saw the old dharma shark, the statue and the entire island under water!!
Is that the result of the bomb explosion? When Juliet said "it worked" how did she KNOW it worked? It seems as though the bomb going off brought the 2 island timelines together (there is no longer 1977, just 2007). We saw this was true when the Temple others shot off the warning flare to Richard and crew.. BUT did the bomb going off somehow break off this alternate timeline... There's a GREAT EW.com interview with Cuse and Lindleof (Full Interview) They say that there are 2 realities.. our reality and a "sideways" one. LINDELOF: Right out of the gate, in the first five minutes of the premiere, you get hit over the head with two things that you’re not expecting. The first is that Desmond is on the plane. The second thing that we do is we drop out of the plane and we go below the water and we see that the Island is submerged. What we’re trying to do there is basically say to you, “God bless the survivors of Oceanic 815, because they’re so self-centered, they thought the only effect [of detonating the bomb] was going to be that their plane never crashes.” But they don’t stop to think, “If we do this in 1977, what else is going to affected by this?” So that their entire lives can be changed radically. In fact, it would appear that they’ve sunken the Island. That’s our way of saying, “Keep your eyes peeled for the differences that you’re not expecting.” Some of these characters were still in Australia, but some weren’t. Shannon’s not there. Boone actually says that he tried to get her back. There are all sorts of other people that we don’t see. Where’s Libby? Where’s Ana Lucia? Where’s Eko? These are all the things that you’re supposed to be thinking about. When our characters posited the “What if?” scenario, they neglected to think about what the other effects of potentially changing time might be and we’re embracing those things.
SO now the comic-con video of Kate Austen on America's Most Wanted makes sense!!
In THIS story (in this alternate/sideways reality).. Kate doesn't kill her stepfather, but his APPRENTICE!! So the blowing up of the bomb has FAR more impact than just not crashing the plane!!! It reaches OFF island as well!! Again, does Penny and Daniel even EXIST?
A couple "easter eggs"": The book Desmond was reading on the plane was Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. Wiki states : "Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1990 children's book[1] by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's first novel after The Satanic Verses. It is a phantasmagorical story set in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name.[2]" The book includes the following things: - an ancient city so old that people forgot it existed - a war between the rulers of that ancient city - a main character who is represented by two sides of himself: an "anthropomorphic shadow" and a "diminished man"
The book in the Temple next to the skeleton is as someone already said, Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard. The title comes from Philippians 2:12 and probably has a connection to everyone's journey after Jacob has been killed. "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." In Fear and Trembling Kierkegaard introduces the "Knight of Faith" and contrasts him with the "knight of infinite resignation". The latter gives up everything in return for the infinite, that which he may receive after this life, and continuously dwells with the pain of his loss. The former, however, not only relinquishes everything, but also trusts that he will receive it all back, his trust based on the "strength of the absurd".
Wow.. not only is it the new year.. but it's FEB already!! I'm not sure how that month slipped thru my fingers!! What a year 2009 was!! As some of you know my husband was laid off in Dec of 2008, just a few months after we were married.. so it was a hard year. I am, however, very positive, and we make the best with what we have. Our situation could be SO much worse.. so I have a lot to be thankful for!!
SO much happened for my fiber art in 2009- -I got my lendrum spinning wheel and my art yarns EXPLODED in size and texture -I took Lexi Boeger's art yarn workshop (and got to hang out with her for the weekend) and my art yarns EXPLODED even MORE with mastered techniques -I got not one, but TWO drum carders (for smoothie and textured batts) to expand my fiber art into carding as well as spinning -I reached 800 sales in my etsy shop! -I started weaving
I expect LOTS of exciting fibery stuff to come in 2010- -I plan to put up more technique demo's to help spread the love of art yarn spinning -I'm now teaching lessons and leading workshops!! Come to my first group workshops at the Carolina Fiber Frolic Feb 25-27 Info Here -I plan to continue to create NEW spinning and carding techniques to share -I'm going to be selling Wearable Fiber Art- Mostly woven (some knit) pieces that One of a Kind -I'm working on "collections" for the fiber and yarn.. to make my shop flow -I hope to branch out.. to work more craft shows and maybe you'll see JazzTurtle Creations at your LYS.
As I approach 900 sales in the shop (2 to go!!) I can't thank everyone enough to helped me get here!! Your support and encouragement has made a tough year much easier!!
And because every post needs some fiber pR0n- here's a new shawl that just came off the loom and is going up into the shop tonight. It's corespun and INCREDIBLY sparkly! I just love it!
Here's the second article in my "How do I do it?" technique series. I started with "regular" corespinning so you could get the feel of corespinning, and wrapping the fiber around a core. Once you've gotten that down you can move onto some other corespinning techniques.
One of my favorites is corespinning the fiber onto itself- or coreless corespinning!! It's super cool and once this is mastered, then doing cocoons is SUPER easy.. since it's basically the same thing in just one place.. In this video I also demonstrate crazy wrapping with thread. This is a textural element that is super fun and easy to incorporate into any yarn.
Here's a pic of the final yarn. You can see how light and fluffy it is. The pic was taken before the twist was set, but it'll do :)
As always, please post any questions you may have and share your coreless corespun yarns. I also would love to hear suggestions on what corespun techniques you'd like to see me demonstrate.
I've had LOTS of people ask me to give some tricks and tips for some of my art yarn techniques. So, at least once a month I'm going to post a video demonstration of a different technique. Please feel free to give me some suggestions on what technique's you'd like me to show.
I've gotten the most requests for corespinning.. so here we go as our first in the How do I do it? series- Corespinning the In's and Out's!
First of all it's important to have all of your supplies ready and at your fingertips-
After you are prepped and ready to go.. you have to attach the core to your yarn before you can begin wrapping the fiber. This clip shows how to attach your core, and begin corespinning. I explain where to pinch- so you DO NOT build up too much twist. That's the biggest problem I hear from people, is that their corespun yarns are totally overspun. If you try to pinch to the side of the core, rather than onto it, it should help take care of that overspinning.
In this third part, I show you how to spin sequins strands securely into your corespun yarns. I also talk about how to prep them for spinning.
Next we come to almost the end of my yarn and I want to spin in an add in that's too large to fit thru the orifice. I show the trick I've come up with to bypass the orifice- by spinning in the dangly ornament BEHIND the oriface- so it can wind right onto the bobbin! It's pretty cool!!
Finally, I show how to end your corespun yarn, so that the core is secure inside the yarn and you don't have to worry about the fiber unwrapping from the core.
Here's the final yarn.. this pic was taken before the twist was set.. but it'll do-
So that's it.. that's how I spin my corespun yarns- and some of my tricks for adding in fun stuff!! Please post any questions you have- and share your corespun yarns!! I'd also love to know any thing else you've seen in my shop that you'd like to see me demonstrate.
'Tis the Season to give the perfect gift to the spinner, felter and all around fiber addict in your life. What does a fiber lover want more than FIBER?!?! Send a custom batt full of color, sparkle and texture to a special friend (or yourself!) this holiday season!!
This batt will be 3.5 - 4 oz of fiber, plus add in's to work into your yarn or finished project. The batt could contain any/all of the following fibers: merino top, alpaca top, merino fleece, corridale fleece, coopworth locks, merino/cormo fleece, cotswold locks, kid mohair locks, rambouliet fleece, targhee fleece, romney locks, alpaca locks, llama locks, bamboo, silk, milk protein fiber, black diamond, sari silk strands, sari silk yarn, sari silk ribbon, novelty yarn snippets, recycled yarn snippets, silk noil, bamboo noil, cotton noil, banana silk, thread waste, firestar, angelina, lurex, tinsel, sequins
Once you make your purchase, I will send you an email with a few questions about your batt! You'll be able to include any special color requests, whether you'd like a holiday theme or not, glitz/no glitz, allergies..etc. There will also be a place for you to add the name and address of the recipient and any message you'd like me to include.
These batts will ship with regular Tues/Thurs packages- as Hanukkah starts early this year. If you'd like me to hold your purchase until Dec 15th, there will be a question about that in the email you recieve, so just let me now and I'll ship on the 15th so it arrives just before Christmas. Shipping is set so that packages will be sent individually, however if you'd like more than one batt to go to the same place, let me know and I'll refund the difference or set you up a reserved listing.
I'm so in love with these ornaments! Full of color and sparkle.. bring your love of fiber to your holiday tree! These are PERFECT for gifting! Ready made ornaments are avaliable in the shop, and custom ornaments can be created! These ornaments are created with perfect curly locks and sparkle, or bits of carded fiber. They celebrate color and will glitter when they hit light. They will be sent in a little bag with a silver tie, ready for gifting. Come to the shop to check them out!! New colors go up every few days!
Well, I'll start my "What did I do this summer" series of blog posts with the MOST amazing weekend ever!!! I was SO lucky to be the host of the first Chicago Camp PluckyFluff with Lexi Boeger, the author of Intertwined, the Art of Handspun Yarn. This weekend includes 2 days of intense art yarn spinning and crazy carding! It's also a wonderful chance to meet other spinners and fiber artists!!
I picked up Lexi on Friday afternoon and we had a book signing at our workshop local, the amazing Loopy Yarns, at the old Dearborn Station in Chicago's downtown. It was a wonderful evening of wine and snacks and meeting some spinners I had only known over the interweb!!
After the signing, Lexi and I went to see some good friends of mine that happened to be playing at my favorite jazz bar, The Green Mill. This was really kizmit as I spent SOOOO many nights at the Mill when I lived in Chicago (one of the city's most well known, and oldest jazz bars... once owned by Al Capone's crew), as well as the band that was playing was the group I was on the road with when I met my now husband. I hadn't seen them play in over a year.. and they just "happened" to be in the City and playing that night! Lexi and I were able to skip the line (thanks to the awesome guest list +1) and just mosey into the bar! It was a great evening of jazz and whiskey! Lexi and I hung out for as long as possible.. and then back to the hotel to rest up for the next day's spinning extravaganza.
Sat started with a tour of the "sharing" area. It's SO amazing how generous people can be!! All of our spinners (we had 16 people of ALL ages!!) brought stuff to share!! And that's just the FIBER/Carding area!! I didn't even get a shot of the "add in's" table which had plying yarns, ribbons, fabric, feathers, bells and anything else you could imagine!! We were really blessed with an incredible group of spinners! We had all types of spinners as well.. from folks like me who spin primarily art yarns, to some who were just dipping their feet into the art yarn pool.. to our youngest member, a 13y/o boy who'd started spinning because he liked the yarns he saw in his Grandma's magazines.
SO.. first we spent some time in the carding area, where Lexi demo'd her "crazy carding" where she put "fiber sandwichs" thru the carder for super textured batts!! We started with spinning our new crazy carded batts.. and just letting the fiber be spun as it wants. For me, this is the way I always spin.. lumpy, bumpy- just let it happen. For some, though, this was very difficult. Letting not evening out the slubs or neps.. we came up with our weekend Mantra- It's Art Yarn- Let it Go! Lexi also demo'd adding things into a single like sequins, fabric, feathers and other goodies.
Lexi Spins her Crazy Batt
My Crazy Batt yarn on the niddy noddy
The rest of the day we spent like the beginning- spinning and spinning and spinning! It was so wonderful to finally sit and spin with my ravelry/etsy internet friends Jenna (Pumpknpunk) and Mary (butterflygirl)
We did thread plying techiniques like grannystacks, coils and beehives. We added cocoons and plied them into halo's. My cocoons were firestar and angelina.. sparklelicous!!
At the end of the first day the floor looked like a sparkle fairy had visited us all!
That night we went and had a wonderful dinner at a local joint.. and then it happened to be Venetian night in the City and Lexi had a hotel room that looked right over the lake.. right where they shot off the fireworks.. so we were able to enjoy a post dinner show! It was quite wonderful! Lexi kisses my fish Fireworks from Lexi's room
Day 2 was spent as day 1.. spinning, carding and just creating! These were the techniques I really wanted to master- corespinning without a core, translucent mohairy, extreme tailspinning and Lexi's most difficult, aura. it was a wonderful day and I got to master all 3! Lexi tailspinning Lexi Spinning Aura
Me tailspinning It was an amazing weekend! I spun 8 yarns.. mastered difficult techniques I'd been working on for awhile.. spun with new girlfriends and just had a totally creative weekend! My yarns New "real" friends- Mary (butterfly girl), Lexi, Me, Heather (girlwithahook), Natalie (cloudlover) and Jenna (PumpknPunk)
I can't wait until April when I bring Lexi down here to North Carolina and I do it all again!!
Tomorrow.. the next best weekend of the summer.. spinning backstage at Bonanroo music festival!!
But I PROMISE that for the rest of the year, I'm going to be BETTER!! I can't believe it's already Nov 1!! The entire summer is gone.. and I haven't even told you about what I did!! I'll break it up into a few posts tonight, so it doesn't get too overwhelming.. for me that is, not you!! LOL!!
So, I'll get started on those posts now.. and until then, watch for a HUGE fiber update to start tonight and go thru all day tomorrow! LOTS of stuff going up.. including TWO 2 heavy worsted/bulky 2plies! YEP.. 2plies!!
So I am still on my target goal, of completing at least one yarn a day.. though I have slipped a bit in blogging about my progress daily! Day 3 I carded up a couple amazing batts of assorted blue fleece (targhee, cormo, corridale, merino), a touch of merino top and a TON of rainbow kid mohair locks and blue angelina.. Then I corespun it.. and the yarn is just fabu!! It has such texture! I just love it!
I also corespun some beautiful kid mohair locks "mohairy"- translucent over the novelty yarn, with spots tailspun. I love how it turned out!
All the kid mohair locks in these yarns come from GoatGoatSheep
Day 4 I spun some light worsted soft spun singles of merino/seacell from EGMTK. I added some extra purple and gold angelina..
Day 5 I spun a BUNCH of supercoils which were destined for necklaces..
I also spun some slubby wool destined for necklaces..
Day 6 I corespun a batt of assorted fibers!! Super texture and YUMMY!!
Day 7 I spun up 3 oz of "rough cut diamond" enchanted knoll batts and plied it with silver thread and 12 swvorwski crystals. (plied pics coming later)
Day 8 I started some BEAUTIFUL AllSpunUp merino/silk bamboo. Going for light sport weight soft spun singles
So today.. Day 9 I'm putting away the AllSpunUp to finish later today, and am switching to a corespun atomicblue batt, with an iridescent autowrap. Photos and progress post later tonight. I'm also carding batts today for a shop update. Lots of handspun yarn and a few new batts going up!
Thanks for stopping my my little space of the crafty universe!
I'm a fiber artist and massage therapist. I LOVE to use my hands and be creative. I spin art yarns and blend art fiber battts for unique artists that I sell in my etsy shop.
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