My April Phat Fiber Box

I think that this was the best Phat Fiber Box EVER! But that may have had something to do with the theme. April's theme was "Green: Eco/The Color" and I was really glad to see that so many people went with the eco theme! I wish I had time to talk about all of the samples I received, but I do want to feature a few of them. If you have questions about any of the samples you see in the picture, just post a comment about it and I'll get you the info.




I got samples from two of my favorite ladies: a magnet from Banana Migraine and recycled fabric spun yarn from Dawning Dreams:


Look at this beautiful, soft, and fluffy angora from Desired Haven Farm:



I'm really excited to try this plantable paper from Winemakerssister. It's a sample that will last all season! And the shop has some of the cutest sheep stamps!



Plum Crazy Ranch donated fun samples of 3 different fibers, tussah silk, silk noil, and Optim. I'd never heard of Optim before so I looked it up: it's wool that has been treated to feel like silk- isn't that neat?



The next two samples were my absolute favorites and I spun them up immediately!

Milk fiber from Moonwood Farm:


And wool/ecospun (recycled soda bottles) from Wild Hare Fiber Studio:


They became this "Ahoy Matey!" 2-ply:

Year of Natural Fibers

I've got a few links for the devoted fiber artist to check out!

For me, fiber arts isn't just about knitting, spinning, fun colors and textures. It's about learning about the animals that create the fiber I love, and the traditions that helped the industry become what it is today.

2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibers.

One of my favorite magazine's is Wild Fibers. For me, it's like the National Geographic of Fiber Arts.

Keep the Fleece was put together to celebrate the International Year of Natural Fibers, to raise money in conjunction with the Heifer Organization, and they are holding a Natural Fiber Contest (submit your entry by September 1st 2009).

I am really hoping that I can tuck my spinning wheel and knitting needles away long enough to write about some of the sources of natural fibers this year, so check back though out 2009.

2 New Patterns

I have 2 patterns that have been published in the Spring/Summer 2009 Metapostmodernknitting issue! Check them out!

"Electrochok"- a fun, hip, sporty hood that's great for summer and winter wear!






"Slouchy Shortrow"- a hat with just enough slouch to make it fun, but not long enough to trip over! LOL

It's that time again...

The April Phat Fiber Box will be for sale soon. Would you like to see what I contributed? You can purchase most of the things I sent sample sizes of at my etsy shop.

And the Winner is...

Jessica11865! Congratulations!

I used Random.org to generate the winner.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Blog Giveaway!

In honor of my major shop update, and the introduction of lots of new products to my shop I thought I would do a giveaway of one of my supercoil fiber necklaces!

First: check out my Etsy Shop for all the new products

Second: Come back here and post a comment about something that you liked in my shop. Don't forget to post your name, or Ravelry name when you come back here and post a comment so I can find you if you win.

I will announce the winner on April 11th.

Now for the prize. The winner will win the necklace below. This necklace is what’s called supercoil art yarn. It is a spun yarn that has been spun around cotton crochet thread. It is very labor intensive but so worth it! The fiber content is pink/green/yellow/brown/black superwash wool so it is a little fuzzy, but mostly smooth. It weights 0.5 oz and is a small sized necklace, but it’s a long necklace.

New Home!

Things have been hectic lately. The first few weeks were were in transit from Grand Junction, CO to our new (permanent) home in Corvallis, OR. Things are so great and we're getting all settled in! I hope to get some blogs up in the next week, but I guess I'll start by giving you some eye candy from my latest etsy shop update:

My March Contributions to Phat Fiber

It's almost that time again! Here's a sneak peak of what I contributed to Phat Fiber for March: