Indie Emporium 2010 in Tulsa, OK

As some of you may have seen, Dawning Dreams will be out in Tulsa, OK for Indie Emporium on October 29 & 30th. I will also demonstrate spinning yarns at 2 pm on Saturday in my demo called "Get Tangled in Handspun Yarns".

It plans to be a lot of fun with lots of unique vendors and activities. Stop on in and hang out for a while.

Event Highlights:

• 40 Indie Craft/Artist Booths
• Art Gallery area featuring two and three dimensional works by 10 selected artists
• Fashion show, featuring 6-8 local apparel designers as the highlight event Saturday evening
• Free tote bag of goodies given to the first 50 guests Friday night
• Food booth run by local caterer of organic and natural foods
• Live music and on stage craft demos throughout the show
• “Make and Take” projects hosted by sponsors
• Contests and activities
• Event Listed in Urban Tulsa’s “Hot 100” list for 2007 & 2008
• Attendance of 1000+ guests
• Silent Auction with all proceeds benefitting the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma
• Canned Food drive raised 633 lbs of canned goods in 2009
• Charity booth spaces donated to Breast Impressions of Tulsa and The Tulsa Women’s Collective
• 2009 Press included Tulsa World (print), Urban Tulsa(print), Good Day Tulsa (television), Fox 23 News (television), Craft Magazine Blog, and others
• Pre-Party for Vendors/Artists/Designers/Volunteers/Friends of Indie Emporium featuring local music

Phat Phamily Reunion 2010

This past weekend, I made the whirlwind trip to visit my online fiber friends in Southern Illinois. We all have known eachother for sometime online talking through fiber forums on Ravelry and Yahoo. Never have I been with a group of people so uplifting and inspiring that I feel completely refreshed, even after 20 hours of driving in one weekend. We talked, spun, dined and generally just enjoyed the company. Check out the photos for yourself!

DawningDreams at Clarita Amish Auction 2010

I want to say I really enjoyed this fair, but I really didn't. It was blistering hot first of all. We were there very early in the morning to open the tent up. By mid-morning, it was hot enough to seek shade. Then, many people would walk by announcing how difficult it must be for me. (I was usually either warping my loom or spinning.) I simply replied that everyone has something they enjoy that takes time and it wasn't work when I enjoyed it. I did speak to three really fun and interesting individuals about yarn and spinning and such.



Hardly anyone stopped in to visit. When I finally walked around for a little, I found most of the other vendors there to be selling retail wot-not (like imported bed sheets, t-shirts, and garage sale stuff). It was definitely not welcoming to handmade items since everyone was looking for "a deal", and being handmade, I do not give that kind of deal.



One couple was very sweet though. They really were the bright spot in my day. They told me they had saved my booth for last because they thought it was the best looking, and had the most fantastic handmade items. It gave me a boost in the middle of the day.

So if you want to go to this, be prepared for wonderful food, great auctioning, and garage sale finds. I'll probably just go next year to see if I can find goodies, but not to vend. Live and learn. . .

DIY Raddle for Weaving Loom

HOW TO MAKE A RADDLE FOR A WEAVING LOOM

Raddle - An instrument consisting of a wooden bar, with a row of upright pegs set in it, used by domestic weavers to keep the warp of a proper width, and prevent tangling when it is wound upon the beam of the loom. [1913 Webster]

After warping my loom for the first time, I realized quickly that a raddle would be a very helpful tool. Unfortunately, I neither have the funds, nor the desire to purchase a $50 plus S/H raddle, when I can make my own.

The loom I have is an Ashford 32" 8 Shaft Table Loom. It's a beauty and a dream to work on (once I got it warped). The legth measurements I give or for my particular loom. To make it fit yours, simply measure the width and cut accordingly.


Materials:
1 1/2 inch Pine/Oak cut down to width of loom (34 1/2" for my Ashford)
3/4 Inch Dowel for Legs cut down to 2 1/4 length (optional)
Lots of 2" nails
Pencil
Measuring Tape















Directions:

1. Measure the space you would like your raddle to sit and cut. For my loom, it was 34 1/2".

2. Marking the center of the loom, place two parallel lines on either side. This is where you hammer in the nails. I use two lines to keep the close nails from splitting the wood.

















3. On one line, make a 1/2 inch marks from the center out. On the other line, stagger the marks, and mark 1/2 inch again across the wood. This will give 1/4 inch gaps between front and back nails.

















4. Now with your nail placement marked, start hammering in all those nails. I'm not very picky, so my nails aren't perfectly straight. It will still work. (Optional) I used different color nails to mark the center and every 4 inches out.
















5. (Optional) Since I needed mine to see up higher to keep the warp from stretching over the top, and making it uneven, I added in 2 1/4" dowel legs on either side.


6. Finally finished! I put the raddle on my loom and I'm ready to go.



It know it's not pretty, but it works great. When I'm actually ready to use it, I tie it down using a couple of pieces of scrap yarn to keep it from moving.

Another method I've seen it to drill holes down the wood and set in wooden pegs. I didn't want to buy more than I needed to or waste time drilling all those holes. It can look prettier though, so it's your choice. I hope this helps one of you out there to make your own!

 

If you like this or any other DIY tutorials, feel free to donate directly to me using the link below. I truly appreciate anything you can offer to keep me creating. 

5th Annual Fiber Christmas in July

Once again, I had the pleasure to attend Fiber Christmas in Kellyville, OK on July 30-31. I had a glorious time getting to hug all my fellow fiber artist that I hadn't seen recently, and to peruse their wares. This year was not disappointing at all!




There were fleeces, roving (both commercial and handdyed), yarns, spinning wheels of every major make and model. I even got to try a few like Spinolution's Hopper that you pedal with you heels inside of feet. It was really neat!






The positive environment was very geared towards learning and and sharing from one another. I had the pleasure to teach drop spinning to several attendees that picked it up amazingly quick. I have now saved up enough to purchase a new Ashford 8 shaft Table Loom! I thought I would never be able to afford one, but I've seriously saved up and with the help of my family, it will be delivered next week. So exciting!!

So if you haven't attended a Fiber Fair, and you play with yarn in one of it's glorious forms, you have to attend one and see just what your missing.

Book Review: "In Sheep's Clothing" by Nola and Jane Fournier

Now, this will be a break from my normal blogging in the respect that I rarely give my opinion on a book or tool. But I just had to share this book. I had been lusting over it for a while after seeing it on multiple occasions at fiber festivals throughout the state. Ever looking to learn, I finally picked this up on Amazon to study, and I am so glad I did!

I don't own sheep, nor do I live in a part of the country where sheep are raised for their wool. So, I find it difficult to compare the fleeces of animals. Rabbits, I have, sheep. . . no. The beauty of this book not only lies in the thorough knowledge of sheep, but actual photographs of the different breeds locks including characteristics and applications for their wool. For example, it'll tell you that this breed's wool is good to spin worsted style and knit for rugs.

After all this, it goes into preparing wools. Yes, you can YouTube many techniques, but sometimes a book that explains the "why" is what I'm looking for. Why do you hand card rather than drum card? Unlike other online sources, books must be edited to make sure that the information is accurate. It's not about an opinion as much as fact. Don't get me wrong, there are books based on opinion, but this is more like an encyclopedia.

Have I confused you yet? : ) Well, if you are a spinster like me, and really want a great book that will give you the in depth answers you seek, you must check this book out. It's a keeper!

Um, yea, I've been a bad poster.

Well, it's been one of those crazy weeks of dyeing, drying, staining, painting, and carding. I went out to the Tulsa Spring Fiber Festival last weekend and worked my butt off. It went splendidly I must say. The barn was beautiful. The patrons were nice. The roses were blooming, no really, they were.



So, afterward, I noticed my stock was low. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. There are usually months between festivals for me to take my sweet time putting things together. Well, not the week. This Saturday is Route 66 Rendezvous in Edmond, OK. I have no drop spindles and 2 hanks of lace yarn. So, serious work must be done. Once again, normally I can get myself together and time crunch to get it all done. Except. . . I planned to teach a class on evening and had charity knit night another. Ug.

So here I am, one day away from the Fiber Festival, trying to get everything sorted, labeled and packed. I've carded a dozen batts, made 2 dozen drop spindles, and dyed another dozens hanks of yarn. Whew!

So thanks for reading my rant, and enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be here manning the drum carder. ; )