UPDATE - For Sale Ashford 32 inch Rigid Heddle Loom

When I originally posted about this loom before Christmas I was only offering it as a local pick up.
I have now listed it with Ebay at a reduced price with shipping.

Starting bid of $272.00 with a buy it now option of $300.00.

Here is the ebay link if interested.  E-bay listing expires in 6 days.
Previous post list loom details.
Thanks.

For Sale - Ashford 32 Inch Rigid Heddle Loom

I am offering up for sale my 32 Inch Rigid Heddle loom.  This loom is in excellent condition.  It's a great loom for weaving blankets and shawls.  Over the past year I have been cutting back on my weaving.  I have two smaller looms that currently meet my weaving needs and would like to find a nice home for this loom. 

For Sale:
Ashford 32 Inch Rigid Heddle Loom + Stand and extras.
I am selling my 32 Inch Rigid Heddle Loom. It’s in excellent condition.  The price also includes the stand for the loom.
When I originally purchased the loom unfinished I applied a light Polycrylic finish for wood protection.

Also, included are a 7.5 dent heddle , two stick shuttles, one warping peg and clamps, two threading hooks. Also, included are the assembly directions and a small “How To”weaving booklet that Ashford includes with it’s looms.

Currently the 32 Inch Ashford Rigid Heddle loom retails for $205.00
The stand retails for $131.

Shipping within the U.S. only.
Paypal.

This item is now listed with ebay.  Here is the link

Starting bid is $272.00 with a buy it now price of $300.00.  Shipping included in the price.

Closing The Etsy Shop

Hi blog and fiber buddies.  After a good bit of thought I have decided to close down my Etsy shop.

I love Etsy.  It's a wonderful online shopping site for the handcrafted items.  In the last couple of years I have felt that Etsy has become saturated with fiber art shops.  It has become evident that more and more effort and time is required to drive traffic to one's Etsy shop.  Much more time and effort than I want to spend.  

That said, I have decided to discount my few remaining items.  Below are just a few pics of some of the remaining  hand spun yarns and woven items .  In order to take advantage of my 40% off discount please use the coupon code  close40 .  

Thank you to all of my Etsy customers who have made this a fun and exciting fiber adventure.  I'm leaving Etsy but not the fiber arts.  I will continue weaving, knitting, spinning and anything else that catches my fibery fancy.

Don't forget the coupon code   close40 

Spin Knit and Life Fibercrafts on Etsy

H

Long Time No Blog

Hi Folks,
It has been such a long time since I last posted on my blog that I had forgotten how to post. lol
Part of me wants to continue blogging sporadically and part wants to stop all together.  It seems Facebook and Google+ are to blame.  It is just so much easier to keep up with friends and family on those two sites.
Most of my blog buddies and fiber friends are on those two sites so we have been keeping up with each other via those two sites.
I do have a few things to update on my blog.  One is that I am happy to report the Elizabeth 2 had sold and is now living in Pennsylvania.  I hope the new owner enjoys her as much as I did.
The other is that I have been doing a good bit of indigo dyeing as seen from my header picture.  I will be following up with another post on the Indigo Dyeing.
One more thing.  I have been involved in the Spin A Pound Get A Pound group on Facebook.  It's a bartering group for spinners, dyers, processors of fiber and sheep and alpaca farmers.  I have managed to acquire a good bit of alpaca fiber with this barter system and as my friend Jody of Gypspinner pointed out spinning for someone else can certainly improve your spinning skills.  If you are on Facebook and are interested in spinning for others in order to increase you fiber stash check out the group.  I understand there is also a similar group on Ravelry.
Happy spinning ♡
Phyllis

For Sale: Ashford Elizabeth 2 Spinning Wheel + Extras

I decided to sell my Elizabeth 2. I originally listed her for sale and then changed my mind.  This time she is definitely for sale.  She is in excellent, like new condition. I have owned her for a little over two years.

I love her but do not use her enough. I would love to find a new home for her. I currently own a Majacraft Rose that is more suitable for my needs. The Elizabeth is just too large to haul to spin groups. 


She comes with seven bobbins and a vertical Lazy Kate. 

I am also including the double treadle kit. I purchased and converted the Elizabeth 2 to a double treadle wheel. After approx. a month or so I decided that I prefer spinning the wheel as a single treadle and switched back to single treadle..

The Elizabeth 2 is a double drive/Scotch Tension, single treadle wheel. 
Her spinning ratios are: 8.5, 11 and 15. The 24 inch drive wheel is mounted on ball bearings for effortless spinning. 
I can’t really tell you much about the double drive as I have only spun in the Scotch Tension mode. 
She weighs approx. 20 pounds and has a clear lacquer finish. 
This price  includes the Elizabeth 2 Spinning Wheel , double treadle kit for the Elizabeth 2, seven bobbins and one unfinished vertical lazy kate.
 
I am asking $800.


The price includes professional packing, shipping  and insurance by the UPS store.

Home Again!

I'm back from vacation and my Etsy shop is up and running.

A Visit To The Yarn Barn.

I recently visited the Yarn Barn of Lawrence, Ks.  I wanted to share my pictures of the visit with you.

The Yarn Barn is a wonderful source for spinners, weavers, knitters and fiber artists.  You'll find a large variety of warp yarns, knitting yarns, spinning fibers, various looms and spinning wheels,felting tools, dyes and so much more.  They have great service both at the store front and online.  Several years ago I ordered one of my wheels from them.  It arrived promptly and in excellent condition.

During my visit one of the owners was kind enough to instruct me on the use of double drive spinning on my Elizabeth 2 wheel.  I love Ashford products but unfortunately they aren't the best as far as supplying  directions and instruction manuals .

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed my visit.

Warp Yarns.

Knitting and crocheting yarns.

Spinning fibers.

Receiving my mini tutorial on double drive spinning.

A Most Awesome Book

The long awaited Fleece & Fiber Source Book by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius arrived yesterday.  Several months ago when I heard that it was in the making I knew this would be a book that I would want to add to my fiber library.  Over the past year I have been deliberately not buying books unless they were available on Kindle.  In my continuing effort to downsize and destash I made it a goal to Help save tress, add less clutter by buying e-books.  With this book I had to bend the rules and  make an exception. It was well worth it.
First off, this book is huge.  It has 438 beautiful, semi-glossy, color pages.  Loaded with beautiful photography.  The first section is devoted to sheep breeds.  I did not realize there are so many breeds.  The sheep breeds section is broken down by subgroups; Blackfaced Mountain Family, Cheviot Family, Dorset Group, Down Family, English Longwool Family(my favorite), Feral Group, Merino Family, Northern European Short-Tailed Family, Welsh Hill and Mountain Family, Other Sheep Breeds and Wider Circles of Sheep.
The second section is devoted to the other fiber producing animals; Goats, The Goat Crosses, Camelids, and Other Critters (bison, musk ox, rabbit, yak).
If you are a fiber artist I recommend this book.  If you are a spinner I highly recommend this book.  A friend of mine said of this book "it makes me want to spin all the different fibers"  I agree.  I admit there are sheep breeds in this book that I have never heard of before; The Lonk, Gulf Coast Native, Debouillet, East Friesian, Gromark just to name a few.  One interesting point in the book is the difference between Blackfaced, Blackface, and Black Face.  The authors take each breed and give a description, interesting facts about the breed, staple length, fiber diameters, lock characteristic, natural colors.  Also, information on dyeing, fiber preparation, spinning tips, knitting, crocheting, and weaving of the particular breed.
If you are like me and you love fiber and spinning you will love this book.
This will be a great reference book for spinners for years to come.

New Etsy Listing

New Listing.

Handwoven Scarf

Blue Faced Leicester, Silk, Merino

92x8+1 inch twisted fringe

Soft pastel colors of green, aqua, tan and pink

Next to skin softness.

My Little Woven Bag

I am so excited to post about this little bag.  I have wanted to make one for a very long time.  The tutorial can be found on Doni's Delis Handwoven blog.  Because I am a  visual learner I just couldn't figure out how to make this from looking at the drawings and reading the directions.  I had an "ah ha" moment and decided to post a question on the Ravelry Rigid Heddle group for help in deciphering the directions.  Well, apparently I'm not the only one out there with this same problem .  Several folks agreed with my plea for further explanation.  One very kind person immediately went to work on making a youtube video on assembly of the Doni's Deli bag.  What a great video.

I made this bag using one of my very first and slightly less than perfect handspun, handwoven scarves.  The selvages were really uneven and I  was actually a bit embarrassed to wear it as a scarf.  Sewing it into a bag hides those uneven selvages.  ;)

  

I think this will make the perfect spindle bag or small knitting project bag.

My next project will be to figure out how to make a lining for these bags.   Wish me luck.

Happy weaving,

Phyllis ❀