More Wheel Trauma

You guys are going to think I'm out to get my spinning wheel, but really I'm not. Today I spent most of my at home time cleaning. We were supposed to have company over for dinner, but they ended up being sick. Anyway, as it so happens, vacuuming the carpet is on the list of things to do.

There I am, moving rugs and furniture, vacuuming up rabbit fluff and crumbs. I'm on a roll and quickly getting it done. I've already dusted, mopped, plumped the pillows on the couch and even re-potted the houseplants. This was the very last thing that needed done, even the very last room, the very last square foot of carpeting. Somehow, and don't ask me exactly how this happened, but I didn't see the clear drive band for my spinning wheel laying on the carpeting. I pop it off the bobbin but still leave it attached to the wheel so that it doesn't stretch out when I'm not using it. Somehow it had fallen down and I sucked it up in the roller brush of the vacuum cleaner. Before I could turn it off, both the band for my wheel and the drive band for the vacuum brush snapped. Great jumping Jehoshaphat, I am talented.

As you can well imagine, right after dinner I was on the Babe site to order another (2 at hubby insistence) drive bands for the wheel. We have a spare band for the vacuum, bummer I can't give THAT up for a week too. Well, you win some and lose some. Hopefully it doesn't try to retaliate as well for my unwitting abuse.

Maybe I should give up "power" tools altogether and go with the more primitive drop spindle and broom. (Although I have managed to snap a broom handle this winter as well, but that was cleaning snow off the car.) Good thing my new Turkish spindle came in the mail today from Linda at Sunset Fibers. Maybe the title to this blog should be Destructo-Sarah instead of Bunnies.

Spinning Wheel Trauma

Since September I have been busy peddling away on my little Babe Double Treadle spinning wheel. Many happy hours have been spent abusing the poor thing with my too fast treadling and stinky sweaty feet. Well...today it had it's revenge.

So there I was, belting out another ply of wonderful soft Merino and all of a sudden, plink! It was like it happened in slow motion. I felt something wasn't quite right and looked down in time to see both rodmen separate from the bracket that held them on to the middle of the wheel. What!? At first I thought the bolt had just come undone as sometimes it does and I just have to tighten it up again and be on my way. Unfortunately what had happened was the bolt sheared off and part of it is now stuck in the bracket hole with no way to get hold of it and back it out. It's not like it will just push out because the bolt has threads on it and if I force it out I'll strip out the opening. Grr. I am majorly frustrated.

I did get hold of Nels, who is the inventor of the Babe Wheels and was told what to go get from the hardware store and how to fix it. They have great customer service there and I heartily recommend them to anyone who wants a quality wheel on a shoestring budget. I just have to figure out how to deal with getting that little bit of bolt out first. Does anyone have any suggestions about how it could be done?

I'd put a picture on, but I have handily misplaced the ginormous pack of batteries I got specifically for use in my camera. Twice. Just not a smooth day for me all around. Tomorrow I promise I'll be the happy blogger you have all come to know and love.

Sweet Dreams all you wonderful crafters.

Caffeinated Frenzy - A Creative "Buzz"

Knitters are a notoriously curious bunch and being one, I know what we like. What we like is to hear about other knitters. Well, have I got a treat for you! Today we get to peek into the crafting life of the vibrant young woman who brings us Caffeinated Frenzy on Etsy.com. She is a fellow “yarnie” like me and loves to be creative and spontaneous. Let's sit back and let her tell us about it in her own words.

“Before I injured my knee, I was a dancer. I tend to be quite an ambitious person. I love to move, enjoy working and if I'm not busy, I don't know what to do with myself. I have two jobs in addition to selling my knits, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was somewhere around ten when my mother first showed me how to knit. I knew she used to be a knitter, and I wanted to learn how. She didn't remember much, but she was able to show me how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch. After that, I taught myself the rest of the basics. From there I went on to learning how to knit in the round, follow charts, create cables, etc. It was a lot of trial and error, but now I completely understand why each stitch looks the way it does. It's helped me figure out design as well.” I'm here to tell you all, learning to knit mostly by yourself takes a lot of talent, and this girl's got it.

“Whether it's a personality quirk or just too much coffee, I can never sit still. When I have short bursts of energy where I want to focus on one thing, that's when I'm able to come up with new designs. I definitely still consider myself a kid (I'm 19), and probably still have a bit of that "look at me!" screaming for attention teenager attitude left. I love bright colors and acting on impulse, but it's fun.

I want people to feel inspired and independent when they see my work. The yarn seems to figure out what it wants to be for itself. The color and texture put an image in my mind and I work towards that. I like to finish things quickly, so that I don't lose interest. I work when I'm inspired to. whether that's when I'm excited over making a sale, have an idea in my head to create, or have pretty new yarn to play with.”

When asked about what she loves to make the most she said, “I'm really happy with my Darling Cloche. A blue one was my first sale on Etsy. I like it's simplicity, it's just a fun little hat.” She points out that anything on her site can be made in any color or size, all anyone has to do is ask and she would be more than happy to knit something special just for you. “I try to use natural materials. I do use a fair amount of acrylics, but a lot of my more "luxurious" things are made with merino wool, silk, angora, alpaca, natural fibers.”

She's also been making some things to help others cut down on the amount of trash they throw away. “Lately I've been knitting reusable coffee sleeves, fun little gifts that are a much better alternative to disposable ones. I also use them as promotional giveaways because I like to throw extra little things in when I send out packages.”

With this much enthusiasm and zest for life, she's sure to make all of her goals realities. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future. So where does a young successful entrepreneur dream of going to get away from it all after another busy day with her shop? Well, let's see what she has planned. “I don't think I could ever pick one place, but I do have a long list of places I eventually plan to end up. Los Angeles, Chicago, India, Italy, London, and Socotra Island. I absolutely love cities and plan to see a lot more of them.”

If you're looking to connect with Caffeinated Frenzy on the Internet, she has many different ways for you to find her. Besides Etsy, she also sells on Artfire and 1000 Markets. She's got an awesome Facebook setup which she is really trying to promote right now so go check it out and support a fellow crafter. To see some of her other work check out her Flickr page or to read the latest and greatest happenings follow her blog at http://caffeinatedfrenzy.blogspot.com

Living the Dream - Katy of Urban Eagle

It's not every day that one gets to meet a woman who is truly a treasure. Today we all get to look into the wonder that is Katy of Urban Eagle Designs. Her shop has been open a little over a month now, so she is still “undiscovered”, but she should be right up there on everyone's go-to list for something extra-special. After I read her questions I just wanted to get on a plane and fly out to New Mexico to meet her in person...she's just that awesome.

First off, she's a wife, a mother and a grandmother. In a former life she was graphic designer for almost thirty years. She even had her own business in San Diego for twenty years. After doing her time in the corporate world, she went after her dream and moved out of the city on to 56 acres in northern New Mexico with her husband and two dogs. They live completely “off grid” which means all their electricity comes from photovoltaics. For all you novices like me photovoltanics is the application of solar cells for energy by converting sunlight directly into electricity. This spring they hope to build their own straw bale and adobe home. They have a lovely patch of land to work with.













Katy is currently a student working on her certification in herbs. Not only does she grow herbs, but also natural dye plants and most of the food her family eats. That's right, she buys her fibers from local growers and then dyes them using plants she herself grew and then spins her own yarn. She's all about being organic and non harmful to the environment. I told you she was awesome didn't I? Somehow she finds time to knit all her efforts up into wonderful offerings for her shop. Oh and she keeps bees...as if she wasn't busy enough.

She has been working with fiber since she learned to knit at the age of 14 back in nineteen mumble mumble. She started designing her own patterns in 1992 and was even a featured artist in "Knitting in America". Soon after that she learned how to spin and then to dye with natural dyes. She is most certainly in love with her craft because she has such wonderful attention to detail. Most of the inspiration for her designs comes from Native American Art. “I have a library of over 70 books of all sorts of Native American art from rock art to bead work to weaving to pottery. You name it, I've probably got a book about it! I also get inspiration from the spiritual world. Each of my garments have "totems" attached to them in some way.”

In Urban Eagle you can find high quality, labor intensive craftsmanship. Her favorite things to make are her vests, which are gorgeous. “I make my pieces for "real" people to be worn frequently.” she says and wear them they do.

“Most of my day-time hours (except for the dead of winter) are spent outside in my gardens and greenhouse. I like to do my dyeing, spinning and fiber prep in the afternoon and early evening. I knit at night after dinner. If the weather is bad I will knit during the day.” She is living a fiber dream come true. Even though the thought of Katy sitting and peacefully knitting is a tempting one, we now know that a lot of work goes on before she can ever sit down and rest.

Besides selling on Etsy and running her family place, she keeps herself busy with several other pursuits. She belongs to the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center and just recently signed up on Ravelry, although she admits she doesn't quite know what to do with it yet. I'm sure a few of us wouldn't mind reaching out to her as I have a feeling most of us are already floating around somewhere on Ravelry.
“I do at least two art tours here in northern NM - the Abiquiu Studio Tour and the Pedernal Arts Tour. I have had VERY bad luck with consignment so I don't do that anymore. Most of my sales, outside of the tours, are by word of mouth. I am also a stop on the New Mexico Fiber Trails.

Her hopes are that someday the revenue from her fiber (and herbs) will grow to be a good “supplement for my Social Security...when I'm eligible for it,” she giggles. You're only as old as you act, and as far as I can tell, Katy is one young spring chicken.

Bunnies Know What They Like

We've been gone all weekend again and had to have a friend come in to take care of the bunnies. She's a good bunny-sitter, but they always seem happy to see us back. Very happy...if you know what I mean.

Usually we have a bag of cilantro or other leafy herbs in the fridge for her to give to the bunnies, but I forgot to get any from the store and so they had to do without this time. There is a head of Romaine lettuce in there, but I didn't think anything about it. Apparently she fed they lettuce because there were wilted leaves in the garbage can. This isn't really a problem, except Willie and Gidget do not like lettuce of any kind. Go figure. I just shrugged and forgot about it when I went to feed them. When I opened the office door I was greeted by Gidget who ran over to the food dish and stomped at me and grumbled. Willie was no where in sight.


She sat there as I put pellets in the dish and Willie poked his head out from the cage and waited for her to get her fill first. He's such a little gentleman. I coaxed him out with some dried papaya and what did I find? When he came over, he had lettuce clinging to his butt! The little guy had been laying on it and it was wilted with his body heat into a lettuce "puddle" on the bottom of the cage. Yuck!

I should have known they would never eat something that good for them. They eat everything else known to man. Cabinet doors, electrical cords of all types, crumbs and anything else we might accidentally drop, even plaster have disappeared down their little maws. It's the things that you'd think a bunny would be happy to chew on that don't even get a single nibble. Well, at least they're cute.

Colleen from Iowa Etsy Team

I was poking around in the Etsy team forums the other day and found a fellow member of the Iowa Etsy Team. Her name is Colleen and her shop is Five Sparrows. She's got some really cute things made out of stained glass, which is something I have always loved. We got to talking and I found out some fascinating things about her and her shop. It's always interesting to hear how other shop owners got their start and here is her story.

“When I was in college I got this wonderful summer job at a conference center in Green Lake, WI. In two weeks they gave me a crash course in stained glass, and then the rest of the summer I taught it to anyone staying on-site who came in wanting to learn. It was such a great job. I got to be artistic all day while helping others feel good about creating something. And there were windows with a view of the lake. I did that job for three summers. By then I was hooked and kept making stained glass on my own. So I have been doing this off and on for about 12 years, mainly for family gifts, but this is my big venture into the business world.”

Colleen is a stay at home mother of 3 kids “and one slow, patient basset hound” as she put it. “I love it both for being with the kids and the freedom from the 9 to 5. My problem lately is that it is so much easier to sit by a window with some coffee and draw out patterns, than it is to go down in the basement and actually cut and grind. (Yeah, it is a basement office for me now; not great on lighting, but it keeps glass and hot solder away from small fingers.) So, beyond sitting by the window and drawing, I try to fit in some glass time during naps and after bedtimes.”



When asked about her inspiration she said, “Anything and everything. I just go with what seems appealing to me at that moment. I am constantly looking at pictures or scenes to think how I could split it up into shapes that would work with glass. I like the quirky and the non-conventional, but I also love the tradition and history found in the rural town community I live in. I am having fun exploring the 3 dimensional idea lately. I think creating something new is always exciting to me though, so any new design is always something I look forward to making.”

Of course, everyone needs a vacation sometime, so where would Colleen be if she wasn't working with glass? “Camping with the family in the mountains. We aren't too far from the Black Hills, that is one of our favorite places to go. And I love Wall Drug.” Rock on Colleen, Rock on.

If you would like to follow up to the minute updates of what Colleen is doing now, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/colleba. She admits she is new to Twitter, but hopes to get the hang of it really soon, so let's help her out and make it fun!