MEET FIBER ARTIST DEBORAH HELD

                    Freelance Writer, Fiber Artist and Hand Spinning Teacher,

Debbie Held's handspun yarns captured me immediately when I saw an article of hers on the internet sight of Spin Off

I just knew I wanted a skein of her magic so I contacted her and we were off to the races.  She had me look thru her stash of unspun fibers and pick a color way that spoke to me.

She was so easy to work with and so very knowledgeable about animal fibers,

yarn plies, tweedy nubs, gradients versus fractural spins,

the list was long. 

And tah dah!

I couldn't be more thrilled with her finished creation,

all made to my specifications.

This colorway is called Outback in Bloom

The fiber is baby camel/silk (50/50).

  Deborah says it's probably the most luxurious blend out there with astonishing luster and drape.

I didn't realize this because I basically picked it for its astonishing colors.

I asked her for a Sport Weight yarn so she chain plied it and it's ideal for something lacy like a cowl or shawl/scarf.

So right now I'm on the hunt for the perfect pattern. 

And it must be touched everyday,

several times a day,

So I have it sitting right next to me on my desk.

I'm super excited to see and read more about Deb's work in this Fall's Issue of Spin Off Magazine.

I've also had her put me on her mailing list for classes that she teaches both Stateside as well as Internationally.

I'm so hoping she will come to the So.Cal. to teach at my studio.

This Fall she is headed to Scotland to teach at the Daedalus Fly-In this next spring.

She has also taught at the N.Y Sheep and Wool Festival (Rhinebeck),

 for Majacraft's New Zealand Retreat, and in Manchester, England. 

She hails from Atlanta, Georgia and also teaches classes for Sweet Georgia Yarns

in Vancouver BC, Canada.

Fall Issue of Spin off is now available.

SHORTY SOCK PEEK

Almost finished with Shorty Sock #1 from the skeins you saw spun up in last post.

Remember,

 these spinning batts came from Lindsey at Artifacts of Appreciation 

as well as her pattern for Shorty Socks.

I learned two new techniques:

a twisted 1 by 1 rib for the cuff,

 and a Dutch Heel Turn.  

Loved the new heel turn technique but hated the twisted ribbing.

The heel turn adds a bit of extra fiber for wear,

but the twisted rib,

well it was twisted

 and hard to get my needle point into each stitch to knit and purl

thru the back of every stitch.

But ohhh does it look nice!

For the cuff I used the dyed BFL/Silk braid spun and plied on itself.

For body of sock Lindsey's spun batts plied on themselves,

and for the heel,

the braid spun and plied with Lindsey's batts.

What I wasn't pleased with is the irregular stripping of sock body batts.

So for the second sock I'm going to experiment more with mixing the 5 batts up more frequently as I spin.

Not super concerned that they won't exactly match when knitted up,

since they are just to wear around the house in the evenings.

At the same time 

(because I have to have at least 10 or more projects going on at one time),

I'm restoring this older spinning wheel which was donated to me by 3-D art student and Alumni Rachel Strong.

Trying to remember when she graduated,

sometime in the early1990's I believe.

She was one of my Crafts superstars back in the day 

and really loved spinning her own yarn.

So her parents bought her this Ashford wheel 

to take with her to Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.

After she graduated,

 it came back home with her to Cypress, Ca. 

where she volunteered her time in several Elementary schools 

showing the kids the how-tos of spinning.

But of course life got too busy for her to spin,

a child as well as the Owner/Dance instructor of her own Strong Dance Studio.

Needless to say this wheel has some history behind it.

It was stored in my kiln room 

(which was always a big mess about to be cleaned up type of a place)

for many years and has since lost some of its parts,

namely a Footman and it's Treadle.

But with the help of my husband 

I'm pretty sure we could fabricate those,

 unless,

 anyone out there has any other ideas?

I just finished gluing up the bottom of the Mother of All

so I'm pretty excited about that.

And have watched a few videos about taking the wheel completely apart

to de-rust and restore parts and finishes.

I can do this!

After all,

I put my first Ashford together 40+ years ago from scratch,

by myself,

and it only took me a full day.

HA!

A PEEK AT WHAT I'M WORKING ON

A recent discovery is Lindsey and her site at 

www.artifactsofappreciation

up in Canada.

She is an avid spinner/knitter who sells the most luscious batts to spin up.

So yummy they include wool, alpaca, silk and kid mohair all carded together.

Above I separated the 5 batts she sent me into smaller segments.

Each batt was a bit different but they all flow beautifully together

as you can see.

The top half are separated into 8ths and then staggered,

the bottom half are separated into 4ths and lined up into rows.

Then I experimented spinning and plying them different ways.

I also wanted to add a bit more color into some of the yarns.

I had a braid of Blue Faced Leister wool and Tussah silk

that seemed to look good combined with Linsey's batts,

bought from Cowgirls Yarn in Laramie, Wyoming.

Below a much thinner length of the braid being auditioned & ready to spin up.

You can really see above the shine of the Tussah silk peeking out in all the batts.

So from left to right below,

the first skein is one of the experiments plied on itself,

same with the second skein.

I liked the second one better because more of the darker fibers showed up.

The 3rd skein is the braid spun up and plied on itself

Btw, 

I also experimented with how to spin up these batts,

woolen or worsted,

long or short draw or off the fold.

I ended up spinning long draw woolen off the fold for the most softness and shine.

My favorite skein is the 4th one,

 a singles of the braid plied with a singles of Lindsey's batts.

A close-up below.

I haven't used my spinning wheel in at least 3 years now,

and it just feels so good to get back at it.

Because spinning is a global skill,

like riding a bicycle,

it comes right back to you.

Super relaxing while I binge on Netflix's Longmire,

a modern Western murder mystery series about a Wyoming sheriff,

his Deputies & town,

and the Cheyanne people that live on the reservation nearby.

Starring the older but still very handsome Australian actor,

Robert Taylor,

as well as Lou Diamond Philips and A. Martinez. 

The scenery is gorgeous so I looked to see where it was filmed.

Several locations in New Mexico were used

including Santa Fe, Eagles Nest, Espanola, Red River, Los Alamos and Las Vegas.

And the most iconic location in the series is Longmire's log cabin 

filmed in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

So what to make out of these delicious yarns?

Stay turned for my next post,

or ha ha,

maybe my next one after that. 

FRAMED & DELIVERED

After several weeks of deliberation about whether to gift this piece to my husband

who expressed his love of it,

or to give it to my son and his wife as a very tardy wedding gift,

my son won out.

Getting it to them was another matter

and barely fit in my car,

 but only with the top down.

It is at least 4 ft by 4 1/2 feet.

So needless to say it was a long, slow and careful journey as the wind whipped it to and fro 

against my seat back as I made that long trek to his home in the valley.

But I'm so glad I gave it to them for they ohhed and ahhed over it, 

and have already decided to hang it on a prominent wall in their front room.

Plus it was a wonderful surprise for them both

and completely unexpected.

My heart is happy.

I have since finished another smaller one which I really like as well, 

and am going to show my newly formed knit group how to wet block with it.

TAH DAH....FINALLY FINISHED!

Yes, I'm still here,

just so distracted these days.

I so hope you are still with me.

I feel I may have posted this piece before,

but I just finally blocked it.

Now it's at Michaels being framed for an ungodly amount.

Next one,

yes there is another in the works,

I will frame myself and not make it so large.

 This was made with hand dyed rovings from several different sources,

plus a few of my own.

Spun and plied mostly up at the cabin over several winters,

I had intended to give to my son and his wife last year for their wedding present.

But that didn't happen  LOL,

instead they needed a new refrigerator and so much more

 that I was delighted to give them to put off finishing this.

HA!

 So the other day cleaning out my UFO's,

I ran into it and decided to finally finish it;

trying to make good on one of my New Years Resolutions.

My spinning leaves a lot to be desired,

with many different weights going on in each skein,

thus the lumpy bumpy look of the uneven edges. 

But I really did enjoy this project,

being able to bring all these fractured skeins together

in a pleasing way.

Know that I was inspired by the work of French Textile Artist Murel

of  Clothogancho fame.

Here I am under one of the most gorgeous textiles I've ever seen or touched,

a piece I bought from Muriel a few years ago.

She dyes all her own yarns,

and if you've never checked out her website I recommend a look-see.

What I noticed straight away when I compare these last two photos is that lighting really matters.

Bright lighting above in my cabin studio,

but below is the finished piece drying after I blocked it under softer bedroom light.

The piece in real life is somewhere in between the two photos.

But at least it's flat now.

My husband loves it so much that he wants it for a prominent wall in our home.

We'll see.

COMING ALONG

I've got a revolting development soon,

running out of yarn and only about 1/2 done.

And I don't want to spent anymore money on these expensive handspuns,

and have too many projects going on to spin my own.

What to do?

I'll get back to you with the answers.

SNEAK PEEK

The yoke is almost done as I head into week 2 of the online Cardi workshop.

Love, love, love working on size 17 needles and using extra bulky handspun yarns.

They are yummy!

Plus it goes so very fast.

With this last black/grey/purple yarn I'm working with 

tiny little daises have been handstitched on after it was spun,

and it's so fun to see them pop up here and there. 

I'm an English knitter but in this workshop I'm also trying to learn the European Continental style.

Another global skill which means it''s very difficult and requires much practice.

But hey,

I'm retired and have got the rest of my life.

:)

KALEIDOSCOPE CARDI

So this is the cardigan I'm going to attempt to finish before Xmas

for a gift.

I'm enrolled in a knit-a-long online class that I mentioned the other day out of Ojai, Ca.,

 at a new crafts shop called Cattywampus Crafts.

I never made it up there last Monday because I'd forgotten I had a previous important doctor appt.,

so I'm going to try to make it this coming Monday. 

The owners just got back from a 2 week trip to Japan and brought back many lovely things

both textile related as well as ceramic.

So excited to browse.

Something about some silk kimono bracelets, and hand dyed stitching threads.

Never have enough of either, right?

Ha!!

And yarn, lots and lots of yarn!

Whoo Hoo

Here are a few pix of the yarns I will be using in my cardi.

These are the base or foundation yarns.

Most are handspun by either myself or my spinning mentor Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts.

And 4 of them came from the Amy who runs Knit Collage thru Caddywampus,

the gal who is doing the workshop.

And two of them are silk strips.

But I felt as if I needed a bit more pop to my color scheme,

so I added the red/orange at top (Manos de Uruguay),

and the stark black from Amy on far left.

Rolled most of the balls last night and checked my gauge.  

Of course it's off no matter what needle size I used.

15's were too small and 17's too big.

I've not seen size 16's before.

So I will knit tighter with the 17's, 

they felt better with all that chunky handspun.

I'll finish up the winding tonight and hopefully start knitting  before bed.

Nite.

STASH BUSTER UPDATE

Nine years ago when I moved into my new husbands beautifully appointed home,

he had this striking oil hanging over his couch.

It stills hangs there over a very masculine leather sofa.

To soften the look a bit I felt that I needed to add a knit throw.

So I began this lap throw after taking an improvisational knitting workshop 

with knit star Valentina Devine. 

I first became acquainted with her in the gorgeous coffee table book 

Knitting in America.

Valentia lives in Los Alamos, New Mexico and her background is fascinating. 

I have always knitted! Born in Russia and growing up in Germany, I can remember knitting all sorts of things from doll clothes to small garments for myself. In the early eighties I became a life-time member of the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria Virginia. There I exhibited knitted one-of-a-kind garments and wall hangings. For the Folger Theater I knitted costumes for Macbeth. At the same time I started teaching a technique “Creative Knitting” and I continue to the present day. I have also knitted two major costumes for the road show of “CATS”; Deuteronomy and Gus, The Theater Cat. Some of my knitted garments have been chosen for the movie industry. I now enjoy designing for different publications. I have been a contributor to many knitting books and publications. As time went on I have added to the courses I teach. I now teach six different techniques. I show my art-to-wear garments in different boutiques throughout the United States. I cannot imagine not knitting and I hope to continue to inspire many more knitters here and abroad.

In 2011 I was able to get this far

which I posted about in March of that year here on the blog,

but then I lost interest and put it away

 and finally took it out this last week and have started knitting on it again.

I took it up to the cabin this weekend and have almost finished off that bottom row.

Please note!

I have not blocked this yet.

And it's all over the place lumpy bumpy and wavy.

I will tame it eventually when completely done.

I still have so many stash yarns to bust thru so I'm going to lengthen and widen 

and then probably put several borders around it.

At least that's my plan right now.

But knowing me I will get distracted with another project

 and this will wait another 8 years for me to pull it out again.

Ha!!!

Speaking of that,

headed out tomorrow morning for a 2 1/2 hour drive up to Ojai

(inland from Santa Barbara but above Ventura)

to a new crafts shop called Cattywampus Crafts for a knit-a-long.

Going to be starting a cute little v-neck cardigan with all handspuns (some mine)

knit on size 17 needles.

Can hardly wait.

Poor little throw.

LOL

WHAT'S YOUR DREAM?

DREAMCATCHERS - PART II

BEGINNING 3-D ART

hoops, handspun/hand dyed yarns, other types of yarn, embellishments

Students,

please forgive me for possibly not listing all your names correctly,

I left my notes at school and am now on Thanksgiving break.

I will be sure to correct them if needed when I return.  

However,

there are a couple of works that I'm pretty sure I remember who made them, 

so I will give it a try.

Like this first one.

I'm almost positive it was made by senior Hana Kim.

I felt this design was so heavenly,

it reminded me of angel's wings.

So delicate!

Senior Inna Sikar made this very unique piece,

We were all really impressed with how she built out her trees,

and used her yarn as a body of water.

Super cool Inna!

I want to guess that 8th grader Viviana Cruz made this beauty above.

The kids had the choice between warping in a circular fashion that's so popular right now,

or warping traditionally on the vertical.

They also were required to research contemporary Circular Weavings on Pinterest.

I feel that's why we had so many varied results which I loved!

I'm pretty sure this lovely off centered Monchromatic work 

was done by 8th grader Yusuf Karan.

And I'm so sorry I have no idea who belongs to this very beautiful design.

If I had to guess it would be senior Runa Li cuz that's how she rolled.

Hi Runa!!!

But I'm sure about this one.

It was done by 8th grader Emma Bertel.

So impressed with the extra effort she put into doing three pieces,

and then bringing them together into one.

WHAT'S YOUR DREAM?

WOVEN DREAM CATCHERS -PART I

BEGINNING 2-D ART

hoops, handspun/hand dyed yarns, other types of yarns, embellishments

These Dream Catchers have been a big hit since we started doing them a couple of years ago.

Woven within each are the students handspun/hand dyed wool yarns.

There were so many I wanted to show off that I will be posting them in two parts.

Funny and wonderful how the Fiber Arts are back in vogue.

We begin with this beautifully crafted piece by 8th grader Heer Patel.

Great color choices and love the pearls she has sewn on to give it a bit of twinkle.

Love the rich and vibrant use of color by 8th grader Annie Nguyen

and how she up centered her design.

And this is a very cool solution by Bhumika Kalaimalai.

Missing you big time Bhu.

She transferred to another High School and was one of my 8th grade superstars.

Check out all the fabulous handspun yarns 8th grader Alaa Malabeh has incorporated here.

The handspuns are the ones that look super soft and go from thick to thin.

They are so yummy.

And what a great design idea junior Angelica Luza has come up with.

And love those sweet little shells she has attached to her ends.

This asymmetry off centered work is really fun as well by Sandra Chea.

And check out this unique design idea by senior Vivian Shi.

I hope you enjoyed these.

Stay tuned for more coming up in Part II.

WISHING UPON A STAR

My Beginning 3-D students began spinning their yarns to incorporate into their Dream Catchers 

that are just around the corner.

This was my demo piece last year,

most of it made out of my Handspun Yarns.

When done I added this very special mixed metal piece,

as well as mixed metal washers  and a crescent moon on the dangling yarns.

I'm hoping my dear friend and fellow colleague,

English teacher Donna Hall who loves all things dreamy,

will enjoy this at Christmas time.

It will be my gift to her.

WHAT SUCCESS & GOING DEEP INTO RIGHT BRAIN LOOKs LIKE

SPINNING & DYEING YARN

BEGINNING 3-D ART

wool roving, coat hanger hooks, cake dyes,

microwave (to set the dyes with)

Learning how to spin your own yarn is an extremely difficult global skill to conquer.

But once there,

it can be relaxing and quite enjoyable.

Every year I teach this Unit,

and every year the kids struggle thru it.

But then one by one they have that ah-ha moment where it becomes fun,

and then they want to make more extra credit yarns for their weaving projects.

Above is junior Angelica Luza and below 8th grader Yusuf Karan.

Poor Yusuf had no idea I was taking his picture.

Adorable!

Next to him is senior Simran Ranjit

 who has finished hers and is dyeing it with a lovely shade of green.

Next we have 8th grader Alaa Melabeh spinning some extra credit hand dyed roving

donated to me by dear friend  Fiber Artist Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts.

You can find her under Artists I Follow in the right side column of blog.

Below is a very happy senior,

Vivian Shi,

showing me her finished plied yarn.

Her next step will be to dye it her favorite color to be used in her next assignment,

the Dream Catcher.

Here are seniors Ricky Gallardo and Sophie Yang having way too much fun.

And below is 8th grader Annie Nguyen

 spinning up a batch of extra credit.

What a cutie!!

Best buddies juniors Kareema Mohamed and Kiana Hernandez

 are having a wonderful time bonding over their yarns and dyeing

while senior Lauren Gammage is helping Ricky undo some extra twist in his yarn

 before plying it up. 

All 34 of the kids were able to learn to spin,

and it was fun for me to see their ah-ha moments.

Way to hang in there young ones!