Lately

The 2 cards next to the yarn are new business cards I am experimenting with.

I have been dying wool and spinning.  I had some Border Leicester X wool to wash and dye.  I used two blues and a pink for dying in a somewhat rainbow method.  The wool turned out to be a lovely shade of blue.  There was some yellowing in the wool and that area became more of a teal once dyed.  All together the varied tones make for a more interesting yarn to me.  I made 2 plies and for the second ply I added 3 colors of Mylar with the wool. (silver, light blue, dark blue)

I also put bakers twine and yarn strings on a few price tags.  It seems that my price tags do not stand out enough for people, so I am trying the larger tags in varied pink colors.

The boys found a possum in the chicken coop.  We lost 2 chickens in this last week.  We live in the city so it is a little unusual to find a possum in our yard.

Please view my web store at: http://www.custercottage.com
And my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage 

What have you been up to lately???

Lots and Lots of Wool

I have lots and lots of wool ready to spin and lots of wool ready to prepare for spinning.  Some are pieces left over from completed projects and some are complete fleeces from a sheep.  The ready wool pile comes from various sheep breeds, angora from angora rabbits, mohair from angora sheep, flax which becomes linen,  sparkle from nylon and Mylar, silk nips, corn protein fiber, and various other odds and ends.   I decided to spin little bits from all of it and make one skein of yarn. As I spun the yarn, I allowed some of the kid mohair curls to show and any lumps or bumps in the wool to show.  I thought this would give the piece more interest.  Once this was made, I crocheted the yarn into a large circular hot pad/trivet.  In the center area I added another layer of blue yarn and then a second layer of green mohair around that. The final step was to wash and shrink the hot pad/trivet, making it felt, but keeping the fuzzes.  It is 9 inch in diameter and one of a kind .  It reminds me of a rug from grandmother's house.  I plan to make more of these.  They say happy!  Have a happy week!  Dawnie

The completed project.

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