Fleece cleaning time

Picked up the mohair locks on Saturday and paid for the alpaca fleece to blend with it.  My fleece cleaning skills are not as strong as they used to be.  As alpaca doesn't have lanolin one doesn't need hot water to clean the fleece.  I mistakenly let the water get to hot and agitated a batch.  It is not a very pretty white felted mess - ugh!  My second batch was warm water which hasn't felted but is not as white as I would like it.  I'm thinking of switching to cleaning the Shetland fleeces in order to get my cleaning temperature right.  Luckily I have a lot of mohair and can do an 80/20 blend of alpaca for the commissioned yarn.  Hoping to start blending the fibers with my new dog combs - need to research this technique more.  I don't want to make them into rolags but more of a top fiber.  We shall see how it goes.

Alpaca Fleece

Mohair Fleece

The dog hair hat is progressing.  I discovered last week it was too short so have extended the length of the hat.  Found another pattern design for the bib edge of the hat which I will start on tonight too.  It is a very fluffy hat with the dog fibers puffing out to give it a furry look.  The buyer likes it very much and that is the important thing.



Gray Shetland

Black Shetland

My Shetland fleeces arrived and they are so beautiful.  Both came from sheep at Pinon Wood ranch in Southern Colorado.  As each weighs only around 2 lbs I am going to process them at home versus sending them to the mill.  I will reserve the mill for alpaca and wensleydale fleeces as they will be larger. 

On the sales front I sold a ruffle scarf to a buyer in Sao Paulo, Brazil this month.  It is always exciting to have international sales!  I also received positive feedback on the trio of blended roving that was purchased on EBay.  April sales all came from EBay my other venues have been non existent.  I am still making lots of yarn though and keeping busy.  I N-plied my alpaca/milk roving and it turned out rather well for my first venture using that technique.  Just spun up some dyed "virgin wool" roving that I purchased from Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins.  It spun up easily with a texture that reminded me of felting fiber but smoother.  The colors were purple and burnt yellow which blended well - it will be plied later this week.

Why is it so hard to Blog?

I just checked into Blogger and have realized nearly a month has passed since my last post.  Sorry!  I have become a Twitter convert and primarily use that medium to stay in touch with followers (which total around 75).  I have placed items on EBay, Bonanza, Krrb (local online site) and still have yarn at the Wild Yarns shop.  This weekend I'm reviewing my advertising mediums - signed up for Google AdWords and will be advertising with Ennea Collective again.

The artisan boutique has come and gone and was overall not successful financially for me.  Met some great artisans but was the only one without sales on Saturday :(!  I submitted my state sales taxes from the Friday sales but have a question into the City about its tax structure and license fees.  They still haven't called me back.  The overall business taxes are done and I need to submit sales tax to both the State and perhaps the City - maybe next weekend.

Outside of the 3 skeins of yarn sold at the artisan boutique February was a bust.  On the positive I have new fiber arriving as that is what I do when I am blue.  I received some lovely white and tan BFL roving to spin along with a red dyed BFL braid of fiber.  There is one bag of clean Malamute dog hair clean and ready to be spun and another bag that needs to be cleaned.  Ordered some more fiber but as of today it hadn't shipped.  Must start spinning before the pile of rovings grows any bigger.  It is almost shearing season too and I have decide on how many alpaca and sheep wool fleeces to purchase along with the mill cost.

On the wheel is some dark brown alpaca top from Ancient Treasures Alpaca Ranch.  On the needles is a lace scarf in dark green tones with hints of brown similar to this cranberry scarf below.

Still trying to find a home for this hand spun and hand knit Wensleydale scarf.  It is very odd as I so loved this yarn (which has sold) and think it is such a nice and warm item.  Oh well you can only create and give others the opportunity to see the beauty in the design.  I know it will eventually find a home.

Today I start back volunteering at our local public library which will aid in bringing back some balance to my life.  Spinning hasn't been in the forefront of life as I am really taken with creating the lace scarf.  Still love my wheel and making yarn but I am going with what moves me which happens to be knitting at the moment.  I will try to write at least twice a month but for my frequent updates you can follow me on Twitter @nashc7 or Facebook "Herie7 Natural Fiber Treasures".  Until next time I hope all are safe (especially given the tornadoes in the U.S.) and you have a great weekend. 

Sorry for the delay

I can't believe almost a whole month has passed since my last entry.  January was definately a busy month for me.  We ended the month with eight sales plus income from handspun yarn sold in December by Wild Yarns.  I shipped handspun yarn to the UK which was well received and shipped some Shetland handspun within Colorado that received rave reviews.  It was definately a confidence building month that flew by very quickly.


The Valentine's day artisan fair is at the end of this week.  Yes, I did splurge on buying several skeins of Rowan Kidsilk Creation yarn to make items for the fair.  I even bought a couple of acrylic based ruffle scarf yarns to boost my inventory. 

Prepping for the craft fair has given me thoughts on where I want my business to grow and develop.  Truth is I enjoy and am passionate about making yarn and less so on finished products.  The finished items I enjoy the most are my lace scarves and shawls.  2011 was an exploration of simple knits and a variety of easy projects.  Looking back I can honestly say they did not fuel my passion for the craft.  Now my Estonian lace scarf was definately an accomplishment as it was an intricate pattern made from my handspun laceweight yarn.  I will always treasure that piece and it has gone to a good home.

2012 I am focusing on spinning yarn in 3oz batches and making more lacey scarves.  I will perhaps make a few fingerless gloves but they patterns will be more intricate.  From a business model perspective this will probably not yield a large volume of sales but what is sold will be of a higher value and profit.  Afterall if you are going to start a small business plus work full time it has to be doing something you enjoy!  Twitter is so my preferred method of social media and you can keep up to date on my activities @nashc7!  Until next time - wishing you and yours a joyous 2012!

New listings in the shop

Not only did I deliver yarn to be sold in my LYS today but I also took product photos.  I listed about 5 new yarns in the shop today.  All of them are hand spun creations with decent yardage.

Taking it easy this weekend

I am taking it easy this weekend.  Going to the ballet with my niece today to see Swan Lake - yeah.  Tomorrow I will be delivering hand spun yarn to my LYS and signing contracts to be on consignment there.

Goals for the weekend are to take product pictures of the spun yarn, finesse pricing on my yarn and improve the yardage on a couple of skeins.  I should be able to accomplish these things and it will be nice here in Denver this weekend to help with photos.

My wholesale order of bags arrived and will work really well to store/ship roving.  I also purchased some dyed mohair roving which arrived this week and feels really soft.  BFL dyed roving was also purchased this week and should be arriving in a few days.  I do like how BFL spins up and it seems to take dye rather well.  We shall see how this new batch measures up to my first purchase as it is from a different vendor.

We were featured in a treasury this week and received some views from it.  Minimal views have occurred from the Ennea Collective ad but it is still early in the month.  Ennea Collective is an online magazine dedicated to showcasing objects created with hand spun yarn.  You never truly know how well an ad will do in a venue until you try it.  The last 30 days have brought in 12 views thus far but no sales.  Oh well exposure if always good and perhaps will bring in sales closer to the holidays.

The alpaca hat is being re-worked as I didn't have enough yarn to make a large hat.  It is being made in the smaller version and I have just finished the twisted cable pattern.  This time it is being made in white but will be similar to the brown version.