Fresh peaches, Johnson City Farmer’s Market
|
|
||
|
I had to skip the Farmer’s Market last week, since I was IN my best friend’s wedding, but the week before that I actually went to 2 local farmer’s markets. The new Jonesborough market is still small, but all of the produce (of which there was very little by 10:30 am) was local. My favorite local chocolatier was there (Earth and Sky Creations)- and we bought a chocolate for each of us. On the car ride home they both got melty and so we were at a rush when we stopped by the JC market. So rushed, in fact, that I left my camera in the car and it wasn’t until the last minute that I grabbed it and shot the brightest thing I found: While I was out of town for the wedding, I thought about these flowers, so bright amongst the green leaves. I decide to finally . . . → Read More: Farmer’s Market Project #2 Today my very best friend is getting married.Jamie and I have been through high school orchestra, family vacations, deaths, parental weddings and divorces, college graduations and my wedding together, as best friends. As I sat with this quilt, her wedding gift, in my lap, I thought of all the hopes and worries and happiness we’ve shared. The giggle fits and camping on the beach and loud singalongs to Les Mis.I wanted this quilt to symbolize so much: the warmth that our friendship has brought me, the years of letter writing we’ve engaged in, my hope that she’ll enjoy husband-snuggling under a blanket as much as I do.Making the quilt was a ritual I needed; to stitch our friendship into something tangible, to allow myself to believe in our new lives, to physically labor my prayers and happiness for her into something she could hug. The quilt is comprised of . . . → Read More: Finished Quilt Remember the Fiber Shop Swap? It’s all wrapped up now and I wanted to thank my partner, Extreme Spinning! Preschool, available in the shop She sent me two amazing fiber art kits that included yarn, fiber, binding cotton, pearls and instructions for it all! The two yarns pictured here were spun from those kits and were so fun! Bright orange impatients, cheering me up after my chocolates melted! *I’ll be out of town this weekend, so I’m skipping next Saturday & this week’s project will be completed next week. Last week, at the Johnson City Farmer’s Market, I was struggling to find some yarn-worthy inspiration. We had slept late and most of the fresh veggies were gone. While the goat cheese was delicious, I didn’t think white slabs of creamy goodness were going to translate into an interesting yarn. Just as we were leaving, I caught site of these white stalks, which reminded me of Soy fiber (I don’t know why; everything reminds me of some fiber!) I was thinking of that pale green when I dyed the fiber and those spiky stalks on the round one (what is that?) inspired the way I spun it. I’m not entirely happy with how the color came out, I was going for something a bit more green, but this ended up in the blue-green range. A little of the natural cream of the soy fiber still shows through, like . . . → Read More: Farmer’s Market Project #2 On a muggy Friday evening last month, Jay and I had the pleasure of visiting Hobby Knob Farm in Weaversville, NC. Shepherdess Elizabeth met us on her big back porch, where she was working on a fleece, cleaning out the grass as it sat on a big screen door. Elizabeth gave us a grand tour, past the guard llamas that were being groomed for her daughter’s upcoming 4-H show and up to the sheep on a leash. Yes, a sheep on a leash (a very long leash) in the yard! I knew then that I was gonna love this place!
The flock of sheep all live in several huge fields and are rotated throughout the day. When we arrived, Elizabeth put out some feed in the chicken yard and the sheep (and their constant companions, the llamas) came running. As cute as the sheep are, that chick in . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday – Hobby Knob Farm Last week,while strolling through the very lively Abingdon Farmer’s Market, I slyly snapped this photo of a pepper plants and begonias, while my husband bought some peppers. Throughout the week, I thought about the photo and what aspects I wanted to caputure in the yarn. I was most struck by the variety of greens and the interplay between the shot of red with the rest of the photo. It took me a few days, but on Thursday I pulled out some gray streaked mill-ends wool and a local wool/alpaca/mohair blend from Hobby Knob Farm. I put both fibers into a dyepot with a medium green. As the temperature rose, I sprinkled in a few more greens (dye will “strike” the fiber quicker when it’s already heated, so you can get patches of distinct colors while kettle dyeing). The resulting fiber was dried outside in the sunshine and spun . . . → Read More: Farmer’s Market Project #1 Romaine Lettuce, taken at the Johnson City Farmer’s Market The Farmer’s Market Project is a self-challenge: each week I’ll take one picture at the Farmer’s Market and will post it here. During the next week I’ll dye and/or spin a yarn inspired by that picture and will list the yarn the very next weekend. Tomorrow I’ll be posting the yarn inspired by last week’s photo. Fiber Friday is here and today I’d like to share what I hope will become a regular feature: an interview with a full-time fiberist! I’ve gushed over her beautiful batts, and now I’m happy to share some insight into the world of Hobbledehoy. Liz (aka hobbledehoy) is a successful full-time spinner with a thriving Etsy shop. She candidly shares the realities of life as a spinster on her blog. I find her blog and business inspring but I was curious about her beginnings, so I asked some questions and she generously answered: How’d you get started spinning? I’ve been a long-time fan of the Craftster.org forums, and discovered novelty spinning on one of the boards there. I’m a bit obsessive with new hobbies, and will gobble up all the information I can find about a specific craft before trying it out. I ordered a spindle and dyed wool . . . → Read More: Hobbledehoy – behind the wool |
||
|
Copyright © 2012 Blonde Chicken Boutique - All Rights Reserved |
