Polite people would use a different word.
But let’s be honest:

My Ravelympics goal, which I knew was lofty and difficult and challenging (but that was the point); well, I failed at it. I set out to spin and knit a sweater in 17 days and I didn’t accomplish that.

And that is fantastic.

The risk of failure

incites action.

Without this challenge, I would have never begun. I have been talking about knitting a sweater from my handspun for months but without this challenge, it would still just be a dream.
Not only did I commit the goal, I worked hard towards it; spinning 400 yards of beautiful yarn, swatching, designing and knitting half of a sweater in 17 days!

The risk of failure creates commitment
The feeling of true commitment to something I really want feels great! By focusing all my knitting energy on one project, I’ve accomplished a lot, reminded myself what I’m capable of and started creating a sweater I am SO happy with.
And that was the point: to create a garment that I’m proud of, that fits well and that feels incredible. The timeline was just a little push to do it faster and with more focus.

Failing leads to success.
Failure in the Ravelympics isn’t failing at knitting and spinning. It’s failing at one goal. The overall goal is (still) to knit and spin an entire (wearable) sweater and that is still well within my reach. Risking failure with the Ravelympics is leading me towards success in the overall goal.

This is just a little reminder to myself and the other failed Ravelympics Ravletes (and regular athletes, too, I guess) that what we created during the Olympics could never be a failure because we were, simply, creating.

Next in the series of Interviews with Fiber Artists is Rachel-Marie of KnittyDirtyGirl.com. To learn more about Rachel-Marie’s jump into the world of full-time fiber artist, read this excellent Etsy article
How’d you get started dyeing?
I started dyeing with kool-aid and yarn from my beloved Brown Sheep Company. I don’t remember what sparked my interest in dyeing. Being able to create my own colors has helped me to be a more creative fiber artist.

Which came first: the knitting, the dyeing or the spinning?
Knitting, then dyeing, then spinning. I am still working on my knitting skills, my spinning expertise has far exceeded my knitting talents.

How did the business begin?
I started selling my knits with trial and error. I have learned from some not so smart business choices. I started selling my knits to friends, then at a co-op, next on ebay, and finally on Etsy.

Did you intentionally grow your business this direction?
It just sort of evolved into what it is today. It is completely surprising to me that I have managed to survive off of my artsy income.

What’s it like to work from home?
I have struggled working full time out of our apartment, but only because it is so crowded. The high chair, fish tank, bird cage, spinning wheels, tv, baby playpen thing, Dora kids table, stroller, my fiber and laptop, my husband’s desk area… it’s all crammed into the living room. Once we buy a decent sized house things will be a lot easier. Other than that, the kids are pretty good, and I can’t complain.

Can you explain the process of creating your yarn?
I use roving that is already processed for my made to order handspun. I used mill end fiber and farm wool for the bulk of my one of a kind novelty yarns and hand carded batts. The farm wool I wash and card myself. I dye all of my wool, except black, which I can not seem to achieve that color.

Some complain that it can be time consuming, but the actual washing part is mostly a waiting game. I just dump some of the dirty fleece in my washing machine, then I squirt a lot of grease fighting dish soap in. I fill it with hot water, keep the lid open and let soak. I spin it out after a few hours, and repeat. You can repeat that a few times if you like, then make sure to let it soak in hot water with no soap, to rinse. You must not agitate the wool, and do not let the water sit so long that it gets cold.

If the sheep has had an exciting life with no coat the fleece may need to go through a wool picker. Which I do not have. I pick out the bits I see potential in, and after they are dry I card them. I dye the fiber either before or after the carding process depending on the amount of vegetation.

Finally I gather all of my materials (sari silk, bling, cotton, wools) and make some batts using my drum carder. My farm wool usually does have some vegetation left in it. I love it, it shows my customers that I really am using farm wool. I blend it with softer, processed, superwash merino mill ends, which makes the vegetation less noticeable.

Here I am spinning my made to order yarns using already processed roving:

Some of my stash:

My drum carder:

What’s the inspiration process like?
Sometimes, but it’s normally like I try and keep the dyepot full at all times. I usually become inspired from my dyed stash. I usually pull names related to yarns from books, movies, or tv shows that I like. I choose names from these medias that fit the yarn.
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Sometimes I get ideas or concepts for well thought out yarns. Like my gnome series (above) and then execute the idea. But mostly I just look at my shop and see what I think it could use more of based on price points, color, and season. Sounds boring, but it works for me. I come up with better yarn just looking at my stash and trying to make the best of it.

What do you wish you’d planned for before you went full-time?
I know now that June and July are very slow for me, and from now on I am going to try and save some money for those months. Or supplement my income in some way during that time. I actually just got offered a part time, one day a week, job at the new local yarn shop in my city! They are carrying my yarns, this steady income should help us get by when retail is otherwise slow. Plus, it will help me learn more about my industry, connect with my customer base, and get me out of the house once a week!

What has surprised and delighted you about being a fiber artist?
The endless possibilities! Just when you think you are bored another door is opened, like natural dyeing. You could devote your whole life’s work on that topic alone.

Ravelympics Update:
I started with the Handspun Heptathlon: pre-drafting, organizing my spinning space and getting underway, while watching the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. I kept up the pace Saturday morning and by lunch had a huge 200 yard skein.

At this pace, I could have been done with all of the yarn by Monday, but alas, I don’t live in the Olympic village and was pulled away from the wheel by little brothers that had to be fed, a business that needed new yarn and various other distractions (like a visit to the farm!) By Tuesday I was back in the saddle, spinning a second ginormous skein (which is resting in it’s post-spin bath).

The temptation of the squishy yarn was too great and I moved away from the Handspun Heptathlon (without finishing it!) and launched into the Sweater Sprint. While watching Micheal Phelps earn his 10th Olympic Gold, Wednesday night, I cast on for the sweater.
I promptly fell asleep, knitting in hand, so I’m obviously not much of a sprinter!
If I’m going to compete, I need to plan the schedule: T
his weekend – knit to underarms on sweater
Mon – spin last skein of yarn
Tues – Friday – finish body
Sat – Mon – knit sleeves

If you’re not a knitter, or if this whole Ravelympics thing seems a bit weird, this article does an excellent job of explaining the spirit of the Games.

Hanging freshly dyed wool out to dry, I was struck by the ridiculousness of the sight: huge swaths of brightly colored fiber, adorning a unassuming tree.

From the parking lot, my tree seems harmless, the dogwood of any normal resident:On closer inspection, it becomes obvious these residents are a bit more colorful.

And by the time you get to my door, it becomes clear that this is a house of those possessed;

possessed by a need to drape everything in color, to soak up the bright summer, to imbue the yarn-world with sunny goodness.

This weekend I dyed pounds of wool, all in bright, happy colors, mostly in semi-solids, as seen above. While I stood outside, hanging dripping wool, I thought about the path these fibers take on their way to becoming yarn. I have, through this blog, tried to delineate this path. I shared the path from inspiration to finished yarn, and I’ve shared moments from visits to the original source – sheep and alpacas. But I still find that an incomplete picture of the real process.
Most knitters and crocheters know that yarn starts on an animal’s back and through some magic alchemy becomes the yarn they hold in their hands. This path can take so many forms that it in sharing one path, I am necessarily omitting the other possible paths. Obviously commercial yarn – sold from farmer to wool pool, processed (usually with chemicals), cleaned, combed, dyed and spun by huge machines – has path so different from handspun yarn that they are barely the same product.
Even the yarns I create take different paths – some from mill-ends, some from local farms, some recycled from Nepalese women’s co-ops! I either handdye it in many shades, making the color decisions at the dye pot, or I kettle dye it in bright solids and decide on the color combinations at the wheel. The fiber above will be the latter – many times throughout the next few weeks I’ll grab a handful of various colors and combine them in new and inspiring ways.
The time in the sun is just a moment in the fibers life, next stop: the wheel!

Fabulous! Spun by me from SeeJayneKnit’s Fabulosity roving

Today’s Fiber Friday interview is with Jayne of SeeJayneKnit. She is a full-time dyer, spinner and stich-marker maker! I got to know Jayne through the Fiber Friday threads on Etsy, where she shared her experiences with learning to spin. She knocked my socks off when she started selling her handspun yarn just a few weeks later and it was perfectly beautiful! A quick learner, with a great eye for color, you can keep with Jayne on her blog or by checking out her shop.I was so smitten with her color-sense that I purchased some fiber from her shop. It spun evenly and quickly into 2 gorgeously soft skeins of yarn (one of the skeins is my biggest EVER at 300 yards!)

(just to clear up some questions I had last week, everything in italics, is me, Tara, and everything NOT in italics is Jayne’s answers)

How did you get started dyeing?
It started with blogging. One day I was fooling around with yarn and dye just to, you know, have some fun. I loved how the yarn turned out, so I blogged about it. By the end of the week people were asking to buy it. How was I supposed to know where that was going to lead? I sold yarn from my blog for a month or two and then moved to etsy where it would be easier to manage.

If you want to see the early blog posts about dyeing with some basic instructions, go back to March of 2007.

What came first: dyeing or stitch markers?
Dyeing. Definitely. I like to make earrings and jewelry as an earlier hobby, so I would put a free stitch marker on every skein of yarn I sold. People started asking for those too…

How did it become a full-fledged business?
People started asking to buy the yarn, so I set up a paypal acct, and started listing it on my blog. I started with about seven skeins of yarn I posted one evening that sold out during the night. When I could see that I enjoyed it, and that it wasn’t going to go away, I moved to etsy to make it easier on myself. Since I didn’t intend to become a business, I had to figure out how to do a lot of things very quickly, but overall it has been tons of fun, and I’m keen to continue.

Did you quit a dayjob to work with fiber?
Nope I didn’t quit a day job. I used to be a high-school teacher, and then a grad student in theology and New Testament. I was heading towards a masters/PhD and eventually teaching at a seminary in graduate studies. Then I had a major emotional/physical breakdown. I have a disability as a result of that, so for the last five years or so, I have considered myself to be unemployable. I’m just not that consistently well or reliable health-wise. About four years ago, I taught myself to knit to get through long painful days. That led to blogging, and oh yeah, the blog led to dyeing…

I honestly can’t think of a job I’d rather do than work with fiber. I couldn’t have imagined this job for myself, so I consider myself very blessed that things worked out as they did.

What’s a normal working day like?
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! There is no such thing as a normal working day.

I work any and all days of the week, at just about any time of day or night. I don’t know how many hours a week I work, but it varies from half to full-time, depending on my energy, commitments, mood, and the type of week it is.

Typically, I do my emails/write up sales etc/do mail in the morning. If I’m going to dye yarn, I’ll work for three to four hours in the morning/and early afternoon. I spin at any time of day, but especially enjoy doing that in the evening if the TV is on.

I pop into etsy at several points in the day to list, relist, or tweak listings, or photos.

I find the business side of things to be a lot easier and quicker now that I am so much more experienced at it. I’ve learned to streamline a lot of things.

Is it easier or harder to be creative with your business?
Some things are more production mode (making a bunch of stitch markers or dyeing up a known colorway). That part is definitely easier as I have refined my methods.

If I find I can’t think of anything new or have trouble naming things, it’s time to scale back for a few days or weeks and let things ride until I feel refreshed. On occasion I close up my shop to let myself go free for a bit. Otherwise, my policies generally protect me from burning out. I don’t do wholesale. I don’t do spinning or roving by request. I’m protective about which custom orders I agree to do. I feel a lot more creative when I make things on my schedule than on someone else’s. And I do live such an unstructured life of flexible schedule etc, that I usually don’t feel smothered by my work.
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br />Can you explain the creating process?
Yes, I can explain the white fiber to dyed process, but that’s boring. And I don’t always start with white fiber. I often start with an already colored yarn (commercially spun). I have a whole repertoire of colorways that I can do on yarn that is already blue or golden yellow, or brown, or pink, or….

I get ideas from looking at things, or when I’m spinning and my mind goes loose to wander. I walk outside a lot. Stuff pops into my head. Sometimes a name begets a colorway, and sometimes the other way around. I get a lot of good ideas when I’m not doing anything related to my work. And I’m completely fearless about experimenting. Accidents and experiments have led to some of my best work — and best sellers.

I get bored doing the same thing over and over, so I’m always playing around. I don’t write anything down.

What do you wish you had planned for before you started?
Hmmm…I wish I had not bought so much inventory of undyed yarn so quickly. It’s all good stuff and it sells, but I didn’t know what I liked to dye the most until about six months went by. By that time, I had it figured out, but I still have this huge inventory that I have to work down. On the other hand, that keeps me doing fresh things all the time, as each yarn type reacts differently to my assorted dyeing methods. And I do re-stock my favorites, so it’s a good balance.

What surprises and delights you about being a full-time fiber artist?
Pretty much everything. Except doing the mail. I’m amazed at how many variations on a colour I can get. I still like the smell of wet wool. I still ooh and ahh when something new comes out of the pot. I love the feel of fiber. I love to spin (that has been a recent surprise and delight). I love how friendly and encouraging knitters are. I love how gentle and accommodating a job it is to work with fiber. This is a very positive line of work for me as it is all about something soft and pretty that you can make into something else. The fact that my work brings surprise and delight to others is a huge delight to me.

Anything else?
Um…it’s always a bit tricky explaining to non-fiber people what I do for a living. They usually don’t get it until they see my yarn room, and then suddenly they realize that this is a THING.

And…I’m starting to have lustful thoughts about drum carders…

Happy Ravelympics Eve!

Ravelympics is the Olympics for Ravelers (members of the online fiber community Ravlery, if you’re not yet a Ravlerer, join now!). It starts tomorrow, with the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics (8 a.m. my time) and ends on August 24 (when the torch goes out). Ravelers, like Olympians, set their own crafting goals and join with other Ravlympians to challenge themselves to complete it during the timeframe.

By the way, if I was in the Opening Ceremonies, I’d want to wear this or this, from last night’s Project Runway.

I really love knitting with my handspun, but rarely get the chance, since most of what I spin goes in the shop. I’ve been trying to remedy that, but spinning for myself cuts into spinning for the shop and I end up selling my most favorite skeins. However, I have maintained a small stash of wool that’s “just mine”. Two years ago my mom gave me 24 oz. of the softest Merino wool combed top for Christmas and it has languished in the closet, because I was too afraid of it do anything with it. I’ve always known I wanted to knit a sweater out of it, but the prospect seemed too daunting. The Ravelympics provide the perfect challenge to get over my fear, get out the Merino and get to spinning.

My Ravelympics goal: to spin the yarn for, design and knit a cardigan.

I’ve “trained” by dyeing the fiber (a beautiful pale blue), pre-drafting about half of the fiber), spinning a test skein-let (I test spun a 2ply too, but realized, Am I crazy? That’s three times the spinning!) and knit a test swatch. I’m getting 3 sts/in on 10.5 needles with a very softly spun single ply. I want my sweater yarn to be a little tighter spun and to be a worsted weight, so I’m not going to design the sweater just yet.

My sweater design will be similar to this garter-yoke cardigan, with the side details of Cobblestone. The challenge with spinning to knit any project is the age-old question, “How much yarn?” I found this chart, which indicates I’ll need about 1,000 yards. My plan is to just spin 8-9 skeins (I normally get over 100 yards/bobbin) and then start knitting. If I’ve used over 2/3 of yarn for body, I’ll start spinning again for the sleeves. That, by the way, is an excellent tip for deciding on yardage for a sweater you design yourself – sweaters can be broken into thirds – 1/3 for front, 1/3 for back, 1/3 for both sleeves together.

My (extremely loose) schedule is: First week – Spin, second week – knit sweater. I’ll break it up into smaller goals after I see how fast I’m spinning and how much I get done this weekend. I’ll be tracking my progress, here on the blog, to keep myself accountable. I’d love to know who else will be joining me! Leave a comment so we can cheer each other on!

I really love reading what my customers think of my yarn. Whether it’s Etsy feedback, in the Ravelry group or in blog posts – it’s really nice to know how people are using the yarn. I’ve longed used GoogleAlerts to alert me of anything written about me or my yarn, but it must not be working right, because anytime I google “blonde chicken yarn”, I come up with a new batch of links to the shop. The most exciting are write-ups by shopping blogs or “knitting stars” – and lately I’ve been blessed with a few mentions:

• Indie Fixx’s column Indie is the new Green featured my yarn (and used photos of both my Banana and handspun yarn!) in an article on ‘green’ yarn.
• Vickie Howell (host of the TV show Knitty Gritty!) used my handdyed recylced silk in a featured crochet pattern (it’s on the front page of her website and I am definitely making these!)
• Just this morning, Indie Quater featured my yarn!
  

Have you read anything about BCB? If you find a link or write a review relating to any of products (past or present) please post it in the comments below!
(If it’s new to me, I’ll contact you to send you a thank you gift, so be sure you leave a way to find you!)

I’ve gotten a little behind on posting the Farmer’s Market Project, since being out of town for a few weekends, but I’m back, baby! Renewed determination and commitment to see this through until the end of the season.
This photo was taken 7.19.08 at the Johnson City Farmer’s Market. You might recognize the tablecloth from past photos, as this is my favorite booth – always filled with color!

Bright red and yellow shades on mill-ends wool was handspun ultra-fluffy, thick and thin. Plied with a handdyed green hemp thread, the yarn became even fluffier and soft with a squiqqly, fun-in-the-sun vibe.Yellow Tomatoes, available here

I was happy with it, right until my husband looked at it and said “Hulkamania, brother!“
Oh, uh yeah, it does look a bit like it could be knit into a boa for the Hulkster:

Hmmm…

Today I’m thrilled to get a chance to talk to Ricky of Silver Sun Alpacas. She is both fiber farmer, fiber dyer and purveyor of all things fibery! (all photos taken from Silver Sun Alpacas)

How did you get started with fiber art?
My true fiber passion started about 25 years ago,but long time before that I always had a pair of needles knitting something for someone. My mom taught me how to knit when I was younger, and still helps when I run into problems. She is 82 years young now and still knitting her heart out! She just loves knitting using the alpaca yarn. About 25 years ago I saw my first silk painting in an art store, and I knew then that I had to know how it was done. From that, the road to a living room full of dyes, paints and bolts of silk was very short. Loved the color mixing, applying it on the silk, making my own scarves, than designing my own skirts from my handpainted silk fabric. The walls of my relatives were full with handpainted silk pictures, since I ran out of space in my own home. After moving to the USA (I’m originally from Israel. My husband and I moved to the US 17 years ago with our 3 little kids.), I had a big pause, raising kids and working, but still knitting scarves and hats.
Which came first: the animals or the knitting or the spinning?
The knitting came first, as I mentioned before. Then alpacas just stole my heart 5 years ago, when I saw my first alpaca, and things were never the same again. When the children grew up and all moved out of the house, I had the urge to take care of something. I looked for something special, not familiar… new, exotic. We visited an alpaca ranch in the area, and when I first saw an alpaca, they captured my heart right away and I felt very comfortable around them. I knew then that that was it. Several months later(after lots of research!) we purchased our herd, which started out with 11 total(we’re up to 26 now!). We boarded them at a near by ranch until we found our own place. A year after that we moved to a ranch house with my 11 alpacas, now 24. Once we had all the alpaca fiber from our first shearing, I started to learn how to card and spin on my own.My daughter got my passion for animals, so when she got married and her husband got stationed in a close by Navy station, she came back with her own animals. Although, I know she is back temporarily, we enjoy her company and her help with the animals.

How did the business side of it start? Did you start selling on Etsy or some other way?
Usually, during fall and winter, we open the ranch doors to the public for them to see the alpacas. For most of the visitors it’s their first time seeing a “small llama”. Visitors were very interested in the yarn and fiber, and were asking for spinning fiber. So I pulled out my dyes, dying books, and purchased a drum carder, and experimented with natural colors, bright colors and carded it to batts. I liked the outcome. Put it in my ranch store, and customers loved it. After that, I decided to teach myself how to spin. So I bought a spinning wheel, and after a few weeks of practicing, I started putting up my handspun yarns on Etsy.

Did you set out from the beginning of it to have a business?
In the beginning, I planned to use the fiber for my personal use. But, as time passed, visitors and customers were asking for spinning fiber and handspun yarn. They were looking for handmade items, instead of commercialized things they would find at craft stores. I started slowly to introduce my colored fibers to the public and had a great feedback, especially with return customers.

Did you quit a dayjob to do this full-time? If so, how did you make that decision?
Me and husband had a retail/wholesale store in the city. So, when we moved to the ranch we closed the retail store, and continued with the wholesale department.
It was not an easy decision. But, I had an empty nest syndrome, and we were looking to change our environment. We are both animal lovers and knew that alpacas are for us. We researched extensively, visited several ranches and learned the whole process of raising these beautiful creatures.

Now that you are full-time, what’s a normal working day like?
Early in the morning, I go to the pasture with my coffee mug, filling the water buckets, make sure there is enough hay for everyone. I check on all the pregnant girls and their crias (alpaca baby). If there is a girl that is very close to give birth, I usually stay in the pasture, monitoring progress.
I like to sit with the girls early in the morning watch the babies playing.
During the day, I dye my fiber in pots or paint them individually, and put them up to dry. I card and blend previously dyed fiber, and wash raw fiber in between. I go visit my herd several times during the day. Early in the evening we clean the pastures and pens, add fresh hay, spread small trays with feed, minerals and supplements. That’s also the id
eal time for us to do some breeding, as needed.
After we finish taking care of all the animals in the evening, I sit in front of the TV – thats my favorite wheel time. I collect my personal fiber and spin it, and by the end of the night, I have several skeins of yarn spun up and ready for knitting!

How is this different than before?
Back when I used to work in a closed office, I didn’t have the time to be creative. I had other responsibilities to my employees and to my customers. And by the time I got home, I had the responsibilities for my household – my kids, my husband, my home. No real time for myself, to do the things I want to do.
Now, I do what I want with my time. I still do the things I need to do, but now I have the time to be creative!

Is it easier or harder to be “creative” in your full-time fiber artist schedule?
To create I need inspiration. Most of my inspired ideas come to me from my surroundings, or when I cook, or in nature. A beautiful flower, a lovely sunset or even a very tasty ice cream. I see the colors, and try to implement it to the fiber. It is easier to be creative for me, since most of my day I’m outside with my animals, or inside my studio trying to bring my creations to life.

Can you explain the process from fiber on-the-hoof to finished yarn?
Alpacas are shorn once a year, usually in the spring time. Each alpaca produces 3 – 9 lb. of fiber.
After shearing, I take each blanket (top of the animal, which is considered the best part) and skirt it – clean out all the dirt, hay pieces, etc.
Some spinners like to spin alpaca fiber without washing, I like to wash it first.
I wash it 2-3 lb. at a time, and spread it outside to air dry, or to the dyeing room for added color if it needs it.
Now, it’s ready to be carded and blended with my drum carder. Before this batt goes to the public, I spin it for a trial. Make sure it deserve it’s name. I usually make a fiber by an inspired subject, sometimes after it’s done, it looks different from what it intended to be, so, it gets a different name.

What do you wish you’d planned for before you went full-time?
I wish I would have done it earlier in life!

What has surprised and delighted you about being a fiber artist?
Always surprised to see people’s reaction. They are amazed to see their first alpaca, first carding and their first spinning wheel lesson. I am delighted to teach and educate them about the fiber and what it takes to process it.

Anything else you want to add?
My husband always tells me that not very many people love, or even like, their job but that he takes great joy in seeing me love mine!