Moving sale until July 1st . . . → Read More: One Week
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Easy, non-toxic, totally safe for kids – dyeing fiber with Easter Egg dyes! Get everything you need right here! . . . → Read More: Learn to dye with Easter egg dyes! This week I’m on vacation on the lovely shore of Emerald Isle. But because I love my work, the Boutique is still open with new yarns everyday and I’m still talking to customers via email. So I’m away but still checking in. Each day I’ll be posting a few pictures from the vacation, especially the yarny inspiration. Today was another beachy-day! Knitting, reading, swimming, shelling. Ending in some cake (tomorrow’s my birthday!) and in-bed reading. The beachhouse has a TV in the bedroom, which feels like pure luxury – to lay in bed and knit and watch TV and read all at once! This week I’m on vacation on the lovely shore of Emerald Isle. But because I love my work, the Boutique is still open with new yarns everyday and I’m still talking to customers via email. So I’m away but still checking in. Each day I’ll be posting a few pictures from the vacation, especially the yarny inspiration. Today (Saturday) we got up early and drove the 8 hours to the coast of North Carolina. We stopped at a…colorful fruit stand, unpacked in our gorgeous beach house and hit the beach View from the living room Beach house at sunset I’ve tried to write this post for weeks. I can’t figure out how to say it in a way that conveys the big-ness for me and for Blonde Chicken Boutique. This is a huge, scary, exciting step, but it’s just so hard to express. So, how about I just say it: I quit my day job. June 30th is my last day working in an office, for an employer. July 1st, I wake up to…Blonde Chicken Boutique! I’ll be a full-time fiber artist, yarnie, fiberista, spinster – whatever we’re calling it that week – it’ll be my full-time job! Even though I handed in my resignation a month ago, it still feels crazy and new and exciting! This will allow me to do SO many new things with BCB, things you’ve asked me to do and things I’ve been waiting to do. More craft shows, more in-person lessons, more yarn! . . . → Read More: Big News Celebrate Earth Day with these 5 easy tips! . . . → Read More: 5 ways to celebrate Earth Day The LocalSpun series is my attempt to share the process from fiber (on the animal) to finished yarn. Each is just a glimpse into a moment in the life of yarn and yarnmaker. Remember these shy little Jacob’s from Rammings Farm? Well, I bought one of their fleeces, brought it home and stretched it out on an old clean sheet in the middle of my living room (too cold outside!) I was pretty amazed at how clean this fleece felt. Unlike the Coopworth, it wasn’t greasy at all ! In fact, it didn’t seem to have any lanolin! Since it didn’t feel sticky, I decided to test out washing it in just water and salt – no soap! I split up the fleece into 3 different pots for washing. The pots were filled up with water and placed on the stove (I’d do this in my washer, . . . → Read More: LocalSpun – Fleece Transformation Remember the cashmere from Rammings farm? Jennifer had his fiber blended with a little wool (also from her flock) and it turned out to be a lovely, tweedy gray with just hints of brown. This color was too rich to dye or card, so I left it natural and spun it with bright colors. Prairie Sunset is cashmere spun with Hobbledehoy’s Kombucha batt, a fun mix of merino, ecospun and sparkle. Silver Lining is cashmere spun with handdyed mill-ends (available in the Boutique tomorrow today!) I have a smidge of cashmere left…what do you think I should do with it? Should I spin it with another color or try dyeing or carding it? (want to read more about fiber? Check out Alpaca Girl’s Fiber Friday Carnival!) . . . → Read More: Local Cashmere A fun visit to a local farm. . . . → Read More: Local Fiber – Rammings Farm Today, I was going to write about my new line of Vegan yarn and roving. But I started Twittering with fellow yarnies about vegan fiber and why I don’t love bamboo and soy. The conversation turned to why I don’t stock those two fibers and I wanted to share my musings about it with you. As I explored and researched bamboo and soy, I realized something deeper about my business ethics. The Boutique and my own personal life is fuled by two concurrent passions: Support the community (both local and far-flung community of independent yarnies) Do my best to choose the most eco-friendly option Those two passions converge nicely in nearly everything I dye and spin – local fleeces, mill-end fiber, recycled banana yarn (handspun by a fair-trade women’s co-op) but sometimes they get a bit tricky, like bamboo and soy. Why not Bamboo and Soy? Both are touted . . . → Read More: Ask Tara – Are bamboo and soy eco-friendly fibers? |
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