Winners this week!

Congratulations winners! Please pm me with your addresses and I will get these out asap!

YarnSweetYarn- You won the smoky mountain fibers skin tones fiber set!

Chels- You won the Huggy Bear Yarn!

Chevryrell- You won the Girl Meet Spindle fiber!

More giveaways coming up soon!!

Intereview with Melissa Yoder Ricks of Wild Hare Fiber and Giveaway!

Melissa of Wild Hare fiber was inspired to create a wonderful batt this month for a giveaway- it goes along so well with our "Seaweed Ships and Scallywags" theme! This 'Moby Dick' batt has lots of different fibers including ecospun which is recycled plastic from things like soda bottles.

Melissa is a very inspiring woman and she was gracious enough to sit down for a few and answer some short questions I had for her. I miss doing interviews on the blog, so I hope to bring them back more often. Here is what she had to say:

Where do you draw inspiration for your work?

The beauty of the natural world inspires many of the colors that I choose, although I'm also inspired at times to create colors based on certain moods or feelings. I also loosely follow color trends to keep everything fresh and relevant.

What is your favorite fiber to work with?
I love wool! It is so versatile, and there is such variety between breeds.

Do you have a least favorite?
I love most natural fibers, and tend to steer clear of synthetics.
There is one fiber that I like but which I find difficult to work with because it makes me sneeze, and that is angora (it's ironic, since often people seeing my logo assume that I'm selling angora)

What is it like to be a full-time fiber artist?
Amazing! I feel really blessed to be able to focus on doing what I love to do! This has been my dream since I was young. Having a flexible schedule so that I can adjust to my children's needs is a huge bonus too.

Tell us more about your favorite products you offer.
All the products I carry were chosen because they are my 'favorite' in some way! I search out fibers that I love to spin myself, and create handspun yarns that I would want to use. I recently added hand-dyed yarns, and search high and low to find the best mill spun yarn that I could find as my base. I also carry Spinolution, Louet and Nancy's Knit Knacks fiber tools and equipment - the same brands I use for my own work.

What is your favorite way to use yarn?
To hold it and squeeze it ...? Gosh, each and every skein of yarn is so full of possibilities that it can be challenging to commit it to just one project. I knit, crochet and do some simple weaving, and usually look to the yarn and let it tell me what to do with it. I do more knitting than anything else because it's so portable.

If you were to do a self-portrait in fiber, what would it look like? What
materials would you use etc?

My 'self portrait in fiber' would have to be a mixed-media piece that combines lots of different fiber and techniques -- so it would have perhaps a woven or wet-felted base with knitted appliques, some free-form crochet, and needle-felted and embroidered details. All in a range of rich natural colors (hey, this sounds like a fun project!)

We're giving away "moby dick" today- visit Wild Hare, find something you love, and come back here to write about it in the comments section. We award other social networking pings with extra entries, just let us know you did it!

Guest Blogger- Knit Circus Editor Jaala Spiro! And giveaways!

Wow, the last stop on the tour! Thanks so much for hosting, Jessie.

Today, for a change, let's have an interview with you rather than me! This profile of one of our favorite fiber businesses originally ran in Knitcircus Issue #6(link: http://www.knitcircus.com/issue6.html).

Phat Fiber

How did you get the idea for Phat Fiber?

In the summer of 2008, my husband and I both came down with Mononucleosis. If you've ever had it, you know that your entire body is wracked with pain and accomplishing simple everyday tasks become near impossiblities because of it. During my convalescence, I picked up some knitting needles and yarn after a long hiatus from needlecrafts and was amazed at how my pain seemingly melted away. At the time, gas was over $4.00 a gallon and I was still in a great deal of discomfort, so making more than a once monthly trip to my LYS (30+ miles away) was pretty much out of the question. I began shopping online for my yarn and was absolutely amazed at the plethora of gorgeous yarn and fiber from independent businesses available to me. I made several purchases, some I was thrilled with, others I was almost angry with disappointment about. Wishing there was a better way to shop for something as tactile as yarn and fiber, the mental seeds of Phat Fiber began to sprout and grow. After months of preparation, our first box was released January 15th 2009.

What's the philosophy behind it?

Phat Fiber's goal is to bridge the gap between the products and services of talented independent fiber artists and companies and today's conscious yarn consumers. We all want to support independent businesses as well as treat ourselves to incredible goods. Phat Fiber makes it easier for both indie yarnies to market their wares and for the rest of us to experience, swatch, fondle the fiber while planning larger purchases.

How has the service been received by crafters/customers?

I think both parties are extremely pleased so far. We have only done 2 boxes (Jan and Feb) and both have sold out immediately and much of the feedback has been incredibly enthusiastic from both the customers and the artisans Phat Fiber represents. We have an amazing group of contributors who are extremely supportive of each other. The comraderie displayed within the group of participants makes me very proud to be considered a part of this endeavor.

Nuts and bolts-how can people find you, how often are boxes sent out, how much do they cost?

Our Main site is www.phatfiber.com there you will find links to most all of our contributors and more information about the boxes.

The boxes go on sale once monthly (mid month) in our Phat Fiber Etsy shop here: http://www.phatfiber.etsy.com

To be notified of the exact time of sale, sign up for the Phat Fiber newsletter here: http://www.phatfiber.com/notifyme.htm

The boxes are $33.00 USD which includes domestic shipping.

We have a group on Ravelry, as well as our own forum which can be found here: http://www.phatfiber.com/phatforum We love to share pictures of our boxes, what we've done with our samples, and larger purchases made from discoveries found in the box.

We also profile the contributors to the box and host many giveaways on our blog here: http://www.phatfiber.blogspot.com

What's next for Phat Fiber?

More boxes! We are currently creating special pages full of discount coupons, patterns and articles just for our newsletter subscribers. Many of our contributors have suggested a Phat Fiber gathering of sorts. That would be amazing and I hope it happens.

Tell us your favorite Phat Fiber story.

Oh, there are many!! One of our customers wrote on our forum that she felt like she was a part of a movement and she had never felt that way about anything before. That really touched me and made me want to work even harder for our wonderful artists/contributors. I also love that every month I get excited emails from participants letting us know about new orders that were generated from the box. It's very rewarding!

--JS, Knitcircus #6

For the Grand Finale of our Blog Tour, let's do something really grand--like giving away three Grand Slam collections of Knitcircus! Please leave a blog comment, and three lucky winners will receive all of the available back issues of the print magazine (Issues 3-8) plus a free pdf download of the Spring Pattern Collection for Issue #9. Phat Fiber will keep the contest open until Sunday evening then we’ll let you know if you’ve won and your collection will go out in the mail Monday morning.

This has been a blast, Jessie; since Team Knitcircus joined up with Team PhatFiber for the Ravelympics, it’s going to be a fun couple of weeks with lots of knitting for everyone!

Keep doing the great work bringing fiber lovers and independent businesses together and rock on.

Jaala

KnitCircus is now an online publication! On the web at http://www.knitcircus.com

MILK: It does a spinner good! Interview with Roo of Moonwood Farm about Milk Fiber

Photos are of hand dyed /handspun Milk Fiber from several Phat Fiber Artisans

The following is an interview with Roo of Moonwoodfarm.com and moonwoodfarm.etsy.com Roo introduced me to milk fiber (also called milk latte and milk silk) and we can't seem to get enough of it around here! I would like to personally thank Roo for taking the time to explain things for us!

I'd like to start off by saying 'Thank You" for introducing me to this wonderful new fiber! Although I'm a very novice spinner, I have had some success spinning it! Could we talk a little bit about the texture and feel of this amazing substance?

Milk is unlike anything you've spun before! Compared to bamboo and silk which are super shiny and silky, this stuff is slinky, satiny, almost 'creamy' in consistency, amazingly soft and luxurious. It has a wonderful soft sheen that is reminiscent of the popular 'polished cotton' look from the 80's.

Straight from the manufacturer, in it's undyed form, it can look a little disappointing at first - an off white color, not as soft perhaps as you'd first thought... but when it comes out of the dye pot, is rinsed and hung to dry, it undergoes a magical transformation and truly does emerge as the butterfly of all fibers. In reality, you are just washing the manufacturer's conditioning chemicals from the fiber, but each time I touch the freshly dyed and dried pieces of top it's still a lovely surprise!

Could you tell us a little about how this fiber is made? Where does it come from?


Milk protein fiber is made from real milk. The milk is first dewatered (all the water taken out of it), after which it is skimmed. It then undergoes a new bio-engineering technique to make a protein spinning fluid which undergoes a wet spinning process through which the final high-grade textile fiber is made. While spinning, a solvent utilizing zinc ions is used - this produces zinc oxide, which gives the fibers its antibacterial properties (it is resistant to Golden Staph as well as other bacteria!) as well as durability.

No formaldehyde is present in milk, so it is considered a green product. It passed Oeko-Tex Standard 100 green certification for the international ecological textiles in April 2004.


I have noticed on our Ravelry group, even folks allergic to protein fibers can handle this fiber. Why is that?


'Protein' fiber is normally hair, fur or wool from an animal, the individual hairs have scales when looked at under a microscope. I feel that it's these scales that are causing an allergic reaction in people, they can hold on to dander, dust, greases, and anything else that the animal produces or has been exposed to.

Milk protein fiber is not grown on the animal, it comes from the milk it produces. The fibers are very smooth and do not have scales. It is considered to be more like a synthetic fiber when looked at under the microscope, therefore giving you the best of both worlds.

Looking at milk a little closer still, it has a pH of 6.8, which is the equivalent of human skin. To top it all off, it contains 18 amino acids and contains casein proteins which nourish and lubricate skin. Also, milk protein contains a natural humectant (a substance that promotes retention of moisture) which captures moisture and helps maintains our skin's natural moisture levels. I think that's pretty darned amazing!

You sell undyed milk top in your store. How is it dyed? What techniques can be used?


Although different forms of milk fiber have been around for a while (casein powder was being used in paints back in the 14th and 15th centuries, the first fibers for textile were beginning to emerge in the 1930s!), it is still relatively new to the cottage industry, and as a result we were a bit stumped about how to dye it at first. The technical documentation states: 'The fiber can be dyed in bright colors using reactive, acid or cationic dye technology'. But as fiber artists, who use different techniques than the commercial dyeing equipment, we found that some worked better than others.

ACID DYES (including Kool-Aid and Wilton Icing Color)
Seeing it's derived from a protein, our first instinct was to treat it like any other protein fiber and heartily dived in with the acid dyes. However, we discovered that it was very difficult to dye it all the way through because the dye would strike around the outside, and not make it all the way to the inside. Exceptional color variations can be made using acid dyes!

Milk absorbs the acid dyes very quickly and you'll find, for instance, that if you were to 'feed' a piece of top into a pot that already contains dye, the beginning of it will be dyed very dark, and the end will be very light, all in a matter of less than a minute. Better success has been achieved using the steaming or the microwave technique after hand painting the fiber.

A word of caution however, some people have discovered that their fiber hardens and becomes stiff, or as Dani (http://www.danido.com) fondly likes to call it, CRUSTY :) after dyeing - this has happened to me on a few occasions too, and I've narrowed it down to processing it too long using too much heat. Milk can take high temperatures very well, but not for extended periods of time.

REACTIVE DYES
Personally, I was not entirely happy with the effect of acid dyes on the milk. I love the way the color takes and the variegation of the colors in the fiber, but not the endless rinsing (milk LOVES to hold on to unprocessed dye!) and the slight bleeding that would often occur. So when the reactive dyes arrived for the stash of bamboo in my studio, I bit the bullet and dropped a piece of milk top into a jar filled with a reactive dye bath and set it in the sun to cook.

A whole new world opened up for me as the fiber rinsed clear almost immediately and retained the lovely color of the dye! I have not yet tried hand painting with the reactive dyes, but I love solar processing with them and have even managed to get a very dark grey, almost black, using this technique.

DRYING TECHNIQUE
The very best results when drying your milk are achieved by spinning it in your salad spinner to remove excess water (although I've been know to use my hands to squeeze it out, too!), and then to hang it or lay it on a rack. During the warmer months I put it outside in the sun to dry, during the cooler months I hang it and point a fan at it. You'll probably notice some compacting of the fiber as it dries. You can tease the milk top as it dries, or you can wait until it's completely dry after which you can 'snap' it - which means slightly pre-drafting it, enough to stake any stiffness out of the fiber and re-align any strays.

Do you have any spinning tips for Milk? What kind of ratio should we use? How can we prepare the fiber for spinning?


I think that each hand spinner will find their own technique for spinning this amazing fiber, but the best 'instruction' I have read to date came from Carolyn (Greenwood Fiberworks), who wrote an amazing blog entry detailing her experience with spinning milk that she'd hand dyed. She then went on and knitted her spun fiber into the most amazing lace shawl and posted photographs of it. This blog entry can be read here (http://greenwoodfiberworks.blogspot.com/2009/07/spinning-milk-silk-aka-milk-protein.html)


How does milk handspun hold up? What kind of hand and drape can we expect when knitting with it?

The drape is truly phenominal, especially when lace knitted and it has a lovely weight to it. To get technical, the drape coefficient compared to cotton and silk is as follows: cotton: 16, silk: 10, milk: 8.

As far as durability goes, milk protein is no less durable than other fibers on the market, although HOW durable exactly (as handspun yarn) we don't know yet seeing it has only recently gained popularity in the cottage industry.


How do you suggest we wash it or process it to set the twist?


As with any handspun yarn and hand-knit items, I always recommend hand washing in cool water and laying it out on a rack to dry. The casein in the milk loses some of its strength when wet, so handle it gently. Dry it as soon as you can, don't leave it sitting damp because supposedly it is (like wool) susceptible to mildew. Techniques for setting the twist differs from spinner to spinner, my personal technique is to submerge the skein in luke warm water first to thoroughly wet it, then letting it sit in hot water (as hot as you hands can stand it) for 10 or 15 minutes. I then, to the horror of most of you no doubt, I dunk it in cold water before spinning it in my salad spinner to remove the excess water and laying it out to dry. This technique was taught to me by master spinner Stefania Isaacson and I've used it for every single skein I've spun, no matter what the fiber content.

Does milk blend well with other fibers?


Oh my god, does it ever! Personally I have blended it with silk, alpaca, and shetland wool, all of which have yielded amazing results. I've also used small bits of left over top in my 'farm mix' (read: kitchen sink) batts. It blends like an absolute dream and adds silkiness and sheen.

Industrially, it's been blended with cashmere, cotton, wool, ramie, angora, etc.


Where else can we get Milk Fiber?


Until 31 July 2008, you can get 15% off combed milk top by using the promotional code MILKPROMO in the following stores:

http://moonwoodfarm.etsy.com *
http://hyenacart.com/Spindies/
http://www.naturalobsessionsfiber.com *
http://natchwoolie.etsy.com *
http://wooliebullie.etsy.com *
http://extremespinning.etsy.com *
http://feelingsheepish.etsy.com *
http://chimera.etsy.com *
http://primdollie.etsy.com
http://sweetpeafibers.etsy.com *
http://silversunalpacas.etsy.com *
http://polyartgirl.etsy.com
http://zebisisdesigns.etsy.com
http://punkjordane.etsy.com
http://GreenwoodFiberworks.etsy.com *
http://hamptonartisticyarns.etsy.com *
http://moonlightandlaughter.etsy.com *
http://madangelcreations.etsy.com *
http://www.twistedfiberyarn.com
http://fuzzybunnyfibers.etsy.com

* Denotes shops that contributed to the July No Sheep Wool Phat Fiber Box

Smoky Mountains Fiber interview with AnneMarie Walter and Giveaway

What follows is an interview with AnneMarie Walter of Smoky Mountain Fibers. We're giving away some of her delicious roving! Details to follow the interview.


Where do you draw inspiration for your work?

I don’t draw inspiration from any one place – rather from the world all around me. Right now, my garden is in bloom and quite happy. I know that the reds and gold and oranges of the daylilies are finding their way into my rovings. The recent ‘Ocean’ Phat Fiber theme gave me a good reason to play with blues and greens. My Andromeda Shades series of rovings came out of a brainstorming session with a fellow artist.


What is your favorite fiber to work with?

I really like wool. It takes color well, so it’s fun to dye. The many breeds of sheep have so much variety, so that I am never bored. Whether it’s the subtleties of Shetland or Jacob, the sweetest Finn lamb, or my own dyed merino, I enjoy the diversity. And wool is easy to spin, so that when I am spinning for calm, a natural color roving is what I choose.


Do you have a least favorite?

No! They are all good, just different!


I have long wanted to visit Asheville, NC. Tell us what it is like working in an environment that supports your craft.

Pretty wonderful! I have been in Western North Carolina for about 10 years. I made a number of life changes at that time and found myself in Asheville, and I’ve never been sorry. There is a vibrant craft community, several local yarn shops, great hiking, as well as a solid music and dance scene. I live in the city (walking distance to the 3 downtown yarn shops), so I can’t keep animals (the angora bunny is no longer with us). But there are people who raise sheep, goats, alpacas and llamas not too far away, so you are never far from raw fleece. I am a board member of the Southeast Animal Fiber Festival (SAFF) , a regional festival that celebrates the fiber arts and the animals that make it possible. That’s work, but the fun kind.


Tell us more about your various teaching efforts.

I teach an occasional fiber workshop: Knitting, felting and dyeing. A few years ago, I taught an ongoing knitting class but I find I much prefer teaching individuals to knit rather than groups. One of the local yarn shops has a Friday evening ‘Sit and Knit’ where I frequently help people who are real beginners, or need very specific help - picking up heel stitches, for example.

In real life, I teach computer technology classes at a small college, so breaking down complex processes into simple steps is common to all teaching. I really like it!


We've all enjoyed the Phat Stripes hat pattern you submitted for the June site. Are you working on writing any more?

Thanks! I have 4 patterns in my Etsy shop and several more in my head. They are all fairly simple and straight forward – these are the hats that I make and sell in the area craft galleries. Since I am now set up as a designer on Ravelry, I plan to write them up and make them available to anyone who would like to knit them. Some are so simple I’m embarrassed to call them patterns, but I haven’t seen them online or in books, so I guess they are my own designs!


If you were to do a self portrait in fiber- what would it look like? What would you use to make it?

Hmmmm….This is tricky! Just as my grandmother liked the faces in her pansies, I like to think of my wheels of roving as the ‘face ‘of Smoky Mountain Fibers. Yesterday I was very hyped and a bit anxious and would have told you to refer to my ‘Fire‘ roving . Today I am feeling mellow and somewhat reflective, so I’d suggest ‘Blue Planet.’ Whoever I am, it’s just a dyepot away!

Just a final note: I want to take a moment to thank you and Marcus for making the Phat Fiber phenomenon happen. More than simply buying and selling fibers, the way that we are contributing to the boxes and sharing what we are making, allows fiber people around the world to connect and build community. I am tickled to be a part of it!


We're giving away a full sized roving (similar to 'Blue Planet') here on the blog! Just visit Smoky Mountain Fibers and find something you like. Post about it in the comments section below! We'll draw for a name on Saturday! Remember, let me know you've twittered/facebooked this and I will count those as extra entries.

AnneMarie, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. We love having you in the group!

Cool Climates interveiw with Rachel Suntop and *Giveaway*

Describe Cool Climates.

I am drawn to northern (cool) places, such as Iceland and Alaska. Although I hate the cold, I'm drawn to these places for the beautiful landscapes and interesting cultures. Many of my yarns and fiber art are directly inspired by these places.

Tell us how you've come to be a fiber artist.
When I was 5, my mom taught me how to sew on a sewing machine. When I was 6, I learned to knit through a babysitter. I got hooked and throughout my childhood, I knit, sewed doll clothes, did embroidery and other craft projects. My interest has continued until this day.

What inspires your creative use of colors and textures?
Many are inspired by places I've traveled or geographical places I'm intrigued with. I'm very drawn to nature and use the colors I find in natural settings. I'm also inspired by cities and culture, and will make yarns that are inspired by those. I also like to use people (mainly celebrities) as an inspiration. I will spin a skein of yarn that "represents" that person, through physical appearance, behavior and interests. Lastly, I'm just attracted to colors and will just throw some together to make an interesting new color combination.

Do you have any spinning mentors? If so, whom?
I don't know a lot of them, but I really like Lexi Borger of "intertwined". I also have been really inspired by some of the other artists in the Phat Fiber club and artists in the Novelty Yarn and Fiber Friday groups.

Tell us about your favorite yarn.
Hard to say, but I really like the "Garden of Earthly Delights" yarn I spun recently, inspired by Heironymous Bosch's painting. I feel that I really captured the mood of the painting, both in the colors and texture (and objects).

Describe for us, the least favorite yarn you've spun.
There are several of those, mainly the first yarns I spun on the spinning wheel. Some of them are just plain ugly. Whereas others are interesting in their own way and I'm combining them with other yarns to make interesting yarns.

Do you listen to music while spinning? If so, what is your spinning soundtrack?
I almost always listen to music while spinning. I listen to all kinds of stuff: David Bowie, Cocteau Twins, Bjork, Antony and the Johnsons, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Varttina, Sigur Ros and U2 to name a few.

Your yarns are distinctively textural- describe the process you use to create them. Do you plan it out first and then sit down to spin?
Usually, I just create the textures as I spin, it's an impulse or an intuition. Sometimes I will plan to have certain textural elements before I spin the yarn, but I almost never think about it in depth. I will just create them in the moment of spinning, as I experience the yarn being made.

Which of your current creations for sale is your favorite?
Probably my Gamla Stan Stockholm necklace on my Etsy site: www.coolclimates.etsy.com

It's not handspun yarn, but a necklace knit from Irish linen with many interesting beads. It seems to have drawn a lot of positive attention.

If you were to make a self portrait in yarn, what would it look like?

Hmm, that's interesting. I would most likely incorporate greens, teal and coral/salmon as those are my favorite colors. It would be bulky and full of texture, changeable. It would most likely have several plies and novelty items such as beads to bring out the complexity in my personality. I consider myself to be a very outgoing and extroverted person, so the yarn would be showy. But it would also have darker, more private elements. I might add little bits of knitting (since I love knitting) and small souvineers or found objects from places that I've traveled that would have great meaning to me. I also love to bake and cook, so it would be interesting to incorporate an element of food into the yarn, whether it be real physical food or something evoking it. I might even spin some of my own hair into it, which would literally be a part of "me" in there.

We're happy to be giving away a beautiful handspun skein of Rachel Suntop's art yarn called "Deep Tropics". Please visit her shop, find something you like, and post about it below. We'll be drawing for a winner on Friday (barring any inland hurricanes). Remember, I will count your plurks, tweets, facebook, Ravelry posts and blogs as extra entries!


Thank you so much, Rachel, for sharing a little bit about yourself! We always enjoy your artful samples!

Interview with Artemisia Ink

Describe Artemisia Ink?

I came up with the name way back in 1999 while doing some ink drawings, when I liked the look of a pair of ink drops on my blotter. I had read about the herb Artemisia absinthium being used in ink in ancient times to keep mice and insects from nibbling on the parchments. The connection between artemisia and ink then reminded me of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi, whose intense dedication to her art made her an inspirational figure for me, and the ancient Greek goddess Artemis has been a favorite of mine since childhood. That was more than enough coincidental connections for me. Combining artemisia and all its magic and mystery with those ink drops, I created a logo and a name with meaning for me that would be unique and auspicious. I held onto the idea, the logo and the website for years until I got around to developing it fully when I started my handspun yarn business. Eventually I’d like Artemisia Ink Studio Arts to encompass all my creative work, from yarn to painting, photography, music and writing, but for now, the focus is on the world of fiber.

What led you to a life of fibery pursuits?

A friend put a drop spindle and some wool in my hands and said “Here, check this out.” My hands seemed to know what to do instantaneously, and I was rarely without a drop spindle after that day, spinning constantly and trying as many new fibers as I could get my hands on. I found a wheel, then another, and learned to weave and needle felt, and I’m just buried in fiber art at this point and loving it. I got the opportunity to start my own business as my spinning evolved and began to pile up in heaps, and I’m so glad I went for it. I do a lot of other kinds of projects professionally, but spinning continues to be a source of meditative creativity, and I love passing on the craft to others whenever I get the chance.

What inspires your creative use of colors and textures?

All sorts of things, from my old Rainbow Brite dolls to the natural world around me. Sometimes I let the fiber itself sort of tell me what it wants to become as it moves through my fingers, and other times I get out the drum carder with no preconceived idea of what I’m doing, and experiment with different blends of fibers and colors. Sometimes there’s a theme or a color scheme in mind when I start, and sometimes I just wing it. Each yarn is unique, either because of a special hand-blended batt, or a hand-dyed roving I found, or a limited quantity of a particular fleece or fiber, and I enjoy allowing each yarn to be a piece of art in itself, rather than becoming a producer of consistent colorways. This means that it’s always fresh and new for me, and that keeps the love affair with my work alive and lets my spinning push new boundaries. Color really informs my work, and I think that comes from my family. Both my parents are talented artists in their own right, and taught me to paint early on, and I love using the drum carder like my paintbrush and palette knife, mixing colors and textures to create a yarn that will eventually become someone else’s piece of art. I like how spinning connects me to other artists in this way, as my art becomes a part of theirs.

Do you have any spinning or fiber mentors?

If so, whom?

Hannelore Cole at Custom Handweavers was an incredible resource and a wonderful weaving teacher, she also helped me take my spinning to the next level, and I wish I’d had more time living nearby to keep soaking up her experience. I sort of let my hands teach me how to spin, and my connection to my historical ancestress Priscilla Mullins has deepened considerably for me since I first sat down to spin at my antique saxony flax wheel.

Describe your favorite yarn.

I don’t actually have a favorite yarn, now that I’ve spent a while thinking about it. The one I made most recently is usually my favorite for a brief period of time, but it keeps changing. I’m always happiest when they come out squishy, or fuzzy, or otherwise pettable. Yarns that are conducive to snuggling are my perennial favorite.

Describe the least favorite yarn you've spun.

There was an experiment with hemp and adult alpaca that just needs to be a rug yarn or something that will take a beating. Between the scratch and thickness of the hemp and the guard hairs in the alpaca, it’s not skin-worthy. If I can’t rub it on my face, it’s not a great yarn in my book. Useful, perhaps.. but not great.

Do you listen to music while spinning? If so, what is your spinning soundtrack?

Absolutely. Music is a constant in my life, and when I’m not making it, I’m listening to it. I listen to a wide variety of music while I spin, from Tori Amos to Tool, though most often lately I’m listening to a kirtan artist like Krishna Das or Ma Chetan Jyoti. There’s something about the meditative quality of chanting that works really well with spinning for me. I don’t get to spin as often as I used to, and if I get the chance to spin, I’m probably wanting to relax at the same time. If I’m working on a themed yarn, sometimes there’s an appropriate soundtrack that wants to accompany me, and sometimes I’ve spun along to favorite movies, especially ones I already know by heart, so I can pay attention to my spinning and not the screen.

You have distinctly textural yarns. Describe for us the process for creating them- are you inspired and then spin?

Sometimes, yes. Often times, they’re a happy accident of inspiration, or I’ve got 2 full bobbins I had ideas for, and then I spin another and realize I’m going to do something else with it entirely. I try to not get attached to the yarns I make, even while I’m making them, which lets me mess around constantly. Sometimes it leaves me with odd ends and half-used bobbins, but they just get turned into something unexpected, so it usually works out well.

One of your current works for sale is a "Mardi Gras" yarn. What inspired you to make this piece?

I had a pile of beads hanging out after catching them in New Orleans, and they fairly screamed to become a supercoiled art yarn. I had just the right colors of merino wool on hand, and some sparkly purple and green angelina that blended in perfectly. Figuring out how to spin them in so they would look the way I wanted them to was fun, and I’m really pleased with the finished yarn.

If you were to create a self-portrait in yarn, what would it look like?

I have pretty long red hair right now, so I’d probably want to make a corespun yarn with red mohair curls.. or a really interesting storyline yarn, with long sections of different colors and fibers to represent the different stages of my life and the different hobbies and obsessions I’ve enjoyed all in sequence.

Thank you so much Artemisia Ink, please contribute to future Phat Fiber Boxes!