Here’s the latest yarn up for Fiber Friday! These are all available in the shop.
Also…this is the last week to sign up for the Fiber Barista’s Fiber Club. I’m looking at all the yummy fun fibers I can order for this…..enable me!!!
What are you doing to conserve and help our Earth? Although it seems tough to do the big things (like hybrid cars and solar panels), even little things help make a difference. To honor Earth Day, I’d like to share with you some of the ways ThePaintedTiger has gone ‘green’.
1. Packaging. Yep, I gotta send your stuff IN something. As much as possible, I package your yarn & fiber in reusable ziplock bags. If your order won’t fit in a ziplock, I recycle a bag that I receive the undyed yarn in. I also prefer to ship in a box. A box can be recycled, while Tyvek or plastic mailers cannot.
2. Production. There are several ways I save energy while dyeing yarn and fiber. I use just enough water, dye, and acid to achieve the colors desired. I reuse my soaking and rinsing waters as much as possible, and often stay in the same color family for a dye session so I can reuse dyepots and brushes without excessive rinsing. I heat full batches, and spin out full batches before drying. I let the yarn/fiber air dry.
3. Other little things. I source my undyed yarn and fiber from the USA so they don’t have to travel as far, and I buy in bulk to reduce packaging. I buy recycled paper for invoices and shipping labels. I use Carrier Pickup when no one needs to go by the post office that day, and combine errands when we do. I use yarn ties over again, and many of my dyepots are recycled jars or other containers. Fibers odds and ends are collected for art yarn inclusion, or felted soap making.
My new contribution for Earth Day 2009 is my new little netbook computer that I am writing this message on. It sips electricity, and is quite mobile. What will be the electricity savings? The desktop will be off most of the week (I’ll still need to do photo editing and accounting on there), as will the lightbulb for that dark corner of my basement.
Thanks for letting me share! Now I’m off to repot some of my houseplants, and see what has newly come up in my shade garden.
While I’m twiddling my thumbs (ok, not really….dyeing like crazy here!) waiting for my netbook to arrive, I did a little browsing to bring you a new Tiger Find. As you see, I can hardly pass up a rainbow!!
Red Panda Chainmaille Stitch/Row Markers
Click the pic to go to the listing. This is on ArtFire, but she is also on Etsy.
I love these….great design, plenty of colors for stitch marker hogging patterns, and useable multiple ways. Stitch markers, Row Markers, Crochet Markers…….and….AND….you can wear them as earrings!
Whew!!! That there is 40 packages that I took to the post office this morning. That includes the Fiber Barista Club, my own Transitions Club, plus an amazing order from a new customer (thanks!!!)
I’ve invested quite a bit of time in getting all of this done (you’ll understand that even more once you see the pictures of the yarn that I’ll post later next week once most people have a chance to receive it). I’m happy it is done, but am glad I was able to set a schedule and stick to it. I was never stressed getting these done, and actually had quite a bit of fun with my kids while we were packing up the boxes. (If you notice wavy cutting of mailing labels, or not straight highlighting, please forgive me. The kids really enjoyed working for ThePaintedTiger, and seriously the shipping labels don’t matter that much.)
So what do I plan to do now with my newfound ‘free time’. Well, it is back to the regular routine on Monday (I have some fiber and yarn waiting in the wings for you, plus plans to dye up a bunch load.), but today I’m going to spin a bit, play outside with my kids, and order the netbook I’ve been eyeing for the last month. Tomorrow, I’m enjoying a special day with my dd and MIL at the Pure in Heart conference.
Hope you have great plans for your weekend!
For today’s Tiger Find, I’d like to introduce Ruth. She is a designer, and I just love her patterns! (And yes, I’m a little biased….she is my friend.) On Ravelry her designer name is ‘The Yarnarian’, and has 26 different patterns to choose from. If I had to just pick two, these are my favorites:
This pattern can tame the wildest sock yarn into something gorgeous, and you know I like to make ’em wild! Imagine how fun this or her Diagonal Mitered Scarf would look in my rainbow or variegated colors!!
And on the calm side….
Which would work fantastic with the semi-solids I have!!!
If you aren’t a member of Ravelry (really, you should be!!), you can find Ruth on Etsy.
Hello! Sorry I’ve been light on content this week. I’ve been working up a storm on an extra special treat for the final shipment of my Transitions Club, and dyeing up yarn for the Fiber Barista’s sock club….all of which ships next Friday. Can’t wait to see the look on the faces of the people in the post office when I bring this lot in! (And then the relief when they discover I’ve paid for most of the postage at home!!)
Coincidently, my friend at Northern Dyeworks has been working hard on a website and cart for Fiber Baristas, and she unveiled it today. Which means you can now sign up for the Fiber Barista Fiber Club!!
It’s a 6 month club, payable in one lump with a discount, or in two payments. You’ll receive 2-4 oz depending on the fiber and prep. We are allowing for the purchase of ‘double shots’ right up front, so if you know you would prefer more….we have it for you!!! Anyway, check out the site for the full details, and I hope you’ll sign up.
Happy Friday!!! I have some pretty new hand dyed yarns for you!!
Koi Pond – Tiger Twist Sock Yarn
Designer’s Challenge – Tiger Twist Sock Yarn
Tweedy Green – Tiger Twist Sock Yarn
Tweedy Russet – Tiger Twist Sock Yarn
The Times – Tiger Twist Sock Yarn
I also want to give a shout out to all those who were able to take advantage of the April Fool’s sale….thank you so much, may you have many pleasurable hours knitting with your new stash!!
Never thought I’d get to actually spinning this, did you? Well, here it goes.
I discovered that my diz made this huge honking roving that was just way too huge to spin from directly (at least for me, and for trying to get the two color layers to be taken up somewhat evenly), so I drafted this down a bit.
I’m doing a sort of supported long draw. Or a kind of short backwards draw that I let get long. Whatever, it is working for this particular fiber and prep. I’m putting an extra couple of treadles of spin into each draw, trying to have plenty of spin to offset the plenty of ply I want to put in.
I didn’t picture the original bobbins……they were frightfully full of coiled up bits. I had the takeup WAY down so I could do the draw, but then it wouldn’t take up as fast as I wanted to feed it on. More learning curves.
So to even out my twist some, I put them across the room and rewound onto these shuttle bobbins. (Hey, I had them, and a bobbin winder, so why not!!)
The leftish bobbin is the first ply I did with the roving that came off in several pieces. I tried to do true long draw with all of it, and ended up with lots of odd thick and thin. The rightish bobbin I did the supported and got a much more consistant size yarn, and I’m very happy with it. It should be fun plying these together.
Ok, fiber folks, play along here!!
Go here: Typealyzer and type in the URL of your blog. Report back with your results!!! It’s based on the Myers-Briggs personality test. Depending if you care for how that test works (and how much of your life you blog), you may or may not care for the results.
Mine was this:
They enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation – qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.
Despite cracks that ESFP could be ‘Extra Special Fiber Person’ (thanks Velma!), this assessment is pretty accurate. I tend to straddle all the personality types, though…..I’m a jack of all trades, and some I’ve mastered. The not-planning-ahead thing is bunk, though. I spend WAY too much time planning and researching. It’s the thinker in me!
If you want extra credit, back up to the homepage and click the Archetype thing. Here’s mine:
