I'd only be exaggerating a little if I said this mug rug hooked itself! It was a fun and easy afternoon project, and it's the sample for an upcoming class I'm teaching at Black Sheep Handworx Studio this October. 

​The design is the Grand Mesa, the world's largest flat-topped mountain. It dominates the landscape here in Grand Junction. The design also includes a river, as our rivers here (the Gunnison and Colorado) play a huge part in our ability to live here. It is a desert, after all!

This mug rug is 4" square, and is part of a kit that will be included in the class. It includes everything you need to get started with rug hooking!

Call or email  to sign up! Contact information can be found here. 

We're already a week into September, and the weather here is finally starting to cool off! The zucchini is still going wild in my garden and some of the other veggies are finally starting to grow again - I think the extreme heat sent us all into dormancy for almost all of July and August. Cooler weather means wool is bearable again too - not just to wear but also to work with.

In September, I've already got a lot on the schedule - check it out here - plus, I get to go home for a week and see family. Better think up a travel knitting project!


Rug Hooking/Needlepunch​

• I have a class coming up teaching rug hooking at Black Sheep Handworx Studio. This month I'm working on getting the instruction booklet all ready to go. Next week I'll share a little more about the class and the project we'll be doing in the class.

Knitting

• I'm up to the arm/body join on the stash sweater. It's not finished, not by a long shot.. Now I'm stalled on what color combinations I want to use. It should be an easy choice, but since I wasn't thrilled with my original choices for that section, I'm letting my thoughts marinate. 

Weaving

• I have three looms warped! The big loom has a warp from the blending board project on it, and it's practically weaving itself. 
• I'm also working on a piece on the Cricket loom, using leftovers from a couple of different projects. 
• Aaand, I have reached the point where I'm apparently the loom rescue lady. Rescued another loom that needs some TLC. It looks like a good loom though, and I couldn't stand to see it go to the woodchipper. 

Spinning

• I'm working on a follow-up to the blending board gradient project - all the rest of the dark brown, blended with some other fibers to stretch it out. This time, I blended the colors on my brand new drum carder. It's a dream! All the fiber is blended, and I'm in the process of spinning it.
• Still working on the CVM! It wants to spin itself into a very fine yarn, which wasn't quite what I'd envisioned, but I'm making progress.

What are you working on this month?

xx,

​Pamela

In July, during Tour de Fleece, I had a blast playing with making mud on purpose. That sparked an idea for a bigger project - blending together a lot of leftover and stash fibers to make one big gradient. I balked at using hand cards for the whole project, and instead used my blending board. 

I love the effect I get on the blending board - a little nubbly, a few random pops of color, and an overall heathery feel. Plus, I've learned that I really love spinning from a rolag, which is really easy to make on the blending board. 

For this project, I used a variety of wool braids, an alpaca/wool blend leftover from this project, sari silk cloud, and some alpaca. If I had to guess, I'd say each skein is about 80% wool, and 20% alpaca/silk. 

Once I'd done all the fiber prep, the spinning more or less took care of itself - an hour or so each day, and then the plying. I'm 100% a plying procrastinator, so that's rarely something I want to do. But ALL my storage bobbins are currently full, so when I wanted to spin some more, I HAD to ply. That's one way to make sure it gets done, I guess!

I'd initially envisioned using this yarn for a sweater, but I think of sweater designs faster than I can knit them, so I think this yarn is going to be destined for my loom. There's about 20 ounces, and I've got an average of 12 WPI, so I'm guessing there's around 1300-1500 yards there. This yarn will be all warp, and I'm hoping to spin up some weft too...but that will depend on sampling once it's on the loom!

​What are you working on these days?

xx,

​Pamela

There's a ton of stuff in the works! If you're in or around Colorado, I'd love to see you at one of the following events I have coming up in September:​

This article on ancient Artic spinning was really interesting. I really wish I had been more aware of the intersection between textiles and archaeology when I was younger.

Speaking of archaeology and totally not fiber related, I'm in love with this. Basically anything with someone in one of these t-rex costumes brings a smile to my day.
​ 
​These three videos from Bobbin Boy are on my watchlist. One, two, and three. (Flax is so fascinating!)

And last, but definitely not least. I've been sitting on some thoughts on "CRAFT," based on my readings of Folk Fashion* and Craeft**. Felicia, as always, has an insightful post here.