Wordless Wednesday

Catching the Bug

Angora rabbits! Angora fiber! Bun Bun Heaven!

I've been doing some research and I'm quickly falling in love with these fiber producing rabbits. As some of you know, I've had a rabbit before, Mr. Bun Buns. He had a past and he was not the happiest guy. Luckily, I found him a home where teenaged pet-lovers could tend to him and hopefully see him enough every day that his demeanor would change for the better.

Now I'm catching the bunny bug again. Ever since I got my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel for Christmas (2010) I have been working with fiber and spinning it into yarn. I have had dreams of working and living on a farm with pygmy goats, chickens, horses and now... fiber-producing animals. So, what better way for me to ease into this out-in-the-sticks lifestyle than to just go ahead and get a fiber-producing animal that can safely be cared for at home, without 4 acres?

Enter the Angora Rabbit. Research has told me that there are some differences between Angoras and other rabbits (pictures could have easily told me that, duh). For example, they are bred to be more passive and docile than other rabbits due to the frequency in which they must be brushed and groomed. Mr. Bun Buns, bless his heart, HATED to be touched, especially on the hips where he had a past injury. So brushing and grooming this creature was a task. One time, as I was preparing to brush Mr. Buns, he lunged out of the cage at me (as I sat on the floor), mouth open, incisors bared, in order to protect his precious territory. I guess he didn't like the nail clippers I was hiding behind my leg. I should have known that he sensed my fear.

Erik and I talked about it and he is the one who is concientious about the money in the family, as he should be. And he recognized that having another pet is having another expense. I just thought to myself, how sustainable would it be to have my own fiber producer in the house? I wouldn't have to pay someone else all my hard-earned cash on fiber (as often), I wouldn't have to pay for shipping, I'd be taking the equivalent of 1,562 delivery trucks off the roadways, and I'd be taking the equivalent of 80, 904 lbs. of CO2 gases out of our air! All because of one sweet (herd of) Angora rabbits!

New Beginnings

As the snow melts into slushy stuff on the roads, our hearts warm up as the sun shines from above. The future husband and I went out of the house, that's right folks, OUT of the house for the first time in five days since the big freeze on Jan 31st.

Janie and I are now members of the Textile and Fiber Arts List (http://www.tafalist.com/) and you can find our member profile here. Thanks for snooping around.

Telegraph Canyon Freezes, but Not Tam.

Why does Tam from Telegraph Canyon NOT freeze in this scenario? Oh, because she's wearing some awesome, hand-knit fingerless mittens that I made for her so she can rock the block on her fiddle while remaining toasty as... uh, toast?

Even though the fan pic (provided by Jose from Gingerman) is not the best quality, you can see there, off to the left, that Tam is snug in her stylish mittens. They go so well with that jacket, if I do say so myself. Thanks Jose for the pic!

Don't forget to visit Gingerman on Camp Bowie in Fort Worth for trivia every Thursday night at 7pm.

A Record in Tresuries.

Must be the fact that so many people are snowed in. All they can think of is to sit in front of their fire, computer in lap, cruise Etsy, and create treasuries.

Today is pretty exciting because I've been featured in five, count them, five treasuries! Hopefully this boosts some sales now that I'm offering 10% off PLUS free shipping until Feb 20th, when I celebrate my 30th birthday.

The items featured from my shop (http://dye2spin.etsy.com/) are Mustard Greens Wool yarn , Better Belize It wool roving, Blueberry Afternoon Alpaca roving, and Deep Purple wool yarn.

Snow Day #2

Well friends, its the second day in a row that inclement weather has shut down North Texas and surrounding areas. Many school districts far and wide have closed their doors so teachers, staff, and students can stay home and be safe. I consider this time to stay home and CREATE!

So, my plan for the day is to do some spinning, dying, knitting and general fiber nerding. To your left is some chunky Valentine's Day yarn I hand-dyed using my trusty crock pot! I really like the way it turned out. With the special technique I have found, I can make OOAK (one-of-a-kind) yarn colorways without using plastic wrap or microwaves. Plastic wrap is like nails down the environmental chalkboard. I avoid using it at all costs. Eventually I want to move on up to a solar cooker. But I don't know how much one of those costs or what is involved. So, I'll have to research.

Stay warm, give yourself a treat, make a fire, and mark your calendar for the Cowtown Indie Bazaar on March 19th at the Will Rogers Memorial Center here in Fort Worth, TX. Until next time! Find me on Ravelry: knittybangetsy

http://dye2spin.etsy.com

http://knittyknittybangbang.etsy.com

Craft Show, Craft Show, La-dee-dah-dee Craft Show.

Wow, have we been away THIS LONG? Really? Well, there have been some good reasons surrounding this extended absence from our blessed blog. A masters degree has been finished (Oct. 2010) and much knitting has commenced.

Janie and I have finally gotten ourselves involved in craft shows. It is quite an experience. Finally WE are the people sitting behind a table-o-stuff saying "How 'ya doin'?" to the passers-by, anticipating an "oooo" or "awwww" as they look at all we have to offer.

We began in September 2010 with the Cowtown Indie Bazaar. This was a wonderful experience for the inexperienced. Everything was organized and simple. Even though I was in charge of organizing the musical performances for the event, Janie and I managaed to meet and greet many potential customers, hand out some "business cards" we had to write on pieces of notebook paper (doh!), and make some sales.

Then we had the Soul's Harbor Community Church craft fair in October which was good exposure and an opportunity to network with other folks.

Then we moved up to the big time and ventured into the Big D. No, not D-I-V-O-R-C-E,

D-A-L-L-A-S. We signed up to be a non-food vendor for the White Rock Local Market. This was such a fun show. It was from 8am-1pm and we did the best we had ever done. We were finally validated for all the work we had done in our own little knitting worlds. Janie and I could say, at last, that we are getting paid for what we love to do.

Isn't that the whole point of life before retirement? In some areas of the world, I'm sure it is.

Come on out to the Catholic Charities of Dallas on November 18th between 6:30pm and 10:00pm to buy some great holiday gifts from vendors promising to make a donation to the church. http://www.catholiccharitiesdallas.org/