Altered Visions

Yes IT's a MONDAY!!! With Eye Candy from My Customers!!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday lousy migraine and such so I just wasn't in the mood to mess with my update and blogging either!! :(((

Now I Had a good day at work today though and so I wanted to tell you I dyed up a really nice soft Lincoln fleece yesterday that my dear friend Laura got for me at Rhinebeck and so I will be posting those pics and locks this weekend and of course dyeing more! So come back for pics of those and hopefully batts and such too! I need to get more productive and get more done hopefully but always hard when the weeks are crazy at work and by the weekends I am so tired and am just vegging out! so help me push myself to be more creative ok!! post here and tell me to get off my sorry ole tired butt and get it in gear! I need to dye (ok wash 1st!) lots of wool, make jewelry, knit, spin and make Christmas gifties too!! (see why I am so tired!!) Oh and did I mention the piles of laundry that greet me every time I go to the fun ole basement!! thank goodness there are only 2 of us! yikes!!

 Now since I don't have any pics of my dyed new locks and all I thought I would share some pics of my customers wonderful work!! Both are such wonderful talented artists!! Kelly spins a mean 2 ply yarn from my batts that she actually gets at my sisters shop in CO!! you can see her work here in her etsy shop KIS Designs!! and then there is Jujus Woolies who can turn an ordinary lock of wool into the prettiest hair on a sweet needlefelted little doll she did!! her work is amazing! so give them both some love and check out their shops!! below are pics of Kelly's yarn and also Juju's doll!! how fun to see what my happy dyeing days and drum carding etc can do for others and show off their creative talent!! Sure makes me happy! I hope it does others as well!! enjoy!!

Wow It's November!! Yikes Where did Fall go??

I can't believe it's already Nov and Oct has come and gone, as did Halloween too! I hope you all had fun with your friends and kids!! Since we live out int he sticks we don't get any trick or treaters but did have a small Harvest Party for the kids at school and they had a fun time!!

So now I'm sure that soon the snow will be flying and we will be donning our winter gear!! It's kind of sad to see the leaves all off the trees they look so bare and lonely now!! No frost yet but surely coming along soon! I know that some of you have already had snow (My sister in CO had a bunch just last week) I am busy trying to get all my fleeces washed and dyed up so we can store our hibiscus again for the winter!! we have managed to keep them alive now for 3 years so will see how they do!! Always a challenge!!

Yesterday I washed and dyed up one of my Leicester Longwools my dear friend Laura (Indigonightowl on Rav) picked for me at Rhinebeck!! I am hoping that next year I will be able to go as well and we can meet there!! I have one more fleece from her and also a Lincoln fleece too, then some more Ramboulliet and a couple of others!! I will post pics later as Michael has the camera (mine has since died and am in need of a new one sadly!) so I will post pics and new locks in my etsy shop as well as a couple of bracelets and earrings I made!! so stop back to see pics soon!! I will post the special order necklace I made for a customer's mom and if you love it I can make a similar one as well!! I never make them the same so each will be different!!

I also received my new wheel last Wed, a Majacraft Gem that is simply wonderful and will go with me to my guild meetings and spin in with friends!! Pics of her as well and hopefully a name for her too!!! Guess my next biggie purchase will be a new camera so I don't have to wait for hubby to come home with the camera!!

The remodeling of hubby's room and some of the mess upstairs is coming along and threw out a bunch of stuff and some that shouldn't have but so it goes I guess!! I do have some pics of my near naked trees and the Taj Mahal dog house hubby made for ??? a new dog?? he is thinking maybe spring?? will see I would rather have an indoor dog but with our small house and sooooo much stuff no room to roam in here and well he wants a shepherd and they shed PROFUSELY!!! so we'll see! anyway I have a couple pics of that!! It is sporting a fancy stilt construction, step up and a deck as well!! Too cute I think!

so back soon with new woolie pics and jewelry and shop update!! Check here soon!! ETSY SHOP! & FLICKR!!

Almost forgot one of my sister's customers bought some of my batts and has been making some beautiful yarns and want to share them with you as well!! here are her latest 2!! She's way better at spinning thin plied yarns than I'll ever be!! check for them and her work on her etsy shop KISDESIGNS.

The End of a 3 Day Weekend

Yes we had Fri off and so I got to sleep in for 3 days! It was glorious to say the least!! I did manage to get the laundry nearly all caught up now and even washed and dyed some new Romney locks already posted in My ETSY SHOP!! so take a peek! The fleece is from Fancy a grey Romney owned by Kathy from The Black Sheep here in OH!! super soft and fun!

The weather has been to say the least desirable, so staying in was for sure the thing to do and sleep late! Today it has finally warmed a bit and even bits of sun shining from behind big white fluffy clouds!! At least we missed the snow that went farther east of us and we did manage to have a bit of frost last nite but not bad yet! The weather gurus say a bit warmer this week in the 60's so that beats the 40's and damp, raw, cold we have had!! Must say it was good sleeping weather though to be snuggled under a couple of nice warm blankets and the fire in the furnace smoldering away!! so guess fall is here and surely winter not far behind!!

I do have some more fleeces coming and also some still to wash and dye as well! so stop back to see what I will be doing! I have some yummy mohair fleeces I may actually part with a few ounces!! they are red and champagne color simply wonderful and soft!! also a soft brown Ramboulliet cross I will also be offering some locks of! super soft and springy!! so check back!

The deck is nearly complete and hubby is waiting for the siding and then will side the house as well! I suggested he needed an awning over the deck so we could sit out there when the sun is out full force or a slight rain so will see what he decides on that suggestion!

here are some pics of the locks I added to the shop today!! have a super week more next Sun!!

Good Grief Where Have I Been???

Well lets just say that work has been forever long and tiring and I have little if any energy left at the end of the day to do much of anything!! I had hoped by now things would have settled down but sadly that has not happened!! I have been busy dyeing though and spinning so hope to ship stuff to my LYS's soon this week and some friends as well and my poor sister has been waiting patiently and Sandy dear too so finally have boxes so stuff will get sent out soon! Yippee! need a few more yarns to get a nice order sent to CA shop (Urban Fauna Studio) also need more for LYS here as well so at least I am getting my therapy in!!

Hubby is finishing up his room and his deck addition as well and we did manage to get the south side of the roof done but not before the BIG mess inside to our stairwell happened with the torrential downpours we had so that still needs to be repaired as well! At least there is light at the end of the tunnel now! Hubby excited to get his room done too esp since he has as much stuff hoarded if not more than I do!!! hehehe! so I will post new pics of my locks and the house and of course a "baby" pic! She seems to like the sunbeams in daddy's room now from the sliding glass door!! so till next weekend when I am thankful to have Fri off!! I will post more then! have a great week all!! Lots of pics on FLICKR of course and goodies in my ETSY SHOP!! take a peek!

Sunday's Update, Pics of goings on, Plus Etsy Shop Updated!

Well I am happy to make it thru one week at a time at work and have then some time on the weekends to dye, spin and play with my fiber!! I know I still need to clean the house but that seems to always come last as that is so not my idea of fun or top priority! Especially since hubby has decided to add a new deck to the back of the house right off his office, with sliding glass doors and all!! Looks nice and siding and yes finally a new roof is also in the works!! He had a bit of a surprise when he ripped out the walls to find some huge wasps nests inside the walls (and he thought the buzzing noises were just in his head!!) plus a nice little bees nest all bees wax as well in there!! so after many cans of bug killer later all is quiet and the deck and sides etc are up and getting insulated and sheet rock on the inside soon too!! He plans to do one for me as well but told him next year was fine, as you all know and have seen pics of my little room the amount of "stuff" in there is scary soooooooo would have to take that all out and cover everything (unlike my hubby's idea of letting the dust fly and land where it may) in here that is NOT a good idea!! So maybe for spring that will be a new project for him! we'll see!! sooooooo that is why cleaning has taken a second seat in what I do on the weekends till that is all done!!

Now I did get a pretty Cotswold fleece and 2 Rambouillet fleeces from Elizabeth from the FIBERSMYTH and have dyed up 1/2 already and posted some in my ETSY shop just now!! so of course lots of pics on flickr of the locks and also some beautiful yarns spun by Kelly from KIS Designs who bought some batts from my sisters' shop in Loveland, Woolen Treasures! stop by Kelly's shop and my flickr to see the finished yarns and can get more fiber and batts from my sisters shop as well! I am sending new goodies out next week so stop by to see!! My Flickr link is here and ETSY so take a peek at all the new stuff and some I will add pics of below of course!! I have some new yarns spun up and will post soon as they are dry and new batts too! All depends on work! I may not get them added till next weekend will see!! So have a great week, we are supposed to get nasty storms and winds coming in tomorrow so I will be staying in for sure and spinning in the evenings after work!! We're hoping for a nice fall with some sun and no furnace yet for a while so we'll see how that thought goes as the high by Tues is in the 50's!! Trees are changing colors too so fall is here! 
new cotswold locks below

 Kelly's yarns below!

The back of our house! siding next and roof!

there were 2 big wasp nests and can see the bees nest (or comb??) too!

I'm Here! It's Sunday and I did an UPdate FINALLY

Well finally have got time oh and energy to update my poor neglected blog!! Last weekend we were over at Jurgen's and Lorrie's for Miss Ella's BD and of course we had tons of fun and YES I did take the camera and actually DID take pics!! which are already on flickr since last week!! yeah I know forgot to mention it till now!!  Work has been totally consuming and exhausting so no energy left when I get home and the days seem forever long so I'm still hoping they will get a bit better and less stressful or I guess less tiring stress isn't horrible every day just off and on at times so not bad really just tired mainly!!

Now I did manage a very nice update in my ETSY SHOP today even if I do say so myself!! I have new yarns, locks and batts posted! so hope you'll all take a look at all the bunches of pics I posted and my friend Laura recommended I should organize them into sets which I will also try to do one day here when I actually remember to do it as I am uploading which takes FOREVER!! so anyway I will post a few here and then you'll have to peek at etsy too and see what all of the pics look like! plus all the fun ones from last Sat the12th too!! hope you all have a super week I plan to be drum carding and spinning all week need to do more batts for my sister's yarn shop in CO and yarns for my 2 LYS's as well!! so have fun all!

HERE I AM!!! Really!! I am alive and kicking!

Some days higher than others and then there are days I'm at a slow crawl it seems ever since school and my new job started! I am exhausted to say the least! Slowly but surely I am getting into somewhat of a routine!, but good grief getting up at the Butt Crack of Dawn sucks to put it mildly!! I have to be at work by 7AM which is a 30 min (on a good day!!) drive 1st! then leave at 3PM so yeah I know not horrible but come on I'm old remember and old people get tired easier! Plus have 6 boys now in the class!! gets a bit interesting at times!! Sure can't say we're not busy!!

Now I have managed to do a bunch of spinning though and all heading now to my LYS (finally!!) and some on my etsy shop and also have some awesome super long Lincoln locks that was a gray fleece that I overdyed in really fun rich colors!! plus some awesome Romney coming next also grey! I have lots more super soft Romney too from my buddy Sandy at the Homestead Wool and Gift Farm that I have washed and dyed up in some fun colors as well! so stop in my etsy shop and take a peek I hope to have it all posted by Thurs nite!!

I completed a fun custom spin with super soft and wonderful Coopworth locks and it is corespun and then auto-wrapped with a metallic thread with 100 little beads strung on as well! I am so pleased with the end result so hoping it is well received too!!

Almost forgot the best part so far too is my new Wheel I just got from Spinolution the new Mach 2!! I love it it spins so nice and easy!! thanks to my friend Janice for doing all the work for me!! She really is wonderful to work with and I am so happy I was able to get the wheel and am enjoying it immensely!! If you need any info just contact her thru her shop on etsy linked above thru her name!! she is wonderful to work with!! I will post a pic of my wheel and some yarns below! A lot of fun and ease to spin on!!

well more coming soon so stop back again and see what's going on! Have a birthday party to go to for our one GD Ella she'll be 6 this Sunday so looking forward to some fun there!! and maybe even pics!!! (yes I know I have to remember the camera!!!) so stay tuned for more updates a bit sooner this time ok!!

2 new yarns spun on my Mach 2!! have 2 more done as well but no pics yet!

yarn spun for custom order with beads way prettier in person!

My New Baby!! ? no name yet!? soon!

new Lincoln Locks

new batt more on the way!

more Lincoln locks!

SORRY To HAVE BEEN LOST!! But NOW I'm FOUND!

Well sorry I have been a bit MIA here! I have been busy and trying to be productive and not so sad to realize that summer is over ....well for me anyway!! Tomorrow it's back to the "real" job and then the kids start Tues so no lag time there at all!! I am hoping all the mess is ironed out and the year won't be as crazy as I am expecting! so maybe if I expect the worst it really won't be!! Ok I will keep saying that!!

I did manage to do a lot of dyeing and also have been drum carding so have a sale in my shop that actually will end today and then hope to have all these goodies ready to add into the shop by this next weekend!! have new yarns going out to Chardon,OH to Knitting On The Square and hopefully some new ones to Avon to Birds of a Feather too! working on a custom spin for a gal that I want to finish this week as well! so as long as I can keep my head above water things should go ok right!

So I have tons of pics on my flickr please take a peek! I hope you have all had a super summer and are also ready for your youngsters to head to school so you have some peace and quiet too right!! My poor garden has taken a beating with the wild winds here and my poor tomatoes are laid out flat now but still finally producing had a fab salad with them and feta cheese, olive oil, and red wine vinegar and lots of garlic!! yummy! even had 2 last cukes left to add in as well!! so I hope to post again this coming weekend and new stuff for the shop!! hope you all have a great week and stay tuned for more fun stuff! here are a few pics and my etsy shop link too!!
tomatoes partially down before the big wind and rain and now totally flat out!! still going good though!! yummy tomatoes!!
  my new Lincoln locks 10-12" long! grey overdyed fleece

 

just a couple of batts for etsy update next weekend

the start of my WBTYL cowl in the Ravelry KAL need to spin more yarn though I am way short! but like this so far!!

Sorry No Update Today but coming Soon! I Do have Yarn Pics!!

Well it was and has been the nicest summer since I moved here 15 years ago now and well today as my dear hubby announced this morning is the real 1st day of summer!!! Yup we hit the 90's and soupy, hot, sticky humidity and heat index above 100 all day and is still 83 at 9:30 PM!! yucky!!

anyway not a fun day and another on the way tomorrow but then cooler again for Tues so hoping we'll be back to some of the nicer temps again!! I got a not so happy news last week Wed as I was called and told my job is now at a different school and a whole new class of children and a brand new teacher too! So no more working with the little boy I had soooooooo anyway I was NOT happy so decided to make my self happy and had a pity party day and bought some books on Amazon and some fiber batts I wanted and then to top off my day I bought a new wheel too! A Spinolution Bee she should be here Thurs so more pics of course then!! decided since I had sold my little Louet S90 and had saved the $$ and had some good etsy sales I used that $$ and went ahead and got her so we'll see how it works and all soon! so stay tuned!

so now just some yarn pics of my yarn I spun during my visit with Dawn,Joanne and Donna in Ashland a couple of weeks ago and also when went to visit my friend Lynne from 7 Yaks! so here are the 2 skeins together they will I think be knit with the KAL on Rawfish's group on Ravelry we are doing the Snuggle from the book Intertwined!! so here are a couple of pics of the yarns and hope to knit soon but has to cool down 1st! more here on flickr!

New Bracelet.. Fiber Pics To Share.. New Yarn Pics

Well I thought I would share some pics that my customers/friends have created with some of my locks and with my batts!! 

First Lynn spins up some mean Lash/lock yarns with lots of my curly locks!! They are so beautiful and look just yummy!! Below are a few of her pics!! and my friend Molly also can felt up some lovely things with my batts her creations are amazing!!The cuffs are made by her! Both gals sure are awesome thanks so much for sharing the pics with me and hope you'll all take a peek at their shops!!

I have also added a new bracelet to my shop as well can take a peek at that and all my fiber goodies there in my ETSY SHOP as well! also some new yarn pics still need washing but they are fun! stop back soon will post more when I can!!



Molly's cuffs aren't they amazing!!

fabulous lash/lock yarns by Lynn!! love them!

Look New Fiber Pics!!

Well I have been dyeing up some more fun Lincoln locks! The last of my fleece from Kathy of Black Sheep farms here in southern OH!! I also made another fun bracelet that I listed on Etsy and has sold so will be making more soon! so stop in my  etsy shop to see all the fun new locks and batts too! have new ones coming in there as soon as I can get some better pics since a wee bit cloudy!! The clouds were a good thing though we finally got some MUCH needed rain our grass was crunchy and the veggies needed it badly as well as the big garden too!! so go to flickr can see all the pics there of my garden and all!!

Here are some pics to show you I have been busy!!!

WOW 2 POSTS in One Week!! Scared of that!!

Well just wanted to update you all on the fact I actually did update my shop and added some fun fibers and one small roving I dyed too so stop on over to see all my goodies in my ETSY SHOP!! I am planning on adding batts tomorrow so stop in for that too!! hehehe! here are some pics will try for garden pics next! We are having an odd but VERY welcome cool spell and I just LOVE it hate the heat and the humidity so this is fab!! was 71 yesterday (oh and VERY low humidity too!!) and we haven't gone above 64 in the house yet all day!! so yippee for me!
ok here are pics!

Happy, Sad and Also Productive!!

Well I was quite happy Monday when my dear BFF Sally showed up to visit me for a few days and we had such a great time!! Well I always have a great time when Sally comes!! She is always a ball of fire and full of energy and lots of inspiration too! She loves to be busy and creative and I need to learn to harness some of that energy and make myself even half as productive as she is!! So thanks dear buddy it was great fun and sure was sad to see her go on Wed afternoon as we were still at the bead shop buying yet more beads to make more bracelets!! hehehe!
I had a major migraine by Tues all day then and Wed too but that didn't stop the fun! we started Tues with a fun trip up to Oberlin to meet our other BF's Lou and Darlene where we did some bead shopping and ate at our fav Thai restaurant!! Then Sally and I finished with a wooden and felted bead bracelet before we headed to my guild meeting where upon we of course had more fun and started and made some fun pins too!! Wed did some spinning while Sally knit some more and then we again headed to the bead shop before she left and I was SAD!! I did have a really fun time and needed all day yesterday to re-coop and get over the still lingering migraine! (I did do some laundry though!! oh joy!) So today I did wash and dye some more wool, made a new bracelet that I just listed on etsy and even did some cleaning too! felt better and more productive and I think I am even caught up online now finally too with messages and all! so I will leave you with some pics of my bracelets and pin and wool pics tomorrow! I will be washing and dyeing more as well as drum carding too! I may even make another bracelet!! they are quite fun to do! oh will also get garden pics as well! things are growing like mad!
so check out my ETSY SHOP and flickr for lots of pics!! will have to get pics of Sally's stuff I am sure she will post them on her blog!!
oh and new yarn I'm spinning for TDF too!

HERE I AMM!! LOTS of Pics and Spinning Going On!!

Well have been busy and having some summer fun!! So sorry I haven't posted it all here but I really have been doing stuff and I was planning on a shop update but haven't gotten around to that yet and I may not till after my buddy Sally goes home!! she gets here tomorrow and here till Wed so we plan to do it up those days and LONG nites getting to hang out and just have some fun!! Have missed her now that she is in FL a bit of a drive for a long weekend sad to say!! so this will be fun!!
I did get to do lunch with some of my buddies from work last week and even got my hair cut too! then Sat (yesterday)  I went to my friend Beth's house and several of the gals from the guild and my friend Lynne (7Yaks) came too!! we got to do a natural dye day and spin!! we had our usual hot and humid weather of course but not as bad as last year thank goodness!! and then we got some wild winds and storms roar thru with tons of lightening and thunder and those pots kept right on cooking on the grill! we had fun!! I do have a pic of my finished skeins we did!! I enjoy doing it with the girls but way too much work I think to do here at home to get the mortants ready and then have to soak the wool skeins or fiber then put them in the dye baths for a bit too! I will stick with the quick one shot deal of the acid dyes but sure admire and enjoy the work involved in natural dyes!! I also like the softer colors!! I will have to decide what to make with my yarns?? Maybe a new felted bag??
I have also joined in on Ravelry the Tour De Fleece gals on Rawfish's group and am having a blast spinning nearly every day!! (did miss a couple and will while Sally is here) but the motivation and fun joining in with the group is great!! Laila (AKA Rawfish) our Captain is wonderful and so inspirational and everyone in the group is fabulous!! Lots of great eye candy so get over and take a look at all the fun art yarns everyone is showing off!! here are mine so far!! I will post more at the end of the week and stuff while Sally is here too I'm sure!! so have a great week we are enjoying some decent weather now and love the cooler dry days!! hope it stays this way all summer!!! (I know I live in OH wishful thinking right!!) but a gal can have her dreams ya know!! that one is mine!! I love that I have gotten 3 days to spin outside! that is great! with that here are pics and I am off to spin then!!
Oh I do have LOTS of goodies in my ETSY shop and Spindies shop (Altered Visions) too so stop in for fiber goodies!! TONS of pics in Flickr of all the goings on too!!

Better Late Than Never! Wool Fest,Spindies and more!

Well lets start with the fun time I had at Wool Fest with my friend and soon to be spinner extraordinaire  Lynne! I did take pics of the grounds but my camera has been going on the fritz but will post them to flickr anyway! The Wool Fest was at Lake Farmpark out in Kirtland OH a part of the metro parks! It was a wonderful place and the weather was simply perfect!! Lynne and I had a blast fondling all the beautiful fibers and of course I had to come home with some (sorry no pics but I will take some yet!!) They also had a great rug hooking group their and lots of fab pieces on display as well as classes (next year taking some of those!) the needle felting class was fab with lovely pieces being created! so was a perfect day and even perfect weather! Lots of beautiful knitted, woven, felted etc all on display! Beautiful work!

I have also updated my Spindies shop with some new fibers take a peek and check out all the shops there! There are some amazing shops with lots of fiber goodies to be had!! I am also adding new locks and batts to ETSY The locks today and the batts tomorrow! So stop and take a peek!! I diz'd a new roving off the drum carder today that is quite lovely! I plan to get the pics tomorrow and add that to my Etsy shop! really like doing them so more in the forecast!!

My garden is doing well except something keeps eating my cucumber plants leaves!!!??? so told hubby to be on the lookout for the little bugger!! not sure why the leaves and have been adding LOTS of Red pepper to the leaves but seems to not mind that much!! yikes! I will get pics I hope tomorrow it has been cloudy and quite dreary but still no rain!! we need it now because the gardens are dry!! maybe still tonite or tomorrow?? and so with that I think that is about all for now!!

Tomorrow is my dad's BD so will give him a holler and wish him a big happy day!! will also be washing and dyeing more wool as well tomorrow so watch for new goodies to show up!check out Flickr for lots of pics and here are a few of Lake Farmpark and fiber pics of course!! I also wanted to post a beautiful pic from one of my customers of a wonderful Tam she knitted! She spun one of my batts and then knitted the Tam! It's just wonderful! Thanks Ramifications!!