spinderella_nb

Been making felted scarves, felted dreadlocks and felted creatures. 
Experimenting with spinning yarns with feathers lately, inspired by my friend, prolific Halifax artist David King aka Pugcasso

David's artwork is whimsical, yet heartfelt and soulful, full of symbolism, mythology and mystery. His animal paintings will warm your heart and make you smile, while his landscapes draw one in to his worlds of the known and unknown.

Come visit at the Sackville Farmers Market, located at the Bridge St. Cafe,  8 Bridge Street, in the beautiful university town of Sackville, New Brunswick on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon.
See what's new!

Crystalheart Handspun Yarns is on Facebook now -- which is great, cause I can post all the pics I want and I don't have to endure advertising before I can make a post..

This studio blog will be moving to another location shortly.

Saturday Sept. 17 - Doncaster Farm - I'll be demonstating spinning in costume with my latest luscious yarns for sale, wandering the fields of antique farm equipment displays and getting lost in the corn maze as part of Sackville's Fall Fair Agricultural Field Day. Be sure to come into the barn and say hello to me and my fiber friends who will be knitting, rug hooking, quilting and spinning. There is a full schedule of activities, entertaining music, blacksmith and woodsmens demonstrations so bring your family and make a day of it :)

Saturday Sept. 24 - Sackville Farmers Market - Enjoy the crisp morning air, buy some fresh apples and other local produce, and come see me for your knitting and other fibercrafting supplies :)

October 1 - Sackville Farmers Market

October 8 - Sackville Farmers Market

Friday October 14 - Nova Scotia Fiber Arts Festival Zonta Bazaar - located in the historic Tantramar Theater on Victoria Street in Amherst, N.S. More info on Nova Scotia Fiber Arts Festival

Saturday October 15 and Sunday October 16 - Art Across The Marsh Studio Tours -  Join the artists of various disciplines as we open our studios to the public all weekend in the Tantramar -- More info about the participating artists and a Map to studios

Saturday October 22 - Sackville Farmers Market

Friday October 28 & Saturday October 29 - Xmas Crafts at the Curling Club - Get some early holiday shopping done while joining the Tantramar area artisans at the Sackville Curling Club. Enjoy a coffee and dessert while you're there :)

Yesterday we started re-winding and it started to screw up.
I had to leave early afternoon to go to an appointment. Just as well, because I had reached my boiling point.

Walk away from the loom, Dee.


So, this morning my partner-in-crime and I will trade jobs, she can comb the warp, and I will re-wind it.

This little loom has these damn prongs on the back beam which are realllllllyy un-necessary and I totally understand why this woman GAVE ME this loom now, LOL

If I was to go check it out on the maker's website, I bet they don't even sell this model anymore, LOL

When this warp comes off, I am unscrewing the back beam, cutting off the damn windmill prongs with a hacksaw, and filing down the shards of metal until they are un-traceable, LOL -- then I am burying them in the backyard! Mwahhh-hah-hahhhh!
With some salt!

I will require some beer this evening...oh yes....

Parents need to instill confidence in their children so they don't feel the need to put others down in order to feel good about themselves..

Course, if these parents don't have any self-esteem, how can we expect that -- it is a vicious cycle -- rather like child abuse, and spouse abuse -- people who have experienced it are doomed to repeat it

Mental health and self-esteem go a long way in helping these situations.
Trouble is, most people who have these problems don't even realize they are passing it on to their children.

Oh what a fight i had with a loom the last couple of days.
I had bought a 60" wide 4 harness loom from a woman 2 years ago, and she gave me a 15" 4 harness with a huge load of gorgeous pearl cotton already on it. Hadn't done anything with that one yet. So. I
thought, why waste the cotton, I think I'd like to make a set of placemats for
my cousin for a wedding gift ( wedding is next Saturday - in New Hampshire...)
No problem says i. Thread the loom up, all 300 and some threads and set to
it. Only to find out, the damn warp is all out of whack....I weave one placemat, and the edges look
like jigsaws...I am not impressed... So I bring the loom down to the
museum and get my co-worker in on unrolling the warp....the woman must have
put about 50 yards of damn cotton on the thing. "I swear, I'm not wasting this
gorgeous cotton!" sez I...that was on Tuesday...

Wednesday at 5pm, after much fighting, yanking, untangling, pulling, swearing under
my breath..... I cut the last yard off the damn back beam!


Today we will re-wind the warp.

I love weaving. I do.

 Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of joining the Monday Night Knitters group which wool gathers at Starbucks/Chapters Book Store in Dieppe, New Brunswick. What a great bunch of folks! Interesting, happy, pleasant knitting groove -- And 4 men in the group -- awesome!

They welcomed me very warmly and excitedly: "Spinderella!!! We're heard about you!"  We wanted to meet you-- met a man who spins who goes by the name "SpinderFella" --too cute! --  

My friend Jennifer and I were a little limited for time, as we arrived later than I really thought we would,  (and I had to be back home by 9 to do Mommy duty) but we both enjoyed an ice coffee and knitted away, comparing knitting notes, cracking jokes and much merryment was had by all. I really feel like I made some great new fiber friends and plan to join them again when I can. 

All 12 days of it!
This is a repost from 2 years ago, the story is cute, and I'm feeling mischievious this morning :)

 ' Oul' Christmas',
Well then, there was the man and his wife who had a quarrel one-time about keepin the Christmas. The wife said the oul' Christmas was the right day, and the man said it was the new Christmas; so to show that he was master of the house, the man dressed himself and went to church that day;  telling Aggie to 'ave ' broish phidher' (pease porridge) ready for him when he got home. 
Now she was determined to keep the oul' Christmas, and so she went and got her queeyl (spinning-wheel) out- that was the greatest indignity she could put on the day, for the queeyl is always put away at Christmas time..

Well, Lard T'underin, all he found on the stove, when he came back from de service, was a bit o' herrin and some priddas.
He found the wife, sittin at her spinnin -- just showin, that if he was master, then SHE was Mistress ;-)

I look forward to Twelfth Night..... that's the day I can get back at my spinnin'


Hope everyone's having a marvellous Yule/Solstice/Christmas, Hannukah/Kwanza - whatever you celebrate, let you have the peace of doing so :)

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118668481529120&ref=ts
Come & enjoy an "Old Fashioned" Winter Bazaar complete with a cup of hot apple cider & chestnuts roasting on an open fire... Botsford Station, Botsford Street, Downtown Moncton (near the corner of Botsford and Mountain Road)

Several talented crafters will be assembled under 1 roof for 2 days of Christmas shopping bliss!
***Saturday December 4 (8am-6pm)
***Sunday December 5 (10am-5pm)

Among the handmade treasures you'll find:
sewing (aprons, purses, baby items & more), knitting, jewelry, hand-stamped cards & tags, ceramics, photography, as well as tasty baked goods and more!

ME ;-)

Admission is $2/adult (receive a ticket for door prizes with admission)...

Free parking at Botsford Station & the Brown Holder Building...

Well, yes, ok, I haven't made a post since April. Totally going against what I learned in a business course this last spring: if you're going to blog, keep it current.

So, I've had a very busy summer, attending festivals and gallivanting about the provinces and here's what the next two months look like:

Spinderella on Tour, Fall 2010

Sept. 4 Sackville Farmers Market,  Local Food Day & Welcome Back Mount A. Students Corn Boil
Market from 9am - 2:30pm in front of the Bridge St. Cafe at 8 Bridge Street. Outdoor pedestrian market with closed section of the street. Local musicians, vendors of local food and craft, fruits, vegetables, gluten-free & German baked goods, sushi, samosas, sausage on a bun and more

Sept. 11 & 12  New Brunswick Alpaca Show at the FREX
Fredericton Exhibition
demonstrating spinning,  alpaca fiber products for sale

Sept. 18 Sackville Fall Fair -- Doncaster Farm  Main Street, Sackville - An exhibit of traditional crafts of spinning, weaving & rug-hooking and traditional farming methods, including antique farm machinery, blacksmithing, petting zoo, local food, childrens games, pony rides, corn maze.

Sept. 25 Sackville Farmers Market

Oct.  2 Sackville basketmaking workshop

Oct.  9 Sackville Farmers Market

October 15 Nova Scotia Fiber Arts Festival  
participant of Zonta Bazaar, Amherst
Fibre Arts B a Z a a r

I just found out about the coolest thing: a company in England is making insulation batts out of sheepswool. How brilliant! I mean, come on, humans have been using wool to keep them warm since the beginning of time by clothing themselves with it, why not warm our homes with it too?