Now I know....

Now I know what that baby alpaca/merino blend is meant to be. It will be a chemo cap for my husband's friend's little boy, Mac. Mac has a brain tumor, and has undergone his first round of chemo this past weekend.

Just before finishing:

And washed and dried and ready for Mac:

Let's all keep our fingers crossed for Mac!

What's On The Bobbin?

I know, too long, too long. Since acquiring Amelia, I do a lot more spinning than blogging, or e-mailing, or any of that other crud.

What's on the bobbin today? A baby alpaca and superfine merino blend from Natchwoolie. This stuff is so soft, so scrumptious, I don't want to stop spinning. The only thing that could be better than spinning this is knitting with it. Or maybe just petting it and calling it George, I'm not sure....

I'll post a pic as soon as I get it plied and dried. This stuff is going to be maaaaaahhhvelous, dahlingk.


PS--It came out so floofy and soft...I can't wait for some decent light to really show off the glints and highlights in this fibre. It's gorgeous. Hmmmm.....mittens sound good for this. That way I get to look at it while I wear it. Can't do that with a hat.

Amelia, my brand-new antique wheel!

A couple of weeks ago, the wonderful Alice and Jeff from Virgina brought my long-fostered wheel up to New England with them for me (thank you, the wonderful Alice and Jeff!). This wheel is just beautiful, and with a little cleaning up, some boiled linseed oil to spruce her back up, and some new hooks, she spins beautifully. I'll be replacing the leathers next week (or as soon as the leather arrives from Brettuns Village up in Maine).

Here are some pics of the little vixen:

 

UPDATE 7/5/11
The leather came in today from Brettuns, and I managed to make new leathers for Amelia without hurting myself. Took a little bit of trial and error, but she's all lubed up and spinning again.

I'm having a lot of fun with this one!

And then there was LIP BALM!

I'm so excited! I've been working on lip balm recipes for a couple of months now, and I am pleased to announce that I have added all-natural, mostly-organic beeswax and cocoa butter lip balms to my Etsy shop. Take a look:

There's the freshly-poured and cooling down Protective formula

And all cooled down with labels on

And here is the Light Shimmer formula--this is nice stuff. Just a hint of color and shimmer, with all the conditioning and protective qualities of the untinted

They are all very simple, clean formulas, with just a few ingredients: Beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, and vitamin E oil. I have ridiculous allergies, so less is better in my book. There's nothing unpronounceable, nothing you'd need a chemistry degree and special licenses to get hold of...just pure, simple ingredients to pamper your lips.

And don't forget, if you want to get a discount on your order at my Etsy store, follow me here or become a member. Instant 5% discount!

Promotion Time!

If you become a member of my blog, I'll send you a discount code for 5% off your order at my Etsy store: www.dyedbydeb.etsy.com

So go on over, take a look around, and get a 5% discount just for signing up here. Pretty easy.

You'll find punta wool yarns in singles and navajo plies, punta wool top, and whatever else I'm in the mood to make. Pretty soon there'll be lip balms and spinner's hand balms, too. There's even a Duds and Rejects section for perfectly usable, lovely stuff that didn't turn out exactly as planned, so lucky you gets a discount!

What's on the Bobbin?

Today I'm spinning a silk-merino blend as skinny as I can! It seems to be taking forever, but I think it'll be lovely when finished. I'm going to Navajo ply it, so we'll have a shiny, lustrous, soft, 3-ply yarn when I'm done.

I also have a bluesey punta wool resting in the lazy kate before I ply it. I'll be trying something new with this one...I'll let you know how it turns out!