Tag: Art Fire

More Hand Painted Yarns and Rovings for the shop!

Posted on by Melisa
Autumn 1

I am happy to post the last 5 of the 10 new items in the shop.  This first one is Autumn 1.  In the Autumn dye pot, I had two rovings of Cheviot wool.  They are both very different and still work well together.  Amazes me how they dye takes differently in the same dye pot.

These rovings and yarns are available for sale in the shop and you can always check on the Alba Ranch Face Book Page for more photos and updates.

Autumn 2

 

The Second treat of the day is Autumn 2.   It is the second roving that was in the Autumn dye pot.  They are very different but do work together with those lovely colors.  Autumn 2 has more of the orange and rust colors than Autumn 1 has.

Sunshine and Grass 1

 

 

Sunshine and Grass 1 is a 2 ply spider thin lace weight hand painted and hand dyed 100% Angora Rabbit skein of yarn.  In the Sunshine and Grass dye pot, I had 3 skeins of yarn that were various types of wool.  It was interesting to see how the various types of yarn took the dye.  The Angora seemed to really like the color.

Sunshine and Grass 2

 

Sunshine and Grass 2 is a hand painted and hand dyed 100% merino 3 ply sport weight skein of yarn.  This is 1 of 3 in the dye lot.  This merino is home grown on Alba Ranch and is from White Mama the Merino ewe.

 

Sunshine and Grass 3

Sunshine and Grass 3 is a hand painted and hand dyed spider thin lace weight 100% Angora Rabbit skein of yarn.  This is the last of the new dyed fibers to the shop for now.  I did dye 10 more skeins of Angora yarn which were drying last night.  I think I may be using some of those in some projects so not sure on which to list as of yet.  Stayed tuned for more to come!

New Rovings and Yarn in the Shop

Posted on by Melisa

I have been hand painting rovings, yarns and scrape book samples.  If the cat gets too close, she may be hand painted as well.

Last night, I had to put my spatula down and force myself to back away from the dye pot.  I have been losing days doing this and nothing else has been getting done.

Indian Summer 1

 

Indian Summer 1 was in the dye pot all on its own and you can see even more photos in the album on the Alba Ranch Face Book page.

Rainbow 1

 

 

The Rainbow dye pot had 3 separate rovings in it.  I will include a photo of each as although they were in the same dye pot, they are NOT the same.  Each is for sale in the shop and more photos can be seen on the Alba Ranch Face book page.

Rainbow 2
Rainbow 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall 1

 

I also listed the Fall 1 series.  This is 7 skeins of merino mohair blend from my own critters that I hand painted using Greener Shades dyes.  Again, same dye lot with each skein being different and still working well together.  What a variety of colors in the same dye pot.  I was so fascinated by the process and about giddy with excitement to take the lid off and see how the colors came together each time.

This is only half of the items that are photographed and dried.  I will try to get the rest up in the next day or two.  In the mean time, I have 10 more skeins of 100% Angora Rabbit that are drying and those will be added later as well.

All of the photos for the various dye lots can be seen in the Alba Ranch Face Book Page and are for sale in the shop.

Redesigning Looks for New ArtFire and New Alba Ranch

Posted on by Melisa

ArtFire.com has been redesigning its studio look.  Having gone live recently there is a buzz and a stir going on.  Some folks love the new look, some hate it.  Some like me are working with it and have got it tweaked enough to like it and happy enough in the interim to wait for the bugs to work out.  The Look is really growing on me.  The Bugs working out have been handled with concern and timely, so I am happy to wait and see how things settle out.

There has been so much change, I thought on a personal note to add in my own change as well.  I have been redesigning the blog, migrating over all the old static web pages, and getting my photo galleries moved over, fleshed out and updated.  The photo gallery part is still the last bit left to do and is in progress.  I don’t like change all that much but since one of my new goals is to “easily flow with new experiences, new directions and new changes” I decided what the heck?  Throw my entire web page, domain and blog into the blender of change as well.

What do you think?  both of the web blog pages here and the online shop with Artfire. Leave your comments below and tell me your thoughts and suggestions.

ArtPrize entries are almost complete!

Posted on by Melisa
Bits and Bobs drying on the mannie

My ArtPrize Entry is almost completed. I am working on the last few bits, but here is a photo of the main piece when it was drying on the Mannie in the garden and still wet.

The jacket has 6 woven panels 20 in wide by 30 in long hot off the loom. I crocheted the panels together to make the jacket and fulled it to tighten all the weaves and crochet. It is made up of all the “Bits and Bobs” that I get of yummy fiber here and there for various parties, spinfests, rock days, distaff days ect. I would say the bulk of the yarn, hand spun by me, is merino and angora. I love my bunnies!! I have a bag that is also woven mostly from alpaca, merino and angora that will be part of this as well. I am currently working on spinning the merino wool to make a skirt to match. I am not certain if this will be completed for the contest but I am hoping it will be and also for the 9th Annual Wearable Fashion Show and Boutique for the Heart of Colorado Fiber Guild in October. I would like to enter the complete outfit in both shows.

Charlie has been hard at work on his entry for ArtPrize as well. You can see a lot more details of his entry on his own web blog, but I have included a lovely shot of the four panels hung more or less how they will be for the show.

A Year in a Day

Charlie’s entry is called A Year in a Day.

What do you think of the entries so far?