fiberlicious update!

i've been a bad blogger yet again, but this time i have something to show for it.




update Saturday, 8/23, around 3pm MST. only 2 of each colorway, first come first serve. hope you find something you like. =)

poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

update

here is an update on my lack of updates. must keep it short because typing is difficult. after a month of dealing with doggie and human health problems, i was ready to update last week when my shoulder was somehow injured. my entire right side...arm, wrist, lower back, shoulder...is entirely jacked up. it's not carpel tunnel, as it presents in the 4th and 5th finger and is most likely an ulnar nerve injury possibly combined with brachial plexus injury. who knows. all i know is that it is very difficult to do much of anything with my right arm and i am doing everything in my power to help it heal on it's own. no docs if i can help it. the nearly 16-year-old dog is doing great and in for more blood work today. have to get off the keyboard now. =)

Life restructuring

I haven't been around the blogging world much and I thought it about time I post an entry.

Since my last post I have been busy wrestling with mounds of Cotswold locks, petting goats, and obsessing about camera lenses.

pic of a goat:



I have decided to restructure my life a bit, including my business, and have decided to "officially" do the fiber biz part-time. Part-time can mean anything from one update a month to multiple updates a month. It's basically what I've been doing already, but by declaring it as "part-time" it psychologically alleviates a little stress and enables me to tend to some priorities in my life. And also, it will be more FUN for me this way as I will be able to ride the creative wave rather than force it. Sounds so simple, but this decision has given me a great sense of relief as I am a bit of a perfectionist and feel bad when my updates are late. Phew!

Speaking of updates, planning on having one by the end of the week. (crossing my fingers)

Latest dyeing

So, besides taking care of my vacant dog, I've been getting a little dyeing done. Mostly BFL. Here's a sampling of yesterday's upload to my Etsy store and will be dyeing more today for Saturday's update. BTW, thank you so much for all the well wishes for my dog. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a hard time.

Doggie dementia

At first I thought all the late-night pacing antique-dog was doing was the result of the full moon. But the full moon has now passed and yet her late-night pacing has worsened. All night long, which means mom is up with her aaaaaaall niiiiiight looooong. Panting and pacing, panting and pacing. Does she have to go to the bathroom? No. Does she have to drink some water? No. Does she have to eat? No, but will never deny a biscuit. So last night in my frustration, I got out of bed for the umpeenth time and went to the living room to sit down and call the emergency animal hospital. I was concerned that she might be in some serious pain and maybe that was the reason why she was panting and pacing. But as soon as I sat down to make the call she laid down by my feet and relaxed quietly, ready for a snooze. So, I hung up the phone, waited a few minutes, and tried to sneak back to bed. No sooner had I laid down that the dog was again pacing and panting back and forth and around my bed. I again got up, sat down in a chair, and the panting and pacing ceased. So, maybe this dog is not in serious pain. Maybe she can only sleep when she is right at my feet. If she wasn't 70+ pounds I would have thrown her in bed with me. So, this morning I googled doggie dementia and apparently pacing is a sign. Thankfully, there are meds to treat this. I'll be making an appointment with the doc tomorrow and hoping to get her on some quick. For both our sakes. I'm now running on a cumulative of maybe 20 hours sleep for the last week and that makes for a sad and bitchy mommy. Poor dog. She's now over 15 1/2 years old, which is oooooooold for a Lab. I dread the day when that painful decision will have to be made. Deeply saddens me. Man's/woman's best friend she has been.

First Anniversary and Customer Appreciation SALE, SALE, SALE!!

poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

biffel, biffel, biffel, biffel, biffel!!!

Biffel!!! 20 pounds of biffel on the way to me! I can't wait! It's probably been at least 6 months since I've dyed and spun BFL. Hopefully it will arrive by the middle of next week and I can start dyeing some up for the store (and myself. Ha!)

Also in the mail to me...30 POUNDS of Cotswold locks!!! I think this should keep me busy for a little while.

Update postponed until Sunday, May 11, 5pm MST

Hi Everybody!

I take my photos outside because my lighting equipment needs improving, and it just so happens that we are expecting rain and wind gusts to 50 mph today. =(

So, I'm going to have to push the update back a day. Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny with little wind, so it will be a good picture taking day.

New update time: Sunday, May 11, at 5pm MST

In the meantime, here is my attempt to capture the rest of the roving that will be put up for sale. The picture is pretty poor due to the poor lighting and my inability to stay still for that shutter speed, but it's fairly close.

Thank you for your patience!!

Today's colorways (and Sunday's update)

Here are today's colorways. Well, actually yesterdays that are drying today. I did another batch today which will hopefully be dry in time for Sunday's update. Oh, yeah! Update Sunday, May 11 at 5pm MST. Duh!!!



poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

Fiber update-a-rooney at 4pm MST today

Here is a sampling:



Hope to see you there!!

poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

Store update: Wednesday May 7, 2008 4pm MST

Here's a pic of today's colorways. This batch and yesterday's will be available at my etsy shop, poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com
, tomorrow, May 7 at 4pm MST. All are hand-painted Merino combed top. Approximately 4 ounces each. See you then!

Toilet paper made my morning

It's a great way to start the day when you find toilet paper in your store on sale for $9.99 marked down from $15.99. $6 off!!! Is this really Monday? Aren't Monday's supposed to suck? Not when you get Charmin on the cheap.

After coming home with my huge bundle of TP and after sorting the Corriedale fleece to wash, I had a big DUH moment. My goal is to dye 12 rovings a day, but I usually get overwhelmed trying to think up new colorways. I'm constantly looking around my house, looking at the clothes in my closet, looking at my dogs' collars, to find inspiration for new colorways. Then I thought, "why not just copy my past colorways?". Might sound like the obvious, and I have on occasion done some redux colorways, but this was a huge "Aha!" for me. I feel like a total dork even admitting this because it's so embarrassing. But what a relief!! I no longer have to "force" inspiration or freak out when it's not there. When the inspiration comes I will create new colorways, and when I am not feeling all that inspired I will pull from my old colorways. Phew!! Now I can breath.

Yesterday's colorways drying:

Store update, SALE roving, and some Seacell

I put a few things up in the store today. Some SALE roving, a couple of new colorways, some hand-dyed Seacell and Superwash Merino fiber, and some loose, soft bunny Angora.

And I'm letting go of this one from my personal stash:



Ouch! I'm going to miss it but I need to pay the bills, aka The Pusher man, aka my fiber dealer.  I need my fix!!

Thank you for looking!!

poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

edit:  oooooo!  I just got in a bunch of Corriedale just this moment!!  10 pounds of raw fleece!  Thank you Mr. Postperson!  Soon to be dyed up and carded into batts.  And in the next two weeks I have a LARGE shipment of raw Cotswold locks coming that were just sheared less than 2 weeks ago!!  As soon as they arrive I will dye them up and post them to the store.

May Day snow in Boulder

I haven't been around here so long I forgot my password

I've been busy and not so busy and here's a taste of what I've been up to:



I have several handspun yarns available on my Etsy site, poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com.  Wish I had more energy to expend on this blog, but I'm just spent right now.  Tomorrow is back to the ol' dyepots for me.  I think the break from them has given me some fresh inspiration for new colorways.  Yay!!

A few batts for sale at my shop

Available at poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com

Thanks for looking!! Now back to work...

work more, surf less

haven't been around the blogs or forums lately because i've been up to my elbows in fiber. riding the creative wave, so not much time to play on the net. my apologies for not maintaining my blog nor reading others. bad blogger i am. i've got to ride the creative wave while it's in motion, so i have less time to surf the web. be back when things slow down a bit.

tax time is kicking my butt once again

My tax deadline is tomorrow, and of course I left it to the last minute *AGAIN*. As a result, the items purchased in the last two days are being shipped tomorrow. For those who purchased, I sincerely apologize. Shipping first thing tomorrow by Priority Mail.

After the shipping of packages and taxes, I will be on the batt wagon once again. Received a big shipment of Angelina today and am looking forward to making pretty, sparkley, fibery things tomorrow.

batt update

I thought I had more batts to upload to my Etsy store, but I think it's a fairly small update. Hope to have more to offer by next Monday. Here's a little taste...luxury batts and crazy daisy batts.

My Big Fat roving update

So last night, after rushing around like bunny on speed, I finally updated my Etsy store with some 30+ rovings. I also added some absolutely decadent Superwash Merino/SEACELL batts!!

Here's a sampling of some of the items available at my store...poppyflowerfibers.etsy.com







And then, finally, some Superwash Merino and Seacell batts! This stuff is sooooo soft and the sheen is just right. Love it!!!



Come on by and have a look!

I'm off for the weekend. Going out of town for a brief respite, but will be back in time for a batt update scheduled for Tuesday night.

Cheerio!

~Lisa

lost sleep, lost roving, lost glasses

What a week. A sleeeeeeeeepless week. I am very much not an insomniac, but for the last week I'm lucky if I averaged 2 hours of sleep a night, and when I do get that sleep my mind is so active with vivid dreams that I am unable to rest. I feel like I'm running on empty. Like my eyes are wide open to the point of popping out while my body feels like a dish rag.

Over the weekend, when I had a little more energy than I do now, I rearranged my studio and apparently put some painted roving in a top secret place. I didn't think it was top secret at the time, but now that I need to find it I can't. Roving, roving, where art thou?

Then yesterday, I finally got around to getting my glasses fixed only to lose them by this morning. Sheesh! WTF is going on??? Full moon? Weird planet alignment?? Early onset senility?? So I'm blind as a bat until I find them, which is no easy task considering I can't see anything clearly unless it is 5 inches from my face.

Consequently, my store update will be delayed until I find my glasses and find some sleep. And finding that missing roving would be awesome too.

Latest roving and batts

I'm sorry that I've been out of the loop. I've been a bad blogger and bad blog reader. But I do have some work to show for it. =o)

Spring a Ding Ding. Hand-dyed, hand-blended Luxury Batt in Merino, Baby Alpaca, and Bamboo.





Be Mine. Hand-dyed, hand-blended Luxury Batt in Merino, Baby Alpaca, and sparly Angelina.




Babble. Hand-dyed, hand-blended Luxury Batt in Merino, Baby Alpaca, and Tussah Silk.



Neapolitan. Hand-dyed, hand-blended Luxury Batt in Merino and Bamboo.





Pillowy Goodness. Hand-dyed, hand-blended Luxury Batt in Merino, Bamboo, Baby Alpaca, and sparkly Angelina.



Hand-painted Merino combed top sampling.

I'm gettin my Mojo back! I'm gettin my Mojo back!!! {Happy Dance}

My creativity comes in cycles and tonight I got inspired to make some crazy batts using my Supercarder. I wasn't sure it could be done because the Supercarder has such fine teeth spacing and cards so smoothly, but I was able to do it. And I LOVE the results!!! I'm going to make some more, take some pics tomorrow, and then spin them up before putting them up for sale. Even though they are great to look at, I have to make sure they spin up fabulously!! I won't abandon my Luxury Batts, but I would like to add some Funkadelic batts that produces some funktabulous yarn.

Store update

I posted a teeny tiny update today of some BFL and Superwash Merino roving. These were dyed last week when I had the "blues" but for some unknown reason I used a lot of green. Maybe I was channeling Kermit.

Here are a few pics of some of the rovings I dyed up.



I'm working on getting my batt mojo back. I made one a few days ago that I didn't like and had to stop myself before I wasted any more precious fiber.

I've also got some pretty locks to upload, but my battery charger died and my camera batteries are dead. I have some on order and cannot upload any pics until then. =o(

Other than that, life is rolling right along. Dogs are good. My blues have passed. I'm eating 100% raw vegan once again which helps my mood and helps me to feel happy. Heard my neighbor doing god knows what this morning (I think ya know what I mean) which I'm still trying to shake off. And it's Friday! Yaaaay!

Over and out.

Perdy locks

I dyed some locks last week and am very pleased with the results. They are Cotswold lamb locks, soft and lustrous with a 6" to 8" staple length. Some of them will end up in my shop this week and some of them will end up on my spinning bobbin. I absolutely LOVE them!!! I will definitely be offering more dyed locks in the future on a regular basis.