down time

Stitches is now a memory, it was a lot of fun.  Now it is time to regroup.  Right after Stitches I had to travel to a meeting ( for my day job) in the mid west, then it was on to Providence to visit number 2 daughter who is in college there.  She is studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and also taking language at Brown University.  I visited her from Friday until Sunday, which is the perfect amount of time.  We were still enjoying each other's company when I left.  As my mom used to say: "Fish and family both go bad after 3 days!"  It was fun going to her studio for the Senior Studio open house, shopping, and having a real casual dinner party for her friends on Saturday night.  They are a great bunch of creative young adults and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them.  No photos though, my daughter hates when I take photos.  Shortly after I returned home, I had to have foot and ankle surgery so now I am off of work and taking it easy with my foot elevated and scooting around on my knee scooter, shown in the photo.
Presently, I am suffering though spinning and dyeing withdrawl.  I miss my wheels, but I have taken out one of the spindles and started working on some beautiful yak and silk natural dyed roving that I have had in my stash for ages.  I am also finishing up some projects,  I finished the seed stitch cowl done in super chunky Twisted Sunshine merino/alpaca/silk, the baby kimono made of handspun and a crazy cowl made out of art yarns.  Photos to follow....

News flash.....I have joined the Phat Fiber crew and will soon be announcing the reopening of my etsy shop and a giveaway contest.  I will also be announcing the winner of the Stitches give away, once I am nimble enough to access the contest info.  Unfortunately, I placed it where I can not access in my present condition. 

.;"*";. Please sign up to be a follower of this blog and you will receive an entry in the yet to be announced contest which will be a fiber give away.  Always feel free to leave comments .;"*";.

STITCHES!!!

Just got back from Stitches and had a blast!  It was fun meeting up with old friends and making new friends.  Speaking of friends, Twisted Sunshine has the best friends ever!  Almost all of the Twisted Sunshine Rays were there.  Tanglebella was at Stitches and in the booth every day.  Karen, Maylene, Brenda, Kristina, Cindy, Maughra, Barbara, Virginia and Gabrielle all helped out.  It was tremendous.  I have a busy week ahead, traveling for my "day" job and then visiting my daughter who is in school in New England.  When I get back I will be reopening and updating my shop and making plans for the spring and summer shows.  In the meantime, here are some photos from the booth:

new logo

business card front 2 email
Originally uploaded by twisted sunshine designs

Check it out, our new logo created by my younger daughter.

Stitches 2011

I have been meaning to post photos of our beautiful fibers that will be featured in our Stitches booth, but time sneaked up on me once again.  Most of our spinning fibers contain silk, this gives the fibers extra sheen, depth of color and just feels real nice. We will have Kundert and Louet spindles, yarns and more.  I hope you can come by and say HI.  We will be in booth 1146 and will have specials running throughout the show.  We will be offering discounts on Thursday nights and drawings that you can enter.  I will bring one of my wheels but probably will not get much spinning time in. In the booth we will have drop spindle demos.  I am excited and a bit nervous, this is one of the biggest yarns shows and is guaranteed to be fun for all.  Ravelry will be there. 

2011 is here!

I have been neglecting the blog, seems to be a theme with me and the blog.  Waiting for something great to write about and then never get around to it.  The holidays were fun, had both of my girls with me and that is always (well maybe not always!) great.  Younger one is back at school to finish her senior year.  Where did the time go?

 On the knitting/ spinning front... Both the Monday and Thursday night groups are back in full swing. A few of us are thinking of starting a Saturday coffee, treat and knit group.  We usually end up talking more than anything else.  I made a shawl that I call my mistake shawl during our talkative knitting time.  I kept on loosing count and then just let the shawl take over.  Every mistake represents a fun conversation and the shawl looks nice, no one notices the mistakes unless they look real close and they don't belong that close to me!

 Last weekend we had a fun outing to a A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland.  They had a book signing with Ysolda and Cookie A.  Ysolda opened up the knitting with a discussion about her patterns.  Her patterns come in a wide variety of sizes, and there is something for everyone.  Cookie A is, of course, known for her sock books.  Here is a picture of my friends with Cookie A and Ysolda------------->

                                                                 And this is me with Ysolda:

Right now I am up to my eyeballs in fiber and dye, getting ready for Stitches West in February.  My passion is silk and silk blends.  Come visit for some of the shiny stuff.  Twisted Sunshine will be in Booth 1146.  Special treats for blog followers and repeat customers.  We have a wonderful selection of hand dyed spinning fibers, yarns and handspun.  We will also have spindles, stitch markers, earrings and project bags.  My friend Karen has challenged me to come up with the perfect red and I have been working on it.  If you see an abundance of red in the booth you know why.  Did have a bit of an accident today, dropped a container of dye powder on the floor of my utility room - what a mess.  Powder everywhere, just missed it getting in the hamper.  I was able to salvage a bit, then I swept up with a scoop I made our of a card, then vacuumed, then mopped, then used rags.  I hope never to do that again.
In addition to the reds I have been experimenting with overdyeing and using black.  I hope to post some pictures this weekend.  Now off to measure out fiber for tomorrow's dying extravaganza

merino apple hill b

merino apple hill b
Originally uploaded by twisted sunshine designs

another view

merino apple hill

merino apple hill
Originally uploaded by twisted sunshine designs

yummy merino ready for spinning or felting