Shop Local Ohio

Have you been wanting to buy that perfect item that's been sourced and made locally?  Look no further than these lovely items for sale in my Etsy shop!  In this post I want to highlight the items in my shop that are made in Ohio.  I realize that Ohio is a big state, but when you consider buying yarn made in Ohio in comparison to yarn made in Turkey, I'd call that local.

Each of these items are hand-spun by me-- the Woobie. :)  I produced the yarn by spinning it with my drop spindle or on my wheel.  The wool and other fiber was purchased from several different local sellers, and was grown in Ohio.

I chose the fibers for the colors and texture, which created a unique item you will enjoy for a long time.

Currently I have only four Ohio made items in my shop, but I will be adding more in the near future.

1. Crochet Slouchy Hat- Hand-spun
2. Merino/Alpaca Fuzzy Beanie Adult Large
3. Raspberry and Cream Handspun Neckwarmer
4. Hand-spun Merino Cowl

PS. If you live in Columbus, OH you can contact me through my shop for local shipping options as well!

Links, Likes, and Love- SUPERSIZED

Hey friends!  I missed Links, Likes, and Love last week because of the tendinitis in my shoulder.  I thought for today's I would share some EXTRA with you.  These are still all things that I find super awesome and I totally think you should check them all out.

Links- all the links I'm sharing this week are sites that I visit if not daily at least several times a week.  They provide a huge amount of inspiration for me, especially that last few weeks when I haven't been able to craft as much as I'd like to, they've given me things to think about and plan.

• Be Up & Doing- This is my friend Allie's blog.  She covers a huge variety of topics, which is why I love it so much.  My interests are wide and varied as well, and they often overlap with Allie's blog.  She recently has gone full-time freelance and I know she is going to rock it because she is so awesome.
• The Zen of Making- Haley Pierson-Cox is a crafty, granny-glasses wearing, Brooklyn gal with a crush on all things DIY.  And to be honest, I have a huge crafting crush on Haley (she's aware).  She tries her hand at a little bit of everything, and her geek crafts are the best (TARDIS EVERYTHING).  She's awesome on Twitter too.
• Craft- My interest in Craft is highly influenced by Haley, but there is a serious amount of great projects of all shapes and sizes culled from all over the internet.
• Ravelry- Ravelry is an amazing community of knitters, spinners, crocheters, etc.  There is an endless amount of patterns, forums, groups, and users on Ravelry.  I don't use it as often as some people, but is definitely a great source of information that I consult on a very regular basis. 

Likes- 

• I have probably read more in the last 5 weeks, than I did in the last five years.  For a long time I had chronic headaches.  They had a lot of different causes, and one thing that has helped is cutting my dreadlocks and having short hair.  Nothing is squeezing my head anymore at least.  This past week I read Diving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I have become well versed in science fiction television since becoming ill five years ago, but this has been one of my first forays into reading the genre.  Diving Into the Wreck is the first in a series and so far I am loving.  I knew about halfway through the book I was enjoying it, and now I can't wait to read the next in the series.  Bonus points: I'm getting it them from the LIBRARY.  Libraries are so cool.
• Greuyere cheese-  This is my favorite cheese ever.  I think it's important to have a favorite cheese and I love it's rich gooeyness.  I've been eating more than I probably should when I go to Stauf's for lunch I get a turkey, bacon, Greuyere sandwich on gluten free bread.  SO TASTY.

Love

This probably isn't a secret but I LOVE YARN!!  I love the feel, the color, and even the smell of yarn.  Much of my life for the past five years has been surrounded and comforted by yarn.  I wrote on Monday that I am the proud owner of a spinning wheel.  Even before acquiring said wheel I was spinning with a drop spindle.  I'm still setting the twist on yarn from my wheel, but here are some pics of handspun yarn from my drop spindle. 

This is a mixture of Alpaca and Merino wool, I crocheted a pretty great fuzzy beanie with this.

This is Mohair and Romney Wool.  The left skein is two ply and the other two are single ply.

This is Mohair and Romney Wool single ply, one of the favorites I've done so far.

A Wool Gathering 2012

On Saturday I was able to venture towards Yellow Springs, OH to "A Wool Gathering" at Young's Jersey Dairy.  The farm itself was impressive and it would be interesting to see all the activities without an event going on at the grounds.

"AWool Gathering" was a collection of animals, demonstrations, and vendors.  We seem to just miss some sheep sheering as we were arriving.  Although it's not necessarily the time of year for such an activity they appeared to be using one or two sheep for demonstration and sheering just small bits of wool.  There were also some llamas present who tried their absolute hardest to ignore me while I took their picture.

The vendors had a large variety of raw wool, beautifully combed and dyed rovings, and already spun yarn.  Also there was every configuration of spindles and other tools you could ever imagine.  Everyone was very friendly and eager to show you their craft.  My first purchase was a beautifully hand carved crochet hook.  Crocheting being my first crafty love, one can never have too many crochet hooks.

I was waiting till after I had seen all that was available to buy my fiber.  I've been drop spinning for awhile now and I pretty much wanted to buy everything I saw.  I was also looking for a new spindle, when we came across a used wheel for a reasonable price.  The husband surprised me by saying he had prepared for such a thing, and I was able to come home with my very first spinning wheel.

By the time I made it back to the first bunch of fiber I had wanted to buy the particular color was sold out.  I was bummed but consoled myself by getting some great colored merino.  I'll be posting about those separately as I go through the process of learning on my new wheel.

It was a really beautiful day and my health seemed to hold up until I was done shopping.  I think Ryan enjoyed himself as well, even if it was just getting to make me happy by purchasing my spinning wheel.  I hope we can make it a yearly tradition.

Ear Infection Mania

Often when I've been down with a general flare of my chronic conditions or some illness for awhile, I go through a period of time which I can only describe as creative mania.  It happens after I have been unable to do things for many days and I begin to feel a fraction better.  I get ideas about things I want to create and it is impossible for me to sleep or sometimes even rest until I can see my ideas in some tangible form.  This process is often counterproductive as I spend many hours, sometimes staying awake all night, creating. Lack of rest and sleep allows my flare or cold to get worse again.  It's hard to control, but it usually produces some very lovely things.

On January 3rd I woke up not being able to hear out of my right ear.  By the 4th it had started to hurt and was clear that I had an ear infection.   After visiting Urgent Care and starting antibiotics, then visiting a specialist and receiving ear drops the infection still seems to be clinging on.  I go for another specialist appointment tomorrow in hopes of getting some more answers.  

Late one night when the pain in my ear was still unbearable I treated myself by purchasing some wool roving on Etsy.  I found beautifully colored Polwarth roving form Greenwood Fiberworks.  I was so excited when it came in the mail that I wanted to spin it up immediately but I already had another project on my spindle (green and yellow yarn).  So I finished that one, and spun 4oz. of my new wool.  I still have 4oz. left that I'm brainstorming about now.  

After I finished spinning on Sunday night I started (and finished) a great crochet beanie with a cute heart pattern.  There are other things I want to be working on now too, but my body has put a stop to that feeling achy but I am sure I will be back at it in a few days.

Adventures in Spinning

I've certainly become very interested in spinning yarn and the different techniques and fibers that are involved.

I had purchased a skein of hand spun yarn from Three Ravens Art Yarns and Fibers on Etsy.  I made a fabulous dread band for myself that is so soft and holds my hair so well.

I had been talking with Xiane on Twitter so she was aware that I was learning to spin.  She sent me this great art batt with my package.  I don't have the tag on hand but she called it the Corbies art batt and I think it consists of merino wool, bamboo, and firestar.  I had only spun the most basics of fibers before, so this was certainly a challenge, but one I full heartedly took on.

I need to work on my drafting technique and my consistency, but I was extremely pleased how my skein came out.  I forgot to take a picture before I started to ball it, but here is how it turned out.

I really wanted to make something creative and different out of this and came up with a great design for a small phone pouch/clutch/cozy that I think looks incredible.  I don't have a smart phone, but I believe I made it to the dimensions to fit at least an iPhone and I'm sure many other models.  It also should hold some credit cards and your lipgloss.  I think the shiny black buttons I found in my button stash were perfect as well.  It will be for sale in my shop starting April 15th, but if you are interested in it you can contact me before then. :) 

I probably have enough yarn to complete another one but perhaps something slightly smaller. 

Keep in mind you can always make a custom order through the tab at the top.  A request for an order is just the beginning of the creative process and only an inquiry, you are not making any kind of financial commitment by requesting an order.