Saturday, April 13, 2013

Wild and Wooly Wall Hanging


I will be teaching this workshop on May 4, at the Fiber Dance Festival in Jullian.  
It's a wonderful free form design, using raw fleece as a base.


Thursday, April 4, 2013

Jumbo Ball Winder

Something special for all of you frustrated by those plastic clamp-on ball winders.  You know the ones that come loose and fly off the table when the going gets tough.  I present the Jumbo Ball Winder from Strauch.  Don't you just love when things work the way they are supposed to?  This winder is a dream to operate. To make things even better,  I have borrowed an idea I saw a few years ago at Art Fibers in San Francisco,  for a sturdy core to wind my yarn on.


Clamps securely onto a flat surface


I purchased foam plumbing pipe insulation in 8' lengths from the hardware store.
I cut the foam in 4 "pieces, which slide easily over the large center dowel of the winder.
 To start, I push the yarn into the seam of the foam and let it hang out the top edge


The yarn winds beautifully onto the foam core.


I tuck the end into the other end of the seam which gives me 
a ball that can be pulled from the center or the end.  
This is fantastic for knitting, plying and casting on knitting stitches.  
a work horse that turns out fantastic art batts.  
So I knew this ball winder would be a winner!