November is here!

Ahhh!! No Coast Craft-o-Rama is just around the corner. I have been spending all of my free time spinning and dyeing. I can't believe it's already November 9th. I am so excited to be part of an amazing craft art movement here in the Twin Cities. The Saint Paul Craft Mafia is a wealth of information and connections. I just wanted to post a little hello and let you know I'm still here. I purchased a new camera and will post photos soon, I promise.

If you don't know the No Coast Craft-O-Rama is being held at the Midtown Global Market on December 2nd. You can check out the website at www.nocoastcraft.com

Spinning at Crafty Planet

I am so excited to teach my first drop spindle spinning class at Crafty Planet in Minneapolis. It's November 5 & 12th, we are going to learn a lot and have a great time. Sign up now! there are two more spots available.

No Coast Craft-O-Rama is getting closer. I have been spinning and dyeing 2 full days a week and every other minute I get.

Camp Plucky Fluff & Deep Color

Wow! Where do I start? Well, I have been here in Los Gatos, California since Thursday. I drove up to Placerville on Saturday for my class with Lexi Boeger of Plucky Fluff (www.pluckyfluff.com). We spent all day Saturday and Sunday spinning at Boeger Vineyard, it was great! Lexi taught me a lot of really cool techniques. I mostly went to Lexi's class becasue I had fallen into a comfort zone in my spinning, The last 6 skeins I made were all 2 ply and simple. I definetly got shaken out of my comfort zone. I will post some photos when I get back. If you ever get a chance to take a class from Lexi I would definetly recommend it.

Here are a few of the yarns I made:










On Wednesday I drove up to Kensington which is right outside of Berkeley. I had heard of a fiber shop there called Deep Color (www.deepcolorstudio.com). It was a beautiful store. They do alot of their own dyeing with natural and chemical dyes. I got some natural color merino, baby alpaca, baby camel, mohair locks and hand-dyed polwarth.

That brings us to today. I am going to teach my sisters how to knit hats. Which is a great excuse to go to my favorite yarn shop ever, Knitting Arts in Saratoga.

Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival!! Pictures and Fun!

This last weekend my mom and I jumped in the car and headed for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. We started our fun filled weekend with two all day classes on Friday. I took Spinning Medium and Big Yarns and my mom took Natural Dyes. The picture above is of some of the folks in my class. We learned alot from Carol, she is a wonderful teacher.

My mom dyeing in her class.

On Sunday morning I took my second class, Playing with Plying. It was taught by Stefania who was also my mom's natural dyes class teacher. We had a great time and I came away with balanced yarn!

Stefania

This bag of Shetland wool is from Bramble Wool Farm. On the left is my new basket! It's made by Lantern Moon. I definetly think I got the best one.

This pink Corridale is from Stefania. It is dyed with natural dyes and is amazingly soft.

I purchased some boucle from Yarns by Design to dye. I also finally found Fleece Artist roving. I've been looking for this for a little while. The picture definetly doesn't give is justice. It's this wonderful meld of natural greens.

One of my favorite vendors was there Hidden Valley Farm. As always they had they're awesome Coopworth.

I brought back so much good stuff that I couldn't possibly post it all.

Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival

I'm running out the door heading to the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival! Lots of pictures, stories and contacts coming soon!

New Yarns!

This skein is my favorite out of this last batch. I bought hand-dyed roving from Sweet Georgia and absolutely love the color!


I call this one Chocolate Cherries, it's 150 yards. I also bought this roving from Sweet Georgia Yarns.


This one is 196 yards and Merino.


Orangina! I used the very cool technique of Navajo Plying on this one. It is a smaller skein, 72 yards.

I finished my first sock! Now I just have to finish the second one and I'll post a picture.

Socks, Secret Pal 8 & Spinning Jewels

I'm taking a sock class at The Yarnery. I'm so glad that I finally decided to get help from a professional. After quite a few failed attempts it's nice to have a pro to show me. I decided to use Koigu for my first pair of socks. I've never knit with it before and I absolutely love it! I just finished the cuff and ankle, next the heel!


My co-worker Sue made me these amazing rings. They are a set of three that I wear together. They have words all around the bands. DYE, SPIN, TWIST, SPUN, DRAFT & PLY. Sue is a very talented silver-smith and I love how the rings turned out. If you would like some rings for yourself with your own words contact me and I'll pass your info on to Sue.


Thank you to my Secret Pal! I received a great package last week. The blue hat is really cute and fits well. Plus, who doesn't love Cascade 220. Thanks again!

Dyeing in the heat & my studio

Well, it's been hotter then hot here in lovely Minnesota. It's puts a crap on my spinning. It's not very fun to handle wool is this weather. The top picture is of the 12 sock weight skeins I dyed on Monday. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I've been experimenting with my dyes. Adding more or less water to the powder to create different saturations.

The second picture is of my studio. I love my studio. I just bought a new mac and am loving every minute I can play around on it. As you can see it's a small space, but perfect for me!

I almost forgot....I have a website now, www.aishaceliadesigns.com make sure to check it out. One of my favorite pages is the Links and Resources page. I have put some of my most favorite websites.

This monday is another big dyeing day. So, I'll update again soon.

100 Degree Coils!

It's been hitting 100 degrees here in Minnesota, and yes I have been spinning in this horrible heat. I should also add that I do not have an air conditioner! The last time I moved I decided that I didn't need it anymore (what a fool).

Today I grabbed my Handspun Revolution book by Lexi Boeger and decided that it was finally time to try out some of her designs. This one is the Super-Coil on page 51. I can't believe how much yarn it takes up. See, you take a single and thread, you ply about 3 inches then you push the single up towards the orifice. I used maybe 60 yards of left over singles and got 15 yards out of it when I was done. Once I get my Jumbo Flyer for my Ashford Traveller I will be doing this one again!

Craftstravaganza 2006 is done!

Craftstravaganza was great! We arrived in the morning to a relaxed atmosphere, had a cup of Peace Coffee and started to set up. Around 10:30am I did a short live tv interview on our local WCCO morning show. They asked a couple of questions and then had me spin. It was pretty funny! (The pic above is of some knitted samples I had on display to show the yarn in action)

This is a photo that was taken later in the afternoon. As you can see, there's not much left!

This is a pic of Andy (one of the wonderful organizers of the event) and myself. Cheers to all the great people I met and a fantastic day!

Craftstravaganza is here!!

Tomorrow is Craftstravaganza!!! Make sure you are there. Minnesota State Fair Grounds 9am-4pm. There will be 68 crafty vendors, music, food and wookshops. So, get there early.

I will have a huge table full of my crazy yarn. I will also have a selection of hand-dyed yarns. I will be showing a few pieces knit with Aisha Celia Designs yarns. Ahhh!! I am so excited. I can't wait!!

No Coast Craft-o-Rama!

I got in! I got in! I'm so happy to have this awesome oppurtunity. This is a great one day craft sale held in Minneapolis at the brand new Global Market. I went to the event last year and was blown away by the turn out! It was crazy and hard to get around, that's why they moved to a larger venue, I think. So, between Camp Plucky Fluff, Craftstravaganza and No Coast Craft-o-Rama I'll have no problem keeping myself busy. Yeah!
(Click on logo to go to the website.)

Spinning Camp!

Oh, I am so excited! I signed up for Camp Plucky Fluff with Lexi. Yeah!! It's two days of spinning crazy-fun yarns. It's held at her family's vineyard in Placerville, California. I can't wait! It's September 23rd-24th. I don't know if anyone actually reads this, but if you do and you're a spinner you should join us. Check out Camp Plucky Fluff . Here is a picture from the vineyard!

Jumbo Skeins are great!

This is a big one. I purchased a bunch of Merino at the Sheperd's Harvest Festival. I dyed 4 ounces and spun two singles, which then became this 2 ply skein. It's 328 yards! I've never spun a skein with this much yardage before. It took about 1 1/2 days, and a lot of patience.

Hidden Valley Farm and Woolen Mill

Here are two new skeins. I been spinning everyday in preperation for Craftstravaganza. I like how these turned out, I might not be able to part with the dark one. I purchased these fiber at the Sheperd's Harvest Festival from Hidden Valley Farm and Woolen Mill. I enjoyed spinning her beautiful mix of coopworth and silk. I'll be putting in another order very soon!

Saturday Harf

Today was a great Satuday. Besides the fact that it's a 3 day weekend, there was also a sale at one of my favorite local yarn shops. Borealis Yarn Shop is having a 3 day sale, and let me tell you it's dangerous. I went early this morning and got there minutes after the door opened. I have to say I didn't spend as much $ as I was thinking I was going to. I mostly got things for my Secret Pal 8 buddy and a couple of skeins to finish my Harf. But, I'm sure I'll be back before this long weekend is over.

I also got to do a little bit of dyeing today. They are all Merino and each weigh 4 ounces. They turned out great...if I may say so.

I thought since my blog is called Aisha Knits and Spins, I better post one of my knitting projects. I've been working on my Harf for a little while now and I'm almost done. The funny thing is, I'm finishing it on a weekend were the tempeture is 90 degrees! Here is a picture (above). I'm knitting it in Diameito, it's 70% Wool, 30% Alpaca. I used 4 balls and the pattern comes from Spincycle Yarns.

I have the spins!

Here are a couple of new ones. I have kind of been sticking to the basic spinning techniques. I haven't been doing my regular style. But what is "my regular style"? I am working on Navajo Plying. As you can see in the skein with the autumn colors.

Sheperd's Harvest Festival

Today I went to The Sheperd's Harvest Festival!! It was great. My mom and I went and met up with a couple of my friends. We spend 5 lovely hours there today. We saw almost everything. Two barns full of vendors, llama barn and the sheep breed barn. Here's a picture of the stash I got today and a couple pictures of the festival. I'm going back tomorrow for an Intermediate Spinning class. I'll post more about that later.

It's later now and I'm home from my great class. It was taught by Jerry and Loretta Pedersen from Blackberry Hills Farm. I learned how to Navajo ply, spin cotton, flax, mohair and dog hair. Here are a coule of pictures from my class.

Also, here are some of the vendors I really liked: Great Wool, Wool n' Weave Fiber Arts Studio, Riverwinds Farm (715)667-3499 they have great price on Merino, Hidden Valley Farm and Blackberry Hills Farm.

Spincycle Yarns!

This handspun yarn is awesome! I just got my delivery from Spincycle Yarns today and inside was this beautiful yarn. It's 100% Merino, 120 yards and it's called Ishtar. I have been meaning to ordering something from them for awhile. By looking at their very nice website you get a feel for this team of spinners. Here's a quote from they're site: "We hand-dye each batch of fiber to reflect the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. All of the yarn is spun on our foot treadled wheels, as we rock out to music in our studio. We travel to market, shows and sheep/fiber farms in a station wagon powered with bio-diesel, a veggie oil based fuel. For all other missions we ride our vintage cruiser bicycles. We are committed to bringing you funky, fresh yarn, to keeping your knitting original, and to delivering the knitting inspiration!"

I also got the Harf pattern, it's a hood and a scarf. I will post a picture when I'm done with it. The picture of the tattoo was on they're website. The sheep with the pirate patch and knitting needles is they're logo. Thank you Spincycle for my beautiful yarn and very cool pattern!

Secret Pal 8 is almost here! I decided to sign up for this very cool "club". They pair you up with a spoilee and a spoiler. Over 2 1/2 months you spoil a stranger and someone spoils you. Now this is a knitting thing, it's not completely random. I'm excited for it to get going. I have to post the answers to my questionaire so my spoiler can find it.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I love to knit with unique handspun yarns. My favorite wool in the whole world is Malabrigo. I don’t like synthetics.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? My mom made me holders that roll for all of my crochet hooks and knitting needles. She’s awesome!
3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I’ve been knitting since I was a kid. I would say I’m intermediate level.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No, but I should look into that!
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Lavender and Rose Water, but not together.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I do have a little bit of a sweet tooth. I love milk and white chocolate. Mostly I am a salt person.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I knit and spin. Right now I’m really into spinning. I work at a bead store, so I really don’t need any beads. I also like to sew but I haven’t done it in awhile.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like all kinds of music. Right now I have the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in my CD player. I guess I like pop/rock/indie rock.
9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? Colors I like a lot: Turquoise, Olive Green, Fuchsia, Sea foam Green. I’ve also been getting into more natural colors.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I live with my boyfriend and his cat Sophia.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I live in Minnesota so I wear all except for ponchos. Not that I’m against the idea.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Bags, hats, scarves and funky accessories.
13. What are you knitting right now? Flowers
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes!
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I like Straight and circular the same. I like wood and bamboo.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes
17. How did you learn to knit? My mom taught me
18. How old is your oldest UFO? Um..I've been working on a vest for my dad since December:( I keep getting distracted.
19. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving
20. Is there anything that you collect? Drop spindles and yarn, but not on purpose
21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get
your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Geez I’m not sure. I have subscriptions to Spin Off and Vogue Knitting.
22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Cables
23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I am not a sock knitter
24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) July 21st