Funny lookin bunch...

Well here are some pictures of the defluffed alpacas. They are all legs and necks. It's awesome and it makes me chuckle over my morning coffee every day. Fluffy is the most curious one. If there is a head in the immediate foreground, chances are its Fluffy.

Group shot! Got four out of five. On the left is Chantal, then MacFluff, then Airo, and Thunder behind him.



Oh Fluffy. MacFluff. He's all like "mmmchop?


"mmmmmmchopchop?"



This one below is Honey. She stands so dainty compared to the others. We are currently unsure as to her pregnancy. Apparently she has fooled the previous owners every time. Last time the lady had just mentioned to her husband that they should do a preg check on her cause she couldn't feel a baby in her belly, and the next day she popped out a little cria. So we are going to be prepared for it. She'll be due near the end of June.



And my silly muttski just can't stand it when I pay too much attention to the Alpacas, so today when I was taking the photos he made a big fuss, whining and groaning and showing me his belly, until I finally gave him some TLC.



Here is a shot of the juice mix dye work that I got up to after shearing last week. I like it because its quick and easy. I purposefully made the dyes weaker so that I could get some baby colors. Remember, I am gonna be an auntie in November!



Also, I got two books in the mail from Amazon the other day. One of them is about start to finish spinning, and I have already gleaned a ton of info out of it, just from scanning the pages. For instance I found out that I can use some local plant life as blending fibre, like cattail fluff, and thistle down. I CAN'T wait to collect some! I think I'll have to wait until fall for both.

Okay well that's it for now! Scroll down to see my tapestry cartoons...
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Tapestry Cartoons...

Okay, these are some rough ideas for a series of tapestries I'd like to weave up over next winter. I want to purchase the wool for them bulk and dye the colors myself so that I have total control over all the gradations. I hinted the areas that will be done in opalescent and pearl pinks using a marker, and the rest of the images I want to weave in a cool grey scale (one that leans hard to blue). Like I said they are still rough concepts. I am already thinking of refining a couple of them, and I have several more ideas brewing as well, but I wanted to post them so that sarakat, keems and nomers could see what I have been talking about in Afrodiary.

This is the first design I drew. I had been looking at a lot of medieval tapestries and paintings...


Anyways, I would love any reactions/interpretations/feelings if anyone wants to leave a note.




I had fun with these. I am still having fun. Many many more ideas are materializing(pun intended :P). They would also lend themselves well to my pen and ink freakiness. I think I will put together an Art Zine from the ones I don't use as cartoons. Then I can have those available at the show as well.



Yes.
Don't ask. Just wonder.




And this one is loaded...



Okay sounding boards...
Gimme an earful?
Love n such,
JQ

Double weave!

lalalaLOOMS!
*happy dance*

So while I was at the Creative stitches conference, hovering around the Edmonton Weaver's Guild booth, communicating with the gals who speak my language, one of these super awesome ladies let me know that she had this extra loom at her house and would be happy to give it to me if I could come and pick it up. WOW! I was pretty speechless! How fantastic is she? Let's just say I haven't stopped hugging her in my thoughts! And as if one 45", four harness, Leclerc Jack loom wasn't enough...she had a second loom she wanted to give me that was identical except in a 60" width! The second loom has been damaged by some sort of acid, and it looks like I may have to replace a couple of the harnesses and a few bits of hardware, but the rest of it is in fine shape. I am SO excited! I squeal with delight! WEEE!




Here are some shots of the looms. The 60" one is disassembled and will go into storage for now until we have the space to set it up and the moola to fix it. The 45" is already put together and I hope to weave up a baby blanket as my first project. For anyone who cruises through here who knows my baby brother...he is gonna be a daddy!


This is the damaged portion of the loom. It makes me cringe a bit. All the hardware down the center of the loom is rusted so the spring mechanisms don't function anymore. *Le sigh*. But it is fixable. And the rest of the loom is in ship shape.


Okay. In other news I did manage to finish spinning up that Merino Silk blend from the stitches conference. I spun it in a fairly fine two ply. Sorry I am only just learning about twists and wraps per inch. All I know is that the first skein plied together looser than the second, and that it is soft and beautiful.





And the mini granny square madness below is a mushroom blanket I am crocheting for my brother's baby. each granny square will correspond with a square on the graph paper. Oh the ends. I hate ends. Why am I doing this? BECAUSE IT IS SO COOL.



That's my story and I am sticking to it!
Hearts off the charts!
JQ