sweetgeorgia

Hummingbird: August 2010 Club

the fibre //
Merino Bamboo Silk. 50% fine merino wool, 25% bamboo, 25% tussah silk. An exquisite blend of merino, bamboo and silk makes this spinning fibre lustrous, elegant and warm.

the yarn //
Tough Love Sock. Our most popular blend of 80% Superwash Merino and 20% nylon for a hardwearing sock yarn that can by dyed in brilliantly vibrant colours.

the colourway & inspiration //
“Hummingbirds” is a collection of my favoured colours, combined in a way that doesn’t create odd contrasts or jarring transitions. Hot magenta and lime, with deep blues and violets. Had the magenta and lime been placed side-by-side, we would have seen muddy browns emerge… but here it’s all clear, clean and vibrant.

I’ve kept a little note by my desk that I hardly ever glance at until just recently. Saved from a Papyrus wedding card, it says,

“Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.”

Life is rich. Beauty is everywhere. I know I saved this note for a reason. I hope you enjoy and savor every inch of this colourway.

Diane from Alberta sent me a shot of her Navajo-plied yarn, keeping all the colours clear and even.

Here’s also Tamara’s socks that she knit up in the yarn version of the club. I love how the stitch pattern makes these little “hiccups” in the colour movement. Very cool. I like.

And finally, this is a fantastic shot of some unfinished singles by Stine. Let’s see what you made with your fibre/yarn club offerings! We share them on Ravelry on the Sweet SweetGeorgia group.

Much Spinning to Come

My brain feels like it’s turned to scrambled eggs as I try to get ready to leave for SOAR. I’m running back and forth from the studio and home, trying to figure out where those hand carders went to and trying to corral all the Louet bobbins I can find. I recall getting ready for SOAR last year and how crazy it was… luckily, this year is (kind of) better.

This year’s SOAR is near Lake Geneva in Delavan, Wisconsin, at Lake Lawn Resort. It’s too far to drive, obviously, so Jen and I are flying to Chicago and catching a 2-hour shuttle to the middle of the great unknown. So that means my beloved Matchless needs to stay home and I’ve packed the ultra tiny, ingeniously folding Louet Victoria. The wheel is so small and so light, I fear it will blow over in the lakeside breeze, but it’s perfect for fitting inside the suitcase. If what Judith says is true and lace spinning is doable and fine on a scotch tension wheel, then I should be okay for my three days of superfine lace spinning with Margaret Stove.

I’m also scheduled for a half-day retreat session with Judith on spinning to whatever diameter you want. Definitely excited about that, but now I’m starting to get a bit anxious about my spinning abilities and feel the need to practice a bit. Honestly, I haven’t had very much time to spin this year and it’s completely obvious by the fact that the fibre I was spinning at last year’s SOAR farewell spin-in is still on the lazy kate, needing to be plied. And yes, 95% of the fibre I bought at the market last year? Still in their packages. I’m awful at personal time management for spinning. I don’t deserve to attend the market this year… but since they open it up an hour early for participants only, I might sneak a peak. Maybe I’ll give myself a $20 limit? What can you get at SOAR for $20?

One of our Fibre Club members, Diane from Alberta, sent me some of her spinning photos which inspired me to get practicing again. Here’s just one of the photos — a perfectly, beautifully wound cop on a teeny tiny spindle. She says the kuchulu spindle is smaller than a cell phone. Lovely and even handspun singles that actually made me gasp in awe. I’m pretty sure this geometric winding effect has nothing to do with the spindle and everything to do with Diane.

So I’ve packed a pound of leftover Fibre Club spinning fibre that I’m going to spin for the various spin-ins, including this Merino Bamboo Silk that was dyed random greens and turquoises. No idea what any of this spinning will become. But I expect much more spinning (and spinning posts) to come.

Four Seasons of Fibre Club

We’re getting ready for another brand new year of the SweetGeorgia Yarns Fibre Club. Just last week, I mailed out our 12th installment of Fibre Club offerings… members are still receiving them so I won’t be posting photos of it yet…. but you can follow along on the Ravelry group! Having never offered a fibre club before, I have had so much fun this past year thinking of things to dye and showcase. I’ve had the chance to play with all sorts of fibres that I rarely work with… including Falkland (which seems to be popular with spinners), Shetland, tussah silk and Tencel.

Occasionally this past year, I’ve had a couple fibre club members subscribe but not realize that it was actually spinning fibre. And since they didn’t actually know how to spin, I was perfectly happy to dye up some sock yarn skeins as substitutes for the fibre.

I’m enjoying the creative freedom in being able to dye new colourways and play with some luxurious new blends. I’m even tempted to offer a “Yarn Club” type subscription if enough people are interested.

Want to join us for our second year of Fibre Club? We’re taking new subscriptions now on the online shop and you can always follow along with our Ravelry group. The Fibre Club members have all been so positive and active about spinning up their fibre and posting photos. Reminds me that I need to finish spinning the Wensleydale in my own set of November fibres.

Autumn brings new colours, yarns and a free pattern

SweetGeorgia has been a busy place this summer. Since returning from the week-long dye workshop in Seattle, I’ve been dyeing for wholesale orders and shipping to yarn stores. Make One Yarn Studio in Calgary was the first to receive their shipment of a wide selection of our yarns. And this past week, we finished orders for Unwind Yarn House in Ontario and Black Sheep Yarns in Port Moody, BC. I’ve been re-establishing old relationships I had with our retailers and on the look out for new retailers as well. Personally, I am so very excited to start seeing our yarns in stores again and am excited about the opportunity to make and design new colours and yarns.

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Renewal: April Fibre Club

It’s already May and here was what we did for the April Fibre Club…

the fibre // merino
Merino. For me, this fibre was so tempting, so enticing, I had to learn to spin it very early on. Usually, new spinners are steered away from merino and to stronger, longer stapled fibres, but spinning a skein of sproingy, super squishy merino will have you hooked. Spin this fibre with a worsted drafting method and you’ll get a beautiful and classic yarn.

the colourway // renewal
Spring is a time to renew and be made new. These colours make me think of potential, flexibility and growth. There are longer stretches of rose and lavender and shorter intervals of gold and rust and tulip leaf green. Spinning this all together and 2-plying back on itself might be a recipe for skeins of muddy looking yarn. Maybe take this opportunity to try spinning a fine, firm singles and then Navajo plying into a 3-ply in order to maintain the clarity of the colours.

I truly like to believe that we can renew ourselves. That we can be made fresh and new. That no one is keeping score of your past mistakes. That you can always try and do better. For myself personally, I’ve dedicated the month of May to trying to improve how I think about things. To really try to believe that no one is watching or waiting for me to fail. That I am doing my best and that hopefully a smigen of good will come of it.

To follow up with the previous post about meaningful work, part of me felt very ungrateful for having written it. I think that despite the great expense involved with creating and setting up this studio and business and how stressed I might get about making this all happen, I am very blessed to be in this position. I realize that in our current economic situation people around me are losing their jobs and that the cost of living and healthcare for everyone is very high. It does seem to be quite a luxury to be able to even make an attempt at your dreams.