Fiber Journey Catch UP!

Okay, I've been slack about blogging my fiber journey. So many fun things have happened over the past year that I hardly know where to begin. Rex and I spent last Winter in Florida at a sweet little sheep farm Oak Hammock Farm. It was the perfect backdrop for all the dyeing, spinning and felting with my friend, Debi Schaibly. There were a few art shows that I exhibited in and even won another Merit Award at the Suncoast Arts Fest. One of my favorite things to do is visit Picasso's Moon yarn shop in downtown Sarasota. It worked out great to get a few of my fiber friends from Brooksville (and Debi) to all go at the same time and have a mini spin-in at the Moon. Lastly, I was able to teach some of my nuno felt clothing designs to fiberistas in Florida. All this in two months! Back on the Island last Spring I became the Mad-Felter as I dug in with both hands to create. You see, I had put myself in a challenging position. I needed to produce work enough to supply a local gallery, a retail boutique in Ashland, Oregon and to present at a weekly art market...not to mention several large art festivals I had committed to. Not surprising, the Summer is already over and I find myself wondering where it went? I've learned a few new tricks to add to my arsenal and cannot wait to incorporate them into my nuno felt wearable designs. I'm vowing to post more blogs and have even written a list of things to blog about for instance: "Felting resist patterns vs. yardage and over-sized pattern pieces," "manipulation during pre-felt stages," "patchwork felting," "silk sandwich felting," "Study of rouching and shibori," and I'm sure there's more. But for now I must dye tons of wool and silk in preparation for SAFF, my favorite teaching gig happening next month in Asheville, NC. My workshops are filling up, which makes me quite happy!

Teaching Nuno Felting

The student has become the teacher. Last weekend I had the time of my life visiting a sweet little town in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia. The women of Clifton Forge were amazing. I stayed in the finest B&B ever...The Red Lantern Inn. Proprietor, JoAnn, showed the finest southern hospitality. Finally, the Clifton Forge School of the Arts was the perfect venue for the class. Helen was a gracious host and Henrietta...the resident artist is a true delight. We made nuno scarves for two days and I left behind loads of silk blanks, hand-dyed merino and handspun yarns for future creating. Felt on....my new friends! If ya'll eventually get bored with making scarves....I hope you'll have me back to teach 3-D nuno felting a vest/coat.

Life Is Good!

In a sea of reality shows, negative news and political spin headlines it can be a real challenge to stay creative. It seems like it's always times like these that yield the best music and most incredible art. I suppose it's much like the way cream rises to the top of fresh whole milk. Is it from looking at things differently... with an open mind and asking ourselves..."what would be better?" Or is it from a deeper place within? Does it originate from our collective conscienceness... our SPIRIT? Whatever the source...LET IT RISE! Today I shall create with abandon. Ahhhh, Life is GOOD!

Summer's End

Songs and poems have been written about it, movies have been produced about it. The end of summer is such a bittersweet time. Last night as I was driving to the final Art Market in downtown Friday Harbor I had a feeling of melancholy..."why does it have to end?" I asked myself. It was the final Thursday night Art Market and after four weeks,I was beginning to really enjoy this little island event. For the past 16 years in Florida I had forgotten what "change of season" really is. I'm now reminded that it's a chance to shift thinking, clean closets, and start new ventures. It's a cycle of life...for nature and humans. Part of me wants to collect firewood and the other part wants to wear sandals just a bit longer. The cooler nights bring thoughts of wood fires and snugly clothing...hey, maybe North westerners will be open to the idea of my woolys now. All Summer I have been told at shows that they just are not ready to think about this. Again, I had forgotten how the change of seasons affect people. Summer is so short here...the message is to live in the season! But for now I shall continue spinning and felting in anticipation of the cool breezes coming our way.

First Things First....

Moving is stressful. Make it a 3500 mile move and I think you can multiply the stress. Alas, we all made it safely. Bear was amazingly well behaved...Huey, too! Rex was a trooper when the chips were down. It is all a distant memory by now, as we explore our new and strangely foreign surroundings. San Juan Island,WA is a magical place and our cabin and property is very special. Since arriving, we've seen deer nearly every day...we have a resident bald eagle that visits our highest tree. We have seen loads of Canadian geese, a red fox (simply gorgeous) and some little grouse-type bird with blue fans on top of their heads. There is so much exploring to do we hardly know where to begin. We have been to the beach and I've started a new rock collection, we started to uncover the raised limestone gardens which are overgrown by blackberry brambles. I'm happy to report that my fiber art didn't miss a beat. The best way to handle the stress of moving? GET SPUN! My second day here the weather was simply amazing so I sat on the cabin porch with my wheel and spun up some very colorful art yarn. I enjoyed it so much I made another skein soon after. Look for new postings on Etsy and Ralvery very soon.

To Create or Produce? THAT is the question.

Can you be successful at fine art shows and still be true to your original design style? As a rookie on the show circuit, I've come to realize that what the public buys can sometimes influence future designs. In a perfect world, we would continue to design what our creative genius wills us to make. How does one balance these two influences if they are far apart? Is it like yin and yang in life where sometimes you mass produce and other times let the creative flow? I wonder if there's a happy median. If you spend too much time producing product, will your creative juice stop flowing? For now I shall stay with the flow and see where my new designs take me. Afterall, if the many crafty people who come into my booth and ask exactly how I made something actually went home and copied my work than I would have nothing new to share with the world.

Fiberholics

Hello, my name is Patti Barker and I'm a fiberholic. I must say, I used to think of that term as a coin phrase, or slang for the day. Now my relationship with fiber is crazy. I totally understand. I get it. If I'm away for any length of time I begin to miss it. It occupies my mind until I return to play. I am so happily reunited with renewed inspiration. It's not just fiber. It's all the things you can DO with it. Dye it...blend, spin, weave, felt it, etc. Inventing new ways to pull it all together, using ideas from all directions of life. The creative exploring has me obsessed. I'm taking it one day at a time.

Spinning Art Yarn

Unfortunately, my first attempts at spinning met with failure. It was one of the most frustrating things I've tried to learn. Recently I began to incorporate purchased art yarn into my nuno felt pieces with fabulous results. I've been buying the art yarn from Picasso's Moon yarn shop in downtown Sarasota. Since Rex and I are planning to relocate to the Pacific Northwest in about 6 weeks, I have been wondering where I'll find art yarn. Debra from Picasso's Moon invited me to the Destin Spin In with the positive notion that THIS TIME I'll get it...I will come home spinning my own art yarn. I had my doubts, but tried to stay positive. I had heard about this event for several years. It was an incredible experience. It didn't take long for me to simply "let go" and let the wheel do the work. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm thrilled with my new yarns. Thanks Debra!

Catching Up

Wow, I can't believe my last blog was at the beginning of Summer! So much has happened that I don't know where to begin. The most profound learning experience has to be the July trip to the North Georgia mountains with 8 women who raise alpacas. We attended a nuno-felting workshop and I am totally enthralled with the magic of this craft. Layering wisps of natural fiber over lightweight fabric, adding a bit of water and voila' .....uncovering a felted design. Every time I make something this way I'm more than happy with the results. It is a much faster process than weaving, so much so that I can take breaks from weaving to whip up a few nuno felted projects.

In late August Rex and I travelled to Seattle, Friday Harbor and Portland. Ahhhhh, I simply love the Pacific Northwest in the Summer. We found a little five acre parcel on Friday Harbor with a cabin that we are in the process of buying. Wouldn't it be the perfect lifestyle to Winter in Florida and Summer in San Juan Islands? How would I avoid being labeled a snowbird? Does that mean I should also begin eating dinner out early so I could be an earlybird, too? What's up with all the bird analogies? My parrot, Huey likes the idea.

My latest adventure is to sign up for several art festivals to see how the general public responds to my work. You can check the Events Calendar on my website at http://www.surigirldesigns.com/ for the latest updates. I'd love to see familiar faces at any of these events!

Holiday Weekend Fiber Fun!

What a perfect way to spend my holiday weekend....dyeing gorgeous alpaca yarns ...both Suri Silk and Lace Weight skeins drying. I wonder what they will become?




...and weaving away on a black alpaca weft over cotton warp fabric. The alpaca yarn was made from my own suri alpacas...Iridessa and Ode To Joy.

After washing the finished fabric, the alpaca will felt slightly and fill in the see-through areas. It will make a really nice, light-weight, yet warm skirt that should drape beautifully!

Happy Memorial Day!

Inaugural Yarn Tasting Event!

WOW, what great fun we all had! Last Saturday marked the very first yarn tasting event for SuriGirl hand-painted alpaca yarns. Joan Trawick of The Local Needle in MacClenny, Florida was the gracious hostess. One woman's comment from her child prior to attending brought laughter...."great, now they are EATING the stuff!" It was an excellent turnout with ten women showing up to sample three different alpaca yarn weights in nine color schemes. Several women tried more than one yarn and I received 12 comment cards providing valuable feedback for future product improvements.

Thanks to all who attended and knitted up swatches for sample display. The comments received were all positive and the fabulous yarn names that attendee's came up with for the SuriGirl Yarn's 2010 fall line are simply priceless!

SO MANY LOOMS, so far away

Another great experience out west was my tour of the Oregon College of Art and Craft. The weaving room was so full of looms (28 I believe) that I began to vibrate out of sheer joy. The college is the first in the country (in conjunction with the Portland College of Art) to develop a Masters program in craft! I'm contemplating attending and learned that the continuing adult education program is taught by area practicing artisans. Anticipation is mounting as I dream of learning new techniques!

Cool Weather & Exploration

Rex and I had a blast in Portland, Oregon recently. I can attest to the fact that fiber art is ALIVE AND WELL in the Pacific Northwest. We toured many areas as we consider relocating and really enjoyed the vineyards of the Willamette Valley and the mountains of the Hood River area. I did have the chance to visit a yarn shop...Twisted, and was delighted to find that nearly 3/4th's of their stock is made in their region! I also had occasion to visit a retail store called Fyberworks that started as an outlet for local fiber artists work, but has morphed over ten years to be a unique retail clothing store with most of their eclectic styles created in the US.

Willow's Completed Scarf!

What fun we had felting up Willow's first weaving. Here she is in her "fort" wearing her latest creation! Read our first blog for details about the design.

OH BOY.....New Dye Pots!

Rex found these FIVE 30-quart stainless steel mixing bowls at a great bargain. Now I'm on my way to setting up my dye workshop! We are going to have stainless lids and inserts made so I will be able to steam my hand-painted yarns. Anticipation is a wonderful thing!

Willow's First Project

My heart sank when Willow asked if she could have the scarf I made at a recent workshop taught by Betsy Blumenthal. The very scarf where I hand-dyed the yarn, wove in a collapse weave design and felted. The same scarf that recently won 1st Place at the FABA Alpaca Expo in the Outerwear Category over some very nice sweaters, many other scarves and even an alpaca crocheted bikini! Looking at her hopeful face my only reply was "what if you make your very own scarf? You could select your colors!" I warped her choice yarns...a very soft and fine Italian Merino in bright magenta and a hand-dyed turquoise alpaca. Willow learned the plain weave so quickly that soon she was teaching her friend, Aly how to do it. They were adorable with each pushing separate treadles and taking turns throwing the shuttle. I had never seen duet weaving before! Meanwhile, Rex is having a large stainless steel utility sink installed on the patio, complete with hot and cold water for felting! The scarf is off the loom and ready for felting...although the weatherman says it is finally going to warm up!