Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
I've been working on a number of posts that will be appearing soon as part of my mini series on Alpacas. And what better place to start than with the animal and their fleece!
This past weekend was crop harvest (fleece shearing) at Carolina Pride Pastures, a local alpaca farm featuring huacaya alpacas.
I'm excited to bring you a video tutorial on a fancy fringe technique that includes braiding, interlacements, and beading. I've worked the technique on a handwoven scarf, but it is not limited to only handwoven items. This method could be used on any fringed item, whether handmade or purchased.
Today's post goes into some of the details and insight I've gathered while weaving Samplers II, III, and IV from the book Weft-Faced Pattern Weaves-Tabby to Taqueté by Nancy Hoskins. This is a more technical post; still I hope everyone will find something interesting, or at the very least, you will enjoy the photos.
As fiber artists and crafters, how many times have we heard the admonition "before you start your project . . . weave a sample or knit a swatch or spin a control or test dye a new color"? I know that the vast majority of you are saying, "I never sample". Am I right?
The hope of my post is to bring a more positive light on this subject by sharing thoughts and ideas beyond the usual approaches to sampling and swatching.
One of the many joys of living in South Carolina is that Spring shows up in February!
In my 2018 post, I wrote that I was starting a study of weft-faced pattern weaves following the book 'Tabby to Taqueté' by Nancy Hoskins. This book is a series of 53 lessons with a technique sampler accompanying each lesson. Sampler I is completed and I will share that later in the post.
But first, what is weft-faced weaving?
Earlier this month, in my first post of 2018, I shared my thoughts and plans for the coming year at Flora & Fiber. I've put the proverbial pencil to paper to bring those plans to life.
And that brings me to 'Alpaca - The Mini Series'.
While searching older Handwoven magazines for a project that would "stretch" my weaving skills, I came across a Beyond the Basics column.
This draft seemed like the perfect challenge, combining weaving with my love of flowers.
As the dawn of 2018 breaks, I thought I would share some of my thoughts and plans for Flora & Fiber.
In previous posts, I've extolled my love of Scandinavian woven textiles; their simplicity of design, their colors, the variety of pattern motifs, and just the pleasure I find in weaving them.
Today is another Scandanavian technique, this time from Norway, called Krokbragd.
I found this gift idea on the Silhouette blog. It was designed and created by Leslie of My 100 Year Old Home. The original post appeared here. The project is called "A Gift For All Seasons" and includes a down pillow and six pillow covers that can be changed each season throughout the year.
Of course I had to add my own twist!
In the Dr. Seuss classic, the character Sam-I-Am asks the question, "Do you like green eggs and ham?"
Today's post is a compendium of chicken questions we have been asked by visitors to Green Pastures Farm. It's a little different post, I hope you enjoy it!
Today's post is a little different. I've had a quite a few first time visitors and new subscribers - insert me doing the happy dance - and so I thought it might be beneficial to give a little tour around the Flora & Fiber website. Even if you've been following for awhile, maybe you'll find something new.
The other 'Let's Spin . . ." posts have all been about various sheep breeds: Romney, Coopworth, Jacob, Lincoln, and Blue Faced Leicester. But today's post introduces something a little different, Camelids, which obviously includes camels, but also humpless South American alpacas, llamas, guanacos, and vicuñas.
Remember the post about my Spinning Competition at the Farm? I ended that post with a strategy to win . . . something my competitor couldn't match . . . adding color. I planned to weave an autumn shawl with handspun yarns and inlaid multi-colored leaves.
