What happened?

Last fall I was on a determined path of sketching almost daily.
Now this box of pencils lays dormant in my studio.  I am re-dedicating myself to them and their watercolor friends.

I am off to find the sketchbooks, pens and erasers right now.

Matisse art roving does alpaca roving & more

Last spring I subscribed to an Art Roving club at Taossunflower Too.  Finally a year later I spun up the "Matisse at Notre Dame" Falkland roving as finely as I could.   I'm still working on my fine yarn spinning.  Anyway.  It turns out I had dyed an alpaca roving with approximately the same colorway.  Total serendipity, for sure.   Short story is I plied them together to get this yarn.  The alpaca softens up the Falkland nicely.  Think I will list it in the shop. I ended up with almost 400 yards.

Remember this?  I think this "Mermaid" "spinning with locks yarn" might be gorgeous in a project with the Matisse.  I have a theory that your taste prevails when you are picking color, and it will co-ordinate with what one already has. What do you think?

Spring Lilacs makes Etsy Treasury

I still get excited when one of my Cordova Studios items make an Etsy Treasury, and it's backflips when it's a main treasury.  Please excuse the shameless self-promotion.  I love this roving and can't wait to spin this colorway.

The super-wash Blue-faced Leicester spins up like a dream.

 Cathie bought one of these last week.  She spins beautiful fine yarn.  Hope she finishes it soon.

 Mardi Gras3 become a totally playful yarn when it was all spun and plied.  I will post the yarn in the shop later this week.

Long Live Rock & Roll-Pirate Radio

What a blast! I know I am months behind on catching this flick, but I slid it into the DVR , grabbed the little dog sweater I am knitting, and sat down for a blast from the sixties. The music makes you want to get up and dance, at least if you were grew up in the 60's. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's talent as an outrageous rogue disc jockey had me laughing out loud. Trinket thought I had lost it. I mean, he can do the measured, creepy priest in Doubt, and then go to this guy. All the characters on this ship out in the North Sea are wildly wonderful. They broadcast rock and roll to staid and stuff British Isles in the 60's where all radio was state controlled at that time. Rent it, snag it on pay-per-view, but don't miss it if you need to laugh out loud. Pirate Radio rocks.
Let m know what you think.

Arabella, the grand lady

Arabella1
Originally uploaded by cordovastudios

Have a look at her delicate castle and bobbin. Can you see the wrought iron findings? Laurie lucked into this lovely lady from the past, took her home, cleaned and oiled her and then tried out her magic.



Here is Joanne giving Arabella a whirl. She drafts quite quickly so you have to treadle ever so slowly.

Early Morning Respite

My back porch is a haven in the early morning. Until it gets too hot to enjoy, I try to take my coffee etc. and some reading out there to start my day.

The azaleas are late this year. See how quiet our little lake is?

Quiet, wonderful shadows from the still rising sun. I just love the wildness of this right in the middle of the city.

Delicious Kids: NM Style Show

The C-man strolling down Commerce St. to the store.

They can't find my outfits. Bummer.

Maybe I won't have to do it.

Zoe got to have some time in the make up chair.

"Hmmmmm, should I get some makeup? Nah!
Charley rocking it in the Burberry shorts and shirt.
This precious angel was breath-taking.
Miss Zoe had a bag of accessories hence the shades. Swing that ponytail, girl.

"I just had to vamp a tiny little bit"
"Am I done yet? Is this the last one?"

Again with the accessory bag.

This time the beaded mask and a big strawberry colored ring.

Momo picked out trendy shoes for the second outfit. Wowser, zowser.

Testing New Photos of Hand-carded Batts

What do you think? Does this tempt you more than this?




How about this?
over this or both?

I like this one, but...

I like this one too. Feedback, please, people. I would love it.
Check them out at the shop also. These are soft, artsy batts full of luxury fibers like merino/silk, alpaca, Wensleydale locks, sari silk, tencel, bamboo, Firestar and bits of angelina.

Bright Roving Dyeing Follow-up

Remember Pinwheel in the dye pot?

This bright, happy super-wash Blue-faced Leicester roving resulted from my experimental yarn placement.
This was the first time I had tried the yarn this way. I will definitely do it again.

Here is Mardi Gras3. I have dyed this colorway again, so I could have more to ply with the single-ply yarn I have already spun. I listed one in the shop also.


"Spring Lilacs" has a more sophisticated look with the lilac, soft gold, and bluebird bird combination

"Fun with Fuchsia" is a sassy roving with aqua, lime green, and yellow combined with fuchsia. I find the fuchsia mellows out as the yarn is spun.
I am getting these listed at Cordova Studios as quickly as I can.

Bright is "IN" at Cordova Studios

Pinwheels! I decided to try another arrangement of yarn into the pot. Tomorrow I will post the dried results. Today I did all super-wash Blue-Faced Leicester. I think I prefer it to the super-wash merino.


Loved my last Mardi Gras 2 Roving as I spun it. Here is another batch dyed in my big turkey roaster so I can have some more for plying it.

Aqua to fuchsia in this pot remind me of a Mexican fiesta dress.

Wish this was a better pic, but I adore this bright golden color I cooked up. It pairs well with so many colors like the bluebonnet and lilac here.
Next up are some sock blanks I got from Terrific Creations and some merino yarn left from my weaving days.

French Kitchen ala Byrd

Yesterday I finally made it to the JL Stitchery Group full of knitters, crochets,quilters and needlepointers. I lost my heart to this "French Kitchen" needlepoint canvas Byrd was working on. Handpainted, it is petit point (read tiny, tiny canvas mesh=dense stitches per inch). She has done incredible color shading and added a variety of stitches to add texture to the piece.

The color cards of yarn are intensely shaded colors and kept on rings by her work. Her scissors hang from a beaded ring to make them easier to find in her tote.

The roosters forage on a textured rug.

Texture has been built up and overlaid with many stitches on the basket. Makes you want to touch it.
She hopes to enter it in the State Fair of Texas this fall as one of her entries. Yes, she will have others besides this extremely detailed piece. I would give it a blue ribbon right now.

TA-DAH: Two-at-tim Socks Two ways

Liz taught a class at the Fancy Fibers Retreat in February on knitting socks two-at-a-time on two needles or on one long circular needle using the magic loop method. Now, I consider myself a seasoned knitter, but this new skill almost had me in tears. It was so frustrating and confusing, but I made myself do it. I have graduated from the two needle method and am no knitting these orange-y brown socks on one 40" size one needle. I think I prefer this to the two circulars method.

These are the finished socks from the two needles. Well, almost finished. They are waiting on double points for me to "Kitchener the toes". This is two Claudia hand-painted yarns.

Yes, I ran out and had to dig around for something to finished the toes with. I hate it when that happens.
Next, I am going to use the magic loop to knit socks from my own hand-painted sock blanks. I've been missed the dye pots with all the Easter distractions the last few weeks.