Miss Babs Blog

Babs

Planting needs to happen! I need to get the rest of the tomato plants in, and all of the flowers I bought last week at Susan's. Susan is a member of my fiber guild. Plus I have a knockout rose that I need to put in. I like to have real flowers at my shows and this one is Stitches South. It was loaded with blooms. I need to get the dead blooms cut off and get it into the ground! Jen, one of the gals who works with me - she... Read More

May is a Busy Family Month~~

Babs

Well, so far I have missed being on-time for my grandson's birthday, my daughter's anniversary, and now aiming to be late for my granddaughter's birthday! I am so bad to let things like that slip. I justify it by saying, "Well, it just extends the joy." And maybe it does and maybe it doesn't. May is also the month I miss my mother. She's been gone for awhile - over 15 years - but I still miss talking to her in person. So between Mother's Day and the date she died... Read More

Spinning Green Kettle-Dyed Fiber!!

Babs

Well, I am not sure if you realize it or not, but I LOVE the color green! I dyed this fiber about a month ago, right before Stitches South. I thought I would spin some for socks. This may take me awhile, but I thought you might like to see how it spins and knits up. Here is a picture of the top before I started doing anything to it. BFL stands for Blue Face Leicester, which is a breed of sheep. [caption id="attachment_53" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="BFL Top in Three... Read More

Sun Made a Showing!

Babs

Yesterday started out the same as so many days lately - rainy! I know I should not complain about the rain, and how it is restoring water levels to the good finally. However, the Great Golden Orb did show up in the afternoon. I was able to take a walk around the property and assess what needs to be done (some will get done and some won't!!) Here's some of the gardens that obviously need some cleaning out. That's the studio in the background. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Studio Gardens"][/caption] [caption... Read More

My Mother's Garden

Babs

All through my childhood, we had gardens. We had vegetable and flower gardens every year. My father always put in a large field of corn which was outstanding when it came in. We also put up lots of corn each year. One of my favorite memories is a steaming bowl of buttered corn at Thanksgiving. You could taste the freshness of the corn and it brought to mind the heat of the summer. We also had lots of flower gardens that had mostly been put in during my grandmother's tenure... Read More

New Shawl on the Needles

Babs

I have been holding onto this fiber for a while...some of it sold, but it was a slow seller. Its name was Jester. It sort of reminded me of a Jester in the old courts. Red and gold, with a bit of purple and some green. All colors that could have been achieved using natural dyes. Well I finally spun the piece of it that was left (and I do have a bit more) and this is what I got. This will be another spin and knit along shawl that... Read More

Happy Holidays!!

Babs

Thanksgiving weekend...Gosh I love the slowness of the Thanksgiving weekend. No one is here working, except for me. I like having some quiet time to do work in my studio. Often, we are just on the crazy end of busy, and it is nice to have a slower pace. It gives me time to ponder and wander through my brain looking for colors I have seen in the past year. The travels to other parts of the country have been good because I get to see other landscapes and colors.... Read More

Getting Ready for Winter, Stitches East, and Ramblings

Babs

11-14-08 Today is a warm day, so it is hard to think of snow coming sometime soon, or that Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away, or that Stitches West is 3 months away and I have a lot of work to do between now and then!! But I am looking forward to some downtime in front of the wood stove with my spinning wheel and my knitting needles. On the needles right now is a sock in the Lilacs monochrome using my Waterfall sock pattern. Hopefully, I will get 2 socks... Read More

Cleopatra Colorway

Babs

This post was on my front page and I need to change that for some new information, so I thought I would transfer it here to my blog. Knit Scene has recently honored me with a yarn review in their Fall 2008 issue. The colorway reviewed is Cleopatra. This issue is loaded with great patterns. Check it out! Above is a picture of a shawl that I have started knitting with the 2-ply. And here is a sock in the same colorway! You can view the Cleopatra colorway in either... Read More

Heading to Norman, OK

Babs

Retreat and Workshop We (Jen - who works with me - and I) will be heading to Norman, Oklahoma this week for a dye workshop/retreat with friends and customers of LB Yarn Co. We will be staying at the Tatanka Ranch which looks very nice and comfortable. I expect that on the way we may seem some rain residual from Hurricane Gustav. Maybe? Hopefully not too much devastation will occur and folks can be back home by then. The workshop/retreat includes good food and making new friends, plus having fun... Read More

New Idea for a Yarn Club - A Dyer's Co-op

Babs

I am joining with 5 other indie dyers to create the Color Co-Op, a yarn club that starts in November! Here's what the bit on Ravelry says: A multi-dyer club called The Color Co-op. Six dyers: The Unique Sheep, Sanguine Gryphon, Macek Designs, Mama Llama, Miss Babs, and Tactile Fiber Arts dye yarn inspired by the same piece of visual art. Each month club members will receive a yarn from one of the dyers. After 6 months, you will have received a yarn from each dyer and the cycle starts... Read More

Medusa in Saturn

Babs

Well, I know I don't post very often and I plan on trying to do better in the future. I have lots of pictures to share, but thought I just had to share the results of one day's dyeing. I was in a rush to get everything done (as usual) and needed to be ready to drive one of the dogs to the vet with my husband in the early afternoon. I would love to blame my husband, but it was MEEE!!! But this really looks like Medusa to me.... Read More