Out of Fiber: Black Iris Hat

I've been working at our local specialty yarn store for six weeks and I get to tag all of the new yarn that comes through our doors. About two weeks ago a yarn came in that I couldn't resist. It's call Eco Puna Black. It's made from naturally black baby alpaca wool. So It is godly soft and the black is so dark it's hard to believe it isn't dyed. Alpaca have more natural coat colors that any other fiber sources we use and one of those colors is a true deep black. It's very rare now, but it's stunning to see in person. Because it hasn't been dyed the baby alpaca fiber is even softer than after dying.

After seeing and feeling this yarn I had to make something out of it. It was just too cool to have a piece made from the few alpaca in the world that have truly black wool. Especially since alpaca is my favorite fiber. I thought a hat would be perfect. Not to much wear and tear, since alpaca is a soft fiber and it wouldn't take too much, so I wouldn't have to spend too much. I found a cute hat pattern from Ravelry and got the approval from the husband.

I've been working on it for a bit, because I had to pull it out a few times and go off pattern to get the effect I was wanting. I worked through to a puff row after the back loop row, before decreasing to have a bit more of the lace. I worked the large size first, but it was incredibly huge, so I pulled out what I had worked until I felt it was a good size and went from there.

It was a bit frustrating, because I tried another pattern with this yarn first that my husband wanted and it didn't turn out well. So I picked this pattern and the pattern wasn't accurate to the picture, so I had to correct that. The yarn held up much better than I thought it would and still looks great even though I had to pull it out three or more times, during the whole process.

I'm glad to finally have it done and it looks great and it really comfy to wear. Now I have a cherished alpaca beret that came from the few black alpacas in the world. I'll be wearing it with pride.

I've been wanting to incorporate more darker colors and outfits into my wardrobe to have fun with Dark Mori style stuff. This hat will make a great addition to that goal.

September Update

Hello, those of you who might still be there. I haven't posted anything in a long time, because google kicked me out of my blog and I couldn't find a way back into it. I finally figured it out, so sorry for the long absence. Things have changed as you might have guessed. I quit my job selling sewing machines, got pregnant, had a miscarriage, got a new job at the local yarn store, and moved from my three bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment. (The images are just from various goings on since I last posted).

Good-bye to our old house.

I know, that's probably more than you expected. Trust me, it was more than I expected either. Our roommate moved out and after the miscarriage we wanted to simplify our lives. We really didn't need three bedrooms for the two of us and we wanted to live closer to our value of not taking up more resources than needed.

The tiniest baby Pipe Vine Swallowtails of the year.

My Beltane body paint for this last year.

So we decided to try something new, something we had thought about for awhile. We're doing a more Japanese style of living, meaning we don't have a bed, but a futon, and a Chabudai table (short floor table) instead of living room and dining room sets. I'll going into the whole thing in more detail in another post.

Our camping trip to Patrick's Point. Tom had a bit of fun with some light rock climbing.

We moved into the apartment last week, so we're tired, but hopeful for the future. It seems just right that we're settling in to the new place just before Mabon, which we'll celebrate tomorrow.

We took a trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

The other thing that has my focus is my new job at the local yarn store. I wasn't looking for a new job, but it happen to come up during one of my visits, so I went for it and have been enjoying my work there immensely. While I worked at the sewing store I grew as a sewer a lot, even though I was pretty experienced. I'm hoping that happens here too.

We also took a trip to Vancouver Island.

Tom got to sail for his first time and really enjoyed it and I got to get some lovely yarn to remember out trip by. 

I can feel it happening with knitting, since that's my worse of the fiber skills I have. I'm excited to improve and get knitting seriously. I'll be sharing my projects with you all as I go, but I also post them on Ravelry, so check them out if you're interested.

This is our new apartment. Melody is loving how easy it is to join us with the futon and Tom is excited for a new member of the family, our lovely peace lily.

Autumn has arrived here in the North Valley and it's so lovely having cloudy mornings and some chilly evenings. Hopefully the leaves will change soon and we'll have a beautiful long autumn. I have a few little autumn projects that I'm planning, that aren't fabric or yarn related, including apple picking and some felting. I'll do some posts on those as they come up, so look forward to that.



How's life going for the rest of you? Any big changes? See you next time (which will be soon)!

March Update

I'm so good at updating this blog on a regular basis, I just impress myself everyday (not....). Things have been pretty wild here in Butte county, as I'm sure you all know. I wish I could say things are calming down, but they're not. Our little town is full to the brim with people and it's a struggle to deal with all of the new people here. Many of the people who lost their homes are still not able to find places to live, aside from trailers. I'm lucky, I didn't live in the effected areas and didn't loose my home when landlords decided to sell. We were able to renew our lease and are locked in until the summer of 2020. That's all I really feel like saying about the fire, because all of us are tired of talking about it and tired of having to still deal with all the chaos it has brought to our area (fire victim or not).

Life continues on, and there's a lot of things that have happened since I last wrote. I am still working at the sewing and vacuum store, but I also opened up an Etsy store. I wouldn't say it's gone well, but I've learned a lot and have a new plan and direction. I don't have enough time at the moment to make the Etsy store what I want it to be, not while I have my other job. So I'm working on earning money to put us in a position where I can dedicate myself to the Etsy store.

I also have a new plan for my products. I'm going to be dying all of my products myself with natural dyes. I've been really interested in them for a while now and by using them I can also buy materials in bulk without loosing the customizing ability that I want to have. I have been studying up on the process and the species to use. This summer I plan to start practicing and perfecting it.

As of today we have another big change in our situation; we have a roommate. A coworker of mine wasn't able to find a place to live, because of the influx of people to the area, so we are renting our extra room to him. It gives him a place to live and will help us meet our financial goals, so everyone wins. It will be a pretty big change though, we haven't had a roommate since I was 19. He's a relaxed guy, that is good at being clear about he's needs and feelings. So we should be able to work out any problems between us.

The last thing that has become a big part of our lives is a fitness routine. We have been doing body weight exercises twice a week (since October) and have been hiking once or twice a week. One of those hikes includes my niece, who has been wanting to join us on a backpacking trip. At the beginning of January we told her that we would take her on a hike every week to train her up to going with us in the spring. We took on her first backpacking trip this month and she did a great job. There was a lot of new things, from how we eat to bathroom stuff. She was pretty ready to go home to familiar life. The day after the trip she was happily talking about her adventures. I'll cover the trip in more detail in a later post.

April is just ahead of us and spring has just begun this year!