** NEEDLEWORK'S PLEASURE** SPINNING & FELTING FIBRES, HANDSPUN & HANDPAINTED YARNS

Hello everyone!!

First of all, a very happy new year 2009!!.... running a bit late....again....so sorry, but I have been receiving so many custom orders that I don't have much time for anything else. It's unbelievable and absolutely wonderful for me to drown in wool bags around me :oD, I will be really busy spinning and painting new yarns until Mid-March, so if anyone would like to order any custom yarns please allow sufficient time for me to finish them. Right now I am pedalling away to spin some 16 hanks of ultra soft white and butterscotch Baby Camel Down/Silk blend yarn for a very lovely lady in the UK, and in between I will also be spinning 3 large hanks of super soft Baby Alpaca yarn for a knitter in the States, who would like the yarns to be handpainted in the colours of the sea. Plus a dreadmaker from the UK has requested 1kg of handspun slub yarn to be finished by March....not to mention 10x100g of handpainted Merino wool rovings to be finished and mailed to a really funny feltmaker in Finland (she's got a great sense of humour)!! So you see, there is not much time for me to update my blog on a regular basis, I apologise. But I will do my very best to let you know of any new yarns and fibres that I will be making for my online stores, and if you guys need any specific information or advice do feel free to contact me at any time, either through my ebay store, my website, my etsy store or simply through [email protected] ;o) And as always you are also very welcome to Visit My eBay Store for a very wide range of fibres, yarns and beautiful handmade soaps!!

Speak to you later!!

I would like to wish everyone a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a healthy, prosperous and creative year 2009!!!  May the new year inspire you  and be gloriously colourful throughout its 4 seasons, and may it tempt you to try out new things and move you into the right direction, wherever you go :o)

I myself have got big big plans for the coming year, lots of new yarns to spin and paint, finest natural soaps to make and oh all these colourways that keep swirling around in my head!! Yes, I am indeed excited about 2009.

Also a very big thank you to all the crafts people out there who have supported my fibre business and enjoyed my proucts all year around, that have sent me valuable feedback, infos, tips and lots of photos of their handmade beauties....I love keeping in touch with you guys and hope to hear from you all again in the new year!! Until then take care and HAPPY FIBRE CRAFTING!

Warmest wishes,

Heike

So far I have been to 4 different local christmas markets...GOD how I had missed them!!!!!.....and my favourite one of course is the Heidelberg christmas market. By far the best when it comes to diversity and craft stands. A lot of towns and cities have been paying attention not to overload the markets with too many food stands. I mean, some christmas markets are pure food markets, which is a great shame indeed. I don't mind a Bratwurst stand and a Gluehwine stand here and there, freshly cooked chinese meals and slices of yummy pizza, but please please do give me a good variety of crafts people, who get a chance to sell their beautiful items there as well! So Heidelberg is one of my favourites. I visited the market last week, when it was dry and not too cold. I went with my two sisters and their kids....man, we had a fantastic time and the kids were so cheerful and went along with our stop-and-go thing :o) Of course I forgot to take my camera along, but I will be going back to Heidelberg before christmas, as there are a total of 3 markets in the city centre, and we managed to finish the first and biggest of those three last time.

For now I would like to display my latest 4 handpainted extra soft British Bluefaced Leicester wool rovings - squishy and gorgeous as ever and fantastic to work with, be it for handspinning, felting or dreadmaking!!! The first 2 lots are for sale in my Etsy store at www.alltheprettyfibers.etsy.com , and the last 2 lots are displayed in my ebayUK store!

I hope you like those colourways ;o) Feel free to Visit My eBay Store for a very very very very wide range of fibres!!!

I have displayed a new set of handmade truly natural soaps that I have tested on myself, my friends and family all summer and autumn, and they keep coming back for more!! So before all my soaps have gone I have put a few of them aside to place them in my ebay store ;oD  The Jojoba&Cocoa butter soap (photo no.3) and the Lemon&Orange oil soaps (1st&2nd photo) I also use as a hairwash along with a hair rinse of 1pint of warm water + 2table spoons of either vinegar or lemon juice....and my hair has never been softer and silkier!

 I hope you like these new soaps. Feel free to Visit My eBay Store for more soap details and of course for my wide range of beautiful yarns and fibres.

I have been listening to this song for the past days while taking care of my admin. Even though I am not really a Beyonce fan I think that this song is very very nice and so very true...it's a man's world...what can you do...sigh... I hope you will be able to watch the video and listen to the song below ;o) HAPPY FIBER CRAFTING!!

Yippieh!! We got some snow overnight! The first snow I have seen in years because it was usually always too mild in Cumbria at the seaside for any snow to actually stay for longer than 2 hours. So imagine how happy I was to see my first wonderful snow...yes I know, most people will say "man, she's crazy...snow is bad news for traffic and everyday tasks"...I know, but a bit of snow doesn't hurt anyone, and I like snow, be it tons of it (that almost make the roof collapse) or just half an inch, I-like-it ;o)

Of course I had to take some photos when I walked Sam in the nearby fields this morning, here they are:

The cold winter days are perfect for staying in your snug home, have a nice cup of tea and sit behind the spinning wheel :o) I am currently working on 2 custom orders, finished a beautiful Merino yarn design in my "Tigereye" style last night (it's currently drying on the rack), and I also painted a few new lots of Bluefaced Leicester wool rovings, perfect for spinning extra soft yarns, for felting projects and dreadmaking:

2 lots are for sale in my ebayUK store and the other 2 in my Etsy store at www.alltheprettyfibers.etsy.com . Remember, if you live in Europe and your country is not listed in my Etsy postage list please let me know and I will add your country to the list.

EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT WINTER WEEKEND!

Here comes my new lot of handmade natural soaps, filled with goodness and completely free from chemical ingredients! I absolutely love that colour, which I have achieved with special herbs, and the scent.....oh the SCENT!!! I have always been in love with Ylang Ylang essential oil, a very warm, deep and rich exotic scent, and I also use it in my lamp oils because I want to smell it everywhere in my home :o) I think I have made a really really good and very mild soap here. I have called it "1001 Nights"...of course:

All three soap designs are now displayed in my ebay UK store.

I have also displayed a new handpainted lot of pure Merino wool roving in truly gorgeous colours. For the last few times I have been using the rainbow dye technique which means that they are still space dyed but with smaller spaces and more shades within one roving than my usual 3-colour lots. Just to add a bit more spice to my range of goodies ;o) So feel free to Visit My eBay Store at any time! This lot below has got an identical twin which is displayed in my Etsy store at www.alltheprettyfibers.etsy.com :

Here are my first 3 German fleeces I am introducing this winter! Veeeery interesting indeed and very rare too. All 3 breeds, the German Mountain sheep, the Rhoenschaf and the Coburger Fuchs sheep are on the list of endangered breeds, so let's support the German sheep farmers who still feel that these particular sheep need to be given a chance, and let's pick up their fleeces and turn them into something absolutely marvelous! ;o)

Most rare breed sheep have rather coarse fleeces and are usually smaller than their modern fellow sheep, which makes them unproductive these days, and that is really really sad. I have tried out the fleeces, I also have them available in handcarded batts, and they spin very nicely indeed and will bring great texture to any felting project. Furthermore the Rhoenschaf and Coburger Fuchs fleece are wonderfully fluffy and spongy, so any yarn made from these fibres will turn into fantasticly bouncy and hardwearing yarn! Here are some photos, the first one is the mountain sheep fleece, no.2 is the Rhoenschaf fleece, and no.3 is the Coburger Fuchs fleece, have a look:

They are really beautiful, and they will be easy to card, spin and felt!

 I also finished another 4-lot sock yarn design, my popular "Solway Firth" colourway, which is also now available in my ebay store, so please feel free to Visit My eBay Store for more fleece and yarn details :o) Here is a photo of "Solway Firth IV":

Right, I am finishing up for tonight, I want to follow the U.S. elections, I think I have never been so nervous about the outcome before ...I do know who I would love to see as the new US president...but this is a yarn and fibre blog and I don't want to become political here, it may offend some people, and I can understand that. After all, I am not American, but markets and global stability will improve or crunch further into the abyss with the next US president. Let's just hope that things will get better, it can't really get any worse than it is right now....can it?

Fingers crossed that the right man will win!! Good luck America! I wish you well. xxxx

I have started on a wider range of handpainted sock yarn, which of course will also be suitable for regular knitting, knitted felting, crocheting and weaving :o) I have also been asked to paint more than 2 lots from the same dyepot, so I am now offering 4 skeins of certain colourways which will be sufficient to finish a ladie's cardigan. The 4 hanks will have a total of 1600yds, and you need approximately 1100-1200yds for a medium size cardi/jacket/sweater. Here is my first lot of 4 called "Reve de Mer"(sorry, my PC hasn't got any French apostrophes...but I liked the name so much...), and another set of 2, painted in my "Sidhe" colourway, both lots always repeatable but still with slight differences if they don't come from the same dyepot. Please Visit My eBay Store for the complete yarn details:

And because I am running late again (as usual) with displaying my latest handspun yarn beauty, here is my new super fine yarn baby that I finished about 3 days ago...it's already displayed in my Etsy store at www.alltheprettyfibers.etsy.com and I really meant to put the photos on my blog on the same day but it was already very late and I am working such long hours at the moment. Anyway, here it is my "SKYDANCER" handspainted & handspun superfine Bluefaced Leicester lambswool/Silk fingering weight laceyarn, one hell of a beauty with lots and lots of silky sheen!!!

 Please feel free to view my Etsy store for more yarn details :o)

Well, I'm off now to paint new rovings for the autumn/winter season. Everyone have a very good Sunday!!

The weather was absolutely marvelous today, and I am currently so enjoying the fine sunny and warm October days here in Germany. They are so incredibly mild, and you still have great opportunity to go outside and not freeze to death or get soaked to the skin. I spent half a day spinning new yarn and dyeing fresh fleeces, and in the afternoon I met with my family at the Schwetzingen Castle Park, where we all went for a stroll....it was great! It's good to have family close by again, and I will be taking advantage of that for the time that I will stay in Germany ;o) I have taken some pictures of the castle and the parc, all in a wonderful roccoco style, which was a famous period during Mozart's lifetime, but you can also find a lot of  baroque features around the castle :

No, I have not changed dogs :o) but this French bulldog lady I saw in the park, Sam absolutely adored her, and I broke into laughter when I saw her little "harness" saying KEIN MOPS, which means NOT A PUG...I bet a lot of people get the breed wrong, hence the note.... awesome!

Okay, before I finish today's blog I also want to display my latest extra soft handspun and handpainted yarn designs "Earth Child" and "Indian Summer II", the first one out for sale on my website www.needleworks-pleasure.com , and the second lot for sale in my Etsy store www.alltheprettyfibers.etsy.com  , so feel free to also view the yarns there for more details :o)

Everyone have a great weekend and HAPPY FIBER CRAFTING!!!!! :oD