#feydoesthings

[fyresnow]

I mayyyy have made an unwise decision at a local fiber fest 😳 I got a whole alpaca fleece. There's so many beautiful colors in here! From just one guy! (his name is Nacho, as seen in the poster). It's been skirted, but not washed. and it's SO SOFT.

I've processed sheep fleeces as a kid and I know that I don't have the space or energy to scour and wash as an adult. So I thought maybe alpaca would be better since it doesn't have any lanolin? The person at the booth mentioned that people even spin alpaca raw sometimes. Sooo that's what I'll be doing. I'll wash it after I've spun it.

I bought this without owning any fiber processing tools and it turns out they're incredibly expensive? I should have guessed that's why we never got any for 4H as a kid. Dog combs don't have a high enough TPI density for processing alpaca well and with their tiny surface area, doing all of this would take me years. I'm going to have fun figuring this out (: Also planning on shaking out as much dust as I can before I start spinning. I know alpaca's like their dust baths. Trying to decide if I should wear a mask while I'm spinning it, I am anytime I handle the raw fiber so far. (I'm very allergic to dust)

I've also only spun alpaca once and it was not the greatest experience. It was "blended" with wool, but it was more like two pieces of top held next to each other and it was difficult trying to get them to actually hold together in the spin. The alpaca was slippery and the wool was not. So I'm a little nervous about this. I did buy some cormo to blend with it. somehow. in hopes that it will add more elasticity to the alpaca.

Also not sure what I'm going to make with it yet. I'd love a whole colorwork sweater, using the natural colors in the fleece. but I'm not sure yet. Maybe I could weave something with it? I don't really knit scarves or hats or any of that. hm. I've got plenty of time~

[fyresnow]

take two of tablet weaving is going pretty well actually! I can see the pattern this time! I made sure to pick two yarns that were the exact same (instead of one being slightly thicker and fuzzier). They’re cotton too which I’m sure helps. Weaving is actually super fun ☺️ I need to figure out how to place the loom so that I’m not hunched over it, which hurts my back. Super excited to get better at this and try more complicated patterns!

[fyresnow]

ready to start my adventure with tablet weaving! I’m using some scraps of acrylic yarn I had laying around, which is probably not the best choice bc there’s a lot of friction between it and the wood cards.

I first tried to set up the loom with a giant braid and knot and that didn’t work at all lol I could not get the tension right

so I ended up splitting it and that worked a lot better! I’m still trying to figure it out, worked like three rows since warping took HOURS ugh I hate it so much.

Problem is, I don’t know how to keep track of how to turn the cards. The pattern I picked is 4 turns forward and 4 turns backward. But I can’t ever seem to remember where I was in that pattern :S I also think I set up my cards leftie style? I don’t know ;0;

(the loom is from fairy tales chest on etsy. It was supposed to come with instructions but didn’t and I was too anxious to contact the seller sooo I really don’t know what I’m doing. Most tablet weaving looms look different and I’m not sure how to set up one horizontal and one vertical rod. I just thought the loom was super super cute…)

[fyresnow]

FINALLY got these listings up and running! Introducing the nonbinary and bisexual pride chain maille bracelets! It's been absurdly difficult to find the right pink for the bisexual flag, but I think I like this one (even if it's not 100% match). The bisexual bracelet comes in a full flag design or an accent flag design.

Get them now at my etsy shop: www snowafterfyre . etsy . com (link also in bio)

Happy Pride Month everyone!!!

[fyresnow]

Happy Pride month! Starting to gather my supplies for Pride Month! I make a bunch of pride earrings and bracelets on my etsy shop (snowafterfyre). Super excited to support this youth-led pride event at a local community. So many more bracelets to make though! What flag would you be most excited to see at a small artist's booth at Pride?

[fyresnow]

Really excited to start making things for pride! New for the lineup this year are earrings for the alloaro flag and the blue and yellow aroace flag!! They’re available in my etsy shop now (although I don’t have any product photos for them yet). The blue and yellow aroace flag is under the “asexual and aroace” listing and the alloaro flag is under the “aromantic and alloaro” listing (:

I’ll take special orders too for any flag not listed (that I can source colors for). Next on the agenda are more pride bracelets! and also more professional looking product photos.

❄️ www . snowafterfyre . etsy . com ❄️

[fyresnow]

Some various pride themed chain maille pieces! These are all up for sale on my etsy (link in bio, @/SnowAfterFyre)

I have plans to add more pride themed bracelets when my health gets better but for now, send me a message (on etsy) and I’ll make any pride flag for you!

Bracelets have listings for trans, pan, rainbow, aro, ace, and aroace currently. (I also have a solid color listing if you don’t want pride gear)

The earrings have listings for rainbow (six color, eight color, nine color, and philly rainbow), transgender, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, asexual, aromantic, community lesbian, nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and agender. 🏳️‍🌈

[fyresnow]

the body of the vintage sweater vest is finished! I don’t know how much I like it but I’m hoping that if I put it down for a few days I’ll come back to it with a different opinion. The thin stripes and the heart pattern is just… it’s too busy, too muddled. I really should have knit it flat and then seamed it together instead of trying to knit it round. It’s so much prettier with the thicker stripes when you can really see the gradient. Oh well I guess. The yarn is Lion Brand Ice Cream in Cake Batter.

( post #1 here )