Happy Holidays: Oldie but Goodie (1998)

World

Fashion Amusements

Interesting how the fashion and color industry dictates the world of clothing and accessories manufacturing. Even in the homemade oops- “handmade“ area, since the available raw materials are also subject to the whims of those who set the styles of the day. Hence dying,spinning, and knitting yarn (or creating felt) not to mention weaving, gives the crafty artsy person at least half a chance to be unique. Maybe...I did actually get inspired from the pdfs I downloaded.

Two websites have received my attention. The first one
http://www.cbi.nl/marketinfo/cbi/ Fashion Forecasts - European
Has an insightful download area that apparently outlines what consumers will have available fin the future.You will have to register but I found it was worth it to download the pdfs- WOW.

Addendum 1/08- now Yu have to pay big bucks so forget that one!

The second website
Fashion Trendsetter
is a collection of all sorts of multiple industry trends. Also not for anyone who doesn’t have time on their hands!

Checking in

Been quiet around here for awhile, but suffice it to say that i have been busy having fun when not at my dayjob, with the pursuit of gardening and crafting TIME. And of course trying to keep up with the ongoing household chores, getting moi taxes paid on time, and buying a new (used) car.

My Machine Knitting Guild had a nice retreat a few weekends ago.It was really fun- not that I got much knittin in tho.LOL. Had a huge need to just get away. The nice Inn we stayed at (run by a member and partner at the Russian River here in Nor Cal) was so wonderful! I was the only one who took advantage of their super hot tub too. 22 female members went (one husband too).They had chickens, so the eggs were really fresh for breakfast. I used to have chickens myself, so that was also really fun for me. Rooster crows.......Talk about over the top am meals-- Gourmet Dinners too!

http://www.ridenhourinn.com/ Now called the Orchid Inn

Oh yes- I also now have taken up Kumihimo braiding. YES!- another fiber hobby! Good thing I was a weaver of sorts as a child, so have gained insight enough to know I better NOT open that door.... am not going to go there...so at least one thing you can do with fiber will be passed by. MAYBE.

Socks on a Knitting Machine

Many folks snicker when I talk about having a knitting machine. Little do they know how extremely steep a learning curve there is to it all( yes scarves are a snap) and how much handknitting is still involved. I will spare you the details! Here is a cute video to show you!

Puschca

Filmed in the High Andean weavers Village of Quenqo,located 45 km outside of Cusco Peru at 4000m ASL. The spinning of threads, is incorporated into all daily activities of the Andean women. The traditional Andean spinning top hand spindle called a Puscha is used to make threads from the raw wool. The threads are dyed and get a second spinning using two threads intertwined to complete the final working thread. Music: Pueblo Andino, singing Mujer Hielandera (thread maker women) Film: Sacred Valley Productions Camera: Lucho Silva Edit: Jeff Hall Web: Renaud Nokin

YouTube Group

I have a collection of FIBERY THANGS on YouTube now- You Two can now spend an entire afternoon watching videos of FIBERY THANGS. Actually I will save you hours of searching.....knitting felting spinning yikes..lots to see.



If the above doesn’t work....(and the below will allow full screen viewing as well):

CLICK HERE FOR FIBERY THANGS ON YOUTUBE

Real Men Knit and Weave

Yes, there are two men in my Machine Knitting Guild too.



And then there’s Michael...

Wool Spinning Factory

Recently I have been perusing YouTube for videos of interest, particularly interesting are those relating to fiber. Many have been imbedded in earlier parts of this blog, as a way for me to get to them again easily and to share them with ya’ll.

This one is really interesting, once you get past the dance-y into segment. The producer of this video did not let it be imbedded - so click to see a neat video of a factory that makes yarn:

Oromoland Video