Crafters Co-op Retail Store Update!

Crafter's Co-op will be opening on Monday, April 2nd at 10 a.m. at 910 Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor, WA. This 1100 foot retail space, in an 100 year old building with a water view is the perfect place for crafting classes/workshops, craft supplies, studio time and a boutique for handcrafted crafted art items.

Crafter's Co-op is a unique craft store concept in that >50% of all supplies sold will be reclaimed, recycled or vintage! Everything we carry will keep eco-friendly and "green" in mind. Also, you may buy just what you need for a project, i.e. one tapestry needle, not being forced to purchase more than you need in lots of plastic packaging!

Our super reasonable studio fee of $3 for children and $5 for adults (middle and high school youth included) will include access to the following:

All of our studio tools, including sewing machines, die cut machine, wool/fabric cutters, stamps, yarn winders, drum carder, all sorts of fiber arts tools, rotary cutters and mats...and more!

Our 150+ craft book library. You can peruse these books to your heart's content and trace patterns/templates. No purchasing of expensive craft books for a simple pattern or template. We'll have comfy chairs and a cuppa tea for you while you browse. :)

For the little ones, there will be lots of markers, crayons, glitter, scrap yarns, stamps/stamp pads available for them to create cards for a loved one on deployment, an upcoming birthday, etc. Just purchase a sheet of cardstock for 10 cents and you'll have all you need!

We will also have co-op members scheduling and teaching classes in the following craft genres:
Fiber arts (all kinds, including spinning, weaving, rug making, kumihimo, felting of all types, knitting, crocheting)
Sewing
Scrapbooking and papercrafts
Recycled wool projects
Jewelry/Beading
2D (painting of acrylic and watercolors)

Please "like" our Facebook page of Crafters Co-op Oak Harbor to get daily updates!

We're so excited and can't wait to see you there!

What's In My Sewing Basket Today: Tie Rug

I'm using a hand tie technique for this rug and while it is quite laborious, I actually enjoy the sensory contact with the handspun yarn yummi-ness!

This rug is being created for the MoNA (Museum of Northwest Art, LaConnor, WA) show/sale on March 17th. This is a fun way to use up many of my small skeins of handspun and hand dyed wool skeins.

What are YOU working on today? :)

EnJOY!

Please "like" our Everything But The Oink and our Crafters Co-op pages on Facebook.

New Fiber Arts 4H Project: Scrappy Scarves (tm)

We had to reschedule our Fiber Arts 4H meeting for two consecutive weekends due to crazy weather (snow, tidal surge flooding.) But, it was worth the wait as we met today and all nine of the members made my version of the ever so popular "infinity" scarves. True to Everything But The Oink's name, we used all of those long, narrow scraps which most people would toss into the trash.

The 4Hers used thin yarns and a running stitch (working on those needlework skills!) to artfully sew together the scraps. The running stitch allowed the kids to "scrunch" up the scraps, thereby incorporating a lot of texture into their creations.

It is always challenging to find project which are simple enough for our 3rd grade 4Hers,
yet appealing enough to our high school members. All of the kids were excited about wearing their scarves tomorrow, so Scrappy Scarves were a success!

What's In My Sewing Basket Today?

I acquired a large men's cardigan sweater in cashmere! However, it had quite a few small holes in it, so I decided to work with smaller pieces and make my first Ugly Baby doll. It was so much fun! I loved incorporating the cardigan pocket into the doll, making a "pocket pouch" for a teensy Ugly Baby rattle.

Interested in buying this little guy or one of our other Ugly Buddies? (Custom orders also welcome.)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/90616733/cashmere-ugly-buddy-doll-with-pouch-baby

What's in YOUR sewing basket today?

EnJOY!

Make It Mondays! Tutorial: How to Felt Natural Fiber Sweaters..aka Washing Machine Felting 411

You've come across awesome felted wool sweater projects on the Internet, but aren't quite sure how to felt the sweaters? No more fears...this Make It Mondays tutorial will have you working with your very own felted "material" in just a few hours. :)

Items Needed:
A sweater of at least 60 to 65% natural fibers (wool, lambswool, angora, cashmere, alpaca)
An old pillowcase
A large rubberband
Liquid laundry soap

1. I like to felt several sweaters at once to save water, energy, and time. It works best if you load the washing machine with sweaters of similar fiber content. For example, today I am felting all cashmere/cashmere blend sweaters.

2. Place each sweater in it's own pillowcase. If you ever find the zippered ones, those are awesome. Otherwise, after placing each sweater in it's own pillowcase, fasten the pillowcase securely (two or three wraps) with a large rubber band. Your washing machine, your family members and everyone else except the washing machine repair person will thank you for using the pillowcase tip. Otherwise you may plug up your machine with fiber lint and lint from different sweaters will stick to other sweaters! This is a special concern with those lovely, but fuzzy angora/angora blend sweaters.

3. Pour your normal amount of liquid laundry detergent into the bottom of the washing machine and then load your pillowcases of sweaters. Set your machine on max water level and on HOT, HOT (or hot, and then the warmest rinse setting you have available.) LEAVE THE LID OF THE WASHING MACHINE OPEN.

4.Start your machine for the longest agitation cycle available. The reason you have left the lid open is that so your machine will stop after the agitation cycle. It is human nature to get busy "doing something else" and forget to reset the agitation.

5. After your machine stops, check how well your sweaters are felting. My general rule of thumb, from years of experience, is as follows: Coarse/rough wools will only require one agitation cycle while finer/more delicate fibers and blends will take two to three total agitation cycles. If your sweaters are felted nicely, then close the lid and let your washing machine finish it's entire cycle. If they are NOT felted yet, simply restart the beginning of the agitation cycle again, leaving the lid open until you're sure everything is felted nicely.
(Don't fret over this too much when you are just beginning to learn how to machine wet felt. If it is under felted, you can repeat the entire process.)

6. After the machine cycle is totally completed (spin and all), remove your sweaters from their pillowcases and determine if they need further felting. If they're felted well, then hang over your shower rod to dry. If you hold it up to a light and can still see lots of light through the knit, then consider placing the sweaters back into their pillowcases and into the dryer, checking frequently so that you don't over felt. (If you do over felt, these pieces will work well for rugs, oven mitts, etc.)

If you choose not to use the pillowcases in the dryer (for example, if you are just drying one sweater by itself), then be sure and empty the lint filter frequently. You don't want a lint fire! Don't throw away the lint....this is all from the sweater fibers and makes the best stuffing for stuffed animals, pin cushions, and other such projects.

Many people believe/state that you can ONLY felt 100% wool sweaters. Simply. Not. True. While it may take longer to felt blends of >60%, they usually felt up very nicely. :)

Now, the fun begins. After your sweaters are dry, you can begin to deconstruct the sweaters. Don't laugh, but I usually don't plan a project for a particular sweater until this point...the sweater will usually "talk to me" and a project idea will form. You can cut up the sweaters as if they are fabric, because they are! No unraveling, just delicious, recycled natural fiber fabrics.

EnJOY and have fun!

p.s. Please consider supporting my fiber art public art project at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/526090211/everything-but-the-oink-ecofriendly-public-art-pro

**Sweaters may be substituted with other natural fiber garments. When using woven suit blazers, skirts, and other such items, I find it is best to cut out the lining first and then wash/felt the article of clothing. Sometimes I will even deconstruct these items, cut the woven wool into pieces and THEN wash/felt them. I have found that these woven clothing pieces felt much tighter/smaller, but they work well for stuffed animals, pillows and other pieced projects.

Feel free to repost this tutorial as long as you give credit back to Everything But The Oink with a link to this blog.

Now THIS is a Public Art Project-"Yarn Bombing" in Seattle

Today, on a cold, dreary day in the Pacific Northwest, I was driving through downtown Seattle. I'm just recovering from a serious bout with the flu and was frankly tired and grumpy about having to drive "in the city." All of a sudden, I just had to smile.....

While stopped at a busy intersection in Pioneer Square, my eye caught color....bright, vivid color and on TREES! The trees had striped knitted blankets rising up their massive trunks. I just had to open my car door and take a quick cell phone photo, as shown below.

Unfortunately, you can't see the color like I did, but after coming home, I researched "knitted trees" in Seattle and found this article about the art exhibit.

By Jessica Alberg
Whimsical Dr. Seuss trees and light poles are springing up in Pioneer Square’s Occidental Park, thanks to local artist Suzanne Tidwell.

Tidwell is participating in yarn bombing, sometimes considered a form of graffiti, which uses colorful yarn instead of paint or anything permanent. Tidwell, who posted on her web site that she was hired by the Seattle Parks & Recreation department to create an art installation for its summer ARTSparks program in Pioneer Square, is wrapping 16 small light posts, 16 tall light posts, 13 small bollards, 52 tall bollards, 16 flower pots of various sizes, and 42 trees in Occidental Park.

The installation will be up all summer, and the stripes (done in a palette of warm purples, reds, oranges, yellows and pinks) are designed not only to reflect the summer, or wish for summer, but to contrast with the dark, green square.

Before Occidental Park, Tidwell was already yarn bombing. Her yarn bombings have included tree stumps all over the city and a scarf for the famous Fremont Troll. Tidwell had hoped to have her installation up by June 11, the first International Yarn Bombing Day ever.

But the task of covering Occidental Park was too massive to complete by then, so the art project continues. Tidwell has been getting some help, posting a statement on her blog: “So... grab your most HOT, SHOCKING, and VIVID yarns... On your mark...get set...KNIT with me!”

Hopefully it will also bring a smile to your heart on this cold winter night.

EnJOY!

4Her Fiber Arts Open Studio This Weekend

My Christmas gift to my fiber arts 4Hers was a two day Fiber Studio Open House, where the kids had the opportunity to come over and spend two entire days handcrafting Christmas gifts.

Sweet Heats (lavender/rice microwave heat packs) and Owl Babies were the most popular creations.

It was so rewarding to see young teens spending their time totally "unplugged" and enJOYing the process of handsewing and using recycled natural fibers.

That was MY Christmas gift!

Nuno and Cobweb Felted Scarves

In between new recycled wool creations (check out our Etsy and/or FB pages to see Owl Babies, Alien and Monster Buddies and Mini-Mouse), I've been experimenting with nuno felt and cobweb felt scarves.

I love our hand dyed alpaca and an awesome ramboullet-silk blend (from Crystal Creek Farms) for the cobweb felt. Both art forms are perfect for incorporating little "treasures" of other fibers, yarns and threads. :)

Also getting excited about our first Fiber Friends 4H group meeting in early December. More on that project to follow.....

(Soda) Straw Weaving Tutorial

Even though it's not a "Make It Monday," since we've taken such a long hiatus, thought we would return with a fun, easy family fiber arts tutorial. Where have we been? College visits, History Day competition preparation and lots of good ol' Whidbey Island winter storms.

It feels good to be back on a semi-schedule and to indulge in fiber arts relaxation again. :)

Now for the tutorial....if you have these three items, you can weave!
Soda straws (3 to 5), yarn, duct tape.

Cut soda straws to 2/3 length. Measure approximately 18" pieces of yarn and run a piece of yarn through each straw. (You can choose either a 3 straw or 5 straw project.) After running the yarn through the straw, bring approx. 1 inch of the yarn over the top of the straw and use the duct tape to firmly wrap around the yarn/straw. Tie the yarn hanging out of the bottom of the straws together into a knot. You now have your WARP (a weaving term for the horizontal threads/yarns.)

For your WEFT (a weaving term for the horizontal pieces of yarn), take a ball of yarn and start weaving in front of a straw, then behind the next straw, then in front of, then behind, then in front of (for a 5 straw project) turn the yarn and come back the opposite direction.

You'll have to hold the straws for the first few rows, but then the weaving will hold the straws together. Keep weaving until the straws are covered with yarn, then gently push the weaving down to make more room. Eventually the completed woven yarn will be down to the knot at the bottom of the straws. Take off the duct tape and tie the warp/weft threads together at the top. Voila...you have an AWEsome bookmark!

Other project ideas with longer warps? Belts, headbands. Add more straws and create wider projects, including mug mats or wall hangings.

This fiber art craft is great for age 5 and up. Older kids and adults can create patterns by changing weft colors/yarns.

With skinny straws and embroidery floss, your teenager can create friendship bracelets for all of his/her friends!

EnJOY!

(We're doing this with our fiber art elementary youth tomorrow, so will post pictures after class.)

SYWM!!! (Save Your Washing Machine) Felting Tip

I love to felt. Needle felting, wet felting and washing machine felting. However, felting sweaters in your washing machine MAY lead to expensive repair bills as those little pieces of wool fluff may clog up the plumbing. Solution? Place your sweaters in old pillowcases before felting. I went to my local thrift store and found a couple of huge (king sized) zippered pillowcases for $1 each...a great investment. Standard pillowcases were 50 cents. For the standard pillow cases, I put a sweater in (just one per pillowcase) and then cut down from the pillowcase opening to make "tie straps." I then tied these in a knot, and voila...a secure felting bag.

Your family will love you (no more lint/fluff on their favorite clothes or on their towels) and the only one who won't like this is the appliance repair person....because you won't be calling him/her anymore. :)

EnJOY!

Make It Mondays! KoolAid Dye Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!

Okay, you've been to Resweater or your local thrift store and have purchased/felted a lovely wool sweater. Why don't you try handcrafting some projects? And, don't settle for boring, monotone yarn/threads....dye your own instead!

I often purchase wool tapestry yarns at the thrift store, usually not paying more that 75 cents for a ten to thirty yard skein. A lot cheaper than your yarn shoppe skein! But, when I dye them, they look so lovely in a felted wool project.

While commerical dyes are available and I use them often, KoolAid is an expensive, convenient dye for the novice dye crafter. So, raid your cabinet and pick out interesting colors. You'll also need the following additional supplies:
White Vinegar
Glass bowl and lid (I use an old Pyrex dish/lid and use this ONLY for dye projects)
Recycled wool yarns, threads (or other natural fibers)
Gloves, masks optional (but I do strongly recommend masks/gloves for children, as even KoolAid powder is not good for the lungs)

Step 1: Soak your yarns in vinegar water in the sink for approx. 5 minutes. (1/4 C. vinegar to a gallon of water...aprox.)

Step 2: While your yarn is soaking, heat to almost boiling a couple of quarts of water with an additional 1/4 C vinegar. Vinegar is the mordant for your dye, meaning it will keep the dye in the fiber.

Step 3: Place your wet yarn in your glass dish and sprinkle on the KoolAid powder. You don't need to cover all of the yarn...diffusion will do it's job when you add the hot vinegar/water. :) If you have more yarn, then place a second layer, along with more KoolAid powder. Kind of like making a fiber lasagna...LOL.

Step 4: Pour the hot water over the yarn until the yarn is covered with water. DO NOT STIR!!! If you do, you'll get muddy colored yarn. Cover the glass bowl immediately and let the hot water and steam do it's thing. Don't be tempted to peek!


Step 5: After the water is clear (that's why I like to use a clear glass bowl/dish) then pour off the clear water into the sink and thoroughly rinse your newly dyed yarn. I like to use a fiber rinse/conditioner product at this point to get rid of any residual vinegar odor, but this is not necessary.

Step 6: Let the yarn dry and then roll it into a ball, ready for your next project. These yarns look beautiful in a bowl on your coffee table also....while you're awaiting inspiration for that "special" project. EnJOY!

Now, a giveaway! If you do all three of the following:
1. Become a follower of my blog and comment on this tutorial or another post
2. "Like" our Facebook page at Everything but the Oink
3. Forward this tutorial to at least three people.
Then you will be entered into a drawing for two skeins of the tutorial yarn. :) The drawing will be next Monday and the winner's name will be posted on the blog.

Wool Rosettes Class a Success...and SeaGlass Handspun

A busy, fun weekend! We had our inaugural Everything but the Oink class...how to make wool rosettes. These are great for hair ties, headbands, brooches, gift wrapping embellishment and more. Everyone in the class went home with three completed projects and supplies to make more at home. Some vintage button shopping took place too. :)

Adrianna left for Bozeman today on a recruiting visit for college. So, I spent the day on the spinning wheel, creating SeaGlass handspun from alpaca roving Adrianna and I had dyed a while back. Often we have a "dye day" and then the completed roving waits for inspiration...or an inspired buyer. :) Please message us if you'd like to purchase roving or handspun yarn. Tomorrow will be a tutorial on dying your own commercial yarns (or better yet, recycled wool embroidery or tapestry threads) for use with your recycled wool projects. These hand dyed yarns/threads add a truly organic feel to your project, making it extra special!

Several have asked if our yarns are for sale. We have an Etsy shop (spinayarn or royalalpacas) with proceeds funding our Merry Mittens Project and fiber arts education for youth. We never charge for classes for youth in fiber arts, just for adults. :)

A Link to an AWEsome website!

Resweater is a great blog and one which I read faithfully. She now has 500 friends on her FB page, so she is doing a sweater giveaway. Not only does she post AWEsome tutorials and other tips for using recycled wool, she also sells sweaters to felt!Check out her blog (and sign up for her giveaway!) at http://resweater.blogspot.com/2011/01/resweater-giveaway-i-have-500-likers-on.html

Tomorrow morning I'm teaching my first adult class: Wool Rosettes using recycled fibers and hand dyed yarns...and of course...vintage buttons! I'll post pics after the class. Today, in between class preparation tasks, I spent some time on the spinning wheel, and working with the dye pot. I haven't spun in quite some time (due to my autoimmune arthritis) but it went well today! I usually prefer to spin very fine yarns, but people are always asking for bulky, novelty yarns, so that's what I created today. Whatcha think? The fiber I dyed/spun is a lovely-licious combination of Ramboullet, angora and silk. Super soft!

Make It Mondays! Mug Mat/Hot Pad Tutorial

I LOVE blog tutorials! They not only teach me; they inspire me. So....I'm starting "Make It Mondays" with a tutorial (as often as possible) on Mondays.

Today's tutorial is for a simple mug mat or hot pad project. It is a stormy, high tide surge day here at the beach cabin, so ocean-y colors came to mind...and a cut of hot chocolate. (At the end of the tutorial, look for my "Heavenly Hot Chocolate" recipe...a 4H group favorite!

Okay, on to the tutorial....
Supplies needed: Recycled felted wool scrap, thinner craft felt scrap (or can use a thinner wool scrap piece), leftover yarn, large eyed needle, straight pin.

Steps:
1. Cut out your wool and felt pieces. I wanted a larger hot pad for this project, so I used a cereal bowl for my circle template.

2. If you want to embellish/embroider your wool felt, do it now. (I just did a simple ocean wave embellishment.)

3. Using a straight pin, pin your two pieces together.

4. Blanket stitch the pieces together with leftover yarn. TIP: If you use a bulky yarn and/or a thick scrap, use a sail, leather or upholstery needle. It will make your job much easier. Use caution with children using these "mega" needles however. I do not recommend using thread or superfine yarn. You will lose your embellishment in the thick felted wool.

5. Do not knot your yarn at the end. Simply weave your yarn end back and forth in your stitches and cut close.

6. For a more polished finished project, use an iron and steam your mug mat/hot pad flat.

Voila! These are a great family project and you can get an early start on Valentine's Day presents!

The final photo is of some of the yarns I dyed yesterday on our 4H dye day. These will be used for future button bag and other recycled wool projects.

Now to the promised Heavenly Hot Chocolate recipe! Disclaimer: Not healthy or low fat, but a delicious special treat!
In a mug, empty one packet of powdered hot chocolate mix.
Add a splash of milk or 1/2 and 1/2 and a spoonful of Nutella.
Fill with hot water and stir well.
Top with a heaping spoonful of marshmallow creme and microwave for 30 seconds (to melt the marshmallow creme.)
EnJOY!

A Glimpse at Projects in Progress....and Completed!

I truly feel like a little bit of me is knit or stitched into each project. Adrianna and I spend a minimum of 15 hours on EACH item, and most items have 20 to 30 hours of handwork. Since these hours are invested over multiple days, it's almost like having a baby born each time a project is completed. (LOL...without the pain of childbirth, but the pride and love of a new creation.) Fellow fiber arts enthusiasts will know what I'm trying to say. :)

Sometimes we transition from one project to another, then back again. I treasure the time spent with Adrianna, choosing the "just right" yarn and buttons, and our chats as we stitch by the fire in the evenings.

We made our first fingerless gloves this past week and have just listed them on our Etsy shop. We also finished up two cashmere scarves. Oh...My...Goodness! The incredible softness and luxury of these scarves. Adrianna said she would just "pet" it all day.

Now on to leg warmers. I'm starting this afternoon on a yummy blue lambswool pair. I believe I'll start with some handstitching embellishment with handspun, hand dyed yarn....

Delivery.....Done!

When we woke up to this scene at our house, we didn't think we would be able to make it down island to take the ferry to the mainland to deliver Merry Mittens. However, in a rare weather twist, it was snowy at the beach, but not in Seattle. After a successful drive and ferry ride, we stopped at Victrola Roasters, our fav coffee shop in the Capitol Hill area and were also able to hand out a few pair of mittens to some very cold senior homeless men.

Snow had started to fall in Seattle and I can't even imagine what it is like to have to sleep outside in such cold, snowy weather. As we then drove downtown, we stopped as we saw a disabled homeless man trying to push a metal walker (with his bare hands in 32 degree temps) across the street. We felt blessed as he quickly put the gloves on and gave us a big smile of thanks! For the next two hours, we visited the Union Gospel Mission and walked around the Pioneer Square area, handing out mittens (filled with toothbrushes, shampoo, soaps, lotions) to those living out in the elements.

We chose to preserve the dignity of those individuals receiving the mittens, so only took pictures of geographical landmarks from the areas where we handed out the mittens. Adrianna and Mikhail helped out and said they were truly moved by this community service project.

If you are reading this blog and live in another cold part of the country, we highly encourage you to start a Merry Mittens Project in your area. It only takes an hour or two to stitch up a pair of woolen mittens from recycled sweater sleeves and wool will keep the hands of the homeless warm, even when the mittens get a bit wet.

Hope you all have a warm, dry and safe week ahead!

Merry Mittens Project Update

Last night we "stuffed" 40+ completed handsewn woolen mittens and a handful of hats, scarves and ear warmers. Today we will drive down to Seattle to deliver these to the homeless. Sub-freezing temperatures and a major snowfall are forecast for mid-week, so this inaugural batch of woolen mittens were finished just in time!

I've also been working on completing the first two cashmere scarves this week. They are totally whipstitched by hand, with handspun, hand-dyed yarn, so each scarf takes two to three days to complete. I'll post pics as soon as they are finished, but right now, we're off to the mainland with Merry Mittens!