Fiber, every which way.

I love fiber.  Cotton, linen, silk, wool, they are also so amazing to me.  I love the textures, colors, and mostly, the possibilities of transformation.  When I was little, I wanted to be a fashion designer.  Instead, I did the more practical thing and became a psychologist.  However, being a mom brought me back to my love of creating things.  I started knitting wool covers for Jackson’s diapers, then sweaters, hats, you name it.  I really love sewing as well and have dabbled in quilts and things for the home mostly.  I don’t have a ton of time for home crafts right now with a babe in arms, but I try to make some time in the evenings to get in some work.  I have really fallen in love with spinning and dyeing wool and want to take a major leap forward and start sewing real garments, especially for my girl.

I have been inspired by some amazing bloggers, many of them moms, like me, who have followed a similar path from university training to work/stay-at-home motherhood.  They take all of their intelligence and creativity and put it all where it matters most, into their homes.

Here are some of the sites, including some of the local places I shop/have fiber processed.  They are roughly classified, but some are hard to put in just one category.

Fiber processing and knitting:

Knttinghelp.com (This was how I learned how to knit, FYI)

Knitty (Free online user submitted knitting magazine)

Ravelry (Online fiber discussion group)

Mason Dixon Knitting (Hysterical knitting blog)

Schoolhouse Press (Knitting publishing house started by Elizabeth Zimmerman)

Still River Mill (Our local fiber mill, also sells eco-friendly dyes)

Fibers 4 Ewe (Another great local fiber mill)

General Homecrafts

Soule Mama (one of my daily must-read blogs)

angry chicken (another must-read blog, lots of sewing and craft ideas)

Sewing and Fabric:

Heather Ross (Amazing fiber artist and designer, plus very funny story teller)

Denyse Schmidt (Another great fabric designer)

Kaffe Fasset (Designer of fabrics, quilts, and knitting patterns)

Amy Butler (Fabric designer and maker of lovely patterns)

Anna Maria Horner (See above, plus a mom of six!!!)

Free Spirit Fabrics (Producer of most of the artists listed above)

Westminster Fabrics (Another fabric production house)

Sew Mama Sew (Great site for fabric and patterns, etc)

Fresh Squeezed Fabrics (Blog and great fabric store online)

Film in the Fridge (Beautiful quilting blog)

Crazy Mom Quilts (Another amazing quilting momma’s blog)

Colchester Mill Fabrics (My local fabric shop, love them!)

I also buy fabric and fiber related items online on sites like ebay and etsy.  I also like fatquartershop.com and quiltshops.com.

You can see some of my completed projects on flickr.  I hope to post more soon, lots of things are currently in process around here including a reversible flannel quilt, dress for my girl, naturally dyed wool and felt, and always dishrags and socks galore!!