Some Beach... Somewhere

 

"Some Beach... Somewhere."

When I first started dyeing my roving or already spun/plied yarn, I didn't care what colors came out, I just wanted to hurry it up and see what it would look like.

 I remember the very first time I threw in my own concoction of dyes and colors... I was in blissful ignorance! I just wanted the dyes to hurry and dry and once it did... I felt like the heavens opened, God on His throne stood up and began a slow clap... the angels sang a gorgeous anthem of: "Ahhh-ahhhh-aaaaaaahhhhh" as if echoing in a cathedral, the sunshine shone down upon my yarn, and I felt like Rafiki (from The Lion King) when he lifted Simba... I lifted my yarn up to the air and shouted, " Look what I have created!!!!!! I... have made yarn!!!!".

Coming back to reality I was in my kitchen with my dog, Sadie Girl, cocking her head to one side sitting there watching me with a somewhat worried look on her face... perhaps thinking her mistress was going off the deep end. 

Anyways... I was going somewhere with this... oh yes.

After some calming down and practicing my spinning and studying more videos and tutorials, I began to take a step back in everything I did and began to take careful thought into my colors, "What color would go with what? What design am I trying to portray?"

 I wanted to create a story behind my yarn!

My first story to back up my yarn was: Inspiration   

When I was working on Inspiration, I began to realize that my yarn should have a story behind it, because behind every great craft is a passion and behind each passion is a story ready to be told... Great or not, there is always a story to everything!

 After I finally finished Inspiration, I began to miss the ocean...

Photo by Elisa Edberg overlooking Downtown San Diego from Coronado Island

 I was born and raised in San Diego, California. I have many memories of going to the beach with my family, and many memories of going to "my beach" (located in La Jolla Shores) and sitting there doing a mini bible study, crocheting or knitting, even some short writing... The ocean inspired me greatly, and calmed me when it felt like my world was about to crumble around me!

 Living in Tennessee, there are rivers and some lakes, but nothing can replace the ocean!   

 

Photo by: Elisa Edberg

 I would like to share with you some memories surrounding the ocean...

I met my beloved on a free Christian dating site... Ya, I was the type that said, " A dating site??? Aren't they for... like... losers?", my brother met his wife on a christian dating site and he told me, "Just try it! If it doesn't work out then you can discontinue using it!", I always gave him a hard time saying, "No one wanted you so you had to go online huh?" Of course, he had a stingin' come back, "Uh, aren't you going on one too? So what does that make you?"... touche, dear brother... touche. Though I wanted to say, "Uh... That was wicked rude." Ha Ha!

 With my mama's encouragement (and my daddy trying to discourage me... he wanted me to be single forever. I was his little girl! Ha Ha!), I decided to go online and try it for just one week... after signing up, within the first hour... this hottie hot hottie who was living in Hawaii messaged me... and so... it began...

One memory surrounding the ocean during my husband and my exciting and often interesting romance was this:

Our very first photo together the day before we began our courtship that lead to getting unofficially engaged 2 weeks later, properly engaged a month later, that lead to our marriage 5 months later! How I love my beloved!

 

We sat on a rock that was on the sandy beach, the gorgeous breeze mixed with warm sun was delicious that made you want to take a nap right there and then! I loved seeing the alcatraz in formation barely touching the water as they flew on by... In the waves you can see some sea lions splashing about and popping their heads out of the water curiously watching the surfers... 

 

Photo by Elisa Edberg, La Jolla Beach

 

Dustin and I sat in silence soaking in the beauty of God's creation, he then turned to me and spoke, "Elisa... will you be my girl?", I turned to him and said, " ... No. ..." Don't yell at me, there is alot to the story, but i'm just giving you the odd yet funny part! 

Let's say that whole day (Dustin was just staying for a 24 hour date. He flew over night from the island and was leaving the following morning all to win my heart...) he wasn't giving up, this was the words he uttered (after I denied him for the 3rd time) that has been our marriage's motto:  "The day is not over yet".

When I walked him to the security line at the airport the next morning, he cupped my face right before passing the line (holding up the line behind him) and very gently brushed my lips with his (not a kiss at all, a very light brush I barely felt that brought shivers all over my body!) and whispered, " I don't want this to end." and crossed the line with me standing there in shock!

That did it, I was head over heels at his constantly chasing me and wouldn't let me go and his character and godliness, and just who he was! I texted him right away and said, "If this is a serious relationship, i'm all in.".

On Ewa Beach looking toward Honolulu.  Photo by Elisa Edberg

2 weeks after that day, I flew to over to hawaii to visit him (I stayed with a lovely couple from his church), and he took me to the North Shore (on the island of Oahu) and there I saw wild sea turtles surfing the waves! They were a lovely earthy green color and were beautiful! The water there was a gorgeous turquoise, with a hint of green when the sun hit it right... during the sunset there was some orange and reds and purples hitting the water... oh the ocean was so beautiful!!!! 

Photo by Elisa Edberg

When we drove back to Honolulu from the beach, we decided (in his little car) to get married that following September (5 months later)... and I even put it on my calendar!!!! Oh, what funny and wonderful memories!!!!!

Photo by Elisa Edberg

But my favorite memory was when we lived in Hawaii after we got married... We lived in Honolulu just a 10 minute walk to the beach. We would go often to swim during the sunset, but many times we would drive to Pearl Harbor military base when there was a full moon to a parking lot that was right on the ocean and there we could watch the airplanes take off... we would play our wedding song "Give me a Song" played by the Artis Family (who are a family band from the island, and a complete blessing to us) and dance in the night air with the moon shining down and the ocean gently splashing against the wall below... Those are memories that I will never forget when thinking about the ocean!






Now, coming back to the colors I was next to choose for my yarn, I wanted to theme it: Some Beach... Some where.

Remember that song? 

This song makes me giggle, but it's true! Whenever you are going through a bad day, don't you close your eyes and think "Some beach... some where", I know I do! 

I wanted to mimic the colors of the ocean so that whoever makes something to wear out of it or just creates something out of it to decor with, can bring the ocean with them!

My colors are not the typical: light blue with white. 

Photo by Elisa Edberg O'ahu, Hawaii

 No, I wanted a deep blue one would imagine seeing whales and dolphins pop up playfully, and greys that would mimic the turmoils of waves after a storm, the greens reminded me of the sea turtles gracefully swimming, and you would be able to see them under the water through a wave because the water was that clear!

I wanted to add some purple that reminded me of the sun hitting the water just right during a sunset, and the earthy silk blend that reminded me of the sea weeds that was scattered on the sand and drift wood...

Photo by Elisa Edberg

After single plying all this gorgeous colors, I began to navajo ply BUT... I did something different!  I added beads to my yarn! Why? I wanted to learn how to do it, and second, I wanted to add something that would remind me of sea shells and smooth earthy colored rocks you would see at the beach!

Photo by Elisa Edberg

Oh! I had such memories of my big brother, myself, mom and dad and my grandma (my mom's mother) going to the beach and picking up sea shells and rocks! Haha, I remember my brother "saving" my grandma, because she was sinking in the sand with the current of the water, and he helped her out (he was maybe 12 at the time)! Ay yay yay! 

Coronado beach... and i'm being goofy as you can see!

I had amazing fun painting... with my yarn! These are the colors I used: 

It looks like a mess, no doubt... and you're probably wondering, "How are all these colors gonna look like a beach themed yarn?" ... 

The results were beautiful:

When I make my rolags, I feel like i'm painting! And all these painted colors blended together comes up with something beautiful!

    
 In my next post I will explain a bit more how I added beads and add a video! 

Thank you for allowing me to share with anyone reading this my joy in making this special yarn! Making a memory with your yarn... now that is special!     

Some Beach... Somewhere. Click on photo to be redirected to my Etsy Shop

Some beach ... Somewhere (bead edition) click on photo to be redirected to my Etsy Shop

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ice Storm February 2015, Tennessee

About 3 months ago my beloved husband and I moved from sunny California (I was born and raised there) to Knoxville, so this is my first Ice storm/lots of snow and I honestly thought i'd be panicking more than I thought! I was a bit nervous when it was happening, but other than that, I enjoyed seeing the aftermath in our neighborhood... It's a White Wonderland!

 So what do you think I did during all this cold? Yup, you got it! Made a whole new batch of dyed tunis/alpaca with some merino wool into the mix!

You know, after carding the already dyed wool, I was wondering, "Is there a way I can spin straight from the carder onto the bobbin?", so after some research and learned of different techniques, I decided to give it a "whorl" (HAHAHA! I crack myself up... C'mon... that was a real knee slapper.), and it was amazing!

Spinning straight from the carder onto the bobbin next to our fireplace in this cold weather... Heavenly!

I will admit, I was quite excited to have found the right technique for me that I asked my husband to record it...

But other than learning this new technique I had the most wonderful time spinning one bobbin (filled it all up!) and now working on my second bobbin in order to ply! The colors are more on the purple hue side with some tinsel to add sparkle! 

I just remember a dream I had not too long ago that I was sitting in a clear field with trees surrounding the field. There was only one tree trunk in the shape of a chair that I was sitting on, it was summer time because I could see I was wearing a summer skirt and top, and I was spinning at my wheel, but there was absolutely no fleece surrounding me, so in my dream I looked closer at what I was so intently spinning and what I saw had me in awe...


 I was spinning the sky! I looked up and saw vivid colors of the sunset on the clouds and I was spinning the clouds onto my bobbin and then the sky grew dark but I kept spinning, and the stars came out and I was spinning the stars onto my bobbin the stars looked like fire and diamonds mixed into the soft yarn made of clouds and the sky!

Twilight (50 yards) click on photo to be redirected to my Etsy Shop

I remembered that dream that the Lord gave me, and I was inspired by it and wanted to make something like what I saw in my dream... of course there is no stars, fire, or diamonds on this yarn... but there is sparkly tinsel! Close enough, eh? 

But beside all that I loved having fun in this cold wonderland! But I will admit one thing... Goodness I can't wait for spring!!!!!

While many are drinking hot coffee or hot chocolate, I drink an ice cold slushy during this ice storm... I too like to live dangerously!

I must brag about my beloved! He is so creative!!!! He is really interested in wood art/carving and this is what he made:

He burnt our last name into the wood a few months ago, but just recently he found what he wanted to burn above our name! Our home state and under the star he burnt it says "Home".

                                       and,

He made the shape of Tennessee from a wood pallet and burnt the words on it!

These two AWESOME items he created looks beautiful on our mantle!

No better way to end a cold day than cuddle on the couch with the fire on, snow falling from the sky outside, and our sadie girl snoring peacefully inbetween us on the couch as we have our family devotions! 

The beginning of it all...

 "... And here I knitted a shawl out of yarn my daughter in law spun from alpaca yarn..."


 I turned around from what I was crocheting in my advanced crochet class in an adult school in El Cajon, CA, and what this sweet lady was holding up was a simple knitted shawl but it wasn't the shawl that caught my attention, it was the words she spoke... hand spun? Alpaca? 

My drop spindle

 I have been crocheting for a whole year and never thought about where my yarn have come from, I was just used to going to Michaels, Joann's or Walmart for my "cheap" yarn and never thought about where yarn really came from, what types of wool were out there and the different kind of fibers: Protein and Vegetable. I just wanted to finish crocheting my bohemian shawl and that was it.

 I walked over to the lady and asked if I could see her shawl, she allowed me to touch it and with that one touch, I was zapped by the fiber bug!

What I blended, spun and crocheted my first time!

 The feeling of fresh spun yarn on my fingers and seeing how "imperfect" the yarn was, it wasn't spun absolutely perfect like you would get in commercial yarn which intrigued me! So, when I got home from my class I googled, "How is yarn made?", and I was hit with different spinning techniques and history of spinning, and different items used to spin wool into yarn!

 My class was promoting a yarn crawl, and on the list was an alpaca farm! So I asked my mama, " Mami, i'm going to an alpaca farm this week. Want to come with me?" Of course she did! 

My parents blessed me with an Ashford Kiwi 2 Spinning Wheel for Christmas 2014

 The day we arrived on this tiny farm, the smell of alpaca and fresh air was very earthy and invigorating to me! The lady who owned the farm was already teaching another person who to spin alpaca wool on a drop spindle. Right away, I rush over there and asked if my mother and I may participate, to the delight of the lady, she sat us down and began to teach us how to spin yarn.

 I was horrible at it. OH, was I HORRIBLE! But my mom and I were giggling and making fun of eachother how bad we were, and having so much fun learning! My yarn came out over twisted, and under twisted and I was spinning clockwise at one point then counter clockwise another point, the lady just shook her head and said,  "You both may need some practice.".

This is what I woke up too, Christmas Morning, 2014!!!!

My first handspun yarn!

 After that hour I decided to purchase a "beginning spinning" package for $12. It came with 2 ounces of alpaca wool and a simple drop spindle. I  took it home and never took it out of the package. I was afraid of that wool, as God is my witness I was deathly terrified of it! I was a "perfectionist" when it came to crocheting, so obviously I would be even harder on myself when it came to spinning wool into yarn that I would crochet with!!!!! 

 For 2 months I never broke the seal of my starters kit, I wanted too badly, but again... I was intimidated. My mama invited me to a yarn festival and of course, I being an avid crocheter HAD to go!

Blending hackle my beloved husband created for me (with the help of my daddy) under $20, instead of spending $200 for one!

 I was in heaven, all these freshly hand painted and hand spun yarn everywhere was like candy to a child to me! Everywhere I went I saw women spinning on their spinning wheels, and all I could do was sigh wishing I could be like them, but I couldn't even gather the courage to use my drop spindle!

 I walked by these two women who were spinning on their spinning wheels, and one of them looked as if she could do this in her sleep! She looked so peaceful and confident that I couldn't help staring. She saw me and smiled and with a sweet southern accent said, "Well hi there, darlin'! Come on closer if you want!".

I approached and watched her spin. I then said, "Sigh, I so want to spin! I just got curious about it, and I have a drop spindle but I just can't get the hang of it. It seems to hard and confusing (as the lady at the farm wasn't very patient, though she was very kind and humorous with us!) and intimidating!", her friend came close with a drop spindle and said, "Oh honey! Spinning is the most simplest thing you can ever do! It is YOU who can make it complicated if that is where your mind is! Watch me..." and in 30 seconds she showed me the most simplest and easiest way to spin on a drop spindle!! I was amazed how quickly I understood watching her!

 That night I went home and decided, "I won't let this beat me! I want to spin and spin I shall!"

 In 1 hour I ended up spinning almost all of my fiber!!!!! My confidence went through the roof and right there and then, my passion for spinning and for wool sky rocketed into the heavens! I wanted to be a spinner, that was my calling!!!!

This was back inbetween August and early November!

Blended roving! Forrest Sunset is what I call it

 Day and night for 3 months I would be looking at youtube videos on spinning (wheel and spindle), recognizing different fibers (protein and vegetable), spinning technique, blending hackles, carding (paddles and drum), dyeing (natural and acid) and even spinning newspapers!!!!!! I was hooked!!! I would not shut up about spinning to my parents and husband, to the point my husband was curious about it and asking question and even got into researching sheep...

 A month before we moved out of state to Tennessee,  my husband and I have been talking about the future (he always wanted to be self sufficient and homestead and even one day have a mini farm) and he said that he really wants to have a small sheep farm, to support my spinning and for meat/milk as well!!!! 

Me! with the slouchy I blended, spun and crocheted! Thank you for joining me in my new adventure!!!

 So now he and I are now into sheep more than ever! We are still in the process of researching and learning more on homesteading and sheep, and in this learning I definitely want anyone reading this to join us in our adventure!!!!


This is the story how it all started with me and spinning... join me in this spinning fun!