New chapter

I have always love to share the things I love and I'm passionate about with others. 

While in high school I was very lost. Like many students, I didn't know what I wanted to do and felt major pressure from society to have my life figured out. Now in my late 20s I still struggle with the same question. I feel now more then ever I should have my life figured out by now. That was the plan, right? Am I on the right track? What am I meant to do in this world? There has to be a reason I was put on this earth, what it is? The questions never seems to settle. 

To bring you back to my high school times, I found fashion. When I did it seemed my whole world changed. I was getting better grades at school, I was able to express myself through design and I found myself and what I was truly passionate about. 

My path has taken me on all different roads but one thing has stayed true; I love to create and express myself through the art of fashion. 

So after relentless questioning and self doubt an opportunity of a life time landed on my door step and I had to jump in head first. I'm excited to announce that my path is now leading me to The High School of Fashion Industries of NYC where I will be about to share my love and passion with the next generation. I am going to be a high school Fashion Teacher! I was not looking for it but at the same time I was. I hope that I am able to inspire and be inspired. I hope I am able to teach and learn. Most of all I hope I can make a difference in someone's life like I had in high school.  

We never know where our life journey will take us and some times we may question everything but if you keep faith, you will end up just where you need to be.

Oatmeal, banana, blueberry, chocolate chip, honey, whole wheat muffins.

These muffins are so good and not that bad for you either! I made them using our honey as the sweetener and local farmers market blueberries which made them even better!

Recipe
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup of low fat milk
1/2 cup of honey (dark honey if you can find it)
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup blueberries
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl stir together oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl mix together egg, milk, oil, honey and banana on a low speed. Add dry mixture slowly until ingredients are fully mixed. Gently turn in blueberries and chocolate chips. Fill greased muffin pan until they are 2/3 full. Bake of 15 minutes or until they are golden brown on the top.

They are really tasty when they are still warm because the chocolate chips are all melted! 

Enjoy!

Breed Book- Polwarth

Polwarth 

Photo credit :http://bib.ge/sheep/open.php?id=553

The staple length average is 4-6” with a micron count that averages from 23-25 microns. 

The Polwarth fleece is very dense and usually weights 9-13 lbs. 

The fleece also looses about 25% of it’s weight when washed, which is high for a fine wool.

Woolen

Prep- Dip washed, rinsed twice. Teased then carded 3x into rolags. Spun woolen using a long draw.

I felt the fiber was a little too sticky which made it difficult to draft, however, it did help the rolags to hold together nicely. I think next time I would scour the fiber so that there would be less lanolin making it easier to draft. The difficulty of the long draw was also due to the length of the fiber. There were are lot of lumpy, bumpy parts. I also found that there were a lot of 2nd cuts and breaks that I tried to pick out with my hands as I was spinning. Next time, I would apply less ply twist in hopes that the fiber would bloom more. I did prefer the worsted yarn over the woolen.

Suggested end use: The fiber is very soft which leads me to recommend something knitted and close to the skin. For example, a hat, cowl or even a sweater.

Worsted

Prep- Dip washed, rinsed twice. Teased then combed. Spun worsted using a  forward draw. 

I really enjoyed working with this fiber. During the combing process the tips did break off. I felt the fiber was a little too sticky which made it difficult to pull off into a sliver. However, the end resulting yarn look amazing. The stickiness also made it difficult to draft. I spun the fiber butt to tip. I wound up having to pick out some missed broken tips and slubs during the spinning process. My drafting zone was larger then usual; 4-5”.

Suggested end use: I love the end yarn. I think it would make great socks or a sweater this is because the yarn is soft with great bounce. 

Breed Book- North Country Cheviot

North Country Cheviot 

Photo credit http://www.nc-cheviot.co.uk/index.php/the-versatile-breed

Their fleece ranges from 5-10 pounds with a 50-65 percent yield from washing. 

The fiber has an average staple length of 3 1/2”- 6”.

 The average micron count is 27-30 for adults. 

Woolen

Prep-Soaked and then scoured, rinsed twice. Teased then carded. Spun woolen using a long draw.

I removed some straw and vegetable matter while I was teasing the fiber. There was still some vegetable matter present during and after the spinning process. Next time, I would spend more time removing the VM before carding to ensure a cleaner resulting yarn. The fiber was easier to card and held up in rolags very well. I felt it was easily drafted using the long draw method. The finished yarn did have a lot of bounce to it. Next time, I would apply less ply twist to allow the fibers to open up more. 

Suggested end use: I think socks are the best end use for this yarn. It has a great bounce and recovery but is not soft enough for something like a sweater.

Worsted

Prep- Dip washed, rinsed twice. Teased then combed. Spun worsted using a short forward draw from butt to tip.

There was some vegetable matter present during the prep process but a lot came out during combing. The fiber was very clean after I had combed it and  it also drafted really well. I decided to spin it very thin because I think the best end use would be a sock yarn. I really enjoyed making this yarn and was happy with the end result. The finished yarn has a lot of bounce and recovery and it spun very evenly. 

Suggested end use: I think socks are the best end use for this yarn. It has a great bounce but I don't think its soft enough for something like a sweater. I would probably do a 3-ply if I was going to be making socks out of it to help with strength and wear.