surprisingly useful random household object

Wine Cork Graveyard, originally uploaded by Kathy~.

corks!

yes, they are neat to collect & remember fond wine sipping of night's past. but they are my "surprisingly useful random household object" of the week!

we all know they are fabulous for making trivets, and glued together to make a new corkboard. but have you considered that they are basically just tiny spools waiting to be used?

i have recently taken to keeping my cork collection near my studio, and when i notice a snippet of thread that would otherwise go to waste. i grab a cork, wind it around, and voila! mini bobbin of yarn!

it's also perfect for spinning art yarns: you want to keep multiple wraps/cores/threads going at once, or ready drop into a yarn a moments notice! corks= keep your threads/novelty yarn spin-ins organized so you have one less thing to keep your hands on! :)

you're welcome!
xo, laila

happy holidays from rawfish

happy holidays from rawfish, originally uploaded by rawfishdesigns.

if you haven't realized from my excess tweets, i am VERY VERY excited for christmas! it is mine & jesse's first xmas together in our own apartment, and let's just say we are ready to DECK THE HALLS!

i did a woolly digital collage to create a new etsy shop banner so i can shout it from the rooftops, "HAPPY HOLIDAYS!" :)

i'm also very excited about being able to continue my handmade pledge & shopping handmade this holiday season. if you remember my posts from last year, you saw that pretty much everyone on my list got something from an etsy artist!

i"m stocking my shop so that you too, can make your fibery dreams come true! new knit kits (felty crochet bowl + handspun yarn + handmade knit needles) will be put up in the shop this weekend, along with more delish dyed cormo/rambo cross fleece!

and thanks so much to everyone who has commented so far on my "new website" post!! the feedback has really given me food for thought. i was tempted to comment to reply to each one of you, but then i realized that would skew my random # draw, lol!! anyway, tweet about the giveaway, b/c once we hit 50 comments one of you will win!! yay!!

and speaking of giveaways, did you hear we have a winner for the 285-305 contest? lushmommy (sara) invented the contest as a great way to switch the tradition of having buyers waiting to pounce on the elusive hundredth sale! this way, everyone who buys something from sale number x85-x05 has a chance to win. smart, right?! anyway....
HEARTSTRINGSBYDEE was selected by the random # generator to win!! yay sale number 296! :D

also on twitter, we were discussing a holiday craft-along, where we would blog to show our progress on how our homemade holiday decor is coming along! are you interested in blogging-along? :D

hope you are staying warm!
tis very windy & maybe a snowflake or two in NY!
xo, laila

new website

hello!

remember when i said that i got a new computer?
well i have been putting that iMac to great use! starting with redoing my website!
i still need to figure out how to assign it to my base URL because it is now located at www.rawfishdesigns.com/rawfish_designs which seems unnecessarily long....
but since i've already hotlinked it for you- want to check it out?
i would adore some feedback on the layout and vibe.

since the holidays are right around the corner, i wanted to spiffy up my end of the internet a bit, starting with the new site! the new site has a blog built into it, but no forum for comments, and that's a bit sad. so i haven't decided yet if i want to move my blog over there, at least fully. maybe i'll keep both?

anyway, i realized that the yarns that make me the most happy are ONE OF A KIND. and that even though sometimes i really think about rawfish as a business, i'm most happy when i'm focused on it as an ART. some of you might have heard me blabbing about my interntal dialouge over on www.twitter.com/rawfish but i really want to take some time to start developing the yarn as art. really focus on teaching myself new techniques and becoming an inventor...

the new site should help with invention also, since i can now record videos on the new computer and immediately publish them live to the internet to a "tutorials" page (still in the works) or something like that. i was also considering that maybe the blog layout be entitled "experiments" and i could post specifically when i developing or playing with a facet of the yarn.
instead of here- where it's everyday life + recipes + etsy finds + spinning + biz talk...
that one will be more like a dedicated yarn journal??...

anyway, a lot of it is STILL UP IN THE AIR. which is why i would really really really love to hear from all of you out there about feedback for the site. what you would like to see happen in this new forum. and anything else that is on your mind.

in fact, LET'S DO A GIVEAWAY. please comment below (click on "love notes") about the new website or anything that i mentioned in this blog post and i will use a random # generator to pick a winner when the comments hit #50... okay? :) you can pick your prize- fiber or yarn or knit- and you'll get a surprise in the category of your choice!

so that's what i've been working on this past week.
can't wait to pick your brains via the comments!
much fibery love,
laila

hello again

oh golly, i did it again.
fell off the face of the internet.
4 days since i last tweeted!
almost 2-3 weeks since my last blog!
what happened to me?

welllllllll first, i went to camp pluckyfluff! a crazy art yarn spin camp that also had an awesome batt workshop with loop!lexi, aka pluckyfluff, demos art yarn techniques in upstate NY!

one of the yarns i spun at camp! this one i called "pink moon" and it uses the translucent mohair technique! :)

the loop studio is INCREDIBLE! talk about an inspiring workspace!! squeeeee & mmm!

steph, aka loop, cranking batts in her beeeeeautiful studio space!

then i went to rhinebeck aka new york sheep and wool festival where i bought a fleece and hung out with joyce & steph (loop) and laura (indigonightowl)!

me, hugging my cormo/rambo cross fleece that i scooped up at the fest!
i will have dyed locks of this yum fleece for sale soon!

then! if a crazy fiber filled weekend wasn't awesome enough, when i returned julie (yoursecretadmiral) invited me to come spin LIVE at the etsylabs on the 26th! i did a virtual lab demonstration as well as a live show of my spinning talents!

what it looked like to viewers of the virtual labs! chat + video + classroom :)

don't worry if you missed it, because most recently, my dad gifted me a brand new mac computer! so now i have webcam capabilities and will be able to start documenting new techniques that i will be experimenting with.

me, spinning at the etsylabs!

also, fiber batt clubs (already shipped!) and novelty art yarn clubs (shipping this week!) have really been rolling! i have 3 members for each currently, and my limit is 5- so if you were hankering for a fiber fixxx, sign up before the spots are all filled!!

one lucky novelty art yarn clubber will be getting the yarn i spun during the etsy labs demonstration! shown above

i have sooooo many new things to list and photograph... a slew of new yarns 10-20, almost 4lbs of washed, dyed cormo/rambo fleece, as well as merino/targhee locks, and i will be making new gift sets with needles and holiday yarns!

wooo. i really need an extra set of hands!

if you want to see more pictures from the awesome woolventure i've been having- please check out my flickr photostream!

xoxo! laila

my creative customers #2

hello my darlings!

i'm back again with another installment featuring my creative customers!
this time is the ever lovely danika of spinswim who is being featured.

danika is a new member of my fiber batt club and her first shipment was october's "ghosts in the night sky" batts, but without knowing what secret goodies were going to be shipped to her- she also nabbed a mohair roving called "silver lining" from my etsy shop.

the "silver lining" hand-dyed mohair roving happened to coordinate perfectly with the batts!

when the batts & roving arrived at her house, spinswim sent me such a lovely convo. i just had to share a snippet....

"I just wanted to tell you that I love the fiber! I really appreciate that the batt is not in expected traditional colors for Autumn or Halloween...I love the colors you chose."

danika used them together & spun up this lovely yarn:

isn't that so fun?? i love seeing what my products turn into!

thanks so much for sharing, danika! :)

hope you all enjoyed a peek into the club batts & yarns. i will be sharing my version of the "ghosts in the night sky" batts spun up soon! it's already spun & set the twist, i just need to photograph the final yarn. :D

xoxo, laila

p.s. t-minus ONE DAY til camp pluckyfluff!! soooooooo excited!!

exploring color on flickr = reds

flowers & bows by thecatspajamas on flickr

my latest yarn "mulled cider"

temari 50, monochromatic spindle by wklager on flickr


rose carnival by eliza1946 on flickr

lynna ruffled nuno felted scarf by kneek on flickr


hope you enjoyed my colorful picks!
xo, laila

*just click on any of the pictures to be taken to their flickr page & each pic is copyright the name listed BENEATH it*

we're spinning gold!

must be the season: the color palette of rich fields of wheat and hazy sunshine, and fresh baked apple pies. golden slumbers fill your eyes.

my best buddy rachel-marie of knittydirtygirl's handmade plaque (i just love the warmth in this photo- above)

my inspiration binder (above) and anthropologie's june catalog (below)

i love these adorable bunting flags and the storefront from textileID blog! (below)

my hand-crocheted talisman neckwarmer modeled by my good pal kate! (below)

i have stacks of magazine and a bunch of folders created on my computer all dedicated to inspirations. i have yarn inspirations, and apartment dreams, and display ideas... so many folders, and so many ideas. i decided to share a look into what tickles my fancy.

i hope you enjoyed my golden textured picks!

xo, laila