Tour de Fleece!

summer is hard time to stay spinspired! it's so gosh darn HOT. that's when i heard about this lil self-imposed spin challenge called the Tour de Fleece (which takes place during the Tour de France- we spin, while they cycle!). i was easily swept up in excitement!

so excited, in fact, i went beyond just joining a team for my first year in the challenge- but i created my own nautical fibery crew of other lovely spinners who wanted to kick summer's sweaty butt too! i created team "tour de fish" representing my lil fiber + yarn shop!


now we are 13 members strong- and the thread is full of hilarity already! i decided- in order to make things even more fun- we needed team nicknames. me, being "capt'n of the seas" started doling them out to people. and then, since you all know i have thing for making silly photoshop drawings, decided it was time to crank out some more team flair by creating personalized team ravatars (ravelry avatars!). they will all be slightly different, since i'm making them by hand with my sweet photoshop skillz (haha) but i think they are so fun!


so come on board the YARN YACHT, currently docked in PORT MERINO. waiting to launch upon the mighty seas starting july 4th (the first day of the tour de france) and we will be "sailing" (er, spinning) until july 26th when the race is over! at the end of the month, we will be VOTING on favorite yarns & giving out fun fibery PRIZES and DISCOUNTS for the rawfish etsy shop for team members!

you can join in on the spin-a-thon using this RAVELRY link- but it won't work if you're not a member. but don't be sad- you can still follow along on FLICKR where i have created a set specifically for my yarns spun for the tour and i will soon be making a group too!

hope you guys can spin along!
but if not, we'll see you at the finish line i'm sure!
hugs!!!! laila

hot summer + wool = how to get my fiber fixxx?

hello my fellow fiber fiends!
summer is right around the corner, despite a few weeks of rainy gray gloom, i know it will be full swing soon enough! so now is the time to ask yourself, how in the heck am i going to get my fiber fixxx in this hot hot sun?

rawfish to the rescue!!

easy peasy, my dears! JUST ADD WATER. with my new line of "felt & soap" bars, you can still snuggle up with some fluffy fibery fun, but getcha clean too! :) i premiered two bars of my brand new COOLABO with etsy seller & soap maker extraordinaire dirtysanchez. rachel, my soap maker, is full of hilarious wittiness & definitely not for the faint of heart.


her soapies are deliciously yummy smelling & i had to felt up a bar for me test in the shower. and wooooeeeee are they NICE! the merino is SO soft + the soap lathers up incredibly. and i have mega sensitive skin that simply loved the soap! seriously, no bumpies or blemishes! and i get them frequently! we always joke that between jesse & i - both ultra-sensitive skin- that we should have an on-call dermatologist! lol.


so you might be asking yourself- why felted soap?
the felty part grabs onto the soap allowing you to get more sudsy time for your buck! it's a built-in washcloth for getting extra clean! + wool is naturally anti-fungal so no worries about getting gross in your shower. just make sure your soap properly drains since it is a lovely handmade goodie (no strange preservatives or chemicals)! plus when the bar is finally all used up- you have a cool lil felty object for remembering your fond shower times of past. ;) you could also cut the felt open to make a lil pouch to which you can reuse with your new bar of soap. replacement soap bars can be purchased from rache at dirtysanchez.

as an introductory rate, you can get your "felt & soap" bars for $7/each or two for $12!
right now, english garden is the only scent in stock. but coming soon i will have: PEACH, BLUEBERRY, BLACKBERRY-SAGE, LEMON & CREAMSICLE. :D

so, hope you all are as excited about getting sudsy this summer!
much love, laila

"that is a FABULOUS hat" series!

hello again, my dear friends!

i'm starting a new series of mini blog posts. inspired by maira kalman, a simply wonderful illustrator whom i admire greatly and her book "principles of uncertainty" i'm going to be doing a series of mini posts called... that is a FABULOUS hat!

if you are not familiar with her work, i highly recommend you look up her books. my dearest love, jesse, was luckily read and surrounded by her adorable children's books given to him by his amazing mother. maria is a new york illustrator and i was gifted one of her books by sus (jes's mom). every time i am feeling like i need a pick-me-up, or just a reminder about the wonders of life... i flip thru that book. now that i have moved to new york, i feel like i can relate even more than before. her artwork is simply sensational, all the wonderful bright colors i adore, in a perfectly painterly style. the writing is exactly the way i like it. 1 part internal monolauge, 1 part whimsy, 1 part stark observations about the world. just the right amount of rambling, and the wonderful handwritten text really makes it feel like maira is speaking directly to you.

here is a sample of her works that i snagged from her blog for the NY times, i sincerely hope it is okay that i re-post this piccie since i do it with complete admiration of her and i feel it is necessary to understand why a playful jaunty hat can brighten any day!

***

so perhaps that is a long introduction, but i felt for the first in the series i needed to give some backstory, in the future i'll just jump right into it. but now without further delay...

that is a FABULOUS hat!

first up, as an Etsian, i obviously appreciate handmade hats! and as a yarnie, i really appreciate hats made with handspun yarn. and as a fellow freeform crocheter, i really REALLY appreciate the wild untamed quality of a hat that can go anywhere from beginning to end.

this hat, marigold wrap hat, by girlwithahook on etsy has been on my favorites list for months! i love the tailspun yellow lock-tastic yarn that wraps along the neck. this piece just has such flair! in my humble opinion, i think maira would approve that THIS is a completely sensational hat!

hope you all are having a great day!

& i hope this brings you a dash of inspiration this week!

love love love, laila

color crushes + winner!

hello my dears!
as you may know, i am deeply infatuated with color.
oh rich, saturated hues. color is truly emotional for me.
i go through big color phases. for example- it has been known to happen, where whilst i'm wearing a fushia dress, and stacking up piles of gorgeous purple plum hot pink yarns in my arms, someone will off-handly mention that it seems i'm a big fan of that color.
no, i am a big fan of ALL colors. that just happens to be my color crush of the week or month.

currently: all things minty have been whispering sweet nothings into my ear. i see MINT everywhere! all around my neighborhood- pale greens have been popping up. i saw 2 men tonight while i was walking from the train wearing minty sagey succulent inspired plaid button downs. a mint door, a pale green steeple on a church... it probably doesn't help that i'm making my KAL sweater in shades of green. and i recently found a mint bike for sale in williamsburg on craigslist. oh how i wish i had $150. i would be the coolest minty girl in town. to make my obsession seem even stranger...i never really thought i was smitten with green until i realized that 1. mine & jes's bedroom is neon green 2. my tattoo is green & that will last fffforever!

my mint collage- from left to right clockwise: mint bike from craigslist, mint julep pom-pom by pomlove on etsy, robin's egg yarn by rivulette on etsy, ceramic cup by campana ceramics on etsy, a drawing by cb78 on etsy that really reminds me of my neighborhood, in the center a minty door popping out from the bricks actually from bay ridge brooklyn, a photo of a lovely succulent by myfavoritegarden on etsy, grizzly bear's veckatimist cover art has mint surrounded by the same burnt oranges & pinks. (p.s. have you heard this album? if not, i suggest looking it up & giving it a listen! it's our house's current music crush too!)

i definitely see a new colorway in my future. :) so, what color are YOU currently crushing on?

love, laila

p.s. did i mention that we have a WINNER from my big etsyversary sale? huge congratulations to knitplaywithfire from etsy, rav, & twitter! you have won my gift basket featuring US size 10 handmade wooden knitting needles (a COOLABO between beth of bahurrah & myself), handspun yarn in my new MADE TO ORDER LINE (what color do you want?? it's your choice! grape, mustard, whirlpool, olive & coral are your options), and a lovingly crocheted bowl by me! :)

big thanks! + KAL on RAV + may 21st!

hello everyone!
sorry it has been awhile since my last post. this part-time job has really been consuming (i've been very tired! and BUSY!)- but now i'm setting up a schedule so i always have two days off to work on rawfish a week! so i've been meaning to write this post for about a week now but better late than never! :)

first up, BIG BIG BIG BIG THANKS to my dear friend bethany! we met whilst i was a recluse in elkton, maryland (basically delaware) at knit nights in chesapeake, md at the wonderful LYS vulcan's rest fiber shop! we are both tea lovers + yarn lovers! also we are both formally trained artists. needless to say, we were fast friends! sadly, after 6 months of weekly bonding i moved to new york. not that i don't love ny- new york is awesome & totally the place for me! thankfully ravelry has kept us in touch! just recently, i was surprised with a gift in the mail from my wonderful pal. bethany (aka magliamomma on rav) had lovingly made me, rawfish, my very own FISH HAT!!!


i am beyond super pumped to wear this hat to festivals so everyone can recognize me as the rawfish!

she also made me a lovely silk (perhaps batik?) little window hanging (currently hanging in the window looking over my work desk!). bethany will be receiving a return package soon- but i just wanted to publicly share the awesomeness of this pressie! i mean, i never even knew fish hats existed, but bethany knew i'd wear mine with such pride! :D


this present is just in time for rawfish's two-year anniversary! the actual big day celebration is TOMORROW, may 21st! so for one day only, all purchasers who use the super secret promo code will be entered TWO TIMES (for each item) to win the gift basket! YAY! only at rawfish.etsy.com!

in KNIT-ALONG news: i started a thread for our KAL on ravelry! everyone is invited to KAL with myself & rachel-marie & now so many other spinsters & yarnies!! you must be a member of ravelry.com to see the links- but if you are a knitter/crocheter/yarn adorer and are not currently a member, what are you waiting for?? it's the myspace/facebook for yarnies!!! :D

melissa (yearofthegoat's) tunic sweater that we are KAL-ing to! :)

i am well on my way spinning yarn for my sweater! i filled 3 little lendrum bobbins + 1 gigantic bulky bobbin with my mint-medley texturific yarn! i am starting to get worried about having enough yarn... but we will see. i'm about to niddy-noddy them off the bobbins & measure the yardage today or tomorrow! :)


i also spun all the yarn for my friend christina, sogentlybefore's sweater! she decided to use my BRAND NEW made to order yarn for the sweater in the whirlpool colorway! YAY! i was so excited i spun 4 of the 6 skeins in ONE NIGHT! lol!

i also am working on sara aka forestlass's made to order yarn for her sweater in a custom colorway of navy + rust! i am going to spin a sample yarn for her tonight/dye it tomorrow until we get the color/look right! :)

so that's all for now!
everyone, go enjoy the wonderful weather!
much fibery love!!! xoxox
laila