The Beebas' Bottoms

Mixing Family and Business the Mommy Way.

Archive for September, 2008

Fiber Fest Fun; PVC Niddy Noddy

Sep 22

Posted by Theresa in Personal | No Comments

As you may have known, This Past weekend I got to go to the Fingerlake Fiber Festival, something I now plan to attend without fail every year hereafter. Can we say pure FIBER BLISS?

Tons of pretty things, fiber, yarns, WHEELS, spindles, all sorts of stuff! I got to meet and chat with Jonathan and Sheila Bosworth (think Journey Wheel and Bosworth Spindles) and even got to try out a Bosworth book Charka. (it wasn’t my taste, but so beautifully made)

I got to touch and feel so many things, and got to hold both Bosworth spindles as well as Goldings, and I tell you what, I was afraid to break them, as much as they cost. But SOO well made!

I tried to stick to a budget (I chose a budget of a bit less than I will have excess after buying my wheel next month) and did really well. I got some BFL, and some corriedale-finn which was just so soft, and some natural brown fiber that was $1 an ounce, and I should have gotten more, because I know it will go fast. I don’t anticipate using much myself, but I have nieces who were mesmerized by my spinning Friday night, and it will be perfect to give them a handful and say, here, try it. (with toy wheel spindles, of course)

I also got a Turkish spindle, cause I wanted to try a bit of a heavier spindle, (specially for plying) and I really thought the idea was cool… plus, it spins FOREVER.

I came home only wising I had had more money to spend, because everything a person could want for spinning was there, and in great supply. or maybe if I could just live at fiber fest… yeah, that’d be cool.

Also this weekend, I made my very own PVC Niddy Noddy. But, with the cheapness of PVC, and the length it comes in (too long to stand on end in my house of the tall ceilings) I was not content to make just one simple Niddy. I made a 3-in-one Niddy. By measuring out different lengths of Piping, I was able to make a niddy that can convert from making 24″ skeins, to 1 yard skeins, to 2 yard skeins.

Post to Twitter

Tags: ,

Sometimes Life gives you Lemons…

Sep 19

Posted by Theresa in Personal | No Comments

and I love lemons, lol. I never did understand that saying… as if Lemons were a bad thing.

So, good things instead.

1. I am getting a wheel. Yes, the very simple one I blogged about earlier. and no, not today… Next month.

2. I will actually have money left over to buy extra Bobbins for said wheel (which only comes with 2) and to buy FIBER!

I want: BFL… suposed to be awesome for spinning and wear great
Merino… Love the softness
Some superwash… cause I have family that will refuse to work with anything that felts.

3. Fiber Fest is tommorrow… perfect timing.

and 4. more directly related to business at this time, I will be a sponsor in The Great Cloth Diaper Hunt this november! Don’t forget to sign up to search. (the sign ups are not quite open yet, but will be in too too super long.)

oh, and 5, back to spinning… I figured out how to make my spindles heavier…. (a good thing to be abel to do, especially for plying, I hear) I just add another wheel whorl! and voila, instead of .7 ounce spindle, 1.2 ounce spindle!

Post to Twitter

Tags: ,

The Great Cloth Diaper Hunt

Sep 17

Posted by Theresa in business | No Comments

Is coming again soon. This twice a year event is a scavenger hunt of sorts, sending hunters looking for a cute little Icon on many sponsor sites. THe sponsors Hide the Icon within their product listings, and The Hunt is on. Hunters are entered into drawings to win prizes donated by the sponsors as they find more Icons.

This year, Beeba Bottoms will be a participating sponsor of the Fall hunt! You can expect more information later on, but for now, WOOHOO!

Post to Twitter

The Next Phase

Sep 16

Posted by Theresa in Uncategorized | No Comments

In my newest obsession… Spinning.

Its coming. well, not yet. but as soon as I can get together enough money.

I want a spinning wheel. like, really really want. Of course, that just goes along with my personality. If you have been following here, you will know that I bounce around a lot. I get what needs to be done done, and I don’t quit anything… but I love trying new things.

But,m I am also the victim of a very small craft and hobby budget. and since I am so new to spinning, I can call it nothing but a hobby, even to my husband, who would happily fund anything he thinks will bring us money.

But, spinning, he thinks, can only take time away from my business. and so cannot be worth doing in his mind.

I explained to him, Spinning is a hobby yes, but everyone needs a hobby, even when their business is something they love too. I love sewing. I love sewing diapers and things. But often, I feel a bit of pressure when doing those now, that things have to be perfect, or be done on a certain deadline, or something like that. nothing wrong with the pressure, it is normal, and I think everyone feels it. but, its nice sometimes to have something you can do JUST FOR FUN.

Of course, when I started the business, part of it was so I would have an excuse to spend time and money on these things I love. and who knows, if I ever get really good at spinning, it may wind up incorporated into the business in some way. But that would not be for quite some time, being as I am so new to spinning.

But that takes me back to my new wants. I love my spindles, and I can’t wait to go to the fiber festival here this weekend. But I am also very anxious to get a wheel, just because it feels like a door in front of me, begging to be opened.

I have done some research. and here is the wheel I am going to try and get:

It is a really simple wheel. The Otium from Heavenly Handspinning, it only runs about $150 plus shipping. but, it has 3 different ratios, and I am told that the wheels from this seller run super smoothly.

I plan that If/when I get it, I will probably paint it, just like I painted my spindle. I could see the wheel in a bright red, or maybe a cool blue… ooohhh… or an emerald green!

The bobbins on this wheel hold up to 6 ounces of yarn, and it comes with 2… you can get more in single packs or in 3 packs from their website, www.heavenlyhandspinning.com. They have a lazy kate accessory as well, and a skein winder.

I want it all.

Hey, heavenly handspinner… wanna give it all to me for free? I’ll review it for you! heh. I am only half kidding here, folks. and the kid is that… they don’t read my blog. but, I am dying for a wheel, and will do mostly anything to get one. This one I think I can afford eventually.

Wheels are expensive. I also love the fidelis from the same seller… and have heard only good reviews about it. but, it does cost a little more, and I really don’t have extra money to spend, so, since the biggest differences here seem to be cost, and look, and the fact that the Otium comes as a kit to put together… well, I like putting things together. and as I said, I’ll paint it, decorate it, personalize it.

By the way, in the few weeks I have been spinning, I have three people asking me for spindles now. THey will eacj get one, too. But I will have to think about what kind of fiber to give them with it… especially since I can barely afford fiber myself.

Oh, speaking of which, take a look at what is on its way to me:

Its Esby by Bohemia yarn Co. on BFL. isn’t it yummy!
You can find Bohemia Yarn Co. on Hyena Cart…. and I can’t wait to see this in person! its so pretty!

Gotta go… time to walk the kids to the library for baby bookworm.

Post to Twitter

Tags: ,

Spinning…

Sep 12

Posted by Theresa in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

… Is really quite fun. I did get some actual work done today, but I spent an awful lot of time thinking about spinning.

I am not fast. I am not good. But I am having fun. I started with a top whorl spindle made from a 2 inch wooden car wheel, a 1/2 inch cup hook, and a 12 inch long 1/4 inch dowel. It worked. That was when I was impatient about getting the spindle I ordered, which I assumed would be much better than mine.


I had ordered some wool to spin, and it was (is) so soft, and pretty natural color… super nice to feel, but I had a hard time getting it to spin even… It is put aside now till I get just a little better.


A few days after I made my own spindle, I got 2 packages in the mail. one of them contained the spindle I bought. would you guess, there were only 3 small differences between it and the one I made. 1, they used a 1.5 inch wood car wheel, lol. 2, they used a bigger cup hook, go figure. and 3, they tapered the end to a point. The only difference I actually think I liked was the tapered end, and that only asthetically… its a drop spindle… the end doesn’t REALLY matter.


The other package was a very thoughtful and highly apreciated gift from one of the members of my favorite Diaper Sewing Board, Diaper Sewing Divas. She sent me a bottom whorl drop spindle, handmade, with a painted whorl and both ends tapered, no hook at all. And, she sent a nice big ball of fiber to spin. Shetland, which I have now found is a much better starting fiber, though I am not sure exactly what I will make with the finished yarn, as shetland isn’t the softest. But, I am now spinning that fiber, and really enjoying it. It is much easier to spin, and I have spun most of the spindle full.


The spindle I bought also came with “a handful of random fiber floof” I spun that, and it too was easier than the super soft wool I bought. I made a mini-mini-mini skein, lol… it might be a few yards long… (I navajo plied it… I could not figure out any way to do regular plying… with only one single… besides, the navajo plying seemed easier, somehow.)

One day I’ll get my hubby to drill some holes in a peice of wood to make me a lazy kate for spindles.

heck, one day, I’ll probably find a way to get a spinning wheel, too. cause I am having tons of fun.

Oh, and two year old Beeba 1 saw me “playing” with my spindles. he had to have one. so, for the whole under a dollar it took, I put a spindle together just for him.

Then I was at the craft store and saw this little wooden Disc. A little over the 2 inch circumference of my big wheel, but it weighs the same as the 1.5 inch wheel on the spindle I bought. I figured, hey, it costs all of 12 cents, why not grab it?

So I did. I had my hubby drill me a hole in the center, big enough for the dowel I already had, and there was a spindle whorl. But I already had 3 spindles. and I only started spinning last week… so there had to be an excuse to make another one, right? well, the excuse was that I have seen so many super cute decorated ones online, (and really want them all, lol… ) that I should have a more decorated one too. Plus, I wanted to try every kind of spindle I can… see what is best for me.


So this one is .5 ounces, made with more evenly distributed weight whorl rather than center distributed, with a spindle length of 9 inches total, and 8 below the whorl.

It spins really well, too. so, I have 4 spindles now. and what do you think, I have favorites. 2 favorites, actually. They are tied. The spindle given to me, and the most recent decorated one. Different reasons.

For the spindle I was given, part of the reason I like it is because it was given. Something about the fact that it was handmade for me, the the good feelings thus infused in it. Also, my first mostly even yarn was spun on it. (I have now, by the way, plied that single as well… but it is still on the bigger spindle, waiting for more yarn to be added, or waiting to be taken off and skeined. I still have about an ounce of that wool to spin…)

The new decorated spindle I like a lot too. I like that is it is light, and spins really easy, and that it is super pretty, and makes me smile. I like to see the gold paint glinting off it as it spins, and I like that I actually have been doing pretty good spinning on it, too. I also like its shorter length… it makes me feel like it would be easier to travel with. and I like that it has a hook, because I can spin faster without doing a half-hitch… though I am sure I will use the turkish style spindle I was given quite often too.

third favorite is the spindle I made first, believe it or not. I like that I did not spend a bunch of money on it. I like that it does spin well. It is slightly heavier… at a whole .7 oz, lol… and it is bigger than the other spindles I like best by a few inches. I like it for plying. I am sure there are better spindles… but I like it ok.

and my least favorite is the one I bought. Of course, there are reasons for that, too. 1, I paid $5 plus shipping for something that as I look at it, I could have made for a dollar. 2
, it seems out of proportion somehow, with a 12 inch length and a tiny little wheel whorl. and 3, I think for something that was bought, it would have been nice if it didn’t look like the whole thing was bought and thrown together from craft store supplies in 5 minutes.

Post to Twitter

Tags: , ,