Author: The Twisted Purl

Cyndi Minister is the owner, fiber artist, and crazy yarn lady behind The Twisted Purl.

Life on the Pond

As I sit, I’m looking out over the water, watching king fisher birds flap silently from tree to tree. My pond is my sanctuary. This place is my own personal paradise. This is coming from the girl that was afraid of all things creepy crawly when I was younger.

I remember almost having a panic attack when someone opened a door while visiting at a friend’s lake house. I could see the bugs flying in and I just knew it would be the end of me. There was one time, a moth the size of Rhode Island flew at me during a camp fire, I threw an entire glass of red wine on my mom. My poor mom.

Now, I live on five acres with at least one acre being a pond. There are a lot of bugs, but it really isn’t as bad as you would think. The pond itself is a thriving ecosystem with lots of critters eating all the things. Oh my goodness! You should see the teeny tiny frogs hopping all over the place.

We have two docks, a big dock and a little dock. The little dock is where I’m chilling writing now. It sits directly on the water and is the perfect place to soak up some vitamin D. It’s July and hot as all get out, but I couldn’t be happier. Every now and then a fish suffices. Turtles are poking up their heads and frogs are singing away.

Since closing the yarn shop, things have been hard. I kinda went into a depression, for lack of better description. Withdrew from everyone and everything I knew and just focused on finding my own inner peace. This place has definitely made it easier.

There was a summer of bath bombs. Lots and lots and LOTS of bath bombs. The bath bomb obsession lead to a new side hustle I’ll tell you more about later. Then the fall came and we were surrounded in absolute beauty with all the leaves changing. Austin and his girlfriend Rachael, took their senior pictures here with breathtaking results.

We ventured into goats and chickens. The day we got goats was rather exciting, as soon as I get it written out I’ll link it here. We have three goats and two chickens.

Loki, our super spectacular shop dog got a new dog friend, Nala. That’s also another story for another day. Just recently, a cat adopted us. The boys have named the cat Goose. Yes…Goose. It lives on our big dock.

Things have been way different from our previous life in the city. No more HOAs, strategic trash can placements, or keeping up with the Jones. Now it’s about big sun hats, riding lawn mowers, and fishing when the mood hits.

Business wise, with Covid 19 and all the craziness of 2020, things definitely slowed down but seems to be picking back up again. Thankfully! Been living one day at a time and enjoying most of the minutes.

I’ve missed blogging and sharing my creativity with you. I don’t want to say I’m back at it, because every single time I say that life gets in the way. But I want to say I’m trying to be back at it. Hope the last year has found you safe, happy, and healthy.

Beaded Fingerless Gloves- A Finished Knitting Project!!!

Look a finished object! I know right? It’s amazing, I actually finished something. Ha!

Last year during one of our trips I picked up this super fun Fingerless Bead Kit.

It was quick, pretty easy, and the kit had everything I needed.  Plus who doesn’t need an adorable go to pair of handmade, knitted, fingerless gloves? It’s perfect for our unpredictable weather here in Arkansas.

This is a great first beading project for knitters wanting to expand their skills too! This would be an excellent class in the fall. Do we have any takers?

Spinning Wheel Spinner Common Problem- Tension and Life

One of the most common problems for newbie Spinning Wheel Spinners is tension.  You sit down at your shiny new spinning wheel and treadle cautiously.  One of two things happens.  Either the fiber gets sucked out of your hand before you allow the twist to take over, or it spins and spins and you can’t get the dang flyer to bring in the yarn.

First thing, know that this happens to everyone and it’s all good!!!  You can easily fix it just by taking a quick look at your tension.

Check out your brake band. If the yarn will not wind on your bobbin remove the brake and then slowly increase tension on it until you feel the fiber start to slide from your hands. If the fiber is taking off before you have any say in what’s happening, then again, remove your brake band, and increase tension until it feels right.  You’ll find that perfect spot with tension! It’s where the wheel works the twist and you work your magic.  This tension will require adjusting often, depending on the type of fiber you are spinning, or your desired yarn outcome.

Here’s where I’m gonna get dorky with you. This reminded me so much of life!!!!!  I’m somewhat of a control freak…yeah, like you couldn’t already tell. Often, I feel like life is spiraling out of control at a rate no brake can slow down (What does the yellow light mean?). Just like when the fiber gets ripped out of your hands before any type of yummy goodness could be added.

Wait everything is spinning too quickly? I’d best overcompensate and hold on tighter. Y’all that’s when things get really crazy. In our yarn metaphor, the yarn is either going to be too spastic, overspun, or it’s just gonna snap and break. We don’t want that in yarn OR in life!!!  You need to let go. Don’t hold on too tight. The good ole cliché of if you love something let it go…blah blah. Let that yarn go so it’ll be beautiful. Let go of your control and live more freely.  This is honestly why adore spinning art yarns so much. It’s the letting go of control and allowing the yarn to become what it wants!

By adding a “break” in your life it’s like your brake band on the wheel…it slows the spinning and allows you more time to focus on what’s important.

Hope you’re spinning up a beautiful life!

From Fluff to String is BACK! Handspun Yarn Creation Process

One of my all time favorite things to do is share with you my creative process. Back before the shop opened, when my focus was handspun yarn and felted soaps, I used to do a feature I called “From Fluff to String”.  It’s time to bring it back!!!

It’s exactly what it sounds like. I take various forms of fibery fluff and turn it into fun yarny string.  Back in the day, we had such a great following of our process sometimes people would call dibs on the yarn before it was even finished spinning. That was pretty freaking awesome!

Normally, I share this process through both photos and sometimes videos through our Instagram account.  Be sure you follow us on Instagram to see more of what we’re doing in the moment.

Above is the bowl of fiber. It was the day after Valentine’s Day and this reminded me of a bowl full of roses.

Once I carefully select the different fluff that will go into a new handspun yarn it’s time to put it through my drum carder.

 

The carded batt is then turned into handspun yarn “string” through my spinning wheel.

This yarn was available but has now sold! Yay!!!  Stick around for more “From Fluff to String” posts.

 

 

Let’s take this show on the road

This year has been a roller coaster of revelations. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about myself and my business. Mostly, I’ve learned things must evolve and change to continue healthy growth and prosperity.  The time has come for The Twisted Purl to evolve and shift focus back to our roots.

We’ve been a locally owned yarn shop for almost four years now. It’s been an absolute blast! But, there’s a lot about our previous business I deeply miss. I miss the opportunity to travel, having booths at shows, dyeing yarn and fibers, spinning yarn, and having the time to feed my creative side.

Most of you know, most of our business is our Felted Soaps. We are in over 100 shops worldwide and continue to get orders daily. The yarn shop at times, becomes too much of a distraction, and our felted soap customers are not getting the proper customer service attention they deserve. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day and I’ve come to a crossroad. We made the choice to focus on one side of the business. We are letting go of the yarn shop.

We have absolutely amazing customers, who have turned into dear friends, whom I can not imagine doing life without! This is not the end, but yet a new beginning. We plan to continue to host classes, events, and start specially curated exhibitions. More to come on that soon!

Retail operations in our current space will continue through the end of January. A majority of our yarn will go on sale. We’ll maintain an online shop for exclusive item, specially curated projects, and kits.  Our next location has a place for us to continue our featured events and classes, but will not be open to the public on a daily basis.

THANK YOU for your support over the past four years. You really have enriched my life in ways I could never explain. I look forward to many more years of crafty fun with our peeps.

Again, this is not the end but a brand new beginning! A sheepy phoenix rising from the ashes to catch the crafting world ablaze (had to be just a touch cheesy ya know!!!). Just wait until you see what we can do when there’s quiet time for creativity to whisper. *insert fireworks here*  BOOM!!!  Things are about to get exciting!!!