Jeffrey Scott Holland's Appalachian Voodoo Fibers

Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag

2010-06-01T08:59:00.003-04:00

Once again, I'm offering my Etsy friends a fortune in fiber for a fraction of its value, with The Appalachian Voodoo Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag!

Here's what you get:

You get one dozen (TWELVE!) tasty fiber batts, each guaranteed to be 2.0 ounces or more, for a total of over 24 ounces!

In these batts, you'll get a little of everything in my fiber arsenal: Angora, Yak, Merino, Bamboo, Punta, Baby Alpaca, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Cashmere, Corriedale, Silk, Tussah Silk, Shredded Sari Silk, Silk Noils, Lincoln, Lincoln Locks, Tinsel, Llama, Yarn Bits, Viscose, Tencel, Soy Silk, Camel Down, and more.

The value of these batts, sold individually, would be between $10 and $14 each, making this clearly a wallet-boggling, economy-defying deal!

....but wait, there's MORE!

I'll ALSO fill out the package by throwing in a choice assortment of mini-batts, fiber samples, locks and fun stuff to help dress up your projects. These bonus goodies alone will keep you happy and occupied for some time, and raise the combined value of the entire kit to around TWO HUNDRED dollars!

....but wait, there's STILL MORE!

What if I told you that for a limited time only (I could snap back to sanity any day now!), I offer this spectacular cavalcade of delicious fibery goodness with FREE SHIPPING in the United States?

(Photo is to illustrate my style of batts, and does not show the actual batts I will make personally for your order. Batts will be in a wide variety of colors!)

Convo me if you have any questions......

More Batts!

2010-03-11T08:49:00.003-05:00

And still more batches o' batts, shipping out to happy spinners and sinners...

Flight of the Batts

2010-02-25T12:05:00.002-05:00

More and more orders for the Superexplosive Etc. batt deals are keepin' me busy here at the Appalachian Voodoo Fibers processing center (my dining room table). Here's some pics of the latest batch flying out the door...

Catclaw's Merlin Opens in NYC Tonight!

2009-12-24T14:23:00.004-05:00

Appalachian Voodoo Fibers were used in the creation of the clothing worn by the papier-mache puppets in Catclaw Theatre Company's debut of The Birth of Merlin, which opens tonight in Brooklyn, NYC!

This is Jeffrey Scott Holland's adaptation of a play that was credited to William Shakespeare and William Rowley in a 1662 quarto, though modern scholars pooh-pooh any notion of the Bard's involvement. (Then again, they used to pooh-pooh Pericles but now it's finally become accepted into Shakespearean canon. The Two Noble Kinsmen and King Edward III are relatively recent newcomers to mainstream acceptance, and Sir Thomas More is making great inroads towards it.)

Expect the show to appear in other U.S. cities in 2010.

More Super Explosive Deals!

2009-11-04T14:23:00.002-05:00

Catclaw Theatre Company has a brand-new eBay store which now features another chance to get the Jeffrey Scott Holland's Appalachian Voodoo Fibers Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag!

Click here to git 'em!

Krampus

2009-09-20T10:50:00.003-04:00

Meet Mr. Krampus, our quality control manager.

Hot Dyepot Action!

2009-09-19T23:23:00.010-04:00

The old JSH dyepots are a-cookin' again. Here's a step by step pictorial of the process. Above we have an antique enamelware/graniteware oval roaster, filled with alpaca soaking in water.

White vinegar and pink dye are mixed together in a mason jar, then that mixture is poured directly on the alpaca. It's deliberately left haphazard, so that a desired mottled effect will occur on the finished fiber.

Then a vinegar-blue dye mixture is poured on the other half. Again, it's left uneven, knowing that some parts will end up bluer than others. Also, the blue and the pink are not separated, allowing the colors to run together slightly.

The fiber is soaked in water, drained and hung up to dry, awaiting the drum carder. The final colors of this batch were more vivid than it appears here; the colors were washed out somewhat by the camera's flash.

Set of four Mini-Batts

2009-09-15T21:51:00.001-04:00

#1: Dark Green/Red/Orange: 1.3 ounces, merino, corriedale, firestar

#2: Purple/Gray: 1.1 ounces, merino, angelina

#3: Yellow/Green: 1.1 ounces, merino, punta, bamboo, angelina

#4: Brown/Tan: 0.7 ounces, llama, alpaca

Four is the happiest number that you'll ever do...

Ketchup & Mustard

2009-09-14T23:48:00.000-04:00

Weight: 2.4 ounces

Contents: Merino.

Gobble it up!

Maharishi

2009-09-01T22:40:00.003-04:00

Weight: 2.9 ounces

Contents: Merino, Alpaca, Corriedale, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina.

A simple, effortless batt that anyone can spin and enjoy

Return of the Grab Bag!

2009-08-30T01:11:00.003-04:00

The Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag, offered on Etsy back in February and on eBay in June, is back!! Just look what a mere Ben Franklin gets you:

You get one dozen (TWELVE!) tasty fiber batts, each guaranteed to be 2.0 ounces or more, for a total of over 24 ounces!

I'll also fill out the package by throwing in a choice assortment of mini-batts, fiber samples, locks and fun stuff to help dress up your projects. These bonus goodies alone will keep you happy and occupied for some time, and raise the combined value of the entire kit to around TWO HUNDRED dollars!

For a limited time only (I could snap back to sanity any day now!), I offer this spectacular cavalcade of delicious fibery goodness with FREE SHIPPING in the United States!

It is your destiny.

Royalty

2009-08-29T23:58:00.000-04:00

Weight: 2.7 ounces

Contents: Merino, Bamboo, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Punta, Viscose.

It's for you.

Henhouse

2009-08-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

Weight: 3.3 ounces

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Bamboo, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Camel Down.

Come on in, and close the door...

Plankton

2009-08-26T23:17:00.001-04:00

Weight: 2.8 ounces

Contents: Merino, Alpaca, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Punta.

It awaits you!

The Search for Senso

2009-08-03T16:10:00.005-04:00

Not long ago, Senso crochet thread/yarn was one of the most common staples of any craft store's fiber department. It was available in almost every local source for yarn.

So when I tried to obtain some yesterday, imagine my surprise when the Senso rack at Michael's was gone.

I asked the lady working in the yarn department where the Senso went and she had no idea what I was talking about. She asked me to repeat it three times, and made exaggerated expressions of non-recognition. Then I found the manager and, to my amazement, got exactly the same response. "Senso..... Sennnnn-so.... hmmm. No.... I don't know that brand. We've never carried that."

When I pressed her on the matter, and told her I've been purchasing Senso here for years, she looked irate and said "Sir, I've been in charge of our yarn area for two years now and I have never heard of it."

Wow.

Then I went to Ben Franklin's. The same glazed-over expression, the same denial that Senso has ever existed in their store. I began to feel as if I was through the looking glass.

Then I tried another Michael's, and it was exactly the same there. The more I pressed them about it, the more uneasy they got, looking around nervously, almost as if Big Brother was watching with a gun, expecting full compliance with a new policy in which salespersons are forbidden to even acknowledge the prior existence of this blacklisted verboten yarn.

I was literally getting an anxiety attack about it, because it was starting to feel like I'd blipped into an alternate reality where Bedford Falls has been replaced by Pottersville and Senso has been replaced by some off-brand.

Fortunately, my next stop was Hancock Fabrics, which DID have a few balls of Senso left, thank God for my sanity's sake. From the depleted remainders on hand, though, it looked as if there were no plans to restock. As I headed out the door, I asked the cashier when they'd be restocking the Senso yarn. Pause. "Senso??", she said dully, furrowing her brow. I kept walking.

Then came Hobby Lobby. Once again, I was told with exaggeratedly bad acting (I was getting extremely paranoid by this point) that she'd never heard of Senso and they'd never carried it. Oh yes you have, I kept insisting, I've bought it here before. She glanced around furtively, then lowered her voice somewhat to say "Oh... Senso. We don't carry that anymore". Yeah, Senso, lady, the stuff you just got through telling me you'd never heard of! What the fuck?

By now I'd given up on driving all over town just to be lied to by zombies, so I switched to the telephone. I called JoAnn Fabrics, which had a kick-ass selection of Senso last time I was there, not long ago. Need I tell you what happened? The same denial of ever having heard of Senso, followed by the same "Viet Cong confession" monotone insistence that if such a yarn did in fact exist, this store does not and never has carried it, Sir.

Will someone please tell me what the heck is going on here? If Senso is going out of business, fine. If it's lost its distributor, fine. If it's being phased out in these stores to make room on the shelves for some cheaper ugly-ass off-brand, fine. Just freakin' SAY SO. What is going on with this city-wide wave of people acting as if they've never even heard of it?

Is there some sort of coverup or conspiracy afoot? Or has every yarn/fiber store in town hired the dumbest, most Nutrasweet-poisoned, uninformed morons they could find?

Lot of 12 fiber batts on eBay!

2009-06-14T22:44:00.002-04:00

Another of my Appalachian Voodoo Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bags are now available, this time on eBay.... click here to check out the auction!

(Or, you could be Smart Smurf and go ahead and click "Buy it Now")

Seaweed

2009-03-30T19:33:00.002-04:00

Weight: 2.4 ounces

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Soy Silk, Punta, Viscose, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz

Taste it.

Peachfuzz

2009-03-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

Weight: 2.3 ounces

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Tencel, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz

Own it!

Blue & Brown

2009-03-28T21:18:00.001-04:00

A color combination that never goes out of fashion with me. Includes four different shades hues of blue, and three different brown hues (deep chocolate brown, tan, and mustard golden-brown).

Weight: 2.1 ounces

Contents: Llama, Camel Down, Alpaca, Merino, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Lincoln Locks

It's for sale!

Burlesque

2009-03-27T10:03:00.001-04:00

Weight: 2.8 ounces

Contents: Merino, Punta, Corriedale, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz

See it here.

Easter Sunday

2009-03-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

Weight: 2.4 ounces

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Bamboo, Soy Silk, Punta, Viscose, Firestar, Icicle

Hunt for it here.

New and improved JSH products

2009-03-08T13:29:00.005-04:00

New photos from Appalachian Voodoo Fibers HQ! Freshly-dyed goodies dried and hung up, ready to be carded into batts.

Catclaw Theatre Company's Open House

2009-02-25T12:01:00.002-05:00

Visit our booth at the Catclaw Theatre Company Open House at the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center in Louisville this weekend, where you'll get a chance to squeeze our lovely fiber batts in person! Click the link for more details!

Spring Cleaning

2009-02-15T22:42:00.003-05:00

Weight: 2.1 ounces

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Soy Silk, Icicle, Firestar, Glitz, Angelina.

Availability: mais oui

Six Pack

2009-02-14T23:51:00.000-05:00

1. black and pink - 1.2 oz. - merino, icicle

2. yellowy orange - 1.0 oz. - alpaca, merino, icicle, punta, lincoln locks, angelina

3. green - 1.0 oz. - merino, icicle, firestar, punta, viscose, angelina

4. purple/black/lavender - 1.0 oz. - merino, icicle

5. red/pink/white - 1.2 oz. - merino, icicle, viscose

6. blue/green/purple - 1.0 oz. - alpaca, merino, icicle, angelina

Total of 6.4 ounces!

Keep 'em on hand at home

Blue Smoke

2009-02-12T00:21:00.003-05:00

Weight: 2.0 ounces.

Contents: Merino, Shredded Sari Silk, Icicle, Glitz

Inhale it!

Tropical Smoothie

2009-02-11T01:56:00.001-05:00

I don't know whether to spin it or eat it.

Weight: 2.5 ounces

Contents: Merino, Bamboo, Soy Silk, Punta, Viscose, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz

Order up!

Charlotte and Emily

2009-02-10T00:57:00.001-05:00

Weight: 4.0 ounces (2.0 ounces each)

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Icicle, Glitz, Lincoln Locks

Befriend the twins!

Lost

2009-02-09T01:45:00.001-05:00

See you in another life, brother.

click

Looking Glass

2009-02-08T01:04:00.004-05:00

Is it named after the Lewis Carroll book, or the DHARMA station on LOST?

Actually, it's named after the Monkees song, which I listened to incessantly, over and over for hours each day, while writing the script and libretto for Toulouse-inations last Spring.

Weight: 2.6 ounces.

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Shredded Sari Silk, Icicle, Glitz, Lincoln Locks

Take it home!

Ghost Ship

2009-02-06T13:16:00.000-05:00

Weight: 2.1 ounces

Contents: Alpaca, Merino, Punta, Viscose, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz

Get it!

Drying

2009-02-05T08:46:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's stuff hanging up to dry. Some of this ended up in the blue mini-batt in last night's Six pack of mini batts.

Tonight's Dyepot Menu

2009-02-04T01:29:00.002-05:00

Ultra-pale blue/lavender/white mottled Punta.

Darker blue Punta and Icicle.

Lavender Soy Silk.

mm-mmm!

Can you smell what JSH is cookin'?

2009-02-03T01:07:00.002-05:00

Dyeing up some new goodies in the Appalachian Voodoo laboratories tonight... Lincoln Locks, Alpaca and Icicle, in midnight blue, magenta, teal and dirty orange.

Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag!

2009-02-02T03:28:00.005-05:00

Stop me before I come to my senses! In order to help raise funds for The Catclaw Theatre Company, I'm offering my Etsy friends a fortune in fiber for a fraction of its value, with The Appalachian Voodoo Super Explosive Intergalactic Grab Bag!

Here's what you get:

You get one dozen (TWELVE!) tasty fiber batts, each guaranteed to be 2.0 ounces or more, for a total of over 24 ounces!

In these batts, you'll get a little of everything in my fiber arsenal: Angora, Yak, Merino, Bamboo, Punta, Baby Alpaca, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Cashmere, Corriedale, Silk, Tussah Silk, Shredded Sari Silk, Silk Noils, Lincoln, Lincoln Locks, Tinsel, Llama, Yarn Bits, Viscose, Tencel, Soy Silk, Camel Down, and more.

The value of these batts, sold individually, would be between $10 and $14 each, making this clearly a wallet-boggling, economy-defying deal!

....but wait, there's MORE!

I'll ALSO fill out the package by throwing in a choice assortment of mini-batts, fiber samples, locks and fun stuff to help dress up your projects. These bonus goodies alone will keep you happy and occupied for some time, and raise the combined value of the entire kit to around TWO HUNDRED dollars!

....but wait, there's STILL MORE!

What if I told you that for a limited time only (I could snap back to sanity any day now!), I offer this spectacular cavalcade of delicious fibery goodness with FREE SHIPPING in the United States?

(Photo is to illustrate my style of batts, and does not show the actual batts I will make personally for your order. Batts will be in a wide variety of colors!)

Convo me if you have any questions......

Frog and Toad

2009-02-01T23:09:00.002-05:00

FROG's weight: 1.4 ounces

TOAD's weight: 1.4 ounces

Total weight: 2.8 ounces

Contents: Merino, Alpaca, Viscose, Punta, Sari Silk, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Lincoln Locks

They could be yours.

Nikola Tesla

2009-01-26T23:46:00.002-05:00

Someone already bought this even before I could talk about it here. You snooze, you lose!

Fear not, though, another blue one will be up soon.

The Drum Carder

2009-01-24T20:52:00.002-05:00

Here's a shot of the official JSH Appalachian Voodoo drum carder in all its glory, in the midst of a frenzied battin' session.

Queen

2009-01-22T00:13:00.001-05:00

Not named after the band Queen (though they're cool too) but just in a general spirit of queenliness.

It could be yours.

(I pride myself on having perfect color reproduction in my photos, but there's just something spooky about this deep-purple hand-dyed merino that just defies accurate duplication on camera, for some reason. The actual color is a darker, deeper, velvety royal purple.)

Valentine Milkshake

2009-01-21T10:10:00.000-05:00

Weight: 2.1 ounces

Contains: Soy Silk, Bamboo, Merino, Punta, Angelina, Icicle, Glitz

Available: yes

Lilypad

2009-01-20T00:55:00.004-05:00

I'm lovin' this Soy Silk I got from The Woolery in Frankfort last week... and there's plenty of it in this two-ounce batt made of Punta, Soy Silk, Merino, Silk Noils, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, and Glitz.

Four Aces

2009-01-19T01:20:00.001-05:00

A set of four miniature batts:

#1 is Bamboo, Icicle and Angelina. 1.0 ounces.

#2 is Wool, Icicle and Angelina. 1.0 ounces.

#3 is Angora, Icicle and Angelina. 0.5 ounces.

#4 is Sari Silk, Icicle and Angelina. 0.8 ounces.

View 'em here.

Flight of the Bumblebee

2009-01-18T00:56:00.002-05:00

Weight: 2.5 ounces

Contents: Baby Alpaca, Merino, Bamboo, Icicle, Punta.

Awesome: Yes

Purchase: here

Noiliness!

2009-01-17T00:41:00.001-05:00

Silk noils I dyed a few months ago...

The Great Pumpkin

2009-01-16T00:57:00.004-05:00

Went to The Woolery at their new Frankfort location today! Even though they aren't actually open for business yet, they let me come in and buy some goodies, like Soy Silk, Camel Down, Llama.... great stuff.

I immediately came home and whipped up this batt, which is 2.1 ounces of Merino, Soy Silk, Camel Down, Llama, Yak, Icicle, Angelina, Silk, Silk Noils, and Lincoln.

Jelly Nougat

2009-01-15T00:12:00.002-05:00

Remember those "jelly nougat" candies, the round chewy things with bits of colorful gel stuff pockmarked all over it? They weren't very good candies, but they sure were purty, and this batt reminded me of them.

Psst... hey mister, I'll sell it to you...

Red Devil

2009-01-14T00:50:00.000-05:00

Weight: 2.7 ounces. Contents: Merino, Bamboo, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Silk.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19712494

Kefalonia

2009-01-13T00:32:00.001-05:00

2.1 ounces of soft and yummy Merino, Bamboo, Shredded Sari Silk, Tussah Silk, Yak, Corriedale, Angelina, Firestar, Glitz, Baby Alpaca.

As Jerry Lee Lewis once drunkenly bellowed, "Git it, git it, git it".

Coloratura

2009-01-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

This is another of those "everything but the kitchen sink" batts I love so well - the very best kind for artsy spinning and felting!

Contents: Alpaca, Angora, Yak, Merino, Bamboo, Punta, Firestar, Icicle, Angelina, Glitz, Corriedale, Silk, Tussah Silk, Shredded Sari Silk, Silk Noils, Lincoln, Lincoln Locks, Tinsel, Yarn Bits.

Own it.

Cherry Sisters

2009-01-11T03:52:00.006-05:00

As you may know, I'm currently obsessed with the vaudeville act known as The Cherry Sisters. I dedicate this peachy pair of batts to them.

Blue Bunny

2009-01-10T02:32:00.003-05:00

Not only is Blue Bunny my favorite off-brand sandwich bread, it's also one of my favorite Daniel Clowes comic stories. And now it's also a lovely vibrant cornflower-colored fiber batt that's heavy on the glitz and bamboo. Dig.

Belle and Sebastian

2009-01-09T00:51:00.002-05:00

A yummy pair of batts, made of lavender-purple-violet Merino and white Silk Noils. Git here and git 'em.

Shredded Money

2009-01-08T17:02:00.002-05:00

I purchased this somewhere online, I forget where now. It's shredded U.S. currency, made from genuine uncut sheets of dollar bills discarded by the U.S. Treasury Department. They make a nice addition to any out-there art yarn. Look for a batt on my Etsy shop soon, to be made entirely of unconventional materials including this.

Pink Bamboo

2009-01-05T12:03:00.003-05:00

Bamboo I dyed to a pungently cotton candy-ish shade of pink. I tried to eat it but it just wasn't the same.

Easter Egg

2009-01-04T23:52:00.004-05:00

It's Eggier than thou!

See it, view it, love it, own it here.

Sweeney Todd

2009-01-03T02:31:00.003-05:00

Let my Sweeney Todd batt conjure up the treat batts used to be. Get it here.

Alpenglow

2009-01-02T00:28:00.001-05:00

Added to Etsy here.

Danube

2009-01-01T21:55:00.001-05:00

Just up on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19216378

Alpaca/shetland Handspun Yarn

2008-12-30T09:18:00.002-05:00

This here is whatcha call one o' them there two-ply handspun-on-drop-spindle alpaca/shetland primitive Appalachian Voodoo guy-yarns.

Weight: 1.3 ounces, length: 18 yards.

On Etsy here.

Royal Crescent

2008-12-28T23:42:00.001-05:00

It's a peculiarity of this deep-purple dyed merino that makes it photograph as blue for some reason, with or without flash. The actual color is a lush deep velvety purple.

Weight: 2.0 ounces.

Contents: Merino, Punta, Angelina, Firestar, Glitz, Alpaca, Bamboo, Shredded Sari Silk.

See it on Etsy here.

Paradise Fibers Sari Silk

2008-12-27T11:55:00.003-05:00

I come up with most of the elements of my batts myself, but one of the few that I don't is the shredded sari silk (although in 2009 I plan to experiment with shredding my own, as well as other recycling/shredding of pre-existing textiles).

I get my shredded sari silk from Paradise Fibers in Washington, and have always been well pleased with everything I've ever gotten from them!

Metallic Bronze Bamboo

2008-12-26T01:24:00.001-05:00

Tempest

2008-12-25T00:51:00.003-05:00

Just put this one up on Etsy moments ago.

Opium

2008-12-24T01:18:00.003-05:00

Another new batt for Etsy. This one's loaded with cashmere, glitz and sari silk. View it here.

Howland Island

2008-12-23T01:27:00.000-05:00

I just put this new fiber batt, "Howland Island", up on the Etsy shop a few hours ago.

Blue Bamboo

2008-12-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

Pale blue hand-dyed Bamboo, with blue hand-dyed Firestar behind it and hand-dyed yellow and purple Punta in the background.