Knitting?

(No, the mitts are not finished. Look at the pretty birdhouse. Move along.)
So while not much knitting is going on, we did have a busy weekend, with the kiddos graduating to the next level of their karate classes. The Girlie is now a blue belt and the Boy is a brown. A brown! My mom and good friend Amber came for the ceremony, and the kids were thrilled. As requested, here are some pics of my dangerous little duo.


And today, we not only received the first snow of the season, but this was also the first snow of Chewie's very short little life. I made sure to arm myself with my camera, fully expecting Chewie to approach this even with his customary delight and gusto. He did not disappoint.


Even his favorite stick was oh-so-much-better.

Tashi is not much of a fan of the cold white stuff, herself, and was less than enthused with the silly puppy's antics. She was happy to come in and warm her paws.

I do have an FO to share, that was actually completed at Grandview and never photoed. As I approached the toe on the second sock -- socks I had been knitting for quite some time FOR ME, that I had been dying to wear -- I had the thought that they would make a lovely gift for my sister. DAMNNIT! Why? I then felt guilty at the thought of keeping them for myself, depriving her of their wooly goodness. The languished in my bag for 2 weeks unworn, their fate uncertain. Yeah, I'm over it.

These were made with my Woolicious Superwash Falkland wool sportweight yarn. So warm and wooly and cushy. I've already washed them, too and they got even softer. mmmmmm (Sorry, Sis!)

Gettin' Chum-my...

Ok, so that was BAD. Real Bad. But seriously, I'm fading fast here and that was all I could come up with. So what is it all about? WELL, my shop was featured on Lime and Violet's Daily Chum as the Etsy shop of the day yesterday! YAY! Thanks to all the folks who visited as a result.
I also just posted my first official ad on Ravelry! I was quite pleased with the results, not being much of a computer aficionado (beware of falling understatements). Here it is...

I am slowly learning a bit of Photoshop, and with hubby's direction got the above ad done without a terrible amount of trial and error. This little software tool has become my best friend with shop photos, too. I can finally get my colors to look almost right! My purples LOOK LIKE PURPLE!!! Red is red, not orange! I used to dread the photo taking/posting regime, and while it may take me a bit longer to run everything through Photoshop first, it is so worth it.
There will be a fairly decent shop update today, mostly of the fiber variety. I'm low on yarn presently, but have some on order and should be good to go shortly after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, don't forget to head over to Woolgirl, Yarn and Fiber, and One Planet on-line for Sereknity yarns and goodies (see the links in the sidebar), as well as visiting Yarn Sellar (York, ME), Knit Pickings (Plaistow, NH) and Yarn and Fiber (Windham, NH) locally.
I am anxiously awaiting Knit Night at Y&F tonight! I miss my peeps! You see, I've been holding out on you a bit, my blogging faithful -- fear of $4 heating oil prices and the looming visit of that big guy in the red suit I need to subsidize has caused me to run out on y'all a bit. No, I am not simply living and breathing yarn, fiber, and color everyday. I am now a substitute teacher. LORD, I forgot how tiring teaching could be! I have had the pleasure, however, of subbing in my children's school, both days in the same 3rd grade class, and -- never thought I would say this -- I really enjoyed it. Maybe even miss teaching a teensy-tiny bit. (For those who don't know, I used to teach HS English. I honestly don't spread it around because people really scrutinize a persons blogging grammar so much more when they know, and I enjoy being lazy here!) The kids were cute and well behaved -- a testament to their teacher, the school run fabulously, and it was nice to walk down the hall and enjoy a sweet kiss from my excited 7 year old when he ran into me. Sadly, I subbed on Wed. -- knit night -- and then later in the evening wrangled my Brownie troop, and seriously? I was so spent by the time I got home NOTHING was pulling me out the door. So, tonight, watch out, folks, I'm makin' up for lost time.

Status report...

All other knitting has been paused in favor of Christmas knitting for the time being -- even Poppy, which is SO CLOSE. Lil' sis's scarf is 1/3 done, and I cast on mom-in-law's mitts as planned, and hope to get a lot further on them today while the kids are at karate class. So soft and pretty...

It is so dry now that I actually don't have nearly the sensation in my hands that I normally would, no matter how much lotion I apply. I so hate that about the cold weather. I'm working with cashmere, for goodness sakes! So cruel to take that feeling away. I expect these will be done by the end of the day (crossing fingers) and then I hope to cast on for the Mosaic Mitts from last years Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue. I did a bit of stash diving and will use some Knit Picks WOA and some newly purchased Ella Rae Classic.

The light blue and white I am planning to transform into EZ's Snowflake mittens from her Knitter's Almanac, but am still on the fence as to whether or not I want to over-dye the blue to more of an aqua/turquoise. I think time will be the deciding factor there.
In shop news, I've been poking away at the web-site to get the new colorways and all the yarn types listed in the dye-to-order section. You will soon notice some colorways will come with an additional option to choose "mild" or "bold" patterning in regards to how the yarn is dyed. Mild will have smaller color sections and less chance (always with the disclaimer in regards to gauge!) of pooling, whereas the "bold" patterning has longer color repeats that allow, based on gauge, for a nice swirly/stripey effect. I have had such a hard time deciding how to cater to all manner of tastes and thought that this just might be the way to do it. Now I just have to figure out how to post a gallery on the site of knitted objects so everyone can see the difference. Computers are not my forte, for certain.

of Halloween, Hackers, and Horrors...

So, yup, been a while. I can pretty confidently say you don't need nor want to know about everything that has happened, but I'll give you some high- and low-lights.
Halloween -- great fun. Ain't they cuties??

Daddy took them around the neighborhood with friends while I manned the door, after an hour of which I became paranoid that they were cold and called his cell phone to be sure I shouldn't hunt them down with coats. He laughed me off -- they were fine. Silly mommy. I was getting cold, however, sitting out on the porch, but at least I had my knitting.

As for hackers, well, some of the wildest and most fabulous (and ridiculously generous) knitters I have the pleasure of knowing and myself converged upon Grand View Lodge for a weekend of knitting, shopping, drinking and jell-o-shooting (yum), and encountered all kinds of horrors and mishaps. I, for my part, contributed to the weekend debacle by having my Paypal hacked into the moment I logged onto an unfamiliar and unsecure wireless connection. Yup, they cleaned me out. MAJOR KUDOS to Paypal, however, for speedy action. My account and money was restored by Monday evening. Definitely NOT the stress relief I was looking for, tho. You can read more about our weekend here and here. And there was more, but again, you don't come here for the horror. You just want the knittin'.
I got little done while away -- finished the Mystic Mountain socks pictured in the candy bowl above; got the duplicate stitch and bobbles on Jacob's R2D2 hat finished, and he now proudly wears it to school everyday; I have one last thumb to put on Rachel's mittens, started AGES ago; didn't get to start Hip in Hemp; I did complete one sleeve of Poppy and cast on the second. I did also buy some nice Lamb's Pride Superwash Bulky from the sale bin that is surprisingly soft and cushy. After a few tries at various stitch patterns, I settled on a reversible ribbed cable design on sz13 needles and I am really loving it.

This will be a Christmas present -- lots of those in the next few weeks, I hope. I am going to cast some mitts on today to alternate back and forth from the scarf, so I don't get too bored. I'm going to make some of my Smocked Gauntlets (see side bar) in Posh yarns cashmere from the stash for my mom-in-law. (Yes, yes, pictures later...)

When good gloves (and socks) go bad

So, I did quite a bit of work this week (see the shop for updates) and I wore gloves, I swear,
but apparently they had holes. le sigh
I came up with a few more new colorways, and dyed up a few old favorites. First is Cowboy (already sold out!)

and Deep Forest (I love this one).

I also tried a new experiment with some lovely South African Fine roving -- Perfect Pairs. I took a semi-solid length of roving and paired it with a handpainted length containing the same color to sell as a duo. And of course, I picked my favorite colorway -- Pomegranate.

(There's only one of these pairings left, so grab it if you can!) I think this is something I'll definitely try this again. This roving is fabulous, soft, and very reasonably priced as well. I can't wait to spin some of this up for myself. But what colors?? Oh, the decisions....
On the knitting front, I still LOVE the Cowgirl sock -- she is beautiful, BUT I am struggling a bit with the pattern.

From my view, the pattern omits some helpful directions (such as stitch counts and "you should be here now" info)and for some very strange reason, although I am following the pattern verbatim, I am getting weird nubbins on my sock...

and ended up with awful holes where there should be no holes after my short row heel.

I am persisting, tho, as the still looks pretty nice on, but this may be the first sock I actually block (darn nubbins). Although I have knit a total of 7 short row sections, for some reason I can't do number eight right!! I have ripped it back 3 times now. No more knitting during the ball game, dozing off sitting up or knitting with screaming kids around. It, and I, am in a time out for today.

I couldn't resist...

But seriously, is this not the coolest sock ever?? I just had to cast on for the Rainbow Socks from this months Magknits in Sereknity Cowgirl Perfect Sock. I have spent DAYS trying to resist, but I just had to see if the marriage of this colorway and pattern would do what I hoped and it does! It is a very addicting knit, even with all the purling, and is going surprisingly fast. I am using size 2 needles (they were what I had available) and the fabric is soft and the size should be just right. Here a shot of the other side...

I am very definitely going to do 6 short row sections for the longer cuff. Back to knitting (and laundry -- tons of laundry. No dyeing until the machine is free. UG.) I leave you with one other irresistable...

ain't he the cutest??

It's been a long week...

...of dyeing! I finally made some headway at getting the shop stocked, and had a minor burst of creativity so I came up with a few new colorways (these are all listed in the Etsy shop as I type)...
Fat Tuesday...

Mums...

Bountiful Harvest (this was a tough one to name, with so many different opinions from friends)...

my favorite, Cowgirl,

and Maui Sunset (don't know how this pic got missed the first time around, but it is here now... ),

inspired by a photo sent to me by Donna.
I focused on the bit of color at the horizon, but may need to tweak it a bit for her. I love how this particular version came out, tho. I really like how the dark blue plays against the brighter colors.
And for good measure, I dye a couple skeins of Black Forest Fudge, my old stand-by favorite, since I was doing up some fiber for Knit Pickings as well. I'll also have this in merino/silk roving as soon as it is dry. (drool!)

In knitting news, I am cruising slowly along on Poppy's sleeves, and am feeling better about the striping as they develop. I'll spare you the pics for now, but will show more when they are further along. I did take a break from it to cast on Jacob's R2D2 hat yesterday and literally knit ALL DAY while sitting at the computer doing listings and Photoshop and was therefore able to cast off the main portion this morning. I fudged it a bit. I didn't want to have to go back and duplicate stitch the details on -- I know me, it would never get done. So, I instead knit it as a stranded piece (something I really want to get better at) and just used the existing charts for this. If you try the hat this was, make note that for some reason, the first 15 stitches are omitted from the chart (I used the adult large in a smaller gauge - more stats later). It got a bit sticky in the decreases, again -- it wasn't designed to be knit this way, but I managed it in a fairly presentable fashion. I also got nervous it wasn't going to fit, so I reduced the rate of decrease after a few rows. It shows a bit now while lying flat, but I am confident it will all come out in the blocking. It fits the Boy with plenty of room to spare and he is thrilled. Now, to just knit the little protrubing bits and the "eye" as a patch that I will sew on. (Another personal mod. If I had knit it in, I would have had to carry the yarn all the way around the hat to knit about 12 stitches. Not happening.) So here it is...


and you know what you really want, the inside...

how did I do??

Executive Decisions

*** A note of thanks to all my friends and fellow bloggers who have expressed concern and support after my last post. You have no idea how much it means to me! I can assure you that I am OK; more importantly, my family is OK, and I will keep getting up each day and getting through. With the support of such wonderful people, I know I can make it. You are all the best! ***

Now, for the most important executive decision of late, not made by me, but by Ericka and Chris, I present to you some images from their big day...
There was a bubbling (and, thankfully, late) bride, caught by surprise in the back of the chapel. Were she not late, I would have missed the whole thing! Isn't she lovely?

There was a smiling and anticipatory groom (the way he looks at his beloved just slays me)...


There were knitters, knitting in the chapel, and later at the reception, as we were required to do...

A lovely couple and wedding party, the bride gorgeous in her hand-knit shawl...

Centerpieces, inspired by the bridal shower...

And the king of all wedding cakes -- a Whoopie Pie cake! YUM.


It was a perfect day for a perfect couple. I hear they are tearing it up in Disney, but -- horror of horrors -- can find no yarn! AHHHHHH!

In other, me-centric, news, I have made the long thought out decision to no longer re-skein my yarns. The reasons are numerous and varied, but I do feel ultimately that this is the right one for me. The debate rages on and on among dyers and customers alike, and while I often like the look of a re-skeined yarn with the colors broken up from the original hand-painted appearance, it doesn't seem to have as much impact on sales as one might think. At this point, I am looking at the time it takes for me to re-skein, not to mention the FRUSTRATION. My equipment, while faster than winding each skein by hand, it incredibly difficult, unreliable and fussy to use, and better models cost far more than I could even conceive of spending. Also, most of my yarns are now coming to me in cones, which I will be sending first to a mill to be wound off into 4oz. cones, cutting down on my time initially skeinning. All this means I can DYE MORE YARN. The Etsy shop has been a snore, as I have been spending so much time on wholesale orders. I really want a balance between the wo, and I want to be able to spend more time developing new colors. TIME. It all comes down to time. So there it is. And seriously, these still look nice, don't you think??

Oh, and here is a new colorway, Freyburg...


I have also made a decision to join the local Planet Fitness gym with a dear friend. I need it. It will be good for my physical and mental health, and while I could do without the initial expense right now, it is cheaper than therapy!
Look for more shop updates this week, as I have no outstanding wholesale orders and can concentrate on retail. I have soem sock bags that have been begging to be photoed for far too long, some hat kits, and lots and lots of stitch markers. I also have boat loads of fiber to dye -- merino/silk, merino superwash and non, South African, some tussah, BFL -- oh the fibery goodness! If there are any colorways you are hoping to see, shoot me an e-mail or comment. Direction is good.
Oh, and there has been some fairly significant knitting (I do still do that) on Poppy. The unevenness of the Noro stripes has been railing against my perfectionist nature, but I am persisting, trusting it will all work out in the end. The issue? No, I don't expect to have even stripes, but with the way the color sequences fall, it looks like the front and back are knit from too different yarns. I figure it will all come together when the sleves are added. We shall see. At least she fits well!


I am also having a bit of confusion at the shoulder directions, which call for some oddly stages decreases and binding off, but I think I am just going to leave them as is and graft together a the top, so I don't have seams. I'm a bit of a weirdo -- I love the kitchener stitch. I should have that completed today, and then cast on for the sleeves. I my actually get to wear this one this fall! WOW!

Uninspired

Been a bit quiet around here, huh? Truth be told, life is kicking my ass right now, and somedays I am having a bit a trouble knowing which way to turn. I won't bore you with the gory details. I'm working on it, tho, and trying to slog through each day doing at least one positive thing -- to accomplish SOMETHING -- and not just crawl in a hole and hide. THAT certainly doesn't help, although it seems tempting at times. So today, I am working on another wholesale order, starting with some of the simple things. I dyed some yarn yesterday that wasn't quite right, revisited it today, and now it is beautiful again. I feel better. Onward and upward, no?
I don't think I can even hope to catch you all up to the events of the past few weeks. I did head to the Big E to demonstrate spinning with some Island Pond Spinning friends, including the wonderful, newly-wed Ericka (more on that in a bit). It was a long but pleasant day, and I finally gave Navajo plying a good honest try, coached by Carol Spoerl, our fearless leader-of-the-day. She kept telling me she had all the patience in the world to teach me -- problem is, I don't! But I persisted and created the ugliest skein of yarn from the loveliest of fibers (Spunky Eclectic Triple Play Batts purchased at the Fiber Frolic).

I will eventually conquer this technique -- the sacrifice will not be in vain. I also began spinning some Soysilk fiber (hand-dyed by me) and I LOVE it. so smooth and soft and really quite easy to spin. Both Carol and I experimented with this and some bamboo, and the soy won out hands down. Good stuff.
From there, it was back to the busy work/school week. I had the interesting experience of being finger printed as I applied to substitute teach in my town. (I figure this is a good way to bring in a little cash, and yet, if I am busy with work and orders, I can always say "no".) I also spent many days working on a special little flock of sheep for the Sweet Sheep shop. (I neglected to get a pic of the whole crew in-process, but here is a representative pair.)

Michelle will soon have 15 pair of these lovelies in her hot little hands in various lengths and needle sizes. They would make lovely gifts! (Oh yes, folks, that time is rapidly approaching.)
Then, it was off to Maine for our last "hurrah" at camp, and to celebrate my baby boys SEVENTH birthday. 7!!!!!! We spent the day roaming the Freyburg Fair with friends (sorry -- bad mommy -- no pics) and my Boy and his Daddy even went on a helicopter ride, while the Girl and I had some "girlie" time alone. We finished the day with presents and a chocolate chip cookie cake, and all was well in the boy's world. We then enjoyed a family visit to camp on Saturday, grilling for 17 people that evening, ending the season in just the right fashion. Unfortunately for my dear hubby, I deserted him on Sunday, leaving him to break camp, in order to attend the wedding of my dear and wonderful friends, Chris and Ericka (see -- told you I would get to it!) It was a lovely event, and they are an even more beautiful couple.
A few pics from the happy day...


All they best to you, my loves!! (This event warrants more than a mere addendum to a post, so I will give you a full account in the next few days...)

Secret Stash Exchange -- Hey, pal!

Well, SOMEHOW I missed the e-mail from this swap detailing my match and that the game was on, but I have all the info now, so here goes! Pal, I am glad you posted and were persistent in communicating -- I would never have known.

My questionaire:

1) When is you birthday? Aug. 16
2) How long have you been spinning? Roughly one year.
3) How long have you been blending your fibers? Since NH Sheep and Wool this year, when I got my Schact Petite Drum Carder
4) What types of blends do you like to make and spin? ANYTHING, but esp. something textured with silk, that makes interesting singles
5) What types of fibers do you NOT like? Are you allergic to any kinds of fiber? I have yet to meet a fiber that I don't like - no allegies, thank goodness
6) What are your favorite colors? I'm pretty easy to please here -- I have a hefty love of reds and warm clors, but am equally drawn to cool blues and purples -- and natural colors straight from the animal? amazing. Pretty much, I love 'em all.
7) What are you least favorite colors? none -- but I can't wear yellows, even tho I love them for themselves
8) What type of yarns do you like to spin? (singles, plied, novelty, fingering, bulky, ect.) I mostly spin 2 ply and singles, but love to experiment hen I have time (hehehe -- can you box some of THAT up and send it??)
9) What type of blending equipment do you use? my itty-bitty drum carder
10) What type of wheel or spindle do you spin on? I have an antique flax wheel of unknown origin that spins a seriously fine yarn, and a workhorse Louet S17 that does it all and travels well. Most of my spinning is done on the Louie these days
11) What do you do with your handspun yarn? I actually knit with it!
12) What are your interests outside of spinning? I'm a dyer and knitter, I have 2 kiddos, 2 dogs, 4 cats and my beautiful little angora bunny -- who does sort of play into the spinning thing ;)
13) What types of music do you like? lots, mostly popular music, "mainstream" country, 60's, 70's 80's -- you know, a smattering -- I can appreciate artistry in all forms, really, but don't seek it out -- not an efficionado
14) What types of movies do you like? I love me a good drama
15) Do you collect anything? not avidly, but I do have a thing for sheep, llamas, hedgehogs, and frogs
16) What types of candy and snacks do you like and dislike? again -- easy to please. Chocolate ALWAYS works, but I like fruity and nutty things, too. Oh, and CHEESE. I mostly subsist on cheese and crackers.
17) Do you have any food allergies to common "goodies"? (ie: chocolate, nuts, etc.)NONE!

SO thank you, pal of mine. Hope to get to know you better soon!

Catchin' up

YIKES! I didn't realize it had been over a week since my last post. As always, busy, busy, busy here. Mostly the normal kid/school/family stuff and I am a bit frustrated on the business side as one supplier has really let me down and either BOed a lot of product, or sent me sub-standard yarn (so I'm not sure how much I do still want to work with them) and I am setting up a new contract with one of my existing suppliers, but that is taking some time, so the gist of it is, I HAVE NOTHING TO DYE!! I have a few random skeins that I got dyed last week that are being listed in the Etsy shop (see side bar) but that is about it for this week. I did manage to pick up some local fiber (story below) that I will be washing, dyeing, and carding this week for some amazingly glorious batts, but again, slow going.
Another item going up in the shop today (finally!) is the felted soap kits which are a combination of carded Sereknity fibers and Down to Hearth amazing homemade soaps and all the instructions needed to make this fun project.

They are great! I have been using some of these felted bars in the shower myself, and I just love them. They are so less messy than regular bar soaps, last longer than those darn body washes, are all nautral, fragrant, creamy (awesome for shaving!), and the felted wool casing is super exfolliating. FABULOUS. I figure these would be great gifts, whether you felt the soaps and tie them up with a nice ribbon for the gift, or give the kit itself to someone crafty. Ericka's soaps really are to die for, and they smell soooooo good.

I am happy to say that I took a trip to Knit Pickings in Plaistow, NH and met with Sue, the wonderful owner there, and she has decided to carry both Sereknity yarns and rovings -- oh! and sock bags and needle felting fibers as well. I'm very excited about this, and as soon as MY yarn and fiber order comes in (grrrr), I'll get some product out to her.
Also, on Saturday, I took a little trip out to Parker River Alpacas to meet with the Newburyport Spinners there for a Spin-in. It was sooo nice! I'm horrible about remembering to take pictures, although I did snap a few.


Cheryl and Chris were both there, and you can read a bit more and see some other pics there. "Alpaca Kathy" e-mailed me an invite, and suggested I bring some of my goodies in case anyone was in a shopping mood, so I packed up what meager stock I had from which Chris found herself a nice mound of Superwash merino to play with, and Cheryl and Kathy both picked out some fibers to have some fun with in the drum carder. Me? I got some 1.5 lbs of alpaca fleece to play with. YAY! Look at the wonderful variation in this...

This is from Saki, a grey alpaca with some wonderful black spots. Kathy informed me that alpaca are not truly grey, but rather more tweedy, like a roan horse, their coloring being made up of a mix of individually colored hairs. Should make for some very interesting dyeing. I also got some white fleece from a little girl named Sugar Baby. I'm going to use some of Lilah's fur in with this alpaca for batts, just trying to think of the colors I want to dye, but alpaca and angora? OH. MY.
Other than the human company, the most enchanting part of the day was sitting there in the yard, spinning, and having these lovely, gentle creatures just wander up to see what we were doing. They didn't necessarily want me to reach out and touch them, but some were curious and comfortable enough to come quite close. Love those little buggers! (Oh man do I want one! "One" meaning a herd, mind you.)
To finish off the weekend, I went into Boston to participate with the rest of the Spun and Run team in the Komen Walk for the Cure. As a team we raised $2500! I raised $300 in just the few weeks since joining and posting, SO THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH TO ALL WHO DONATED. My mom was thrilled. I didn't run, although Cheryl and Terry did, but I did get to walk with and meet Martha, Carole (and her hubby, Dale), Manise, Kathy (whom I had had the pleasure of meeting before).

Kathy, Carole, and Martha are pictured here. What a great group of folk, and the walk flew by. I especially had a great time talking Manise's ear off -- I bet she'll run screaming when she sees me in the future! ;) It was a gorgeous day full of super positive energy. And don't let Cheryl fool you -- she hit her desired time just fine, but the start out of the "gate" was so slow due to the volume of people that the official clock has her timed a bit incorrectly. She did great! Kudos to her, Terry, her daughter and her brother in law for NOT taking the easy way out!
And to end this so very long post, a few ubiquitous shots of me, in the mini cardi, in the bathroom mirror. I do love it. MUST work with this yarn again.