tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68431101967251588582024-03-13T09:03:49.853-07:00Huckleberry KnitsLiving and Dyeing in the Pacific NorthwestAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.comBlogger245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-36602416924616167462014-08-18T08:57:00.000-07:002014-08-18T10:05:52.136-07:00what else haven't you told me?
I've been using my Spindlewood spindle to sample random bits of fiber. I decided I wanted to use it for something else, and since I was going to toss the singles, I just pulled the cop off instead winding off the yarn.
The first thing that struck me was how pretty it was, like a slice of a geode. The next thing was that I realized I'd made a center-pull ball. I can ply straight from this Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-70903605352038640682014-03-18T10:27:00.002-07:002014-03-18T10:27:46.029-07:00signs of spring
Signs of spring are popping up, like crocuses:
The first salmonberry blossom of the season (it was a couple of feet over my head, so the shot's a little blurry but I'm amazed to see one already):
Our flowering plum tree is starting to blossom--I love how the buds are like popcorn, just a few at first, and then an explosion of blossoms:
And fiber and yarn drying outside inAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-36510969213406066502013-10-23T23:30:00.000-07:002013-10-23T23:30:14.381-07:00cider pressingIt's been a crazy busy eight weeks, with a bunch of wholesale orders and two shows to dye for. But in between shows, I got to take a day off and go to a cider press down in Skagit County, at the home of my handbell choir director.
For someone who loves fall the way I do, it was a little surprising that I'd never been to one before. I've seen apples being pressed at demonstrations, but that was Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-55392094989953745132013-08-12T17:40:00.001-07:002013-08-12T17:40:37.986-07:00Contest! Autumn Inspiration photos wanted
I’m starting to dye for autumn, which is my favorite season. The crisp air, the fall foliage (I grew up in New England), the brilliant blue skies, the feeling of a fresh new school year, hot apple cider--I love pretty much everything about it, except maybe the gigantic spider webs that pop up everywhere in the PNW.
Find your two favorite autumn photos and post them in my Ravelry group (I’ll pinAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-60469179669939846962013-05-21T00:38:00.001-07:002013-05-21T00:44:45.708-07:00LYS Tour 2013For the past several years, local yarn shops from the central Puget Sound up to the Canadian border have hosted a weekend-long yarn crawl. Since my personal stash is entirely out of hand, to say nothing of my business inventory, I usually just visit a few nearby stores during the tour.
But this year, the Northwest LYS Tour included five stores in my county, plus three in the next county, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-81990937332443688822013-04-15T13:58:00.000-07:002013-04-15T14:01:12.949-07:00today is Patriots' DayToday is Patriots' Day, anniversary of the "shot heard 'round the world," the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which were the first battles of the American Revolution. As a kid growing up a minuteman's march away from Concord, we got a heavy dose of colonial history at pretty much every grade level. But I knew this day for primarily three reasons: we got the day off from school, the Red Sox Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-18859797068513951772013-03-29T23:02:00.002-07:002013-03-29T23:13:29.418-07:00Madrona 2013
This post is embarrassingly late, but better than never, right? I was only at Madrona for one day this year. Got up at 5:30 a.m. to head down to Tacoma, which at that time of day is about a 2.25 hour drive, to be on time for my morning class.
Somewhere along the ride, my pocket wheel parted ways with one of its treadles. But luckily for me, Mr. and Mrs. Pocket Wheel were sharing a booth Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-43707712955480550352013-01-17T23:24:00.001-08:002013-01-17T23:24:07.915-08:00it's a conspiracyit's a conspiracy, a photo by connormarie on Flickr.Even my Scrabble tiles are reminding me that Jan 31 is coming up, and procrastination doesn't pay.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-43741506881328133592013-01-09T12:57:00.000-08:002013-01-09T12:57:08.310-08:00a word about shop updatesDuring the last two weeks of December, while I was working on club orders and inventory for the St. Distaff's Day spin-in at Lake Stevens, my shop was pretty much cleaned out of fiber. I thought, no problem, I'll list my leftover inventory after the spin-in. My one caveat was that I must have at least two of each colorway to make photographing and listing it worth the work, because it does take Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-42459854985600748842012-12-12T14:37:00.001-08:002012-12-12T16:22:30.553-08:00my new loveI ordered a new-to-me sock yarn, a superwash merino singles yarn, to try out. It is 4 oz and 450 yards of pure sexy. I think I am in love.
I think its extra luster comes from being a singles yarn--there are no shadows from the plying to disrupt the glow. I have known many singles yarns in various weights and fiber blends, but I don't love any of them, not even the silk blends, the way I Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-77724363423331716342012-12-11T12:28:00.002-08:002012-12-11T12:32:01.110-08:00why I sell on EtsyFor several months now, I've been running high monthly bills at my Etsy shop. Why, do you ask, do I continue to sell there? Especially when there is a perception among some that Etsy is so contaminated by amateurs that everyone who sells there is tainted?
Right now, it is about economics. Does a move away from Etsy to a standalone site pencil out? No, it doesn't for me, and here's why.
It is Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-75719856852333868612012-10-27T15:30:00.001-07:002012-10-27T15:30:18.338-07:00quick updateJust a quick note to say that I was gone for a week (at Disneyland, more in a later post, I hope) and have spent this past week catching up. Pulling at Strings club has been dyed and shipped, I'm Your Huckleberry club orders are dyed and drying, and monthly fiber club is up next.
Also, I've released a couple of spots for the monthly fiber club, so if you've been waiting for a chance to get in, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-18411773647361973522012-10-08T11:50:00.002-07:002012-10-08T11:50:17.342-07:00I'm a winnah!After seeing a Ravelry post, I entered a giveaway for the latest issue of Spin-off, Interweave's spinning magazine. It was at the blog of Joanna Johnson, author of Phoebe's Birthday.
Much to my astonishment, I won! That's Joanna's gorgeous handspun shawl, A Gift from Laurel, on the cover of Spin-off in the photo below. Joanna was kind enough to include a few other goodies, too, including Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-61034109051082309492012-10-04T09:00:00.000-07:002012-10-04T09:00:04.254-07:00back in the old daysBefore I had a baby and got back into knitting and then started dyeing and had fiber devour my mind, house, and career, I did a lot of training with my dog, Connor.
He is some sort of sheepdog mix (Briard? bearded collie?) that we adopted from the pound. Best dog ever. Sweet, friendly, smart, and eager to please. And fast.
We did competition obedience for a while and earned our novice Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-13811589286358533682012-10-02T23:52:00.000-07:002012-10-02T23:52:16.713-07:00cool news
I'm not exactly sure how it ended up being October already. I can't remember a lovelier September. Kiddo and I played hooky a lot of afternoons and went swimming, which is usually not to be thought of after Labor Day, but when it hits 80 and you know that many months of dreary cloudy weather are looming, what else is a girl supposed to do?
And there was a fair bit of dyeing Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-85657436336217596962012-08-23T00:48:00.002-07:002012-08-23T00:48:16.220-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: this week's winning numbersThis week’s winning numbers are:10% discount: 38
free shipping: 49
$5 discount: 17
It's hard to believe there's only about 10 days left until Labor Day. I haven't felt that crispness in the air yet, so I'll pretend I didn't see my first hint of autumn foliage today, and that summer will never end. I had a hard time relaxing into summer this year; I'm going to try to make up for it in the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-13853902434980851842012-08-15T14:05:00.002-07:002012-08-15T22:06:14.420-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: winning numbers for week #8This week’s winning numbers are:
10% discount: 77
free shipping: 39
$5 discount: 81
I feel like random.org has a distinct bias towards numbers in the 70s and 80s. I don't know why that is.
It's 86 degrees here today, which is freakishly hot for around here. We're off to swim in the river for the rest of the afternoon!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-29040967934330995742012-08-07T00:32:00.001-07:002012-08-15T22:06:14.426-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: double batch of winning numbersJust a reminder that club signups close today. I have one fiber spot left, but several yarn spots. Colorway selections are dyed and drying, and will be mailed out later this week.
Now, onto the winning numbers. I wanted to make sure that people saw the blog post that the club was back open, so I decided to do a double drawing of winning numbers this week instead of bumping my club post down.
10Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-54954933636612207912012-07-31T01:18:00.000-07:002012-08-10T22:39:23.673-07:00I'm Your Huckleberry Club now openAfter a brief hiatus due to my summer schedule, the I'm Your Huckleberry Club is open again! When designing it, I thought about what I'd personally like in a club, and at the
top of the list was flexibility. So you'll find lots of choices--which
colorway you want, what kind of yarn or fiber you want, and how you want to pay
for it--in this club. It's your yarn, your way.
Here are the details forAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-66292178703858302142012-07-24T23:03:00.000-07:002012-07-24T23:03:43.409-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: week #5
I've had at least one winner every week, which is very cool! Maybe this week you'll be one of them?
This week’s winning numbers are:
10% discount: 25
free shipping: 38
$5 discount: 23
After endless days, I finally got through my 2 oz batt that I've been spinning into laceweight. It's terrible yarn because I kept waffling between "it needs to be thinner" and "I hate how this is Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-65651396119672205032012-07-19T09:48:00.001-07:002012-07-24T23:03:55.917-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: winning numbers for week #4Sorry I'm late this week. This week’s winning numbers are:
10% discount: 76
free shipping: 72
$5 discount: 78
Busy wrapping up a wholesale order and developing new apple colorways. I belong to a group of artisans called Universal Mama, and our August theme is apples. Right up my alley!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-42261693422701120962012-07-11T23:03:00.004-07:002012-07-24T23:03:55.891-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune, and BSG recapOops, I posted this on my Ravelry group but forgot to also post here. This week’s winning numbers are:
10% discount: 4
free shipping: 36
$5 discount: 90
Kiddo's summer camp schedule didn't start till this week, so I took a sort-of vacation from dyeing the two weeks after BSG. I reorganized the yarn storage/winding room, sorted through my dye jars (why on earth did I have five jars of fuchsiaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-51902596150323233302012-07-03T15:22:00.001-07:002012-07-24T23:03:55.909-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: winning numbers for week #2This week's winning numbers are:
10% discount: 71
free shipping: 8
$5 discount: 30
I've changed my comment settings for the summer, so you won't need a Blogger account to post here. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-47722466646952502942012-07-02T16:05:00.000-07:002012-07-03T15:18:25.467-07:00news flash: you don't have to be white to be an AmericanThis weekend, we went camping with the in-laws. This is normally
pretty fun. We were at a lovely place, Lake Wenatchee State Park, the
weather was cooperative, and our neighbors were mostly quiet.
But on Saturday night, I had the most enraging conversation that I've
had in quite a while. My sister-in-law's 15-year-old stepson said
something about all the "foreigners" at the campground.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-49302630515033911692012-06-26T22:09:00.003-07:002012-07-24T23:03:55.899-07:00Summer of Fiber Fortune: winning numbers for week #1
This week’s winning numbers are:
10% discount: 52
free shipping: 3
$5 discount: 6Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2