note to self: dye more fiber

Yesterday, when I stocked some fiber at Etsy, I set a new record for number of visitors--triple my previous daily record. Thanks so much, and I'll list more fiber after my January 8 show, if there's any left. I tend to sell out my roving/top at shows, and it takes me a while to build my stock back up so I rarely have any to list online. Must figure out way to up my production ...

2011 shows

Here are the shows where I'll have a booth in 2011:

January 8 ~ St. Distaff's Day Spin-In, Everett, WA
April 2-3 ~ Whidbey Weavers Guild Spin-In, Oak Harbor, WA
June 24-26 ~ Black Sheep Gathering, Eugene, OR
July 28-31 ~ Sock Summit, Portland, OR
September 24-25 ~ Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival, Canby, OR
October 14-15 ~ Fibers and Beyond, Bellingham, WA (I will be attending Rhinebeck instead)

I had a fantastic time being on the show circuit in 2010, and I'm really excited about hitting the road again in 2011. I love talking with customers, meeting online friends for the first time, and being with happy, fiber-loving people. Thank you if you came by my booth in 2010, and I hope to see you again in the coming year!

time flies when you're buying yarn

It's been a surprisingly long time since I blogged. I've been busy with wholesale orders for my LYS, Apple Yarns, including a limited edition sock colorway for the holidays. Andrea, the owner, asked for something that would evoke toys under the Christmas tree, and this is what I came up with:




This is Toy Chest, hand-painted on Willow sock yarn (80% superwash BFL, 20% nylon). It's only available on sock yarn during the holidays from Apple Yarns.

What else have I been doing? Besides catching up on my knitting, I've been buying yarn.



Not shown: three other boxes that showed up the following week. We had a highly unusual cold snap (down into the teens) and yes, I actually did use a few of the boxes as insulation. I noticed a frigid breeze blowing through the front door jamb, so I dragged a couple of boxes in front of it. Problem solved, at least till we had to leave the house.

So my supply of undyed yarn is, um, adequately restocked now. I'm celebrating by listing four different colorways on Silk & Silver and a stray skein of Toy Chest at the annual Festivus stocking of Venus Vanguard. Y'all come by now, you hear?

wholesale order

Brought 50 skeins of Willow sock yarn (80% BFL, 20% nylon) to Apple Yarns today.



Left to right: McIntosh (Apple Yarns exclusive), Snowfall, Limitless, Persimmon, Spruce, Tropical Bloom (top), Inked, and Slate.

McIntosh and Snowfall are restocks of two colorways from late summer that sold out really quickly. If you want 'em, now's the time. :)

Fibers and Beyond, Oct 15-16

My last show of the year is my home show, the Whatcom Weavers Guild's Fibers and Beyond annual sale. It will be this Friday evening (6-9 p.m.) and all day Saturday (9 a.m. - 4 p.m.). It's a lot more than just yarn and spinning fiber--beautiful woven pieces, jewelry, handmade dolls, and gorgeous hand-knitted and crocheted items. Friday evening is usually a madhouse. I really wanted some Christmas ornaments that I spotted at the beginning of the evening, made another pass about half an hour later, and they were gone. Get 'em while you can!

Every year, the show committee does a fantastic job of arranging items and decorating the room. I was a shopper for several years before I became a seller, and I think the show just gets better and better. Plus it's only 10 minutes from my house--after all the miles I've put in this year going to shows, I really appreciate doing one so close!

I've been dyeing a variety of spinning fibers for the show--BFL/silk, superwash merino, untreated BFL, and I think a little alpaca/merino/silk sneaked in there, too. I'll also be bringing sock yarns and a smattering of sport and worsted.

If you're in Bellingham, stop by! Admission and parking are free.

renewing the vow of yarn chastity

I'm done buying yarn. I really mean it this time. I haven't bought that much in the past two years, certainly not as much as I would have liked, so honestly I thought things were pretty much under control. I bought three skeins (and, okay, three sweater lots, but I used two of those lots immediately, and four pounds of merino/silk/cashmere for $100 was an insanely good deal) in 2009, and six skeins plus one sweater lot (also immediately put to use) in 2010. That really doesn't seem too bad in the scheme of things.

Tonight I finally grasped the true state of affairs. I was looking for a skein of undyed Malabrigo that I was pretty sure I had put into my personal stash, so I went on the hunt in my cedar chest.

First I had to remove all the crap on top of it. I know I should post a photo, but it's just too embarrassing, really. There are two big tote bags filled with half-finished projects, odds and ends of skeins, and dyeing disaster skeins that I entertain a feeble hope of salvaging through overdyeing. There is a large wicker basket overflowing with more of the same. There is a flat-rate priority box full of yarn that I got two (three?) years ago and haven't even opened, because I haven't gotten to the project I was going to use it for. There is a box of undyed samples from various yarn companies--okay, I'll give that one a pass. Maybe that actually has a legit reason to stay in the house.

Mind, this is after I pruned all the yarn I was absolutely, positively sure I would never get around to using. I gave some to friends and much more to my child's preschool. They don't care if I had a sudden coughing fit and my hand twitched at the wrong moment and dumped black dye in inappropriate places, or if the spin dryer ate a chunk of a skein and felted it beyond all hope. That was an 18-gallon Rubbermaid tote's worth of fiber that I offloaded last year.

After moving all the crap onto the sofa, I opened the lid of the chest. It was like Pandora's box in reverse--beauty and admiration came spilling out, leaving only broken promises and hopeless dreams behind. I was going to make mittens out of that yarn. Those skeins were supposed to be transformed into longies. That set would make the perfect stripey child's sweater. And those other 20 or 30 or 40 skeins or, um, more--well, when I decided to bring you home, I promised I would love you forever and make something beautiful out of you. I don't know where it all went wrong but I swear, it's me, not you.

It is just criminal to have so much beautiful yarn and to never have time to knit it. Time to face reality--I need to destash. This round is going to be tough; I did all the easy stuff last time, and now there's going to be some pain involved. I'd like to have my living room back, and it won't be easy.

It might be fun to do a Survivor: Scarlet's Stash Edition. I feel a little spark of hope amid the despair after all.

OFFF booth

Luckily, to make up for my lameness in not taking photos of my own, a roving OFFF photographer got a photo of my booth last weekend. As with Black Sheep, my Vine Yoke cardigan (the red sweater in front) got lots of attention.



That freestanding wire cube tower has my new silk/merino fingering yarn in the top cube, and the remnants of the Silk & Silver skeins in the second cube. Most of the Silk & Silver went in the first three hours of the show; the sunlight sparkling on my Annis shawlette (which is knitted with Silk & Silver) was pretty eye-catching. That's the one hanging to the left of the sweater.