My husband took the kiddo away for the weekend so I could spend it dyeing. Worked my butt off, but I'm still terribly behind where I need to be. Plus I have to do my city and state taxes this week (ugh!), and dye for my yarn club.
I've come to the unhappy conclustion that I am just a slow dyer. I can whip through colorways that involve just one or two dye solutions, but the more complex colorways just take forever. I don't know how other people do it, but I wish I knew their secret.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
obsession
I have been in an obsessive knitting mood these past few weeks. After the obligations of Christmas knitting, I felt so free. I enjoyed the projects that I made (and need to do a post about them sometime), but they were still projects with an immovable deadline, and that took just a bit of the fun out of them.
Anyway, so I've been wallowing in pattern crushes since then. I've wanted to make Laminaria for months--buried myself in it and finished last week. Fell madly in love with Bitterroot, but since I didn't have just the right yarn on hand, I started knitting a Clothilde instead, with some beautiful Elliebelly yarn that I've been hoarding. (Beautiful, simple, but not boring pattern, incidentally.) Lots of photos to come, of me and my shawl fixation.
But first I must tell you about my newest crush. It's a sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I am not an EZ groupie, since I only heard of her a couple of years ago. (Heresy? Perhaps.) But man, I do love this sweater.
I've always thought of sleeve decreases as something to hide. It would never have occurred to me to make them a design feature. These sleeves have utterly charmed me. I've been sifting through sweater patterns for months, waiting to fall in love. And now I finally have. Or maybe it's Jared Flood's beautiful photography in the article. I would have glanced at the pattern publisher's photos and moved on, never noticing the presence of those wonderful details.
Anyway, so I've been wallowing in pattern crushes since then. I've wanted to make Laminaria for months--buried myself in it and finished last week. Fell madly in love with Bitterroot, but since I didn't have just the right yarn on hand, I started knitting a Clothilde instead, with some beautiful Elliebelly yarn that I've been hoarding. (Beautiful, simple, but not boring pattern, incidentally.) Lots of photos to come, of me and my shawl fixation.
But first I must tell you about my newest crush. It's a sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I am not an EZ groupie, since I only heard of her a couple of years ago. (Heresy? Perhaps.) But man, I do love this sweater.
I've always thought of sleeve decreases as something to hide. It would never have occurred to me to make them a design feature. These sleeves have utterly charmed me. I've been sifting through sweater patterns for months, waiting to fall in love. And now I finally have. Or maybe it's Jared Flood's beautiful photography in the article. I would have glanced at the pattern publisher's photos and moved on, never noticing the presence of those wonderful details.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
what I've been up to
My family and I spent Christmas week taking turns throwing up, far from home. First my parents got it, then my kiddo, then me, and then my sister. My husband got the Blitzkrieg bug the night before we flew home. Good times.
But now I'm back, and busy dyeing again. This month I'm kicking off my first yarn club, with these two selections. They're called Heartfelt and Garnet. More about their origins after my club members get their dyer's notes.
I've got just one knitting resolution this year, and that's to finish up one unfinished project each month. Or throw it away, or whatever. I've got two giant knitting bags and a few boxes filled with miscellaneous partial projects, and I can't stand it anymore. I'm sure my husband passed that point long ago.
No specific 2010 goals yet. I actually met my 2009 goals well before the end of the year (go me!) so I've been pondering where to go next for a while. I'm working on my next wholesale order for the Loopy Ewe, so I should have a fair amount of time contemplating my objectives for the next 12 months.
But now I'm back, and busy dyeing again. This month I'm kicking off my first yarn club, with these two selections. They're called Heartfelt and Garnet. More about their origins after my club members get their dyer's notes.
I've got just one knitting resolution this year, and that's to finish up one unfinished project each month. Or throw it away, or whatever. I've got two giant knitting bags and a few boxes filled with miscellaneous partial projects, and I can't stand it anymore. I'm sure my husband passed that point long ago.
No specific 2010 goals yet. I actually met my 2009 goals well before the end of the year (go me!) so I've been pondering where to go next for a while. I'm working on my next wholesale order for the Loopy Ewe, so I should have a fair amount of time contemplating my objectives for the next 12 months.
Friday, December 11, 2009
free yarn
I totally forgot to say that I'm doing a drawing for a free skein of Truffula at my store:
http://hyenacart.com/prod_details_lottery.php?id=94094&vid=465
Why? Just because. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the yarn, but all of its friends from the same dyelot have gone to new homes, and it wanted to find a nice home, too.
The random drawing closes Saturday at noon ET, and the computer will automatically pick a winner, who will be responsible only for the cost of shipping. If you haven't tried Trillium before, it's wonderfully soft and squishy, and I believe I'm the only hand dyer who uses it as a base yarn.
http://hyenacart.com/prod_details_lottery.php?id=94094&vid=465
Why? Just because. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the yarn, but all of its friends from the same dyelot have gone to new homes, and it wanted to find a nice home, too.
The random drawing closes Saturday at noon ET, and the computer will automatically pick a winner, who will be responsible only for the cost of shipping. If you haven't tried Trillium before, it's wonderfully soft and squishy, and I believe I'm the only hand dyer who uses it as a base yarn.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Yarn club coming December 10!
Just got through finalizing my listing for yarn club slots, which go live at noon Eastern Time this Thursday. I think I got it set up correctly, but it's a little complicated due to all of the options, so time will tell. I can always manually invoice people if it doesn't work out, but of course ideally I didn't botch it.
When designing the club, I thought about what I'd like in a club, and at the top of the list was flexibility, with lots of options that fit the way I knit (and enhance my stash). So there are lots of choices--which colorway you want, what kind of yarn you want, and how you want to pay for it--in the club.
* Each shipment will have two colorway options, a variegated and a coordinating semi-solid.
* Shipment will be one skein of yarn of either colorway, plus the option to choose additional skeins of either colorway.
* You can choose from 3-6 base yarn options, which will vary with each installment. I expect that I’ll use the club to do some testing of new base yarns, which is why the options will change frequently. My two favorite yarns, Canadian Blue-Faced Leicester (aran weight) and Willow sock (Blue-Faced Leicester/nylon) will always be options.
* No patterns, and just one goodie. (The first package will have chocolate.) I’d rather keep prices lower by not including a bunch of swag that people might not want.
* Shipments will be every other month, with an initial subscription period of 6 months (a total of three shipments).
* Billing can either be per individual installment, or a total upfront for a discount. Additional skeins will be billed separately if you choose the upfront option.
* Initial signup will be limited to eight spots. I'm keeping it small, at least at first, to ensure prompt delivery and top quality.
Also, I'm stocking as the featured fiber artist with Their Own Knitted World on Thursday. Turns out that I had a big smudge on my camera lens, which I only discovered when I realized all my photos were a little blurry in the middle. Sigh. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.
When designing the club, I thought about what I'd like in a club, and at the top of the list was flexibility, with lots of options that fit the way I knit (and enhance my stash). So there are lots of choices--which colorway you want, what kind of yarn you want, and how you want to pay for it--in the club.
* Each shipment will have two colorway options, a variegated and a coordinating semi-solid.
* Shipment will be one skein of yarn of either colorway, plus the option to choose additional skeins of either colorway.
* You can choose from 3-6 base yarn options, which will vary with each installment. I expect that I’ll use the club to do some testing of new base yarns, which is why the options will change frequently. My two favorite yarns, Canadian Blue-Faced Leicester (aran weight) and Willow sock (Blue-Faced Leicester/nylon) will always be options.
* No patterns, and just one goodie. (The first package will have chocolate.) I’d rather keep prices lower by not including a bunch of swag that people might not want.
* Shipments will be every other month, with an initial subscription period of 6 months (a total of three shipments).
* Billing can either be per individual installment, or a total upfront for a discount. Additional skeins will be billed separately if you choose the upfront option.
* Initial signup will be limited to eight spots. I'm keeping it small, at least at first, to ensure prompt delivery and top quality.
Also, I'm stocking as the featured fiber artist with Their Own Knitted World on Thursday. Turns out that I had a big smudge on my camera lens, which I only discovered when I realized all my photos were a little blurry in the middle. Sigh. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
quick stocking update
Just a note to say that I'm stocking a little bit of yarn at Venus Vanguard tonight--Twilight and Centurion, if you've been looking for those--plus some longies ornaments.
And my first yarn club will be stocking slots next week! More details to come, but they will go live on Thursday, Dec 10 at noon E.T.
And my first yarn club will be stocking slots next week! More details to come, but they will go live on Thursday, Dec 10 at noon E.T.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
more needle reviews: Hiya Hiya fixed circulars, Addi Lace, Addi Clicks
For a long time, I was resistant to buying circular needles with tips longer than 3.5". Any longer, and I found that knitting triggered my tendonitis issues due to the angle at which I had to hold the needles. This limited me to Addi Turbos (and the occasional Inox) that were 20" or shorter.
When I was just knitting toddler-sized items, this wasn't a problem. But this year I've been much more interested in expanding my knitting repertoire. I bought some Hiya Hiya needles over the summer because I needed some longer needles to make Delphine, and I didn't want to drop a bunch of money on Addis only to find that my tendonitis was going to keep me from using needles with 5.25" tips. I was really happy when I found that I could use the Hiya Hiyas comfortably. I liked them--a little pointier than Addi Turbos, but not so much that they hurt my fingers. Not quite as slick, which was a slight downside since I had to spend more energy and time getting the stitches to move where I wanted them to, but the join was smooth and the price was right.
My LYS had a 30% off sale on the Fourth of July, so I splurged on a couple of pairs of Addi Lace needles. I've been pretty wary of sharp-pointed needles since poking a hole in my finger with Addi Turbos a couple of years ago (there was blood and everything), but apparently I've modified my grip and technique enough since then to safely use pointy needles. These needles are really lovely: they have that wonderful Addi slickness and join, and the points really do make it easier to work with thinner yarn.
I also tried out the 9" Hiya Hiya fixed circulars. They took a bit of getting used to, but I finally figured out that I could prop the base of the tip against my ring finger of my right hand, and that eased my death grip on the needle tips, which had been causing tendonitis flare ups. They aren't my ideal solution for sock knitting, but they are definitely faster than using DPNs.
Then Addi came out with their new case for the Clicks a month or two ago, and I finally caved in and bought a set. I had been buying unusual needle sizes in Inox (locally available, unlike the HHs, and at a similar price) for one-off projects, and it had been irritating me to have all these random non-matching needles lying around. Plus I had been holding out for the HH interchangeables, but after hearing that they came unscrewed during knitting, I didn't want them anymore. That had been my major problem with the Knit Picks Options interchangeables, and had driven me wild.
The Clicks are a dream to work with. They haven't come loose while knitting, not once. I can just knit without having to think about it at all. The join is perfect. (That was my other beef with the Options: even if the tip didn't unscrew all the way off, there would be enough of a gap to catch and snag my yarn.) I haven't tried magic looping with the Clicks yet, so I don't have an opinion about the cable flexibility. But given the projects that I've got lined up, and the huge variation in needle sizes, I think the Clicks are worth the money.
When I was just knitting toddler-sized items, this wasn't a problem. But this year I've been much more interested in expanding my knitting repertoire. I bought some Hiya Hiya needles over the summer because I needed some longer needles to make Delphine, and I didn't want to drop a bunch of money on Addis only to find that my tendonitis was going to keep me from using needles with 5.25" tips. I was really happy when I found that I could use the Hiya Hiyas comfortably. I liked them--a little pointier than Addi Turbos, but not so much that they hurt my fingers. Not quite as slick, which was a slight downside since I had to spend more energy and time getting the stitches to move where I wanted them to, but the join was smooth and the price was right.
My LYS had a 30% off sale on the Fourth of July, so I splurged on a couple of pairs of Addi Lace needles. I've been pretty wary of sharp-pointed needles since poking a hole in my finger with Addi Turbos a couple of years ago (there was blood and everything), but apparently I've modified my grip and technique enough since then to safely use pointy needles. These needles are really lovely: they have that wonderful Addi slickness and join, and the points really do make it easier to work with thinner yarn.
I also tried out the 9" Hiya Hiya fixed circulars. They took a bit of getting used to, but I finally figured out that I could prop the base of the tip against my ring finger of my right hand, and that eased my death grip on the needle tips, which had been causing tendonitis flare ups. They aren't my ideal solution for sock knitting, but they are definitely faster than using DPNs.
Then Addi came out with their new case for the Clicks a month or two ago, and I finally caved in and bought a set. I had been buying unusual needle sizes in Inox (locally available, unlike the HHs, and at a similar price) for one-off projects, and it had been irritating me to have all these random non-matching needles lying around. Plus I had been holding out for the HH interchangeables, but after hearing that they came unscrewed during knitting, I didn't want them anymore. That had been my major problem with the Knit Picks Options interchangeables, and had driven me wild.
The Clicks are a dream to work with. They haven't come loose while knitting, not once. I can just knit without having to think about it at all. The join is perfect. (That was my other beef with the Options: even if the tip didn't unscrew all the way off, there would be enough of a gap to catch and snag my yarn.) I haven't tried magic looping with the Clicks yet, so I don't have an opinion about the cable flexibility. But given the projects that I've got lined up, and the huge variation in needle sizes, I think the Clicks are worth the money.
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