Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy Post Thanksgiving!

Just thought I would jump on here and wish everyone a happy belated Thanksgiving! This week has been a bit busy. I finished dyeing up the last of the skeins for the Knit/Purl Sock Club! Yay! Now all that is left is to rewind and label everything. It will be January's yarn. It is so exciting! I really can't wait to see what everyone thinks of the yarn.

Besides that there were 2 days of cooking for Thanksgiving. The day itself was awesome, even if the turkey took an extra 2 hours to cook properly. Mom cooked the turkey. It turned out to be a much denser bird than last years. Still it was really tasty, so was all of the food. My brother and I had a pumpkin pie cook-off. We decided that my filling was better (made from a real pumpkin), but that his crust was better (made with real butter). So we both have some things to work on. I think next year I am going to grow my own pumpkin vine.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. Everything has been so busy around here I haven't had the chance. However next week should be a tiny bit calmer, so lots of pictures then. I am also verycexcited about what I have come up with for December's special, so stay tuned!

Friday, November 21, 2008

It's Bunnies All the Time Around Here...

That's right! They are even very happy bunnies!

I took my little Soot to the vet yesterday just to get her all checked out since she was more or less a wild bunny. She wasn't so happy about going to the vet, but plenty happy to be home. I forgot to mention that I named her Soot. She is named after the soot sprites from the Miyazaki films, because she is a black fluff ball. The vet also said that she was a girl, but with no guarantees. If boy parts appear then she is a he, but I won't know that for a couple of months. I also found out that she is a very healthy rabbit and the vet gave me lots of tips on how to take care of her and keep her healthy.

Speaking of bunnies, do you remember the bunny hat I made for Mim's baby? She sent me an action shot! Isn't it just the cutest? Mims said that she gets compliments whenever it is worn. So I definitely recommend knitting this hat! The picture was taken by Mims and is used with permission. I love how she matches the bunny in the picture. So cute!

In other news: I have a question for my lovely readers. I have been thinking about taking on some patterns that are paper only. Which do you prefer paper or .pdf for your knitting patterns?

Monday, November 17, 2008

Cirque

I have a brand new colorway!


This color is called Cirque! I actually first dyed it up last spring as a custom order. I just loved it! Apparently the customer did too because she just ordered 4 more skeins of it in Superwash Worsted. So I dyed up an extra skein for the shop. I also added it to the custom order form just in case somebody wants it in another yarn weight.

When I dyed this color up I was instantly reminded of the tents from Cirque du Soleil. That's why I named it Cirque! I also have a couple more colorways up my sleeve that hopefully will appear in the next month or so.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Bunny Love +1

I have adopted a bunny!

Isn't it cute?

I adopted it from my friend Susan. One of her neighbors let loose some domestic rabbits. These rabbits then eat my friend Susan's garden out of hundreds of dollars of plants. So she livetraps them. Her kitty brought in this bitty baby bunny. Her kitty was so proud of her catch. It was still alive so Susan fed it and had it in an outdoor hutch. I heard about the bunny and offered to take it in. It is very skiddish. It is a couple of generations from the original freed rabbits, so it isn't tame. At least not entirely. It is getting there. We have found that it really loves baby carrots. It will hide in the corner of its cage then will run over and grab a carrot and take it back to its corner. I just find this hilarious.

Last night I took it out. It doesn't mind being picked up. It just looks terrified. I let it down on the table, while Blair did some work from home. It tried to hide in the shadow of Blair's laptop, while peeking around the edge. It's so cute! I plan on taking more photos and I am sure there will be lots of updates herein the future.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Hats Off to Christmas Knitting!

I have been knitting! Lots and lots of knitting. I planned this year to knit super simple things for Christmas. I have this hope that I will be able to start another sweater for me before Christmas. Anyway, here is my progress so far:


That is 5 hats for 5 lucky Christmas recipients. They are all guy hats and have been approved by my husband as good manly hats. I really loved making these. They were super fast. The pattern is Jared Flood's Turn a Square Hat (rav link). I think it took me about 2 weeks to make all of these hats. I knit them out of Cascade 220 Superwash and Noro Silk Garden Color #245. What was really awesome is that I figured out that with one ball of Cascade 220 Superwash and one ball of Noro Silk Garden I can get 3 hats!

The other quick knit I just finished up is this set of spa cloths. The pattern is aptly named Spa Cloth Set and is from Gardiner Yarn Works. It is super easy to knit up. I knit this out of an organic cotton that is available through Henry's Attic. I knit these on 8s instead of 7s because of the slightly bulkier yarn. I also took out one pattern repeat due to the bigger gauge. All changes were entirely due to my own stubbornness and had nothing to do with with the fabulously well written pattern. The pattern actually gives two choices for spa cloths, but I liked this one the best! It looks cabled, but really it is all done with yarn-overs, k2tog, and ssk.

So, if you are looking for a quick and easy knit for the holiday season I really recommend these two patterns! I will have more quick knits in the near future. I have decided that this year is the year for quick knits!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Happy November!

I just love this time of year! October is such a lovely month with apples, pumpkins, and an assortment of other crops coming in. November, though much more rainy, has the joy of Thanksgiving and lots of Christmas knitting to look forward to.


One more thing to look forward to: the November Sale in the shop! I am continuing October's sale of Fall colored yarn and roving at 10% off. Then I am adding to it any holiday colored yarn and roving. This includes custom orders!

I also always have buy 4 items and get free shipping anywhere in the US! If you are international then buy 5 items and the shipping is free!

Lastly, I have lowered the price on all of my superwash roving, superfine merino roving, and one-of-a-kind roving! Make sure to check them all out!