Thursday, April 30, 2009

Twitter

So, I have signed up for Twitter. I thought it would be a cool way to give shop updates without having to write a whole blog post. I still plan on posting about shop updates, but this way I can inform people up to the minute about what is new to the shop. So, Twitter Shop Updates are now in the sidebar. You can also follow me here: http://twitter.com/lavendersheep

First update is that Panda Sock has now been replaced with a new superwash blend! Same great Panda Sock blend, but now it is machine washable! I also really love how much better the new yarn takes the dyes than the old yarn. It is so pretty! I have also added some new skeins of Panda Silk, which has always been machine washable!

So stay tuned to Twitter for more exciting updates as I get them posted!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

TKG Shop Hop 2009

I had so much fun going on the Tigard Knitting Guild's Shop Hop on Saturday! It was a great day for it and I had loads of fun!

TKG Shop Hop 2009


I couldn't fit it all into one post, so I thought I would make a little photo album. I also forgot to take pictures during the shop hop because I was way too distracted by all the pretty yarn and the great people. So I posted all of the pretty yarn I found and what I got from each shop. I posted commentary, so I hope you'll get a feel for what it was like. I definitely plan on going again next year!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Paper Patterns

I am happy to announce that I now have paper patterns available in the shop!


I know it can be a pain sometimes to print out a quality copy of a pattern, so I thought I would carry a few Gardiner Yarn Works patterns as well as my own patterns. Gardiner Yarn Works patterns are printed on quality recycled paper. LavenderSheep patterns are printed on quality cardstock. All patterns are sold in quality plastic coversheets to protect them from damage.

The following Gardiner Yarn Works patterns are now available in paper versions: Amethyst Wrap, Autumn in Oregon Socks, Ballerina Slippers, Brick Rib Socks, Feather Lace Shawl, Mix-and-Match Rib Toe-Up Socks, Seedy Rib Socks, Seeded Rib Wristwarmers, Passport Pouch, Snowdrop Lace Scarf, Venice Beach Tank, Venice Beach Tank XXL, Entrelac Baby Saque, Kiwassa Shawl, and Toe the Line Shawl.

All LavenderSheep patterns are now available in paper versions as well.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Greetings from Hawaii!

Well, not from me, but from my lovely mother!


The Venice Beach Tank totally fits my mother! So, for her vacation with my father and brothers to Hawaii I let her borrow it. I only made one condition, take photos while wearing the Venice Beach Tank! Now I can share them with you! This is definitely my favorite photo of the set. The details on knitting the pattern is in this post and you can purchase the pattern in regular or x-large and the yarn is available here.

Venice Beach Tank

My mom and my brother had a fun photo shoot while in Hawaii. I was told it was between rain bursts. It looks like they had a lot of fun! You can see all of the photos they took by clicking the photo album above.

Monday, April 20, 2009

MSW and a Contest or Two!

So Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is only 2 weeks away for all of you lucky lucky east coasters! I won't be able to go myself, but my yarn will be there:


I sent 3 different yarns to Cloverhill Yarns, who will have a booth at MSW (Main building, space D2 & D3). I sent 25 skeins of each of my Superwash Sock, Superwash Sport, and Superwash Worsted yarns. As you can see the shop is now pretty empty with these yarns, so I am going to have to get to work in the dye studio to make up some more. I'm just so excited that my yarn will be available on the east coast!

Ok, onto the contest part: Since I am not able to go to MSW myself I wanted to have a little contest for all of you that will be able to attend. I have decided to have a photo contest. Simply send me a photo of my yarn at the show. That way I'll be able to see what it looks like even if I can't see it in person. If the booth happens to be full of people then a photo of the outside of the booth will do just as well. I'll give a prize for the best photo! Send photos to lavendersheep (at) gmail (dot) com or send me a link the photo or blog post containing the photo.

Now the second contest is being held by Cloverhill Yarns. She is asking for your favorite MSW memory and getting your friends involved with their memories too. She also has been posting about the many other beautiful indie yarn artists she will be carrying in her booth. So for more details about the contest check out this post and then take a look at the rest of her blog. It is definitely worth it!

ETA: Ok, so that should be MDSWF for Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, sorry for the confusion!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Kauni Sweater: part 3: Casting On

So now I have my swatch and now I have to decide what I want to do. I really like the 2nd from the bottom pattern, so that is the pattern I chose. I like the small pattern and how it captures the colors. Also from the swatch I have my gauge and my stitch pattern. So now I need to pick a sweater pattern. I got out a bunch of my different pattern books and looked through them to see what sweater shapes I really like. I decided that the pattern that I liked the best for what I am doing was the Autumn Rose Pullover by Eunny Jang from the Simply Shetland 4 book (Rav link). I like the scooped neck, waist shaping, and 3/4 sleeves.

There is only one problem: gauge. See it would be super simple to find a pattern that has the same exact gauge and simply plug my own pattern into it, but who wants things simple? So I started doing some math. First off I found my size in the Autumn Rose Pullover. I looked at the CO number and divided it by the stitches/inch that the pattern called for then multiplied it by the stitches/inch that my gauge swatch told me I was actually getting. Then I adjusted the number based on the repeat in my pattern, which is 6 sts. A stitch or two won't really change the size of the pattern, so it is easier to adjust smaller pattern repeats than bigger ones. I then can do this same math for the rest of the numbers in the pattern. Adjusting where I see fit.


So now I have my CO number and I need to choose an edging. The last thing I did before I CO was I looked at the balls of yarn. Now if you notice the one ball goes purple, blue, green, yellow, orange red, and the other ball goes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple from the center out. This is bad, because it means that if both balls are pulled from the center than eventually the colors will cross and disrupt the colorwork pattern. So I could either rewind one of the balls or I could just take one strand from the outside and one from the inside. I decided to go with the 2nd option!


I decided to go with a rolled hem rather than ribbing because I thought it would look nicer in the Kauni yarn. One of the nice things about this yarn is that lots of people have knit up lots of different things on Ravelry, so there are plenty of ideas to be had there. For the hem I used one of the balls of yarn and a figure-8 CO over 2 circular needles. I then knit on one circular needle, joining it in the round, for about 2 inches. Then I folded the hem, bringing the needle from the CO up to the working needle. I knit through one stitch on each needle until I had knit all of the sts on the needles. This freed up one circular needle and neatly folded the hem. Now I don't have to worry about sewing it down at the end of my sweater.

Next time: Waist Shaping

Check out my previous Kauni Sweater posts here.

Monday, April 13, 2009

It's a Dog's Life!

I have been a bit busy this week with something a little different:


Meet Molly! I'm dog sitting for my parents for a couple of weeks. I am currently at the halfway point. Isn't she cute? She is a really awesome dog. The only problem is all she wants is for me to sit next to her while she sleeps all day. This means lots of knitting and laptop time. See those sad puppy dog eyes? Those are turned on me every time I try to do anything like wind yarn. She will actually pace back and forth to try and catch my eye with her sad looks. Needless to say I haven't accomplished much this last week other than knitting and website work. Next week I should have some big yarn updates.


Shop Update: All Inca Organic Cotton and Aztec Organic Cotton Boucle skeins are back in stock! Both yarns have free patterns with purchase!

Thursday, April 09, 2009

At the Kitchen Table Retreats

I have 2 really cool retreats to tell you guys about that are being hosted by Deb Accuardi of At the Kitchen Table Podcast. I have a special interest in these two retreats, because I am going to be involved with both of them!

The first is Have a Color-Full Day! Dye Workshop in Welches, OR on Saturday, July 18th. It will be hosted at the home and farm of Deb Accuardi, which she talks about on her podcast. This is going to be a really cool all day dye event! I am going to teach how to handpaint yarn exactly like how I handpaint everyday in my studio. Then the other instructor, Stevanie Pico of Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks, is going to teach natural dyeing. The class is limited to 20 people with half learning from me in the morning and the other half learning from Stevanie. Then there is a break for lunch, which if you have listened to the podcast you know it will be good. Then after lunch the 2 groups switch. This way you learn how to natural dye and handpaint yarn with acid dyes all in one day! I'm really excited about the event. I have even heard that people are already signing up for the event. It will be awesome! For more details are available here!

The other event is Techniques with Your Wine! at the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville, OR on October 9th - 11th. This retreat is focusing on technique. Follow an instructor for an entire weekend learning more about entrelac, cables, or stranded colorwork and steeking. There will also be a small vendor market of local indie dyers, including me! This weekend retreat is limited to 30 people. More details available here!

I have been working on the website, so please don't mind my dust! So far I have updated the yarn gallery and I have added pages for a contact me page, frequently asked questions page, and an events page for all of the shows I am doing this year! I also added a page with step by step instructions in case anyone would prefer to pay by check/money order instead of by credit card or paypal. Let me know what you think!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Yay for Spring!

I actually put up my first load of laundry on the clothes line today! It makes me feel so happy and spring like to do that. It means it really can't be winter forever!



Speaking of sunshine and Spring, I realized that I haven't posted a picture of the sunshiny yellow baby socks (Rav) I knit for my cousin! I gave them to her this weekend and she was very happy. She really loves handmade things and was duly appreciative. Now I just have to wait for her to find out whether she is going to have a girl or a boy and then I will have to find a really great project to knit. Maybe even Dale of Norway...


The other thing that has recently come off the needles is the Frequency Hat, by Donna Arney of Gardiner Yarn Works. It is knit out of one skein of navajo plied handspun, which means it is a 3-ply yarn. It turned out to be a heavy worsted weight yarn. I knit the largest size, which fits my head just perfectly. It is a very warm hat that will get lots of use next winter. For those of you that spin the colorway is Child's Play Spot, which I dyed using some Targhee Wool that a friend gave to me. I haven't ever worked with this kind of wool before and I found it to be a very dense warm fiber. I have one 3 7/8oz bundle of Child's Play Spot in Merino wool left! After seeing how pretty it is spun up I definitely plan on dyeing up more in the future!

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Happy April Fools!

Actually it is the first day of the month and that means a new sale!


I am running 25% off of all Project and Notions Bags for the month of April! That's a pretty good deal, so make sure to check it out!