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?

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.

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.

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!

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!

Happy Knitting!

I have knitting to share! I have actually been knitting quite a bit lately. It feels so good to get back to it. Especially since Christmas is coming closer all the time!



First up is a bunny hat for Mim's baby Sadie. I just love this hat. The pattern is from Itty Bitty Hats. I knit it out of debbie bliss baby cashmerino in color #608 Lilac. The yarn is slightly smaller than what is called for. At least I wanted a tighter gauge than what was called for, so I knit these on 6s. I followed the largest size for stitch count, which came out to the measurements around as the 6 month size. So I followed the 6 month size for length. It was super easy to make. I would definitely make it again. I just love how cute it is! The only thing I left out was the bunny tail on the back. This is because the baby is so new. I was afraid that it would poke the back of her head, since she obviously isn't sitting up quite yet. I would definitely add it for an older baby that sits up. I have heard from Mims and it has been a great success. She sent me a photo, but I won't add it without her permission.


Second gift is a lovely sweater for my friend Amy's cocker spaniel Maggie. Maggie gets so cold in winter, because she is shaved. Amy asked me for a sweater way back in February, but I was a little busy with baby knitting, so I didn't get to it. However, November 1 is Maggie's birthday, so I got it done in time for that! The pattern is from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. I knit it out of Nashua Creative Focus Superwash in Black for the edging. The main body is my Superwash Worsted in Color Bad Girl. It took a little over 1/2 a skein of yarn of the Superwash Worsted. Which means that the whole thing could be knit out of less than one skein. How cool is that? I think if I knit it again I will do steeks for the leg holes. That way there wouldn't be the pooling that is caused by knitting back and forth for the leg holes. Thanks to Amy for the awesome photo of Maggie. I just love how it matches her collar!

This weekend Blair and I headed out to some of the different farms in the area for Heirloom Apple Days. I only got a couple of photos, but Amy has a good post of all the things we did with lots of pretty pictures.

In shop news: I have every skein of yarn listed in the shop now. I am working on photos and getting detail pages for each one. Sorry it is taking me so long. I am currently buried under tons of yarn for the Knit/Purl Sock Club. It is coming right along, but it does keep me busy.

Scrub-a-dub

I have brand new soap to show you!


After the wonderful success of selling out all of the bars of Purple LavenderSheep Soap (which are now available), I thought I would add a new color! This is a dye free, natural cream color! Isn't it pretty? I just love how cute it is! Very pretty sheepies! I have ten bars of each color available in the shop. Act quick, they sell fast!

As long as you are shopping, I have a couple of other things to mention.

1. My friend Susan has started carrying my baby sock kits in her online shop! She carries all handmade and organic things. Remember the meditating lawn gnome I gave my mother way back for Mother's Day? Well Susan now has them available in her shop for $34 and that includes shipping and handling! I know my mother just loves her's, so make sure to check them out!

2. My friend Amy, who is a very talented photographer, has started an Etsy shop making earrings. She took a class and apparently has a real talent for it. Check out her designs here!

I Promise You that I Still Knit...

Though I sometimes wonder where I find the time!

I finally finished up the Sugarplum Raglan Sweater. I actually had a lot of fun knitting this. It was very mindless to just knit and knit and knit. This sweater is really super comfortable too. I wore it the other day when it was a bit cold out and it kept me toasty warm. It is soft and cuddly. I could wear it all the time! It is knit out of my handpainted Superwash Worsted in Color Dark Sugarplum Fairy and the pattern is Knitting Pure & Simple #265 Top-Down Raglan. I made a couple of adjustments to the pattern. I lengthened the body and the sleeves a little. I also did 2 inches of ribbing everywhere it said to do 1", so sleeves, waist, and collar. There is also an error in the pattern with the sleeves, which seems to be pretty common with these patterns. I made the 42", but when I counted my sleeve stitches after picking up I had the amount needed for the 46". I went back through carefully with my math and sure enough the pattern is wrong. I decided that I didn't want to take the sweater clear back out to the sleeves, because the fit was fine. So I did some more math and figured out that if I still decreased at the same rate, plus a couple extra decrease rounds, I would have the perfect sleeves. I will say that the benefit to these patterns is that I can try them on as I go so it is much easier to adapt them to fit my body.

ETA: I am so sorry. After going over the numbers with the lovely designer, Diane Soucy, I see that the error is all my fault. I looked at the wrong number when increasing for the back. I saw the next size up, which of course would make the sleeve number wrong. The pattern is correct as written. My sweater is still very comfortable, so I am not going to rip it out. I will probably make another one in the future with the right numbers!

The next project off the needles is the Passport Pouch by Chrissy Gardiner. This was a breeze to knit. I just love it! I knit it out of my Silk Sport yarn in Color Midnight Rose. It only takes a 50 gram skein to knit it, so I have divided all of the skeins to make perfect Passport Pouch Skeins. Just think, for under $20 you can have a pure silk bag perfect for evenings out or a wallet/cell phone bag for those trips out shopping when you want to pack light.


Lastly I knit the Snowdrop Lace Scarf out of Silky Sock in color Sugarplum Fairy. This was also very fast and fun to knit up. The pattern is easily memorized and so much fun to see those rows upon rows of snowdrops appear. I was even happier when it was blocked. The silk in the yarn just made this scarf light and flowing, while the merino wool made it warm to wear around my neck. This is definitely a favorite that will get a lot of use during this chilly fall weather.

I have dyed skeins of all of the above yarns available. However I am still photographing and doing inventory of all of the yarn, so I only have a preliminary list up in the shop of what is available. They are completely ready for purchase. I just need to get their detail pages up. If you have any questions feel free to email me (lavendersheep at gmail dot com) or leave me a comment and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

New Items!

First off I need to introduce you to my friend Erika a little better. I know I already mentioned her in this post. Erika is simply amazing! I taught her how to knit and she took right to it and then I taught her to spin and she was spinning beautiful fine thread in no time! She is also amazing to shop with. She just loves the finest fibers like cashmere, silk, angora, etc... Then she actually buys them, because why work with anything less than the best?

Then she started making Stitch Markers. They are all incredible. She uses semi-precious stones and real silver rings. I haven't seen any others that even compare to the quality and craftsmanship that she puts into these.


So, then one day I was talking about having a booth at Oregon Flock and Fiber and how I would love to sell her stitch markers there. We both thought this was a great idea. After the show I offered to sell them on the website and at the same time she was going to ask me if I would sell them on my website! So it worked out well for both of us! Make sure to check them all out! This set is one of my favorites. It is a set of 7 stitch markers made from lace agate and silver rings.


Lastly, I have one other awesome product to share with you! This is Lavender Sheep Soap made by Spinning Ginny. I started out with about 10 bars at OFFF and they simply flew out the door. I am down to only 2 now! They are a goats milk soap with lavender fragrance and real grade 1 lavender buds. I think it is just perfect for keeping the yarn eating beasties away from the stash and making it smell really nice too. Of course it can also be used for its intended purpose of washing things up!

Oregon Coast Yarn Shops - part 2

Continuing Part 2 of the yarn reviews. By the way, if you would like to find all of these yarn shops I used Knit Map to find them all. You can also use Ravelry!


Manzanita -T-Spot Yarn, Teas and Chocolates
This shop was really cute. It was a little out of our way in the small town of Manzanita. On top of yarn they carried chocolate and loose leaf tea in one corner. They had a lot of really nice yarns and the service was wonderful. I wasn't there when the owner was there, but it sounds like she has a pretty creative mind. She had knit an entire dress out of tape from an old cassette! This shop is a brand new shop. Across the street there used to be a shop called Bad Woman Yarns. The owner decided to retire and close her shop. However she was very influential in opening up this new shop, which I thought was really cool. I ended up buying the book Wool Pets. I have long admired the Wool Pets Shop on Etsy, but just couldn't decide on a particular kit to buy. The book solves this because it has most of her most popular patterns in it. I have plenty of fiber on hand. So when I get a spare moment I may work on a couple of these. I think I might just need a purple sheep!


Tillamook - Cordelia Yarns
This yarn shop was another blend of shops. It was part yarn shop, part antique store. I'm not sure that I would have otherwise bought a lot of yarn there because they mostly carried Cascade yarns, which my LYS has in abundance. Although they could have carried more brands and I would have never known. This poor shop has lost its lease and is going out of business. The yarn, that had already been discounted, was an additional 30% off. I bought everything in the picture for about $50, which is crazy cheap. It is 8 balls of Cascade Superwash, a sweater stone, and a cute pattern I have long admired. I would have felt worse for finding such a good deal if the owner had been sad about it. She, however, seemed very cheerful. She was excited to have more free time to knit and spin and quilt. She is on her way to the next big adventure. She also was preparing for a gallery show of her quilts, I believe. I didn't get details, unfortunately. I believe that she will be open until the last of the month. There was still plenty of Cascade 220, but I think I got all but 2 balls of the superwash!


Tillamook - Latimer Textile Museum
The owner of Cordelia's Yarns recommended that I go visit the Latimer Textile Museum. I am really glad that I did! We were too late the first day because Blair wanted to visit the Air Museum, which was a fun guy treat. So we came back the next day and toured all over the museum. The lady there was really nice. They have it divided into 3 sections, there is a loom room with looms (of course!) and spinning wheels, a quilt room, and a back exhibition hall with their latest show. If I was in the area I would definitely get a membership there! As it is I might go back and teach a workshop and definitely visit the next time I am at the coast. They didn't really have any yarn for sale, but they did have some handmade items that were on consignment. They also had a selection of books. I got a couple of books for my mother on dating fabric. She has a few family heirloom quilts that these books will help her to identify.

Oregon Coast 2008

For more photos of our trip and our adventures, make sure to check out my photo album! There are a lot of photos of the beach as well as the Tillamook Cheese Factory, more of the Latimer Textile Museum, and a few other things.