It Felt Like the Holidays!

I know, bad blog post title, but what can I say I just love making felted things!


These are 3 felted bowls destined to find their way under the Christmas tree. I made mine from the One Skein book using #15US needles, which is what makes it super fast. I knit them by holding 2 strands of Noro Kureyon together. I just picked randomly from my stash from balls that had lost their tags, of course! I just love how the colors change and work so well together! I also managed to get 2 bowls from 2 balls of yarn, which made me very happy.


Here is just a single bowl, that only took one ball of Noro Kureyon in Color #149 Naturals. I took a strand from the outside and a strand from the inside and just knit away. The pears inside are from Interweave Holiday Knits 2006. If you can't find a copy of the magazine noni has just come out with their own pear pattern in their Fall 2007 collection. The pears are a whole lot of fun to make. They are super fast and take only a little bit of yarn. I managed to make all of mine from stashed bits of yarn, except for the yellow one, which came from my friend Jill's stash.


My last finished felt project is actually a birthday present. This was given to the very special Kbear for her 4th birthday. You can check out a better post about her party here. Check out her hair! Blair usually gets asked at work get togethers if she is his child because of her curls.


One last felt project is another pair of felted clogs. This is made mainly from stash-dived yarn. I had 1/2 skein of Eco Wool in color #9012 chocolate/taupe and a skein of Cascade 220 in color #8555 black. I had to buy a skein of Cascade Tweed in color #602 evergreen . I love the cascade tweed. I really want to make a sweater out of it. This project is fun, though I'm not sure of the colors. It is very manly, which is what it is supposed to be, but it just isn't my colors. I had a lot more fun knitting the blue ones a couple of months ago.

Oh, and just to make you feel good, I am almost done with all of my Christmas knitting. There is a slim chance that I might be done before December starts, but I'm not holding my breath for it.

Happy belated Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a very awesome Thanksgiving. Mine went pretty well.


I cooked up quite a bit, but only managed to get a photo of this really awesome Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Streusel center. It is so easy to make, it looks gorgeous, and tastes absolutely scrumptious. I also made my first aspic salad from my grandmother's recipe, but I didn't get a photo, so I will try again for Christmas and share it then.


The really special thing about this Thanksgiving is that my grandmother came to dinner. This is the first Thanksgiving since my grandfather passed away. Last year we had a big family gathering with both of them. This year all of the family was going in different directions, so my parents invited her to dinner. I think she had a pretty good time. I just couldn't stand the thought of her sitting all alone in her room for Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully she will come for Christmas too!

Holiday Wine Bottle Bag!

I finished the Wine Bottle Bag!

It was so fun to knit. The wonderful part is that it only took 1/2 a skein of Venezia Worsted. That means 2 bags for 1 skein of yarn. The Venezia Worsted is 70% Merino Wool and 30% Silk and absolute heaven to work with.


It is currently for sale in my etsy shop or you can take my class Last Minute Knitted Gifts!

Getting a Little Twisted!

It is now official! LavenderSheep yarn is now available at Twisted!

I hand delivered the box of yarn yesterday. That is 22 colors each in fingering and sport weight yarn. I was really impressed with their shop and their selection of sock yarn. It is definitely worth stopping there if you are a sock-a-holic like I am. Currently they have a website, but they don't sell anything through it yet. Still, if you are in the Portland area make sure to stop by and check it out.

Look! Knitting!

So, business is good, but busy busy busy! Thankfully I have had a bit of time to knit!

I have finished a 2nd square on the Great American Aran Afghan. I definitely have lost my motivation for this project, but maybe I will get it back after the holidays. I am planning on casting on the next square, just to at least get those garter rows started. I am knitting it out of Cascade 220 Color#8010 Natural and Garnstudio Glitter Color #01 Gold.

Next up I started a cable headband in Jennifer Hagan's class. She is an incredible knitwear designer. This pattern is only available in her class, which is well worth taking. I highly recommend if you get the chance to meet her to go and do it, she is a lot of fun. Her pattern line is Figheadh. I am knitting this out of Cascade 220 in color #9404 Ruby.

Sticking with the cable theme, I started this cable mitten in my mitten class. This is technically the 2nd mitten. I knit the 1st one in my 1st mitten class way back in January. You can tell that this one is the 2nd one because the thumb is on the other side. I just looked at the old picture and it is the exact same spot as this one. That is sad, but funny too. Well, when I get them both done I'll show you the completed pair. These are intended for my Blair, so hopefully I can get them done soon since the weather has turned a little chilly. I am knitting these mittens out of Nashua Superwash Color #0034 Olive.


Ok, so something not cabled! I am knitting pears for my grandmother for Christmas and stash busting at the same time. I got the red one done and I had green in my stash, but I didn't have any yellow. I put out the word that I needed just a little bit of yellow to make one bitty pear and my friend Jill came to the rescue! Now I will have the perfect set of pears! I'm also going to make a felted bowl to put all of them in, I just need to experiment first. All three of these are knit out of Cascade 220, with some odds and ends I had on hand.


Lastly I have started these adorable socks. They are knit out of duet sock yarn. I just love that the heels and toes are going to be solid! It is giving me ideas of dyeing up solid color yarns for my own shop, maybe in 50gram skeins...Maybe even semi solids...so many ideas so little time =)

Hanukkah in November?

Around here at LavenderSheep it most certainly is.


Back in September Woolgirl ordered a bunch of Candy Cane Lane for the upcoming holiday season. It is one of my favorite colorways and I always look forward to this time of year so that I can dye it up again! She was so excited about it too that I had to tell her about its counterpart Happy Hanukkah!


Happy Hanukkah is my other seasonal favorite. It is just so festive. I have friends that are Jewish that have told me that it is hard to find Hanukkah things (especially in yarn), so what could I do but accommodate them? Woolgirl now has up Happy Hanukkah in fingering sock, sport, and dk/worsted. Go and check them out! Either one is perfect for the knitters on your holiday list or for yourself for a pair of holiday socks!

Website

I have updated my website!

I have added and changed and rearranged just about everything throughout the website. Some things to check out:

• New About Me page
• New colors in the Yarn Gallery
• Now you can click on the photos in the yarn gallery to see larger photos of the colorways
• New projects in the FO Gallery (remember if you have knit something out of my yarn I'll post a pic of it up in my project gallery)

As always, my site is a work in progress. If there is anything you think should be added let me know. So, check it out and let me know what you think.

Applesauce Time!

When it starts to look like this outside:


Then it is probably time to pick apples:


I just love this time of year. These are the culls off of the big apple trees. They make excellent applesauce.

All of those apples made all of this applesauce. That's 7 quarts for the freezer and a bunch more for some friends of ours. We'll have applesauce all winter long. I especially love to use applesauce as pie filling for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just thicken it a bit with either flour or cornstarch and add a little more cinnamon and it is perfect for apple pie. After this photo, my kitchen received a thorough cleaning and looks much better than it did here.

I have been knitting a little bit too. I just finished seaming the Debbie Bliss Baby Hoody. I knit it with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in #603 Dusty Pink.


I am almost done with this quick little holiday project. It is a wine bottle bag. I just have a few more rows to go and an i-cord draw string and it will be perfect. I am knitting it out of the brand new Venezia Worsted in color #101 Cream. It is 70% Merino and 30% silk, what more could a knitter ask for? I just love it! I'll have more details when I get it all done.

News!

Well, I have some interesting news. It's both good and bad, I guess. I have decided to quit my day job and work full time for Lavendersheep! Now this is exciting news for me. I'm really looking forward to all of the new opportunities it will give me. I am already planning on dyeing up more yarn for my shop and taking on a couple of new accounts. In fact if you want your local yarn shop to carry my yarn, send them over to the website: www.lavendersheep.com or have them email me at: lavendersheep (at) gmail (dot) com. I'm also taking custom orders. I am hoping to get the website up to date and some new things in my Etsy shop very soon.

The sad part of it is that I really loved my job at Knot Another Hat. It was awesome seeing how a yarn shop worked from the inside out. It was a really hard decision to make, but I feel good about making it. Lavendersheep is growing so much and I have such awesome dreams for it that I had to make that tough decision. Though don't think that I will just drop off from the shop scene. You may still see me hanging out from time to time. I still have to get my yarn fix occasionally! Also, I have a bunch of really neat classes that I am going to be teaching down there this fall.

First off is Mitten Class. It is starting this next Tuesday October 23, 5:30-7:30 and goes the next 2 Tuesday nights. I teach it from my own pattern that is on 2 circulars and has 3 different pattern options: plain, colorwork, or cable. It is a great intro to 2 circs because it is on 8s and goes super quick.

Second is the Felted Clogs Class. This class was so popular this summer that I not only filled the class, but had to put people on a waiting list. These clogs are super popular and make great Christmas gifts. There are still a few spots left, so sign up today! This class is November 13th, 20th, and 27th from 5:30 to 7:30.

My last class is Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It is a fabulous class that runs the last 2 Tuesdays before Christmas (Dec 11th & 18th) from 5:30 to 7:30. I like to give 3 different options of quick knits that will make great gifts. The Rosepath Scarf is one option. I am also working on a simple cabled wine bottle bag for the class. I have the yarn, I just need to sit down and knit it. It will be so pretty! The bag (.pdf) that I did last year was modified by one of my students to be a bag for her daughter's ballet slippers, which was an instant hit. The last project is just a simple hat, a holiday classic!

Of course I will be there just about every Sunday for Knitting 911! Bring in your help questions from 2-4 and I will be happy to help you out.

To sign up for any of these classes or any of the other great classes available at Knot Another Hat, call the shop at 541-308-0002 or come on in and visit.

One Last Thing: Knot Another Hat is also going to have a yarn swap October 27th from 11-1. I have been cleaning out my yarn stash in preparation. I'll be offloading some pretty neat yarns. I may even give them away to good homes. Only whole or nearly whole balls allowed and no cash, yarn trades only. RSVP for table space.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth

It only feels like I have.

First off, the man had his wisdom teeth removed. All 4 at once and boy was that an adventure. He has been feeling better and even trying to eat daring things like sandwiches instead of peanut butter shakes and pudding. I didn't realized how much time it takes just to nurse someone, so I haven't done a whole lot of knitting.


I did finish a garter stitch scarf for my mom's twin sister, but didn't get a photo of it. It was made out of Lana Grossa Caramella which has been discontinued, unfortunately. It was my mom's and her twin sister's birthday on Tuesday. They both turned 48, making this a spectacular year because they are now exactly twice my age. Scary huh? I probably wouldn't have mentioned their age either if it wasn't such a special year. I haven't finished much else. I have been working on my second rosepath scarf, which is over 3/4 done, but still looks about the same as where it was in the photo above, only longer.

I have however been working on a special project. All of this handspun is for a secret project that I am working on. That's all I'll say for now.


Though speaking of handspun, these two skeins of yarn will be for sale at Knot Another Hat very soon. The top one is 100% superwash wool, handpainted by me. I named it Huckleberry Surprise. It is a worsted weight and is 4 oz (116 grams) and 145 yards. I am selling it for $30. The bottom one is 80% Corriedale wool 20% cashmere, plus a little bit of sparkle that shows up if you click on the photo. It is handpainted by me then run through my drum carder a couple of times to mix all of the fibers. I named it Sugar Plum Fairy. It is also worsted weight and is 4 3/4 oz (138 grams) and 172 yards. I am selling it for $40. As always, if you are interested in any of these handspun yarns email the shop at customerservice@knotanotherhat.com.