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.

Oregon Flock & Fiber 2007

I love Oregon Flock and Fiber!


But before I even went there I had to drop off a yarn order for Woolgirl. We have been trying to meet for sometime now and something always came up, so now was our chance! I dropped the yarn off at her house, a mere 20 minutes away from OFFF. I got to meet Abby as well, who is a sweety. I also got a behind the scenes look at Woolgirl. Just imagine handpainted yarn floor to ceiling from some of the most well known dyers around. I just kept looking and looking at it and reading all of the names. It was also just so awesome to meet Jennifer in person. She is so sweet and great, that I am proud to be doing business with her. Of course, the only sad thing is that I completely forgot to get out my camera and take pictures of any of it. In fact I didn't remember to take pictures until pretty late in the day at OFFF, but I did get a few:

This is a few of the booths that were outside. My inside pictures didn't turn out very well, and I kept being distracted by people I know and all the pretty yarn and fiber.

I got this fabulous photo of Chrissy and Donna manning Chrissy's booth. If you look carefully there in the back is the last skeins of my Mt Hood yarn. Apparently it was very popular! Amanda was there earlier with her adorable baby boy. He has grown so much since I last saw him in June when the Yarn Harlot came to Portland. I saw so many people that I will probably forget somebody, but here goes: I saw Mims, Meghan, Jodie, Sara, and Sarah. The most surprising person I saw there was Shelley, who doesn't have a blog, but was one of my roommates when I got to study in Italy. Small world, huh?

Dicentra had a sale on a few of her yarns for 50% off. How could I resist? I had to have both of these. They are a worsted weight 50% wool 50% alpaca. They are each 4 oz and 250 yards. I'm thinking possibly Baby Surprise jackets, or mittens, or who knows? They are just mine now.

This is the lovely duet yarn. I have long wanted this yarn because of the novel idea of having solid heels and toes. Of course, I could have dyed it for myself, but what would be the fun in that?

I couldn't escape the Blue Moon booth without something. I just love their silkie yarn. I had a hard time deciding which color that I really really wanted and it finally landed with Hollyday!



This yarn is from Chameleon Colorworks! She is a very lovely dyer and a very wonderful person to talk to. I enjoyed chatting with her quite a bit. The 3 on the left are all Superwash/Tencel blends and the 1 on the right is optim merino. She had everything on sale and had such pretty colorways that I just had to get some. The optim was in odd lots of 1/2 skeins. I'm thinking something for a baby like socks or a hat. Optim is so soft and is machine washable. I gave a skein each of the Tencel to Sarah and to Destiny, because they couldn't make it this year to OFFF. I hope that it will console them a little bit.

The only thing that I didn't get a picture of (besides a few things that may or may not turn up around Christmas time) was a lovely set of Handworks Northwest Dressing wires, because I am sure that you will see plenty of pictures of them in the future. I love them a lot. I bought them from Sporfarm. She is out of The Dalles and is going to officially open up her shop on her farm with regular hours and everything very soon. She has promised to let me know all about it, so I will keep you posted if I hear anything!

Rosepath is up!

My rosepath scarf is now for sale in .pdf here:

http://www.knotanotherhat.com/productDetail.cfm?product_id=890

Thanks and Enjoy!

Rosepath

One of our regular customers, who also takes quite a few classes, asked for a beaded knitting class. I started thinking about it and got an idea in my head. I started searching all over for a pattern, but nothing was quite what I wanted. So, I decided to design something myself. This is the first time I have ever charted lace and it was a lot of fun. I have it all done and the pattern will be available soon:

I named it Rosepath, because the first weaving pattern I ever did was called rosepath. My grandmother set up a rosepath scarf on the loom. It was really incredible to me. For those of you who don't weave, rosepath is a diamond pattern with a dot in the middle. For my scarf it is a diamond with a bead in the middle. Very fitting I think.


Rosepath is knit out of La Luz silk in Color#17121 Poppies, which is a lucious wonderful yarn that I highly recommend. Though how can you go wrong with 100% handpainted silk? Sarah thought it would be a good idea to work together with a local bead store. So I need to make 2 of these. One for display at Knot Another Hat and another one to be on display at the bead shop, Ikote. I am nearly done with this first one. It just needs to be blocked. The pattern will be free in the shop with the purchase of a skein of the La Luz silk. It will also be for sale as a .pdf download through Knot Another Hat. I'll let you know when it is up.

I also have a Finished Object to show off. These are my felted clogs all felted and finished and everything. I love them a whole lot. I am letting the shop borrow them for display for the holiday season to give people some inspiration. They are knit out of Naturally Nazareth Color #1303 Winter and Cascade 22o Color #9457 Cobalt. I just love how the Naturally Nazareth felted. The colors just blended together and turned out just perfect!

I also have started a new class on the Forest Canopy Shawl. This is a great beginner shawl that is a lot of fun to teach. I have started a new shawl to knit with the class out of Miner Creek Alpaca in Color #111 Catherine Creek. This yarn is super awesome. I bought it months ago as a special skein just for me. I'm just not sure who the shawl will go to. I might just keep it for myself, but I haven't totally decided yet.


There was a little bit of excitement this last week. A small forest fire was started by a spark from a train across the river. This is the view from Knot Another Hat's balcony. Thankfully it was contained very quickly. A couple of houses were lost, but nobody was hurt. Here's the local newspaper's account of it, if you would like to know more.

Last, but not least, here are a few pics of our D&D night while we are fighting a big pink blob. Pics thanks to Amy, the rockinest pink haired gnome ever! My character is in the back (most of the time), that's right far far away from the snowball of doom!

Next Post: Oregon Flock & Fiber

Business

So, I have both good and bad news business wise. On the bad news front, Chrissy has decided to no longer sell her patterns through her website. Which means that she isn't going to carry my yarn in kits with her patterns any longer.

On the good news front I have a new account. The Fiber Lady makes kits out of fabulous yarns for braiding and beading. She just loves my handpainted nylon ribbon. So do I, for that matter. We are currently talking details for a possible project. I'll keep you posted if anything comes about from it, but I can say that I am pretty excited about the possibilities.

On the new and wonderful front, I have been dyeing roving for Knot Another Hat. So far I have only dyed up the superwash. I am really excited about this too. I am going to keep it pretty exclusive to the shop to see how things go. I'm not sure if it will be put up on the website, so if you would like to order some of it before it is gone, you can email the store at customerservice@knotanotherhat.com

This is the first batch I took down. From back left to front right they are: Mountain Sunset, Americana, Tequila, Autumn Splendor, and Chocolate Raspberry. Each of the balls is 4oz each, so plenty for a hat or mittens or socks. You get the idea. Prices should be around $14 each. Except for Dragon Fire in the next set, because it is 3.5 oz, so it should be a little less.

Here is the rest of the batch: Top left to right: Cinder, Candy Cane Lane, Princess, Day at the Fair, and Dragon Fire Spot. Bottom left to right: Sea Turtle Spot, Sea Turtle, Dragon Fire, Raspberry Lemonade, and Rosebud.


Also, I just got this lovely skein of handspun finished. It is called Berry Pie. It is 4 3/8 oz and is 328 yards. It is a fingering weight and would definitely make a pair of socks. It is 80% superwash and 20% silk. It is also currently for sale at Knot Another Hat for $24.00.

I do have some other ideas for fall, so we shall see how they go.

Summer is for Dyeing

So, last Sunday was the last dye class of the summer. Technically of the year too. We'll start up dye classes again next spring in the sun. My next post will be what I have been doing to gear up for Fall and the impending Christmas season.


I didn't get a whole lot of pictures, but I will share with you a couple. Green seemed to be the color of the evening. Given the choice of all 12 colors, my lovely students chose an array of greens, blues, and yellows. I guess that's what we get for being in Oregon! It was a lovely evening and I think everybody came away with plenty of new yarn in their favorite colorways.

Here are some of the skeins out of the first batch that we did. There were 2 batches, but it was too dark for my camera. Sarah hosted the event and might have pictures later. My students included two returning members, Destiny and Julia. New to the class were Nicole, Meghan, and Mims. (Mims has a post up about the dye class here).

Disturbing

Overall I like to think that the world is really alright. Then I come across sites like this: Marry Our Daughter

Let me just say that this is fairly disturbing. 95% of the girls on this site are underage. I cannot believe that such a site exists! I am sure there are some that are much worst, but this fairly disturbed me and I thought I would share!

ETA: Perhaps this helps explain the site: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/marryourdaughter.asp

Thanks Jen for the link!