The Newest Arrival!!

There is NOTHING more divine than seeing your own creation be placed on a newborn infant. My new nephew Sam was born yesterday and got to wear his new hat right away. aww, soo cute! He has mittens to match, but they haven't let his arms out of the swaddling yet.

The hat is mostly Andean Silk & Brushed Angora for a truly soft hat. And yes, that is a flower sprouting from the top. I will post more pics of the set later, when I get them off the camera. I have to laugh b/c I keep doing this to my sister--making difficult to wear, but adorably cute children's clothing. Colorwork doesn't have a ton of stretch. lol The same sister's kid got the ballet slipper socks that are impossible for a 4yr old to tie on. Some people buy each other's kids really loud noisemaker toys to drive the parents crazy. I just knit things kids can barely wear. I think the mittens will only stay on if the baby is holding his arms straight up in the air. hee hee!

Saying Goodbye...

Etsy is fun. I can check it every day and count how many people have looked at my yarn. I can also remake my banner every day and watch it slowly crawl towards something I like. It is still not there, but I have had some busy days and haven't been able to remake it since, like, Sunday.

But there is a really sad and difficult part of Etsy. I have to say good-bye to yarn. Ok, I realize I have only sold 1 skein, but look at it...How do you say good-bye to this?! I LOVED this yarn! Clearly, selling yarn is going to be like raising children. At some point you have to say good-bye and let them make their own way in the world. And it is so hard to say good-bye. Packing Lupine Valley into the package was torturous. I had to SQUISH it flat. It killed me! I felt like I was abusing the skein by sucking all the air from it and sealing it into plastic, sealing that plastic into a bubble wrapper and THEN, THEN I had to drop it into a HUGE mail bin that other packages could smash on top of it. Well, actually, a mail-lady was taking the last bin of the day into the back of the post office and she hand carried my yarn package into the back with her. But, it could have been smashed. And as soon as it got to the back of the post office, it probably was smashed.

Then there is the Azure Mongolian Cashmere. My first hand-painted cashmere. I gifted it. I know that it is in really good hands. But I find myself going back to her blog posts here and here and reading about the yarn over and over again. I fully agree that the first pattern choice didn't suit the yarn. But we have to let our children experience the toils of the world. Sometimes life isn't good to you. We must presevere as did my little azure cashmere. She stuck with her knitter and let those stitches come out and get restarted into something even better. Now she is doing really well in life--starting to look like the beautiful peacock feather I always knew she could be.

Just a glimpse into the crazed mind of a knitter & spinner enthralled with fiber.

Computer Withdrawals

4 DAYS!

4 Lonnng days without access to a computer. Our former dog (who will remain anonymous because while I loved the dog's name, I hated the dog) partially chewed our computer cable and we have been nursing it along with electrical tape. Being careful not to let the sparks light anything on fire. Well, last Saturday, the sparks flew a little too heavy and the power ceased to flow through the mighty cord. Result--NO COMPUTER. I had no idea how addicted I am to this flat little black box. I missed the warmth on my lap, the hum in my ear...it was like an old friend went missing. My desk looked empty. I had to watch movies on the couch, looking at the bad TV. No up close & personal movies, snuggled in bed with the computer. No hourly checks to Etsy, no casual shopping, no pointless FB exchanges.

Until now. If I had known it cost a mere $25 bucks to fix the cord I would have avoided the months of trying not to burn the house down and fixed the damn cord!

The computer joy I am now experiencing is mainly because I found the Fluevog site. (hum your favorite dreamy song to go along with the next picture.)Lambchop

Aren't they beautiful? I think I need to knit something to match them. Not that I own them, or ever will. But I feel inspired by them. I could wear these boots all winter and never worry about looking like I come from Talkeetna. sigh. sigh. I want these. I think I will knit a school bag inspired by Fluevog's Lambchop shoes.

But first, I have a little hockey sweater to finish.

Etsy Repercussions

What are the repercussions of selling things on Etsy?

Buying things on Etsy!! Of course!

I am learning so much about how to tag & market my yarn from my Etsy Group on Ravelry. In response to that I am 'shopping' for my own yarn to see how my yarn appears in searches. My, my, it is amazing the beautiful things I am finding. giggle giggle. So far, I haven't bought anything and I do eventually find my own yarn. But look at this Handdyed Silk Lace Yarn, by SunnysideEllen. drooooool. Or what about this Imaginary Friend notebook by Shoofly. Really, anything she draws on is pretty darn cool. I am in love with all the talented people out there. For anyone who hasn't gone to Etsy.com you should go, right now, before you finish reading this blog. My one recommendation is to favorite anything you really like. It is really hard to find it days or weeks later. I like favoriting (is that a word?) sellers instead of items because if I like one item, I probably like lots of items by that seller. Of course, you could favorite Snarl Design right now because I will slowly be adding yarns to keep items showing up in the early part of searches and I am SURE you all want to be part of the excitement. Please excuse the blatant advertising, but this is MY blog after all.

Well, off to post a couple items and then return to the mundane life of doing laundry.

Etsy Is Up!!

I have pretties on Etsy!! 3 today, more tomorrow!!

All handspun yarns.

Christmas Knitting Results

Christmas came & went in a flurry of knitting. I thought I wouldn't have any last minute knitting because I started so early this year. But, I also didn't work on my knitting projects very often that early because, "I have tons of time..."
The boy LOVES his hockey sweater. He informed me that it was more Edmonton Oilers colors than Mustang Hockey colors (his team) but he still liked it. I told him I had planned that. Actually the yarn was stash yarn...but it did seem to fit his personality. I did not finish the hood & pocket on the front and am working diligently to finish that ASAP. He really wants to wear it! As far as first time knitting him clothing other than hats & socks it was a winner!

The Man's sweater Durrow was a bit trickier. I decided to give him the body for Christmas and the sleeves for his birthday in April. This was mainly for my own sanity. This is way too big of a project to not know if it will fit. The goal is a slightly fitted sexy man sweater. So far I think that this will fit the bill nicely. I found it quite humorous that he had no idea I was working on a sweater for him even though many a night I sat in bed next to him, knitting on his sweater. I never lied about it--when he asked what I was knitting on I said, "Oh, another one of my many projects." And he was quite content. Now that he knows about it, he is concerned the sleeves will be too feminine. Egads!! I told him he doesn't have a vote. The superman tshirt was my present to him also. It was supposed to be tight, I will be washing it in hot very soon. (Can you see the trend? Goal: get rock hard muscle man out of baggy shirts into tight ones.)

I saved my favorite project for last...



Ballet slippersocks for my delightful ballerina niece's birthday. She was born Christmas day, 4yrs ago!! I actually finished them in time to send them across the country on time for Christmas. A First! I wanted to make a pair for my little one as well...that will have to be a birthday present. I love these socks. Just love them. Nuff said.

All in all, a delightful knitting season. If I ignore the socks for my sister that did NOT get done on time and I had started them last May. Arg. I am totally embarrased.