Sunday, December 26, 2010

Sale!

It's the end of the year, lets clean out the shop! 25% off the whole shop including clubs. Inventory25 is the code, go wild!!! I'll be headed to TNNA in less than two weeks. So excited. I have a few new colors to dye up, I've been busy scribbling with color crayons getting it just right. I have a few tricks up my sleeves, and they are deep sleeves. So excited to share soon.

I knitted up a bunch of gifts and forgot to take pictures! D'oh! I'll find some of the boys enjoying the tree for next time. For now shop the shop and make it so I don't have any yarn to count!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

So I had a birthday and got a major new toy, an iphone! Really its for Knitted Wit but I do have a lot of fun using it! Wait, did I tell you about this already? Long story short, there are some really great apps for Knitted Wit. And I love taking pictures/videos of the kids. You might see a lot more of those around here!

We were folding laundry and o was pretty helpful. e was having a great time putting on a bunch of clothes!

So what have I been up to...getting ready for TNNA, tons of xmas knitting, growing boys, working at the j-o-b, and staying up way too late! Tis the season right? I have new colors coming for the spring to show at TNNA, lots of tropics! I did all the merino knots today and tried out a few new colors. The week after xmas I'm going to get into the nitty gritty of ten new color combos and 50G clubs. Pretty excited. I've been having fun with color crayons trying to work out the ideas.

Can I show you another picture of the family? It's been 30 seconds right?

E and e cooking. So sweet. E is way patient with e making a mess and helping. Not my best ability.

This next picture is one of my favorites!

This desk used to belong to my grandparents and some time around when I was 10 it showed up at our house. I've always wanted to have it but we don't have a lot of room in our house so I was thrilled when the dye works moved and there was a little home for it. I'm planning a few more touches for my corner, I'll make sure to post a picture when it's a little more together.

Last night we had an open house/holiday party, f-u-n! It's the perfect space for a party. Thank you to everybody who stopped by! Maybe we should do it again in March, a welcome to spring and all the new colors! But back to the current holiday for a minute. Do you have any family traditions you look forward to this time of year? My family has been thinking about this a lot and I would any ideas from you. What we've decided so far is new p.j.'s every year for the boys, along with a new book. I guess we haven't figured too much out yet! Thankfully they are still young. I feel like it's our last year to not be too serious about anything. e will be 3 1/2 next year and might know a little too much to not do anything!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Community Supported Knitting

So a little announcement! I told you that Chrissy is working on a book about indie dyers and sock patterns to go with the yarn. She also invented Community Supported Knitting where we joined a club and get patterns and then the book at the end. Ingenious! Well, I am the dyer for January! I'm so excited! The yarn is up now in the Shop, if you are part of the club there is a special discount code--don't forget to use it!

So the color way is Ladies that Lunch. I'm sure I've talked about this color. I made it up for Debby's Pre-Sock Summit Lunch (which is going to happen again this year!!). I was the dessert course, which was Tiramisu. Yum. So there's chocolate (brown), different berries (reds/pinks) and cream (white). Yum. I am so excited to see what the sock looks like!

Speaking of seeing the socks (the pattern isn't released to the club until January 1st), Chrissy is going to bring a sneak peak to the Holiday party at the new studio! You're invited! Details are here. I hope you can make it if you're in portland. I know this won't be the last event at the new studio so I would love for you to get to know it!

What else is going on...oh yeah! Sock Summit. I got a booth. Now to start dyeing! I also have a booth at Yvonne's new show. She even has the floor map up. Man that lady is good! We're already working on the lay out for the space. While I'm planning for all of these shows I always have in the back of my mind what o will be up to by then. e will most likely go up to Oma's for the weekend or a few days of the event. At Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival o will most likely be crawling if not walking. It's crazy to think of that! Only 5 months way from a toddler. Ca-razy! Did I tell you that he has tooth number 7 and 8. Yeah. He just turned 6 months old! And he's close to 23 pounds. I have my own little butter ball!

Well I don't think I have any pictures to show you. But I do have a little video I put up of e. It's pretty cute. He is not a nose picker in daily life but for some reason when he saw himself in the camera he went for it. I hope you like it!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Saturday Sale!

ETA a friend of mine (who's having a crazy sale!) wanted to give a membership, feel free to do the same! In the notes leave the address of where you want the gift to go. That goes for all items in the shop! Nothing like a wooly gift this winter.

So Etsy has coupon codes. I think that's a good excuse to have a sale! Enter SASSY in for your code and get 15% off on Saturday. Saturday is small business shopping day. And I think Knitted Wit qualifies as a small business!

In the shop you'll find some new yarns (did a mini photo shoot in the living room) and the 50G Club. A great way to get a club on the cheap! The club is priced at $42 and shipping is separate. I'm also doing a cheaper shipping option this time. Instead of $4.95 a month it's only $2.50 I think. So if you buy on Saturday it would be....42.08. Basically the shipping is free! I just realized I haven't showed you what Sept/Oct/Nov clubs looked like. I have pictures of what the yarn turned in to but I forgot to take pictures of the treats!

September, Caramel, I sent little salted chocolate caramels from Alma Chocolates here in town. The b-e-s-t chocolate you will ever eat!

November, Watermelon, I sent a tote bag that my husband air brushed and I dyed. You can't have enough bags right?

I'm having major issues with my camera/computer loosing photos so you'll have to go to the project page to see October's yarn. It's call Streaking, not the naked kind. What did I send... some little tags to label gifts and cute stitch markers from Lantern Moon.

I think I might start a fiber club too. Three months at a time with 4 oz of fiber, mainly featuring sheep with a few silks/tencel/bamboo thrown in. What do you think? I think I'll put that in the shop too. $50 for three months, plus shipping. The coupon will work on this too! So much fun to be had! ETA it's now in the shop!!

I wanted to share some pictures from the photo shoot. It might explain why I don't get a lot listed in the shop!

Everybody in position. e wanted to 'work' too



wow, what beautiful yarn!



just out of lenses view



I took this yarn out of the box and e was amazed, he had to kiss it he loved it so much. He did that when I was knitting the watermelon hat too. When I told him I was making it for a baby he came over and kissed the yarn. Even after I said it wasn't for baby o he still liked it! Such a sweetie.

So I know we're all shopping and getting ready for the holidays but I wanted to share a place to give to. Check out this blog post and see all of the amazing quilts that are being given away for only $10 a ticket! Amazing!

Happy shopping this weekend and take advantage of SASSY on Saturday!!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

a shout out!

So a dear friend of mine (and co-worker) wrote a little blog post about me. So sweet. I'm not crazy about the pictures but I wasn't in a super picture mode. Having two small monsters puts me at the bottom of the shower totem pole!

In other news, I'm thinking about opening a shop on Storenvy. I'm going to look into it a little more tonight. I still have everything up in the etsy shop so no worries.

Crackers! I just remembered that I was going to show you my holiday knitting. I'll try to snag some pictures tomorrow at the studio. Have I told you how much I love our new studio space. So sad to not have the Lantern Moon folks around. And e l-o-v-e-s FarmSchool. I don't think my child care situation could get any better!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

another lesson

So wow. I can't believe how many lessons I've gotta learn! Lately I've been overwhelmed by all the things I want to do but don't know how to squeeze in to the day. So surprise, nothing gets done! After the class I took with Lee I've been dying to make a pdf. But I can't figure out how to get it all done in one sitting. Guess what Lorajean? There's a feature called SAVE! So, baby steps here I come.

Speaking of lessons, I took another class today at Twisted. Photography with Vivian, it was pretty fabulous. I learned how to use my camera. It's pretty amazing what you can do when you know how to use a tool correctly.



see the difference! The top picture I prefer. I like the lighting better. So excited! I'm going to go back and re-shoot all my photos of yarn. And hopefully it'll be the last time! Nothing like learning lessons.

What lessons have you been learning? I know I'm not the only one being kicked in the pants by life!


Up next time: everything on the needles + 50G Club. I haven't shown you all the things I've been making with the club yarn. Speaking of, I need to finish knitting up this months project.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Catch Up

So it's been a little busy, surprising I know! So there was a sale at the studio, a birthday party, a potluck at the neighbors house, music class, meet up with a friend, farmer's market, trick or treating. And that was only Saturday and Sunday! I took a million pictures the last little while, but I think I'm going to send them directly to flickr and put a few here. I finally recovered all the pictures, they're on the desk top and laptop and external hard drive. Paranoid? Yes. But don't you know it I need to upgrade my flickr account, so they're not there yet.

I got some spinning done, I need to take the yarn off the bobbin and wash it. I used a bat I bought online a year ago. I spun it up to go from yellow to orange to hot pink to purple. Pretty amazing! I'm thinking a shawl in garter stitch. I didn't do the best job spinning, it started out pretty thin and ended a little thick! I'll secure some pictures tomorrow.

And the knitting, yikes I need pictures of the knitting! I'm working on holiday gifts, a few hats are in progress. I need to start another one and a cowl or two. I also need to cast on the knitting projects for the November 50G Club. This is the last installment for this session. But just you wait, there will be more! I feel like this a total drive by blogging but it's what I got.

Here's a picture from today. We went up to Oma's house to help with some house repairs. Or not, it won't load. Grrrr. Imagine lots of trees with beautiful sun light. I'll get them on flickr and share the link. I think I'll also come back more focused. One can have hope!

Friday, October 29, 2010

another reminder

There's a sale tomorrow. I'm pretty excited I get to be there the whole day. I get to spin. I think the last time I did any spinning was at the farmer's market in August! I just figured out what I'm going to bring! I bought four bats last year right before we found out I was pregnant. I don't even think they made it on the blog. I am going to corner Debby and have a little tutorial on how to spin from a bat! I'm going to remember the camera tomorrow too. I'll bring pictures back and share.

I think I mentioned last night that I last all my pictures, well an internet search and $29 later, I have them all back! I'm hoping to spend the next few naps organizing the desktop computer/external hard drive/laptop. I'm moving files and tiding up Knitted Wit. Nothing like trying to be the most efficient me I can be! In honor of putting all the pictures on the laptop, here is an oldie but goodie. e last year at halloween.

I can't believe how much he's changed. He's been up at Oma's for the last few nights and when we talked tonight he asked if I was coming up. I think he's ready to come home! Of course as soon as he was off the phone he was on to the next fun thing--a bath!

I'm off to start another holiday present. I have two on the needles, but what's another one right?

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The List

1. Sale this saturday! At the Lantern Moon Warehouse/Dyeworks. Show up in a costume and get a special treat. This was originally just a fun sale but now that we're moving...it's a moving sale too! If you have some time to stick around bring your spinning wheel and stay awhile. I'm so excited to get some spinning done! With o not mobile I think he'll be pretty happy to sit and watch the wheel go around. Here's what Debby has to say about it from Ravelry "Saturday come join us for a Halloween party/sale at the warehouse! 10-3p “Trick or Treat” at 7911 NE 33rd Dr, 150 for all kinds of goodies! First 5 peeps get a goody bag! Wearing a costume gets you big girl candy:) This will be the last event at our Lantern Moon space. We are moving to the east side of town. We pick up keys to our new studio in Oak Grove on Monday! Excited to be near our knitting/spinning friends, but sad to be leaving our Lantern Moonies:(Come join the fun! There will be a small Lantern Moon sale too if you missed the first one this Fall."

2. I just took a class at Twisted from Lee and learned all about publishing patterns and writing them. I'm pretty excited! I learned how to use pages on my computer and I think I want to make family newsletters! It is so much fun! Now I just need to find a few extra hours in the day to do computer work. Which I'm hoping to do tomorrow morning before going to work.

3. I started a ravelry group but I want to get the art work up first. Then I'll post a little link and we can have a party there!

4. Did I tell you the laptop crashed? That's why it got quiet around here fast. I have a desktop but it's so much easier to sit on the couch and write a blog post. But we lost the last two months of photos, including all of my knitted wit pictures and and my friend's wedding. Devastating, but I'm going to try and find them on the camera.

5. Watching The Office and I could pee my pants. So funny!

6. I've started my holiday knitting. And I need to go knit.

7. If you have any questions about the sale let me know, I'd love for you stop by!

8. How cute is he?! I have no pictures on this computer so this is what you get!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

another quick pass!

Thanks to the Ladies at Twisted for the love on the blog. Some of my favorite people!

So a little poll which you will all be rewarded for. I want to start a group on Ravelry for updates, contests (your reward!) and seeing all my yarn out in the world as FO. I'm thinking about calling it The Sass Class. Knitted Wit's tag line is Fine Treasures from a Sassy Girl. And if you know me, I'm a little sassy! I try to tone it down so not to offend but it doesn't always work. So what do you think of the name? And do any of you fabulous people know how to make the header for the group so it's not all stretched out funny? Thanks people for being a resource!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

a quickie!

It's late but I wanted to share a few things, we'll go with bullets

*the dyeworks is moving! more info later about this but what you need to know is we're (Pico Accaurdi Dyeworks and Me!) having a halloween sale that has morphed into a moving sale! Info here

*since we're moving to Oak Grove (milwaukie area, just south of portland) I needed to find child care for e. I'm going to visit tomorrow morning, pretty excited. It's a one acre farm with critters, and older kids that are home schooled. e will be worn out and have so much fun! Pics after the visit!!

*there are now 20 items in the shop, pretty happy about that! trying to add more every night. See anything you like?

*have you heard about this? I'm so excited to be a dyer with the other fabulous ladies! Wow. I'm pretty sure I'll be joining. I can't miss out on these yarns and patterns!

*I think that's it. o is teething and not sleeping. I really need to go to bed while he's out. good night!

Monday, October 18, 2010

And the winner is...

Two people! Sarah's idea: You could easily lay that prefelted roving out in thick layers to make cushions for the aristocrat - the colors would work with the interior. 10 lbs worth!! Jeez, you could make a wool coverlet and sleep in heaven on your camp outs!!! I would gladly help you felt it all. And Peaceful Knitter: I remember seeing a cute wreath last winter that was made out of felted balls of wool attached to a wreath form. I love these ideas and I'm excited to see how they work out. I'd love to send each of you a treat of yarn, 50g of superwash merino fingering yarn! Thank you to everybody that left comments with your ideas.

I also want to direct your attention to the shop. There are five new things to choose from! And I'm bringing home more to photograph tomorrow, watch out. The silly down side is I'm not knitting. But there's other minutes to find in the day. I've also updated my flickr page. I will be adding all my color ways as well. I have about 20 to add tonight. I'm hoping yarn shops (and you!) can look through all the pictures and place orders. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

Here's a picture of e while I was doing a little yarn photo shoot. He found a stash of velcro dots and put them all over. Silly boy!

Friday, October 15, 2010

What?!

How did 2 weeks go by?! I tell you what. Every week I learn a new lesson about budgeting time. The first week of October was miserable. Second week has gone a lot smoother. What I've learned: lower my expectations, set limits on what I attempt to get done at the studio, follow my time line as much as possible not others. I won't elaborate but we're all learning here. Let's do a little family update. o is 4 1/2 months old. Two weeks ago he weighed 19 pounds at his check up. He could very well weigh 20 now. There is nothing small about that baby! He wants to play all the time and isn't too keen on being put down so I can get work done. He could also be teething, because two teeth isn't enough! e just got a hair cut tonight and is looking sharp. He continues to try my patience every day, which is his job. He loves to read and reads to his brother. He's also busy teaching o how to play with toys. o already likes to drive cars just like e. Pretty cute! E is still doing well. He is coming off the prednisone so we're all learning the boundaries of his healthy tummy. While the diseased part was taken out he still has Crohn's disease. It's hard to remember that after the last 6 weeks of him feeling so good and eating everything. In some ways a tummy ache feels devastating. I can't imagine the family going back to having a sick papa. But here is to continued healing and health!

Here's a little Knitted Wit update! I finished up a bunch of orders, look for new pretties at Twisted, Urban Fiber Arts, Wool N Wares, and Make 1 Yarns. They all have different and beautiful yarns (if I do say so myself!) On Thursday I had a free day to play in dye and I made up all oranges and a yellow or two with a green. I made a bunch of pretty yarns and a few fibers. They'll be hanging up tomorrow and hopefully photographed on Monday. Speaking of Monday...I'm hoping to photograph a bunch of yarn on Monday and then do a shop update. Now I know I've said this before, but I'm going to follow through. We have medical bills, enough said!

As a reward for reading this far how about a contest? A few weeks ago I managed to felt almost 10 pounds of fiber, including some silk/merino. I can't tell you how bummed I am, for more than one reason! So, if you can think of something for me to do with this roving, and I use your idea you win....some felted wool! Just kidding, how about some yarn! I have a few skeins from my 50G club that need homes. All you lurkers out there, give me an idea for the felted wool. Even if it's crazy! I'll be back Monday night with a winner and a shop update!

We went and visited Debby at her farm and e had a great time herding the goats!

Some where on this rack is October's yarn for the 50G club. If you haven't joined, there is still time! You'll get September's too!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Realistic Expectations

Well people, I have two kids. This reality hits me in new ways everyday. Today e was watched by the amazing Sally, then papa took over. o stayed with me while I dyed yarn. What a trying day! But E saved the day by bringing the pack down. I won't forget that again! o took very long naps on my back (ouch!) and I dyed yarn. In between naps the lovely ladies of Pico Accuardi kept him company while they wrapped up a major project. Wowsers. So expectations. I went in thinking I could get a ton done today, which I did, but I think I planned a little too much. I think o will be staying home soon, especially if I can expand how many shops I'm selling at. Such a struggle to balance the family/business/j-o-b.

Now on to the big positives of the day! I just about finished up all the yarn that needs to go out. Just a few lace skeins for one store. I dyed up club yarn for this month and possibly next month (you can still join!). I started dyeing samples out of the new base yarn I'm going to use. Ummm oh and some yarn to post in the shop! So crazy! I'm pretty excited about some new pretties to put in the shop. Thanks for letting me reflect about the day. It was a pretty rough start so it's nice to look back and see the good stuff.

Here's a shot of dyeing/parenting

Here's a shot of the conference room


Here's e sleeping last night. He loves to snuggle (nuggle as he says) his baby. I love how the arm is all tucked in under his. You can see o's blanket from knit night and e's blanket from Oma. The quilt is from Helen's mom for the boys' babies. These boys are lucky!

Monday, September 27, 2010

OFFF, the second day

The second day of OFFF was great, but a little soggy. I have to say that didn't even bring me down! I did want to go shopping a little more since it was a little slow. It was so great to meet readers of the blog (hello lurkers!) and hear about projects that people were working on with yarn and fiber that I dyed. OFFF was also fabulous for meeting up with other vendors new and old. I'm really excited for Yvonne's spring show, crossing my fingers I get in!

I just realized that I forgot to take pictures of what I bought at OFFF! D'oh! For next time I guess! I am going to cast on for a sweater, using the wool/silk yarn I'm dyeing up now. I bought a pattern from White Lies Design, Colette I think.

Goodness I'm a little spacey on the picture part. Here's one of o at OFFF being held by Stevanie. I'm sad e didn't make it down, the first one he's missed. But so grateful that Oma's took such good care of him for the whole weekend!


Pretty cute, huh? What are you casting on? Are you starting anything you got at OFFF?

Saturday, September 25, 2010

OFFF

Have I told you how much I love this weekend? I do. And I still have one more day! So happy about the whole event and I just wanted to gush a little. It was great to meet so many people today that read here or Michele's blog and know my sweet kids and my husband. I'm excited for tomorrow, but a little sad that's its the last day! In the next year I would love to be doing this full time. And thanks to all of my customers who are helping to make that happen!

I hope I can take some pictures to bring back and share. If you're coming tomorrow please stop in and say hello!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

It's that time again! My favorite weekend of the year! Oregon Flock and Fiber starts on Saturday and goes through Sunday. I could seriously gush all day about this weekend. I always worry about building it up too much and will I be disappointed. But that hasn't happened yet and I don't really think it will ever happen! Okay, I'll stop and move on to what's going to be in my booth!

Just a taste of what I'm bringing! I have to twist all this up into skeins and label! Thank goodness the kids are asleep, I got work to do!

I'm bringing all the yarn and wool I have dyed up. A lot of it is going to be on sale. And I mean s-a-l-e! This is what I put in the ravelry group for OFFF:

a selection of the following yarns, some are chosen because they’re funky, or no longer carried or tired.
Shine (merino/tencel fingering) $15 (regularly 26)
Baaaboo (merino/bamboo/nylon fingering) $15 (26)
Sport Weight (falkland superwash) $10 (20)
Fingering Weight (merino superwash) $15 (24)
color coded (merino superwash/nylon) $5 (18)
These fibers are chosen because they’re tired.
BFL, Merino, Shetland, Corriedale, 4 oz braids $8 (14)
I also have a bunch of Merino Knots (1oz bits) that are a little to smooshed up $1 (regularly 3)

I’ll also have my 50G club available for pick up and sign up.

I was packing up all the yarn and fiber today...Wow! Almost everything I'm bringing is going to be marked down! So I hope you stop by and take some yarn and fiber home with you. I'm looking forward to going home with empty totes!


I know it's a little blurry but the boys are always on the move! They are also my excuse for not blogging! I can't believe how fast this month went. I went back to work and so did E. We also had a birthday party for E. It seems like there was a lot more going on. Oh, yeah. A lot of dyeing! Look for a lot of new yarn and colors in Twisted, Wool N Wares, Make 1, and Urban Fiber Arts! Wow that's some excitement. I'm hoping to get yarn to shops out side of Oregon in this next month.

So, if you're coming to OFFF this weekend please stop by and say Hello! I'll have o and I'm sure he'll give a grin if he's awake. e is going to Oma's house for the weekend, but will hopefully make an appearance. He's been every year so far!

Monday, August 30, 2010

A little help for a friend

My dear friend had a house fire a little over a week ago. Her three kids lost everything. School is just around the corner. I can't even imagine the trauma let alone the stress of figuring all of it out! Stevanie, half of Pico Accuardi Dyeworks (who I share the dyeing space with) is incredibly generous in every way. If you would like to help out her family you can purchase a hat pattern here. All $$ goes to Stevanie's family, who are currently living in a hotel and might have to for the next three months! I just got the pattern and I think it will be perfect for handspun. I'm pretty excited about making a few. Thank you for helping a dear friend.

In other news, I'm just about done knitting up the yarn for the 50 G sock club. I love it! So pretty. If you haven't joined yet there is still time! I am so excited about this little project. I've already got the rest of the colors picked out in my head, they are beautiful!

In family news, E goes back to work on Thursday. I go to a wedding on Friday, return Sunday. I start work on Tuesday. With dyeing squeezed in here and there. Wow it's going to be busy around here! And o got his first tooth on Saturday. Can you believe it?! He'll be three months on Wednesday. e was 3 1/2 months old before his first tooth. A little advanced that o.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with loads of beautiful pictures from the wedding. SO excited for this mini vacation!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Want to be in my club?

Remember being in the second grade and having clubs with your best friends? One of them I was in had little notes books and pencils. Pretty fancy! Well if you want to be in a club you can join mine! I'm not sure if we'll have note books and pencils, but we will have yarn! The club is going to be called 50 G's. As in 50 grams of fingering weight yarn. There will be either variegated or semi solid yarn each month with little treats too. I won't be including a pattern but every month there will be a list of project ideas. I hope you are a member on Ravelry because that will be the place for pattern inspiration! You are welcome to be a double member and get 100 G's if you do want to make a pair of socks.

Memberships last for 3 months and will be shipped around the middle of the month. The first one goes out in September, and I will have them available at OFFF if you want to join there. Membership is $56.85 for three months (includes domestic shipping, international, we'll have to talk). I will be shipping priority in the cute little VHS boxes, pretty excited about that! If you live local and want to arrange a pick up let me know, I'm pretty flexible. So what do you think? Let me know if I've missed a key detail, this is a first for me so there might be a speed bump or two! It was pointed out to me that my etsy shop looks a little sad, so hopefully this will cheer it up!

I already have September's dyed up. I'm going to start knitting tonight! I'm going to try and have a few things knit up for ideas, wish me luck. I'm also working on Cedar Leaf Shawlette in Silky and Single. It's one of my new yarns that will be photographed and available soon. (Having a two year old sure slows down the tasks around here.)

Speaking of family: a quick little update. E is doing great, gaining weight and eating. Perhaps eating too many things that aren't healthy. But after not eating anything unhealthy for years it's understandable that he went a little crazy. He's coming around to a healthy diet and treats in moderation. e is doing well at being a 2 year old. Translation? He's driving me crazy about 10 times a day! I'm hoping once E and I are back at work life will settle into a routine and it will get easier. Having two parents at home all the time isn't always easier. o is fabulous. Nothing like a 2 1/2 month old to make parenting easy. He goes to bed on his own, only wakes up about twice a night and takes at least one long nap during the day with a few shorter ones. I'm savoring this because I know it might change the minute I go back to work.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the last week!

o, talking and giggling! He loves talking to people, he is so happy. And b-i-g. At his 2 month check up he was 15 pounds, my guess is he's close to 17 now. I'm growing a giant!

e wanted to eat his dinner down in the little ditch the other night, so I joined him. The seat is prime for watching the neighbors.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Farmer's Market

A quick reminder! I'll be at the Montavilla Farmer's Market tomorrow!! I was just labeling some lace yarn, 65% wool/35% silk, and it was all in my lap. For a minute I thought about keeping it all to myself! I feel very lucky to have all this yarn and fiber in my life! Thanks for making it happen!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Hello World!

Life is not back to normal, but E is eating and up and walking. Although at this moment he's bent over in some pain. One step forward, two steps back it seems. e is doing well with all this, even deciding to try out potty training. Because life isn't busy enough! o is growing leaps and bounds and did great while we were at the hospital for a week with papa. This limbo period is not fun. I can see how much better life is going to be, but there is still healing to be done. I've started thinking about future projects for Knitted Wit but I can't quite get there yet. Only a few more weeks hopefully!

I do have one event coming up, August 8th at the Montavilla Farmer's Market! I'm planning on bringing a lot of sale items. If you want a deal and the best selection get there! What doesn't sell will be at the Open Studio on August 14th. There will be some classes I think and lots of wooly goodies for sale. Then what ever is left over will be at OFFF. I'm hoping to have all the new colors and new yarns at OFFF. I feel like that's a reasonable goal. I'll at least have samples of everything and you can place orders. I'm also hoping to photograph everything for you to peruse and order online!

It's happened again, I'll be away from the blog and think of all the things I want to tell you. Now that I'm here I can't think of a thing! I hope to get here soon again.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Hijacked Life

So my husband, E has been sick and in the hospital the last few days. He has crohn's disease. He's going in for surgery sometime next week. Needless to say, I might not be around here much. I'll be sitting in a hospital knitting.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Happenings

So I've been teasing for a while about Tour de Fleece. Here's the skinny. While the Tour de France is riding, we spin. When they take rest days we can too. When they have climbing days we can choose challenge ourselves. The ride is July 3-24, get ready to saddle up!

I've been going through my stash almost every day trying to decide what to spin and I came up with a stash bucket. All of these inspire me and that's what I need to make it through this challenge. I tend to not like projects like these, there's this rebellious streak in me that says I don't have to spin, even though that's the point. But for my sanity I really want to spin the next three weeks. There is something very therapeutic about spinning for me. I calm down, I tend to problem solve things that stressing me out, and it's a break from the kiddos. So I guess my goal is to participate the whole time. I know I won't be spinning up this whole bucket, but I'll get to what I can. I've been emptying the bobbins and plying so it's all fresh projects to work on! Are you participating? What's your challenge/goal?
While I was pouring over the stash I found a few things that I'd like to sell for cheap. I'm allergic to all wooly things, but tolerate some better than others. Sheep I can do, anything else (angora, cashmere, camel, alpaca, pygora) I don't do well with. Which keeps things under control a little better with the budget.


These are 2 oz each of 80% merino 20% cashmere. I paid $20 for each of them, but I'd like to sell them for $12 each. Let me know if you're interested and I'll pop them in the mail. They are dyed by the amazing Sandy Sitzman, who I stock on a regular basis at shows! You could get these in time to spin up during Tour de Fleece!

The other topic I've meaning to get to around here is Chrissy Gardiner's new project. Chrissy has a book coming out next summer that features a bunch of independent dyers with stories about them and patterns she's created for the yarn they've submitted. Guess what?! I'm one of them!!! When she told me about this project I almost wet my pants I was so excited! If you have loads of sock yarn and need a pattern monthly to make it through all the skeins, I'd join. In fact, I did join! I can't wait to see what's in store.

Next time: an update on Mother Bear Project, growing Knitted Wit

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

We Interrupt Regular Scheduled Programing For...


A kit!! I was asked by Wool Girl to dye yarn for her sock club kit and here it is! Her kits are truly amazing. It feels like I got a gift in the mail from a special friend. Every detail is so thoughtful.

There are two patterns and lots of treats. I can't wait to knit up the little kerchief. And the yarn turned out pretty fabulous if I do say so myself! I feel very lucky to participate in such a club. I hope there are more collaborations in the future!

If you just found my blog because you're in the club, Welcome! I'm sorry the shop is down right now but feel free to contact me about any yarns you are interested in. Here's what's slowing me down these days
I'm quick on the email reply though so let me know if you have any questions! The shop will be back up shortly.

Next time: Tour de Fleece, and Chrissy Gardiner new big idea

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Black Sheep Gathering

Watch out, I'm posting again! So last weekend was Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene. e spent the night at Oma's house Friday so o and I could get up early Saturday morning. We hopped a ride with Deb and arrived less than two hours later. o did great with both drives by the way! He was quite the hit, I've never had so many people stop me to see who was in the moby.

I wasn't planning on buying anything, for a few reasons, but then I gave myself permission to find one special thing. After walking through the booths a few times I kept going back to the same three skeins at Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I told myself if they were skill there when we walked to the car I'd get them. Sadly for my wallet, they were there!

Two of the skeins that are the same are rare gems and I love them. The other one is a mill end, I think it's supposed to be Bella Coola maybe. It looked nice and manly to me. So I've been trolling Ravelry trying to find the perfect pattern but nothing is sticking out to me. Any ideas? Maybe a baby sweater? They're medium weight by the way, so sportish. I don't feel like that's what I should be knitting right now. I should be making samples out of my own yarn, but how long have I been saying that?!

Speaking of things I shouldn't be working on. I've been cleaning out my junk in the garage and found a pattern for a teddy bear. Have you heard of the Mother Bear Project? Well I got a pattern from them a few years ago now and I was itching to start something new. Nothing like ignoring the two projects going on in my bag right now! I highly recommend making one. I'm on the pants right now.

The pattern is super easy, in fact I think it would be a great way to teach some one how to knit. Anyways, I hope I can make a few of these since I have giant skeins to use up. It's an easy knit to squeeze in a few stitches here and there. Which is the time I have!

Next time: Tour de Fleece (this website is not updated, but you get the idea) and Chrissy Gardiner's new project
It helps me to have a next time line. I know where I was going when I get back here!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Catching Up


I keep thinking I'll have time to sit and do a giant post, but I've realized I'll have little moments here and there to do a post. So I'm going to work on this when I have the time. I can't believe how much time has passed! o arrived June 1st, which explains the silence for the last month, but not the silence before that! I'm not sure what happened there!

o is doing terrific. We had a bumpy start but everything is wonderful now. He is gaining weight just like e did, pounds at a time! I can't believe how much he's plumped up and he's really tall. He's very relaxed and tolerates all the kisses e has to give him. I'm working on tolerating it myself. Today was actually a good day, but I tell you. Two kids at a time is not easy. e is full of life and expresses it in every fiber and motion of his body. I could go on all day about these two!

So on to Knitted Wit. The shop is a little sad right now. But I'm hoping to have a new website up soon. Nap time is the new work time for this mama. I want to have pictures up for everything that you can order. Then you just let me know what you want and I dye it up if it's not in stock. It's super hard to stock an etsy store with the limited time I have, so I'm hoping this might work better.

Did I ever tell you about all the new yarn I'm dyeing? Silky and Single (merino and silk singles) and a lace that has silk and merino. Hmmm, I think there's something else. Oh, set colors for the silky and single, lace, merino knots and bling. I really like the ten colors I'm offering. Do I have a picture? Probably not. Ugh. I also have 30 different color ways dyed up. All this went to TNNA to try and get a few new accounts. I'm also hoping to make up little kits of all the pretty yarn and fiber to send to a few shops. I would love to add a few more shops, like 5 to 10. I'm trying to be realistic about how much I can do, but I'm also realistic in how much income I need to make!

If you want to see Knitted Wit in you LYS let me know and I'll be sure to send them a little packet!

Next time...Black Sheep Gathering. o goes to his first fiber show at 2 1/2 weeks!

Monday, May 10, 2010

and the winner is...

Dillpickle! All the way in Australia! I'll email you for your address and get the yarn in the mail. Thank you for all the ideas readers. One of my favorite new discoveries was Spilly Jane Knits. Have you seen her patterns? Go to Ravelry and check them out. Very entertaining!

I hope all you moms had a great mothers day. e celebrated his 2nd! birthday yesterday. A very fun filled day! I'm glad I have today in the studio to recover, the weekend wiped me out! I hope to be back shortly with some new yarns and colors to show you. Thank you again to everybody that left a comment.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Contest Time!!

Hello, and welcome back to our regularly scheduled programing! Thank you for being so patient about this contest tease! Up for random a drawing is a set of Roy G Biv in pastel, 25g of 7 different colors.
I'm going to draw a name next Monday (5/10), just leave a comment telling me what your idea is to do with the yarn! Pretty easy. One idea might be knitted toys. I saw some at Wool N' Wares out in West Linn out of Rose City and it was so cute! Then Vicki (one of the new owners!) suggested using a brown and orange yarn I'd dyed to make a tiger. Too cute! If only there were a few more hours in the day.

There's has been some knitting around here though. I have no pictures, but I'll snap some for next time. I am happy to report that our house has been pretty healthy this last week and a half (everybody please knock on some wood!). Even my back is starting to feel okay. As long as I don't dye for 8 hours. Which is a bit of a bummer to be honest. The studio is one of my favorite places to be!

I'm going to run away and sit on the couch and knit. I gotta make the best of a toddler nap while I can. Please leave a comment to win some yarn, I'd love to hear all the wild ideas and maybe make something myself!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Not all together

So I really wanted this to be the big celebration of 100 bloggings. Turns out the last one was and I couldn't count. Dur. But this one isn't going to be either. I'm having terrible hip pain and don't want to ruin the rest of the day by sitting at the computer. A little more patience if you please and I'll try again soon.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

I'm alive (and pretty well)

I didn't mean for so much time to go by. Last week we were hit with yet another bug. Easter night we ended up in the ER for a high fever and tummy pain. Turned out to be an ear infection and most likely constipation. All easy to fix. Poor little e was out of sorts for days until the fever got bad enough we went in. He did none of the telling signs of an ear infection so it didn't even occur to us. Of course he's also cut a second molar. I'm hoping and praying the two that are left will get here before baby does. A teething e does not make a happy family. I am happy to say that his sleeping is improving at night and for two nights in a row I've gotten six hours of sleep. Pretty amazing!

But this is supposed to be a knitting blog or at least about Knitted Wit. Right now there isn't much to tell. There is a lot of behind the scenes business stuff going on. A few contributions to clubs in the works, very exciting. I'm also trying to develop a bunch of colors to send to TNNA in June. Pico Accuardi Dyeworks are going and have been generous enough to take along a small selection of Knitted Wit. I'm setting my expectations low (I think), I'm hoping for five new shops to order from Knitted Wit. That would be a dream. I'm a little nervous, I'll just have had a baby when the show is going on so orders won't be shipping right away, but I think people will be understanding.

Another little project is adding some new yarns! A lace weight that is 80% merino with 20% silk! The other yarn is a worsted weight single of 50% merino and 50% silk. Ohhh la la! I'm hoping to get them this week but most likely won't dye them up until next week.

A side note for future thought: I think I might like a few samples knit up but I know I won't have the time to get to it all. If anybody is interested in knitting a sample for me to have in my booth let me know. I'm not sure what standard compensation is but if you knit a sock (I really only need one, not a pair) you get a skein of sock yarn. Does that seem fair? Let me know what you think

In the next post there is going to be a contest (and pictures to liven things up!) because it's my 100th blog post!! I think I'm going to give away a set of 25g Roy G Biv, you pick the color you want. I love these little sets a lot and can't wait to see what they create. So all you lurkers come out for the next post and try to win some yarn!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Another Quick Run Down

I promise to sit still here next time! There's even a contest coming up, so all you lurkers get your de-lurking shoes on!!

I finally was able to make the roy g biv sets out of semi solid fingering yarn. I wasn't able to do it with Bling yet, I need to dye up some more stock before then. Anyways, I had a hard time photographing with my light box (I tried Shannon, I really did to correct them all!) I should have just gone out side in the somewhat sunshine we had today. Anyways, here are some photos so you get the idea.

this picture has all three color sets stacked. It's a little hard to see the three distinct sets, but here's some individual shots.

I love this set! rich magenta pumpkin orange saffron yellow green blue some what turquoise and plum
This is the light pink orange yellow green blue turquoise lavender. Think pastel colors here.

these are primary colors, red orange yellow green blue indigo violet. I want to do a darker indigo for next time.

Each set is available in 25 grams of each color or 50 grams of each color. I have limited quantities for now, but can recreate these colors easily. If you want to do a set and then add a full 100 gram skein of a solid color let me know. I'm not putting the in my etsy shop quite yet, I thought I'd give you readers a chance first. Let me know in the comments if you'd like one or email me. I'm going to copy all the nitty gritty details from last post and plug them in
super wash fingering:
25g, appx 100 yards of each color, $42
50g, appx 200 yards of each color, $84

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Last of the Last Minute

So out at the studio tomorrow are some classes. Two different spinning classes, one spindle, one wheel. A knitting class and an intro to natural dyeing. All the info can be found here. From 10-10:30 you can stop by and shop before classes. Sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner, but if you need something to do this Saturday it's a great opportunity! And cheap too!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Making Up For Lost Time


So taking two weeks off from dyeing kind of kills the time line. I decided to try and make up for the lost time this week. Not the best idea. In about two days time I dyed over 100 skeins of yarn. I still need to get back and empty the dye buckets and rinse them out. Today I'm home rinsing the yarn and wringing it out for drying. It's a little frustrating spreading the chore out over so many days, but I didn't want to waste the colors I had made up so I kept dyeing and figured I'd get to the rest later. I definitely have a better idea of my new changing limitations.

Another reason I wanted to keep dyeing was I had all the colors made up that I am using for my spring line. Last blog post I directed traffic to my flickr page so you could see the colors and Sally had a great idea. She wanted mini skeins of all the rainbow colors. Ask and you shall receive (eventually!). I dyed up a bunch of semi solid yarns this week and I'll start packaging them up. I'm calling them Roy G Biv and I think I'll do them in dark or light as options. I'm also thinking 25 gram skeins or 50 gram skeins. Here is the break down for pricing:

for Bling:
25g, appx 105 yards of each color, $46
50g, appx 210 yards of each color, $92

for super wash fingering:
25g, appx 100 yards of each color, $42
50g, appx 200 yards of each color, $84


here's a sneak peak at the Roy G Biv that's to come

So what do you think? Is this any interest to you? Any color work ideas pop into your head? I'm hoping the skeins will be dry and I can start re-skeining on Thursday. It might not be until next Sunday that they are available, but that gives you some time to figure out what to make!!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Drive by Blogging!

I'm doing it again, sorry! I've run out of time so here is a link to pictures of the new spring colors. Leave a comment about what you think if you have the time! It's a busy next two weeks with the day job and trying to fill orders. Oh yeah, and be 28 weeks pregnant! I'll try not to let that slow me down.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Happenings

So it's been a little quiet, sorry. Two weeks ago was really busy with a surprise order from Wool Girl.
She made St Patty's day kits with green yarn from me!! Sadly (for you) they sold out before I even told you about them! Then last week our house was hit with the plague. E is still sick, e is pretty much better and will be returning to school tomorrow. I still have a sore throat but I know I'm going to make it. Ugh.

There isn't much else to report, so it's back to resting and drinking tea. I'll catch back up with you when we're better.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Springing Up

Yesterday was the spin in out at the Aloha Grange Hall. What a fabulous day! The weather was beautiful and I was seated next to a window, almost as good as being out side! I met new people (hi Lisa!) and saw some beautiful works in progress. A real treat to take a work day off and hang out with spinners. And I actually did some spinning! I think I did about four ounces. I need to find some bobbins and spin up the rest then get to plying.

I had started a pair of socks for the knitting olympics but ripped them out yesterday. I was about half way done with the foot but it was going to be way too big. So now I'm on smaller needles and I think this one will be too small. Grrr. But I don't want to mess with the pattern. At least I'll have a sample for the booth. I've resigned to be a knitter that was happy to show up to the knitting olympics and challenge myself. It got me knitting and that's the point. No gold for me this year, but I at least showed up!

Next on the agenda is taking my spring colors to Twisted and For Yarn's Sake. I'm excited about the new colors and being able to duplicate colors for people. I'll try taking some pictures this afternoon. It's another beautiful day here in Portland!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Spin-In

What are you doing Saturday? Do you live in the Portland metro area? If you do and you have some free time I hope you can make it over to Aloha Grange Hall. From 10-4 there is a spin in, only $6 at the door which covers some kind of food plus a little market place and loads of room to spin or knit. I am so excited to have a little booth here! I'm taking the day off from my j-o-b and e is spending the night at Oma's house. What a great Saturday! I'll be debuting some spring colors that I would love to get feedback on. I'm dyeing up the rest of the colors today! I might not have them in all the yarns or fibers I offer, but will soon. I hope to see you there!