The other hat

I got a picture finally of the 3rd Fake Isle hat. I'm going to have to figure out what to make for mine! Then again, I have some socks & a sweater to finish too...

The color on this one works great for Ed because it goes well with the moss from the trees he's trimming and cutting up. We've got dozens of trees that fell or lost large limbs, so lots of chainsaw time... One paddock's fencing was demolished in FOUR places... Luckily Daedalus was too wigged out from the noise to think about going and visiting the girls! "I'm not going out there, are you nuts? it's a war zone!"

Catching up

Is there such a thing as catching up? Not really, is there? We use the term all the time, but what does it really mean? "catch up on the laundry" - I'm still wearing clothes, and they're gonna need cleaning... "catch up on reading" - too many wonderful things to read in a dozen lifetimes... "catch up on weeding" - yeah right, maybe slow down some of the weeds for a short while, but the weeds will win.

But still, it's nice to think we could actually catch up, isn't it? I mean, what's the alternative? Chaos, pandemonium and fields of thistles...

So, in the spirit of catching up, I present some hats! Because winter had a few dirty tricks up its sleeves for us recently, I spent more time at home than at work for 2 weeks, and had more time for knitting. It was more fun than dwelling on the field of destruction that exists everywhere there are/were trees in my area and all the damage to fences that we'll be cleaning up for months to come (catching up, ha ha ha!). We were very lucky though - barns & house were unscathed.

I became addicted to the Fake Isle hat! I've made 3, and can't help but eyeball all the rest of the self-striping yarns in the showroom...

This red one is made with Plymouth Boku for the multi-color, and Nashua Creative Focus Worsted for the solid. I made this for a friend who looks terrific in red.

This one is also Plymouth Boku, and Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted for the black solid. I made this one for my friend's sweetie, so they can be twins. Course, I don't know if he likes bright colors or not so it may never ever be worn. And I had a really hard time giving it away because those are MY colors! I adore purples and greens! I hope he does too, because he would look good in it. The 3rd hat was for MY sweetie, and I have no pictures! It's greens & browns, and he wears it all the time. I need to get pictures.

AND I got my loom warped and started weaving! I haven't woven in years, which is tragic, and needed to be rectified. I really need to weave more - dare I say it? I have project after project in mind to catch up on! I crack myself up.

This is a kit I bought at Madrona last year from the good people at Just Our Yarns. It's handdyed tencel and it's perfectly lovely.

Website problems

If you've been trying to order in the last couple days and are having trouble, it's because the USPS is having trouble with their software that gives the shipping quotes. Here's the latest info I have:

Webtools Interruptions: Updates

The Postal Service continues to experience intermittent system interruptions in our Webtools API’s.. We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing, especially at what is one of the busiest times of the year. We are hopeful that full service, across the country, will be restored as soon as possible. We thank you again for your patience.
We have taken every step to resolve the situation, and continue to work around the clock both internally and with our external partners.

We appreciate your business and your patience.


Yeah... no pressure USPS, but we'd all really like it to work! Me and every other business that's relying on the postal service for shipping - and it turns out, ordering as well, since you can't order if their software won't calculate shipping.

Please call if you have trouble with the website!

Mittens - the new sock?

A while ago we decided we'd try our hand at knitting some mittens on Monday nights. I've been intrigued by the Selbuvotter mittens described in the book by Terri Shea, and mittens seem like such a warm and cozy little project. No heals to turn, so how hard could it be, right? One of our wonderful customers shared her Selbu mittens with us:
Aren't they lovely? Shari is an amazing inspiration!! I loved the pattern of the pink ones too, but I chose a blue color:I'm a few rows further along now, but I keep messing up and having to unknit. I've only worked on them here on Monday nights after work, maybe that's jinxing them! Maybe I should take them home to make some progress on them... I'm knitting mine out of O-Wool Classic 2 Ply, which is lovely stuff!
Karen decided to tackle some fingerless mitts - Winter Twilight (Ravelry link) from Interweave Knits magazine using Brown Sheep's Wildfoote sock yarn.
And Wanda! Wanda is making two pair for two of her daughters, starting with a Selbuvotter inspiration and charting her own:Aren't these cute? I'm completely in love with these. Here's the other pair she's making:
Tim heard we were making mittens, and he whipped these out in one evening. He wins! Sorry about the lousy picture...

I think mine are going to be another one of those Epic Projects - you know, "2 years in the making!", said in that big movie announcer voice. Before I got started while I was still dreaming of them and flipping through the book saying I want to make this one, and this one, and this one, and wandering around the show room looking at yarns saying these colors, and these colors, and wouldn't that combo be divine too? Yeah, well, these puppies are taking f o r e v e r and keep being difficult and needing to be unknit, and it's NOT a hard pattern! Maybe I just don't have Monday Night Mitten Mojo. Maybe Monday nights I need miles of easy stockinette. I do adore the concept and the patterns, and I would like to make a bunch of pairs. I definitely need more fingerless mitts for keeping my hands warm...

Hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Diane

Fall things

The Autumn Test

Your Autumn Test Results

You are a energetic, warm, optimistic person. You approach everything with a lot of enthusiasm. When you are happiest, you are calm. You appreciate tradition and family. You enjoy feeling cozy. You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different. You find solitude to be the most comforting thing in the world. Being alone with your thoughts feels very peaceful. Your ideal day is spontaneous and surprising. You like to play things by ear, and you always end up doing something interesting. You tend to live in the moment. You enjoy whatever is going on, and you don't obsess over the past or future.

I have to say that the part about being afraid of change cracks me up. Let's see, I've lived in Arizona, Missouri, Maryland, Oregon, I gave up a perfectly good job and left the best friends anybody could have to come to Oregon to be closer to my parents and live in paradise without having a job lined up, or anything else.... I got another perfectly good job with a large corporation and then 8 years later took a severance package and risked it all to buy this business. Nope, change - it's way too scary, not gonna have any of that around. Yeah, good luck with that!

A Little Help

Some time ago a good friend of mind saw a report on NBC about a lady that's doing a lot of good things in Afghanistan, including working with the Kabul School for the Blind providing knitting needles and yarn and whatnot - see the story here on NBC. My friend isn't a knitter, but she wanted to help, and hoped I'd get involved too. She sent some money for yarn, and I provided a couple of tubs of yarn from my personal stash as well, and we sent over a large box of yarn. I haven't heard yet that the yarn has arrived, or gotten any pictures from that side, but I'm still hopeful. I have no idea how long it takes to get from here to there via the APO system, and I know Rosemary has more than enough to do!

Rosemary Stasek's organization is called A Little Help, and I'd like to use this as an ongoing project for one of the ways that we give back. If you'd like in on this, drop me a line and we'll see what we can do together.

Diane

Naturally Fun Fiber Holiday Show

We're joining the fun at the Naturally Fun Fiber Holiday show this Saturday at the mall in Albany Oregon. Come see what fiber artists in our area have been up to! We'll be there doing some demonstrating and helping people make their own fiber art.

Have you received your fall knitting catalog? They're out there! Followed quickly by the next Wool Rag, which went to the post office on Friday.... now we're starting on the next spinning & weaving catalog, which should be in mail boxes in early January. Since this catalog only comes out once a year, it's something of a balancing act for when to publish it. A lot of the manufacturers put out their new price lists right around the beginning of the year, and we really hate to print the catalog and have the prices be wrong immediately. It's frustrating for everybody! ("what do you mean the price went up? I just got your catalog!") We do know, we do feel your pain. I go around kicking walls when I get a new price sheet right after the printer has taken the catalog to the post office.