Dragonfly Fibers

We are SO dreaming of a White Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Although, by the time Christmas actually gets here, we will have a grey or black Christmas with a bunch of dirty snow:) Better enjoy it now! This is the life; we are snowed in, so i'm sitting in bed in my jammies blogging while the kids play in the snow. Snow forts seem to be the name of the game. Soon, I'll have to go down and start running the dryer and directing traffic.

Our whole family is coming in, so we will essentially have three days worth of party in my tiny little house. Meanwhile, giant shipments of yarn come in and get stowed...somewhere. My big giant multiple skeiner also comes, probably on Christmas eve, just to make things interesting. Luckily there will be a few engineers in the house; maybe they can put it together! Sounds like fun, for engineers, right? I haven't seen a weather forcast, but I hope it's not too cold for my poor southern family:)

These people are ready!

Now onto business~! I updated my shop last night, with lots of seasonal colors, including some lovely roving. This is Fig Merino. Soft and squishy winter hat spinning anyone?

Next week, there will be no update. I have just received the amazing news that I will have skeined Djinni at my disposal as soon as i can get it from Sarah, courtesey of Elissa and her Dream Team at the Sanguine Gryphon. Thanks so much my friends! This means we will be able to celebrate the New Year properly-with a Djinni un-lottery, of course! Stay tuned while we figure out the mechanics of that!

Another thing that has arrived here is the first batch of my new yarn, so i'll dye some up for a proper introduction - after the Christmas family deluge. It seems to me that 'tis the season to leave one's work behind as much as one can, even work as lovely and charming as dyeing yarn in 20 degrees F can be:)

But one more thing. We will have signups up for a few more weeks for Club Dragon Witch. This should be a very fun sock club with some amazing yarns (cashmere, silk, or bamboo anyone?) dyed by well, me and Brittany of the Knit Witch. But also, we have plans for some excellent giftees and the designer list is quite good. Gryphon is creating a special Fairy Tale sock of our very own; I probably shouldn't tell you which story, but let me just say it is relevant to the theme. ok? I have my own ideas, and as i'm the April designer, I better get busy:).. Maybe I'll wait til after Christmas. So, go tell your loved ones that "all you want for Christmas" is a spot in Club Dragon Witch, cause i assume you already have your two front teeth:)

Now, Trudge, who is anticipating lots of delicious turkey and ham,

and I, who have been staying warm while shooting yarn photos

and all of us Chez Dragonfly wish you a very warm and cozy holiday season and much Joy in the New Year!

So this is Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:48:00 +0000

Or very nearly so. We have in fact begun the week countdown to the mermaid's 12th birthday, which really begins the week of Christmas for us. This year is extra exciting because we will be home for the first time in maybe 5 years. Usually we travel to new orleans to see my family, which is usually warm and always festive but like the song says, "there's no place like home for the holdays."

We know this is what the song says because Aquaman already gave me my christmas present early: a Squeezebox, which is a digital music player that hooks into the computer network and we have been discovering all sorts of christmas music via Pandora. I like it because it has good sound:)

We are moving slowly toward holiday readiness. not only are we home but it seems the whole family is coming to us. And maybe there will be a party involved as well as hosting christmas eve and christmas day. And then, everyone leaves and we collapse! And then, the mermaid has her birthday party. And then, New Years! which i am, of course, hoping will involve lots of knitting!

So, there will be some changes in the shop update schedule to accomodate all of this excitement. I will be having a regular update on Iriday night, at 9 pm est. I will not, not surprisingly, be having an update on the following friday as it is Christmas, and I will be enjoying my family (I hope:) I might have am update on New year's Day, depending on whether there is any yarn.

I have heard that Djinni may have actually reached Maryland this time. It may even be in Easton by now. three cheers for that! I may even have some at some point this week. Just when we were beginning to doubt its very existence... I must get confirmation on when it will enter my hot little hands, and on when my skeiner will actually really be here, but we may be in shape for a holiday or new year's special edition Djinni lottery, who knows? Of course, we won't be calling it that. Maybe an un-lottery?

In the meantime, i have brought on another lovely old friend and neighbor to help keep Dragonfly Headqurters running smoothly. My friend Carol started last week and took care of the update shipment, for the most part. She is going to be getting my next shipment to Fibrespace out, and shipping out fridays' update. When the skeiner comes (cross your fingers for this week), she will be number one skeiner. Her son, now 15, was one of my boy's first gods. And her dog Henry is the cutest Cardigan Corgi ever:)

Meanwhile, there hasbeen knitting. Behold my slightly wonky Golden Pear Pomatomos in Djinni sock. It is a very fun knit, even if I do get distracted sometime and throw the pattern off-kilter. Looks like I'll have to knit two, so i can have a more attractive sock to bring to bring to shows as a sample.

This is the third beginning of my scoop neck Hourglass sweater in Heroine Dragon Worsted. I am loving this knit! Ihe yarn is wonderful; i just wish i was capable of following a pattern with out having to modify it, which of course requires thought, which may require too much for me for right now:) I am working on dyeing and listing tons of this yarn in quantity, because sweaters are the thing for right now, especially once holiday knitting is done. We are talking on the Dragonfly Fibers Rav group a bout doing a sweater KAL after the holidays. Come join us?

Drumroll please...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:22:00 +0000

It's time to announce my big fabulous surprise! Remember Brittany, of Knit Witch fame? As you can see from this picture from SAFF 2009,
Brittany is the person to involve when you want to do something fun, and maybe a little crazy?

We had such a great time together that we began talking joint projects. We have more plans, but today, I want to tell you about Club Dragon Witch, our new super fabulous 2010 sock club!

Club Dragon Witch is a year long joint sock club. Shipments will come every two months, for a total of 6. Each package will include a skein of some yummy sock yarn (either Knit Witch or Dragonfly Fibers yarn), a pattern designed especially for our club and some fun goodies! We have some really amazing designers on board and we are so excited that they will be working with us! Our first design is already underway (thanks Barb!). Brittany is doing the first shipment with her, and let me tell you, the color is gorgeous, and the yarn is yummy. All the base yarns will be delicious (mostly nice blends) and yes, there will be some cashmere involved.

Spaces are LIMITED so please be sure to sign up early if you want to get in on the action. Sign-ups will run from now until January 7th unless the club fills up before then - in which case we will close the sign-ups.

Check out who will be designing socks for us:

Barb Brown of Wild Geese
Me! (you know where to find me, right?)
Cristi Brockway aka Turtlegirl76
Sarah Eyre of Sanguine Gryphon
Rosi Garmendia
Gryphon of Sanguine Gryphon

You can find all the information HERE on the new website, created by the fabulous (yep, there's that word again) Mr. Knit Witch, the Barefoot Potter.

Wayne's amazing knit bowls and spindle vases not included. Of course, you can find them here:). I just went and bought ANOTHER one.

Unveiling

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:51:00 +0000

I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend, and that this weekend is relaxing and fun. We have, or I should say, the mermaid has, a swim meet this weekend. The lovely Jack, or Aquaman as we are coming to experience him, has prepared the obligatory delicious spaghetti and meetballs (good one! or meatballs, if you prefer) and we even had spumoni, my favorite! The boy is back on the basketball court, and we are back on the tread mill, or hamster wheel.

But, before all that, I have some important things to tell you about. First, the amazingly talented Laura Blueswirly has made some winter wall papers for us Dragonflies. You must go see them here, and if you want, download them to your computer. I understand that she is working on a wallpaper for your mobile phone too:) She has been working on some very cool things for me, and for you too! Laura is one talented person, and a rather fabulous human too, while we're at it.

Thanks to those offering inspiration through my Winter Colorway Inspiration contest, I have developed four (yes, i know I said it would be three:) new colorways for the winter season. I am offering these tonight in my shop, and will continue to do so through the end of February.

This is Blue Spruce, inspired by Molly's picture and Sarah's words. Evergreens are definitely part of the mythical winter landscape, especially if they are covered in snow:)

Red Wine by the Fire was a go on the first try, and alot of fun to do. Thanks to Vicki's image of , well, a glass of red wine by a warm crackling hearth, with hand knit socks on feet and one's next sweater on the needles, of course!

Winter Twilight was inspired by several images, most notably this one. I just couldn't resist! Although, it did take a few tries to get it done right:) I do love tolook up at twilight, and see the light disappearing through the bare trees. I have a friend Mary, a non-knitter, who paints this scene in endless beautiful variations. Her favorite things to paint are wooden birdhouses. She really gets the moment just right, to my way of thinking:)

And finally, Fig. I didn't need a fourth colorway, but i just couldn't resist these colors! I may be the only one in the world, we shall see:) But that's okay. Sometimes, a woman must do what a woman must do. These last two were inspired by the fabulous Laura, who took herself out of the contest, but i'm sure I'll figure some way to thank her!

Oh look, it's after 9 pm! Must go start shop update now. More later. Oh, and watch the blog for a cool announcement Monday or Tuesday, ok?

Why I'm not dyeing today

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:16:00 +0000

It's not the rain, per se. See, with help from the Lovely Jack, I had this great idea for a set up. Three double burners and a dye table out in my "open air dye studio", otherwise known as the peeling, rotting back deck. In fact, if you look carefull at the above picture, you will notice the white line drawn by the mermaid, across which no more of stuff can go. So much for that idea, sweetie. A commercial grade canopy tent is to go over much of this, apparently not over the pots themselves, though, as Gryphon learned yesterday.

I thought it would be brilliant to move a few things out of the way, and put up the tent to stay out of the rain. I learned fairly quickly that this piece of equipment is not a one-woman set up job. i have persevered anyway, and have managed to get almost all the way spread out, with the covers on, but just need an extra human for the last bit. Why oh why did I choose to do this on a day when everyone in the world is apparently travelling for Thanksgiving? Unfortuately the dye studio is dismantled and now the half-assembled tent is in the way. The lovely Jack will help me later; unfortunately, as i will not be allowed to dye on Thanksgiving Day proper, Friday's update will be rather tiny.

Of course, this may not be a disaster as I may then have time over the weekend to play with the new Winter colorways. So, if you want to win a free skein of yarn, and have some input for the next set of seasonal colorways, do go leave me some inspiration!

These two clearly have the right idea, don't they?

Before I go put my feet up with a cup of tea and my yet to be photographed because it is only two inches long Pomotomous, I would like to take a moment to tell you about my lovely friend and new "Number One", Karen. A very smart and talented lady, seen here in the hat at our divisional swim meet from this summer, she is a fellow swim mom; an experienced project manager; with Fig (also pictured), the team rep for the awesome Glenwood Tigers; and perhaps most importantly, a Knitter and lover of hand dyed yarns.

In fact, we met years ago at the pool because she and I were, at that time, the only ones knitting. Our twelve year old girls swim together all summer; mine like a mermaid; hers like a shark! She also taught me the magic loop technique for knitting in the round and introduced me to the wonderful world of sock knitting.

She can hank a skein of yarn, pack and ship orders, write elegant notes, and even suggest that it is good also to turn the microwave on if I am expecting it to heat up my lunch. I like the way she handles my kids too: "athletes need good nutrition so they can have enough energy to play" to my candy-stalking boy. In the end, she will help me organize my business so it runs efficiently and grows somewhat smoothly. If you buy yarn from me, there is a good chance you will receive a thank you note from Karen, my yarnprentice. Now, you have a face to go with the name.

Many cute words have been tossed out to describe the indie yarn company employee: SG and Loopy have elves, Miss Violet has minions, Karen calls herself "yarnprentice" (cute, yes?), but I call her Number One.

Learning Curve Roller Coaster

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:26:00 +0000

Phew! It has been a week! We've had the snots over here, not too be confused with the flu, thank goodness. Last week, I had the princess home (that's right, the mermaid was earthbound:); this week the boy desided he needed to stay home. Oh, and the dog injured herself jumping down a hill. I think she may be ageing a touch. Used to be anything and now, well, there are consequences. Kind of like me.

There have been many fabulous new things going on here at Dragonfly headquarters thanks to all my wonderful customers and friends and family. I have tripled my dyeing equipment and am expanding my output. Laura, my high priestess of Marketing, and I are working on advertising both through the Group and on Ravelry specifically. I have been looking at expanding Team Dragonfly in various ways and may have someone who can really whip me into shape (very nicely). And, i have a ordered a big yarn skeiner! I am starting to give up worrying about where things will go and am going it to "make it work" mode. If you build it, they will come. Right?

Now specifically, if you haven't already, you need to go on down to my Ravelry group and join it. and while you're there, you need to check out my Winter colorway contest. If you're not on Rav, you can still play:) Here goes:

As a way of introducing a new concept, I am having a contest for inspiration. It may be obvious that there is nothing an indie dyer loves more than creating colorways, yes? In an attempt to rein myself in a little and keep the colorway list under control, I am introducing seasonal colorways. These color will be produced only during their season, and then will go into hibernation until next time. but it’s more fun if we all get to play, right? I am looking for some inspiration for Winter; you can submit anything for inspiration: pictures, poetry, movie titles, travels, etc. Just needs to be related to the season of choice. I will choose, with input from the Dragonflies, and members of the Dragonfly team, 3 (give or take) inspirations and interpret them for sale through the winter months.I actually started this concept this fall and just didn’t actually tell anyone(silly me). I bet you can guess at least one of not two of these colorways:) (Pumpkin King and Cinnamon Spice). Then, i added Holy Cow, which started as a goof, because you all liked it so much. Winter colors will start in mid-Fecember and run through February. Fall colors will end December 31st.Oh, and the 3 winning colorway inspirers will be awarded a skein of yarn in their base and colorway of choice, as long as I have it in stock.

So, if you want to play, and aren't on Rav, just leave a comment. Okay?

This lovely vase is a spindle vase made by Wayne, the Barefoot Potter, who is married to the lovely Brittany, of Knit Witch fame. He is developing this vase as a new product at my request, because once one starts collecting spindles, it's tough to stop, right? So any comments you have for me would be most welcome. We know it's a touch short. but isn't it gorgeous? i love it. Brittany and I have a few other fun things cooking up, too. Soon to be announced:)

The mermaid and Mr. Trudge would like you to know that Gryphon and Sarah have moved the sanguine Gryphon out of Gryphon's house to an actual, real commercial space. If you haven't been following their move this week, go see. It looks very cool!

And speaking of the lovely Sarah, I dyed this colorway for a fairisle design project she is working on as a collaborative venture (just yarn dyeing, from my end, but one never knows where things may lead.

Shipping Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Today, I am shipping orders (finally) from my Djinni Lottery and Friday update. There appears to be a learning curve involved with having a dramatic increase in one's business and I am learning again to organize my time. I was surprised that it took me an entire day to reconcile and print orders; somehow, I was expecting to do all that and ship, and then run over to Restaurant Depot to buy more pots!

Sarah and Gryphon have suggested it may be time for me to think about hiring a "minion". I am beginning to think they may be right, particularly as I seem to have to keep working at the hospital, at least in the short term. I will wait for a tiny bit more, to make sure. But not too much more.

In business-related news, it would appear that PayPal does not approve of my "gambling". In fact, they shut down my account (note to self: must get balance down) because they felt that "running a lottery" was not within the rules. I was required to sign an affidavit stating that i won't be a bad girl anymore and the next time they find such egregious behavior, they will shut me down. I did sign the affidavit, because I had orders to ship and such, and have not yet followed up with PayPal, partly because they have provided little contact information to enable me to do so. All of this to say, the next Djinni lottery, and there most certainly will be one, will have to be called something else. Any thoughts?

Next update will be at 5 pm Eastern this Friday. I AM trying to keep a consistent time, but I'm planning to chaperone a middle school youth group retreat this weekend and am not yet technically equipped for a remote update. That is coming, by the way. I believe in December or January, i'll be purchasing a Droid. A phone with all the bells and whistles, including a decent camera. I mostly like it because of the name. I was, after all, an original Star Wars fan. Wish me luck out in the woods with a bunch of middle schoolers!

Finally, a few pictures from last weekend.

Aren't they gorgeous? That's my aqua boy, gone terrestrian for the time being, and his "twin" best friend. Who has, incidentally, a twin brother who looks like a slightly smaller verion of my boy. Sometimes i yell the wrong names at them on the soccer field.

The three of them play on a team together with a few other close friends and you can already see what it could be like in high school. They are already playing together as a unit, like good friends and team members who are different parts of the same body. Not that the team has done well or anything; we had an 0 and 9 or 0 and 8 season. Not that I'd change a thing about it:)

Ps: do the two coaches on the left look familiar? Check out the Captain and his wife in the previous post. Note the twin's twin in the back row toward the middle. Doesn't he look just like my boy?

This is Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:25:00 +0000

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene

Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright

It's our town, everybody scream

In this town of Halloween

from Nightmare before Christmas

Hurray for my favorite holiday of the year. No religious stuff, no presents, little controversy, just community, and lots of candy!

And then you get silly costumes

and happy kids!

It's been a big week around here for Dragonfly Fibers. As you may know, i have a new ravelry group, thanks to my lovely fairy godmother, Laura Garcia (Blueswirly). Contact her if you need some graphic design or branding help; you'll be very glad you did! Thanks to her and Ravelry, and Sheri of the Loopy Ewe, and my friends Gryphon and Sarah, and many other loveley people, and don't forget many fabulous customers!, my business has been, well, very busy. Yay, indeed. THANK YOU!!!

I now need to announce updates, and thanks to so many kind and wonderful customers, have learned how to make the update all go at the the same time. There is some re-organizing going here at Dragonfly headquarters, so I can dye more stuff in the same time, and I'm trying to drop a shift off of my schedule at the hospital. Also, as i figure things out, there will be glitches, for which i am sorry, but I am definitely open to suggestions:)

Sweetheart Merino-Silk Roving

Speaking of announcing updates, I will be updating the shop on Friday at 9 pm. I am hoping to make this a regular update time, and items will be pre-loaded so it will all go up at once (thanks juliespins!) I know for sure that there will be dragonsock, spinning fiber, dragonlace and merino worsted (I just have a little at this point, but have ordered more!). I don't have my inventory list in front of me now, so not sure of the rest:) Some of the roving is on my flickr, if you want a preview:)

ETA: I forgot to mention that we are holding a lottery for Djinni Sock on my Ravelry group (will add link later) starting today. i am doing this because I only have a little bit left before the big truck from the mill comes in and I want people to have a fair crack at it. So, go check out my group, ok?

Sistine Ceiling Merino-Silk roving

Ok, now closing with the promised SAFF photos. Still some to come off the cell phone, too.

Our Booth

Gryphon and her new wheel

Gryphon enjoying and "un-birthday" moment, dancing with the waiter

Katey, who made that moment and many other things possible

Brittany, the Knit Witch, who "accidentally" organized the party

Amy showing off her handspun made from Dragonfly roving in Robin's Egg

There and back again

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:59:00 +0000

SAFF was, predictably, a great time. This despite the fact that our trip did not begin well as we found out at the very last moment that our Sarah would not be able to join us. Gryphon and I swallowed our disappointment and soldiered bravely on, and soon were giggling hard enough to comprise our safety behind the wheel. Driving the "Beast", as Sarah and Sam have dubbed the crazy yarn bus the Sanguine Gryphon takes to shows, is truly a"laugh as hard as you can so you don't cry" experience anyway, and then add pouring rain and gravel mountain roads and maybe some confusion as to where the road is and you can get true near-death moments. Phew.

Pictures will come, once they are re-sized and flickred and such. For now, you must use your imagination. Imagine the usual beautiful and very medieval Sanguine Gryphon booth, with music and booth decorations, and a lovely lady garbed in amazing period costumes, including one she made herself that was just stunning. You know who that is. Now imagine that kate forgot to bring her Dragonfly Fibers sign, again. Duh. Although, it does say something about the growth of my business that people overall had heard of me and knew my stuff was different from Gryphon's. Hurray! That was a big moment for me, actually.

I think that one of the reason's I had such a great time was this sense that Dragonfly's presence is growing. I do not know the actual numbers from the show yet, but it seems that my yarns and fibers sold really well, too. I know that when i unloaded the Beast yesterday, I found less than half of the yarn I'd brought to SAFF with me. I keep thinking there must be more somewhere, 'cause this is weird. But good weird, you know? I also had some nice wholesale inquiries, and one potential wholesale customer did buy a good amount of Dragon Sock for her shop:)

But probably the best part of the trip was the friends. We'd met so many great southern knitters and spinners at Stitches South last spring and got see many of them again. (Missed seeing a bunch of them too-i'm talking to you, Carla, LindaB, Phyl, and Ro!) Katey helped us set up (THANK YOU!) and helped us throughout the weekend in the booth as well. She and her buddies Amy and Lori also started an impromptu knit and spin in near our booth, sending even more customers our way. Yay!

Wayne and Brittany of the Knit Witch repeatedly performed heroic feats for us and helped us set up, and stay up:) It was so great to see them again and get to know them as friends! I may have spent some money in their booth, some on Christmas presents and some on, well, me. There may have been a sweater's worth of merino roving in my shopping bag. Love Brittany's roving; the color play and the silkiness are calling me! I'm also crazy for Wayne's pottery and special ordered a few things he hasn't made before: a drop spindle vase (don't you need one for all of the spindles you've been collecting so you can show them off in your living room?) and an earring bowl (very cool idea i saw at Crafty Bastards). These are going to be the next big thing, i'm sure of it!

There are quite a few other highlights of SAFF, but for the sake of breveity, I shall continue my story in a few days when i get my pictures together. in the meantime, go see Katey's pictures. I believe there is a video as well:) Of course, i have some no one else has!

One more thing. Thanks to my friend Laura (and much encouragement and reassuring from many others), I finally have a Ravelry group. Hurray! I've been saying that alot, and thanks to some very fine work on Laura's part, as well as some great friends, i already have over 100 members. More yays! I want to let you know that as a promotion for my group, the first 200 members to join will be entered into a drawing for a skein of my new sock yarn, Djinni Sock, in a colorway of the winner's choice. This 200 includes those already in the group. So, go tell your friends, okay?

Okay, two more things. Speaking of Djinni Sock, did you happen to catch that Sneak Up on the The Loppy Ewe on Monday? Talk about exciting! The Djinni Sock went up in the evening and was ALL GONE by mid-morning the next day. I have doubled my next order from my Djinni "dealer", and I thought this last one was pretty big. So, okay a third thing, as soon as i come down from the nice rosy pink cloud I'm floating around on, I'll re-open my shop and update it. (That will be tomorrow, Thursday afternoon and evening) And yes, there will be a few skeins of Djinni Sock, for those of you curious to try it.

Making Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

Last week, it rained endlessly, slowing the dyeing and making little boys completely insane. Insane enough, in fact, to run out in shorts and a t-shirt to shoot hoops in the pouring rain. I wonder if it was also the rain that made him declare "I love shopping!" while thrift store shopping with his mom. I believe we were looking for clothes for his sister at the time, too!

Little girls (young ladies?) were less insane, as my mermaid had to get up at 5:30 Saturday and Sunday to go swim in a meet. She spent the dryland portions of her weekend lying prone on her bed, avoiding homework. Although, in the pool, she showed up to swim and went so far as to knock 11 seconds off of a 50 (that's 2 laps to you and me). My girl dropped a ton of time in all of her events, reaping the benefits of some hard work and a great new attitude! "Yay me" she says (with maybe a touch of irony in her tone). Then she showed up to sing in the church choir; luckily the robe covered the cut offs and uggs combo she was sporting that am! I'm digging 7th grade so far!

I have dyed as much as I can for SAFF, but really wanted to get Sheri her order so the first Djinni Sock update can coincide with the fest (although why do I think people will want to order more yarn during or just after a fiber fest when they have spent all their money already on woolies?). I will definitely have some Djinni, and lots of beautiful spinning fiber, and Dragon Sock, Lace, and Worsted. And many other yummy yarns, but maybe not as much Marengue as I would have liked. Well, come see. I think you'll be pretty happy!

So, the three fates are hitting the road again. Tomorrow at a rather civilzed hour, for a change. I think I like it when Sarah starts the trip off:) We'll be picking Gryphon up in Harrisonburg, VA (and not, as the confused among us thought, Harrisburg, PA) sometime late morning and we'll be knitting and barrelling through the beautiful Smoky Mountains to Asheville. Look out, Southern Knitters, here we come!

What I'm doing today

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:14:00 +0000

Maybe not as productive as Abby, but I do have my good days. A little laundry, pictures, blogging, and of course, working over the dyepots:) With a little bit of kids, and soccer on the side. Maybe I'll even cook dinner. Pork tenderloin anyone? Come on over; we'll have plenty!

No carpool today, giving me an extra hour. Perhaps this is what makes me think I have time to blog? The lovely Jack is out of town, so no one to complain about my mess! More dyeing time, too!

I'm cranking out an order of Djinni Sock for the Loopy Ewe; biggest order ever. I'll let you know when it's up, so you can go over and check out how pretty this stuff dyes up. There will be new colorways; the above bit of loveliness is called "Golden Pear". "Atomic Pear" might be a more accurate name!

I may have mentioned that I'm going to SAFF with Sarah and Gryphon. That show starts Friday, October 23rd and runds through Sunday. The best thing about a 3 day show is that you can really relax and have fun, cause so much of your time isn't taken up with set up and take down. And that show's awesome cause I'll get to see all my southern knitting and spinning friends. Yay!

I'm also working on getting some new spinning fiber dyed for the show. I'll have 50% silk, 30% wool, 20% sea cell like the beauty above. LOVE this roving for spinning. I'll also have some camel-silk roving, although the stuff is hard to dye because it is soooo delicate; it breaks when you're measuring off dyable quantities. I'll have it, but it will be all different sizes:) At between $6.5 and $7 an ounce it's an affordable luxury spin. You can see it to the right in this picture.

The yumminess to the left and below is superwash merino-silk. The ultimate sock spinning project, in my humble opinion.

And, hurray, Djinni Sock was well received in my etsy store. All gone, now. I'll be focussing on getting ready for SAFF and for that reason, won't be updating until after i return. For those who will be in Asheville in a few weeks, i'll have more Djinni, plenty of my usual line up, and some sweater yarns, just for fall and holiday knitting. Can't wait to see everyone there!

Well, as we already know, multi-tasking is more than it's cracked up to be for sure. I may have blogged today, but I missed the postman, and i had to re-dye a whole colorway 'cause i didn't have it quite right. Ah, well. I did dye some lovely CVM locks in "Atomic Pear":) I close with a picture of my gigantic busy boy trying out some natural dyeing.

Lookie, lookie!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:55:00 +0000

Did you get your Fall Knit Picks catalog last week? It's a beauty, staring with the cover and going on to some great yarns in excellent colors. And the patterns are great. That's what I usually keep it around for.

Elizabeth noticed what I didn't. Page 17? That one's mine! My Messenger Bag pattern from Pints and Purls! Hurray! I'm not even sure i told you about this book; it came out in the Spring (when i was overwelmed andnot really blogging much) and features not one but TWO of my patterns. So here is the bag (Wheatberry Ale, I think:), knit in Wool of the Andes, a very pretty heathered yarn. The origininal is a pink and brown marled Cascade 220. And when i went to the website, i noticed, my NAME on it. That never happens. I think i may need to send a thank you note:) How cool is that?

The second pattern from Pints and purls is Barfly. Just went into a rav wormhole, discovering that my patterns are on the site and that PEOPLE HAVE KNIT THEM! Not very many, but wow. Clearly, i shall have to put a picture up of my Barfly, which actually fits me. Yay! One of the nice things about working with Karida and Libby, the authors of Pints and Purls, is that, not only are they lovely people, but they gave back the projects when we were finished with them How great is that? Except i let them keep the messenger bag for Cascade to use in a trunk show.

Ok, closing now with some shots of yarn that has benn put up in my shop, or will be by the end of the day.

Texas Bluebonnet Squishy Lace

Oceanic Gaia Dk

and finally, Shining Sea Milk Protein Fiber. Spins just like Tussah silk, only maybe not sticky. It loves the dye in the same way as silk though. And it really is this pretty in real life!

May I present

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:54:00 +0000

Djinni Sock! This beautiful new sock yarn is an exclusive cashmere blend designed by none other than those fabulous ladies at the Sanguine Gryphon. It is a true fingering, and is comprised of 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon for strength. The cashmere makes it uniquely soft, and loves the dye molecules, resulting in rich, multidimentional colors. It is 450 yards in a 4 oz skein and knits up to a fine gauge at 7-9 st/inch. I have just listed some in my shop and am working on an order for the Loopy Ewe. Yay!

This is Cinnamon Spice, a new old colorway that began life as a "one hit wonder" and was re-born at the request of Tiffany from Colorful Yarns. I guess I forgot to mention (whoops!) my yarn is in Colorado! Yay! At this awesome shop in Centennial.

I may have mentioned that I've been experimenting with dyeing in layers lately. A little like Gryphon and Sarah but not the same. It's intriguing for me to see how the dyes interact, and then to take advantage of these relationships. One of the many fun things about chemical dyeing is that the dyes don't always relate to each other as one would expect. Oh, and Delphinium, a one hit wonder.

I still struggle with photographing reds, but this is fairly close to true. Dragonberry is deservedly an older favorite. It glows in the new yarn base, doesn't it?

This colorway is Pumpkin King. I was trying to re-create an effect I had obtained when overdyeing this amazing silver Romney cross fleece for Steph of Loop. Didn't work as I'd hoped, but it is a snappy fall color, isn't it? PS, if you were thinking of signing up for Camp Loopyfluck in October, scheduled to coincide with Rhinebeck, and just hadn't got to it yet, or want to do a really great class of Art Yarn carding and spinning, or you just want to have a great time spinning with some grweat people and learn alot too, GO sign up now! They may have to cancel if they can't get enough students to cover the class:(

While I'm announcing things, I also want to tell you if you are anywhere near Rehobeth, DE, run, do not walk to Kitschy Stitch. (I didn't even know she'd blogged us;) Allison is adorable, her son is a happy soul, and her knit and stitch shop is fabulous. Beautifully arranged and full of yarn, fabric, books, patterns, wow. You definitely won't want to leave! Oh, and Dragonfly Fibers is there now, too:) She doesn't have Djinni Sock but she does have another new seasonal yarn I am carrying. But that is another post! And this beauty is Heroine. Yes, with an "e".

Finally, I give you Red Maple. Another one hit wonder turned regular colorway. She's a pretty blend of autumn reds and browns, just like the amazing red Splitleaf maple in the yard next door. Remind me, and I'll show you. I have more cool stuff to share, so do stay tuned!

This and that

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:11:00 +0000

I wanted to show you pictures from our visit to New Mexico. My parents have bought a condominium in Las Cruces for my father to live in when he retreats from the many allergy seasons in New Orleans. While this change in their lives has been mind-numbingly stressful for them, it has improved my father's quality of life exponentially.

The kids and i spent a week out there with them so we could check things out and maybe help them get settled in. We didn't help much:) We did find this part of the world is so different from New Orleans and the mid-atlantic region, it was like exploring the moon. Thrilling, but pretty scary if you've been used to the same community all your life. And, besides, we don't enounter signs like this too often:

Isn't my dad cute? He and mom did everything they could to make this a nice vacation for us, and arranged a trip to the Gila mountains, about a 4 hour drive, much through twisty-turny roads, so we could hike up to see pre-historic Mogollon (pronounced "muggy-own") Cave Dwellings. Unfortunately, we weren't prepared for the magnitude of the trip or the altitude, and it turned out to be too much for my parents. The sights were amazing, and beautiful, but hard to appreciate when we were all feeling pretty sick!

And onto today. Steadily settling into our fall schedule; sports, mad science, grad school for the husband, more dyeing for SAFF for me. The boy, who does not like transitions, and i have made an agreement that he can do Mad Science if he promises not to scream everyday when he gets home from school. We'll see how it goes. 3rd grade is a big year here. The expectations go up with the homework. He can do it but I need to be there with him. The girlie is taking Algebra, and also is needing alot of support with her homework. She can do it but needs to freak out alot at the same time.

I have dyed some new colors. You remember cinnamon Red Hots? That is this color. Very warm and cinnamonny. I am dyeing more in layers of color, rather than putting the colors next to one another. It is pleasing to me, and possibly a bit simpler. i hope to have an update ready this evening. So far, i have only shot Dragon Sock, however. Tomorrow, a dyeing extravaganza with beautiful new yarn line.

I have been knitting, too. I started these lovely socks with A Piece of Vermont's merino/bamboo/nylon yarn. I love Jessie's dyework. I suspect she does cold pour, but i am aiming for something similar with my kettle dyeing technique. These are Evelyn Clark's Waving Lace Socks

from Interweave's Favorite Socks. What a delightful, and speedy pattern. I think i'll give them to my mom for Christmas.

And this is the Leafling pattern from the Rockin' Sock Club that I told you about. i brought it to New Mexico so that i wasn't knitting my mom's Christmas present in front of her and the knit the first sock in a week. Super speedy for me, but also the yarn is STR medium weight. A pleasant knit, but the gauge is a bit tight, and, therefore, hard on the hands. These will be winter clog socks for ME:)

Finally, an update on my pretty, pretty February Lady. I've just started the garter stitch hem. I ordered some beautiful clay buttons from Jennie the Potter for it. I think it may take a while for her to get to them:) Go see why! Isn't she beautiful? Nothing like a new life to bring hope and joy to us all.

September again

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:19:00 +0000

Is it really September again? Time is a funny thing, isn't it? Sometimes it seems so endlessly slow (like anytime I'm bored and can't knit as in when work is slow and my boss is in our shared office) and then it speeds up exponentially. One minute it was the beginning of August and i was still basking in the glow of Sock Summit, and the next minute i've been to the beach and for 10 days in southern New Mexico, and BAM!, the kids are back in school.

The scheduling gods have been kind, though. We only had school starting and tryouts for one sport last week. This week, all sports start (3 for the boy:) and next week, we add on the girl's other activities. But that's ok; i just look at all the driving and fetching as knitting opportunities.

This year will see a decrease in volunteer activites for me and hopefully an increase in exercise. The other area I hope to focus on is reaching out and maintaining friendships. I'm blessed with more than my share of wonderful friends and I want to nuture these friendships in a very conscious way.

Naturally, any thoughts about staying centered and nurtured during our families hectic school year (including my darling husband's graduate study of accountaing while working full time) must involve the yarn business. I think I'm finally getting a sense of what i can really pull off in a week, month, and day and where the priorites should be. I also am finally accepting that Dragonfly Fibers isn't going anywhere. While i may cry a little from the stress, i'm not going to quit today. Even if it is hard. I need to make and dye yarn.

I used to think that it was selfish for me to spend time away for shows, and to make such a big mess in the house, and to always be braiding roving or tagging yarn instead of folding clothes or washing the kitchen floor. The house is still a mess, but the kids are growing up strong and healthy, and despite the little attention it gets, i really like my marriage. Somehow, our partnership is continuing to grow and be fun! I have also realized that our family benefits from the yarn biz.

Yes, the bball obsessed mer-boy was able to go to basketball camp this summer thanks to Dragonfly income but the intangibles may be even more important. Art and craft should be a priority, and it's good parenting to make doing these things a high family priority. To create is a fundamental human drive, perhaps after food, shelter, and safety, but still very important. If children learn how to be grown ups from what they see there parents do, then it's good to model making art, not to mention having a business, right? That's my story, and i'm sticking to it:)

For those of you who didn't come here to listen to me ramble on about family priorities, my etsy shop is OPEN. I have tons of Dragonsock and Sea Sock still to list and ...drumroll, a few new yarns to introduce. The first new yarn is so fabulous that it really deserves a post of it's own, so look for that to come soon. I'll give you a hint: my friends Gryphon and Sarah have developed it and have started selling it very recently;) Mine will have a different name that doesn't involve insects.

A Brief Beach Interlude

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:39:00 +0000

A few days after returning from Sock Summit, Jack and I drove to my in-laws' house in Delaware to pick up the kiddies. This after having a few days just the two us! Yay for time together! We were both still working and he was doing school work, but it was still nice.

And there, we had the best day ever. My father in law, John, took the kids and I to the beach in the morning, where we swam and chilled on the beach.

At first the girlie was very unmermaid-like and wouldn't go near the water, the the rest of us went swimming with out her. But then, she couldn't resist the amazing day and started a "periwinkle farm" on the boy's boogie board.

After a few perfect hours, we me the Lovely Jack and his mom for lunch in Bethany at our favorite joint, and then we all went on a kayak tour of the salt marshes.

The marsh was beautiful and we loved finding horse shoe crabs and hermit crabs and so many amazing birds. My arms were so sore from paddling the next day! Sorry, i didn't take my camera, for obvious reasons.

I took the kids to the pool while John and Dorothy rustled up dinner and Jack worked on a final paper due the next day. We were treated to the best the Maryland delaware shore has to offer: fresh corn, fresh tomatoes, and yummy blue crabs! And the most delicious peanut butter pie for dessert. Mmmm!

We rounded out the weekend by going surf fishing the next day. John has a truck with a license to drive on the beach, so we loaded up the poles and coolers and beach gear, and drove right to the water. With about 10 bazillion others. The place was like a parking lot. Very friendly, easy going crowd, but impossible to swim and fish at the same time. Just not enough real estate. That's the thing with the Delaware shore. So may people, so little space for them. Even the ocean becomes wall-to-wall people. But still two amazing days on the shore.

No fish were caught, but no kids were either!

Aquaboy was stung a few times by particularly nasty jellies, but he recovered with the help of our neighbors and their Windex and meat tenderizer. Before bed, when his stings were stinging him again, I followed their advice and put shaving cream on, over Windex. Who knew?

Thanks for a lovely weekend, John and Dorothy!

To Portland and back

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Note: Edited to add lost pictures and a few more words.

With a tiny bit of swimming beforehand. The boy did his All-star swim on a cold, raining day. At points, I was sitting under a huge golf umbrella, with mer-boy on my lap. At times, unable to knit. It was a huge, dis-jointed, overwhelming meet. But, luckily, we had plenty of friends and coaches to show us the way.

The boy, like many that day, had a good swim but not the time he was hoping to get in order to beat his coach's record. He was disappointed but, I think, glad to have closure to the season. And, as he was reminded, he had got there!

So, Portland. A cool city, and a great time. My host, Nikki Kurosaki (Kurokids on Ravelry) was amazing, and took such good care of me that it was almost like having a vacation (except for the 10 hour market floor days). Her husband Kuro was also a great host and an excellent eater of sushi! I am a dork for not getting their picture, but you are used to that, yes? Too focused on the pretty yarny fibery goodies.

I also had the pleasure of flying from Chicago with Laura Garcia (Blueswirly) and spending time with her at the Sock Summit and in Portland. She is standing by to help me with graphics and branding, when i get ready for more exposure. I did do her the questionnable favor of introducing her to the joys of fiber and spinning. I asked Sarah to teach her; I just reeled her in! Sarah got a great picture of her in the act; see the Sanguine Gryphon blog.

Also on the plane, I began doing voodoo on the Shell Tank to make it a sweater i can actually wear! Still too short, despite added length in the shoulders. Here it is unblocked. Will it ever get blocked? Who knows?

Here we are during set up, arranging yarn colors according to the color wheel. mmm...pretty yarn... Lots of help with set up from Nikki and Lize (Menagerie on Rav and Gryphon's host for the week.) I have no "after pictures", but luckily Sarah took lots of excellent ones. Also, do check out the SG blog for some cool shots in the booth.

We had many amazing visitors, starting with Tina of Bloon Moon fiber Arts herself! I had a little speech planned fr when i met the Yarn Harlot, but she came through so fast during our "Bugga Rush" the first night, that I just stared with my mouth hanging open.

This was taken at the Opening Ceremony, which was a lovely and very funny speech by Stephanie and Tina. I'm glad I finally got to see the Harlot in action!

We had many other famous and not-so-well-known visitors, including this lady, who matched the roving she bought so nicely (recognize it, Elizabeth?) Often, we wouldn't recognize the knitting rockstar in our booth until we saw a credit card (Clara Parkes and Ann Budd) or someone else's post (Xena, the Knit Picks dog, and her mommy Kelly Petkun, Knit Picks owner). Lovely Gigi and Jasmin, the Knitmore Girls, and their friend and sherpa, ChloeSparkle came by and hung out for a bit. We gave them some Dragon Sock and Skinny Bugga to review. Great podcast, Grrls!

Cat Bordhi, Cookie A, Janel Laidman (author of Eclectic Sole and Enchanted Sole), and the amazing Sheri of The Loopy Ewe were all great fun. The list is a great deal longer, as Gryphon and Sarah are both terrific at making friends. Our Rav buddies and customers were so great to meet and see again: MePls Jen, Up the Mud Creek Kari, Wenat Gladys, qiviutqueen Cecelia, Rivki Rebecca, LaPelirroja Jordana, Ellen, Deb and her mom Judy, Mary ellen, people who's names I've forgotten (lots of those). Too fun! Thanks so much for your support and encouragement!

Gryphon did some bugga face painting; first in the Color Me Crazy booth. Later, people came to the booth to join in the fun. If you go to the Sanguine Gryphon blog, you can see further evidence that Gryph really was a circus performer in a former life!

This is a picture of my heroes Barbara Walker from the back (she was spinning) with Anna Zilbourg across the table. See Barbara's red arm up there, with another grey-haired lady across the way? I did meet Walker; I had bought her Feminist Fairytales for mygirl and asked her to sign it. I passed on a message from her admirer and my friend Lauren as well. And I did get to pass on my speech to the Yarn Harlot while asking her if she knew where Zilbourg was (she didn't).

For Sock Summit knitting, I finished my Malabrigo socks. Mostly because I was cold and had bought some shiny new red Dansko MaryJanes and needed some socks to make the new shoes comfortable. Mostly, I knit on my February Lady with my own hand-dyed Traveller (colorway Riptide). Yes, I know it was SOCK Summit, but look at it! I had to keep knitting on it; I just really liked the way it was turning out. Traveller is technically a sock yarn, too.

Isn't it pretty?

I also, rather appropprately, bought my first Socks that Rock. This is Rooster Rock, a color I've been eyeing for several years. Sarah pronounced it one of my colors; don't you think? And besides, I really like chickens!
This bit of STR medium weight is Lucky, a beautiful blend of greens. So pretty I actually ordered the pattern that had ben written for it by J.C. Briar, another fab designer and teacher at SS. This sock is waiting patiently for its pattern to come in the mail from the very tired BMFA staff.

I also may have had a bit of a spindle binge. It all started with this gorgeous camel, silk, yak roving called Cream Puff from Knitifacts. Had to spin it. Right away.

So dashed off to my favorite spinning vendor, Carolina Homespun, and bought n Emily Spindle. Isn't she sweet?Spins a lovely laceweight, some thing i've been thinking about lately. The vendor across the hall had these spindles from Spindlicity. You know her work, right? Nice, light weight spindles, made of wood, with funky painted whorls. Mine's fish bones.

This last is a gift i don't deserve, simple for being involved with the Sanguine Gryphon. It's a Turkish Delight from Ed Jenkins himself. Gryph and Sarah hav been selling his beautiful handmade needles and spindles, so he came by with a spindle for each of us. Serious happy dance when he left the booth! Lovely, lovely man. An Oregonian, too.

Nice, eh?

Finally, a beautiful skein of Bugga! came back from a customer. Before anyone could claim it, I asked, "You were saving this for me, right?" Gracious as always, Gryphon and Sarah replied, "Of course." It's Hologram Moth. My first, believe it or not. A booth breakdown and a truck loading later, here we all are enjoying the last bit of Portland. At Starbucks, of course.

Where's Dragonfly?

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Right here! At the pool. Where else?

Knitting, and watching, and playing, and swimming, even.

Summer swim season is a beautiful thing.

The friendships are some of the best we have, even if we only see each other a few months a year.

Everyone works hard.

Especially swim daddies.

We have a chance to face our fears.

We meet challenges head on.

And we do it all the Glenwood Way.

Certain swim mommies knit alot but need to take the big lens off the camera so we can show you. I can tell you that i finished the Shell Tank, and am not loving the fit. Will narrow the shoulders with my handy needle and thread. Hopefully, blocking will help too. Started a three-woman February Lady knit along, too. Also dyed and am spinning the yarn for my friend Shari's version.

The mer-boy was on fire. He competes tomorrow as the 14th seed in the county-wide All-Star meet. He's gunning for his coach's 8 and under breast stroke record. Wish him luck! The girlie is at the beach in Delaware with her grandparents, enjoying lots of attention and getting used to her new braces. I am tying up loose ends andgetting ready for Sock Summit. My yarn is on it's way in the yarn bus. See you there?

getting better all the time

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Can you see the boy there? A little to the right, head thrown back in the blue shirt? He is a might Tiger and he is cheering with his team. this is really what the Tigers do best-cheering. Yay!

We have been doing alot of this. And, yes, I'm one of the obnoxious swim mommies who cheers loudly for her kids every time they swim. As if that will keep them afloat? I don't know, but it IS primal. And I often leave with a sore throat.

Despite neglecting the garden greatly this year, we have had some blooms. These were taken with the big zoom lens i use for swim and dive meets, but I rather like the effect.

I know i am late, but i did do a small update today. You can go here to see the Dragon sock and Sea sock I have put up. Next week, I will start dyeing again. Looking forward to it, in fact. I guess i can't quit; i would miss it too much.

I leave you with pictures taken at a fun meet we had last year. Not by me. Look at that tuck!

Must be some circus performers in his gene pool, don't you think?

Some kvetching, and an UPDATE!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Ok, so the other half of my etsy store update never really happened. Sorry about that. I got sucked into the whirlwind, or the black hole or something. And got super-stressed, with an inflamed jaw and everything. No worries, it's all better now. I powered through (finally) the wholesale order and have been attempting to get things in perspective (again!) so i can keep going.

I still have to actually get the boxes to UPS, but that will happen tomorrow. I'm taking a tiny break from dyeing to try to get my house in order. Filing, that kind of thing. And then i'll get to work dyeing sock yarn for sock summit. One of the things that has kept me from declaring myself done with this whole indie business thing is that i have a plane ticket to Oregon, so i might as well get ready. One Day At A time. It seems to work for me some days.

I signed up for an exercise class but it seems to be weights and ball and I think it's dumb to do weights once a week. Clearly, i should have made it a Yoga class. Next time, Yoga!

In knitting news, I have completed the funky cable panel for the Shell Tank. The proper way this time. It is quite pretty. And i'm 6 inches into the back panel and seem to be following directions as written so far. Whoo!

Maggie's socks are finished and lovely, but two different sizes. I told her this and she said it made her feel better about her knitting. Way to re-frame, Maggie! I may give them to her or I may frame them or i may throw them in the trash and never knit another pair of socks. Stay tuned.

I am past the heel turn on the Brand New Malabrigio sock, which I am going to complete before ripping the other one out and doing it again. maybe it will take me a year to knit this pair of socks! They will be great when they are done, tho.

I did go to spin in at Gryphon's and did bask in the fabulous company of Gryphon, and Sarah, and Corrine, and Jess, and several other lovely folks, but was too much in a stressed-out fog to remember names. I do remember Elizabeth's name, though, who rode with me from Annapolis and kept me entertained as usual with stories about her brood of children and fluffy, fibery pursuits.

Are you wondering how i can be so stressed out and busy and still get knitting done? No, i am not knitting at work (I share and office with my boss!) i am engaging in the time-honored practice of knitting at the pool. Through swim and dive practices, and two, sometimes three swim meets and one dive meet a week. thank goodness i love my pool, and the people at my pool. My 11 year old mermaid is learning how to be a teenager this summer at the pool. It is a bit hair-raising to watch but i trust (?) that her good sense will prevail. Of course, if it does not, i am right there to provide some.

Pictures coming soon, once we take the big lens off and i can photograph small things up close again. And, unless, the sky falls or my house is blown down, i plan to update my shop tomorrow afternoon! See you there!

Half-baked

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:02:00 +0000

I wanted to let you know that I have done part of my update. The other half-ish will be completed tomorrow. After the last day of school is over.

Hurray for more Dragon Sock and Sea Sock! 'Night.

Finally! Here comes summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:59:00 +0000

School's finally out on Tuesday। Hurray! It has been an excellent year, but a long and busy one. I realized fairly recently that that feeling i have of always running to catch the bus and never quite making it is only partly related to having two jobs on top of parenting. i also have been driving the "Mama Express". My middle schooler goes to an arts magnet school (sheer luck, that's all there is to it) and needs to carpool to get to school. Both kids were swimming in a pool that was a distance from here, and the boy child was usually playing two sports. Add scouts times two, and choir and youth group for the princess and a husband who is in grad school and, see, I'm hyperventilating already. Luckily, ULH (usually lovely husband) is a very involved daddy!

We have been lounging about at the pool, which for me means knitting while every one else swims। Summer swimming and dive teams are underway and competition is imminent। I have had a very lovely kindergarden teacher drop in my lap to watch the kids while i am at the hospital and plenty of teenager to help out as well। It is a good thing because there is yarn to be dyed।

I think I mentioned that I am working on another Loopy Ewe order, right now, and simultaneously am getting ready for the summer knitting event of the year, nay, the sock knitting event of a lifetime। I have no website update at this point, as my webmistress has started a big new job. Congratulations, Jess!

I am planning an update for tomorrow evening with Sea Sock

Dragon Sock

and Dragon Lace (finally dyed some new yarn in this base). It looks lovely in Rocky Top, too.

My knitting has been a disaster! I have seriously lost my competent knitter mojo! I always do a summer tank this time of year. Because one can never have enough knitted tanks, right?. I decided to finally knit the Shell tank from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature (I don't have to link to that really, do, I?) I probably don't have to tell you want to knit pretty much everything in that book! Don't you? Gorgeous patterns! Except maybe the Bubble Sweater. Not my thing, there.

I ordered yarn (KnitPicks CotLin) and began to brood over the best way to lengthn the body so that my NOT-washboard stomach doesn't peek out. Trust me. No one wants that. I read the rav posts on it and decided to lengthen at the straps and cast on for the center panel. My theory is that I need to knit that first to see how long to make the other pieces. I ripped it out three times before I acknowledged that I really was going to have to follow the pattern as written and Pay Attention! Then, I started again, leaving the other panel as it is. I will rip it later. Seems less painfull to start again with out ripping the first piece out (again).

Next post, i'll actually show you my progress:)

In other knitting news, I actually completed my Maggie socks. We had a "footing" and I was able to adjust the toe on one sock to fit properly. Then, I took off the toe of the second sock and have tried twice to knit the second toe to come out like the first. I have put that project in time out.

I have become so disgusted with the way the Malabrigio sock turned out, that I just pulled the needles out (It was all finished but the cast off) and started on the next one. Knitting round and round in stockinette seems to be going fine so far! Good swim meet knitting. Except i pulled out a needle getting up to cheer. After I complete sock number two, I will rip out number one and re-knit.

Spinning has been going well. I have been woolen spinning Elizabeth's Finn, along with some Muscet Shetland I have. The skeins are all coming out a bit different.

but the sweater is not bad, in a wild and unfettered sort of way.

The neck will need to be steeked and enlarged. Mostly, It is too hot for me to work on a chunky weight wool sweater.

Fleecie washing has been the most interesting activity around here. I have been processing a Bond-Romney cross purchased from Lesley of Cedar Wool farm. The fleece is filthy dirty and full of hay, but man, the fiber is so nice, it is totally worth the attention I'm giving it to get it clean. Here are some lovely, lovely locks I have washed twice and dyed.

I arranged them for combing so they are approximately lock length and all pointing in the same direction.

Doing this pulls out some of th junk and makes it easier to "charge" the comb. technically, I should probably arrange the locks so that the "butt" end is close to the teeth, but who has that kind of time? This is a 5 # fleece!

After combing, it looks like cotton candy. And feels like super long staple cotton (as in 6 - 7" staple length. Yum!)

I don't have a diz (yet!) so I just pull the combed fiber slowly off the comb, until I start to see some junk combing off. I'm not concerned about nepps in this case, as this fiber will go to Steph and ultimately be carded into fabulous Loop batts. So, here they sit in adorable little roving balls. Really, they are sliver balls, as all of the fibers are aligned together in the same direction and would spin up as some kick-butt worsted-style yarn.

Trudge wishes you to know that they are not all cotton candy pink.

And the winner is...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:36:00 +0000

Robin! Hurray! Congratulations! I just want to say, thanks so much to everyone for playing! I've met so many great people both in real life and on the web in the last few months, well, years, really, and you have all been so supportive of my business and my crazy desire to paint colors on yarn. It seems like Dragonfly Fibers has really taken off lately and I blame you guys!

On the subject of the new sparkly website itself, Jess and I will be meeiting soon and I can't wait to see what she has done. The color suggestions were all fabulous, and some of the other suggestions were very helpful too. You are all right, of course. You'll have to stay tuned to see the new look for Dragonfly.

One thing that became immediately obvious as I set about publicizing my very first blog contest is that I need a Rav group to communicate with customers। I won't say "fans", even though you guys do make me feel sooo great! So please look out for that to come up in the next little while. I'm trying to come up with a clever name. Suggestions, are of course, totally welcome. The best suggestion I've had so far was Karen's "Dragonfly Fiberphiles" but we thought it was too close to another indie's name (fiberphile).

All of your fabulous support has had other benefits for me, too. The lovely Sheri of The Loopy Ewe fame has offered to bring my yarn to Sock Summit. Serious happy dance after that email! But, I decided to fly out to Portland and join Gryphon and Sarah in their booth. The Sock Summit will be history after all. I haven't registered for anything, but to be in the same city block with Anna Zilboorg and Barbara Walker, beyond ultracool. really. And who knows? maybe they'll come say "hi". I'll give them free yarn:) I had such a great experience meeting the Southern Knitters that I have to imagine that going to Portland will be excellent for my business too! And, thanks to the magic of the internet, I will be staying with a lovely knitter, Nikki of Kurokids on Ravelry। I met her at Maryland Sheep and Wool as she'd travelelled cross-country to go to Gryphon's Dye camp. Can't wait!

In the meantime, back in cold and rainy Maryland, we are starting our summer and ending our school year, all at the same time। The kids and i are attending an endless parade of end of the year parties and overlapping sports practices. All fun, but real life can really get in the way of blogging! And dyeing yarn and fiber for that matter. I expect sunshine this weekend, and in the meantime will be dyeing in between the raindrops. Also scouring fleece and dyeing it. And picking it with my new fancy kitty picker. Next time, pictures, I swear!

And Robin, can you please send me your contact info so we can get you your winnings?

Last call for free yarn! And, an update

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Hello! Thank you so much for responding to my request for help! I have received so many thoughtful comments and great ideas. I want to let you know that the end of the contest draws near. All comments must be in by midnight tonight, and we will pick a random commenter, probably tomorrow evening. The mer-children can't wait!

The shop has been updated for the week with some fabulously soft rovings. I particularly like the bfl roving; it is so lustrous and soft. And not too compacted. Should spin into some wonderfully soft woolen-style yarn.

and finally, look at this extremely cool bug I found on my patio table. It looked like distressed metal; in fact, I went to pick it, thinking it was a hair barrette! And check out those beautiful eye spots. Any one know what this beauty is?

Attempting the art and craft of the short, succinct blog post and My First Contest!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:05:00 +0000

If i cd just write less, i suspect i'd post more frequently. So here goes, poor typing and punctuation and all. First, Happy Memorial day! I worked at the hospital for about 6 hours, til a colleague asked me to trade a few hours of today for a few hours of tomorrow. So, i even got out with my family a bit. Yay!

It was a spinning bonanza for me this weekend. Friday night, the lovely Steph and Elizabeth came to spin with me. I'd scoured and dyed some fuzzies for Steph to use for her batts, so it was like a business meeting, yeah, that's it. When i take some pictures, i'll show you the delicious core-spun yarn i made from the fluffy, soft, beautiful baby cakes she brought me. yay! baby cakes! Elizabeth came, i believe, to m ake us laugh so hard we almost hurt ourselves. Get her to imitate her children for you, seriously.

Sunday, lauren had her monthly spin-in, which was stuffed to the gills with fabulous spinners. if I list them, I'll miss a name, but I will say that Sarah, fate the third, was there. more yay! Did I tell you she and gryphon have become partners? now there ae two talented dyers behind the Sanguine gryphon name! And they have some other very big plans as well. as soon as i have a link, i'll send you to Moxie. Go ahead, ask them. It was history also, because it was the last time we'll all be together before the lovely lauren is a mommy. I can't wait to meet the little angel; and, oh, i think it may be time get knitting! only a few weeks to go. I think i'll shut up now, cause i never know who might be reading...

have I told you that jess, that BunnySquirrel herself, is making me a website as we speak? It is not clear yet what i/we have gotten ourselves into 9to me, at least) but I'm hoping having a geeky hisband will some how help.

So, here is where I need you. I need help figuring out a "color scheme" as we speak. I just can't seem to narrow things down. i know i don't want pastels or primary colors, but there are so many fabulous hues to choose:) That's why i dye stuff.

Here are some of my favorite Dragonfly yarn pictures. Please let me know in the comments what colors you think will work well as my color theme/website color scheme. Ok? I have some pretty new spinning fiber and some yarn to put up on my site, hopefully tomorrow after i send Jess some write ups she needs for the site. so, leave a comment with some color help for me and the merchildren will put all of the names in a bowl and choose a name randomly. You'll have till the end of the the week. the winner will get to choose a skein of yarn or a braid of roving from my etsy store. ok?

In addition to looking for an update this week on my etsy shop, if your a Baltimorian, you can now find Dragonfly spinning fiber at Spinster Yarns and Fibers. Go by; it's a lovely little yarn shop. I hear their spin in is pretty great, too.