It's been a busy summer

Well it has been! I have been doing just a little knitting on a pair of socks using the handspun merino Twisted Roving in Warlock. I am doing two at a time from the toe up so that I can use all the yarn and I have come to two conclusions, 1) I have a lot of yardage and 2) I am very proud that I have not knit my socks together yet!

Speaking of Twisted, I got an invite for custom order yesterday! I already have close to $200 in my cart, but I'm going to have to cut that back somehow. Dang you Meg for making such lovely colorways!! I did a little dyeing myself today. One sock yarn and one Landscapes colorway, I will post pics when they are dry and skeined tomorrow. I still have yet to get to the yummy base yarn that I got a while back, with the thesis and kids and husband and all, it's been hard to find the time. Not to mention, J is a slave driver!! We have been working our butts off around the ranch, unfortunately, my butt is still just as big. GRR.

I added a new item to the shop! The rose boxes that I send the stitch markers in were really popular, so I am offering them as a stand alone item. These are a little bigger (4" in diameter/2" in height) and even more pretty. They come in sets, 4/$5, 10/$10 and 30+/$.80 each. So, when you are thinking about gift boxes for Christmas presents, these are great for that and will even fit some small knitted items! Okay enough self promotion :).

We are also getting ready to move in 10 days!! Got the new (old) house and the in laws are coming out to help us make it our own with a little paint and some new drapes. MIL offered to buy these, and told me not be scared to use a little color. HAHAHA, I think she may choke on those words when she sees what I have in store. I went to Home Depot with my mom and cleaned the paint dept. out of paint chips LOL. We are going up on Thursday to paint the deck (FHA wants this done) and I need to fill out my hiring papers, so I will take some pics and post them Friday.

Well off to go sit on the deck in the Beautiful evening air!

New House and Shop promo announcement

Guess what? We are buying a house!!!! It's not new and fancy but its nice and maybe just big enough to fit all our stuff :). It's all happening so fast but I'm hoping that it will all work out okay. I have a couple more hand dyes to put up and a lot of yarn that needs to be dyed in the next few weeks, but not a whole lot of time. Two kids are a lot of work, especially when the baby won't let you put her down for more than a few minutes at a time. I can't type with her in my lap anymore, she loves the keyboard. Okay rambling just a little bit...

I changed the banner a little bit and came up with new yarn tags that feature my new logo...

I am going to start running monthly or bimonthly promotions that include discounts on items, free stuff with orders and so forth! This month I am offering 50% off any set of stitch markers with a $30 purchase of yarn! I am also offering free shipping on orders over $50 and that will be all the time.

Well other than the house and being super busy trying to get everything I need done this summer, not a whole lot is going on haha!!

Etsy is being updated daily, thought I would give every one a quick pick and some other info...

The line up for this week...

And the cat just had to check out the yarn :)

I have a bunch of undyed yarn of various fiber types, so I thought I would list what I have available if anyone would like something special...

• 10% cashmere/20% silk/ 70% merino fine laceweight (super soft)--815 yards/50 g; $24 for regular hand paints, $40 for landscape colorways
  
• 20% cashmere/20% silk/60% merino fine laceweight (super shiny and soft)--760 yards/50 g; $24 for regular hand paints, $40 for landscape colorways
  
• 70% merino/ 30% alpaca heavy DK (light worsted)130 yards/50 g; $20
  Cashmere/Lycra very light fingering weight, great for socks--50 g/440 yards--$35
  
• 15% cashmere/85% wool heavy lace weight--380 yards/50 g-- $20 for regular hand paints, $40 for landscape colorways
  
• 100% Super fine merino light worsted weight (incredibly soft)--100 yards/50 g; $20 SO worth it!!
  
• 30% Cashmere, 70% merino heavy lace weight--400 yds/50g $20 for regular hand paints, $38 for landscape colorways
  
• 3% cashmere/97% wool lace weight--500 yds/50 g; $18 for regular hand paints, $35 for landscape colorways.

Be sure to check out the shop for daily updates!

Just a quick post, I have been very busy with kids and thesis! I did take a half day and dye up some yarns though!
The new landscape colorway is up on Etsy now, and the sock yarns (there are two more) will be up in the next week! I just got a bunch of base yarns in all kinds of cool fibers that will be dyed up soon and I have a lot of new colorways for landscape to try out also. I am also considering trying my dye method on heavier weight yarns and for socks which will be fun. I have a little bit of cashmere/Lycra that will make a great sock yarn, some unbelievably soft merino dk a bunch of cashmere/wool and some super luscious silk/cashmere/merino lace weight in limited quantities that I can't wait to dye also as well as some merino/alpaca/nylon sock yarn that is soaking and waiting to be dyed! Okay, more later, I will try to come back to the bloggy before too long...

All settled

Well, kind of. I have Internet and my printer set up in addition to the spinning wheel and some of my knitting. I have to live out of boxes for the next couple months and that just stinks. The good news is that I should have a few minutes to dye some yarn and I will have the help of my mom. I have obtained a few special undyed lovely yarn to dye. Well... enough with the selling. Time for pictures!!

I finished my Adamas shawl...

Remember back, this was my first attempt at making a graduated color lace handdye... very striped, but when you see it from a distance the striping disappears. Also, fluorescent lights are not the best lights to take pics under. I am super exited about my Knit Picks blocking board and wires though. It took about of the quarter of the time to block and I got excellent results.

I have been playing around with my new camera, and it is fun! I have one complaint, it overexposes pictures. Particularly if you are inside, any light areas are this giant glaring white icky thing that I'm not really happy with. There is also a little shutter lag, but nothing I'm really worried about. Not happy with the over exposure though.

But...check out my mother's day roses, and yes they were this orange!

20X zoom of a redheaded woodpecker out my in-laws window...

H enjoying ice cream with sprinkles at the amusement park....

And a few free range cashmere goats in the driveway, note the two bucks clashing horns. Don't they look so fuzzy, soft and cuddly??

Well I think one of the dogs pooed, ewww. Better go check that out... UGGHH will it never end??

Just a quick word...

I have been completely absent for a while, life is getting the best of my time! I just wanted to do a quick update. We have moved so it has been a little hectic lately but I have managed to get a few stitches in and I even tried out my new blocking puzzle piece thingies and blocking wires which was super quick and fun. I took some pics and will post them when I get around to uploading pictures.

Let see, moved about three weeks ago, went to see in-laws for a week and got back a couple days ago. I have been working, my tushie off around the ranch and it's been a blast. Of course I pulled a muscle in my neck/shoulder though and I am so wishing I could take some good pain meds right now cause it kills at the moment, so there will be no hard work for the next few days.

It is great to be back home!

Quick note to Sunby... I never did post the tutorial on how to attach the handles... it was one of those life got in the way things. I will try to remember how I did that and get it an explanation up for you asap :)

First, just wanted to let everyone know that I have been accepted to the PhD program of my choice!!!

I have been working on a custom colorway for Chris, and it has been a doozy. Usually I play mad scientist and let the colors come out how they will. I always love the results and they are always a little different each time. It's a little harder to get exact colors. My first attempt was way off, but still pretty. I have been layering dyes on the second to get what I'm looking for and I have one more round of over dyeing and I should have it.

First round, the green was a little too bright and the yellow a little too yellow for what I was going for...

Second round, green and Burgundy seem perfect, yellow is not golden enough and orange is too light. I will be adding another layer of color so it gets just right!