A Few Bits of Business

I have been featured, hooray! Go on and check it out - Moodwax. But be sure to come back and finish reading this post!

Also, I was just blog tagged by MandyMoo so please check out her blog and here are my seven random facts if you didn't get them the first time around: I've Been Tagged.

I have received my new niddy noddy and my new nostepinne, but alas as always I have not taken a photo other than with my newly posted yarn. But let me share with you the lovely story.


Recently I had spoken with a couple of fiber friends who mentioned they had a friend who may be willing to make me these lovely wooden tools. Then one day I got an email from them saying the niddy noddy and the nostepinne were done, but we never negotiated a price or anything! As I read on in the email I learned that the gentleman who made these only asked for a cherry pie in return. My heart soared, what a blessing! So this Saturday we met up at traded my lovely walnut niddy noddy and nostepinne for my homemade cherry pie. I don't make fruit pies very often, but I hope the pie was delicious!

If you don't know what those items are just do a quick search for them on Etsy.com. A niddy noddy is used to unwrap newly spun yarn off a spindle and a nostepinne is used to hand wind a center pull ball of yarn.

Must See

I have mentioned the shop before but you must look again, there are some fabulous new items! Check it out HiloVerde. Maybe you saw these napkins when they hit the front page!
Check out these fun spring gloves! Check HiloVerde and come share your favorite item for everyone to see! Have fun shopping!

Next Up

Tomorrow I am planning to list a new item, never before listed in my Etsy shop - a mug cozy made from yarn I dyed and spun. Yes, I realize it isn't the most novel idea, but I have gotten a few requests since I listed the to-go cup sleeves so I thought I'd see if the need was legit.

Personally I was inspired to make this because my coffee and tea always get cold at work so hey it would save energy to not have to reheat your beverages. So many pros to this little cozy.

So here is a photo for you to enjoy and be sure to snatch it up tomorrow! If it gets purchased I'll be sure to make more.

As always, cast your vote on the poll! Have a wonderful day.

Creative Thoughts

Making things. I love doing it, I love sharing it. This got me to thinking recently about how much of my life has been spent making things. I'm not very mathematical so please don't anticipate some estimated number of how many hours of my life have have been spent creating but I realized I have forgotten about many things I've made.

Most recently I spend my time knitting. Before moving to the valley, when we lived in Goshen, Indiana I enjoyed spending most of my free time cooking and baking. Or my free time was spent on music, granted that isn't creating my own song, but still a form of creativity.

That took my thoughts back to college. I remembered that when I was a Resident Assistant (RA)I made paper for each door deck and hand painted the names of each resident on the door deck! How in the world could I forget such a thing!

I could go on and on, but I won't. The reason I bring this up is because today I realize that creativity is part of who I am. It is how I am designed to work. If I need something I figure out how to make it or whatever. Don't worry, I'm not complete unself aware, I have realized this before, but today I am sharing it with you. And I hope it helps you think about who you are and what makes you tick. Please feel free to share in the comments about your creative side. Have a lovely day and dare to create!

Also I have a new poll today to help me understand your style and how I can better serve you so please vote!

today too!

check yesterday's post! You can still enter to win.

You Can WIN!

Check out subu's blog - today you have a chance to win my lovely handspun pocket! Go take a look and enter to win!!!

Manic Monday Craft Giveaway

Oh the Blocking

Yes, blocking. When it comes to knitting it isn't often that I have to block my items, but this week changed that. I learned that making smaller items requires more blocking, but that is okay cause they are super cute.

Pinned to my cork blocking board here we have a mug cozy - inspired by my coffee getting cold at the office. I knit this in a weave type pattern with wool that I dyed and spun. This is actually the very last little bit of this yarn. It fits a standard mug.



Also we have these lovely recycled silk coasters. They are such a great way to incorporate a little burst of color to a room and a great conversation starter to promote handmade from around the world (the silk is spun in the Himalayan mountains).

Last but not least, this snuggly To-Go Cup sleeve. This is made from hand spun wool that is such a dark green it almost looks black - it is really thick and fuzzy.

So what do you think? Which do you like the most? Please share, and don't forget to vote on this week's poll!

On Its Way

This is my new spring time head band to be listed a little later this week. Two of the colors that got a lot of vote for spring time knits were lavender and green so this piece nicely displays them both.

I knit this head band from upcycled yarn. I took apart a 100% Alpaca sweater and dyed it these lovely colors. Something interesting about the colors is that the purple is one continuous thread and the green and blue is alternating on one thread and I knit them as one strand. This provides some nice variance in the colors throughout.

This stitch pattern is a type of lattice, but because of my double ply yarn and needle size the holes are not as visible simply the nice criss-cross pattern over the top of the head band.

I hope you like this piece and please share with me what you think! What other ideas do you have for head bands. I'll be posting a new poll as soon as this one expires so please be sure to check back!

Today's New Listing

I am excited to share that from your poll answers I have listed my first to-go cup sleeve! Not only is it super cute it is made from wool that I dyed and spun as well. I also used a stitch that makes the sleeve a bit thicker to provide extra insulation for the hot beverage inside.

I was thinking a little bit about folks using these and I think it is a great way to promote handmade in a public place. As your slipping this sleeve on at your local Starbucks someone is bound to notice and possibly inquire about it. Just a thought.

As always, please cast your vote on the poll! I do pay attention to the results, hence the new cozy with more to come.

Project

I never seem to get photos taken anymore. Whether it is of something I am working on or something that I have completed! I say this to you cause I want to get better at it. So today I wanted to share with you a custom project I am working on.

These photos are of some super soft wool that I am spinning for a custom pair of grippy slippers. This was my first experience dying with RIT dyes, as you have seen most of my other dying experience is with Kool-Aid... such as this.

I really like how the colors turned out, though the teal was definately not true to the color chart! And when I was rinsing it some purple mixed with it and made this GREAT purple/blue color. Also, yesterday I watched a video on how to turn a heel, and I it looked pretty simple and much quicker than inserting a waist thread. I hope to try it on these slippers.

What new projects are you all working on? I'd love to hear about them in the comments or whatever. Also, check out my ***poll*** and please share your vote!