Website Update and New Congo!

Sorry for another boring post, I have to take some pictures of the sweater I just finished and the longies I'm working on. BUT, I have exciting news... I updated my website! It's still being worked on, tweaked here and there, and I plan on adding sidebar navigation but I just have to figure it out first. I'm doing it myself and all the coding can get overwhelming. But it has pictures and is looking okay, if you ask me!

Also I have joined a new congo on HyenaCart, Made By Military Wives. We stock the 1st and 15th, so my first stocking is tomorrow! Come and check it out, there are lots of talented ladies on there!

Happy Birthday Serenity Tree!

October 6 is our anniversary stocking over at Serenity Tree. I can't believe it has been a year already, but it has. We have lots of things planned, there *may* be some FFS lotteries (not sure yet), and we're having a couple collaborations, a mama one and a baby one - most stores are pitching in. It should be fun! So stop over October 6!

A Noggin's "Habitat"

This is my latest finished object, a hat.

I saw an alchemy request on Etsy for a man who wanted a very soft knit hat that was clearly not commercially produced, but also was sophisticated enough he could walk down Wall Street in it and not remove his hat in shame. Jared Flood's "Habitat" fit that profile.

Initially it was to be knit in a navy blue cashmere, but after a quick e-mail to The Tweed himself, we concluded that cashmere might not have enough stitch definition to pull off the cables well. Instead the customer decided on a Blue Sky Alpacas merino/alpaca blend. The yarn is very plied and has good stitch definition as you can see. Plus, it's super soft.

Want a Herd?

Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm has an essay giveaway going on right now, it's incredible. If I didn't live in the city I'd be pleading with her to be the winner. Details can be found here. Basically, by September 16 send them an essay on why you'd like to win a small herd of angora goats and she will pick a winner. How cool is that?! Here's an excerpt from her blog:

"Here’s how it works: Anyone interested in entering this giveaway will need to send me an essay telling me why you’d like to have a small herd of Angora goats. Your essay can contain photos, video, whatever, but mostly I want to hear why you’d like to be a shepherd. Have you always wanted sheep or goats of your own? Do you yearn to set up your spinning wheel in the pasture amongst the goats? Tell me all about it."

I'm totally jealous and want them for myself but I can't have them. So, I'm passing the word on to those of you who might.

Congratulations, Jill!

My friend Jill is pregnant and due in about 4 weeks. I went to a baby shower for her last night, which was absolutely fabulous. I saw old friends I haven't talked to in years, and got to just "be" for awhile.

Jill has asked me to attend her son's birth, which has me tickled pink (providing I can get care for my own kiddos during that time). It'll actually be the first birth besides my own kids' that I've attended. I wanted to make her something kind of special and fun, and I was in a bit of a pinch as I didn't buy the yarn for it until last Friday. So here you go, Baby Yoda:

I knit this out of Sublime's Cashmere Merino Silk Aran, it took about 2.5 balls. The yarn is soft, but kind of splitty. I didn't think the pattern was fabulously written, but it *is* a free pattern. Instead of knitting the back, front, and sleeve panels separately and then seaming them together I knit it from the bottom up with the fronts and back together, split for the arms, grafted the shoulder seams, and then picked up sts for the sleeves and worked down. I'm *very* glad I did it that way, as seaming is not my friend.

I suppose I had better get used to the idea though, as I have an adult sweater on the needles for a customer and I decided I should probably knit it as written, though I'm questioning that decision. Either way, here's my Baby Yoda in Artichoke Green, just waiting for a baby to be put into it.

New Yarns

Here are two new yarns I dyed up for tomorrow's stocking:

Meet "Eve"

It is similar to the "Sunset" colorway, but without the blue. The base yarn is 70% Merino, 30% Mohair and is dyed with professional quality acid dyes. Colors are dark pink, orange, salmon, light pink, and white. It reskeined beautifully and I hope it finds a new home.

And the second, was a bit of a nemesis to me. Meet "Scrappy"

Like any child, scrappy was a bit of a nuisance, but worth the effort when all is said and done. I split this 4oz hank into 9 relatively equal sections and dyed them separately. "Scrappy Pants" are all the rage these days, but with them come lots and lots of ends to weave in. This skein takes the weaving out of scrappy pants.

I did repeat colorways, so if you split the ball in half you'd have two identical balls, the outside ends being the same. I figured this way you could knit both legs at once starting from each end of the ball and have them end up pretty close. So sections 1 and 9 are the same, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, and then 5 is different. It was a lot of work to come up with colorways that would be different but flow a little, reusing colors here and there to create autonomy, and keeping it fairly gender neutral. It's kind of a bright, fun skein. I hope to see it knit up.

Still Around, and Still Knitting

I realize it's been awhile... again. We had a nice trip to KY to visit my husband, and an even better trip to MO to visit him while he's waiting for a physical. Here's a picture of us in KY walking to dinner:

And another one in MO at a splash pad we found a few miles from our hotel:

Both were good trips, but far too short.

In the knitting world, I have been knitting. I have a sweater for a friend's daughter (size 8) coming along, I'll have to post pictures of it. I also just *finally* finished this custom:

It has been done for ages, except the duplicate stitch on the butt. I love how they turned out, and I hope the mom loves them as much.

I got some yarn in the mail today for a couple of Etsy sweaters, I'll post those at they get rolling.