Dragonfly Fibers

getting better all the time

2009-07-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Ok. We are getting back into the saddle here at Dragonfly Headquarters just in time for the school year to begin its end. The spring here in the Washington area has been cold and wet, with the occasional 90 degree day, leaving us gasping and sweating and so not ready. It's cool this week, and sunny, at least today, which makes for excellent dyeing weather;)

The usually lovely Jack is off school for two weeks, so he was able to come with us to Cunningham Falls for the spring Cub Scout campout, which occurred during a massive thunderstorm. Exciting! Especially the sprint from the "campfire" to the tent in the downpour while singing "Singin' in the Rain". Certain children who shall remain nameless were out of their minds wound up at bedtime resulting in the almost certain ban of rice crispy treats from our house forever. Unfortunately, smores for breakfast didn't help him on the hike the next day either. Luckily, we have no photo evidence.

All I know is that I can't wait for this crazy year to end! Even if it does mean the monsters will be home with me all the time. It will be nice to have things slow down a little, and to have a certain young man mellow a bit, which he tends to do when submerged in water for any length of time.

I have been knitting a sweater from a variety of beautiful grey, mostly shetland and romney, fleeces that I have processed. One particularly amazing fleece I spun straight from the lock, resulting in a chunky, wild yarn that has so much life!

Another fleece is a beautiful shetland with the most amazing almost- lavender color; this fleece is not as soft as I hoped and I worsted-spun several bobbins of singles straight from the lock, resulting in a yarn that feels like garden twine. Back to the drawing board! I carded these locks sideways with my Strauch finest and woolen spun them. The result is a much fluffier yarn, but still not so soft. I'll use the second version in the sweater, but sparingly:(

The sweater itself began as a February Lady, knit in a super chunky gauge. Unfortunately, one has to be very careful with the placement of the transition from garter to gull stitch when one is built like me! I'm 10 inches in and still have not reached a good spot to start that change. Between the transition issue and the overall heaviness of the garmment, I may choose to skip the lace pattern altogether and make it a long vest/tunic-type garment.

I should have titled this post: "Why I should not knit socks". Or maybe, considering the above paragraph, "Why I should not knit". I am still plugging along with my Maggie May socks, begun January '09, and my Malabrigio socks, hurriedly begun at Stitches East. I have started the heel turn on the second sock. Yay! But not until after I discovered that i had the spiral going the wrong way (they are Coriolis socks from Cat Bordhi's most recent book), as in, going in the same direction as the first sock and had to rip back and re-knit the arch expansion. Aaargghh! Good thing I had time before the rain started on our camp out this weekend! Luckily, Maggie likes an ankle sock. Unfortunately, I still have to go back and do the toes. The moral of this story? Never guess the size of your friend's feet when knitting them a sock. And to paraphrase Maggie Righetti, or was it Elizabeth Zimmerman?: "Stop and admire your work often. Take the time to measure as you go." Or Treebeard the Ent:"Don't be too hasty!"

The Malabrigio sock? Just ripped back on it for the fifth or sixth time. This time the heel gusset was too short. So much for the lovely stitch pattern I was using. Now that I'm back on track with a proper heel flap, I'm just going to relax and enjoy finishing this beauty up in stockinette. Oh, and I'm going to ignore the wonkiness of the heel turn, which got slightly off-center somehow...

Phew. Enough with my imperfectionist knitting. The scouring and dyeing has been going much better. I think I mentioned that I did some fleece shopping with the lovely Steph and brought home some yummy fleeces. Above is some Corriedale I'm dyeing for her from the Clearing at Curry Farm; spectacular stuff with an 8" staple and the fineness and crimp of merino. I bought some last year and have LOVED it. I may need to buy more...

I also washed up a lock of this beautiful Romney cross she bought. I'll be keep some it's natural grey and overdyeing the rest. So fine and wooly. I can't tell you how tempting it is to spin this baby up for my sweater. It would fit in very well! Luckily, Elizabeth saved me from stealing it by giving me some of her gorgeous Finn fleece that she scored at MD Sheep and Wool. No pics yet, tho.

Mostly, I've been dyeing locks; however, Andrea of Spinster Yarns and Fibers in Baltimore asked me to dye some spinning fiber for her shop in a range of colors. I really like the way she ordered. Nothing like some free rein to allow one to express one's creativity. I had a really great day yesterday dyeing pretty fiber to reflect my version of the color wheel. I'll try to get some pictures for you before I send them off this weekend;)

Finally, look at the pretty yarn! I'm still updating the shop in the aftermath of stitches and MDSW. Above is Traveller sock in the colorway Villainness (did you see that this color sold out on the The Loopy Ewe site on the first day!!!?) and below is mostly Sea sock. These beauties will be updated in my shop tonight or tomorrow.

Spinny, Fibery Joy

2009-05-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

I am somewhat at a loss for words to describe the fuzzy joy that has been my life lately. After inventory and saying a brief hello to my family, I was back out the door to attend Camp Pluckyfluff DC, hosted graciously and entertainingly by Steph of Loop and Carissa of Treadle to the Metal. I was fairly sure I needed to move to Atlanta last week and now, I may need to go to California to folllow Lexi around. I must say that Lexi is truly the Goddess of the Spin that she appears to be and a brilliant and lovely soul to boot. And funny as hell. I hadn't laughed that much in, well, maybe a few days, thanks to my new knitting sisters in Georgia.

She made it all look so easy! I did learn a few things: tailspinning, bath mat yarn, mohairy, and crazy carding. Nothing like putting the entire spinning batt through at once! Camp yarns to be shown off later.

Spinning company was pretty awesome too. I miss you already Elizabeth! Along with giggling like a 10 year old and saying lots of bad words.

Here is Elizabeth, Lexi, me, and Steph hanging out at MDSW.

Despite the rain, Maryland Sheep and Wool Fest was fabulous. The sheep were adorable, the wool was lovely as ever, and the people were great. I worked for a few hours Saturday morning at the Cloverhill Booth where my yarn was being sold. I met lots of great people there and even signed a few copies of Pints and Purls. Did i mention that I have a few new patterns published in this awesome, clever book. Karida, who wrote this book along with Libby Bruce, gave me my copy along with my knitted sample of "Barfly". More later; this deserves a post of its own!

Here Elizabeth and I camp it up with Carrie of Funky Carolina (insert fan girl shrieking here) and Carissa.

As if all that yarny goodness wasn't enough, my mermaid decided it was time to try spinning again. Gryphon had taught her two years ago (right before MDSW) and she had picked it right up, but had had trouble keeping the wheel going in the same direction while drafting, etc. This time, no problem. Mermaid girl may just be a spinner after all.

Kitty seen here helping her draft:)

See that bobbin? That's just the first day!

Finally, I must present Super Sweetie:the usually lovely Jack. He can bring home the bacon, or tofu, depending, fry it up, and run Dragonfly Headquarters,(minus the yarn) while the Chief Dragonfly is away for long periods of time.

He has also been my husband for thirteen years as of yesterday (not 15 years, honey:) and I love him more today than i ever thought i could.

P.S. If you didn't get enough yarn and spinning fiber at the fest, stay tuned! I'm updating the shop over the next week or so and expect more Dragonsock to appear on The Loopy Ewe during the next "sneak up'.

Oh, Atlanta!

2009-04-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Gryphon and I had the best time at Stitches South! We drove down, stayed with our good friend Bob, sold yarn, and ate and drank with some of the best knitters ever! I will admit that the drive was endless, culminating in my brilliant move of running out of gas less than 30 miles from Atlanta. Thank goodness for roadside assistance!

We had help setting up from Mary Ellen and Jenna, the Retail Queen, and, as a result, were relatively coherent for the Thursday night preview. They even got into organizing the yarn according to the color spectrum!

We met and got to know many fantastic Atlanta and southern knitters, many of whom looked out for us and helped us and made sure we ate and got out of town super fast when the show was over. So much so that we did half the drive that night! Katey and Priscilla took extra good care of us and helped re-stock Bugga! and broke us down after the show, along with Mary Ellen. Yay, new friends! (If I could figure out how to "borrow" flickr pics, i'd have more, but my little bit of computer know-how appears to have gone on walkabout!)

Ok, at least go here and here for some silliness. I'll wait.

Among the vendors, we saw some old friends ( Diane and Catherine ) and met some new ones, too. Brittany of KnitWitch fame organized a very fabulous dinner at her dad's restaurant, Scalini's. She and her husband Wayne were awesome and so much fun. There might have been some sillininess with dinner rolls and wine glasses and Katey and i may have been shushed once or twice (but only by the "fun police" and only when Brittany and Wayne were trying to give out door prizes.) So nice to hang with a sister loudmouth!

Pictures of the haul to come later. I didn't buy a single skein of yarn, but did get some spinning fiber. And wait til you see the spindle I bought. Oh my God!

Now, on to the Divine Miss M and her awesome dance concert. The night before Gryphon and I left, the Mermaid had a recital at her school. Her class performed a jazz number to "Shake your Groove Thing".

And shake it she did!

just a quickie

2009-04-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

The blog has been a bit quiet as I've been busy preparing to go to Atlanta for Stitches south tomorrow. Yes, the very sanguine Gryphon and I are hittong the road again in the Yarn Bus! This time we are staying with our very sweet friend Bob (Jack's best friend from Elementary school), who is also a very talented viola player. Gryph and I may even get to see him play at the Opera!

After we return, Gryphon begins mad preparations for her Dyeing Camp, set to coincide with Maryland Sheep and Wool Fest. I will be attending art yarn spinning camp with the one and only Lexi from Pluckyfluff! many of the local and not so local east coast fiberati will be there, so you know i wouldn't miss it!

The whole big extravaganza culminates in Sheep and Wool, where I will be selling my wares throught the Cloverhill booth. Main building, right of the front door. Can't miss it! And you don't want to; Jolene will have an impressive spread of indies for sale.

So I must off and pack my knitting, and other important stuff like that. The picture above is my yarn for the au naturelle February lady sweater. I started last night and i already know i'll be midifying things considerably, as my gauge is 3.4 st/" as opposed to 4.5. Ouch! I love the unpredictability of my handspun, though. And it will be interesting doing a bulky version. may keep the sleeves short, we'll have to see.

Maybe I'll go finish tagging yarn for the show...

Give that girl a job! or We may just survive Spring Break after all

2009-04-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

My lovely daughter has been bugging me for quite some time to "help me dye". This Saturday we were enjoying a rare "just the two of us" moment, and I finally relented. She did a great job! I couldn't believe this child, who won't touch the door when the oven is on and who is always trying to get me to turn on the stove for her, stood over a hot double propane burner turned up extra high because the wind was blowing like crazy (darn you Spring! shakes fist at the sky) and applied dye to yarn sitting in boiling water like she'd been doing it all her life.

She picks up all things yarny and fibery very quickly. I've never been sure if she's just a fiber "genius", born to spin and knit like Bella was born to be a vampire (haven't you read Breaking Dawn yet?), or if it's all those hours she spends in proximity to her mother doing these things. The difference is, the girlie picks it up and puts it back down again. Not me. I knit, spin, dye, and card fiber past the point of exhaustion and pain. Oh well, I guess we all have to have a reason to live :).

This concoction is becoming Dragon Sock in Dragon's Breath, destined for the Loopy Ewe.

I have been in full-on dyeing mode lately. Gryphon and I leave for Stitches South on the 22nd, right after the girlie's dance performance. We'll be staying with Bob, the Lovely Jack's best friend from elementary school and beyond. We have a double this time, so i think i'll be bringing some roving.

Immediately after we return, I'll be participating in a two day spinning class given by none other than the fabulous Lexi Boeger of Pluckyfluff.
not only that but it hosted by two of my favorite art yarn spinners and local indies: Steph of loop and Carissa of Treadle to the Metal.

The class will take place the Thursday and Friday right before Maryland Sheep and Wool (yaay), where Dragonfly Fibers will be represented once again at Cloverhill's booth. I'll be there Saturday morning, so come by and see me, okay? Then of course, i'll be headed off to the auction, which is my favorite part of the show. Aside from the fleece auction, and the Got Soap booth, and the Kid Hollow Farm booth, and the Coke floats, and the shearings. It's a pretty great time, I must say. I'll be looking for a picker again this year at the auction. And hopefully I won't come home with another antique spinning wheel.

Mad Millie, my "mad" purchase from last year is staying with Jess for a bit, until we can get the right part for the Babe wheel I have given her. I thought we had it, and she came over Sunday to put it on and maybe do a little spinning. We had a very entertaining time, but the part is still wrong. Aaargh! Jess took some pics and the next step is to send them to Babe himself and see if we can get the right part.

Now onto the yarn! I have been intending for quite a awhile yet to post a parade of projects but i can't for the life of me seem to photograph my knitting and spinning. So, here's a list. use your imagination:)
Completed: gorgeous plain socks knitted in NEW bfl sock yarn, accidentally and amazingly dyed by Gryphon.
Almost completed: skull and cross bones sweater for the Boy. Well, it is done but needs to have the ends darned in and the sleeves lengthened a bit (how could he have GROWN while i was knitting this?:)
Blue raglan cardi in Cotton Fleece started last Fall. Lengthening sleeves and trying to knit the "button band with a mind of it's own". I've ripped one side several times already, despite having knit the other side successfully. I'll try one more time, then, I'll knit it seperately and sew it on;)
Dragging on: maggie may socks for my friend Maggie's birthday this past Valentine's Day. I have determined that Sea Sock is hard to knit at a close gauge. I'm using Cat Bordhi's new sock book for the pattern and while I like her quite a bit, and agree that she is utterly brilliant, i don't like using the book. It's so spelled out that it's frustrating. Too much information. Of course, it would help if i actually used her book as she intends, taking all measurements and making all calculations in advance. writing things down, rather than winging it and and having to constantly re-figure things.
Barely begun: February Lady sweater in hand-processed hand spun from a few very beautiful natural fleeces in astonishingly lovely shades of grey. I have been spinning in progression from a fairly dark charcoaly Romney cross fleece from the lock through to a "musket" colored Shetland. Musket is a very light grey that is so light, it doesn't even look grey anymore. I plan to start with dark at the top, becasue it flatters my face more and probably save some for the trim at the wrists and bottom edge to balance it. I bet you'd like to see some pictures of this project! next time, okay?

For now, you will have to settle with some Villainess Gaia Lace

Rocky Top Sea Sock

and Rocky Top Gaia Lace.

Nice, eh?

And few shots of the boy at his last track meet:

With his good good buddy and partner in crime

flirting with a girl from another team,

and doing what he came to do! His uncle (my sweet adorable little brother Tommy) is a high school track coach and his grandfather actually coaches the jumpers. When he heard the boy child had gone 7'10" the last week, he said, "a couple weeks with me, and i can have him jumping 8'4"." Guess what, Grandfather? This week, he got 8'4"! I do believe that child can fly.

More fun with Yarn

2009-03-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the Dragonfly Fibers/Sanguine Gryphon booth. Note my New Fabulous Gorgeous Sign with it's lovely and talented designer, Gryphon. She is fully decked out in her festival clothes, of course.

As is often the case, i was too busy having fun with yarn to actually even remember my camera, much less use it. luckily, Elizabeth was ready with hers and has graciously allowed me to lift these pictures from her flickr. i may have in fact borrowed one from pugmamma too.

Above is me and one of my favorite fiberistas, Steph of loop. it was great to see her and talk future "business deals", involving fleece washing and dyeing, one of my very favorite fibery pursuits. We may need to get together and have a big business meeting and, you know, bring our spinning wheels:)

And here is Jess, Grand High Counselor of this year's yarn party. Silliness aside, she and Paula Woolarina along with a few assistants and lots of awesome volunteers organized this event and did a truly great job. The space was terrific and even on a gray, drizzly day there was plenty of light. the location was central for the area and there was plenty of parking. Apparently, we had twice the number of people attening as last year, which may have accounted for my sales doubling. yay!

Doesn't entirely make up for the $350 parking ticket i was awarded for my cleverness in parking my car in a clearly marked handicapped parking spot while unloading, but it does ease the pain a bit. It's always worse when you really can't blame anyone but your boneheaded self. Oh, note the yummy merino-silk roving around Jess's neck. Handpainted by me.

I met and visited with many of the great yarnies in the Washington-Baltimore area. Here is Ang of Serendipitous Ewe. Good lady. She's clearly doing something right becasue her husband always comes to help her and her three little tiny boys were there to see mommie' show.

And note the handspun vest from roving purchsed at the booth from Maggie's Farm in New Jersey. I think she may be coming to Maryland Sheep and Wool, too. yay! The felted bag is also a Dragonfly original dyed, knitted and felted by me.

This fun with yarn happened at a spin-in at Lauren's house. We carded and core-spun, and plied our little hearts out.

I brought a giant batt to share. Kim briefly disappeared under it

but was able to escape. It is clearly carded to be a quilt batt given to me by my friend Maggie who received it from another friend. I tried some flat felting and some needle felting, inspired by this squishy, bouncy, cushy jacob batt. yum!

Homespun Yarn Party Blog Contest and MORE!

2009-03-04T03:39:00.000-08:00

We're having a contest to help promote the event. Prizes include this lovely handspun yarn, a set of Ravelry-themed stitchmarkers, and perhaps a few other goodies to be announced later.

Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Write a post about the Homespun Yarn Party on your blog between now and March 14 at 12 PM EST.

2. Leave a comment here (on the HYP blog) with a link to your blog entry, so we know you've posted. Be sure to give us a way to contact you if you win!

3. At the event, we will draw at least two winners from among the contest entrants.You don't need to attend to win, so even people who can't make it to the party can have fun with us!

While you're at it, if you’d like to link to the Yarn Party blog on your blog sidebar, here are some buttons you can use (right click on the image and click “save image as” to save it to your computer and then upload it to your own server space).

I'm busily working hard on getting ready for the Yarn Party. Dyeing, skeining, and tagging, oh my! Also, hoping to split some skeins up into mini toe and heel skeins for the give away goodie bags for the first 100 customers.

Meanwhile, I'm learning all the in's and out's of the girl scout cookie sale. who knew it was all so complicated! To get extra cookies for bookie booth sales at your local grocery store, one must make a deposit to one of the Council's many bank accounts, and then one must drive to a local cookie depot to pick up extra cases of cookies using the deposit slip as currency. Sadly, the entire National Capital area has run out of Girl Scout cookies until the bakery in Kentucky bakes and delivers more. Wow! Anyone have any extra lemon cremes or thin mints?

During the merchildren's swim practices, I have been steadily knitting the boy's pirate hoodie. Once i had completed much of the body, I noticed that it was narrower than i'd intended. Not narrower than the boy, who was re-measured and determined to be 27" around. Bit not as wide as he'd like it to be. I decided to knit 2" wide gussets to give the body extra width and performed my very first steek in order to insert them under the arms.

I considered using crochet steeks, but felt they'd acc extra bulk under the arms. So I pulled out my poor lonely sewing maching, threaded it with pink thread, and sewed reinforcing lines two stitches apart. Super narrow, yes, but the idea is to add width here and I've never been a wimp:)

I went ahead and cut the steeks right away and sewed the gussets in using mattress stitch. So far, the stitches appear to be holding. When i finish the knitting, I'll probably reinforce the steeks again with a second line of machine stitches along the edged of the steeks. This is the boy child we are speaking about!

Homespun Yarn Party, Hurray!

2009-02-21T13:08:00.001-08:00

Second Annual Homespun Yarn Party! March 15, 2009
We had a great time last year - this year will be bigger and better!

What: Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!

Who: All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness! And all our knitting/crocheting/spinning friends (you!) of course!!

Where: Historic Savage Mill 8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763 Just off I-95, plenty of parking!

When: Sunday, March 15, 2009 - 12 PM to 4 PM (watch the blog - hours may be extended)

Why: Who needs an excuse to get together and craft?! We wanted to get together and spread some fiber love!

In addition to some great crafty vendors, we'll also have:
free lessons on knitting, crochet, spinning, and maybe more
fabulous door prizes to be given away throughout the event
crafty goody bags for participants (while supplies last)
weather-permitting, a sit and spin/crochet/knit area out on the deck. And we'll be collecting knitted and crocheted items for local charities.

No, I'm afraid the the Sanguine Gryphon's Lia will not be there this year, but I just couldn't resist showing this picture again from last year's show. We did have a great time and I know we;ll have a great time this year, too. Don't forget to keep up with the Homespun Yarn Party blog for updates and even cool prizes.

I'm planning to have hand dyed yarn and spinning fiber, and maybe some hand dyed locks for your art yarn spinning enjoyment, oh, and even a batt or two.

2009-02-16T05:01:00.000-08:00

It has been an exciting time around Dragonfly headquarters! First, new labels, and now this! That's right, Dragonfly Fibers has hit the big time and is listed on the Loopy Ewe. Thanks so much to Sheri, queen of Loopy herself! And to Gryphon, who introduced us in more ways than one!

These lovelies are part of an order going to Cheryl at Cherry Tree Hill. The skein above is Sea sock in the Rocky Top colorway and below are sea sock and dragon sock select .in Vintage pink colorways. lovely all nestled together, aren't they? I just LOVE the way the select takes color. YUM!

Okay, on to knitting. This fabulous hat is knit from a beautiful yarn I made from some sticky white merino and red and pink and gold sarisilk.

As white is not a good color for me, i overdyed it a "light brown". Surprisingly, the yarn appeared washed out and sickly rather than the lovely rustic rich brown i was going for. It happens. After looking at it for nearly a year, i chose to overdye it Again. This time in a rich burgundy wine color. Bingo! It is perfect for my coloring, so I knit it into a bulky hat with corners. As you can see, I ran out of yarn right at the end. But who knew burgundy would look so good with violet?

Sorry it is not modeled. I can't seem to find a photographer who will take good pictures of me.

This cool thing is a sock in my Maggie May colorway on Sea Sock. I am knitting a toe up sock starting with Cat Bordhi's standard toe. I am knitting this for my good friend Maggie's birthday and, rather than take proper measurements, i decided it would be a ggod idea to guess her shoe size. the first try turned out to be too tight even for my skinny foot, so i frogged and started again. All i knew was that her foot was bigger than mine. Goofy way to start a sock yes?

We had Maggie over for dinner last night, as her birthday was the 14th (yes, she is a valentine's baby) and she tried on the sock. Shockingly enough, she found the width just right. She did giggle when i measured her foot length but she will be glad in the end. It's better to have custom knit socks fit, I think.

Also, and this is embarrassing, while i have knit a few socks and i have knit with my yarn before, this is the first time i have knit socks with my sock yarn. High time i found out how my sock yarns knit up, don't you think? i must say i'm pleased. And i like the little slubs of sea cell.

Here is Archangel sock progress. It's a bit slow, i'm afraid. And i can't wait to wear this sock!

Finally, i want to show you my new toy that the lovely Jack gave me for Christmas. These are Contraman Comfort Combs, purchsed from Carolina Homespun, my most favorite spinning store. Nice and sharp.

I have been using them to prepare this gorgeous but very full of veggie matter black merino fleece that i bought late last year, for some crazy reason. The combs are a thousand times slower and more fussy than the drum carder, but boy do they yield soft, fluffy, sliver that is a joy to spin.

The locks are true black with brown, sun-bleached tips and spin into a pretty soft black. this black merino will be used as an accent yarn in the Jack sweater, which i have not abandoned.

In fact, I have returned to my original idea, which is a bohus-inspired sweater knit in all natural colored hand spun yarns. i just need to prep and spin enough of this black and i'll be about ready to swatch and start.

In the meantime, i may have started a hoodie for the boy. A black hoodie with a skull on the front, per his request. Hopefully, I'll show you soon. Have a great fiberfull week!

Love completed

2009-02-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

And here it is, finally in the finished pile. I followed Mia's advice and lightly overdyed the sweater. Who knew that they make an "ecru" colored dye? I used about a quarter of an oz of dye as the sweater is roughly two pounds and then blocked after rinsing with lavender Eucalan. I then followed my own directions (when one is complelled always to deisgn everything from scratch, it can be very nice to follow someone else's patterns, even if they are one's own!) and picked up the neck and armholes and finished them with very tennis-like bands of burgundy and navy ribbing. All in all, a very satisfying end to a ridiculously long and complicated story.

I'm pleased to report that my father has received it in the mail and tried it on, and pronounced it "perfect". The beauty of knitting for one's dad, especially as a "Daddy's girl", is that it would be perfect even if it had two neck openings and no armholes! At least at first. I hope it warms him well and is at least stylish enough that he can brag about it in the locker room and not have his friends laugh at him (and me) behind his back. It does represent nearly four years of my learning to knit, and if you look closely at it, you can see how far i've come.

Now in the yarn dyeing department, we've had to interrupt our normally scheduled programming due to snow days

and sick days.

But somehow, drumroll, Dragonfly Fibers had managed to ship off its very first Loopy Ewe order, along with a smaller wholesale order to Cherry Tree Hill.

Complete with

new labels!

Aren't they gorgeous?! After quite a few tries and paying several web design people and graphic design people, and not paying some very good friends who also happened to be talented artists, and getting some nice logo type things that weren't exactly right, the lovely and talented Gryphon (yes, That Gryphon) designed the perfect thing for Dragonfly Fibers. Of course, it helps that Gryphon is not only a talented visual artist and skilled at computer image manipulation, but that she knows me and mybusiness better than most. And, being an Indie herself, she knows what makes a good yarn tag.

And, as Len Rizzi pointed out when I stumbled into his shop, I learned something from every attempt at getting a logo design done, so the money and time is not wasted. In fact, there are elements of the very first logo, done by my dear friend Mary Logan in these tags (and soon to be banner, etc). My friend Maggie gave me the dragonfly paperweight that Gryphon sketched for the actual image used. In fact, I found that with the business in general. I've made quite a few false starts and wrong turns, and have become lost in the haze of confusion only to come out clearer on the other end I still wonder every day if I should stick with it, or give the time back to my family, but now I realize these thoughts are part of the process. And let's face it, I am a natural doubter. Do you cherish your skepticism as well? Or is that just my cowardice showing again?

Two things did not make it into the Cherry Tree Hill box. When I was gleefully tagging the Sea Sock, I notices two skeins were missing. There had been many crazy boys in my house and I havd terrible visions of them using the yarn to tie each other up or as the base of really big snow balls. After looking all over, Iwound up dying two extras and blowdrying one skein to get it in the mail! After mailing all the boxes to their respective locations, my little boy said, "Mom, i found your missing skeins! Out here, in the bushes."

Luckily, after defrosting, drying, and removing all plant material, they are sitting happily in the Stitches South box. Look at that sweet little azalea bud.

And finally, more love. We are coming up on Trudgie's first anniversary with our crazy family. Despite the week we had an extra dog around here, putting his nose out of joint for a bit, I'm fairly sure he'd tell you he's very happy here.

Ignore his grumpy expression. He just doesn't want his girl to be too confident in his affections. They were obviously meant for each other; they even match!

My sweet wild child turned 8 in January and had a good old-fashioned sleep over to celebrate with all of his best buds. His father piped out a monster truck ramp in chocolate icing-yum!

There was wrestling, rude noises, silly stories and "truth or dare" at bedtime. And even, Twister! You are looking at the Twister Queen, and the toughest of all the buds.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-19T04:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I hearby resolve to do more blog posts in 2009. My goal is to post weekly; we'll see how that goes. Here we are two weeks into the year, and well, you get the picture.

Christmas in New Orleans was lovely, but sad. My dad was in fairly good shape, and fully with us, and I credit him with taking full resposibility for taking care of himself. Although my mom still has to help him put the brakes on alot. We also lost two very old family friends, both too young (early 70's is too young, you know).

Their kitties were cute as ever, seen here doing the things they do best:

Love

and Attack!

I did not complete the dad sweater by Christmas. I showed him the last post and then showed him the sweater and, as i'd predicted, Dad did not want it frogged again. The main body is now knitted, and on advice from Mia, overdyed it with Ecru. you can no longer see the color break on the back, although it is no longer the pretty "white" color that it was. As soon as it dries, i will start the trim. I have meanwhile completed the Sweet Adorable Little Brother socks; I shall have to show you a modeled shot, as soon as i find some one with feet bigger than mine but small for a guy.

Since the New Year began, we have done many things. The boy had his first wrestling match

which he lost, but not too badly. He won his second, but he did have a few pounds on his opponent. although, I suppose this makes up for the fact that, he is so big, he usually has to wrestle boys that are at least a year older, if not more. And watching him? You cannot imagine the visceral feeling, as a mommy. A cross between "Oh my god, don't hurt my baby!" and "Kill, kill, kill!" All the other mommies do the same thing, you can see us all hopping up and down, holding ourselves to keep from making too much noise. Whew.

Meanwhile, the lovely mermaid had a big week. Wednesday, she had her first dance "concert" at school. Complete with make up and costumes. She had a fabulous time and such a Prima Donna! Goodness. This weekend she had her first swim meet in the 11-12 group. Big change, in terms of the competition. She did great in some races, and a little less than great in others. Dropped 5 seconds off her IM time though. That's theone where they do a lap of Fly, then, Back, then Breast, and then Free. Tough event. I'm proud of her. And yes, I yell when she swims too.

I have been spinning. This bit of loveliness is spun from Creatively Dyed merino, milk protein and ? roving. I fell in love with the colors at Stitches East. I think the navajo ply came out pretty well. This time. I am getting there.

I have also been knitting. The Malabrigio socks, at 9 or 10 stitches to the inch and on 00 size needles (they are like long pins), come along slowly, but not as slowly as I expected. Perhaps because knitting them is like knitting heaven, so soft and pleasing in one's hands. Mmmm...

While we were in New Orleans, I visited the Quarter Stitch in the French Quarter. The owner knew my dad in grade school. I fell victim to the Silk Garden Stripey Scarf fad, after seeing so many on the net in December. It became my mindless, self-care knitting. Worry knitting, so to speak. Another yarn that feels so good in one's fingers. I'm halfway there and, while I'm anxious to wear it, I'm enjoying the knit too much to hurry.

Finally, I have been doing some fiber prep with all of the fleeces I have been scouring and picking. I have washed the last bit of Dora, Gryphon's charcoal dwarf cheviot fleece from last year's New Jersey Sheep and Wool fest. That will be great fun to card and spin. Not ultra soft, bouncy and full of body.

My lovely Jack gave me combs for Christmas, at my request, of course. I have been busy carding some long staple Shetland, short staple and very dirty Merino, and some exquisite Llama. Yum! Turns out the hardest part is drawing the sliver off the combs. The merino was a bit tough on the wrist and shoulder, but, without a picker for all that veggie matter, it seems to be the way to go.

Finally, I leave you with a very happy batt I carded on New Year's day. fibers included are merino, silk, bamboo, shetland, sari silk, and silk noil. Someday soon, I plan to corespin it into the fluffyest bouncyest sparklyest yarn ever.

Holiday Knitting, or The Saga of the Dad Sweater

2008-12-22T08:18:00.001-08:00

Who knew holiday knitting could be complicated? I guess is what happens though when you plan more gift knitting than you have time for. I had been fairly happily cruising along with my sweet little brother's socks when this reality finally forced its way into my conscious brain.

Let's call it the ghost of the tennis sweater past, present, and future. Remember Love? My first official published pattern, in last fall's Son of Stitch and Bitch. You may remember that this pattern began with a request for a traditional tennis sweater from my dad, after seeing my new-found skill at knitting.

Apparently he'd commissioned this same sweater from my grandmother and paid for the yarn not once but twice. Both versions came out with long monkey arms and plenty of exposed belly button. Years later as a new knitter, and a cocky one at that, I carefully designed a lovely Davis-cup style tennis vest based on all of his preferences, carefully chose the yarn, and set to work. I knew it would take some time to get the sweater right, and this was okay with both of us. Nine months later I submitted the pattern to Deb Stoller for her new men's knitting book and a year later, I sent the completed pattern and sample to her in New York.

A few months later, during a yearly summer visit, I completed the sweater as a vest. When i tried it on my dad before blocking, I discovered a few things. First, that it was a few inches short. It did reach his belt, but did not conform to an original request that he have enough length to fold it over at the waist like he likes to do. Next, the armholes look terrible. Before i decided to make this thing a vest, I'd planned for a modified drop shoulder design. This type of armhole does not translate well to vest design at all. And finally, it seemed a little small around the waist. At the time i accused my dad of gaining weight (charming, no?) but measuring it again, and again, and...well, it's not him, it's me. New knitter (at the time) gauge problems, i believe. Heh. Don't tell him, ok?

Dad said he thought all those problems would "block out" and he wanted his sweater now, please? I said, let me just take this and make a few changes and I'll have it back to you lickety-split. And time passed.

My next brilliant plan was to complete my dad's sweater by that Christmas and give it to him with his very own autographed copy of the book. Apparently, though, I was overcome by malaise and perhaps the lack of desire to re-knit the same sweater, and wound up giving him a biography of a revolutionary-era politician instead. He let me know then that, while the book was nice and he would enjoy reading it, he had really been looking forward his sweater. And how long did it take to knit a sweater anyway? apparently, a really long time. And did i ever finish anything? Little did he know i'm fairly well known within my Stitch and bitch for being the one who finishes things.

Fast forward to christmas 2008. Still no sweater. I consulted with the lovely Jack, who suggested that, in light of my father's difficulties this year, this would be the holiday to give him the sweater. I agreed that I should shelve all the other projects and just jam on this one until it is done.

I ripped back to the armholes and, for added length, I dug up some old yarn that looked like the right color ( I can't remember now why I have so any colors of white in this yarn i used for the sweater (Cleckheaton Country 8-ply, in case you are keeping track:), knit about three inches and discovered that the color white was too "white". Ripped back, did a bunch of research, ordered "ecru" from Perfect Touch yarns, received fabulous customer service, and knit, oh, let's say a good 8-9" on the sweater in ecru, and then, last night while knitting a few rows to calm down and go to sleep, noticed that the color is NOT the same. AAaaggghhh!

We leave for our annual Christmas pilgrimage to New Orleans tonight. I'm packing the sweater. I'm not sure what to do now. Yes, i did buy what i knew would be enough yarn at the time of the original purchase, but alot of time has passed and alot of knitting ad dyeing has passed as well. It just may be that I dyed a few hanks of yarn along the way. Who knows?

My first choice would be to give it a proper burial and knit a whole new sweater in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. The yarn comes in a nice ecru color and will work better for his tropical climate as it is 80% cotton with 20% merino for some bounce and stretch. I think i will ask him if he wants a short, skinny,but completed sweater (I don't think as a knitter that i can live with two tones of white, but he is color blind) or if he would like to wait for another sweater to be knit "properly".

I think I already know the answer.

2008-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Did i mention the holiday season is upon us? Despite my best attempts to tell said season to go on without me, and i will catch up later, the holidays are still here and i am still unprepared. I'm very good at celebrating and enjoying and perhaps not so good at figuring out what to give my sweet husband or when to have a party for my mermaid's 11th birthday.

Here is what I have accomplished so far.

One sock, minus the toe, and most of the cuff (leg?) of the second. Begun last october for last christmas, my "sweet adorable little brother socks" may be done by year's end.

Yarn spun for a fabulous hat, for a certain football fan. No knitting yet. Sorry, no pictures; it would be too obvious. I will tel you that it will be made of superfine merino and llama. Mmm, llama...

Yarn spun for a pretty scarf for my mom. No knitting yet. Same pic as last time. Remember the beautiful mer-silk singles?

And, well, that's it. It may be time for me to take my head out from under the sand and get on the Christmas train.

What have I been doing? I've almost finished knitting this vest, out of handspun Maggie's Farm roving. Avoidance knitting is a true guilty pleasure.

I've been updating the shop like crazy. So far i've been listing the sock yarns. Stay tuned because I have many lace yarns and spinning fibers to share as well.

I have been scouring a lovely charcoal cheviot fleece for Gryphon. This is our deal: she will create new yarn tags, based on the sharp business cards she made for me for Stitches, and I will scour her pretty fleece so she can spin a sweater for Curt.

And finally, I have been dyeing up a storm. I have been putting on two pairs of pants and three or four layers on top and my rubber golves and have been perfectly comfortable standing over my double propane burners paining yarn.

I have added a new base yarn for socks, Dragon Sock Select, to be distributed mostly by Cheryl of Cherry Tree Hill fame, although I will most likely keep some to bring to Stitches South in April. This yarn is similar to Dragon Sock in that it is a very soft yarn, firmly plied. I love dyeing it as it takes colors SO deeply and clearly. Cherry Tree Hill will also be distributing my Sea Sock yarn. I just dyed 24 skeins for a special order this weekend and somehow managed to dry it in less than 24 hours. No small feat for a blend with sea cell in it.

This week, I have come down with some evil virus, maybe the Christmas Plague and have, after shipping 132 skeins of yarn off to Cherry Tree Hill, succumbed to the inevitable. Christmas knitting, with a cup of tea in my very own bed. sigh

Wooossh!

2008-11-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here we are again at holiday celebrating time. Despite my most earnest efforts to slow the passing of time by pretending it does not exist (here you see the firsthand the wacky consequences of a southern upbringing), a whole year has indeed passed yet again. My children are one year older, and my mermaid, who appears to have had the longest 10th going on 13th year ever, is finally, almost in the middle of her sixth grade school year, going to turn 11. Shouldn't she be 14 by now? She has been a pre-teen FOREVER, if you know what i mean. And to celebrate her hard work (well, sometimes she works hard, when she can't ignore it away. Sound familiar?), her dad is taking her to the National swimming finals meet in Atlanta this weekend.

They will have a wonderful time. They are staying in the posh hotel with all the other swimmers, will go to the Georgia Aquarium, where there is a fabulous new baby Beluga whale, and will visit with our very dear friend and best man, Bob. The awesome Uncle Bob was Jack's best friend growing up and is a very cool professional violist. That's him with my kids; he came to visit us this weekend when he was in town.

I know Jack is hoping for a Michael Phelps citing, going so far as to suggest that she jump in the lane next to him and start her best breast stroke, so she can say she warmed up with him. I think she's more interested in Katie Hoff, Natalie Coughlin, or Margaret Hoeltzer, though. Good thing we have that new lens!

I must report we had a lovely Thanksgiving this year. My sweet adorable little brother Tommy came to see us from New Orleans. unfortuneately for him, just as I was suggesting we do some thing cool, the boy and I both got sick and Tom wound up playing nursemaid and mommy. Something he's all too experienced with as he is the primary caretaker guy for my parents. Who have required ALOT of care this year. Something that is not going to change much. I still haven't been able to figure out how, short of moving back to Nola, to help him with this huge job. Any thoughts?

I took off most of the week from work, but went in on Turkey Day morning for a bit. We all cooked dinner. The mermaid handled the pies, in fact:) My favorite part was the oyster dressing. Mmm... A bunch of families got together for the best Thanksgiving day Kick ball game ever. Hopefully the first of many! And a harbinger of more great holiday moments this year, both here in Maryland and in Nola with my family.

Of course, there has been knitting, and even spinning! Mostly for holiday gifts (an excuse to knit alot, right?) This lustrous gorgeousness is undyed merino silk handspun, destined for a scarf for my mother, who prefers "cream" color around her face.

Hopefully to compliment a hat I started last New Year in undyed handspun merino, that needs to be reworked cause it's too short. It's a very cute adaptation of Madge, from Knitty.

I started a sock with a one of my fabulous Stitches spoils: Malabrigio Sock yarn! Now, i have my problems with Malabrigio singles yarns. It is truly a soft, beautiful yarn that dyes amazingly. However, as one who bought some when it first came out and immediately knit a sweater with it, the stuff is NOT sturdy. The poor sweater started pilling before it was finished and now is covered entirely with a fuzzy halo of pills. Granted, i wear it like a sweatshirt, all the time. And I will continue to do so until it begins to disintigrate. Now I know better, and use it for hats for the wool-sensitive. Someday, i'll do a Clapotis with it. I've seen one, knit by Jess/BunnySquirrel. Lovely.

Oh, but Malabrigio sock yarn is another thing entirely. I'm in love all over again. Same gorgeous colors. Same soft hand, but in a plied yarn. Not as tightly twisted as Dragon Sock, and maybe not as tough. But magical nevertheless.

I have started a simple toe up sock. Wendy's recipe, because I have it memorized and I needed to start right away.

Also, remember the Maggie's Farm roving that I bought at New Jersey Sheep and Wool? I spun it into fairly eztreme thick and thin singles and knit straight from the yarn balls i wound from the bobbin. No twist setting here. I was looking for something a little wild and textured to compliment the tweedy yarn I was spinning. Complete with plenty of veggie matter, which I am still picking out as I knit. Good thing this stuff is, with its angora, mohair, and bfl content, wonderful to touch.

I'm working up a simple, loose vest that I plan to wear with anything. Long sleeve t-shirts, collared shirts, even jackets. The fabric is knitting up quite biased, and i curious to see what t will do once made up and blocked. This is the front.

The back is finished, and I've reached the armholes on the front. I'm doing my best to focus on holiday knitting, as I have definite plans. But it's hard.

I'm off to bed, so I'll share the Sideways Sweater another time, along with other present and future projects.

A Public Service Announcement

2008-11-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

I wanted to let you know that I am slowly updating the etsy shop with tons of fun and gorgeous yarns. I have new colors of Dragon Sock and Dragon lace, as well as an entirely new sock yarn: Sea Sock. Sea Sock is a soft, shiny, heathery merino and sea cell blend, spun tightly into a bouncy, sproingy yarn. Above are Prophets of Persia and Summer Kisses colorways and below is Bougainvillea. See the little slubs of sea cell? They'r emade from sea weed. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, do keep checking back, as I have plenty more yarn to add.

2008-11-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Now for the Stitches East report. We had such a great time. Many friends came to visit and to help. Elizabeth, or Eutrapelia to Ravelers, snuck in on Thursday night, and thank goodness as i was there by myself and very much needed a break.

You see, there was some pre-show chaos. Probably the worst moment was receiving a call on my cell phone from my dad in New Orleans reporting that he was going to the hospital for a nasty lung infection. He's okay now, well, he's home now, but he has a chronic lung problem that isn't ever going to get all the way better. Friends, stop smoking now! He stopped 40 years ago but didn't escape the consequences. Anyway, I of course received this call WHILE driving around lost in Baltimore. Thank you Elizabeth for covering the booth while I checked in with my family!

Many thanks to Lauren and Maggie who came to help us on Saturday. Lauren even wore a costume and bravely handled the money. And to Ms. Mia, who worked the both Saturday and Sunday and who made us delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! My kids are still enjoying the snacks she brought. She is also knitting a sample smoke ring in a colorway i didn't like much, but i'm shocked at how pretty it's turning out. You really should follow that link to see all of her pictures; she's a fab photographer.

She also made us little headless frogs, in fabrics carefully chosen to suit or temperaments:) Gryphon is modeling one for us here.

Jess was working at a booth two doors down from us, and I had a great time hanging out with her. And repeatedly borrowing her sharpie. Go see the pretty yarn she's making with some of my superfine merino roving (rav link). Dude, we gotta get you a wheel. I have a thought about this, in fact...

Also had a great time with Karida (stop back for the spoils report to see a picture of the loveliness I scored in a trade with her-YUM). She has proofs for the Pints and Purls book and the coolest postcards. Also some very interesting ideas for future books. I look forward to more cool collaborations. Very fun to see Lindsey, and meet Hannah, too! She has a gorgeous book out called Closely Knit. Gift knitting; 'tis the season, indeed.

And finally, I met three luminaries of the knit. I had just been saying to Gryphon that she needed to find a way to talk with Cat Bordhi, queen of original knitting, when Diane of Creatively Dyed boomed out, "Hey Cat!" And there she was, standing in our booth, being kind and interesting, and giving Gryphon all kinds of support and encouragement for a book idea, to be self-published, of course. Now, Gryph, honey, you need to start writing!

Sheri of the Loopy Ewe made an unscheduled visit to Stitches and our booth. What fun to meet her in person. I have now "made" her blog twice, although she always refers to me of Kate of the Sanguine Gryphon. I know that I benefit greatly from having hitched my wagon to Gryphon's star, but sometimes it's tough not being acknowledged for being ME. Don't get me wrong, Gryphon makes alot of effort to identify my stuff as my stuff and promote Dragonfly Fibers. I believe she has become so smart at marketing her brand, and has a such a huge selection of quality products to back it up, that people get dazzled. Trust me, I've seen it. It's a conundrum, but a good one:) Go see Sheri's picture; it's cute and Loopy looks pretty happy.

Speaking of marketing, I met one more person who is helping me do just that. The very cool and smart Cheryl Potter of Cherry Tree Hill Yarns. I stopped by to fondle her yarns and learned that she is interested in helping indies like me improve our product and get out names out. After some very interesting conversation, she bought some sock yarn from me to market to her retailers, big and small. In fact, Ryan her web guy has already created a gorgeous mailer including my yarns. So, my hopes are that her customers will be so blown away by my amazing colors that I will be able to start a number of terrific new wholesale relationships. Yay!

Stay tuned for more fun here at Dragon headquarters, including continuing shop updates. Yippee!

Superboy knits!

2008-11-11T05:19:00.000-08:00

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend at Stitches. While I don't know yet how much I made there, I do know that I met some amazing people, got to know some others a bit better, saw somw gorgeous knits (who needs to go to the fashion show when it walks through your booth all day long!), and sold some yarn. Can it get better than that? More on all of this later. On to the most important news of all.

Last night the boy child decided he was ready to learn to knit. Initially, he found it frustrating and hard, but after a little while, he had a few rows done and begab to announce, "Knitting is FUN! I 'm ready to stop, no, just one more row... This is hard but then it get's easy...Daddy, why don't you know how to knit? here, let me teach you. What do you mean it makes you unique NOT to knit in this family. I'm unique! Because I can knit better than any of my friends. Knitting is FUN!"

I thought it might be a momentary thing but no, look, here he is knitting before school this morning. He rushed to get himself all ready so he could knit this morning. He's make a scarf for his "Bea", or his teddy bear that he's loved best since babyhood. i guess I don't have to tell you how mind-numbingly proud I am, do I?

Oh, and thanks to some encouragement from some awesome people 9more later, I promise), I'm updating the shop beginning with Dragon Sock. Don't you love this colorway? It's called Briar Rose.

Preparations

2008-11-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last week was a dyeing frenzy in an attempt to take this show on the road again. To Stitches East, in fact, the biggest show I've done so far.

Come see me and Gryphon in Booth 154, all the way in the back corner, next to the stage. I'll be the one not in costume, or costumed so discreetly, you won't know i'm costumed:)