The Land of Wool and Honey

Yes, Sir, May I Have Another?

Another finished project, that is.

 

A pillow with a funky orange-y side,

 

and a (slightly) more mellow green side,

 

sewn together at the sides and bottom,

 

and secured at the top with vintage jelly buttons.

Yarn: Noro Iro, 1 skein each in colors #78 and #85.

Needles: US 10.5

Size: 16" square.

Pattern: My own.  Available now at Inish Knits.  This would be a fun wedding present--or a housewarming gift--for a funky couple.  (Thanks for planting the idea seed, Marcia!)

Next up--Tour de Fleece 2009! 

Le Resultat?

C'est fab!

 

I love it.  This is exactly what I was shooting for.  So simple!  So basic!  So chic!

 

I-cords.  Three of them.  Wrapped together.  Done.

 

Kits?  You got it.

P.S.  I am on a Finishing Rampage.  Things that were old are new again.  Projects that have been on the needles longer than a human gestational period are suddenly binding themselves off at lightning speeds.  (Sometimes I finish two projects a day.)  I am One with the mattress stitch. 

I do not expect this to last.

Lazy Blogger, Reporting for Duty

Well, hello there. 

I'll bet you thought I had given up this gig.  (For a second there, so did I.)  I'm back and I'm going to try my best to be here more often.  I enjoy blogging much more when it's on a somewhat-regular basis and I know you do, too.  

Let's see.  Spinning:

  

"Berry Patch."  100% Falkland wool.  2-ply worsted weight; 240 yds--4 oz.  Fiber purchased from the lovely Laurs at Bee Mice Elf.  This was my first go at spinning Falkland and I gotta say, it's something I just enjoy.  (Read a little more about Falkland wool here.)  

 

(More Falkland in the foreground, BFL from my sister Liz in the back.)

 

Miles of I-cord.  It's got a purpose.  Really.  Either this will be the Best Idea Ever or a Total Flop.  

Thanks for sticking around, dudes.  Tune in next time for a full report on the yarn coils, success or failure.  (I'm thinking it's a winner.)   

Little Luxuries

A few weeks ago, I made a decision to do something (or rather, to not do something,) and it changed my life.*  If you're just here for the pictures, you may want to scroll to the bottom of the post. 

*Before you read any further, my curious kitties, please know that I am still eating truckloads of chocolate, helping myself to the not-so occasional frosty adult beverage and most definitely am NOT pregnant.  I said "life changing", not Altering My Existence So Entirely That I Cannot Recognize My Own Name Due To Maniacal Moodswings, The Inability to Properly Relax and Extreme Sleep Deprivation.  Chances are, my ideas of altering my daily life patterns differ greatly from yours.

Anyhoo.  I decided that, although we are at the beginning of tourist season 2009, or The Months That Make Living Worthwhile, instead of extending business hours this year, I wouldn't.  That, while it would be super-accommodating of me to open up shop at 10:00 a.m. every morning, I'm not going to.  Because I've been rather enjoying the extra hour at home.   Doing the things that normal people do.  Throwing a few loads of wash in the machine.  Starting--and sticking with--a kick-ass workout regime (thank you, P90x!)  Having a cup of tea.  With a book.  You know, living life. 

Every summer since I've had the shop (working on number four, thankyouverymuch!), the entire season flew by in a wooly blur.  That's just the way it goes--come warm weather, it's crazy busy here in God's Country.  Insane.  Which I LOVE. 

But the one thing I don't love about life Up North is the fact that I've missed out on a lot to participate in the retail madness over the years.  Not just since I've had Inish Knits--I've worked in retail locations all around Leelanau County for the past fifteen years.  That's okay; with every decision you make in life, there is a coordinating compromise.  I guess that for me, the downside of growing up in the most beautiful place in the world is the fact that I've never been able to attend the Leland Wine Fest.  (Insert the ultimate "boo-hoo" face here.)   

It's ridiculously easy to totally immerse yourself in work during the busy tourist time.  You think, you know, if I went in a little earlier, I could make my coffee at the shop and catch up on a little filing.  Or, if I don't offer classes every day of the week, no one will take the shop seriously.  Or, if I'm not open thirteen hours a day, the customers won't be happy. 

But this year, I'm not listening to the voices.  The work will get done.  It really will.  It just requires a little bit more efficiency on my part.  Less dinking around.  (Sorry, Twitter.)

And opening at 11:00 a.m. every morning Monday through Saturday (instead of 10:00 a.m.) isn't going to change life radically for anyone else.  I'll continue to stay open until 6:00 p.m. every single night--year-round--as I've always done.  I'll be open until 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Spinning and Knitting Nights, as I've always done.  I'll be open on Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. May through December, as I've always done.  This year, though, the mornings are for me.

You may not think that an hour means much in the grand scheme of things, but I am here to tell you, I'm a changed woman.  I'm proud to say that I've been taking time to enjoy all the lovely little bits about life.  Curling up for a moment with a sleepy kitty.  Lingering a little longer at my local coffee shop.  Pushing my fitness level a little harder.  Making a more comfortable home for my husband.  Enjoying the flowers in the garden, both literally and metaphorically. 

See?

 

 

I sat on my front porch for a half hour this morning with a cup of yerba mate, just admiring at these beautiful botanicals.  And I can't begin to tell you how fabulous that felt.         

Pass The Pink, Pretty Please

Not one to consider myself a girly girl, over the past six months or so, I've found myself waxing poetic about all things pink.  Like a saccharine disease, the love of pink has infiltrated my life slowly, sneaking in first with magenta, moving quickly to berry, then coral, then blush and wouldn't you know it, suddenly I'm batting my eyelashes at the sugary-sweetest color of all, carnation pink. 

Observe:

  

Can you say "Dr. Seuss?"

And a slightly lighter variation, with which I will ply:

 

A brand new pattern booklet by Jenny Watson has become a recent favorite of mine.     

 

Even though this sweater isn't a style I normally sport, I want it.  Now.  Knitting fairy?  Where you at?

 

One of my best friends from college is pregnant.  With twins.  Girls.  I can only imagine how adorable matching baby knits must be, but two Top-Down Baby Pullovers (#214) in this color?  Might be enough to dissolve a hormone-crazed pregnant woman into tears.  (Although that doesn't usually take much anyway, does it, Meg?) 

 

I'd been dreaming about this scarf for months, imagining how fabulous it would be as a shop sample.  Yarn was chosen, handed out, scarf was knit, blocked, delivered and it turns out, I was right.  It is fabulous.

 

 

The yarn pictured is Louisa Harding Merletto.

More spinning, say you?  How 'bout this lovely trio of batts, dyed by scientist/nature lover/girl genius extraordinaire/my 'lil sis Liz?

 

This cloud of fluff (er, Bluefaced Leicester) was dyed with locally harvested Leelanau pokeberry.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a mountain of new projects to start.  Bring on the pink! 

June Is Busting Out All Over

Welcome, summer!

True: We had our woodstove on every night last week (except Thursday).  Curt is buying more pellets on his way home tonight.  Just in case.

True: The clock across the street at Pleva's is currently reading 52 degrees.

True: I am wearing my handspun sweater.  And a fleece vest.  And handknit wool socks. 

But looking past all those minor details, the flurry of my life's activities over the past two weeks seems to indicate something else entirely.  Something that bears an uncanny resemblence to a heat wave.

First, there was the Great Cascade Influx of 2009.

Before:

 

(Yes, this is what happens when I have to take pictures of myself with a self-timer.  I could really use a remote....)

After:

 

(83 colors, for those of you wondering.) 

Then there was a party in a barn,

that centered around a bride-to-be and a chocolate feast,

 

(My sisters, the twins.  Becca the bride, Liz the lovely host.)

   

a stocking was finished,

 

yarn was spun, plied, tied, washed, wacked--and promptly sold,

 

("Dreams on the Bayou", 705 yds--8 oz. total weight.  2-ply sport/dk weight Merino wool.  If you think really hard, I'll bet you can guess where I bought it.) 

stash was acquired,

but not really, because I spun that, too:

("Mayfair", 190 yds, 4 0z.  2-ply Merino wool, heavy worsted weight.  Fiber purchased from the lovely Woolamina.)

a new project was cast on,

 

(Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino)

and then another,

 

(Noro Iro)

...and a four-hour shopping spree meeting with my favorite yarn rep that ended with heart palpitations, the biggest yarn order I've ever placed (think in the neighborhood of $12-14K) and a ginormous frosty adult beverage at the tavern next door.

Yup.  We were talking about fall.  Already.

 

Three Years Ago Today....

...we signed on the dotted line and Inish Knits became my baby.

Growing, changing, re-vamping, rearranging, expanding, building, striving, succeeding...

Mind-blowing.

Thank you, friends. 

The Word of the Day Is...

Turquoise. 

If you were to look at all my current projects (i.e. the things I've picked up in the past five or so days), you'd notice one particular tie that binds.  Turquoise, it seems, is the only color in my line of vision.

The sweater from last week?  Eh.  Ripped that sucker out (wasn't really scratching the itch, you know?) and cast on instead for a wild and crazy nontraditional Christmas stocking.  Makes more sense, really. 

My latest moments of weakness:

 

6.2 oz. of handpainted Merino from All Spun Up.  (Not pictured are the equally exquisite additional 4.2 oz. I couldn't possibly live without)

and

 

4 oz. of handpainted Merino from Freckle Face Fibers.

My current spinning project:

 

From this:

 

(again, thank you Nicole!)

And even my newest favorite pair of earrings, purchased yesterday while I was supposed to be manning an art fair booth:

 

...handcrafted by the lovely Lillie Wolff.

Depending on which article you read (here, here OR here), there are reasons I keep choosing this heavenly color. 

True: I do think/daydream/fantasize more than a human being probably should.  You could definitely say I'm a Thinker.  ( The jury's still out on whether or not I'm a Doer.)

True: I am going through a crazy organizational frenzy right now.  (Don't laugh.  Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not happening.)

True: I am almost always experiencing a storm underneath the calm.  (Remind me again--why do women worry so much?)

The truest truth?

I just can't help myself because they're all so darn pretty.

Bad Blogger.

Gah. 

Let's skip the paltry apologies and false promises and just get to the yarny bits, shall we?

And when I say bits, I really mean scads.  As in, hundreds of bags of yarn.  Last week, 187 pounds came in on Monday morning alone.  Boxes are streaming in every single day, and yes, I know I said that about two months ago.  It just still happens to be true.  Yarn, patterns, books, sample sweaters--they're all here.  Yesterday, a box (filled with sock yarn) plopped itself on the front step and I thought, when the frak did I order this?  And then, of course I remembered--it was just last week. 

I feel like I am playing leapfrog with Time.  Bounce!  I'm ahead.  D'oh!  I'm behind.  The good news is the shop looks great.  I mean, fabulous.  Better than it has ever, EVER looked before.  Shiny, happy--totally ready for summer.  The flipside?  My office bears an uncanny resemblance to the Trash Heap,  there are approximately 633 items in my email Inbox (not unopened, just un-filed) and my refrigerator is empty, save one container of on-the-brink sour cream, three jars of mustard (?!?) and a bottle of Marsala.  However.  If I'm going to be totally honest, this is that lovely time of year when it's awfully hard to say no to frosty adult beverages on warm, sunny porches.  It hasn't all been nose-to-the-grindstone around here.

So.  Yarn.  Knitting.  The Stuff You Came Here For:

 

A full restock of the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  Do 28 colors in a full rainbow spectrum work for all you baby lovers out there?  I thought so.

 

Hi there.  Noro Taiyo--is that your name?  Will you marry me?  Because I think I'm in love with you.

So in love, in fact, that I started a new sweater:

  

Cotton, silk, the iris-scorching jewel tones that only Eisaku Noro could create--I can dig it.

And while not a summer-y yarn, I decided to bring le classique Noro Iro to the shop for those Thick-N-Quick Summer Knitting Projects.  Knitting up at three and a half stitches to the inch on a size 11, this yarn should git 'er done.  

 

The funny thing about being too busy to return phone calls or wash your bedsheets in a timely manner is the fact that most of the time, the knitting and spinning seem to fall off, too.  But, somehow, between designing ads, rearranging all the furniture in the shop (again) and P90X-ing (for those of you interested, I'm in the middle of Week 9!), I actually have taken some time to create.

   

Looks like a plain old Silky Wool hat, eh?  (As well as an overexposed photo.)  But if you peek inside...

 

...there's a silky surprise! (Again, excuse the overexposure).  It's a double knit hat kit I'm slogging through.  Mindless as it is, it has taken me no fewer than two and a half hours to make this much progress. 

Spinning:

 

Some absolutely luscious superwash Merino/tencel from Spincerely.  It has taken a will of steel not to snatch up everything else she has for sale. 

And I've even seen something through to completion.  (Don't look now, but I think time just stopped.) 

 

Right under the wire--just the way I like it.  Last night, the Close Knit Guild of Leelanau County had our annual collective birthday party, in which we exchange gifts and eat cupcakes and celebrate wool--and the fact that we were born.  Each guild member draws a name out of a hat in February and for the next few months, we chip away at our thoughtful, handmade gifts, Secret Santa style. 

Some of us may have procrastinated a bit.  Whatever.  Pictured above is my gift to Cindy, 300 yards of Merino/tencel that may or may not have been slightly damp from their last minute soak. 

There are many more pictures to share--of brand-new yarn, pattern collections, last night's party, a reconfigured shop--but I figure if I spread it out a little and share a new yarn every other day or so, I could keep going for the next six weeks. 

Not that I have any idea what it's like to go at something bit by bit, but I can try, right?

Ummmm.....

Sorry.

It's that "writer's discipline" thing.  I get going on a roll for awhile and then when I least expect it, the mojo is gone.  It's also just like exercise, healthy eating habits, spending time in prayer....the more you do it, the more you want to do it.  But the second you let things slide, you start saying to yourself, Hey, I could use some extra sleep this morning, or, What's one more day without blogging?  And then one day turns into 15 and you wonder, Well, jeez.  Where to start?

So.  You've been warned.  This post is basically a glorified photo montage.

 

"Glinda".  (Yup.  Like the Good Witch.)  Details in my Etsy shop.

 

 

 

Top to bottom: Nerida, Blood Orange and Devon.  Handpainted Merino rovings--4 oz. each.  This time, I took notes.  That doesn't mean I know where they are.  It just means I wrote stuff down.  Somewhere. 

 

"Mirkwood". 217 yds--4 oz.  Rambouillet wool (which is a derivation from Merino [or vice versa--can't remember now] but kinda has the feeling of Cormo when you're spinning it.  All spongy-like.  Neat.)

 

Oh.  Yeah.  The Sweater.  Finito. 

The details--and there are many--will be soon to follow.  As well as a real picture, with a real human model (well, me), with all the juicy bits included.

Thanks for sticking around, you loyal readers, you.  Consider me back on the wagon.