Things to avoid when you want to finish some late night projects

Let's start with this photo......

After a few of these, it's hard to remember that you don't drink coffee anymore.

Notice the lack of special instructions on the cup.....

I am now home at 10:30, feeling no pain, but a bit spazzy, needing to finish a sweater, but with an overwhelming desire to spin.....which I am assuming can only come from accidental caffeine ingestion.

With several pounds of recently carded wensleydale locks at my disposal, I haven't got much to lose(except for Hadiya trying to turn this enormous batt into some new felt bedding for herself).

I ended up giving up, letting her have one corner of the batt and started spinning from the other one....This is 5.2 ounces of a super thick and thin single plied with Kid Silk Haze in black ....random asymetrical plying gave this yarn a wonderful funky look that will be knit up in the next few days.....(after custom stuff is done)

BTW, the airiness of this wensleydale plied with the silk and kid mohair is sexy, dirty, off the map knittable....I think I may have a tylenol before I hit the sack.

I must be crazy.

I am booked for another craft show this weekend....My first weekend off in I can't tell you how long! The show is in beautiful Yaletown at the Roundhouse and if I can get all my work done this week, will really be looking forward to it....If I can get all my work done.

I am 75% finished with the baby sweater coat....Not bad....I need to find some buttons, design the hat, choose a coordinating yarn for the collar (which basically means back to the drum carder) and I may be able to finish this by tomorrow.

Next task felting....I happily sold all my felt hats last weekend....regrettably not even one left for me....And an order for two of the ginseng hats.....I'm surrounded by wool. I've spun a bunch to crochet....Nope, it doesn't get any better than this....Now to tell John that he won't be sleeping in on Saturday. Oops.

The Anatomy of a Sweater

I'm often asked to do custom work and if the timing is right, I can usually do it. However in the busy season it is a bit more of a challenge.

Every once in a while, I am asked to do something by someone so charming and adorable that no matter how busy things are I cannot say no. Not only that, I am so excited to make this baby coat for David (and his reasons for wanting it), that I have devoted the entire week to its perfect completion..

The start was a simple inspiration pulled from the colours of Hadiya. (pictured below) with more focus on the whites and just pulling out small bits of colour.

I carded all undyed fibre, wensleydale, mohair, merino, corriedale and camel into these batts for a total of 380 grams. I can always card another batt if my weight (not my weight, the batt weight) is off.

And here is the first skein spun up with the inspiration cat ....

Now, I haven't done a test swatch and intend to dive right in to the knitting. I have a deadline, the baby is coming this week, so there will be quick updates and then straight back to the spinning/knitting. This is the back of the sweater.

Wish me luck.

What Is it that you Sell?

I always thought I was selling hats and knitwear...Apparently I am not. I am selling an experience. People are choosier about who they buy from. Not saying that I'm that person....but lately, I have been told that buying from me is an enjoyable experience.

This has to be the highest compliment that I have received....even more meaningful than all the nice knit words. What is the current state of retail, when a kind word or compliment from me would carry any weight at all.

I was watching the other vendors at the Fab Fair today, their interactions, their conversations. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and pleasant exchanges. Damn, it's not just ME. Nothing special about me at all.

I think anyone that has a passion for what they do is able to translate that feeling to their work. In this day of imports, people seem to be more interested in who makes/creates the items they choose to buy and make an effort to support handmade.

Thanks to the folks who support handmade.

I Want to Give Something Away....

If you had to choose between something you loved doing and something you had to do, what would you choose to do?

I more often than not will choose the thing that I love(which fills me with such enormous satisfaction) that the remaining tasks seem far less painful. This weird thing keeps happening every time I walk into the studio to grab a new yarn...I end up having to walk by the drum carder and a batt ends up being created....

I seem to be working through colour blocks. I'm not making them for spinning or selling exactly. I am just piling them up in the studio. I seriously have more than 20 of them now. So now what do I do....spin and knit or spin or sell the batts.

Actually I love them so much, I think I just want to give one away. Who would enjoy a carded little bundle of love that was created for no reason other than.....I just had to do it. The first person to comment on this post with their e-mail address has just won themselves a MelonHead Batt.

On a separate note, I haven't been able to find anything about my job lately that I don't enjoy doing. Seems wrong somehow...

Just Because

I really needed to work with some hand spun and I really needed to crochet. Not a lot of that got done while I was getting ready for the show and I just needed to do something that wasn't a custom order. Although, those are really coming along. I have made better progress than I usually would. I think I am motivated by the sheer volume of orders.

Design is not always about being good. It's about exploring ---a new techique, a new yarn or just wrapping your hands around something that sings. The hat sprouts in all directions, looking for balance but not quite achieving it. Sounds like someone I know......

Now back to trying to achieve a bit of balance...Have a knitty good day.

So now that it's all over......

This is by far the prettiest picture of the show...John and Pearl rolling up the fancy carpet at the close of the show. That final wrapping up gesture represented 6 days of the show and 6 months of my knitting and spinning.

Now I'm sure you are thinking how did you manage all of that? Well, I didn't. Without an army of volunteers behind me, none of this would have been possible. I would like to thank (in no particular order)

Pearl
John
Toni
Mike
Claire
Sandra
Joan
JP
Lyn

and from the show...

the convention centre security guard
the Starbucks Holiday Turkey Sandwich
and Nancy (our dental hygienist)

You all know who you are and why I am so indebted to you. Here are Mike and I taking a break.

I wanted to leave you with a few pics of pretties from the booth during the show...Most are sold, but there might be one or two things left if you are interested.

I'm working on some lovely free form designs for this weekend at Fab Fair as well as the orders I have to be picked up there. There will be a FiddleHead Felt hat if you are still interested Carol!

More photos of the new designs tomorrow.