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Thursday, 12 November 2009

  • New Additions

    How excited am I? After months of contemplating, we've decided to add worsted weight hand dyes to our menu at BB Knits!! Yip, Yip, Yuree!! I'm beyond excited! Many of you have requested worsted weights over the last year, but I couldn't find a base that I loved! I finally found one, and the 1st shipment is en route!  Hopefully, we'll add a few colorways of worsted posted by the beginning of December. Just in time for winter sweater knitting Ordering of worsted weights will be a bit different than the sock and lace weight. If you are in need of more than 2-3 skeins of the worsted (say, for a sweater project), we will dye it up when we get your order. That way, we can be sure they are all of the same dye lot. An order for 3 skeins or less will be available to ship right away.  I'll be dyeing up a large batch myself, for me, me, me, when it arrives. I'm itching to cast on Mr. Green Jeans

    There are more new additions to share, but on a much smaller scale (not any less exciting though). I heard from my Secret Pal 14 partner. Yeah! And what a delightful little package she sent.


    Some Brooks Farms merino/wool blend, that I just love (still hunting for a pattern to use this right away!), some merino/cashmere sock, dyed by her, a Debbie Bliss pattern book (one of my favorite designers), a new project bag and some other fun, knitterly goodies. Thanks a bunch Pal! I do hope your kiddies are feeling better.

    On the same day that package arrived, I got the package for the journal swap, from sweet little JosieP in the U.K.
     


    A beautiful butterfly journal, that I'm going to use for my next journaling, soul searching project (watch for details to come soon - Have your read Twenty Wishes?).Some adorable fabric, great for a Project Linus quilt. Sock yarn, and other knitterly goodies were included too. It was a lot of fun getting to know Josie, and I'm thrilled to have met her through this swap! We had several chat sessions, when my insomnia was haunting me.

    Lastly, we're happy to announce, that we're bringing back one of our old colorways, Le Jardin. Again, so many of you have asked for it....we thought it was time. Watch for it to be added to the store soon!





  • A New Love!

    Did you ever fall in love with something, (not someone) and not understand why?

    As a person with many hobbies, I often "fall in love" with an idea, a fabric, a stamp, a color, a yarn (need I go on?). These little whims of mine don't often last very long, before I move on to the next one. I have a habit of going overboard on these whims, and my overly crowded/packed sewing/craft room is proof of that.

    My newest love....OWLS!



    I cannot explain why, yet, but honestly, I think it's something spiritual. There's something about an owls eyes that I find positively intriguing. As if the have so much to say. There's something, warm and comforting about their eyes, yet piercing and threatening at the same time. Predictable, but not. Lonely, but not. I continuously find myself almost entranced, when looking at photos of these beautiful creatures, and I think I'm driving our local library nuts with all my inquiries for books about owls.

    To feed this new love, are all these yummy new fabrics that have come out, with adorably whimsical owls! My fabric stash is growing by the minute with this yummy fabric, and my sewing room is busting at the seams. This time, I must find something to make with it all!!!



    With this love last? I wonder.....

  • Going Through Withdrawals

    Since the day I started knitting, more than 6 years, I have had knitting time every day, with the exception of when I was in the hospital delivering Dominic. In the evening, after homework is done, dinner dishes are cleaned up and the boys are in their jammies, they watch a "kid show" while Mommy knits. The family knows that this is Mommy's "quiet time", the time when I decompress, gather my thoughts for the day (and my "to do" list for the following day), and I just can't go to sleep without it.

    This week, for the first time, I've had several nights with no knitting time, and I think I'm going through withdrawals. My cold has turned into bronchitis, and I'm frantically working to get a wholesale order out the door. Once I sit down at night, I find I'm just too tired. I've picked up the needles, knit a stitch or 2, but end up putting it away because it just takes too much effort. Mind you, the patterns I've been working on (Christmas gifts) aren't really challenging, I don't need to "focus".

    All I can say, is I hope it doesn't last long. I've still got 2 more Christmas gifts to finish!

Saturday, 07 November 2009

  • A Week Of Surprises

    The week started off on a quiet note, pretty low key, just enjoying some crafting time with the boys. After getting through the flu 2 weeks ago, and being out straight with yarn orders, I took a much needed day off to "play" with the boys. The boys are doing a Relay For Life Team for Relay 2010, and they've been hard at work painting ornaments to sell at an upcoming Holiday Fair to raise money for the American Cancer Society. They had a blast painting these ornaments, as you can tell by looking at Little D's face. It was a mess, but fun none the less!

     

    Then comes Monday, when I get, yet another wholesale inquiry for my holiday colorways. I'm stretched pretty thin already, but find it so hard to say no. After all, it is the holiday season, and I could use the money (There's a Jack Loom that is just screaming to be purchased by Moi!). Monday afternoon I get yet another call, from someone who wants to buy my little sheep soaps, wholesale. These little soaps are adorable, and they are such great sellers at this time of year, but do I really have time? Well, there's that loom again, just screaming out my name, so....I agree to make them up.



    Then there's Tuesday, aaaahhhhh..... a sweet little surprise for just me.....



    .....a yummy package from my Recession Swap Partner.  I'm so itching to cast on some mittens with the Wisdom yarn, but alas, no time. The chocolates have gone into what my boys call "Mommy's not so secret hiding place", to serve as a little pick me up to get me through the next few weeks. Thank you pal, for such a wonderful "pick me up" package during a particularly crazy week.

    Now on to Wednesday, to wake up with swollen glands, a splitting headache and unable to breath through my nose. Really? This week? I don't have time to be sick again!!!

    Thursday, a trip to the grocery store, where, guess what, another surprise, grocery prices are still rising. We've never been one to shop the "sales" at the grocery, since most of our shopping is done in the produce and whole grains section, but guess what, surprise is on us, money is getting tight, and we're going to have to eat less "healthy", because our wallets cannot afford to eat "healthy" much longer. UGH!!

    Now on to Friday....the day of many surprises. Surprise #1 -  I still haven't heart from my pal from Secret Pal #14. Her identity was supposed to be revealed at the end of September, in a final package. Still don't know who she is, although I've received 2 emails from her that her final package is on the way.  Surprise #2 - Jake's 1st grade Thanksgiving feast, which I'm supposed to be working on planning....yeah, well, they sent home a note yesterday that siblings cannot attend. What am I supposed to do with Little D? He always comes along, and there's never been a problem, but now.......Surprise #3 - Jake's winter concert, which was supposed to be held mid December, is now scheduled for the beginning of December, when hubby is traveling, so he won't get to attend. Surprise #4 - This little "bump" that has developed on my wrist, continues to grow and is becoming quite painful. Doesn't it know I have holiday knitting to get done and don't have time to deal with this??? Surprise #5 - We've been working on a Project Linus Sew In event, to be held today (Saturday), and we had a good number of people planning to attend. A lot of planning goes into these events, so we're always excited when they are well received and participant numbers are high. I get a call on Friday afternoon, from a volunteer who has hit panic mode. She doesn't want to leave her house, for fear of getting the Swine Flu (the schools here have had low attendance now for 2 weeks, because of swine flu cases). She seems to be looking for me to give her something, some advice or something, I don't know. In a nutshell, if you are too afraid, then, by all means stay home. I ended up on the phone with this woman for 45 minutes, and I'm still not real sure what it was she was looking for from me.

    Now, it's a quiet Saturday morning, I'm enjoying my morning coffee, and yet, there's another surprise...... it's 26 degrees outside. It's freakin' cold!

    UGH!! Where is that box of Calgon? At least I'll get to play on the sewing machine a bit today, while at the Sew In. That damn thing better behave today, or it'll go flying!

Thursday, 29 October 2009

  • Fiberly Fun

    WOW!

    One word, is all it takes, to sum up our weekend at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival! This was only our 2nd year participating in this event, and with economic times being what they are, none of the vendors were expecting to do well. We were, however, all excited about sharing our love of fiber with the other fiber enthusiasts that come out for the day.

    By time the weekend was done, I was exhausted! Sales were more than double what they were last year, my booth had visitors all day, both days, and I got to meet many of my fellow Ravelers! Our hat drive for the DC Candlelighters brought in 13 hats from Ravelers, with another 25 from non-Ravelers! Oustanding!

    We were quite surprised to see what colorways/yarns were the most popular at this event. Most of our online sales come from the West Coast, so we went into this event with an inventory of our most popular colorways (such as Black Hills Gold, Granite, Olive Branch and Pap's Pin Stripe Suit), only to find they are not quite as popular here on the East Coast. East Coasters like the brighter colors, and more jewel tones such as Rapture, Candy Apple, Totally Teal and Evergreen.



    Most popular during this event, was our new Divinity Yarn. By the late morning Sunday, were sold out! Divinity Lace is a blend of 70% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk and 10% Cashmere. It's beyond soft, and takes color beautifully! At $40 a skein, we weren't expecting it to do as well. So imagine how excited we were to sell out. I think we learned that folks coming to these fiber festivals are looking for unique fibers, fibers they cannot get at most local yarn shops or online. 



    Now to see what goodies we can come up with for next year's event. Mark your calendars....it'll be the last weekend of September next year!