2009 PERSPECTIVE

Yes, I know, this was a whole two and a half weeks ago. For shame! Well, the following weekend I had a three day show in Kirtland, and just this past weekend I flew to Wisconsin with my family to visit my grandparents for the 4th of July and their… drum roll please… 60th Anniversary! Have been busy. Just no way around that. But I’m talking fiber. So I know y’all will forgive me. Plus, there will be the yarn, the silks, the everything else that you saw listed in my shops in the next two weeks. So, settle in. It’s kind of a long post.

A candid shot of a shopowner at Knitters Connection. By my little girl!

Frontier Fiber Mill

You know how you love something and love to talk about that something, to the point where folks who don’t give two whits about that something eyes’ glaze over when you talk about it? Yeah.  That didn’t happen here. I love yarn. I love dyeing yarn. I love knitting yarn. I love fondling, ogling, and thinking about yarn. And roving, too.  And nigh on everyone there at Knitters Connection was. Exactly. Like. Me.

My booth! There's yarn there. I swear.

Ahh, there's the yarn. 150 skeins is NOT. MUCH. Plus, Jeremy and Leon. Well, Leon's head.

I can only review the vendors, the people, and the two marketplaces. In short, amazing. Next year, I’d sure like to finagle a way to take classes as well as be a vendor there again. Sure, there were a few things I didn’t like as a vendor (being in the far away marketplace, it was cold, and the lighting was terrible), but aside from that, in short, again, amazing.

Ellen & Bonnie of Stitch Sisterz. I'm still not sure they like yarn. Much.

Shelbridge Farms - lovely, lovely things.

ColoraturaYarns.com / HandPaintedKnittingYarns.com- these guys were fantastic. The overtired daughter had them nervous, but they were so kind. I, of course, purchased some yarn from them. Lovely dyed wool with metallic accents for some felted cuffs. Wait and see!

I was next to Bonnie and Ellen of the Stitch Sisterz, who are just two cards in a wild deck. They shared a large booth with Rita of Castle Fibers and her fabulous helper friend, whose name, forgive me, I forget. Many other amazing vendors, instructors, students, crocheters, knitters… it was a steady and fantastic stream of people!

Colortura Yarns and their gorgeous, giant, mixed fiber/same hue skeins.

Dusty Vintage’s amazing vintage button selection.No website, but you can email her for her show schedule.

Jennie The Potter’s buttons, plates, all things beauiful.

Ivy Bramble and their patterns, and Jerry - who I chatted with about his to dye (hehe) for sheep tees which he’ll try to get in a v-neck and child sizes; my kiddo, she does love the sheep. Smart gal.

Judy Pascale, an instructor at KC ‘09 and lively woman who purchased some of my dyed silks for her demonstration class. Hint: I would be beyond thrilled for a photo or update - bet the silks did not run, as promised <giant grin>.

Shirley Tinsdale - a woman who spins and dyes specialty and rare yarns… because. Best reason ever, right!

Glory-ous Knits and Gifts whose notions were so fun - especially their Culinary Colors dye kits.

Kathy and her husband Randy of Wise Man Woolens whose farm in Jackson, Ohio I cannot wait to go and visit!  They’re local to me, amazing people, love their animals - what better place could I ask to find for fiber to dye?

Bonnie’s Kozy Knit’s booth - alas, I can’t remember the name of the son, but he was a sweetheart and learning to knit at KC!

I also met two Columbus fiber addicts - one knits, one crochets. Yep, Leon and Jeremy, I’m talking about you. And giggling incessantly while I do so. Amazing guys I’ll never forget, they’re even Browncoats through and through.

My daughter with the camera - catching the gentleman from ColoraturaYarns.com. He was having a good time. Swear.

Oh the fun the daughter had!

Gorgeous beadwork shown by a shop I can't remember . The horror, I know.

For me personally, it was a little stressful. I have only about 150 skeins of dyed yarn, and about twenty 4oz peices of roving thus far - it was a debut of sorts. I’m only one person who works from her garage and is just simply in love with color.  I’m so incredibly pleased that folks were interested in my colorways, my ideas, my babies, as it were!

Jennie The Potter. Beautiful is all I can say.

The pattern I purchased from Ivy Brambles for my daughter. She totally picked it out. So I had to buy some cotton yarn from the Stitch Sisterz to make it with. Naturally.

In financial terms, I did not do as well as I would have liked - I know part of that was my selection, my display, my newness, but what I didn’t make in sales, I more than made up for in learning.  It was a joy to talk to shop owners, dyers, knitters, spinners and hear what people liked, what strikes them, how they dye, why they dye, why they sell yarn if they do not dye, how I could be better, how they were taking ideas from me (oh the pleasure in that I won’t deny!).  There is no price tag on those discussions.

A pattern from Ivy Brambles I will own. Soon. Very soon.

Ivy Brambles' lovely yarns - and awful cute sheep tees - which I requested in child sizes. Hee!

I also got to meet and speak with Joe of SWTC yarns; all y’all on Ravelry know of whom I speak! That man is a traveling fiber pimp!  Not only was he personable, he talks the fiber talk, and he doesn’t try to sell his products, he proves his products.  Three of SWTC yarns will be on my coming-soon list of standard yarns I will be dyeing.  And though I don’t sell anything that isn’t made by hand, folks need knitting needles for sure. Else I’m not a knitter.  Joe also introduced me and sold me on Hiya Hiya needles - hollow stainless steel that are as light as air. It was love at first stitch.  I’ll be selling those also, with pleasure.

The button seller, Dusty's Vintage, wow. That's all I can say. I'm actually going to stalk her at her next local show so I can peruse without the child in tow. It'll be worth it. Promise.

Child, please don't take pictures of mama. Love, mama.

And, of course, I bought yarn. And traded for some of Castle Fiber’s fibers (heh).

Rita (on the far left) and a poor shot of her lovely dyed Castle Fiber yarns.

My purchases at KC. Didn't seem like that much.

What I purchased is above. Doesn’t seem like that much, but it’s also more than I thought! There was so much more to have purchased. Really.

Top Row:

• 2 balls Crystal Palace Mini Mochi and 6 balls of an Italian cotton/bamboo/rayon yarn, “Vienna”, in a deep navy with a distinct shimmer to it from Bonnie’s Kozy Knit.
• Seven fluffballs of gorgeous roving from Castle Fiber.

Bottom Row:

• Debbie Bliss (delish!) Pure Cotton yarn - 4 balls in a dusky navy, and 4 balls in yellow for the daughter’s top - see said pattern from Ivy Brambles there under it.
• A partial ball of Toffuti yarn from SWTC’s Joe (shared it with Ez of Emerald Isla Yarns, a beautiful friend of mine).
• The ball with the needles in it is my yarn (Storm Sky, just so ya know), but the needles are hollow stainless Hiya Hiya’s. Which I love.
• Then a gorgeous earthy dyed hank of wool from Hand Painted Knitting / Coloratura Yarns that has these pretty metallic flecks in it.

I will be doing this again next year, all things willing. I am happy to have pleased those who bought my hand painted yarns, I am happy to have purchased some beauties for myself, and I have memories to last until I stop knitting. Which you all know, is like, never.

So, stay tuned, in about 24 hours I”ll have another post for Ohio Farmpark’s Woolfest. Tell you one thing in advance, that place was incredible.

Yes, internet moms, I know blogging is meant to be done in a timely fashion, to inform prior to an event, not the day before (which, imo, is prior), or, in this case, the night before.  However, that is the case today.  Tomorrow, Friday, at noon, we leave for:

It’s at the Lake Metroparks Farmpark and I can’t wait!  True, I’m burnt out (if I ever say, hey, here are three great events to do.. all in the same month so lemme sign up, shoot me), but how could I not be excited about being at a fiber festival when what I love is fiber.  I mean, I love color and I love jewelry, but fiber has always fascinated me. Knitters Connection was amazing; being able to talk, at length (sorry to my customers, eek!), without someone’s eyes glazing over, was fabulous.  I presume WoolFest will be no different.  I’ll have a full review post on Knitters Connection 2009 on Monday after this last, thank goodness, show.

I am a little bummed that I didn’t do a calendar check, but the trade off for missing Origins and ComFest is a balanced one.  If I have to miss those, it better be for fiber.

In any event, I better finish packing up, yes, even at 11:45.  It’s been raining, and my last instinct when it is raining is to do anything remotely necessary. Rain is meant to be enjoyed.  But, alas, the storm has nearly completely passed, so off to pack for three nights away with my family I go.  And to H and R - thanks for housesitting and watching the kitties. We all love ya for it. I’ll bring ya somethin’ purty to play with.

Keep dreaming, my friends, for without the dream, imagine our reality.

Wow. I can’t believe this is TOMORROW. I’m giddy, nervous, skeered, excited… And do I have everything ready? Gee, of course not. Not yet. So close, yet SO far away. Thankfully it’s a four day event, whatever I forget/don’t complete for tomorrow’s set up and preview, I’ll make darn sure I have ready for Thursday morning.

Dahara Dreaming’s FaceBook Events has this all set up, but here are the awesome details:

Columbus Convention Center
400 N. High Street
Columbus, Ohio

Hours:
Wednesday: 4 - 6pm
Thursday: 11am - 6pm
Friday: 11am - 6pm
Saturday: 10am - 4pm

And since you’ll be looking for us (hehe), here’s what to look for - COLOR.  Sort of like this (our setup from last Saturday at Yellow Springs Street Fair) - main difference here is that there will be yarn. Lots. Of. Delicious. Yarn. It’ll be everywhere. All the products of Dahara Dreaming, Wildflower Skin Care, I Dye Yarn, KaeBrook Kreations and Angel Squares will also be there - Knitters Connection said to just bring everything. Gotta love that!

Shout out to the hubster too, our tent braces snapped. On three sides. With duct tape and extra bags of sand that poor baby stayed up the entire time. Thanks too, to Yellow Springs who told us just to leave the busted equipment for street cleanup.

So, Knitters Connection 2009 starts tomoorrow, yo!  I so hope to see y’all there, whether you knit, crochet, spin, or just want to see something new.

Oh - and side note, my harvest bag that I previewed in my prior post debuted at Yellow Springs — sold three of them. I am one proud pattern creator. Since each one is unique, here they are.

I must  be crazy because I’m seriously trying to churn out 4 more by Thursday. Crazy. Yep. And lovin it.

Keep dreaming, friends. It’s like hope, it’s eternal, it’s strength, and it’s beautiful.

Wow, that is tomorrow morning! I’m so excited! Sad thing is that my brother, who I believe reads this blog, asked me if I was going to be there tomorrow. I just thought, well, suck. I didn’t get the word out.  I’m lagging in my blog - though I do have it on FaceBook.  You can find me on Corey Street, next to the general store.  I’m the booth with tons and tons and tons of color.

There’ll be lots of new stuff - but as I’m inventorying right now, I can’t even photo to sneak peak ya. I know, I’d be bummed too.

Hmmm - I do have a photo or two of some things I’ve been working on. One sec…

Here’s first ever pattern design all by yours truly - the Harvest Bag. This is just the mock up, and is unpressed. Be gentle with her. She was through a lot.  Her progeny, though there are only five, will be at Yellow Springs with me.

I will have Wildflower Skin Care’s new Body/Rescue Balm - oh man is it ever amazing. The beeswax makes those awful dry/scaly spots feel all normal again.

My hand dyed ruanas (aka wraps) in cotton / bamboo velour - some with shibori stitching. Here’s one that I still have yet to finish the edges. Still cute as hella!  Like that picnic table in the background dontcha.

Bunches of other things, but more importantly, I need to get it all together to take with me. See ya there — and keep dreaming.

18 days, to be exact. Approximately 15 days too long away from the blog, in my opinion.

In that time - caught my second (and got over) a severe rib shuddering hacking sickness, pulled my back on mother’s day (plus to that was I got to sleep all day whilst on a heating pad), the dad got double knee replacement surgery (doing well, yes!!), got more yarn dyed up (which, by the way is not a good idea to do a few days after the back stops seizing. Trust me.), watched my husband work a grueling schedule, finished up a few more ruanas (a post coming on those), made some new jewelry, got a shipment of Far Far Away fabric (OMG. fabrics like this I really wish I didn’t take the time to prewash and iron), and worked out a play/work schedule with the kid so we’re both happy (I’m a stay at home mom who is working on home schooling… but the need and want to create is HUGE).

Been busy, to say the least but sort of isolated in that. Need to find more balance there as well. Until that happens, ha!,  I have three shows coming up in June!

Yellow Springs Street Fair 6/13/09; Yellow Springs, Ohio
Knitters Connection 6/17-6/20/09; Columbus, Ohio
WoolFest 6/27-6/29/09; Kirtland, Ohio

I’ve also got gobs more jewelry listed in my shop, and Wildflower Skin Care has a lovely beeswax based Body Rescue Balm listed (already using it, of course!), as well as some new essential oil soaps that are divine. Val, the woman who makes all of her own skin care deliciousness, is a genius at making healthy skin care products. Genius, I say!

I’ll have more to update, as well as tons of dyed silks and yarns to be added to the shop here in the next few days, but am still catching up on quite a bit… in the meantime, however, here’s a shot of some of the new pieces to be listed in the shop:

More photos of the new things (not jewelry, starting to get restless and need to do some massive sewing) coming. Until then, keep dreamin’ y’all!

p.s.: that was photographed on the backside of Heather Ross’s Green Unicorn, Far Far Away double gauze material. Having a hard time letting go of it long enough to wash it. It’s amazing.

Well, in my blog post about my “fabric diet” (yeah right), I mistakenly mentioned Tula Pink as having contract issues, when in fact, it was Heather Ross.  Both designers I love dearly. Well, Jen (the mastermind behind Tula Pink) contacted me to let me know about the error, which I quickly fixed. Funny thing was, she thought she freaked me out. What she might not have known is that I was thrilled that someone caught my mistake and that she! of all folks, took a personable, what the hay, approach.

Then, oddities of all oddities, she apologized and offered to send me fabric.  Though I asked her to comment on my blog, in lieu of fabric (mom, don’t have a heart attack reading that!), I didn’t turn her down either (I’m not completely crazy).  And, in what was a mere three days, I was sent 5 fat quarters from her Neptune line. Which I adore. And makes me very glad for the eight Neptune charm packs I’d ordered a week ago.

Though I blithely await the ability to purchase Hushabye, I have a very special dress for my daughter planned out from this. Thanks Jen, for just being awesome.  For realz. I have something special in the works and soon to be on its way to you as well for the Pay It Forward gift giving.  There are four colorways in Hushabye, Grass just happens to be one of four of my favorites.

In other fabric news - Patty Young’s Mezzanine.  Ya know, at first I didn’t jive with it.  Bold colors sometimes jar me the wrong way after dyeing yarn - which I don’t really do in bright bold colors. But after I took another look at it after making jewelry for a few hours - which I do do (heh) in bold stones and colors, I really admired it. Especially the stained glass and gothic flower prints. Can’t wait to get some of that either. I have a fabric problem. It’s medicated by purchasing more and making things that make me smile out of it.

Then, while perusing the latest posts in my Google Reader; I saw that Patricia, owner and designer of Art Gallery Fabrics had a new line up, Color Splash.  I love the asian / chinoiserie feel to this, and yes, feel the need to have may of these prints. In many yards.

And in my own tiny corner of the world, I have six new colorways! One isn’t pictured below since my good friend Val took her ball home, and left it there. Gawd, what is she, the underslept mother of two kids under four?  Anyway, here are the other five, and I gotta say, I love ‘em.

From left to right:
Top row: oranges are unnamed, the other is Storm Sky.
Bottom row: purples are unnamed, Leaf Sky Sun, Petals

That’s all for today folks. I have tons of stitching to do for shibori dyed goodies this week in time for Oddmall.

Keep dreaming y’all, it’s the stuff of life.

Independent’s Day

And yep, the blog still sucks. BUT! Now that we have power and internet access back, I can unsuck it starting Monday. So, better blogging coming, just a week later.

Independent’s Day

And yep, the blog still sucks. BUT! Now that we have power and internet access back, I can unsuck it starting Monday. So, better blogging coming, just a week later.

First off, if you read this blog, it sucks. I suck. Well, I suck at blogging, anyway.  And I’m sorry. I’m fixing that starting Monday, September 15th.  It’ll be way better, promise.
Second - we’ll be at a fantastic street fair today!  Booth SW5 at the Old Worthington Street Market, Saturday (today, yay!) 9/13/08. 9a - 430p.
http://tinyurl.com/4sgv8a
And, better blog beginning Monday.  Hmm. That’s a lot of B’s. Blessed Be.

Dahara Dreaming’s site relaunch began today in full force. The relaunch will continue until September 30th, with brand new products available each Monday. You’ll notice a lot of category and visual changes both to the blog and website.

So what’s with the relaunch?

As noted before, Dahara Dreaming was all over the place. There was no cohesive vision. Now there is. “Handcrafted goods with a touch of magic and mischief”.  Think of fairies, elves, pixies, trolls, goblins (friendly, if grumpy, of course!), quiet woods, bubbling brooks, wearable everyday “fantasy” clothes and accessories, exploring magical ideas, nooks, and crannies. That be the idea.   That’s also why there are a ton of products in the Sale! section - with plenty more to come.

What’s coming up for this week, then?

Week of Monday, August 25th:
* Dahara Dreaming showcases 10 new yarn colorways on four skeins each.

• 3 fibers will be on www.DaharaDreaming.Com
• 1 fiber will be on www.DaharaDreaming.Etsy.com

* Crafts by Angela is a new artist!

• Hand carved candles
• Custom orders will be available

* Dahara Dreaming’s dyed silks

• Watercolor and shibori dyed handkerchiefs and gift bags

I am so passionate about bringing a touch of magic into the every day I can hardly contain myself!  All the ideas and reasons behind making things makes sense in my head and heart now.