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.

This has been one of those great weeks. With the exception of Sunday through Wednesday night having giant golf balls covered in shards of glass going at breakneck speed through my head, it was fan-tas-tic.  Even days of migraines can’t mitigate the goodness that was this week.

Why? Well, figured out I am super-duper sensitive to the sun and heat. Got myself some excellent electrolyte supplements to put in my water so I don’t have the whole hellish headache gig going on again  - thanks to Chuck from Raisin Rack.  Why else? I finished re-skeining all my currently dyed yarn.  I wrote a pattern for baby/toddler booties out of bulky yarn (it will be free here - I’ll post it either tomorrow or Monday).

The daughter and I went to JoAnn’s and she had so much fun looking through the pattern books. Sigh.  A girl after my own heart.

I went to Creekside with daughter and hubster (which is incredible considering his work schedule of late).

Went to the Franklin Conservatory Butterfly Exhibit with my daughter.

We played the final chapter in Changeling last night with our friends (Julia of the Goblin Toybox was the GM, Jenise from Happy Squash Toys was a terrific brain-eating Redcap).  I just got all the laundry folded (six loads, no less).  My father’s trip to the emergency room was manageable and he’s doing fine.  We planted our flower and strawberry plants Thursday evening.

And today, today, is good. Finishing up some jewelry, getting some yarn in the soak for dyeing, writing this blog, working on a custom order form for my shows, drinking a cup of tea, the hubs and daughter are napping, and I’m about to start cutting into tons of fabric. What have y’all been up to lately? For good or bad, it’s worth a telling.

Keep dreamin’, I’ll be back in twenty-four or forty-eight. With or without sleep remains to be seen.  I leave you with a photo taken by the daughter:

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.

I’m dyeing, I’m dyyyyyeeiiiinnnng!!

No, not death dying, but yarn dyeing. I dyed 40 skeins of yarn from Saturday to Monday - 5 skeins each in eight new colorways. They are amazing!  I have the next 6 already planned out for this Saturday, and I am excited.  Since I don’t really like to show off the yarn until it’s been re-skeined, here’s two of my “favorites” (because I really love them all, don’tcha know).  And I apologize beforehand for the shoddy photo quality, this is in my garage. In the shade. Where I dye. Thank goodness for warmer weather. For sure.

Moonlit Dusk

Pixie Dance

There is one colorway I can’t figure out a name for that I’ll be putting up for a naming contest once it’s reskeined.  As a prize, you’ll get one skein of it!  Details on that tomorrow.

Also, congrats to the three folks who were the first three to comment on my Pay It Forward blog post: Jenise, Mich, and Jen of Tula Pink — who my mom in a quite gleeful moment, gave up her spot as the third commentor so I could give the designer who gives us sewers such great fabric designs, a gift of her very own.  (oh the pressure!)  Thanks mom, you are incredibly sweet.  I’ll contact you three once I’ve gotten back from errands and playing with the little one today.

…is that everything gets done in itty bitty spurts. Okay, that’s not a joy, it’s an irritation beyond belief; but worse is seeing my child in obvious distress.  Today, she’s almost acting normal-er.

The joy came from finally getting every piece of jewelry that sucked taken apart; and all the cool stuff I bought for other jewelry pieces deconstructed and ready for use.  Here’s what my table looks like now. Yes, I know my jewelry shares space with my love of my life serger. Yes, it is a tragedy. No, don’t talk about it with me. Trust me.

But, even with that, it’s Thursday, it’s been a good, if slow week. And it actually feels like Spring. I even got to catch up on America’s Next Top Model last night while skeining yarn and running interference on the hacking child. Hey, who says I don’t watch the hard stuff?

Most importantly though, this past Saturday, we went to a welcome back party for my father, who returned healthy and hale from Iraq. There’s the pops - chatting it up with whatever poor souls good friends are sitting at the table (Dad, he’s a chattery one!).  (And that’s my Uncle Frank sitting there on the right):

My grandma came, my brother and his family, many of my cousins, aunts and uncles, and second cousins as well.  That doesn’t even include the numerous Dayton Chess Club patrons that are fond members of the club, as well as family friends. The four little kids that were there had a marvelous time, running back and forth in the 3000-square-foot space.  Even so, here’s a shot with all of them standing still. Took hours to get that photo.

There were about 70 people that came and went throughout the day. It was relaxing, with food, beverages, catching up, welcome back, and plenty of good will.  Here’s some of the aforementioned folk chatting. Remember how I said the building was big? There’s a lot of depth there. Crazy. But if you like chess, it is the place to go.

Amidst all that, I even found the time to knit a few rows on a baby gift that is taking me forever to finish.  It’s almost done. Note to Betsy - don’t look.

Then, near the end, this photograph was the obsession of my extremely tired daughter. And she got a good one. May I present “Broccoli”?

And a shout out to my SIL Katie, who took this fabu photo of ribbon. I have to email that to her. Don’t let me forget.

And then it was time to bid adieu.  Here’s the dad hugging the child goodbye.  Not the best quality, but I’ll take what I can get when I’m whipping the camera out of my bag as fast as I can.

And, last but not least, in a supreme effort to keep the kid awake on the 90 minute trip back home, we made a pit stop at a Waffle House. Fine dining supreme, yes?  For the record, the little squirt didn’t pass out until 11pm. Shoulda skipped the WH.

More tomorrow. Just glad it’s sunny and warmish outside and that we’re all feeling closer to normal today.

Busy busy busy! It’s been a hectic two days, but lovely nonetheless. I’ve been working on two new products off and on as time permits and I had to decide if I would show a completed item, or the materials of the product and let folks surmise it for themselves? I liked the latter.

First off, in the land of tulle… is tulle!! Now, most of you know what tulle is used for, but how I decided to use it is fun and fantastic. Not the most creative, I’ll admit, but it fits in the new theme of Dahara Dreaming’s products. So, the mountain of tulle that I’ve been working in:

In the land of Tulle

There are other colors: orange, green, yellow, an even hotter pink (yes it’s possible). I adore this project. What I’m making are for little ones. But I like the design enough that I’m thinking about making it wearable for the larger folk too.

Next up, what does this:

What does this have to do...

Have to do with this?

...with this?

Yarn and glittery things. Hmmmm. If only I had a winky emoticon. Mixing the two loves of knitting and beads is something that I have a good many sample of, and have been wanting to get to a good enough point to offer as wearable goods. And that time is now! What I do with the two is, without giving too much away… fey.

Busy busy busy! It’s been a hectic two days, but lovely nonetheless. I’ve been working on two new products off and on as time permits and I had to decide if I would show a completed item, or the materials of the product and let folks surmise it for themselves? I liked the latter.

First off, in the land of tulle… is tulle!! Now, most of you know what tulle is used for, but how I decided to use it is fun and fantastic. Not the most creative, I’ll admit, but it fits in the new theme of Dahara Dreaming’s products. So, the mountain of tulle that I’ve been working in:

There are other colors: orange, green, yellow, an even hotter pink (yes it’s possible). I adore this project. What I’m making are for little ones. But I like the design enough that I’m thinking about making it wearable for the larger folk too.

Next up, what does this:

Have to do with this?

Yarn and glittery things. Hmmmm. If only I had a winky emoticon. Mixing the two loves of knitting and beads is something that I have a good many sample of, and have been wanting to get to a good enough point to offer as wearable goods. And that time is now! What I do with the two is, without giving too much away… fey.

So, the reason for the relaunch is clear - I was making products that were all over the board and had no cohesive vision. I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing, and I was only selling a few of the items I was making upon request from folks. Not a lot of common sense or pleasure in all of that.

But now, my heart is hammering, I can’t stop getting things cut, beaded, dyed, I’m excited. I try to find time to do something every. single. day. It’s that feeling of rightness. It’s cohesive, it’s fun, it makes sense in my head. And I think it’ll make sense to everyone else - and it’s very, very pretty. Also, I’m scared shitless, which just proves to me that it’s the best leap I’ve ever taken in my business. I’ve only been doing this since Oct. ‘07, so to be going anew in less than a year is crazy but smart all at once.

I know, I know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense just yet. Especially when you don’t know what I know (wink wink). To be fair, only my husband knows. The new launch is like a precious little baby to me that I’ve been quite, quite selfish with it and refuse to share with anyone. However, tomorrow shall bring forth the first sneak peek! I’m beyond excited. (can I say excited enough? let me know if it gets to the retching point).

I currently have 16 products that are in this relaunch, there will be more after the new site (same look, different feel and different products). Most are new. Some simply redesigned. All the old stuff is going for cheap. I want it to be used and enjoyed, that’s for sure, but it doesn’t fit anymore.

I’m making progress - in hindsight, 35 days or so is not that much time to redesign an entire product line. But hell, I figure, go forth with full force. Even if I only get 1 or 2 items done in each product category, y’all will see what I see in my head. Well, sans the scary stuff. The progress killer right now is our new adorable furball kitty. His name is Miles Vorkosigan. He’s about 4 months old. He’s crazy. And likes to get my knitting needles, beads, and thread with gusto I though reserved for potential porch kill.

My friend Cheryl also got in a car accident, broke her wrist and ankle, and has two little boys. I’ve been there a lot this week already. My father also comes home from Iraq tomorrow and I’ll be going to visit him and Mom on Sunday, so after that I think I’ll have to declare a serious moratorium on activities unless my daughter threatens mutiny.

Now, I’m off to work. I’m learning the blogging ropes, but will be typing something each day now. Keeps me on track and hopefully you folks [somewhat] informed. Okay, scratch the informed. Hopefully I’ll at the very least entertain you.

Sure enough, it’s been, what, 3 months since my last post? Yes indeed.

I’ve been struggling with what to do with all these ideas rattling in my head. How do I do what’s important, to me, as a designer and creator? How do I make it fit in with what I feel is important for the vibe and feel of my business? How do I not go in a thousand different directions? How do I focus on doing the things I dearly love,
while creating a cohesive product line and vision?

And, TAAADAAAAAAA, after much thought, planning and redesigning, I’ve figured it out. Those were some hard decisions I made!

Dahara Dreaming will be re-launching a (mostly) new product line! August 25th, 2008, there will be new products galore.

As a result, I want to clear out as much stuff as I can. I will be discounting all my products heavily.

Up until the new launch, August 25th, all jewelry and yarn dyed by me is 35% off. Crayon Rolls are 41% off, Minky Blankets are 20% off.

I’ll also be putting up a bunch of child-sized messenger bags, baby belts, and some clothing that will all be heavily discounted as well. I’ll post those when those get put on the site. I’m so damn excited!

I believe you’ll be as excited as me come August 25th!

Monday 4/21/08 there will be new items listed and available for sale!

HyenaCart will have crocheted items from Brandywine Designs, new yarns from I Dye Yarns, and some extremely cute felted food from The Goblin Toybox, and 8 sets  of handknit cotton washcloths with handmade soaps from Angel Squares.
Etsy will have some new dyed play silks and silk gift bags (they’re oh so pretty!), as well as some sample dresses made by me.  I’ll also be listing some cute handmade greeting card sets by Angel Squares.

On  Dahara Dreaming, Ltd. I’ll have some new earrings listed!  Next Monday, 4/28/08, there’ll be even more goodies on DaharaDreaming.com! Kid fabric belts, kid messenger bags, hand painted planter pots (all one of  a kind and painted by hand!), Dahara Dreaming dyed yarn, and some extraordinary jewelry - knit and beaded bracelets, necklaces, more earrings, and some COTTON yarns and coordinating dyed clothes. WOOT!

Nearly every Monday will bring new items - so this year is just gonna be amazing!