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.

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.

Welcome to week two of the relaunch! The site is getting cleaned up, product is being listed at a phenomenal rate - and many, many more surprises are on the way!

Mondays are becoming magical days for me - the things I can make progress on or get finished/started in the space of a week amaze me.  And as I typed that - a thought occurred to me to do something to start of the wonder of each week… next week I’ll be starting a little something something for Mondays. No longer the dreary day of ‘back to work’… let’s give Monday a new perpsective, and thus, give us power over what many think of a sucky day!

But I digress.  Last week, one product I noted in my last post did not get listed - it’s being done tonight! I remind myself that I do this so I can be flexible in hours and spend time raising my daughter - which is far more important than anything I do here.

So tonight - the hand dyed silk handkerchiefs are being listed. They’re gorgeous and I cannot wait to do more to present to all of you!

Coming up this week, the week of September 1st:

* Brandywine Designs has two new products coming

• Fabulous Tulle Fairy Skirts for your little ones. They’re absolutely stinking adorable.  I can’t wait for her to make me one for Halloween… (Brandy, consider this your formal request).
• Ribbon Hair clippies - to keep even the wispiest of hairs at bay. Or, in my case, some of the thickest hair in the cosmos.
• Many of Brandywine Designs products from HyenaCart will also be transferred to Etsy and DaharaDreaming.com.

* Dahara Dreaming will have five items for the mama fairy and her little one

• Cute fairy-inspired handbags (yes, you read that right).  They’re not sensible, but sheesh are they fun.
• Pixie wrap tulle skirts - it’s an apron! No, it’s a skirt! No, it’s a cape! No…. it’s whatever your little one wishes it to be… and they’ll be in adult sizes soon, too.
• Hand dyed cotton scarves, wait, it’s a belt, wait, it’s a head wrap. Whatever the hell it is, they’re cute and wearable. Oh! And washable.
• Hand dye silk scarves… see the hand-dyed cotton scarf bit (I could only type that once without feeling absolutely ridiculous).
• Hand dyed play silks - 3 different sizes, all colors and in the shibori and watercolor style. All are magical and delightful. Yes, I’m biased. But only a bit.

* The Goblin Toybox has some new goodies

• Two cute little stuffed critters (you’re going to have to wait and see bwahahahaa)
• Two amazing felt hand puppets (again, I’m such a tease!).

So there it is. The enchanting products coming up for the week. And next week brings even more wonderful goodies!  It’s like Christmas in July. Wait, the Equinox in September.  Or a September Solstice just for the heck of it! Okay. Going to maybe drink some chamomile tea to calm the excited jitters down. But just a bit.

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!

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!

The Open Market was a wonderful success! Any event that has work at home moms who provide services or create goods for other moms, children, women, dads, etc. is just going to be good.

The turnout was nice - although, the two and a half hours the event was open was the only downside to such a great event. We need more time to sport our wares!

I had some new products that I was completely thrilled about - minky blankets with gorgeous cotton print backings; matching oven mitts for mom/dad and child — 2 mitts per adult and 2 mitts per child - all mitts usable to boot! I even got my first custom order to do larger child oven mitts, since the size I did only fit up to about a 5 year old child. I have some fantastic new puppets and felt food from The Goblin Toybox, some amazing new crocheted barettes/dresses/sleepsacks from Brandywine Designs, and hand-knit washcloths paired with handcast soap from Angel Squares, and some superior new dyed yarn from I Dye Yarn. All of these new items will be listed on one of our sites by Monday 4/21/08.

And, speaking of listings for the stores, I’ve been working on an overhaul of what products go where. And where items are found will be listed on all 3 sites for easy navigation and purchasing. So some products will only be found on Dahara Dreaming, others on Hyena Cart, and the rest on Etsy. It’ll all make sense on Monday!

So, with all that updating aside, there’s something new and exciting! A few of us mamas from the 2nd Annual Open Market enjoyed the experience so much, we decided to sort of do a sister event for the holiday season. So keep your eyes peeled, I’m one of the coordinators of what we are tentatively calling the Holiday Mama Market. Picture me rubbing my hands together excitedly - cool details and updates to follow quite, quite soon! Peace, folks!