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.

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.

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:

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.

Most often, I just have an attitude - whether it be grumpy, smarmy, happy, excited, angry, disappointed, thrilled, cheery. I bring it all with ‘tude.  Just ask my loved ones [insert mocking grimace and slight eye roll]. Anyway, I’m sitting here making jewelry and thinking, wow, I’m really, really grateful. For A Lot.

The past couple of days have been hard, with looming deadlines, migraine warning signals, a delicious child who won’t.stop.asking.questions. (I know, I know), and just not enough time in the day to finish all the things that need to be done. So I shall take some time to just be grateful. For stuff. And list it. Here. Randomly. (you’ll see).

My husband. Has begun to really start giving me the time to work on this business. He’s always been for it, but just these past two weekends has given me time to work, in a steady stream. Which has done wonders for me, my mothering, and my wifeing.

These measuring cups by Preserve. Brand new from Drugstore.com - I was missing the 1/4 cup in my old set… can’t fathom how that might of happened (hey little girl, why are you cooking crayons in my measuring cups?). Anywho… I’m grateful because they’re made from recycled plastic and are 100% recyclable. That’s the way to do it. And adding those to my cart got me a free goodie bag from Seventh Generation. And now I have a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Even though it’s not pictured. It was just used in tandem with the next item. Good thing.

This waffle maker from Eliza. I was borrowing my friend Julia’s, so I’m twofold grateful to Eliza. We have good waffles, I don’t have to bug Julia, and well, Eliza is just awesome.

My eight new colorways went from looking like tangled skeins to pretty wound balls.  And yes the photos are full of suck, I just wanted to show them off a bit.  When they’re all skeined up and in the shops, they’ll look tons better!

Moonlit Dusk    ////    Fiery Fall

Herb Garden    ////    Sunrise

Forest Moss    ////    Giggling Gnome (no photo of the wound ball I gave away for sample knitting)

Spring Breeze    ////    Pixie Dance

My friends Val, Heidi, Kim, Brandy, and Ez (who dyes her own amazing yarn!) who are knitting samples for me in trade for the remainder of the skein of yarn.  Because I am so thoroughly neurotic about knitting my own colorways. Perhaps terrified is more apt?! That what I envision in my head is not as beautiful as *I* think, you know!  I’ve got four samples in my hands that I’m staring lovingly at. I have 16 coming and I’m all itchy antsy about it.

I have my first show of the year this May 9th, Oddmall ~ Emporium of the Weird. Won’t be taking the oodles of yarn I’ve been dying - but will be able to take lots of the funky other things I’ve been working on. Y’all will see come next week!

These shoes from Land’s End. My first new shoes in years. They’re so freaking comfortable. And the green ones are like tennis shoe comfortable, but pretty. Which is something I haven’t had in a long while.

My daughter. Who even while this past week I have had to tell her I needed 5 minutes of No Questions Being Asked, and the resulting meltdown of not being able to ask said questions for five minutes, I love wholly.

My nephew E had his tonsils taken out today, and is doing well. I’m grateful that it was an “easy” operation and that he’s going to be the better for it.

My jewelry is looking awesome.

I have tons of fabric cut and ready for the serger and sewing machine.

Last but not least, thankfulness, for being grumpy. Because when ya come out of the funk, your perspective is just that much brighter and full.

Keep on dreaming y’all, it’s what keeps us alive.

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.

Got some nice dm’s on twitter and FB letting me know that, hey, some folks couldn’t enter. Nice to know that I’m a complete idiot when it comes to the internets Anyway, one more week on the contest - making that a new end date of Thursday, April 9th. Okay, technically, that’s only 4 days from now.

And, so this isn’t some boring update on how I don’t know anything about how my own blog works, here’s what I’ve been working on:

Skeining (and gods my arms and shoulders hurt). Pictured below is approximately 90 skeins of yarn. With more on the way. But I totally need a break. Everything dyeable is now skeined for dyeing. Should have been ready over a week ago. But, whatevs. Thank goodness for roving/top. You weigh it and cut it. Done.

By the way, after my trifecta of June Shows (a post coming later in the week), I’m buying an electric skeiner. My body deserves it. Here’s my current low-tech, high-energy setup:

And currently, prepping craft and wool felt. Yep, I wash even that stuff. And iron it. Because I’m OCD.

(This is also why it’s 2:25am and I haven’t updated until 3 days after the original end of the contest. Ugh. Oh, besides totally rearranging the house <again> and a sick child [which will forever trump all].)  Enter the contest. Win something for yourself or to give. Until then, keep dreaming, and keep creating.

ps: welcome back home, Dad!

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.

Before I get to the yarn induced fever I’ve been in over the past 72 hours, I have been accepted into one of the seven shows I’ve applied for! I know two others are fair game to say I’m a shoe in, but until I get the emails, phone calls, or letters, I try not to count ‘em - but I got the acceptance email for this one last week:

Dahara Dreaming will be exhibiting at
Old Worthington Market Day, Saturday September 13th, 2008
It’s here in Columbus, 9am - 4:30pm, rain or shine!

Woot!

In other news, I have 10 pounds of yarn fiber dyed. They are gorgeous! I am, however, a tad bit biased. Here’s a rundown of the lowdown:

My favorite swift ever. Captain even thinks so.

10 pounds wound and bagged - 4 different fibers in each bag. I really wanted folks to see how these new colorways took, and how differently each yarn takes dye. There were some serious surprises.

Here are four pounds of the loveliness waiting to be reskeined. I adore these colorways! Bright and vibrant and a bit in your face. Sort of like me at times.

Representatives of four out of the ten pounds (6 colorways are still going to be a suprise!) reskeined and waiting for tags. This terrible photo was taken in due haste for this post, but I likey. Proper photos will be taken next week and luscious detail will be available.

The yarn portion of the relaunch is done. Phew. That was some serious labor. Previews will be available in a few days in the shop - for all ten colorways. I know I said 8. I just tend to overdo… well, almost everything!

And I’m so fargin’ behind. It’s actually scaring me. Me! Who thrives on pressure. But, I get how it happened.

1: Second cat. In as many months. He’s actually a kitten. I kid you not.

The guy on the left is the newbie. Guy on the right is Miles, whom we’ve had for two months. Three days together and they are the bestest buds. Except for the hair tingling yowling “friendly” tussles they get into.

Lots of knocked over plants, getting on the table, flying cat leap, and general entertainment. Keeping me on my toes. At the very least Miles is no longer terrorizing our feet while we sleep. He has another cat to now cuddle and terrorize. And cat numero dos can take him.

2: Child of mine has a new bed. Any idea how that can excite the Captain and not help her get to sleep? Oh the things I learn daily. It’s the days with the hourly learning experiences that scare the bejeezus out of me.

2am
Captain: Mom, can I come downstairs (in a very tired, pitiful voice).
Me: No honey, it’s bedtime. Wait, why are you awake?
Captain: I’m coming downstairs to tell you.
Me: Oh, okay.

We go sit on the couch. Shear Genius is on and the swifts and pounds and pounds of yarn are getting weighed and wound

Me: Hon it’s sleeping time. How come you’re awake?

Captain: (who has very adorable expressive 3 years young hands) Mom, I was on my bed. And it was dark. And I woke up. And there was scary monsters’ in bedroom so I had to wake up and walk downstairs to see you so I wouldn’t be scared any more with my new bed.

At this point I’ve heard the story *cough*quiteafewtimesaround2or3aminthemorningandwhileitgetsoldthestoryneverdoes*cough*

3. Gardens. So much stuff didn’t make it I’ve had to replant. A lot.

We did the fall (re)planting today. It only took 2 hours. This is our second year, and we’re doing better and worse in different ways. Tonight for dinner though, we had fried potatoes from our garden! That was incredible.

But now, now the kittens, Captain and Hubby are sleeping. Back to work for me.

No sneak peeks available, but if I stick it out until 2am or so (it’s only 11pm here, geesh!), I’ll be done with what I’m currently working on and can go to the next item. Which - by the by, is going to be yarn. I’ve got 9 repeatable colorways for the ReLaunch that I’m stoked about. 9!! I’ll be dying 3 or 4 different fibers for each colorway, at 3.5 - 4.0 oz each skein. Just have to reskein some deliciousness and get it all soaked and scoured up.

Just to warm your yarnie senses: Gaia, Windsor (tussah silk and merino blend), BFL, Targhee (sock AND worsted!)

Oh! If you twitter - I’m there, and gotta say, I quite like it.