people are such fun

now that my latest big secret project is off the needles (YAY), i’m finally making a little progress on my cotton bocce ball cap. i know—it’s not much but at least it’s moving forward. i hope to finish it today or tomorrow, as a treat before starting my new secret knitting. i’m knitting this with ecobutterfly cotton sport, in the chocolate shade.

and i plan to put some rows on my cotton empreinte crescent scarf as well (that’s knit in ecobutterfly pakucho cotton lace in the forest mist shade—i love it).

i want to finish up those two items because we were able to get more of the rare and gorgeous fifo—another color grown organic cotton yarn, this time in a variety of weights and i’m itching to knit some of the fingering or sport weight. that’s right, the cotton for this yarn grows in this deep, rich, naturally occurring purple shade, how about that?

this photo shows the lace yarn we shipped to our purple club this month. then we found more of it available in fingering, sport and worsted weights. as with all natural yarns, the color varies somewhat—and unlike dyed yarns, we pretty much have to embrace whatever we get. you can imagine how little control producers have over the color, what with the range of possible variants (weather, rainfall, soil conditions, hours of sunlight, etc).

we’ll be listing what we have in our online shop very soon; in the meantime, i want to start something with it. with the weather being what it has been (pretty chilly at night and most days as well), i may actually start a blanket, haha . . .

the buttons arrived today for my pedal pusher cardigan so now i can put the finishing touches on that and maybe start one for david. there is going to be a pullover version with a placket and my friend anne c. has already volunteered to knit the prototype. in fact, she’s practically standing over me with a whip to write up the pattern—probably a good thing.

while i was ordering those buttons, i went ahead and ordered some sample sets of others made from natural materials that i thought would look beautiful with our yarns. the yellowish ones are the same as my buttons but in a different color bone material. won’t they look great with an oatmeal, cream, or gray yarn?

i love the auburn ones at the bottom right; they have a kind of maroon or cordovan color, just the perfect look for an ivar cardigan in both style and size (small buttons in natural materials are harder to find). and i found a couple variations of horn and bone that i like as well (top). it seems like supplies of these vary throughout the year, so i may stock up now to get our shops ready for fall sweater knitting.

(sprössling cardigan in breakfast blend fingering with danger cowl in confection worsted)

speaking of the shops, we are having so much fun with our new retail space. you know, the physical shop was really just a last-minute inspiration that sprang into our heads when we saw the setup of our office space for the first time. but thanks to our terrifically creative staff, it has very quickly become a little jewel at the center of our work environment. it is SO exciting to step into our offices and see, first thing, the array of beautiful things that are the product of our work here.

last week our signage was installed in and around the entrance and i believe next week we’ll be receiving the sign to be installed out at the street, pointing travelers in the right direction. it’s been SO much fun to talk to people who find their way here—thank you to everyone who has made the trip.

last friday, for instance we had a wonderful visit from liz, who stopped by on her way to a drag racing event in south eastern ohio. funny thing, she is actually from the area where my mom lives. we are so gonna have to meet up one of these days, haha. anyway, she wrote a VERY entertaining blog post about her trip, featuring her arrival at our shop. i just wish i had known she was here; i would have gone over to meet her.

and for the record, if any of you is coming and cannot make it during regular shop hours, please call and let us know; we can usually make some kind of arrangement to accommodate you (within reason, heh).

(left to right: sticks and stone pullover in stone soup DK with tidal sands cowl in breakfast blend fingering; goobalini cap in cotton sport and wandering thyme crescent in cotton lace;  cluaranach wrap in ghillie sock; twig and leaf crescent in mrs lincoln’s lace)

in fact, we are totally up for ideas concerning group events. so many times, we get notes from readers and customers wishing they could take a class or see our yarns in person. if you and a small circle of friends would like to come have a class with me here, we can make that happen! or arrange for your guild to make a field trip for yarn tasting. knitting and finishing classes, project KALs, book signings, yarn tours and tastings are all on our wish list—what’s on yours?

we are also gearing up for a bunch of early fall events. susan, barb, erica, and a couple other staffers (maybe even me, if my ankle doesn’t get better soon) will be representing at the michigan fiber festival in allegan, MI on the weekend of august 16 to 17. if you’re there, please come visit our booth and don’t forget to bring your latest knitspot project—we look forward to seeing your accomplishments. and we’ll probably want to take your picture so wear your lipstick.

upon our return home from the festival, my new craftsy class will be released—a survey of finishing techniques that covers a wide range of tricks, tips, and techniques to help you navigate your finishing tasks and hopefully, come to enjoy them as much as i do. you might think that’s a stretch, but trust me it’s not, especially when we work together, as the craftsy platform allows us to do so well.

and wow, the time to think about rhinebeck is really upon us now. we are working hard on getting our rhinebeck after party (RAP) event organized. this is such a warm and wonderful event; i’m really looking forward to this year’s rematch! this year, we are tackling color work and i’m so excited—this is a side of me that i don’t get to bring our that often but now that we have so many yarns in a range of shades, my inner alice starmore is clamoring to get out.

we are going to learn about yarn choices for color work, introduce ourselves to a few different color work techniques and some history, and then tackle a color work project together. we’ll take a whole day to get started and some good headway on something we can then finish on our own—you know, that kind of knitting you never get to do at home. that will give us time to really talk while we work, too. i’m SO looking forward to it and i hope you can join us. want to know more? click here to read details about class selections and visit our ravelry threads to read the excitement that participants have shared about their experiences at the RAP.

phew, that is a LOT going on around here, isn’t it?

and i haven’t even mentioned the garden yet . . . i think i’ll save that for the next post; i don’t want to exhaust you.