Finally, knitting...

It's not much but I have been working on my Summer of Socks list. These are the Classic Socks that are way past due (they should have been a Christmas gift!). Pic is an awful phone camera shot:

I will be posting more yarn in the Shop tomorrow and am going to be having a sale coming up this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. I had planned to have more on and to have dyed more but my mother was in the hospital over the weekend and family obligations took precedent. Back to the dye pots in the AM. I will take some pictures this time! For now, so tired...must sleep! Buenas noches!

Summer of Socks 09 & A Sale

So I sat down last night and made a list of socks I would like to (try and) complete for this years Summer of Socks 2009. The theme is stress free, so to that end I decided I would like to finish up some pairs I have laying around that have a bit of second sock syndrome.

Twisted Tulip Socks-1 fully finished, second to go.

River Ripple Socks-needles, pattern and yarn are in bag ready to be cast on.

The Classic Sock- First sock is almost at the heel turn (this one was supposed to be a Christmas gift last year but got so put off!)

Roger Sock- Great new pattern from KnitSpot, have to pick a great variegated color.

Angora House Socks- If I'm lucky I will get this far, but here's hoping.

Embossed Leaves Socks- I have wanted to do these and have had the yarn for a year now.

Sprucey Lucy Socks- still need to pick some yarn for these...hmm...

I think I better stop there since I will be surprised if I get half of those done. I am not a terribly fast knitter and am going to be spending tons of time dyeing yarn, etc. so I will have to be sure and steal some time for myself in the evenings. I dyed 28 skeins yesterday and have listed some new things in the shop that were dyed last week such as this one (great for the upcoming 4th and summertime):

Bomb Pop-Hand-painted superwash merino wool.

I've got lots of other fun, summer colors being listed over the next few days and I'm running a School's Out SALE!! to help kick off summer. You can take 10% off all purchases now through June 30th, 2009. No coupon code needed.

I think that's going to be it for tonight (not much, I know, but I'm working on it). I have lots more dyeing to be done in the AM and listing on Etsy as well. I am trying to get as much work done as possible this week since I would like to take a "day off" from everything this weekend and take my kids fishing or some such fun-ness. We went strawberry picking recently and it was great to just get the kids out without any stress. So, til next time ciao!

Montgomery Farmers Market

Every Friday, in the Village of Montgomery, is a nice farmer's market from 11-5pm. Last month, while picking a strawberry plant for my daughter, I thought it would be nice to have a stand there to sell my Serendipity yarn & roving. So, for the past 2 Fridays I have set up a small stand there and it seems to be well received.

I have gotten a few "what are you selling?, oh, yarn?" but there have also been some knitters and crocheters as well. I'm hoping that word will get out a bit that I am there and more will stop by and check it out. It's a nice group of people and the weather has (for the most part) cleared on market days lately.

I will be there again this Friday from 11-5pm with hopefully even more yarn and roving. The market has also been good practice for my first fiber show, which will be the PA Endless Mountain Fiber Festival, Sept. 12 & 13, 2009 in Harford, PA with LOTS more fiber.

Also worth noting is the Summer of Socks 2009 that has kicked off and this year I made sure to join. I saw it last year but things were so crazy I decided to skip it. This year things are just as crazy but I figured if I joined I would maybe actually get some knitting done and I have to tell ya, the projects are starting to pile up! Plus, I really do love to knit, especially socks, so it will be good to have some pressure on me to relax and knit a bit (ironic, huh?). I tend to work better and faster with a deadline, which is a good thing because I'm also going to have to dye a boatload of yarn and roving for Sept. as well. [Note to self: no more procrastinating!].

I will be listing more yarn in the Etsy store for the next few days and my kids will out of school soon, so hopefully there will be more to write about. So, til next time...adios!

Victory Garden.. wait it gets better!

This year I decided I was going to do a Victory garden (and by I, I meant everyone in my household!). I, of course, decided this in the dead of winter when there was about 2 feet of snow on the ground and the only signs of life were the chickadees on my birdfeeders (of which I have 10 or 11). I decided I was going to grow all my veggies and strawberries for the next 6-8 months. I read online about how lawns were wasteful and started in the Victorian Era as a decoration in yards of the wealthy. Everyone else used every plot of land they could to grow something or raise some type of livestock. So I thought in this day and age, no one has a right to keep a huge lawn when, (even if we didn't need it- which we do) there are people starving in our towns and schools. Not to mention the care and cost of a lawnmower- the oil and gas it requires, etc. This year I was going to be a responsible person and dig up the whole yard and put in a Victory Garden! (This was in Jan.- by March the Victory Garden was everywhere, go figure!) I also seemed to ignore the fact that actually putting it in cost quite a bit as well. So, of course, when it came time to do all of the work, I seemed to have forgotten my very vigilant ideals and we are still mowing a lawn every weekend. However, we did manage to do our part with this lil' bit:

I think I like this picture better with the sunlight streaming in...

That's corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, broccoli, green peppers, green beans and snap peas.

In this one below there are zucchinis, watermelon, summer, acorn and butternut squash.

They look a bit bigger in real life and the plants are definitely doing well, with all this rain we've gotten! I still have more tomatoes and peppers on the deck and a pumpkin patch I would like to start, as well as strawberry plants my 3yo picked out at the Farmers Market. I will get those in as soon as I figure a way to keep them from getting eaten by critters. She's already eaten 4 or 5 ripe fruits so they may just stay on the deck. I think all in all it's pretty good. We amended the soil as little as possible, used all organic seeds, plants and soil, laid newspaper and straw down to inhibit weeds and now we wait. it's not exactly a Victory Garden but it's a start in the right direction. Til' next time....ta-ta...

Not exactly tomorrow but...

I know I haven't written much on here because, to be honest, I'm not sure what to write. I'm not sure how personal I should be on a blog without being too personal. However, I have come to the conclusion that I have to become somewhat inclusive and let people have a glimpse into my life a bit and see who I really am, or this will never be successful (as far as blogs go). The truth is, I don't think I know how to write about my life, or even the shop, without being totally personal, the good and bad! So, I will try it and hopefully some of you reading this will comment and let me know what you think. (Hopefully, the blog visits have not all been my mother!) I am going to write about my new endeavor, my business- dyeing yarn and roving, my knitting and my (sad) attempt at gardening. I'm also going to write about my family (a bit) and the events of my life because they are sometimes mind-boggling (I have been told countless times that my life should be a tv show- "you can't make this stuff up!"). I hope I don't offend or turn anyone away and I truly hope and implore you to, please, use the comments link to tell me what you think. I've always been one to do things a bit different, let's see how it goes....

Just a quickie!

I will be writing more in the very near future but I just wanted to pop on and say that I am doing my first stand at the Village of Montgomery Farmers Market tomorrow. I will be sure to take pictures to post. I will also be a vendor at the PA Endless Mountains Fiber Festival this September. More about that tomorrow!