goodstitch fibers

I'm so excited to share with you guys a project I've been working on for a couple of months now - Goodstitch Fibers, an online shop for handmade items made by yours truly! This shop is an important step for me in continuing to pursue my fiber dreams and being able to take steps forward financially with some projects I'm really excited about. And aren't bowties so fun?!

I first got the idea for the bowties from the Mr., who loves to wear them to work. At a hospital, they make so much sense because they can't be grabbed or spilled on and are generally hygienic that way, but I think they're functional and beautiful most of all. And stylish to boot. 

Right now the products are available as ready to wear and made to order, and I'd love to do custom orders as well if you are interested in them for a group or something you don't see listed on the website. Be on the lookout this fall for bowties for littles too! The link to the shop is now in my top navigation to make it easy to find. I can't wait to send these beautiful knits out into the world. 

Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging today with the launch of the store and I can't wait to see what is ahead! 

 

a little crafty stop

Every year, unintentionally, the Mr. and I have made it to Nashville for Labor Day weekend. We met there, went to school there, fell in love there, and still have some great friends who live there, and the more time we can get there the happier we are. So three day weekends always seem like a good choice, of course!

It's been so fun ever since we moved away three years ago to see how the craft scene there has been growing so much. My favorite yarn store while I lived in the city was Haus of Yarn, but it seems like every time I visit there are more fun places to go. The downside of flying in this trip, naturally, was that we were car-less the whole weekend, so I didn't quite get everywhere I wanted to go (see: Craft South, Hey Rooster) but one day we managed to get over to East Nashville and putzed around this really sweet area around Fatherland Street where we found Nutmeg!

Nutmeg is the cutest, most petite little craft store ever. Despite its small square-footage, she had so many yarns and fabrics that I was dying over, even some of the new dyed Moeke yarns! I've also been curious about Lettlopi since Tolt Yarn & Wool started carrying it in their online store, so it was fun to be able to feel that in person. Ultimately, I landed on a yarn I've been coveting for many moons...Brooklyn Tweed Loft. The woolen-spun nature is hard to describe but subtly different than any worsted-spun yarn I've ever felt, and was actually a lot softer than I was anticipating. Usually I find that when someone describes their yarn as "rustic", it means stick to outerwear when you're knitting it. I was delighted to find that was not the case. I'm thinking maybe it's destined to be Anisos or Rakke? Definitely lace. Definitely, definitely lace. 

Anyways, Meg is the sweetest proprietress and just from being in there for a little while you could tell she really loved her community and that her store was so welcoming to everyone. I definitely recommend you go check her out if you find yourself on the trendy side of the tracks in Nashville. 

love list: vests and such

1/2/3

Now that it is September, I have one thing on the brain - fall and fall only. I'm not at the point where I can imagine that it will be cold enough for sweaters any time soon, but these vests are simple and gorgeous and could knit up pretty fast, especially the middle vest! I love Danforth because of the really slight sleeve. It's gorgeous! And the Georgia cardigan looks beautiful both buttoned and unbuttoned. It looks like it would be great for layering as well. 

I can imagine wearing these to the pumpkin patch, out shopping on a Saturday or on a cooler evening. Let the seasonally-appropriate knitting begin! :)

for spinners seeking a wheel

When I took this picture, I didn't know what any of these wheels were. Now I know it's a Kromski Sonata, Kromski Fantasia, and what looks like the Lendrum Folding Wheel.

I wish someone would have told me what a deep well I'd be falling into when I started looking into buying a spinning wheel. There's so much to know! There's so many brands, and so many types, and so many features! There is a spinning wheel out there for just about every person who ever wanted to spin yarn, whether seriously or as a hobby. Whether you want to spin art yarn or lace weight. How tall you are, how long you want to spin, whether you like wood or plastic or PVC. Since it has been a busy week for me job-wise and not much in the way of knitting or spinning has been happening, I thought it might be good to synthesize some great resources I've found just in case there are others who are going through the same process I am!

I won't try to re-create what is out there already, so consider this a library of articles/videos/resources. Just in time for the weekend!

The Basics

What is important when considering your first wheel?

What are the major brands of spinning wheels?

Other resources about specific wheel models

Last but not least, I would definitely recommend the Craftsy class on the Foundations of Spinning. It was a great class that you could easily do in a day, and she covers a lot of really valuable information on wheels and spinning in general. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list but i hope it helps others out there looking to make an investment in a tool that can last a lifetime!

off the needles: laurus

"Laurus" by Dianna Walla

Started: August 28, 2015

Finished: August 29, 2015 (yay!)

Fiber: Quince and Co. Lark (main color: peacoat, contrasting color: malbec)

Notes: Yay for quick knits! This hat was a total whim. I don't even like colorwork that much but with a car ride in my future I thought I would just try and see what happened. And I'm happy I did! I had some leftover Lark yarn from some projects I did this winter and had just enough to knit this project. The colors aren't super contrasting, but that's kind of my style, so it works, and it was so simple it literally took me less than a day. I made the middle size in the fitted version and it was perfect. The Mr. tried it on and it was way too small, so if I was knitting one for him I'd go with the largest size, and the slouchy version. 

Best of all, Laurus is a free pattern through the #fringehatalong series that Karen is hosting on her blog! I also knit the L'Arbre hat from this series earlier this summer. It's a great little series that would be great for beginning knitters looking to expand their skill set. All in all, I would say definitely knit this little hat and feel happy about a day well-spent. 

Still spinning BFL this week and kind of avoiding swatching for Timberline. I'm excited to knit the sweater, but the swatching? I think I'm mostly afraid I'm going to have to do it more than once. That's silly, typing it out, but there it is. Any thoughts from people who love swatches?

a little for a monday

This picture of a butterfly has nothing to do with knitting/spinning/sewing. I've just been weirdly seeing a lot of gorgeous butterflies lately and wanted to share!

Well,  we've made it through another weekend! This week mine included a bunch of car knitting en route on a day trip, and spinning on Sunday. Right now I'm spinning some BFL/Silk from Walnut Farm up in Pennsylvania and finished the first 2 oz this weekend for making a 2 ply fingering weight. It's taking forever, but the colors are gorgeous. The weather here is starting to hint at fall and I couldn't love it more. The Mr. and I have coffee on our porch swing often and my first soup is already in the crockpot, thanks to some butternut squash from Benevolence Farm . I am going to miss tomato season, but wouldn't trade a million tomatoes for what the trees are about to start doing around my house. (This is where I would insert all of the fall-related emojis I could find, if I was typing on my phone.)

Monday often comes with a lot of wishing for the weekend, but a lot of promise for me, these days. Here are some things I am loving and looking forward to this week: 

  • I knit a hat this weekend and I love seeing everyone's Laurus hats pop up on the #fringehatalong tag on Insta. Hopefully I can take pictures of mine soon and post!
  • I'm deep into spinning wheel research and comparison right now. What I wish I could find is a huge chart with all the major spinning wheel brands & models and direct comparisons of their major functions and capabilities, but this article, this video, and this class have been a good place to start. 
  • Rebekka Seale has a beautiful Pinterest. 
  • The most perfect pink yarn I've ever seen. 
  • I spun a little alpaca so far I got from my trip to Asheville and I would love to make something simple like this with it. 
  • Thinking about upcoming travel and I love this idea for a travel blanket by A Girl Named Leney.

Happy Monday everyone!

off the needles: trellis scarf

Trellis Scarf by the Purl Bee

Started: July 22, 2015

Finished: August 23, 2015

Fiber: Purl Soho Flax Down, 2 skeins in "Desert Blue"

Notes: This scarf was originally never supposed to be. The Mr. bought me these two beautiful skeins of Flax Down when he went on a trip to NYC in March, and I knew that they were destined for a shawl of my own design. I restarted the design twice, but two months later it was still sitting barely touched. (Maybe that design will come to fruition someday.) When we were getting ready to move, I found it again and just decided spontaneously to rip out the whole thing. It was too lovely to sit there unfinished, and I have heard knitters describe this phenomenon as being able to feel what pattern the yarn was supposed to be destined for. And now, I have a scarf that is lovely, and that I can't wait to wear. Flax Down is single ply and has a great halo, on top of being so soft. It almost has a natural, kind of handspun quality to it that is a little hard to describe.  I would love to someday knit a whole sweater with this yarn. The pattern is wonderful as well, one that was on my list for a while, and uses the same technique that I had just knit in the L'Arbre hat! After a few repeats it was easy to memorize, which is my favorite type of knitting these days. Interesting and beautiful, but simple.

The only modification that I made (outside of the yarn substitution) was to do one less repeat in the total width. I almost wish I hadn't - it is plenty long but I can wrap it around my neck a few times for extra warmth, so I'm not too worried.

Now Fall - please show up!!


organizing anew

They have a really specific walk about them when they're doing something they shouldn't. The kittens, that is. They have an extra spring in their step, a bouncy sort of mischievous way about them when they're carrying a toy, an ice cube, a ham sandwich they've pulled off the counter (ugh), but my least favorite of all was when they skipped lightly away with my yarn. And they do it a lot.

At our previous home my stash was all stored in our closet of our guest bedroom, which was almost always closed. But in our new space we began storing it in a set of stacking bins that were open-top, and this led to many trots away and ravaged skeins. 

This hopefully is a new and better solution. An old and beautiful filing cabinet we lined and cleaned and brought home. It's a little rusty and we'd still love to do some work on the exterior, but I love how it sits in the corner of our guest bedroom/office. Karen Templer recently talked about her new yarn storage solution in her studio and it's evolving state, and I think it's so fun to think of how everyone does it. Right now each of my drawers are divided up by weight (fingering and DK, sport in one drawer, worsted in another), by type of project (spinning and dyeing materials in one drawer) and tools (in the last drawer). I am pretty proud that it all fits in this one cabinet (except current projects in my rice basket and special yarns, hanging above). Felicia of the Craft Sessions really inspired me last year to think about my yarn purchases and about a move towards having less of a stash. So now I'm trying really hard not to buy any fiber without a project specifically in mind that I'm ready to do or that I know I'm going to be tackling in the near future. With a few exceptions of course! I'm not superwoman :)

What are your favorite ways to store your crafts in a way that is safe (and pretty!)?

P.S. - I think they're going to get over their disappointment just fine.