Hand-dyed yarn!
This week marks two years since I Got a Real Job, and the point at which my ability to keep my online yarn and fiber shop going started to decline. I can't even remember when I finally pulled the website.
I have now opened an Etsy shop. For anyone not in the know, Etsy is an online marketplace where people can list their handmade items for sale. Since I can no longer sell enough items to pay for a full website with shopping cart, I'm trying Etsy, which charges by item.
Look to your right: There's a widget showing some of the items I have for sale. I'm still working out the tweaks, but it looks like clicking over there will bring you right to my "shop." Bear with me. I posted these items last night but this is all very different from what I am used to. But I think it will work. If all goes well, I will slooooooowly be adding inventory, buying more raw materials out of my earnings. Next up: baby Romney batts from a local Vermont sheep. :-) Please give me whatever feedback you have; I'm listening.
I've gotten a few requests to please update this blog and I hadn't realized how long its been since my last post. Strangely enough, I've had more free time in the past month than I have in ages. The harvest is in. The days are short. Did you know it's December? Yikes.
I'm laying off the gift knitting this year. I didn't quite hit the mark last year on most of my attempts so instead of making recipients feel guilty about handknits they aren't totally jazzed about, I'm concentrating on myself. That's the Christmas spirit, right?
I've been doing some spinning and loving it. Below, the black fiber in front is local alpaca. The white in back is my sheep Sophie's. She's a Border Leicester and her locks are very shiny and strong but not very soft. I've decided to make a pair of felted slippers for myself and figured this was just the stuff.
I could have dyed her fleece; it takes color beautifully. But in the end I went for a lightly carded gray.
I am almost done with the first slipper. It's HUGE! But it's going to be felted and I have a feeling it will wear like iron, provided it shrinks up enough.
I also finished spinning the tencel/merino I had overdyed.
It's like a fingering weight, which is finer than my norm. But I'm making the Shaelyn shawl (Ravelry link) I have made more progress than this picture shows:
But right now my feet are colder than my neck, so I'm focusing on the slippers.
We did go away one weekend in November, to see my stepson wrestle. He's a student at Bridgewater State in Mass. and is nationally ranked (19th, I think) in the 165-pound Division III weight class. He took second place in a field of 36 wrestlers, which I believe is his highest college finish so far. (That's him on top.)
With his proud dad:
And with his girlfriend of five years, as of this month:
Upon our return, our first-time housesitter reported that Milo attacked her at one point. I had warned her but she said he was purring and looked so sweet she didn't think he'd turn on her.
Heh.
Never trust this cat.
And last, you know I'm a big proponent of farm-raised foods. My eggs are a thing of beauty, I can't deny it. But I had forgotten just how beautiful they were until I started to run out (damn these short days) and had to supplement my stock with storebought ones. Local, but still storebought. Can you tell which is which?
Free-range chickens are happy, healthy chickens. Say it with me, people.
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