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A few good things….

Hey there,

It feels like a long time since I posted. I don’t think it actually has been it just feels that way. Life has been full and busy and a little crazy and when that is the case time seems to flow quite rapidly.

I have a lot to I want to talk about so I am going to jump right in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The barn is just humming along with all kinds of color joy. We are busy dyeing all of your beautiful color combo’s for the Buffy KAL. We’ve already shipped out some of the early bird orders and will be shipping more out tomorrow and Monday.  If you would like to join our slayer of a KAL there is still time. The 15% coupon code  ( which you get when you purchase the pattern) doesn’t expire until this weekend on the 22nd which gives us plenty of time to get you your yarn for Shannon’s May cast-on date.

I can’t tell  you how thrilled I am that you all love my Buffy colorways as much as I do. I love that some of you are ordering the whole set. I would too. I might be keep the set I used for the photos in a nice safe place where I can see them. I did the same thing with the Ravens. Actually I still have the original set of Ravens.

Anyway Shannon and her lovely husband Stefan took some seriously fun photos. I so wish I could have been in on that photo shoot!

So much fun and what a stunning and sassy shawl! Just perfect for a little late night slaying. Slay Me KAL pattern page.

If you need color choosing help you can look at what we have put together here on this post. Also you can email me at info@bluemoonfiberarts.com                                                    I am always happy to help with color choices.

Speaking of color. I’ve been getting a whole bunch of requests for color help for Andrea Mowry’s  lovely Fade knit series, So Faded and Find your Fade.  So I am going to put together a few color schemes so look for those next week.

Okay so I know I promised a Dye Class/Camp Schedule quite awhile ago. I am in the process. I just have some family stuff I need to work around so I have been trying to firm that up before posting dates.

We will be having our yearly Dye Days and Barn Sale in early August this year.

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In early July ( 6-9)  I will be on Bainbridge Island at the magical Islandwood with Lorilee Beltman teaching eco printing!!! I know. Pretty exciting.

You can read about all of fun and details  Knitting on a Lark retreat info here.

Here is my class description.

Color Magic

Join me as we explore the magical alchemy that is color on fiber with plants. In this three-hour class we are going to be experimenting with Eco Printing, otherwise know as “botanical contact printing”.
Petals, berries, seeds, bark, leaves, roots and stems hold all sorts of color mysteries. We are going to explore these mysteries with some creative mordanting and a little steam on: a cotton hanky, a wool yarn blank and also a skein of silk blend yarn. I seriously can’t think of a better place to learn more about plant color and printing than on the island oasis that is Island Wood.
What you need for this class is a sense of adventure, a love of color and an apron or a t-shirt that you don’t mind getting messy. Dyeing is a creative messy business!
You will leave with a new appreciation of the plants and a hanky, yarn blank and skein as affirmation that you can knit and wear!  Since our time is going to be full of dyeing we will also provide you with a set with class notes.
Lorilee has all kinds of other knit fun planned. Plus great food and a cooking class and …s’mores in a stunning place with wonderful people!
I hope you’ll join us for what is sure to be a wonderful time.
 Have a great weekend!
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merino madness

Can you feel it? Spring must have sprung! I know, because now I’m casting on ALL.THE.THINGS!

These two bouncy bits of deliciousness are keeping me company in my knitting corner today – so much squishy delicious merino in one place I can barely stand it!

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In the foreground is the full-on plump deliciousness of CAKE DK, on the needles as the tender beginnings of Hunter Hammersen’s Compunction mitts. (Those slipped stitches that look like diagonal twisted stitches? Genius!) Can’t wait to knit up the whole set, hat and mitts – and by then it will probably even be warm enough in this leftmost upper corner of the US to not need them for morning walks. Oh well; that’s a decent tradeoff for warm Springlike weather, eh?

And in the background? My first chance to take La Luna DK for an official spin! Tina and I prowled cowl patterns on Ravelry, and found a super-fun one to whip up as a sample for you lucky ducks going to Maryland Sheep & Wool next month! The colorway is “Calendula” and it’s the happiest of slap-happy yellowy-orange shades (and that’s saying a lot from this connoisseur of orange!).

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I gotta say, if April is still in lion mode where you are, you can beat the where-the-heck-is-Spring doldrums with some bouncy, plump, squishy merino. The only way to make it any better? YouTube videos of baby lambs. Because there’s no such thing as too much bouncy, happy merino-sheepyness!

Happy spring holiday weekend, everyone!

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Let Them Knit Cake

I don’t know about you, but I call a skein that’s been wound on a ball winder a “cake” of yarn. Often to giggles and smiles from knitters – and a few jokes about calories.

But now Tina’s done us one better: she’s given us not one, but TWO yarns called CAKE…!!

Only super-delicious merino could deserve such an appellation. This is bouncy, happy fiber at its yummiest best. Every time I think about ways to describe Cake Worsted and Cake DK, I come up with images of ultra-happy, puffy, clean things: like fluffy cosmetic puffs, or a baby’s head right after a bath, or fat ducklings waddling after their mamas.

Yup, they are that happy and bouncy.

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CAKE Worsted is a plump 4-ply (four plies, four candles – get it?!) that knits up like a dream in the light-worsted range. I did a series of swatches from a size US6 (4mm) to a US8 (5mm), and got great, balanced stitches throughout. On the smaller needle sizes, you get crisp stitch definition and fantastic snap-back, and a gauge around 20 sts x 31 rows per 4″/10cm. Great for pullovers and cardigans where you want a little body without a ton of weight. There’s so much buoyancy in here (hence the comparison to fluffy cotton balls)!

On the looser end of the worsted range, I was geting a more fluid fabric that still wasn’t sheer, and had great integrity for all that it was opened up. A US8 got me 17 sts x 27 rows – and a perfect fabric for open, drapey cardigans or fun accessories.

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Speaking of fun accessories, I couldn’t wait to cast on for a cozy cowl, and my internet buddy pariserlandluft fulfilled my wishes with a brand-new pattern, i_n_t_a.

Simple columns of twisted stitches on a field of reverse stockinette really let this yarn show off its great stitch definition. And it was such a pleasure and simple to knit that it was done nearly before I knew it! I would highly recommend this as a tasty way to try out CAKE Worsted. “Just a slice for me, thanks.” “Oh another? I couldn’t possibly… well, if you insist.”

Pert and springy on the needles, the fabric of this cowl just relaxed and softened with blocking. Now I can hardly bear to take it off (good thing April’s coming in like a lion as we speak! Winter woolies can’t go in the closet just yet.)

unnamed-4CAKE DK is a 3-ply, with a tiny bit more halo than the Worsted. It’s so drapey and soft, you’d think there’s some alpaca or other long-staple fiber in there. But its merino pedigree shines through when you knit it through its gauge range and block your swatches – pert and bouncy to start, your swatches will relax with blocking and just transition into the most gorgeous flowy-yet-reliable fabric imaginable.

I swatched it on a range of needles from US4 (3.5mm) to US7 (4.5mm), and the fabric is lovely throughout the range. Down on the smaller needle sizes, you’ll get a true DK gauge (22 sts in 4″/10cm) and a fabric that has integrity with flow – perfect for cardigans or pullovers. Opened up a bit, you can get close to a tight-light-worsted gauge (around 20.5 sts) with a ton of drape. I’m sure there are a few sweaters in the new Cocoknits Sweater Workshop that I just have to try in Cake DK. Or maybe the new Churchmouse Quintessential Cardigan…? As I told Tina after swatching both CAKES – this might just be my ultimate sweater yarn. (And that’s saying a lot – this girl loves her some sweaters!)

In the meantime, I’m taking the rest of this skein and casting on Hunter Hammersen’s Compunction mitts. All those great twisted/traveling stitches should knit up a dream!

No matter how you slice it, CAKE is a fantastic new range of yarns – I can’t wait for you all to serve yourself up a skein and eat … I mean knit it all up!

Dang. All this talk of CAKE got me so hungry, a girl had to go bake herself one to dig into while we cast on! unnamed-5

Happy birthday, CAKE!

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Slay Me ~ Buffy KAL colorway pairings

Hello all!

As promised a few colorway pairing ideas for our Buffy knit-a-long.  Shannon and I spent the day today  playing matchy~matchy with skeins of yarn.  It is the best kind of game!

On the top row of each photo is our Buffy colorway in Super Sparkle and Yaksi Fingering-weight. Right underneath are the shaded solids we have carefully chosen that we feel make our Buffy colorways and Shannon’s design sparkle! Oh and the list of colorway names moves from the left to the right of the photo!

If none of these float your boat then please do email info@bluemoonfiberarts.com and I will do my very best to help you choose the colorway that makes you feel like the chosen one.

Click on each picture to make them bigger and see the color a little better.

Okay I am off to bed.

Sweet dreams are made of these…