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A little lightness for Spring!

and a few peeps too!!

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Last year due to the wild fires and the wild life that was seeking other ground I lost my flock of chickens. Super sad! I decided to wait until this spring to replace them which is what we are in the process of doing. These are Copper Marans which lay beautiful dark brown eggs. Today I pick up a few more that lay blue and green eggs so that when they breed they make olive eggs!!! I know I just can’t resist the whole color thing no matter what.

These little babies are so sweet and cuddly.  And….they love wool!! Who knew?!

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The one in the right was obviously over come with her love or wool and let’s be real warmth that she just fell right to sleep!! So cute.  When I brought them into the barn yesterday it was all ooohs and ahhhs and squeals of delight. I think after the winter we’ve had here these babies are going to be some serious therapy for us all. I am just going to wanr you now there are going to be tons of pictures!! So be prepared.

It’s time to change up the colors. It’s actually past time but I wanted to make sure we were at least close to being caught up on orders before we made this change. This week we will be caught up!! At least that is the plan. I swear that if I was just starting a business and experienced the 6 to 8 months we’ve just had I would consider maybe not. However, I have been doing this a very very long time and am going with the whole do your very best and this too shall pass!!

So here’s a lit of the colorways that I put up this morning and ones I took down.

New colorways will be coming in the next few weeks so enjoy these lovelies until then. They are some of my favorites!

Colorways that we have brought for a visit:   Apron Strings, Awesomesauce, Bubble Guppies, Black to the Fuchsia, Boomerang, Briar Rose, Bubble Bliss, Carbon, Chapman Springs, Confetti, Dani-Kalia, Dilly Dilly, Fairgrounds, Forget me Knots, Handsome Man, Imbolc, Jumpin Jelly Beans, Koi Koi, Lake Crescent, Lavender Fields in the Mist, Mango Tango, Moon Jelly, Mystic Kelp, Peachy Keen, Peridot and Periwinkle, Petunia, Pink Granite, Princess Plummy, Seal Rock, Sherbet, Tea and Alchemy, Wanda, Xander

Colorwas we have taken down for a rest: Amelie, A Room with No Roof, Blue Brick Wall,, Bowies laughing gnome, Fungus Among Us, A Speck of Autumn, A Speck of Winter Solstice, Autumns UP, Baby its cold outside, Ghouls Just wanna Have Fun, Ginger Snap, Sugar Plum Fairy Dust, Winter Wonderland, XOXOXOXO, Welcome to the Jungle, Tina’s Silver Lining, Ginger Plumliscious, Figgy Pudding, Endora, Go Beavs!!, Grandma’s Groovy Sofa, Heirloomed, Hobbit Garden, Kiss the Girl, Holly Jolly, Maiai, Rey of Light, Plum Crazy, January One, Let it go. Let it Ho!

All kinds of wonderful Spring hues. If there is one of our Spring colorways that you’d liek to see come out the the spa let us know!

As I said we will be caught op on orders this week!

Thank you all so very very much for your understanding and patience!

Sock Club is shipping!!! The pattern page is up. Dyer’s Notes to follow on Monday along with the rest of the packages shipping out. We held some back at the request of our under staffed PO.

We will be closing down sock club sign-ups next Friday. So if you have been waiting until the very last moment we are there.

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Maryland Sheep and Wool is quickly approaching and boy do we have an exciting surprise for you!! I will fill you in on the details next week. Yes, I am taunting you maybe just a wee bit! Meanwhile this is the artwork they have chosen for the year so this is what our colorway will be based on. Actually this year there will be this special colorway and at least one Maryland themed one. I am from Maryland so am embracing my roots a bit. If you have thoughts I would love to hear them!!

Okay I am sure I am forgetting things but I know the newsletter has left and I want this up since I have not posted in awhile.

I took a few days off last week and part of this week and went to the home of my heart for some much needed regrouping and honestly sleeping.

A few pics:

Have a lovely weekend!!

Springing forward

Every night before I go to bed I make sure all the cats are in. My Phoebe is a very free spirit and likes to spend most of days outside. Since I live where she can do that safely I let her. So I open the door last night and am met with a joyful chorus of singing frogs from my pond. I have been waiting for this moment because it usually signals warmer temps and more signs of Spring. Also I just love the sound which is great because it gets super loud once they all get going and pretty much goes until til mid June when it quiets down quite a bit.

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Oh and looks like we’ll have ducklings too!

 

Other signs of approaching Springness is that our neighborhood owls start their whole mating ritual which is pretty loud and seriously frightened me the first time I saw and heard it. Lots of swooping and hooting (is it hooting?)

Mama deer is huge so I would imagine that very soon we will have little babies hopping around the back yard.

It is such a gift to live on a piece of land for a length of time, where one gets to watch the seasons change and get to all the little signs of each shift. I have been here for almost 20 years which is kind of hard to believe but nonetheless true. I love that I know all the other critters that I share this space with and am happy for their company. I find it ever so comforting and peaceful most of the time. The ravens have been especially vocal right now and are having a bit of a field day taunting the cats.

Anyway it is a little cold this morning but so very sunny. I think my cough is well enough that once it warms up a little, and I am done writing you, I could spend a little time in the sun absorbing some good ol’ Vitamin D.

I have some very exciting news which if you get our newsletter you already know. Our beloved Targhee Worsted is back in stock!!!! I am so very very happy.  That was a long three months. Also one thing to have this happen during spring or summer but right at peak sweater knitting time! Anyway…I a planning away.

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I feel like we should have a celebratory KAL!  Sounds like a good idea right? What do you think we should do? Choose a pattern we all knit or everyone choose their own pattern?? There are several new sweater patterns out right now that I am loving.  Hmm…

You know I have gotten quite a few emails from School of Yarn folks wanting some sweater knitting hand holding. Maybe we chooses an interesting yes basic pattern and do a KAL on the RAV group with Karen and Maggie as leads ( I have not mentioned this to them yet. ;0) ) .

Thoughts??

We are super busy playing catch up on orders. I feel like we have been doing this for awhile. I have been running Blue Moon for 18 years now and never have I experienced a season with so much illness. I got back from Stitches and both Maggie and I were sick.So 2 of of us down and out.  I have bronchitis cause it what happens every time I get a chest cold thanks to the side effects of the radiation treatment I went through for the breast cancer.

We sent out a few emails about this. If you have a knit deadline and need your order pronto please let us know. We will do out best to move it along.

I am truly sorry about the delays. It is not how I like things to run.  I love making knitters happy so this is super stressful. Please know we are doing out very best to get caught up!

We shipped School of Yarn yesterday and will have the pdf’s up early next week. We are considering making Semester #3 and every other month kind of thing. I think it is hard for us and you also to keep up with the whole once a month goal.

Sock Club ships out at the end of this month. We had quite a few computer glitches this year for some odd reason. I think we have most of them worked through.

We will be closing down sign-ups after the March shipment! So if you want to join the fun please sign up soon.

I was working on a Spring palette and some new themed colorways before the crud hit so will be getting back to those. If you have any color dreams let me know.

To all of you that supported the Rose City Yarn Crawl a big thanks!!!  Our local yarn stores are integral to our knit-community and they need our constant support as much as we need theirs.

Have a lovely weekend my friends!

PS: I am still looking for another dyer. If you are interested let me know! tina@bluemoonfiberarts.com

 

inspiration monday: springing into color(s)

Hi gang!

Phew – what a whirlwind few weeks these have been! We’re deep in the throes of Knitting Get-Together Season, what with Madrona Fiber Arts and Stitches West and Hill Country Weavers retreat and and…

Are y’all getting your yarn on?

I don’t know about you, but one of the highlights for me of attending big knitterly events like these is watching the glorous handknits sashay by. (Ya can’t help but sashay in a great handknit. Fact.)

It was all I could do as I stood in the Blue Moon booth in the Stitches West marketplace not to pounce upon all of you as you walked by in your sweaters and shawls and cardigans and scarves… I might have remembered (mostly) to ask for permission to give y’all my “knitter’s handshake”: a gentle petting of the sleeve/shawl with a bit of ‘ooh’ing and ‘aah’ing.

SO MANY pretty handknits!

IMG_2092The other liability of standing in an enclosed space, surrounded by all that Blue Moon fiber, is serious yarn lust. Alternating with color lust. I found myself positioned near the Yaksi much of the weekend – mostly because of my evangelical zeal for the fabric of my newly-finished Stockbridge sample. “FEEL THIS!”, I wanted to shout at every passer-by. (Mostly, I refrained from shouting.)

 

Such. Glorious. Fabric.

So now I want to knit pretty much with nothing else, ever.…

There’s something so compelling about what the oatmeal-colored base of Yaksi does to Tina’s colorways – it’s alchemy of the best sort. So all this is doing is taking my love of Ochroid, Chana Masala, and Antiquated System and fueling the flames.

I mean, I’d already played with putting them together in my Morphology cowl, so I should be moving on, right?

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Nope, nope, and nope. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Wega by Sandra Kaufmann – sampled in a great set of colors perfectly attuned to the ochre-plus-greyish-blue theme my eyes are already in love with:

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That colorwork, moving effortlessly across the torso and arms! The rounded hem, so flattering for so many of us! That bold motif with the delicate peerie above it! le swoon.

My queue is basically in disarray after the inspiration overload of the past few weeks. And to add to the craziness, Miss Maggie and I were crushing so hard on the Breathing Space sample we had in the booth that we might have committed to a Breathing Space KAL coming up (just as soon as I can commit to colors). The Gaea Fingering is soooo soft and fluffy – so different from Yaksi, and yet so delicious. Anyone want to join us? I’ll put out the word on the Ravelry group soon, so we can discuss colorways and get our yarn coming!

Two yarn crushes, two tempting sweaters… such fabulous problems to have.

Afterthoughts

Well… Madrona is all said and done and we are back from Stitches and are smack dab in the middle of the Rose City yarn Crawl.

Yarn ~ Knit ~ Social ~ Immersion Winter 2018

Believe it or not this was my first Stitches event. I know!!

Crazy right?!

In the past I never went myself but I sent my yarn and wonderful souls to sell it!  I hace to tell you that I loved every minute of it. I guess I might miss doing shows. It’s super hard work because it is a lot of prep and set-up in a short amount of time. It’s a bit like a marathon. Karen even packed us all kinds of marathon type snacks most of which did not get eaten because Leslie brought us pastries. And as we all know pastries win.

Even though the work is a bit physically grueling and maybe a little stressful at times it’s all kinds of rewarding on so many levels. The very best part for me is meeting all of the knitters and getting to see what everyone is working on and hear their stories and usually get a hug. I also got to see so very many fiber friends I have not seen in way too long and to meet in person some I have been working with for awhile now but never met.

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Look it’s JC and Lorilee!!

I got to meet our super talented and speedy and lovely sock club test knitter Heather!!

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I also got to meet some of the LYS owners that carry our yarn. Unfortunately I do not have pics of them.  Allison of ImagiKnit in CA and Karen of COZY in Eugene.

Besides my lovely booth mates Karen and Maggie who went above and beyond I got to spend a whole lot of time with tow of my favorite people. Marisol and Leslie!!!!!

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We had way too much fun selling yarn! Thank you both for all of your help and love!!!

We were across the isle from the XRX booth which was run by the oh so lovely and wonderful Nathania!! It was so wonderful to look up and see that smiling living face all weekend. I can’t even!

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Nathania is on the left with my dear buddy Anna in the middle. Nathania and I share a deep love for Anna Z!!

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And I got to see my Anna.  As you can see from this photo she made a new friend at Stitches this year. I have to say out of all of the wonderful moments this one might be my favorite. A knitter mom and her two lovely children strolled by ( kids in a stroller ) and both kids were cuddling on critters that mom had knit them. This rolly polly bug was the fav. Anne zoomed in on it like a long lost friend. So sweet. So… Nathania got the book with the pattern and I am going to dye the yarn and send it to her to knit Anna her very own rolly polly snuggle buddy.

We saw so very many stunning knits in our yarn. Thank you all for coming by to support us and to share your knits with us. So very many Camira’s It was so great to see each and every one of them.

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Aren’t these stunning! So bright and beautiful. Truly impressed with Tami’s planned pooling crochet!!

Such a great show! The wonderful hard working folks at Stitches put on a great show. As someone who has run a few events, I know it is not the easiest thing to do. One has to constantly rise to the challenge of dealing with so very many people and things going on at the same time and problem solving and juggling to make it all look smooth and effortless. It’s a lot and that does not count all of the hard work and preparation that goes into running shows at this scale. Benjamin’s crew is kind, generous, seriously helpful and effective. I think the best way to tell if something is being organized and run well is by the energy you feel when you are there. The energy at Stitches West 2018 was full of creative happiness and was seriously contagious.

It’s a great community!

And a whole lot of good well-knit vibes!!

Okay I am going to post this cause I am running out of steam. Have a bit of a head cold and my brain is a bit fuzzy!

Oh….

Almost forgot! 2 new colorways!!

Both of these colorways are happy colorway accidents! Dye Dreamer was supposed to be Morticia and Party in a Skein was a take on Lunacy gone awry.

I love them both but Party in a Skein is my current favorite.

Have a great weekend!!  If you are crawling have ever so much fun!

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