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creative activism #titsoutcollective

As I have said many, many times, one of my favorite things about my job is the community that surrounds the fiber industry, especially knitting, but truly the whole big ball of yarny folks!

I have been blessed enough to have experienced both the giving and receiving end of our creatively diverse and magnanimous group of fiber-obsessed humans. I’ve been a part of raising loads of money for Doctors Without Borders and organizing fun events where we broke a world record and just had a grand sock knitting good time. I watched over 2,000 of you re-sign up for our sock club when the merchant service company returned your money because they thought we were running a sock knitting scam. All of which happened because of the one-stitch-at-a-time tight-knit community that we are!! It’s a truly beautiful thing!

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So…when Countess Ablaze put out her call to action last week (I think it was last week. It’s all been a bit of a blur), I was thrilled to join ranks and add in my color voice to the over 250 dyers, designers and makers who are creating and donating and just being the colorful community we are. Also, how could I not be a part of something as wonderful as a #titsoutcollective ?

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If you do not know the whole story of behind “If I want Exposure, I’ll Get My Tits Out” and “Shit Tea and Tray Bake” then you can read about it all on her blog. Basically, she created these two colors in response to misogyny and marginalization. And she donated a percentage of the sales to help and empower women.

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Recently it cane to her attention that one of our very own had taken liberties which her colorway. In response to this, Countess has asked all of us to create our very own version of  “If I want Exposure, I’ll Get My Tits Out” using the colors she used but in our own style with our own creative spin on it.  We are all launching at the same time and donating to a charity of our choice.

I am a huge fan of the Countess’ whole ‘making lemonade out of lemons and then feeding the masses’ approach to these challenges! Taking the high road is not often the easiest path, but it is the most beneficial.  Also, at this point in time in our society, bringing people together in any way is a good thing!

A great big round of knitterly applause to Countess Ablaze for turning this whole copying thing right around with such a positive spin and outcome!!

So… my colorway take on all of this is: “If I Want Exposure, I’ll Get My Tits Out ” is: “You’ve Been BREASTED!”

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I made it big, bold and bright (as I like to do)! I wanted as saturated and bright as I could get without losing any of the colors! I love the orange in this!

We are offering our “You’ve Been Breasted” colorway in the following bases (All three bases of Sock that Rock, Super Sparkle, Featherlight, Plushy and Cloud 9) for the month of July (starting Sunday morning July 1st) and we are donating $5.00 per skein to RAICES  to help reunite children with their families. There’s a slight chance we might bring this colorway back for Breast Cancer Awareness month and donate then too but honestly I just don’t know.

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I seriously LOVE this colorway (that orange and hot pink)!!! I think we are going to knit a pair of titties with tassels for the Countess and send them off to her.

Okay, I have to sign off and go pick up Toni from the airport and start packing the car for Black Sheep!!  Yay!! So excited! Can’t wait to see you all.

Remember, Sock Club members, your discount changes on the 15th of July!

There is still room in the School of Yarn!!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Summer!!!

Summer Solstice was this week so it is officially summer which is great since it was in the 90’s here. So…

I feel like we have all kinds of fun planned this summer so I am just going to tell you all about it in this post in an attempt to get my head around it all.

As we have done the past few summers we will be running weekly specials so do keep an eye out for the newsletters because they will have that information in them.

Starting today Yaksi Fingering and La Luna Fingering are 15% off until June 31st.  The coupon code you need for that is: birmingham18

Why have we chose those 2 yarns to put on special??

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Photo Credit: Nona Davenport

Birmingham by Nona Davenport

A stunningly diverse cowl!! Brioche creates such a stunning fabric and a cozy one too. I am smitten with Nona’s design and will probably knit a solid one in Yaksi  and a 2 color in La Luna. Oh my goodness what colors would you choose? Doesn’t this look like a fun knit?!

Also it would fit right into the other summer fun we have planned that actually starts today!!!

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Yes!!! BINGO! Single Skein Bingo.

All the single skeins! All the single skeins!

We wanted a Summer knit-a-long that was a little different. A KAL that had some challenges and gave us a little project freedom but also had continuity. And of course it needs to be fun!! I think we hit all those markers! We will run specials all summer to coincide with our Bingo fun. Nona’s cowl would qualify for brioche, and if brioche is a new skill for you that one, if Nona i a new designer to you then there’s that one and the the high contrast one also! So much fun!!! And the prizes aren’t to shabby either! So check it out!!!

Click on this link for all of the details!   BMFA Single Skein Bingo

And…if you purchase yarn for this project during the next 5 days we are donating 10% of ALL sales to RAICES  (The Refugee & Immigration Center for Education & Legal Services)  

It might not seem like a lot but I am a firm believer in ever little bit helps! Whatever little bit we can do to help reunite these families.  Thank you!

 

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Who’s going to Black Sheep this year?  We are !!!! We have not been for the past 3 years and I am pretty excited!  You can tell by all of the exclamation points. My good buddy Toni (of THE FOLD ) will be there with me. We have are bringing loads of yarn and spinning fiber! So if you are going to be there do look us up!  We are booth: 05 & 06

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What is happening in our RAV group?!

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There is still plenty of time to join in the spinning fun that is Tour de Fleece!!

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Maggie also has a Stripe FLASH KAL going if you are into stripes and honestly who is not? Anything with stripes for heat to toe!!

So very much and quite honestly that is not all of it!  Blue Moon will be represented at Stitches Midwest. The ever delightful Ron and Theresa Miskin of The Buffalo Wool Company will have a whole bunch or our yarns!! Yay!

Okay I am going to sign off now so I can feed and walk the dog and prep for dye class tomorrow!

I’ll still have openings if you’d like to have a colorful good time and learn to dye yarn and work with color!

Have a lovely weekend!!

Rare Gems!!

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Rare Gems!!!

You know I can’t remember the last time we offered Rare Gems on the website.  So here we are with a little over 100 of them so if you want them I recommend ordering them sooner than later.

So…I have been playing with some neon colors and we will be adding them real soon. We’ve already put a few up, Peepers and Coral Bells to name a couple!

So one of the wonderful things about my job as dyer of fibers is seeing all of the colorways on the different bases. So when you order a colorway on one of our bases we have not seen it on it’s a bit like a birthday present. One of you brave and creative souls ordered out new neon Coral Bells on SilkMo. And OMG we all lost it over this. Maggie was hooked and so we dyed some for her to design something crazy fun with!

Look!!!!

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Crazy right?!!  I am not a Coral fan but this? Holy Moly.  And seriously this picture does not do it justice. So very bright, like blindingly so.

I can’t wait to see what Maggie comes up with. I think we are going to put it with a fingering weight grey/green we are working on for Halloween!!

Our SilkMo is so wonderful. It’s soft and not itchy and is such a steal and 32.00 for almost 1600 yards. Crazy right?!!!

I’m gonna dye some in Peepers and see what I can come up with. Maybe we need a SilkMo design contest. Would you be game?

Okay so there are 2 wonderful MKALS that are coming up soonish both of which call for 3 skein color combo’s so of course we have come up with a few of our own! Thanks to those of you who requested we do this!

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Ysolda’s Gloamin-tide

You can order these by colorway in any of our fingering-weight bases. I recommend Featherlight and Soft Rock and Socks that Rock Lightweight.

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Another KAL that seems to have grabbed our attention is Marie Greene’s Beekeeper Cardigan 4 day knit a sweater challenge

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Photo Credits: Marie Greene

It’s super pretty. If you have yet to join this challenge and are looking for yarn may I recommend  our Silky Victoria and CAKE DK!!

Our lovey LYS’s  Eat Sleep Knit and Twisted Yarn Shop are both pretty well stock in these bases with lovely colors!! I am so excited to watch this challenge play out. A sweater in 4 days… .

Keep in mind that we still have both the Tour de Sock and Tour de Fleece going on!

Like I said last week… ALL the KALS!   Which have yo signed up for?!

On Monday we will be up to date with dyeing and shipping so order away and we will do our very best to get you your yarn for a timely cast-on!!!

There is still room and time to sing up for School of Yarn and learn all about the what and why of the yarns you are using!!!

Wow!!!

That is so very much knitting and I am kind of exhausted just talking about it.

Okay me dear, dear knitting friends have a lovely weekend!!

Also with all of the yarn stores and companies closing please do remember how important it is to support those stores and companies you love and depend on. we really are nothing without you!!

xoxo

PS: I almost forgot. Actually I did forget. Stitchin’ Post has the whole Marmalade Dreams color series in stock in soft rock!!!

Check it out!

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It’s been a week….

So… I actually considered just rolling over in bed this morning and going back to sleep and not writing a blog post. It has been that kind of week.

We had a forest fire up here that was three miles away and consumed 50 acres before they got it contained. Scary!  ( Thank you to all of the fire people and forest service who battled this fire.)  One of our own beloved team members had a seizure at work which was also scary and challenging. She is fine now!!  And then my heart and thoughts have been heavy around the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain and all of us who battle with depression and mental illness. So…I changed my mind got out of bed, grabbed my laptop, made a cup of tea and here I am ready to share some thoughts on depression based on my own experience as a mental health care worker and a person who has lived with depression in my life. I have a scar on my wrist that is a constant reminder.

I believe one of the things that we are discovering as a society is that one of that the deadliest things is our SILENCE.  We are most definitely finding our voices. I certainly celebrate us speaking our truths and being who we authentically are and accepting each other as such.

As a survivor of sexual assault as a young woman ~ both physical and emotional abuse from both of my alcoholic parents ~ I know the tendency toward self blame and shame and what it does to your, heart, soul and psyche. I also know the absolute healing power of  finding my voice (conquering my fears) owning my truth and then, speaking it!

I know for myself and my struggles with depression that isolation makes everything worse and of course what do we all do?

We isolate ourselves.

We do not share.

We do not listen or see the signs in those around us. A part of that silence is due to the very nature of depression but a bigger part is the stigma our society has on mental health. There’s so much stigma around mental illness and specifically depression. Illness is illness no matter what it is or where it is in our bodies!

Life is chocked full of all kinds of highs and lows it’s the nature of the beast. Happiness is not the only state of being and certainly not one we all experience all the time. Any one of us can get stuck and in a low loop and have a hard time climbing out all by ourselves. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone of felt safe and comfortable enough so that we could say, “hey, I think I’m in trouble here” and I could use some help. Imagine if we completely changed how we looked at mental illness and we saw it as we do say… heart disease or cancer even.

I’ve had both cancer and depression and I can say that I did not hesitate at all in getting help and treatment for cancer. However with depression I felt like somehow I was a failure, like I was letting those around me down and I was positive that I did not deserve to be here much less have help and lastly that everyone would be better off if I was no longer here. It took every ounce of courage I had to say ~ I need help!

I thought cancer was my hardest battle but it was not, depression was and is. There are all kinds of reasons for depression, types of depression and illnesses that depression is part of and… as there all kinds of ways to treat it.

In my opinion our first and biggest step is actually in the acceptance and then treatment of mental health/illness as we do all other parts of our health and well being.

Our world right now is kind of a hard place and I think we are all struggling a bit with finding light, hope, peace, joy, love and maybe just plain ol’ well being.

We need to take better care of each other!  What else is this all about?

We are in this together after all.

Rest in Peace Kate and Antony!  I am sorry we let you down. My hope is that we as a whole world will be moved towards change.

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One of the things in life that brings me joy is cooking. I love to cook! I also am curiously fascinated by our world and the cultural diversity it holds. He also taught me about respecting and honing my craft and not just in cooking but in being a dyer, yarn maker and  knitter. I will seriously miss Anthony Bourdain’s in that world. He most definitely it a better place and I hope he knew that on some level.

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It might seem like a small thing but tell those you love that they matter to you. You just never know what kind of power that holds.

Thanks for listening!

You most definitely matter to me!!

LOVE!

 

Post vacation musings

I took 7 whole days in a row off!! I know…. craziness!! It was so wonderful. I have been trying to take more time off and get away and do things I love to do that feed my heart and soul and my creativity. What better excuse than to take some time then a birthday! It was my 61st birthday on last Tuesday. So I spent with two of my best friends where they live, which just happens to be one of my favorite places on the planet. It was all kinds of loveliness. IMG_1448

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather was beautiful all sunny but not too warm which lead to lots of beach walks which are my favorite kind of walking. It was a full moon on my birthday so that meant the tides were super low. Low tide means lots of crazy cool tide pool action and seaweed beds and rocks and otters and herons and … . To say it is my happy place is an understatement. I feel the most me when I am near the ocean. I am rejuvenated ~ inspired ~ uplifted ~ relaxed ~ connected andjust plain ol’ happy!

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Birthday full moon!!

I might have a tiny little sea weed obsession.

I did say obsession!!

I am so fascinated by all the colors and textures and what is living in those beds. The colors in sea weed are some of my favorites with so much depth and richness. I also love those dry kind of dead hues. T And… those textures and patterns are crazy, so varied. Nature is the best lesson in diversity  that we have. What do you see in those textures? I see lace and cables and bobbles and brioche and fringes and on and on. One of my creative dreams is to design a series of colors and then the patterns to go with them. Might be the time to jump on this one! Look at all of this color and texture. Mother Nature is a flipping genius!

And while I was feeling so inspired look what I did.

I actually knit.

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La Luna DK and Lace in dye boo-boo’s) which will be my cowl for next winter.

I cast-on not one but two projects.  Scandalous!! I can’t tell you the last time that happened. I am a serious monogamous knitter it is one at a time for me or I feel overwhelmed and pressured and I have enough of that in my life. I do not need it from my knitting.

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Socks that Rock in the colorway I made for my birthday ~ “It’s my party and I’ll dye if I want to!” ~ I am making my self a pair of socks!

Afternoons on the deck sipping refreshing beverages, knitting, chatting and having just too much fun! Now I just have to find a way to keep that energy going while I am at home and  working. I get so bogged down in the everyday aspect of making a small business run that at the end of the day I am done. I often grab something to eat while answering emails with my favorite cooking shows are playing in the background and I often fall asleep on the couch as I am typing.

So this year I am working on more balance in my life.  How do you achieve  balance in your life? I feel like this is something Oprah knows! lol

Karen and I also sewed as we do when we are together. I am a slow mover on this one. Mostly fear of screwing it all up!!

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Karen is seriously a talented sewist and as you can see seriously committed to her craft! We made dresses!

So … an amazing birthday, good times with dear friends and a good reboot!!

I am back and getting into the swing of things.

THANK YOU ALL for all of the lovely birthday wishes!! You made my heart sing! I am so lucky to be part of such a community!

We are in the process of shipping May sock club! I think this one is going to be one of my favorites. Pattern pages are up. Dyer’s Notes will be there on Monday. The rest of the packages ship out on Monday also!

If you are planning on joining us in the School of Yarn 3rd semester please join soon as we have to order all of the goodies!

I am putting up new Dye Camp classes today . Is there anything you would like me to teach?!! I would like to change things up a bit and also would like to hear from you as to what you would like.

Oh and don’t forget to check out the Tour de Sock and Tour de Fleece action!

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So much knit and spinning fun with prizes, discounts, and crafting!!

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Our Tour de Sock 2018 colorway!  Registration for Tour de Sock started yesterday so now’s the time!! Knit socks and support a worthy cause all at the same time!

Okay my friends I need to move on to my next task!

Have a great weekend!!

Happy knitting!