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Feb 24

Where we are…

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On most days I tend towards optimism even when the world keeps flinging stuff my way I will stand up brush myself off and keep fighting the good fight.  I think for the most part this is a good tendency to have in life. Riding the edge of that positivity is this thing that can get me into trouble though and that is the belief that anything is possible. A bit of a where there’s a will there is way kind of attitude. And ya know I will do my dead level best to meet these challenges with everything I have. Sometimes however, and this is seriously a hard one for me to admit, everything I have is not quite enough for the hand dealt or the odds are just a bit more that I have anticipated.

And this is where we are my yarn loving friends. We are at a place were we have all kinds of yarn commitments we are doing our dead level best to fill. Almost all of them are late due to the the mill late sock yarn fiasco. Yes, yarn is coming in but there is a lot to dye and we are not the biggest team. Also the weather has not really been very cooperative throwing snow and flooding our way. And…we are supposed to get more snow today so… .

We have clubs, web orders, LYS’s all waiting on yarn.  We are filling orders that are the oldest and ones that have deadlines. We have the Rose City Yarn Crawl that we have to get yarn to also and squeezing all of this in.

All of you are being seriously understanding knowing that this was something that we have no control over. That said waiting is hard and we all get to where we just want our dang yarn. I am in the dye barn dyeing and rinsing and all the yarn things and on the weekends doing my best to get caught up on everything else including keeping you all up to date which I have not been the best at the last weeks or so for which I apologize. The dates I have given for club deliveries we ones I honestly thought were doable.

So what does all of this mean. Well we got a ton of web orders out this week!! Yay!! We are shipping the last shipment of the RSC 2018 in groups so we can also fill other sock yarn obligations that are just as late if not later. We will be one week later than anticipated for the first 2019 shipment for the sock club. We are going to send out a surprise extra to the Out of the Hue club while we making hundreds of mini-skeins.

Because this is all coming to a head at once we are also behind on orders that do not involve the sock yarn. We have gotten out half of the BFL SPORT orders. Boy did so many of you take advantage of that. We have a lot left yet to dye and they are color trios so I think they are for the Vancouver Shawl KAL. Karen and I chatted and decided a safe date to move this to would be Mid-march so we can make sure everyone has their yarn. I think we are close to having sold all of the BFL Sport. I know… 500 hundred pounds of it.

okay I have changed the colorways on the website and added some of my favorite more bright and happy hues. I do not know about you but I am super sick of Winter!!

Okay… I could go on and on but I have been on this computer since 5 am and it is now 8 pm and my butt went numb hours ago. I did make an awesome quiche for dinner though. Trying to find ways to use the massive amount of eggs the hens are laying. So many eggs… wouldn’t be great if they laid skeins instead of eggs.

I know I keep saying this but it is true. I am so very grateful that you all are hanging in with us. I am humbled by your compassion and patience and honored to be a part of this community.

We really could use your help!! I have come up with a plan to make sure we are not ever in this position again.  You can read about it in the banner part of the blog above.

Thank you!!!

Feb 24

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Sock that Rock*STAR Sponsorship

 

We are grateful for your constant support in choosing Socks that Rock as your sock knitting yarn of choice which warms our hearts with gratitude!
You all are rock stars in our book!! We could use your help! By becoming a sponsor you officially become a Socks that Rock*STAR!

 

As most of you are aware over the past year we’ve dealt with massive yarn delays with pretty much all of our suppliers with the most serious being the latest fiasco with our Socks that Rock. Blue Moon has experienced some amazing love and support from our very loyal and supportive knitters during this time.
You all have been extremely patient, understanding and kind during what has been one of the most trying times Blue Moon has experienced. Right up there with the whole sock club and bank returning everyone’s money kind of stressful. We consider ourselves lucky and grateful that you are our knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers… .
Since it’s obvious our industry is changing ~ mills are closing and wool supplies are in question ~ we are looking to problem-solve this issue. In order to assure that we are not in this position again Blue Moon is going to purchase a very large inventory of Socks that Rock in all of the weights. Doing so not only gives us a stockpile but also stimulates the mill to produce more consistently. It also covers us for any more mill errors. I have been brainstorming how best to make this happen which brings us here, our community and an idea ~ Socks that Rock STAR Sponsorship.

One of the hardest things for me in life is asking for help which is odd since I love to help, you would think they go hand and hand and yet.  What I know is that the almost 20 yrs of being Blue Moon we have created and been part of a wonderful community of fiber loving folk that have often left me speechless by the love and support shared.  So based on my experience of this stunning community, what I know and what I have seen, heard and felt recently of how much we all love Socks that Rock and how sad we all are when it is not readily and consistently available, here’s my idea. I am asking you to help Blue Moon gain control over our beloved sock yarn which assures it will always be here when we all want it and at a price we can afford.

I know the power we all are together. I have been so lucky and blessed with our community.  I saw it first hand years ago after the bank returned everyone’s money for the sock club because they thought we were running a sock knitting scam. I saw it, heard it and felt it when everyone signed back up and showed up at all of our shows for over a year with cash. One of the most loving and humbling experiences of my life.  So… my dear yarn loving friends let’s stock pile some yarn! Hmm…maybe I need to keep one of the pods.

  Sponsorship:
Besides your constant support in choosing Socks that Rock as your sock knitting yarn of choice which warms our hearts with gratitude!
You all are rock stars in our book!! By becoming a sponsor you officially become a Socks that Rock*STAR!
What you will receive for your sponsorship.

*  1 skein of Socks that Rock in a one time very special Socks that Rock STAR colorway!
*  A cool and creative pin that tells all  the world of your Sock that Rock STAR status.
*  A sticker with catchy slogan on it that you can put wherever you sock knitting heart desires.
   * Your name on a Sponsorship Socks that Rock STAR page on the website & a button to put on social media that shows you are a Socks that Rock*STAR sponsor.
* Our un-dyeing gratitude! Seriously!!!

Your Socks that Rock STAR sponsorship is a pre-order which will ship at the end of JULY>

  Pricing: 65.00

I am humbled by your support and love!!  Thank you!! And may the sock knitting force be with you.

 

Feb 17

New Color!!

I know…it has been awhile since I have added new colorways but it is past time so here we are. There are a few reasons for the lack of new hue. One is that since so many of you are so very patiently waiting on yarn I just felt like it was maybe a bit inappropriate. I know… I think that one might be me. A few of you have assured me that it is.

Another more practical reason has been that the stress of all of that has left me not real inspired to create new color until recently. And yet another practical reason was the loss of my web techie. I have decided to add the website upkeep to my job list and that is a pretty big learning curve for me (huge!!!) . Anyway I did it!!! Be impressed.  Also if you catch any errors and we all know there will be some please do be gentle!

Learning new things is good especially ones that are maybe not in our usual wheelhouse. It’s good for the brain at least that is what I am going with right now. Anyway I am adding new colors this weekend as fast as I can. I might now get them up in all of the bases right away so if you see one and it is not offered in the base you want let us know.

A lot of these new colors are moon related. I am determined to create a colorway for each of the months this year and so far so good. I have to say that so far in all of my moon hue creations the hardest one so far is the one I just did ~ February’s Snow Moon. I mean lots of white and sky color was not sounding too special to me but then I came across a picture on the full moon over snow and the reflection of the sky onto the snow and that really spoke to me so that is what I have done with this colorway. One side of the skein mirrors the other one but is the lighter reflection of the sky. I think it’s really pretty and can’t wait to see how it knits up! I hope you like it.

What should we do with all of these moon themed colors? A moon blanket maybe? Would love yo hear what you think.

Okay so a bit of a catch up on our dyeing and shipping.

As I said last week we are doing our best to keep everyone happy since the sock yarn is such a part of all that we do. Because the yarn is walking in at one of the busiest times of the year I am going to say this is super challenging. Please please know we are doing our very best to get your yarn to you!

For those of you that have taken advantage of our specials for stash enhancement we so appreciate your emails letting us know that you are not in a hurry!

I know we have pushed back the Vancouver Shawl KAL until the end of February I think we need to move it into March. I really want to do it justice and have it be fun for us all. It’s so very special!! I truly did not expect so many people to order so much!! So thank you for that.  I think we need to figure out ways to make this an ongoing thing for bases we love so they do not go away!! Karen will be here this evening and we will talk about a new date!

Team Blue Moon did loose most of last week due to the massive amount of snow we got and then two inches of rain on top of it in a very small window of time. We are still dealing with high water and mudslide issues. Which of course effects our timeline both in being here to work and holding up shipments we are expecting in and trying to get out. I’m gonna tell you it has been a bit scary. I have lived out here for 20 years I have not experienced anything like what we saw here last week. Almost all roads had running water on them. We still have places that are closed and the USPS and UPS is not delivering to. Yeah it is a lot.

One last thing before I get back to adding color.

I am sure most of you have heard that one of our oldest US mills is closing. Jagger is closing down a large portion of it’s production. Scaling down quite a bit and out sourcing Jagger Spun. You can read all about it here. Jagger has made a bunch of our yarns including Tigger. I have quite bit of info and thoughts about this to share with you but this post is already pretty long so I will sometime this week. It’s quite sad this one.

Okay I am going to continue to add in these lovely hues. And dream up some more new ones. What would you like to see? Any new colors you would like to see from me? I’m also going to put of some of our more Spring colorways. I do not know about you all but I sure am ready for some Spring.

Feb 10

Madrona Fiber Arts Festival and Winter!

Madrona Fiber Arts Festival is next weekend. If you have not heard it will be the last time this wonderful celebration of fiber arts will be happening. Suzanne and Corny have decided that they are ready to retire and move on.

I have heard that John Malarkey (weaver extraordinaire) is going to run some sort of fiber event at the sane time and in the same place. It will be interesting to see how that manifests.

I have loved being a part of Madrona and having such a wonderfully well run and loved fiber event so close to home. I have met so many great people and learned so much from the teachers, vendors, students and form Suzanne and how she ran Madrona. She has such a big heart and it shows in how people feel about Madrona.

I am sad at this ending but understand the need to move on. I made a special colorway based on the color of the Madrona tree that has been the logo for years now. I don’t mind telling you that it was not an easy one to translate on to yarn but I feel like I got it!  Whatcha think?

The Fiber Gallery will have our yarns as they have for the past few years. So do check out their booth!!

We have not one but two brand new designs from the oh so talented Meaghan Schmaltz ~The Unapologetic Knitter. She has designed a lovely everyday kind of cardigan all cozy and warm perfect for these snowy winter days we are having!

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The Everyday Cardigan by Meaghan Schmaltz knit in our Silky Victoria in the colorway Motley Huu

And… if that was not enough she’s also designed this lovely wrap, Back on Track Shawl, knit in both our soon to be discontinued BFL Sport ( colorway: Mica) and our Silky Victoria ( colorway: Cranberry Bogged).

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photo credits: Meaghan Schmaltz

The Fiber Gallery will have all these samples (and many more) with them so do check their booth out.

Meaghan has is kindly offering a 10% off discount on both patterns good Thursday February 14th until Sunday the 17th. Code is: TUKLUVSBMFA

Safe travels to all of you going. It looks like we are going to have some intense winter weather for the next week. We most definitely have our share here already which is going to make work this week a little challenging.

Shipping Update: We are still playing catch up. We’ve started shipping out the last shipment of the 2018 RSC and our online order for STRL including the Anniversary Trios. We are also working on the Color Club and the last skein of the School of Yarn. It’s a lot.

Our BFL Sport Special was a HUGE success and we are doing out very best dyeing these also as we catch on on previous orders now that we have the sock yarn coming in. It’s a whole lot of juggling, it makes my head hurt! I know I have said many times but I am going to say it again because it is true. All of us here at Blue Moon appreciate your support and patience but no one more than myself. It has been beyond stressful and quite honestly scary. Now that the yarn is flowing in it has put us in one dye crunch to catch up and stay current . So we are going to ask you to hang in with us for a wee but longer.

The Vancouver Shawl KAL will be at the end of February so we have time to get you your yarn. I am hoping that the weather does not change that but I will keep you posted.

I did something that I have wanted to do for awhile now in order to support more of my creative vision and self and to build on our Blue Moon community. Coloring inside and outside the lines!!!  Check it out! If have ideas about what you would like to see there please do let me know. The video aspect will be the most challenging for me on a personal level but I also think real fun!!!

A reminder of the specials that are going on right now.

BFL Sport: The price that you see on the website it the marked down price and we are almost out and when it is gone it is gone.

Seduction: Same is true with our Seduction yarn. Price marked is the sale price and it good while supplies last

Panda: Is a new yarn we are considering adding to our line of yarns. We are on the fence and are hoping for your input. The price you see is an introductory price.

Targhee Bulky: Unfortunately another yarn that is being discontinued by the mill. I know…it’s super sad. On this one there is a code to use. TGB19    15% off.

Okay that is all for now. I have get a newsletter out and shovel some snow.

Stay safe and warm.

Isn’t it awesome that we have wool and knitting!!

Feb 3

Diversity and shipping updates.

Yarn is here and still arriving!!

Until the we opened the first box of Socks that Rock®, I did not realize how much Team Blue Moon and I had been holding our collective breaths. And fair – it’s been a long time coming; and it is not only our bread-and-butter yarn but basically our BFF yarn.

Once we had the bin filled with skeins, I wanted to crawl in and take a nap in it. I have not slept very well while all of this has been going down. It’s been stressful!

Anyway… we are dyeing  and processing it as fast as we can.  And there are quite a few of you waiting, so we will be balancing all of that so we can keep everyone happy. We have Sock Club, Color Club, online orders, wholesale orders, School of Yarn, MKAL orders, Trios, BFL Sport send-off … all waiting on this yummy stuff. And because the powers that be are seriously perverse, of course it is supposed to snow this week. Yeah!! As we have said all through this little yarn drama of ours we appreciate you patience and support! We do have the best knitters and crocheters and weavers and spinners and… we know it!!

If you are waiting on an order and you have a deadline please do let us know. We seriously are doing our very best to get everyone their yarn.

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who has shown the BFL Sport some love!! We have hundreds of orders for it and are diligently working on them. Based on the amounts that are still coming in and what we have yet to dye and ship (along with the late sock yarn), I think we need to push back the Vancouver KAL back a bit. So in order to ensure that everyone has their yarn before the official start, I would like to move it to the last week in February.

It turns out we have one more yarn for which this will be its last season: our Targhee Bulky is not selling as well as the mill would like it to move. I know… I have no words. I do think all of this is a lesson in supporting the yarns you love as well as also diversity in wool and yarns. We are seeing more and more breed-specific wool out there on the market, which is great and exciting, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of superwashed Merino yarns out there right now. Diversity is so important in wool (and in life)! Now, I sell Merino yarns that are superwashed, and they have their place, but they are not all there is. I feel like it would be a shame to limit ourselves to just using those yarns; we miss out on so much when we limit our world.

Sorry– I do not mean to be so preachy, but I am just a bit disheartened by the narrow vision in wool, yarn, and life right now.

I have not said a lot on social media about the very important discussion and work going on in the fiber community about racism, inclusion, diversity and white privilege. I have not said anything because I was listening, learning and considering. I was looking within myself at my own whiteness and the privilege that has come with that. My silence has more to do with my own personal struggles over the last year than anything else. I am not saying this as an excuse; just sharing where I am. Honestly, I also did not just want to just put words out there but wanted to think about my place and how Blue Moon could be more inclusive in action.

As a white woman over 60 who has lived with the privileges that come with this status, I want to say that I (and therefore Blue Moon) not only supports diversity but celebrates it! We will do whatever work we need to do to be more sensitive and inclusive to BIPOC  fiber artists in our community and the world at large. I am disheartened by the hate and intolerance in the world and I think it is so important to work together for greater understanding. All people ~ no matter what color your skin is or where you are from or how you identify or how old you are or abled or your sexually orientation ~ you are welcomed here!

I want to acknowledge and thank all of the brave BIPOC  knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, dyers, designers… who have stood up and spoken out, sharing themselves and their stories and being so very patient and kind. I am sure it has not been easy and I appreciate you and the work you are leading this community to do.

Thank you!!  I have heard and am listening. I will speak up when I witness racial injustice and will be looking for it in myself.

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Blue Moon is looking for design partnerships for the next few years in knitting, crochet, weaving and spinning. If you are interested in working with us please contact me at tina@bluemoonfiberarts.com. (Please be patient with replies, though – I am buried right now so it might take me a few days to get back to you.)

It is going to snow. Dang it! So I need to wrap up this blog post and get busy with yarn.

We are offering Targhee Bulky at a special price. 20% off it’s regular price.   You will need a code and that code is TGB19

Please know that right now orders placed will take a bit longer than normal for us to process so if you have a deadline please do let us know.

oh and I almost forgot. We found more yarn for the Mystery bags so there are up for sale. Last pod is empty so I am pretty sure this is going to be it for these. I know I said that last time so…who knows!

Stay safe and warm.