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And then there was one!

After 20 years I am back to the daily running Blue Moon all by myself at the moment. It’s been a long time since I did all the things all the time and I am not going to lie I’m a little tired. In the grand scheme of things I am lucky because I can work and my work keeps my mind occupied and my self busy creating beauty for others to create beauty out of. So I am counting myself blessed.

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I was dyeing web orders yesterday and infusing all the yarn with as much light and love as I could, of course along with all the color too! So today after I finish this it is back to dyeing and rinsing so I can ship tomorrow.

A lot of you have been either emailing or posting on instagram what you are working on. Thank you so very much it’s so great to see. I always enjoy seeing your projects but especially so now. I am pretty good at being alone but this is a little challenging. I miss my team. They are all healthy so yay! I hope you all are staying home if you can and being super careful!

One of the things I dyed this past week was an order for Loop London. The owner Susan ordered a lot of our older colorways so that was a fun trip down memory lane. One of my favorites was Mad REAL which is such a bright and happy hue.

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Isn’t pretty?!

Now there is a life affirming color, if I ever saw one. Big and bold.  I have put it along with quite a few other of our older colorways on the website for the next week or so. If there is an older colorway you’d like to see just let me know. infoa@bluemoonfiberarts.com

Also up on the website is our SilkMO Lace!!!  Because it is just me here I did not have time to add in all of the colorways. So you will see just the Snowflake colorway. How you order is to choose a colorway from the colorway search option. Then Select the Snowflake SilkMO Lace and once it is in your shopping cart then in the comments section let me know what colorway you want. Easy Peasy!! Please note that there are two yardage options. We are offering it in 300 yd skeins and 900 . Since a lot of us are carrying it with other yarns for garments I thought the bigger skeins would be helpful. The colorway shown below is: That 70’s skein

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Before I go any further we are for the time being continuing the 20% discount on all yarns. The code you need for that is: supporteachother2020 and it is good for multiple uses.

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One of our designers and friend is offering this lovely shawlette pattern free on RAV right now. Powell’s City of Books by Star Athean

She is offering this pattern in support of a Powells, a Portland treasure that has had to temporarily (we hope and pray) close it’s brick and mortar during this time. If you need books pleas consider buying online from them instead of you know who. It’s important we support small and locally owned business during this crisis we find ourselves in. We all have a skein of fingering-weight in our stash just begging to be this shawlette!

There are quite a few designers offering free patterns right now in order to spread the love. Which is super generous on their part. So a big thanks to all of them for their kindness and generosity.

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Oh my have yo seen this sweater? Oh KT this is right up your alley!

It’s Luna by Espcae Tricoter

So pretty knit with a light fingering-weight and a laceweight mohair held together!! Perfect for our Gaea Fingering and SilkMO Lace!! Also could use Soft Rock in place of the Gaea. So lovely!

 

Okay I have some other things but need to get to the barn to set up and this is also getting long so I will post again tomorrow!

Oh before I go though Blue Moon is looking for test and sample knitters. If you are interested please contact me at info@bluemoonfiberarts.com and put sample knitter in the subject line.

Thank you!!!

Stay well and safe!

LOVE

In the time a social distancing

Honestly I am not quite sure how to start except from my heart. So…here goes, first I hope you all are taking care as best you can.  I know we are all scared and doing our very best to not only protect ourselves and each other.

As most of you know Blue Moon has been around for quite awhile (20 years this year)  and is my sole support and also a few of our team. In order to protect everyone’s health and well being here we’ve been a skeleton crew for a few weeks now.  It has become clear as this all progresses and our Governors issue shut downs that all of us small business owners are going to have to make some very hard choices. If you own or work for a small business you know how heartbreaking this all is. Small teams easily become a family of sorts. We spend our days together working for the greater fiber and knit good in the world.

I just want you to know where we are in all of this. I am here working as much as humanly possible with the support of  2 part time team members for now. We are so very careful with so very much hand washing, space and cleaning.  Luckily we are rural and on 5 acres in the woods so it’s a bit easier to distance form the world at large. Since I am one of those at risk people I am not working in the same space as others! We’ve gotten seriously creative. We have meetings in the driveway in a big circle. It took quite awhile to get this team together and I am so proud and honored to be able to work with each and everyone! Goodness this is sure not how I thought we would be experiencing our 20th year.

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We are all in this together!  As I have said many, many times we would not do what we do without you, our fiber loving artists and creators. If you are in a position where can support us and other small businesses you value at this time we are so grateful for that support. Right now we will offering a 20%  gratitude discount which covers shipping costs and a little more.That code is: supporteachother2020

Okay let’s move on.

So everyone is predicting a baby boom in the next year with all of this social distancing togetherness. It’s a fair assessment. I am going to predict a design boom and much sooner than 9 months. I think we are already seeing the beginnings of one. Here are just a few that struck my fancy this week.

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Photo Credit: Joji Locatelli

Far Away Dreams by Joji Locatelli

I can tell you right away why this one appeals to me. I do love a plain bit of knitting framed with a bit of lace. Also it’s black and a white speckled with black which is right in my most wearable wheel house. I know I am looking for more simple knits with just enough patterning to keep me engaged and my mind from wandering. I think this fits the bill perfectly. I’m thinking our Feahterlight, Soft Rock or …our La Luna Fingering are wonderful options.  I’m gonna use our Black Onyx and DotCom colors I think. Although really there are so very many color options here like make the lace part darker and the garter fabric lighter or one a solid and one not and one and on! If you need help choosing let me know I would LOVE to help.

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DSC_0420rav_small2Photo Credit: Raina K

Brioche Starter Hat by Raina K

One of the things it might be fun to do during this time is learn a new skill or technique. Right?!  True confessions time, believe it or not, I have yet to master brioche knitting. Even though years and years ago, JC Briar our tech editor at the time turned me onto the joys and wonder of Brioche. I have yet to  give it a whirl so that is my challenge. I thought this hat was super cute and and good beginning point. So that is what I am going to do. I noticed on the pattern that even though she calls for worsted weight that sport weight was what most people were getting gauge with so I am going to use our brand new yarn (yes we have a new yarn) Comet. It’s so lovey and perfect for this project and seriously reasonable priced which is one of the reason we brought it in. Hmm…what colors should I use. Oh and did you see the coordinating pom? Too cute!! I see these as a good knit and save for presents.

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Photo Credit: Hannah Maciejewski

Peasant Surprise by Hannah Maciejewska

Summer is coming! The first day of Spring was on Thursday so warmer sunny and brighter days will come! I think this would be a great summer topper of a tank or sundress. It’s light and lacy and sized for pretty much all of us! Thank you for that Hannah!!

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I would use our Soft Rock for this one or our La Luna Lace both are lovely light fingering weights that will not be too warm for those cooler Summer evenings. Actually for the Pacific Northwest it would be absolute perfection!

 

As I mentioned we have a new yarn. We actually have a few I have just not had the time to get them up.

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This is our Comet  in our Sturgeon Moon colorway. Comet is a sport weight and is quite a lovely yarn. I wanted a yarn that was seriously suitable for baby knits and also blankets. I really wanted a blanket yarn so we could all make moon blankets with the full moon colors. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I think you are going to love it!

And look…

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Colorway shown: That 70’s Skein

SilkMo is back finally!! We have made a few changes so I am looking to get those up on the website also. We are calling this one SilkMo Lace since it is a bit finer and softer too!! Also we are offering it in either 300 yd skeins or 900 yards skeins. I know a lot of us are holding the finer silk mohair yarns with other yarns in bigger projects so we though the bigger skeins a good idea. I might go ahead and get this up as yarn choices and then add the colors as we go. So you would be able to order it and just type in the colorway you want in the comments section. hmm…

okay my friends that is a lot and I have yet to get out to the barn today to dye so I need to wrap this up.

 

 

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We are all in this together and …We’ve got this!

Love!!!

PS: Love notes are welcome we will be sending a bunch out your way. Also looking at setting up some live knit session via zoom and or FB.

Knit on!!

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.”
Elizabeth Zimmerman
We are all scared and worried and rightly so. There’s so much  unknown about this virus and that leaves us with little to now control which we human beings are very uncomfortable with.
Our best tool besides hand washing and social distancing is our craft whether it is knitting, spinning, weaving, crocheting, sewing… we create one stitch , one row, one seam, one thread at a time.
What a blessing!!!
We are so equipped for this moment in time.
We will get through this all together. We are each  and everyone one if us a stitch that makes up such a beautifully strong and resilient fabric. Our diversity is our strength!
Stay safe my lovelies and wash those hands.
Oh my goodness is anyone else surprised at the amount of times we touch our faces!
love!
tina

Soothing fiber thoughts!

Hello all…

How is everyone coping?  All of this is pretty intense and quite overwhelming.  As people who knit, crochet, weave and spin we certainly are equipped with the ability to pass the time in a soothing, creative way.  Which I think leaves us in a better place than most. A lot of us also have online social connections that keep us fed and happy. Thank you Ravelry!!

So many of our wonderful fun fiber events have been cancelled and we are all pretty disappointed. I am sorry for us all, attendees, teachers, vendors and the event coordinators. Let’s send all of them love and compassion.

All of the closures and quarantines that are necessary to keep this under control is most definitely going to be a financial hardship for may of us. I know that some super creative souls have put together a few online fun events to support the vendors and teachers. So be sure to watch out for those on instagram and Ravelry. I think basically we just all need to support each other anyway we can. This is going to impact all of us in one way or another and quite honestly, some more than others.

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I am going to do my best to post more here and on instagram to soothe and hopefully inspire. I would love to hear back from you also. Elizabeth Gilbert reminded me today of a practice I uses to do all the time that a therapist friend taught me.

It’s so helpful for times like these when there is so much unknown, which makes us worry and be anxious. So to help keep us in the moment and also to be grateful for every moment we go to our senses.

  You can do this anywhere you are. 

Look around you and then name 5 things that you can see, 4 things that you can hear, 3 things that you can feel, 2 things that you can smell, and 1 thing that you can taste. You have to pay attention to where you are in the moment in order to do this so it lands you smack dab in the middle of right now. It affords us the chance to see and feel where we are and to appreciate that. It slows us down and quiets our minds and regulates our breathing. Such a lovely way to be where we are now.

Okay let’s talk knitting and knit-a-longs!

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Photo Credit: Gaye Glasspie

Orange Love Poncho by Gaye Glasspie

Today starts this KAL with the lovely Gaye Glasspie. If you do not follow her on social media you should she is a bright ray of sunshine. She is ggmadeit on instagram  And she LOVES orange. The KAL looks like all kinds of fun. I think we all have some yarn in our stash that we can use to knit this lovely poncho. Hey, some of us might even hace orange!  You can read all about the KAL here on RAV  

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Photo Credit: Casapinka

Olive Pink by Casapinka

This weekend Casapinka dropped a new pattern that she designed with Adelle of Lolabean Yarns for a pop up shop at a LYS that of course had to be cancelled. The yarn used on this one is finger-weight which I know we all have quite a bit of.

I am recommending our Featherlight for this project.

Color recommendations based on ones used are:

Snowflake, Spores or Mica, Winter Solstice and for the pink version Rosebud and for the Olive version Sabertooth Caterpillar.

If you want other color options please do ask me I love putting combo’s together.

Okay I have a lot more designs to share but am going to leave it at one more!

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Photo Credit: Susanne Somer

Hoodie Shawl Cardi by Susanne Somer

I so LOVE  a hoodie and this one with all of the combining of color options and then it’s extensive sizing… I am so wanting to cast this on. I would wear this ALL the time. I think in a Raven with a grey and maybe pond scum. My yarn recommendation for this would probably be our Socks that Rock. Yup I think so. Thank you Susanne for yet another wonderful design! So talented!!!

To spread the LOVE we are offering a 15% discount on all yarns for the next few days or so. supporteachother2020

Okay my lovelies I have to go finish spinning since my wheel is now fixed  and get notes fired off and then rinse some yarn out and…

Take care or your dear selves and each other. If you need and ear or shoulder I am here drop me a line. tina@bluemoonfiberarts.com

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