Gemini Season!!

Hello dear ones!! Sorry that I missed a week or so there. To be honest I did not have a lot to say and have been basically living in the dye barn.

Hopefully that eases up a bit soon. Anyway I am getting it done and reconnecting with parts of my colorful creative self that I have not had access to in awhile. Also planning all kinds of fiber fun and watching the changes in our industry and across the world as this all changes things. I hope you are all well and being careful!! I know it is hard. Seriously this is challenging us all on levels that I don’t think we are even aware of.

So let’s dive right into some fun and things we have some control over like yarn and color and stitches! Well maybe yarn and color I feel like there are days where my stitches have a mind of their own.

Don’t look now but it is a new yarn!!

Welcome MOXIE  one of our short-run-yarns which basically means “get it while you can” because once it is gone that is it! We are bringing MOXIE in right now because it’s a lovely yarn that we are getting at a fabulous price point which we can pass on to you our lovely knitters and crocheters! A little yarn gift for us all at 20.00 a skein eh?!  MOXIE is a silky soft 3 ply Merino with the addition of nylon which gives it such a stunning sheen. I seriously love how it takes the dye! I am going to have so much fun dyeing this. MOXIE would make stunning shawls since it’s going to have a nice drape. Also it is going to be a great yarn for knitting for our little ones. It’s loves to be speckled too so that is all kinds of fun.

So… it is a little less than a week away from someone’s birthday.  We started celebrating on Friday with giveaways on instagram and facebook so do check it out. I am going to have them all week! You do not want to miss out on the fun.  I do love giving!

Our current giveaway is this loveliness!

The Pink skein is called PinkISH and I am working on getting that color with a few others added to the website. I am not a pink person but I so love this one.

As you know I usually make a special birthday colorway for myself. As I was mulling this over this year I had all kinds of ideas and colorful thoughts. I have been wanting to do more themed kits and the whole birthday astrology thing is intriguing to me and fun of course. So…this month starts our ~ “What’s Your Sign” ~ monthly astrologically inspired color kits.

I’m over my moon loving self excited.

I’m seriously in love with what I created for Gemini. I hope you love it as much as I do. I made the picture big so all the layers of color. Especially in the darker of the two skeins. It’s a duo cause ya know Gemini are the twins!! I took some of my inspiration from my raven and crow friends. Gemini is an air sign so we do love our bird friends and I have a thing for Ravens as you know. I have been wanting to make my own heart raven for awhile and her she is. Be still my feathered heart!

It is the brightest Raven I have made. It is darker than this photo is showing but not my much. So fun! This Gemini kit is 2 skeins and you have different bases to choose from with Moxie being one of them.  I used the colors in the raven for the second skein also as a speckle and with not black over-wash. You can read all about these on their webpage!

I have another idea I am giving flight to this week so stay tuned for that also.  I was holding off on some of this since it has only been me here and I am a but behind on orders and sock club. That creative mojo is important to follow when it shows up. It’s a gift and I think we do not say not to gifts. It’s rude! (hehe)  Also we need momentum right now. Moving forward creates hope.

So what 2 color pattern would I knit with my Gemini color! Hmm….there are so many wonderful patterns to choose from. I am loving the patterns right now that are using lace weight mohair with another yarn and the mohair creates some lace so I would choose that kit and knit one of those patterns for sure.

I am loving Larissa Brown’s Moongazing Shawl so I would probably choose that. Actually going to go buy it right now. I think I will dye me a kit and cast-on on my birthday.

Okay well I am going to sign off. I have to go rinse and hang yarn to dry and I have not made food today so there’s that and I always watch a movie my grandfather and I loved on Memorial Day weekend for him. I miss both him and my gran but there are times when I just wish I could sit and listen to his stories.

LOVE and so much strength to all and especially our essential workers, our health care workers and those who’ve been impacted so very hard by this virus.

Stay safe and well my friends!!!

Oh I almost forgot! Silly me. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of my fellow Gemini’s. I know there are quite a few of us! xoxoxo

This and that and then, probably a little of those!

Yup, this is how it is!  I would say that it’s been a week but when hasn’t it been so…there’s that. I had to venture out yesterday for supplies and it was pretty surreal. It had been a little over 4 weeks since I left here and it was just odd being out in the world. I am one of the over 60 crowd so I left early to take advantage of the less crowded shopping. On the positive side I got to see the morning unfold which was lovely. Everything is blooming. So much can happen in 4 weeks time but especially so in the Spring. Wow so much color everywhere, especially green. Oregon seriously rocks green in Spring. There are so many shades of green but I things my favorite is the bright tree leaf bud green. It’s the kind of green that vibrates with life force. I love it!

And yes this does mean there will probably be more green colors coming your way. I love green! I remember quite awhile ago when I was inspired to do some new colors Debra very gently mentioned I might want to try other colors besides green. Whaaaat?? Oh Debra. I did though, because she was right. It has been awhile since I had a green phase so I’m going to immerse myself in green for a little while. Green is such a healing, calming hue ~ regenerative!

Wow, I had no idea when I sat down to write this morning that this is where we would end up. Since we are here if you have not heard Joni Mitchell’s song Little Green give it a listen.

” Just a little green lie the color when the spring is born.”

It’s one of my favorite songs of all time.

Okay let’s talk a little bit about knitting shall we?

Photo credit: Boo Knits

Boo Knits Happy Talk Shawl

Isn’t this pretty? I do love a Boo Knits design. And I have been looking for something to use our SilkMO Lace with and there you have it. Also she is offering it as a free download right now which is super kind and generous! I’m thinking Featherlight and SilkMO Lace ormaybe Soft Rock instead of Featherlight. Hmm… . And it could be green!!!I am working on a grey with green tints to it and that would be stunning on the mohair. Okay…I have to dye!!! Since I am the lone dyer right now I do not have a lot of knitting time and then also my hands are older hands so I do have to rest them. Oh my don’t you love those points!!!

Rayna by Noora Backlund

I am finding during this seriously stressful time in our lives and world that I need simple patterns that will still hold my interest. I think this is one of those patterns for what it is but also what it will do with color which always holds my interest.

Noora uses a fingering-weight yarn which our stashed are full to brimming with and pretty much any color is going to work.I would choose a mutli with just enough contrast but like I said anything will work. Noora’s pattern is also free at this moment. Please do remember the gift these designers are giving us and support them anyway you can

Photo Credit: Noora Backlund

Twisted Slipster Blanket Shawl by Jen Toll Knits

I am adding this one in because it very pretty and I love the stitch and we need cozy comfort right now. It’s knit is worsted weight so pull out your Targhee Worsted!!! I would use a shaded solid so you can see those twisted slips!

Okay I think that is a fair amount of inspiration for us all.  I have to get back out to the dye barn to work on reeling and rinsing. The two r’s of fiber work. I am just cracking myself up here.

Photo credit: Jen Toll Knits

As I  have mentioned it is just me here and I am doing my best to get your yarn to you asap. If you need it sooner than later please let me know and again thank you all for the wonderful communication and sharing. You’re the best!!

Take care of yourselves and each other.

I do have baby chicks on the way. We might need some hats!!

One day at a time.

Hello all…

How is everyone holding up? All of this is quite a bit to process for everyone but most certainly more for those working the front lines and for those who have lost their jobs. It’s a scary time and one that a lot of us have not come close to experiencing so our coping skills are being challenged.

I realized at the beginning of last week when I started to get panicky that I needed to adjust my way of thinking and being in this time period.

I live alone and my business is here with me. In many ways I am lucky and I know that. I try to step outside of that privilege as much as I can to help and support others.  I live where I work. My business is on the same piece of land as my home so I do not have to leave here to keep working. I am grateful for that!! However it does mean that I am the only one here and it’s a lot of work and work I have not done alone in a very long time.

If you know me you know I have very high expectations of myself. I often meet those expectations but I also know that sometimes my expectations are unreasonable. I realized when I had woke up with a panic attack last Monday that I needed to cut myself some slack. There’s no way I could meet the same timeline that a team of 5 women could. Yes I might have a superwoman complex. So I stopped myself from overworking and stressing about it all and then changing my mindset and I will tell you it has made all the difference. I look forward to going out to the barn to work instead of feeling overwhelmed by it all and because of that I also feel like I am getting more done and infusing it all with the love and joy I feel is so important. Like enjoying the color bubbles from mixing dye!

And enjoying how the colors mix and shine of the Super Sparkle yarn before it all soaks into the yarn.

That place where two colors meet and make another color or another shade of that color is one of the most magical and wonderful parts of being a dyer.

As far as jobs go mine is pretty awesome and I am fully aware of just how lucky I am!

So I guess this is my very round about way of saying that all of this that we are going through is seriously hard. It’s a lot to process and dealing with so we are going to need more patience and love with ourselves and each other to get through this. If you are sad or scared feel it, it’s okay and reach out. I was feeling a little sad this am so I called a friend and just hearing her voice helped me. And now I am writing to you which honestly ALWAYS makes me feel connected and joyful. We are in this together even if we are not physically together.

So what am I doing today? I am tagging and packing and shipping the orders I have ready.  Before I do that I will get the yarn I am going to dye today ready for dyeing. I prepped the dye for it last night before I went to bed. I don’t know why but I find working in the dye barn at night kind of magically delicious.

I am also writing this to you before I head out to get started. I also have to answer emails today print tags, order dye and talk to suppliers. I need to rinse what I dyed yesterday and hang it to dry and wash out the pots. Oh and I have to reel some yarn from cones to skeins, almost forgot. It’s cause it is my least favorite part of the job.

I am going to pour myself another cup of coffee, feed the cats and Betty the chicken and head out to get things going.

I want to thank all of you for supporting Blue Moon.  Thank you to those who have been sending me pictures of what you are working on and also posting them to instagram and facebook.  I love it soooo very much. Oh and also for the love notes.

You are wonderful!!!!

Please know that I am working diligently to get you your yarn. If you need it sooner than later please let me know.

Please take care of yourselves!!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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