The first of December

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-- Robert Frost

I love this poem. It reminds me of the winters of my early childhood and my grandfather.  He loved to takes us walking through the woods in the winter especially when there was snow. I think he loved that insulated silence. If I close my eyes I can still feel the biting cold on my cheeks and the comforting warmth of my hand sheltered in his.
It occurred to me last winter, as I was walking in my woods on just such moonlit evening, that my beloved grandfather would love it here where I live.  As I continued on my way thinking of him and remembering, I could still feel the warmth of my hand in his.
I’m so looking forward to this seasons first snowy evening walk. Almost as good as the walk is returning home, making tea and curling up by the fire with my knitting. I do believe he’d have liked that part too, although his tea would have an extra kick to it.

Happy First day of December!

Goodbyes are hard, so we just don’t do them.

Change is inevitable. 
Change is a big fat fact of life. We might not like it; we might go screaming into that dark night, but it doesn’t negate it’s basic truth. Change happens every moment of everyday, some are obvious and cause us pause, some hit us over the head and leave us reeling and some happen without even us ever having a clue.
Personally I’m a huge fan of the ones that you don’t really notice until you are there and then it’s well look at that and you move on.  I am aware of the power and transformative gifts that change can bring us, nonetheless.

Curious as to where I’m going with this aren’t you?

In my life to date I’ve had the amazing good fortune to work with some pretty extraordinary people.
The most recent one of these gifts has been our man on Blue Moon, Mr.hizKNITS, Stephen Houghton.  Yes by all means let’s hear it for Stephen! Stand up and take a bow Stephen.
There is a whole lot I could say about this lovely man but I promised not to make us both cry. He is the brother that I never had, a friend, and a wonderful work companion and addition to Blue Moon.  He makes the best breakfasts and bread, has wicked IT skills, is a marketing genius and really… just fill in the blanks.
The past year working together has been quite wonderful for me and I believe the same is true for him.  We’ve gotten a lot accomplished made great plans and well… had a boat load of fun.
Because of life circumstances (thank you housing market, economy and...) beyond both of our control, and believe me we’ve tried, Stephen is going to be staying in San Francisco and as of today is starting an excititng new job .
It’s a great opportunity for him and his family that we all here are very excited about.  We really are. We are sad for us but thrilled for him.

We are not too sad because:
Stephen will still be a part of Blue Moon and Knot Hysteria (phew) on a project based scenario, just not on a daily 9 to 5 level.
He is still helping with the website upgrade and you will most probably see him at shows and KH events.
And that my lovely knitters is why we are not grief stricken and are happy for our friend.
Stephen starts his new work adventure today, Monday, so let’s all wish him the best of luck and thank him for being his dear wonderful self.

Good luck my friend, if they give you any trouble just let us know.

Love you and mean it!

Tina, Debra, Debbi, Paula, Becky and Rosie.

Fall Crush

We’re not talking about falling in love or the smashing of grapes here (although we would gladly accept a glass of anything that’s been properly aged). At Blue Moon, Autumn means a crush of of fiber festivals, a bumper crop of hands itching to make woolly things, and a bounty of well-prepared knitters readying themselves for the impending holidays. Needless to say, there’s a whole lot of dyeing going on in the barn. (Which we don’t mind, ‘cause we have a crush on making pretty colors!)

Because knitters can’t live on dye and yarn alone, we’ve harvested two new beautiful accessory patterns from Sivia Harding and Kyle Kunnecke to keep you warm as the weather gets chillier.

Sivia’s Drifting Leaves is an elegantly-beaded cowl and gauntlet set that combines twisted ribbing and eyelets for a heavenly treat in Marine Silk - Sport.

Inspired by hand-woven textiles seen in Southeast Asia, Kyle’s Angkor Hat is colorful & creative cap made from two skeins of Socks that Rock Heavyweight. If you’re new to colorwork and working with two yarns at once, Kyle has made a Fair Isle Knitting tutorial video that’s posted on his blog.

Lastly, just a few minutes ago as I’m typing this, the doors to the Stitches East Marketplace flew open in Hartford, CT. Debbi, aka Cockeyed, is staffing the Blue Moon Fibers Arts section of the WEBS booth. She has a truckload of gorgeous garment yarns, in addition to the Socks That Rock. Be sure to visit her if you’ve got a cozy sweater or luxurious accessory project in mind. May I suggest one of the two patterns above?

Look at that, we’re at the tail end of October already. How’d that happen so quickly? Tell us your Fall Crush in the comments below before we’re well into Winter.