Saturday, February 28, 2009

Her Name is Lola

But she's not a show girl.  She's our new puppy!  She's a mini poodle / shih tzu mix and she is ADORABLE.  Jack is still trying to decide how he feels about her.  But they play a lot and get pretty upset if they're separated.

Here's a video of Lola and Jack playing our first night home with her. (In case you aren't already familiar, Jack is the grey dog and Lola is the cream dog).


Friday, February 27, 2009

I'm Phat, I'm Phat, You Know It: Part 2

I'm not sure what was going on with the formatting in the last post (I can't figure out hwo to fix it...sorry!) but hopefully we won't have that problem here.

Ready for round 2 of Phat Fiber?  Here we go!

Let's start in the upper right and work our way down and across...

See that cute pink plastic heart thing in the back? It's a diz from 7 Yaks Designs.  I've never used a diz before, but I used it to pull some chiengora into a little roving ball and it was fabulous!  I almost thought about seeing if someone would trade me for a needle gauge that she makes in the same heart design, but I love this little diz now that I've used it so it's all mine.  If you want your own, she has them for sale here.  And they're only $2.50!  A steal.  Go get them before they're gone.  And pick one up for a friend or a swap partner while you're at it.  They'd make a fabulous giftie.

See the business card with a purple yarn ball with needles sticking out of it?  It's in a bag with some raw angora fiber from Tracy Rios.  I've never played with raw angora before, so that will be fun.  Maybe I'll have to comb it and then bust out my diz again.  She's got a site here and an etsy shop here.  She's selling her raw angora for 50% off through Saturday, so definitely make a point of stopping in on her.

To the left of Tracy Rios' is a card with an Alpaca head on it.   It's just another shot of the Moonwood Farm roving package I blogged about here.

See the earth red, green, brown and gold yarn?  It's from Kitty Grrlz.  They have bea-utiful stuff.  Especailly their bamboo handspun.  And this sample is awesome, too.  This stuff wasn't labeled as to exactly what it is but it's 16 grams and I think there is enough to make a little coin purse or maybe even a mug cozy.  Score!

To the front, the pink and grey sock yarn...is from Samantha in Stitches.  It's 5 grams of a yarn called Sheen and it's a supersoft and silky blend of 40% superwash wool, 40% bamboo and 20% nylon.  A full size, 100g (410 yd) skein is $18 (which, if you ask me is a FABULOUS deal for this stuff).  Her site is a little tricky to navigate, so just go straight here to find the good stuff.  From the look of the site, it seems the colourway I have is probably chocolate covered strawberries.

The pretty rainbow twist right by the camera?  It's from Abstract Fiber...who is local to me, and who I actually met last Saturday at spinning group in downtown Portland.  She sent in a super generously size 17 gram twist of 50% alpaca/ 30% merino / 20% silk and they are my kinds of colors.  This one goes on the list of my top 5 fave from this box, too and I'm really excited about what it's going to turn into.

And off on the left, you can just barely see a squooshalicious handspun called Chocolate Sundae from Wooly Hands. (spun from merino which I guess is from Cloud Lover 69.  My sample is 7 grams of bulky weight handspun in pinks, cremes, and browns.  Plied with a shiny pink thread.  Not sure what I'll do with this one yet.  If you want your own, Love is Funny looks pretty similar.

We already made our way around from the right to the center of this picture, so we'll just pick up where we left off.

The center skein of bluey grey handspun  is 4 grams of a handspun called "English Countryside."  The tag says it's 100% wool and that's where the story ends.  No seller or maker listed.  If anyone knows anything else about this one, give me a shout out in the comments.

The pink and red sample to the left is from Melissa's Kre8tions.  Now here is a seller who has some tasty stuff.  This sample is 6 grams of a worsted weight handspun.  Unfortunately I don't see any in her store right now so I'm not sure what's in it, but it sure is purdy!

To the far left is just a smidgen of Fire Lizard Studios' handdyed sock yarn in "Joy".  The sample is 11 grams, which makes it about 44 yards.  This might even be enough to make a pair of Flippant socks for me.  Score!


This is another review shot.

Left-to-right in the back row is Kangaroo Dyer, then Moonwood Farms mini roving.

Along the front edge of the box, starting on the left  are 3 little pink and purple skeins from Oriri Draco Design.  I'm not sure which is which, but between the three of them, I got some Sea Squish Lace in "Lady Rose," some Li'L Squish Cotton in "Lilac" and some Li'L Squish Sock Yarn in "Delicate."

Then heading up toward the right are better shots of Fire Lizard Studios, Melissa's Kre8tions, mystery english wool, Chocolate Sundae from Wooly Hands, Samantha in Stitches, and Kitty Grrlz.

Along the front of the box on the chair is a sample of J. D. Melaine fudge.  Honestly, I'm personally not a fudge person so I didn't even try it.  I sent it off to trade in for a batt from extreme spinning.  However, EVERYONE is raving about this stuff.  If you like fudge, check her out.

Then there's the "Lover" handspun fron Evergreen Creations, Happy Hands from Local Gringos and the dorset/monandale puff from From Ewe to You. (thes were all blogged about in Phat Fiber: Part 1)

And finally, last but certainly not least are is the spindle bag I got from Desert Garden Farms.  It didn't make it in my main box picture because I was so excited about it, I took it out and put it to use right away.  Here's a picture of Jack checking it out in my spinning tote:


Here's the full body shot:
It looks like there is one more just like it, so if you like my bag, go snatch it up before it's gone.

So thanks for letting me share my goodies.  If you want your own box in March, be sure to check out Phat Fiber's website and get on the notification list to find out what time the boxes go on sale.  Boxes sold out literally in minutes in February so you'll have lots of competition.

Monday, February 23, 2009

I'm Phat, I'm Phat, You Know It: Part 1

Who's phat? I am! Ready?


BAM!
The February 2009 Phat Fiber Box:

Do you hate me yet? This box is chock full of fabulouso stuff.


Exhibit A:
Left: 8 grams of "Lover" Handspun, hand dyed merino blend yarn from Evergreen Creations. It's a 2 ply. I'm guessing it's worsted weight. I think there might be enough to make a little coin purse. I might try felting with it, too.

Center: Happy Hands Goat's Milk & Shea Butter Hand Creme: "Tea & Roses" from Local Gringos. The rose scent is so faint you can barely smell it....which is how I like it. Plus it's got honey in it. I love milk and honey stuff.


Right: A little 4 gram puff of unlabeled fluff from From Ewe to You. I'm guessing it's wool...but I'm not sure what kind. I don't see it in her shop. I'll probably card this together with something else. edit: I've since learned that it is Dorset/Montadale

Exhibit B:
Background: Pattern: "Under the Rose" Fingerless Mitts from Ganiggle Knits.

Big beautiful puff of fluff: A generous 13 gram chunk of 100% merino superwash roving from Kangaroo Dyer. This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite things I got in this box. I'm excited to see what it turns into.

To the right of the big bright puff: You can see the corner of an envelope. The front of the envelope had standard knitting abbreviations on it. Inside were all kinds of coupons from places like Farmgirl chic, Local Gringos, Moonwood Farm, eXtreme Spinning (I'm really sad I didn't get a sample from here. I will probably have to take advantage of 20% off to make myself feel better about it, though) and My Fair Bag Lady. There was also a cute little stich marker from Pedras (the stitch marker didn't make it in the picture. Go check out her stuff, though. Cute. I also got a sock yarn note card from Knit it Up. (no picture of this, either....but please go see her stuff. Definitely worth the time and bandwidth to click).

That gorgeous little pink and grey poof?: It's a 5 gram sinfully soft mini roving ball in the "snuggly" colourway from Moonwood Farm. Check out this description:

This particular blend consists of alpaca blended with a little satin angora bunny fiber - white first shearing from Mickey [an alpaca, picture on the card] blended with a bit of pink glitzy prepared roving, purple hand dyed (koolaid) from Sergeant Major [another alpaca, picture on the card], grey from Dominic (his fiber is blended with 25% black satin angora from Nero [Nero is a bunny]), as well as a sprinkling of silver angelina.

Holy cow! (or is it holy alpacas and bunnies?) Complex with undertones of "wow!" Aside of feeling like I've been entrusted with a little bit of sacred fiber, I think Moonwood wins for the "best tag" competition among the things in my box. Pictures of alpaca and bunny pr0n, a description like this, another description of how she made my roving ball, and directions about spinning and washing the fiber. Roo...you need a Ravelry group for your farm. I'm totally a fan.

To be continued...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Look what I got!



To be continued...

Sock blocker Love

Back in January, I won this giveaway over on Beth's blog: At the end of this row.  My blockers came a while ago but I've been either crazy busy or sick and today was the first time I had a chance to take a picture of them in the daylight.



Don't they make my socks (the Cookie A Pomatomus) look way better?  The blockers are incredibly well made, beautiful wood.  Beth's husband is a wood worker and sells them over here.  Beth even has a mitten blocker with a detachable thumb in the works (!!!)  I don't even knit mittens, but the idea of this is so amazing to me that I kind of want them, too.

If you're in the market for nice sock blockers for yourself or as a gift, make sure you check them out.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

All the good ideas are [usually] already taken

I invented the grapefruit spoon.

When I was about 8, I was eating a grapefruit for breakfast in my grandmother's kitchen.  And as I cut each litte wedge with a knife and scooped it out with a spoon I thought "there has to be an easier way."  I thought if you could make a spoon with a serrated edge that acted like a knife, you could save yourself so much time preparing grapefruit.  I thought "this is revolutionary!"  I ran to tell my grandmother my fabulous idea.

She smiled and walked over to her silverware drawer and pulled out a grapefruit spoon...

I was sad that someone already stolen my great idea.
(now, why I was eating a grapefruit with a knife when my grandmother owned grapefruit spoons, I'm not sure)

Similar situations have played out over my life.  I have a brilliant idea and then find out someone else already had it.

Today was another one of those days.

I was at knitting group and both myself and another knitter were working with our pretty wood needles:

And we were also talking about the new popularity of drop spindles that was experienced at the Madrona fiber arts retreats.  Shelia observed that a lot of knitters must be converting to handspinning.  

Later as Tami was talking about a drop spindle video that she saw on the Knit Picks website, I thought "hmm.  I wonder if Knit Picks is going to start making spinning supplies."  "What would Knit Picks spinning supplies look like, I wonder."

Then like lightening, the idea can to Tami and at almost the same time....wouldn't it be neat if there were drop spindles that had the same pretty rainbow wood patterns like our knitting needles.  "Quick!"  I said, "Call Grafton Fibers so they can start making beautiful drop spindles."

Then, just like my grandmother pulled out her spoon, Shelia casually says "they already do."
Foiled!  Once again someone stole my great idea before I had a chance to think of it.

Speaking of Grafton, have you seen their stuff?  Beautiful!  Check out these crochet hooks. I particularly like the peacock ones:

They also have these amazing shawl pins here.

Stunning!  Pardon me, while I go wipe up my drool.

Jessie, can we figure out a way to get these guys to send Phat Fiber some stuff?



Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Fun things from Etsy

I'm home sick today with the post-winter camp crud.  All the other youth leaders were sick leading up to camp or sick at camp.  I managed to hold off getting sick until after camp.  Good for camp.  Not as good for me.

So while I'm hanging out on the couch in my jammies, thought I'd share some fun cupcake finds from etsy....

Old English Cupcake Patch from Etsy Seller Liz Miera



Cupcake Wallet from Etsy Seller Majesty Inc


Felt Cupcake Favor bag (wouldn't this make a fun sock project bag, though?) from Etsy Seller Turtle Taylor

If you're doing any Valentines or "Just Because" shopping, be sure to check out etsy.  It supports independent artists.  You can also support your local economy by checking out the "Shop Local" feature, where you enter a location and it shows you all the shops based out of your area.  So go ahead.  Check it out.  You knwo you want to.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Phat Fiber

Check it out:

I was approached back in December about being a part of something called the Phat Fiber Box. It's a box of sample sized fiber arts goodies (with the occaisional tea and balm) from a variety of independant fiber artists. It's a great opportunity to send samples of my stuff to people who are paying to get them. It's a great opportunity for customers to see and feel a yarn before buying online.

A couple nights ago, my very patient husband stayed up way too late with me wrapping sample skeins of Buttercream yarn and braiding samples of Crumb, a new superwash colonial wool top so we could get them in the mail. Want to see?

What's that? Closer in you say?

Here's the Crumb: (or one color of it, anyway.  I sent some blue, too, but the pics aren't so good)


Here's the Buttercream mini skeins in McIntosh Apple and Strawberry Milkshake:














So, if you haven't yet, get thee hence to www.phatfiber.com. The theme for February's box is "Romance and Chocolate."  I'm excited to be in the box this month as well as excited to see what I get!  There's been talk about having delicious chocolately snacks in the boxes.  Come on, chocolate and yarn?  Does it get better?  (okay...you're right.  It would be better if cupcakes were involved somehow....but maybe another month?)

If you're maybe even just interested in getting a box, make sure you get on the e-mail list on the phat fiber site. The boxes go up for sale at a secret time and the e-mail list is notified of when it is. Last month, the boxes all sold out in 20 minutes! So unless you have extraordinary luck, you're going to need to be on the e-mail list in order to snag one.

In the meantime, you can preview goodies and reviews of the samples that are being sent in and enter giveways on the Phat Fiber blog.


Saturday, February 28, 2009

Her Name is Lola

But she's not a show girl.  She's our new puppy!  She's a mini poodle / shih tzu mix and she is ADORABLE.  Jack is still trying to decide how he feels about her.  But they play a lot and get pretty upset if they're separated.

Here's a video of Lola and Jack playing our first night home with her. (In case you aren't already familiar, Jack is the grey dog and Lola is the cream dog).


Friday, February 27, 2009

I'm Phat, I'm Phat, You Know It: Part 2

I'm not sure what was going on with the formatting in the last post (I can't figure out hwo to fix it...sorry!) but hopefully we won't have that problem here.

Ready for round 2 of Phat Fiber?  Here we go!

Let's start in the upper right and work our way down and across...

See that cute pink plastic heart thing in the back? It's a diz from 7 Yaks Designs.  I've never used a diz before, but I used it to pull some chiengora into a little roving ball and it was fabulous!  I almost thought about seeing if someone would trade me for a needle gauge that she makes in the same heart design, but I love this little diz now that I've used it so it's all mine.  If you want your own, she has them for sale here.  And they're only $2.50!  A steal.  Go get them before they're gone.  And pick one up for a friend or a swap partner while you're at it.  They'd make a fabulous giftie.

See the business card with a purple yarn ball with needles sticking out of it?  It's in a bag with some raw angora fiber from Tracy Rios.  I've never played with raw angora before, so that will be fun.  Maybe I'll have to comb it and then bust out my diz again.  She's got a site here and an etsy shop here.  She's selling her raw angora for 50% off through Saturday, so definitely make a point of stopping in on her.

To the left of Tracy Rios' is a card with an Alpaca head on it.   It's just another shot of the Moonwood Farm roving package I blogged about here.

See the earth red, green, brown and gold yarn?  It's from Kitty Grrlz.  They have bea-utiful stuff.  Especailly their bamboo handspun.  And this sample is awesome, too.  This stuff wasn't labeled as to exactly what it is but it's 16 grams and I think there is enough to make a little coin purse or maybe even a mug cozy.  Score!

To the front, the pink and grey sock yarn...is from Samantha in Stitches.  It's 5 grams of a yarn called Sheen and it's a supersoft and silky blend of 40% superwash wool, 40% bamboo and 20% nylon.  A full size, 100g (410 yd) skein is $18 (which, if you ask me is a FABULOUS deal for this stuff).  Her site is a little tricky to navigate, so just go straight here to find the good stuff.  From the look of the site, it seems the colourway I have is probably chocolate covered strawberries.

The pretty rainbow twist right by the camera?  It's from Abstract Fiber...who is local to me, and who I actually met last Saturday at spinning group in downtown Portland.  She sent in a super generously size 17 gram twist of 50% alpaca/ 30% merino / 20% silk and they are my kinds of colors.  This one goes on the list of my top 5 fave from this box, too and I'm really excited about what it's going to turn into.

And off on the left, you can just barely see a squooshalicious handspun called Chocolate Sundae from Wooly Hands. (spun from merino which I guess is from Cloud Lover 69.  My sample is 7 grams of bulky weight handspun in pinks, cremes, and browns.  Plied with a shiny pink thread.  Not sure what I'll do with this one yet.  If you want your own, Love is Funny looks pretty similar.

We already made our way around from the right to the center of this picture, so we'll just pick up where we left off.

The center skein of bluey grey handspun  is 4 grams of a handspun called "English Countryside."  The tag says it's 100% wool and that's where the story ends.  No seller or maker listed.  If anyone knows anything else about this one, give me a shout out in the comments.

The pink and red sample to the left is from Melissa's Kre8tions.  Now here is a seller who has some tasty stuff.  This sample is 6 grams of a worsted weight handspun.  Unfortunately I don't see any in her store right now so I'm not sure what's in it, but it sure is purdy!

To the far left is just a smidgen of Fire Lizard Studios' handdyed sock yarn in "Joy".  The sample is 11 grams, which makes it about 44 yards.  This might even be enough to make a pair of Flippant socks for me.  Score!


This is another review shot.

Left-to-right in the back row is Kangaroo Dyer, then Moonwood Farms mini roving.

Along the front edge of the box, starting on the left  are 3 little pink and purple skeins from Oriri Draco Design.  I'm not sure which is which, but between the three of them, I got some Sea Squish Lace in "Lady Rose," some Li'L Squish Cotton in "Lilac" and some Li'L Squish Sock Yarn in "Delicate."

Then heading up toward the right are better shots of Fire Lizard Studios, Melissa's Kre8tions, mystery english wool, Chocolate Sundae from Wooly Hands, Samantha in Stitches, and Kitty Grrlz.

Along the front of the box on the chair is a sample of J. D. Melaine fudge.  Honestly, I'm personally not a fudge person so I didn't even try it.  I sent it off to trade in for a batt from extreme spinning.  However, EVERYONE is raving about this stuff.  If you like fudge, check her out.

Then there's the "Lover" handspun fron Evergreen Creations, Happy Hands from Local Gringos and the dorset/monandale puff from From Ewe to You. (thes were all blogged about in Phat Fiber: Part 1)

And finally, last but certainly not least are is the spindle bag I got from Desert Garden Farms.  It didn't make it in my main box picture because I was so excited about it, I took it out and put it to use right away.  Here's a picture of Jack checking it out in my spinning tote:


Here's the full body shot:
It looks like there is one more just like it, so if you like my bag, go snatch it up before it's gone.

So thanks for letting me share my goodies.  If you want your own box in March, be sure to check out Phat Fiber's website and get on the notification list to find out what time the boxes go on sale.  Boxes sold out literally in minutes in February so you'll have lots of competition.

Monday, February 23, 2009

I'm Phat, I'm Phat, You Know It: Part 1

Who's phat? I am! Ready?


BAM!
The February 2009 Phat Fiber Box:

Do you hate me yet? This box is chock full of fabulouso stuff.


Exhibit A:
Left: 8 grams of "Lover" Handspun, hand dyed merino blend yarn from Evergreen Creations. It's a 2 ply. I'm guessing it's worsted weight. I think there might be enough to make a little coin purse. I might try felting with it, too.

Center: Happy Hands Goat's Milk & Shea Butter Hand Creme: "Tea & Roses" from Local Gringos. The rose scent is so faint you can barely smell it....which is how I like it. Plus it's got honey in it. I love milk and honey stuff.


Right: A little 4 gram puff of unlabeled fluff from From Ewe to You. I'm guessing it's wool...but I'm not sure what kind. I don't see it in her shop. I'll probably card this together with something else. edit: I've since learned that it is Dorset/Montadale

Exhibit B:
Background: Pattern: "Under the Rose" Fingerless Mitts from Ganiggle Knits.

Big beautiful puff of fluff: A generous 13 gram chunk of 100% merino superwash roving from Kangaroo Dyer. This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite things I got in this box. I'm excited to see what it turns into.

To the right of the big bright puff: You can see the corner of an envelope. The front of the envelope had standard knitting abbreviations on it. Inside were all kinds of coupons from places like Farmgirl chic, Local Gringos, Moonwood Farm, eXtreme Spinning (I'm really sad I didn't get a sample from here. I will probably have to take advantage of 20% off to make myself feel better about it, though) and My Fair Bag Lady. There was also a cute little stich marker from Pedras (the stitch marker didn't make it in the picture. Go check out her stuff, though. Cute. I also got a sock yarn note card from Knit it Up. (no picture of this, either....but please go see her stuff. Definitely worth the time and bandwidth to click).

That gorgeous little pink and grey poof?: It's a 5 gram sinfully soft mini roving ball in the "snuggly" colourway from Moonwood Farm. Check out this description:

This particular blend consists of alpaca blended with a little satin angora bunny fiber - white first shearing from Mickey [an alpaca, picture on the card] blended with a bit of pink glitzy prepared roving, purple hand dyed (koolaid) from Sergeant Major [another alpaca, picture on the card], grey from Dominic (his fiber is blended with 25% black satin angora from Nero [Nero is a bunny]), as well as a sprinkling of silver angelina.

Holy cow! (or is it holy alpacas and bunnies?) Complex with undertones of "wow!" Aside of feeling like I've been entrusted with a little bit of sacred fiber, I think Moonwood wins for the "best tag" competition among the things in my box. Pictures of alpaca and bunny pr0n, a description like this, another description of how she made my roving ball, and directions about spinning and washing the fiber. Roo...you need a Ravelry group for your farm. I'm totally a fan.

To be continued...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Look what I got!



To be continued...

Sock blocker Love

Back in January, I won this giveaway over on Beth's blog: At the end of this row.  My blockers came a while ago but I've been either crazy busy or sick and today was the first time I had a chance to take a picture of them in the daylight.



Don't they make my socks (the Cookie A Pomatomus) look way better?  The blockers are incredibly well made, beautiful wood.  Beth's husband is a wood worker and sells them over here.  Beth even has a mitten blocker with a detachable thumb in the works (!!!)  I don't even knit mittens, but the idea of this is so amazing to me that I kind of want them, too.

If you're in the market for nice sock blockers for yourself or as a gift, make sure you check them out.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

All the good ideas are [usually] already taken

I invented the grapefruit spoon.

When I was about 8, I was eating a grapefruit for breakfast in my grandmother's kitchen.  And as I cut each litte wedge with a knife and scooped it out with a spoon I thought "there has to be an easier way."  I thought if you could make a spoon with a serrated edge that acted like a knife, you could save yourself so much time preparing grapefruit.  I thought "this is revolutionary!"  I ran to tell my grandmother my fabulous idea.

She smiled and walked over to her silverware drawer and pulled out a grapefruit spoon...

I was sad that someone already stolen my great idea.
(now, why I was eating a grapefruit with a knife when my grandmother owned grapefruit spoons, I'm not sure)

Similar situations have played out over my life.  I have a brilliant idea and then find out someone else already had it.

Today was another one of those days.

I was at knitting group and both myself and another knitter were working with our pretty wood needles:

And we were also talking about the new popularity of drop spindles that was experienced at the Madrona fiber arts retreats.  Shelia observed that a lot of knitters must be converting to handspinning.  

Later as Tami was talking about a drop spindle video that she saw on the Knit Picks website, I thought "hmm.  I wonder if Knit Picks is going to start making spinning supplies."  "What would Knit Picks spinning supplies look like, I wonder."

Then like lightening, the idea can to Tami and at almost the same time....wouldn't it be neat if there were drop spindles that had the same pretty rainbow wood patterns like our knitting needles.  "Quick!"  I said, "Call Grafton Fibers so they can start making beautiful drop spindles."

Then, just like my grandmother pulled out her spoon, Shelia casually says "they already do."
Foiled!  Once again someone stole my great idea before I had a chance to think of it.

Speaking of Grafton, have you seen their stuff?  Beautiful!  Check out these crochet hooks. I particularly like the peacock ones:

They also have these amazing shawl pins here.

Stunning!  Pardon me, while I go wipe up my drool.

Jessie, can we figure out a way to get these guys to send Phat Fiber some stuff?



Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Fun things from Etsy

I'm home sick today with the post-winter camp crud.  All the other youth leaders were sick leading up to camp or sick at camp.  I managed to hold off getting sick until after camp.  Good for camp.  Not as good for me.

So while I'm hanging out on the couch in my jammies, thought I'd share some fun cupcake finds from etsy....

Old English Cupcake Patch from Etsy Seller Liz Miera



Cupcake Wallet from Etsy Seller Majesty Inc


Felt Cupcake Favor bag (wouldn't this make a fun sock project bag, though?) from Etsy Seller Turtle Taylor

If you're doing any Valentines or "Just Because" shopping, be sure to check out etsy.  It supports independent artists.  You can also support your local economy by checking out the "Shop Local" feature, where you enter a location and it shows you all the shops based out of your area.  So go ahead.  Check it out.  You knwo you want to.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Phat Fiber

Check it out:

I was approached back in December about being a part of something called the Phat Fiber Box. It's a box of sample sized fiber arts goodies (with the occaisional tea and balm) from a variety of independant fiber artists. It's a great opportunity to send samples of my stuff to people who are paying to get them. It's a great opportunity for customers to see and feel a yarn before buying online.

A couple nights ago, my very patient husband stayed up way too late with me wrapping sample skeins of Buttercream yarn and braiding samples of Crumb, a new superwash colonial wool top so we could get them in the mail. Want to see?

What's that? Closer in you say?

Here's the Crumb: (or one color of it, anyway.  I sent some blue, too, but the pics aren't so good)


Here's the Buttercream mini skeins in McIntosh Apple and Strawberry Milkshake:














So, if you haven't yet, get thee hence to www.phatfiber.com. The theme for February's box is "Romance and Chocolate."  I'm excited to be in the box this month as well as excited to see what I get!  There's been talk about having delicious chocolately snacks in the boxes.  Come on, chocolate and yarn?  Does it get better?  (okay...you're right.  It would be better if cupcakes were involved somehow....but maybe another month?)

If you're maybe even just interested in getting a box, make sure you get on the e-mail list on the phat fiber site. The boxes go up for sale at a secret time and the e-mail list is notified of when it is. Last month, the boxes all sold out in 20 minutes! So unless you have extraordinary luck, you're going to need to be on the e-mail list in order to snag one.

In the meantime, you can preview goodies and reviews of the samples that are being sent in and enter giveways on the Phat Fiber blog.


 
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