spicy

I canned 60+ jars of salsa yesterday, and looking at my counter smothered in filled pint jars of perfectly sealed spiciness makes me so proud!  I have a loose recipe that I alter every year, and this year, I think my batch came out really tasty and chock full of jalapenos.  I also made two chipotle batches and one black bean + corn recipe (which isn't as spicy as I like- but it has a good smokey sweet flavor).

This past week made up for my missing week of lazy home-bound vacation.  I purposefully delayed ordering wool (partly hoping for a good deal which was promised but not delivered soon enough) in order to lounge about and knit and spin, but now I'm ready to get hopping again with "wool weather" only a couple of months away.

I had purchased some lovely Creatively Dyed roving at MDSW, and finally started spinning some.  In fact, I loved it SO MUCH, I had to order more.  I like how her rovings come in 8 oz. braids, and I adore the bases.

I spun the roving on the left (a freebie from her!) and plan on plying it with some of my own fiber- maybe a muted burgundy, and I'm half-way through spinning the pink merino/tencel roving on the right, which will be fingering weight and is destined for a weaving project.  The whopping pound of orange lusciousness is still untouched, but I hope to get started on it soon.  I want to spin a DK or light worsted weight yarn to knit into a hooded poncho for Ingrid. 

On a final note- I'm working on a new product:  super smooth batts intended for sock or lace knitting.  I'm going to be using my beastie Supercard machine to double card these, and plan on making them multi-tonal 50/50 merino and some other silky fiber (tussah, bamboo, soysilk, tencel- whatever). My problem is that I can't think up a clever name!  Next week, I'm planning on digging into my ravelry fan club for suggestions, and whomever thinks of the product name that will be used will receive 4 oz. of the new batts.

back

I'm back from vacation in Utah.  I didn't get very many photos since I was wrangling a baby (she was a very good traveler, I must add).  Originally, I planned on taking another week off from work when I got home, but soon realized that I was antsy to work.  So I did.  And I had an update on Wednesday, though not much is left in the shop from it.

While I was gone, I finished my Travelling Woman shawl, started a baby blanket (which I just finished a couple of days ago), and bought some new knitting needles.  Here's proof that I've been knitttting:

I need to block my Wool Leaves baby blanket and weave in the ends, but I'm totally happy-dancing over the fact that I started and completed two knitting projects within a month.

Pause.  I better knock on wood before typing the next bit.

Suddenly, things feel "in order."  I know I've complained and moaned about a colicky cranky baby, juggling household duties, and my business, but somehow things have straightened out recently.  I don't know if it's because Ingrid has turned a corner and is now the world's HAPPIEST baby, or if it's because my husband suddenly took on more householdy chores, or possibly the fact that I've finally given my brain something paradoxically challenging and relaxing to focus on, but I feel magically better. 


Now, all I have to do is light a fire underneath my business expansion plans and get things rolling.  Realistically, I'm aiming for the revamp to be complete by the end of September or early October.

travelling woman shawl progress

I've nearly finished my second repeat of Chart A, and I have so much yarn left to use, that I think I'll repeat it three more times before starting Chart B.  This is the most fun variegated yarn ever- a hand-dyed superwash merino / nylon skein from Creatively Dyed.

late night carding

I'm starting to think that folks out there think I'm lazy or a terrible time manager, and perhaps its true- I don't know how some women juggle it all.  My house would be total chaos if it weren't for my somewhat organized husband.  Between baby and housework and squeezing in a weekly update (if I'm lucky), this year is zipping by and I feel a little dumbstruck.

I took Ingrid to a cheap mall-studio type photographer for 6 month photos (well, she was closer to 7 months by the time we got there) and it hit me- the "baby" year is halfway over, my production level has been slashed in half, and I don't remember the last time I got a haircut.  (The haircut was quickly remedied when I asked my Mum to slash a few inches off, but I'm still unfashionably frazzled).    I feel compelled to make the most out of every second I'm with Ingrid, and I'm sure that comes from losing two siblings to childhood cancers.  Maybe I'm going a little too far though, and not giving her enough space to be independent.

Amidst this all, I took up lace knitting because I need something intellectually stimulating.  I've got brain sludge coming out of my ears and I think I can quote certain passages from certain Dr. Seuss books easier than I can remember the author of the last adult-ish novel I read.

Finally, however, there's a little bit of light at the end of this tunnel- Ingrid has FINALLY started to sleep through the night- about 4 times a week.  When she does wake up, she's usually ravenously hungry and will nurse for 20-30 minutes like she's in some kind of eating competition, so letting her self-soothe really isn't an option.  She's still in the 20th percentile for weight, so I feel like I should feed her all the time to fill in those funny skinny baby arms.  I remember reading in one of my parenting books something that suggested that most babies *should* sleep through the night at 8 weeks, and here I am at 7 months post-birth, finally getting a few solid nights of shut-eye each week.

Oh, and the lace knitting bit- it's wonderful!  The first pattern I'm doing is Travelling Woman by Liz Abinante, and I'm slightly reluctant to call it lace since it's so far a simple ripple.  Maybe I'll pull my hair out and scream LACE when I get to chart B, which looks slightly more complicated.   I'm half-way through the shawl right now, and have already picked out pattern #2, Blackbird by Kieran Foley of Knit/Lab.  Pictures coming soon, but don't be too harsh!  I'm not a very good knitter, so I'm sure my lace will be pure wack for the first few projects at least.

yaaaarn

I haven't spun for anything but a few Yarn Clubs in AGES!  It felt so good this week to plunk myself down at the wheel and crank out over a dozen yarns.  Here's some yarn pr0n, for those who are curious.

I listed them in my shop, and am planning a few more out to spin next week.

I keep making businessy plans like launching my own dot.com, starting a newsletter, and doing more promotions, but I never seem to follow through.  I keep blaming baby, but maybe I need to just stay up later or get up earlier.  Hah!  No more excuses this summer- my Mum has offered to watch Ingrid for two days a week while she's out of school (she helps teach in a toddler Montessori classroom), and I can't wait to build up stock and finally accomplish some goals.  I feel like my business has started to slip away from me, between decreased work time to feeling out of touch with the fibery community at large since I'm rarely online.  Also, my husband has been out of work since January when the company he worked for closed down nearly half its business, which has made life a little trickier.  Poor fella spends a good 40 hours a week job searching on top of maintaining his own little business selling rare and out of print media, but he's a terrific supporter of my business, sharing the baby and house duties equally with me.  Thank heavens we live in a rural cheap-ish area where we can squeak by using the internet as a business platform!

Oh, and my little Ingrid seems HUGE! We just celebrated her half-birthday with presents and cake.

I can't wait for her 6 month check-up when we find out how tall and chubby she is!  She's been measuring in the 15th percentile, but I'm sure that won't be for too long.  Her personality cracks me up, and she LOVES story time and getting tickled.  She especially loves it when we sing silly songs to her, and tries to sing along with her crazy Yoko Ono style.

give-away / goal!

I can't believe I'm nearly at 3000 sales in my Etsy shop!  I know if I tallied my off-Etsy special orders to the mix, I'd be well over that figure, but hitting 3000 on Etsy alone will be super-exciting.  Unfortuantely, I don't have much stock at the moment, so I'm doing two things to help nudge me over the edge this month. 

1.  Give-away!  FIVE lucky shoppers (from 4/15-4/21) will receive a free surprise batt in their order, and ONE extra-lucky shopper will receive a 4-month Batt Club subscription!  All you need to do in order to enter this give-away is type "batty" in the message-to-seller box at check-out.  The reason I'm having anyone type anything at all is because some people don't care for extras in their orders.

2.  I'm having a wee update tonight.  Sadly, I don't have too much new to post, but there are quite a few one-of-a-kind batt sets, which adds a bit of excitement to the shop.  I love drumming unique sets- it gives me a chance to experiment with color and texture without committing a whopping 12+ oz. to a multiple-quantity listing. 

here's a few of the sets:

While I'm not counting on it, it would be really swell to hit my goal of 3000 sales by my birthday (which is tomorrow). 

oops

I'm lapsing into my old habit of not posting very frequently.  Oops.  I had big plans for March, but nothing seemed to work out right- my wool order arrived two weeks late, Ingrid was a sad fussy baby, we had a roof leak in our bedroom, etc.

Each month (thankfully) feels like a fresh start, however, and April is feeling deliciously fresh.  Seriously, could this Easter Sunday be any more beautiful?  I had put together an Easter basket for Ingrid, complete with teething rings, rattles, and a new sleeper- and at the last minute, kindly decided not to make her search the house for it.  haha!  After we washed off her new toys, I hung laundry in the sunshine and we all went over to my parents' house to dye eggs and eat dinner.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather (if they have this lovely sunny stuff that we have!)