one last batty blast

Ok, here it goes! One final blast of batts from my studio, and then .. well, shipping it all out and making sure I don't have any loose ends hanging, but then - maternity leave! I'm really looking forward to spending the next two weeks puttering around and finishing laundry and figuring out storage solutions for all of this baby gear that I've been digging out.

Here's a collage of the whole shebang that's going up tonight.

I had hopes of finishing up a couple of new RollyBatt colorways, but after a driving band failure on one of my carders (and way too much time spent obsessing over fixing it!), I ended up storing those projects for later. Who knows, I might get the itch to delve into the studio within a few weeks, but I think a break from the studio is just the thing I need to start bonding with my new bub.

tiny details

I've never been *this* pregnant before. By this point in my last pregnancy, I was already holding my wee babe, so going past 35 weeks is a new and slightly uncomfortable experience, though I'll happily take these weeks at home with a tiny kickboxing fetus instead of at the hospital with a tiny milk-refusing preemie.

Last week, I did something really bold for an awkward introvert like myself - I hired local professional photographer Jeremy Wolfe for maternity/spinning wheel pics. I spent the entire day worrying and fussing over silly details like my toenails and hair color, and then after pouring an embarrassingly indulgent amount of time into self-pampering, it rained. Surprisingly, we didn't cancel the shoot and the entire experience was one of the wildest evenings I've had all year. My best friend came along for the ride, holding a flash and helping me laugh off my uncomfortableness.

Here's one of my favorite shots from the night:

When the sky grew too dark, we drove into town and took more photos in an alley, my big ol tummy casting funny silhouettes on a white wall. I can't wait to see the entire collection of images from the shoot, and I'm so glad I invested in documenting this period of my life. After all of that worry and fussing and awkwardness, I read an article tonight called "The Mom Stays in the Picture" and felt even better about my uncharacteristic splurge. Only now, I'm realizing that my mom and my husband's mother are the least photographed people in our family albums. Hopefully I can stay in the picture and not worry about the little details next time someone whips out a camera for my family.

On the studio front, I'm officially unable to continue making ArtBatts, so the few that I've made will get posted with my final update this weekend or in the middle of next week. I always knew that ArtBatts took the most muscle, but oof- they're sending me into flurries of contractions and a reprisal of morning sickness, so I'm calling it quits on that batty format for a while. I'm sticking with Classics and roving this week, with maybe a couple of fresh RollyBatt colorways in the works. I've also gone ahead and made a tough decision to go on maternity leave a couple of weeks earlier than originally planned. We rely heavily on my little businesses income to fuel our family's living expenses, and even though every single week of work counts, I'm physically and mentally in need of a few weeks to prepare for this new little bundle. There's baby clothes to wash, receiving blankets to serge, bookcases to secure (and build), and of course, I've got that crazy nesting instinct to take a toothbrush to the floor.

classically batty

ClassicBatts are stealing my heart and energy these days! Maybe it's because they're my favorite batt style to spin from, or maybe it's because they take a moderate amount of time and require little muscle (as compared with ArtBatts which take gobs of muscle and little time or RollyBatts which take zero muscle and oodles of time).

I made 5 new sets of ClassicBatts last week in quantities of 4 each and just posted them to the shop tonight.

I've got an excess of  luxurious superfine Merino and BFL to work from since the regular 21.5 micron Merino that I card from was out of stock from my supplier, and I'm really enjoying experimenting with both!

In case you're new to my fluff, ClassicBatts are what I started making waaaay back when I first got a drum carder. They're double-blended batts rolled into sweet little balls, and each batt is carded carefully so that plenty of contrast remains. When I started blending ArtBatts and RollyBatts, I needed a name for these cute little bubs, so "Classic" stuck, especially since you'll see versions of these all over Etsy from a variety of mega-talented carders.

Speaking of other carders, I need to fluff my personal spinning stash before maternity leave, any recommendations? Other People's Fiber (OPF in my business accounting records) is always a great surprise to spin from. There's something deliciously unexpected about diving into a batt that has a mysterious center, or contrasts I wouldn't have anticipated. I just might have to go shopping or trading for a few boyish colorways over the next week.

countdown!

Less than 6 weeks to go until I hit my due date, not that it means anything is going to happen on November 15th, but I'm imagining/fantasizing/hoping that this little bub will arrive that week!

I've been slowing down.

I'm finally accepting that cranking batts out at full-speed is a thing of the 2nd trimester past and have resigned myself to working at 50% capacity until little Ira is born, and then I'll take a nice maternity leave until I just can't stay away any longer, and will start back up with whatever bits of time I can find. I remember carding during Ing's newborn naps, so I anticipate that a similar schedule will resume before the new year. Even though I'd like to start up again soon, I'm giving myself a little bit of extra time, because after all, I've got a toddler to juggle and transition through this life-changing event too!

I'm wickedly honored to share that I was featured in Spin Artiste last week. I'm a huge fan of reading Arlene's interviews with fiber artists that I admire, so to be interviewed myself was a huge thrill! I was originally going to delete the code after the weekend of the interview, but I think I'll leave it up for a few more days ;) I've also reduced shipping to very low flat-rate charges for the remainder of this month.. or should I say, the remainder of my pre-maternity leave time! I honestly don't know whether I'll make it out of this month without a baby.

On a final note, I actually finished a complete project - a handspun woven blanket for my sweet toddler.

She's in love with it, and sleeps with it every night! Her reaction to the blanket is more exciting to me than actually finishing something. I should get started knitting something for little babe, but that might have to wait until here's here and snoozing in my arms.

Fullness

Everything's packed tight around here right now from my dyed fiber stash to my expanding waistline! I spent yesterday with my dye pots and realized how uncomfortably far away the sink suddenly felt as I pressed up against it to rinse out my dyed wool. Now that my series of summery adventures are over, concluding with SpinQuest last weekend, I'm really feeling the need to buckle down and make the most of my Fall.

I'm wearing the grey dress, running out of lap-room!

I entered the third trimester last week, or maybe the week before.. and the count-down to BabyTime suddenly feels very short, especially in light of all of the pre-Winter fiber prep I need to accomplish to prepare for both Maryland Sheep and Wool and the busy winter months following maternity leave. Fortunately yesterday's dye session was extra successful and I now have 20 lbs. of freshly dyed Merino + assorted fibers such as tencel and faux cashmere to keep me busy for the next week!

 

Vacationing: Yarnival + the beach!

I'm in between two exciting trips right now, home from the Yarnival in Placerville, CA and now on my way to the beach in Ocean City, MD for a week. Traveling is rare for me, so this summer is a real treat!

The Yarnival was a smorgasbord of inspiration and my usual post-MDS&W burnout evaporated quickly once I slipped off the plane into a wickedly good zone of zero responsibilities. I spent the next 5 days soaking up good conversation, too much sun, and a variety of goods from fellow fiber artists that I've been anxious to meet for years. Lucky me, I came home with a Girl with a Hook hat (one of my goal purchases for the trip), a skein of handspun and a pair of earrings from Neauveau Fiber Arts, a gorgeous handspun lariat from Rose Nectar Fibre Couture, fiber from Oscar and Sophia, and batts and locks from Jazzturtle (Esther and I shared a booth). The highlight of my trip was definitely chatting with everyone. Oh, and the river. I could never forget how good that river felt on my swollen pregnant-lady cankles!

 

 I came home to a feverish tot and spent the next week doling out snuggles and antibiotics and catching up on terrible children's movies.

Once poor Ingrid was able to attend school again, I got back to work and cranked out two small updates. My favorite colorway came out of this set of ClassicBatts named Bottled Sunshine.

I believe these two updates were among my fastest-selling, there's barely anything left in the ol' shop, and I'm about to run out to the Post Office for my second-to-last trip before my Beach vacation. If you've got your eyes set on anything, nab it quick before I shut down the shop tonight! I've got time for one more PO run tomorrow morning before I pack up my tot and head for the beach with my family.

This second baby, it's a BOY! I know I've posted just about everywhere else so I'm sure it's old news. I'm just excited that I'll have a chance to try something different, and that our little family will be complete with one of each. We're naming him Ira.

update-o-rama

Time has FLOWN as usual, but this time I know exactly what has happened - Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!!! All of those late nights paid off and I had a wonderful time vending with my Mom (MarigoldJen) and with help from my good friends Christiane Knight of Three Ravens as well as Adele Michelsen from Looliemom. I left with over 12 giant bins and 4 bags of fiber, and returned home with 2.5 bins, and my tent was mostly empty by Saturday evening. Here's Mom and me during set-up.

I returned home to a very distressed toddler - poor Iggy was not happy at all about the few days I was gone, so I spent the next week providing as much boring routine as possible to help prepare her for what came next - a move across town! (I feel like the Price is Right announcer here..) We lived in a gorgeous remodeled barn on the outskirts of Shippensburg for nearly 5 years, but with a second baby on the way, the open layout of the barn was no longer going to be a convenient or safe layout for our little family. Now we've got much more space, though this new spacious and more cost-effective home is a temporary blip in our efforts to save up for a home to purchase within the next two years.

The move took much much longer than we anticipated - I had to do the bulk of packing and organizing since my husband was busy with odd hours at his job and an exciting radio gig on the side. I pushed for a heavy de-stashing of everything we owned to help speed up the process, and even slimmed my book collection by over 80% - which feels deliciously refreshing!

Just after settling and unpacking and restoring comfort and routine to my sensitive toddler again, another big event - my parents flew out West to be with family during a rough time and had a last minute emergency crisis with their dog requiring a sitter/kennel. He was missing just one of the vaccines required for a stay at a kennel, so I've been dog-sitting/house-sitting for the past week and a half, living between homes with a re-frazzled toddler, spending 2-3 hours each day with the commute. You can probably now imagine why the studio has remained mostly untouched for a full month! Also, it's probably not hard to imagine how anxious I am to shut myself into my new basement cave of floor-to-ceiling fibers and freshly washed fleeces.

I have so many wickedly good ideas on what to do with my newly bolstered stash - the fleeces I brought home from Maryland Sheep and Wool along with some delicious BFL fleeces I ordered from one of my absolute favorite farms - they're all divine! I bought a couple of natural colored fleeces that will absolutely not be dyed, and you'll know why once you see the sweet milk chocolate brown rambouillet and the multi-tonal silvers and charcoals in my ribbon-winning leicester longwool fleece. As usual though, I can't stay away from high contrast bolds and brights, so the natural colors will be a fun spin on the typical Hobbledehoy crankings.

Because of all of these events, it's been very difficult to find the right times to have or schedule updates - usually after a long day with a clingy toddler, I fall asleep while tucking her in! I do have more product to list from MDSW to continue to add, but I also have a full bin of fresh batts and rovings for this weekend's update. Stay tuned, and stay flexible! I'll make sure that a newsletter goes out with my update info ONLY AFTER I'm totally sure that an update is happening that day :)