So 2012 is about me living into my designer manifesto.

I pledge to design more pretty things…

I pledge to then allow my designs to be publicly viewed… (or at least some of them )

I pledge to stop trying to earn this title and simply live it out…

Hope is the dream of a waking man. ~Aristotle

And it’s with that hope that I start to live awakened…

As we enter 2012 full of excitement and forward energy, I just need to post a quick quote from our dear Patron Saint of knitting… Elizabeth Zimmermann…

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.”

So whether this new year finds you troubled or untroubled. lets see what this year unravels together.

Much love from your LYS…

Now that it is August though, I’m needing to get my tail in gear.  This year there will be two little men to get ready for school each morning, not including the big man who will need to get out the door for his last year of seminary.  We are a family on the go.  I recently had my “breakdown” over watching my middle son grow to be a school supply consumer.  It’s going to be hard to watch them both walk into school each day, but I am excited as well.  Liam is hardly ever without Lukas… this will be good for him to both be with him and to also make new peer friends and  have some time to flourish outside of his brothers shadow.  They are each so wildly different and yet so watchful of one another.  They fight like the dickens, but if you were to ask them who there best friend is… it will be their brother every time.  I LOVE that.

So this morning my house is still.  I got up, had some quiet moments alone on the back porch swing, just me, God, a book and the breeze.

As far as a knitting bit this morning… I’ve actually got this going right now…

It’s a leafy lace scarf pattern that I’m hoping to finish off and get uploaded to ravelry soon.  I need to get a few other of my patterns gussied up and pretty-fied to put up there too.  Those will be free.  This one will be a few dollars to download, but it’s beautiful!  I am thinking of adding a ribbon accent to the edges… we shall see!!   It’s knit with the beautiful new Kentucky Blue Fiber Company local alpaca yarn I have in the shop.  Amazing colors!!  It’s so very soft and has been a dream to knit with.  Even as I’ve been working on this pattern and have had to rip out and start over, the yarn has kept it’s loft, it’s not felted up on me or gotten frizzy.  It’s great yarn!!   Anyway… there’s my knitting plug for this post.  I’m off to enjoy a second cup of coffee and seeing as my boys are still sleeping, I may just go read some more…

Uh-oh… is that little feet I hear padding down the hallway?… the day begins.

And Here’s the ball wound up…

And here’s the start…

I still don’t know if I will ply this or not… I’m leaning towards not plying b/c I think it will knit up so pretty as single threads of color.  An homage to it’s name’s inspiratiion…

Either way, this spinning for myself thing has become a battle of the mind for me… constantly questioning myself.   I need to settle down and just spin…

Hoping that will come soon…

My "distraction"... my sweet nephew Carter

Well… while on vacation, I forgot how hard it is to find time for yourself  Well, not exactly, but so far our vacation has been so full and so fun it’s been hard to find time to just sit. Visting family, getting to know my sweet new nephew Carter and visiting the local zoo with the family. And now of course I’ve been given a fiber-y bit of distraction.  My dad took me to a local llama farm and I bought a pound of roving… its gorgeous and so soft… can’t wait to spin this up… but it will have to wait just a bit.  If I start on this, I may never get a chance to spin my intended roving.

Speaking of my roving…

It’s a gorgeous cashmere blend.  Now, I didn’t dye this blend myself, I purchased it from friend and local fiberista Stephanie Stratton of LunabudKnits.  She and I met through etsy a couple years ago as we were the only two fiber artists at the time on our Bluegrass Etsy team.  She is an amazing dyer and spinner.  I bought one of her merino rovings through etsy which at the time was unnamed and she let me name the colorway.  ”Monet’s Muse” was born.  So when I saw that the colorway was now on a cashmere blend… I had instant fiber lust.   It’s now mine… and has been sitting on my shelf for a little over a month, staring at me… wanting to be spun… so now, challenged to knit my own handspun for myself… Here I go!

The pre-draft has begun…

I have been challenged a few of my knitters to knit for myself while on vacation.  Put aside the endless knits for the shop, set aside all my knits for gifts and loved ones and just enjoy knitting with myself in mind.  Not an easy task for me.  I had confessed that although I spin my own yarns, I have never knit one of those yarns for myself.  And I’m not alone.  Many people I’ve met through the shop love to knit, but have a hard time keeping the treasures for themselves.

I have knit with intent to keep many times, not my handspun mind you, but other beautiful yarns… all the time thinking I can’t wait to wear this/show this off… and almost as soon as I bind off, I know exactly who it’s supposed to go to, or exactly where in my shop I would display the item for sale.

This time I am pledging to be different. I am about to leave on vacation… shut down the shop in celebration of Independence Day and I’m taking this challenge with me I have a good idea of which fiber I’ll be choosing.  So I’m packin’ the kick spindle.  I’ll be perusing Ravelry for just the right pattern and I will spin and knit for myself.

We are planning a little surprise family trip to Covington, KY on Tuesday (Summer hours at the shop rock.) and so I’m trying to plan ahead accordingly for my travel knitting!  I’m currently working on kid’s hats, so most likely I’ll be taking my circulars and saving room in the knitting bag for colorful yarns and getting a bunch of kids knits done!

Also!  In the “How-Do-I-Go-About-Trying-This” Craft section of my brain, I have just picked up several burlap coffee sacks from our local roastery- Creative Coffees and I can’t wait to cut them up and upcycle them into project bags.

Time to get back to playing sick-nurse.

This year we will be having door prizes, appetizers and a few guest vendors here in the shop!   We will be running some great yarn sales as well as having a few workshops throughout the day!  Bring your knitting, a chair and a friend and join us for some fun!  Make a day of it and also enjoy the entertainment, great food and festivities of the Beer Cheese Festival.

Normal parking will not be available as Main Street will be closed to through traffic so that you may walk freely along the street, but special parking lots, both free and paid will be available as well as a trolley service!

Join us and Knit in Public!

Tomorrow night is special as we will be kicking off our “Knitty-Bitty” knitting project!  We are going to be knitting preemie hats for UK’s NICU and full term baby hats for Clark County’s New Beginnings Pregnancy Center.  If you haven’t already picked up your free skein of baby yarn for the project, you can pick it up tomorrow night!  You can also pick up a copy of the pattern as well!

Bring a favorite snack and settle in for some unadulterated knitting time!   We also will have the pleasure of  having Winchester’s very own Creative Coffee (roasted right here on Main Street!!) in the shop tomorrow night!  Hope to see you then!!

P.S.  As an extra incentive… our favorite Fair Trade yarn, Darn Good Yarn is back in stock and you will get the first dibs on our gorgeous selection of Recycled Sari Silk, Banana Fiber, and felted beads–new to Sarabee’s!