Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Bucket's List
Everyone that knows me, knows that I love to support small indie businesses. It all started when I discovered Etsy a few years ago. I developed a real love for buying gifts for people from my favorite shops and feeling really good about giving my hard earned money to someone that was passionate about creating at home. Whether it be a stay-at-home mom or a singleton supplementing their income or a creative genius sharing their craft with the world, I decided that giving and buying indie is the best thing since (whole wheat) sliced bread. And I've never turned back.Even better than JUST supporting indie, is supporting someone you KNOW that is an indie shop owner. Case in point, my girl, Krys. We met when she came to our knitting group a little over a year ago. We hit it off almost immediately. We had a lot in common, shared the same sense of humor, views on mommyhood (ha!) and of course, our love of fiber and knitting. She's since become one of my dearest friends. So, when she decided to open up her Etsy store, Gherkin's Bucket ....I was all about it and started buying my first handspun yarns right away.
Her business has evolved quite a bit since she opened earlier this year. She not only dyes her own fiber in luxurious blends such as merino/cashmere/nylon, 22 micron merino, organic merino, baby alpaca/merino and merino/seacell, but she spins them into lofty, gorgeous yarns. She also just recently started kettle dyeing merino superwash worsted and bulky and will soon carry merino superwash fingering....all of which are conventionally spun yarns. You get the best of both worlds....handspun AND conventional yarns all in one awesome shop.
Recently I worked on some knitted projects with some of her handspun....
First up, Highly Regarded Mitts by the one and only Gherkin herself.
These were done in her Fat Grasshoppa colorway in superwash merino bulky and only used about 80 yards for the entire pair! You could get 2 pairs out of one skein of this yarn!
Next up was the Beech Wood Cowl by Ilga Leja.
I made this with her merino/tencel blend in Charmed. It was LOVELY to work with and the stitch definition is incredible!
Some of the other pretties in my stash are:
Baby Alpaca/Merino in Honesty
80/10/10 Merino/Cashmere/Nylon in Ching Ching
Superwash Merino in Verve
Pretty, eh? You can get your own Gherkin's Bucket yarns here ON SALE! She's offering 15% off everything in her shop right now as a fall sale!
And congrats to Krys for being featured yesterday on Lime and Violet's Etsy Shop of the Day!
Labels: cowl luff, Gherkin's Bucket, i heart etsy, indie rocks, knitting, swag
Monday, November 5, 2007
Plucky Love and a Heat Wave
Just in time for Miss Plucky coming to visit in AZ, we are having record breaking temps. It's supposed to be 93 degrees today. HELP ME. Someone save me! AHHHHHHHH! It makes it hard to really get into Christmas knitting, but I'm plugging along.Case in point: Triple Cable Muffler for my dad for Christmas. The pattern is from One Skein and I'm knitting it out of heaven....oh, I mean...buttah....uh, clouds of marshmallow fluffiness that is The Plucky Knitter Merino Worsted in Earnshaw. This mother is hard to photo...I tried several different lights and rooms in the house and these were the best I got. I think this might be better photo'ed outside next time. These pics don't do this yarn justice...it is gorgeous!
I did finish one Kaffe Fassett sock after settling on the flat toe from Knitting Vintage Socks and also finished knitting and steeking Melody. Pics soon.Labels: knitting, Plucky love, swag
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Plucky Booties
An FO! An FO! Hark!
I made these beauties as a test knit for Sarah aka The Fabulous Plucky Knitter for her upcoming LYS event. I knit them and then she added these beautiful orange and white vintage buttons. Aren't they adorable? Oy!
Can we talk about this yarn for a moment? It is TO.DIE.FOR. This is her sport weight superwash merino in Tippi Blue (named after Tippi Hedron, of course). I have knit with many a yarn in my day...and let me tell you...this stuff is at the top of my list. I'm not just saying this because Miss Sarah is one of my favorite people in the universe either...this stuff is top notch. So, go buy some. Support an indie dyer. Once you do, you'll be addicted like me. And you won't regret it.
Labels: girlfriends rock, i heart etsy, knitting, Plucky love, swag
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Contest Winners
Thanks so much to everyone that left a comment for the drawings. So many of you came out of the woodwork, so to speak. I love getting lurkers to delurk. :)The drawing happened this morning in my kitchen. Since Miss Buggernut was the object of the contest I let her pick the winners. Each person that correctly guessed that she got a HAIRCUT and was also a knitter went into one drawing. And since not one non-knitter guessed correctly, everyone that commented went into the second drawing for a pair of Puffluna earrings. I cut up pieces of paper for each drawing, put them into separate bowls folded up and let the 'Nut pick one piece out of each bowl. And the winners are:
Karen from Musings of a (mostly) Self Taught Knitter wins a skein of Plucky Knitter sock yarn in a custom Wannabe colorway
Embee from Logorrhea wins a pair of tag earrings from Puffluna.
CONGRATS LADIES!!!
Don't worry all...I'll be holding another contest soon to give away more prizes from my favorite indie shops! Stay tuned.
And without further ado....the haircut pics....Miss Nut got 7 INCHES cut off last Wednesday!
Labels: Buggernut, contest, knitting, swag
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Yarny Goodness
MMMMMMMMMMM, there's nothing like getting 2 delish packages in the mail. I'm not talking boxes of chocolates or cookies or even brownies (however, if anyone feels like sending any of the aforementioned to me I would not drive the UPS delivery man away)...I'm talking about yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarn. I'm trying to purchase by project now which is a big difference from how I'd buy yarn in the past. I would haphazardly throw skein upon skein into the shopping basket (virtual or not) and THEN wonder what in the name of kaleidoscope I was going to do with it. *Of course, this EXCLUDES sock yarn...hello, does not count as stash.Anywho, KnitPicks had a summer sale a week or so ago and while perusing (and slightly salivating), I found the perfect yarn for a project I REALLY want to make....the BSA Cropped Cardigan. Does someone think I might have a :thing: for BSA patterns? Anywho, 8 skeins of Andean Treasure in Woods Heather jumped into my virtual basket. I got all 8 for around $25...hello, this is 100% BABY FREAKING ALPACA! This beats the yarn the pattern calls for which would have run me about $75...cough. I've heard nothing but good things about Andean Treasure and I can't wait to swatch and knit this up. Yummy.
The other package consisted of goodies from a blogiversary contest I won over at A Knitted Frenzy. Kim totally spoiled me with The Yarn Harlot's new book and a skein of Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Harlotty! THANK YOU KIM!
Now if I could only figure out a way to make the bills come in fibery form. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Sock Crack & Crafty Goodness
The TinkerStinker told me I needed to post. I know people...I'm a slacker. I've been busy with Mother's Day stuff and a bit of crafting and general mommy stuff.
But what you ask...has been taking every spare millisecond that I have in the day when I'm not scrubbing floors, cleaning makeup brushes, organizing bookshelves and doing party invites for The Mister's grandma's 90th?Well, meet Rosie the Charade Sock aka My Drug of Choice.
I completely blame my twin for this. The pattern was her idea and the Yarn Pirate yarn was sent by her (see last post). I'm addicted.
We all know I should be responsible and knit the BSA Rectangle Shawl that has a DEADLINE.
Or maybe the Chemo Cap for my sick auntie.
Ohhhh...Rosie, what have you done to me?Labels: girlfriends rock, knitting, Life...le sigh, swag
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Meatheads, Swag and a New Addiction
Yeah. I've been knitting...but on the sly. Always on the sly. I will have a few new revealed projects after they are gifted later this week.But....I did knit a meathead. And I heart it. It is going to be for Sara's girlie, KG. I made her a hat last year but it might have fit a newborn...seriously.
Specs:Pattern: Meathead Hat by Larissa Brown
Needles: Size 15 Clover Bamboo DPNs
Yarn: 1 skein of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in Lotus Pink
Mods: knit in the round instead of flat so I reduced the stitch count by 2 for the cast on.
LOVED IT. It's a great stash buster...only requires one skein of bulky weight yarn which is doubled throughout and it only took an hour to knit! Haaaallo!
Okay, kids...now I need help figuring out an embellishment. A flower, a vintage pin, buttons up the side? Ideas?
In swag news....
This came the other day...
Scout's Swag Indie Swag Club for April in Lavender Mint...can I get an OOOOOOOOOO...
Of all the swag I've gotten from Miss Scout, I think this is my fav. I was so happy to have my name drawn for this round. Along with this skein came a tin of Heal My Hands in Lavender Mint, Heal My Lips in Madagascar Vanilla and samples of Heal My Feet and the Mask! I couldn't have asked for a better swag. Go support Scout. She is the bizomb!
In addiction news: Headbands...loving the headbands.
I'm in transition with the hair. I thought maybe I was going to go long again. Not so sure...so to help me not make a rash decision like this one....I'm going to hold back the mane with headbands. I tried several...some that Miss Tink loved...but didn't work for me very well....until I found this place....oh.my.land.people. I love these so much. They stay put and are super cute hair up or down. They also reversible so you get 2 headbands for the price of one. What,what.Le sigh...oh Etsy...what you do to me....
Labels: i heart etsy, knitting, swag
