An etsy update (finally) and a WIP

I am so behind on everything. Ugggghhhhh......

Anyway here's the official photos for the update. It's a small update this time but I am also going to put some items on sale :)
I am working on Bella and almost have the edging done.


I have been working on this for almost a year now :) But I am getting there. Can you tell I get bored easy?
My felted bag is knitted and waiting to be felted:

And I have the back and sleeves finished for the Climbing Vines Sweater.

I really want to cast this on:
So I am seriously tempted to stop at my LYS for yarn tonight before Knit Night......hmmmm

And I am really thinking I should knit this for hubby!


;) Or this.....

Just to break the chain of selfish knitting ya know.....

Well off to update the farm blog.

Long time no update......

The computer died and life got a bit hectic (well, it got a bit other things too ya know.....) But I do have a bit to show off :)


Some yummy soy silk and wool,


A bit of Lorna's Laces......

And a new dye job for the etsy shop

I took my sis to Detroit and she and her family are safely in Africa. I miss her already :(

A book review or two among other things.....

So I hit the jackpot at the library the other day. On the new book shelf I found Twinkle's Town and Country by Wenlan Chia and Knitting On Top Of The World by Nicky Epstein.


First Twinkle's Town and Country: There looks to be over 20 patterns so that's nice. But.....I really don't like any of them. In defense of the book they are mostly chunky knits which are really not my style, but still, some of them are just plain ugly. Sorry Wenlan......



On the other hand I LOVE Knitting on Top of the World! The patterns are beautiful and wearable. A few are a bit beyond the needs of a homeschool mom of 8, but I might knit them up and wear them anyway!! (Okay I will not be knitting the Fair Isle Tam Capelet.) I am buying this book!


Thank you to everyone to entered the contest!! I got your comments and there were over 50 entries!! If you follow the blog I am offering 20% off your next order on my8kidsmom.etsy.com until Friday, March 27, 2009 just put "contest" in the message and I will send you a revised invoice.

Here's a peek at my latest dye job:

Fiber Frenzy!!! Or it's time to spin some of that stash.....

Now I don't have more fiber stash then I can hope to use within one lifetime, but I do have lots of fiber and lots hobbies and not a lot of room in my craft room/office. So I have made it my goal to whittle away at my fiber stash so I can buy more without guilt come fiber festival season!

First, I spun up the hand dyed Cormo I got from Foxhill Farm at the Michigan Fiber Festival (we also got some lovely sheep from her)
This first skein I plyed as I normally do, just a regular two ply.......

This skein I tried out the Navajo Ply method. I don't think I did too bad :) This video is the one I used to learn if you'd like to check it out. She did a good job helping it all make sense.


Then I started cranking the drum carder and blended some Cormo with Alpaca and Pygora. I can't decide if I should dye it or keep it natural......I love color so I tend to dye everything but I wonder if this doesn't really need to stay the beautiful cream color it already is.

Then on the wheel I have a lovely silk/wool blend, I broke my new rule (no more fiber until I have whittled the stash down) and picked this up on Saturday:
I just finished uploaded these lovelies into my etsy shop:

A few more things to make ya go yum!!!!

And finally, to conclude today's post a peek into the goodies I have been preparing for April's PhatFiber box!Oh and if you're of a mind to, I would love to have you stop by my little sis' blog www.sometruemoves.blogspot.com, she and her husband are heading to Africa in about two weeks to do their part to touch the lives of others. They'll be gone for a month serving as medical missionaries and I sure would appreciate an extra prayer or two on their behalf (and a couple of cyberhugs can't hurt either!)

Wanna win something?

Of course you do! Here's the lowdown:
Up for grabs this round: your choice of either 4 oz of hand dyed merino combed top or 1 skein of hand dyed sock yarn. As always you pick your three favorite colors and I will dye it up for you! What do you have to do? Easy just join my group: My8kidsmom on Ravelry and introduce yourself. Once I see your intro I will pm you to let you know your entered! You must be a member of the group at the time of the drawing to be eligible.

Don't have a Ravelry account? Become a follower of my blog! Just post a comment and let me know you're following me!

Contest ends March 20th at 9pm eastern time

A few things to love.......

I just got the latest issue of Vogue and I am adoring some these patterns let me tell you! This made me wish for a few more cold days. (Did I just type that?) Finding this online stitch library brought me back to my senses. Love new patterns (and magazines!) and I love new stitches to try.

I have been meaning to draft a skirt pattern for my ever expanding behind all week. Finally I decided that for $2.44 I can let Simplicity draft it for me. I love skirts to hide my too wide thighs.

Spin Guild was fun as usual. I love my friends there and I especially love that I learned how to Navajo Ply! I don't love the way it looks, I am much more fond of two ply but I love that I can do it now.

I love the no-knead recipe I found in Mary Jane's Farm, Twila and I are going to mix it up shortly.

And finally, I love that I finally got my etsy shop updated! Right now I am not making enough to do much except buy more supplies, but soon I home to help support my sheep habit. I love my sheep.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Socks!

Sunday is my 33rd birthday so my sister and I traveled across the state to visit Frankenmuth. First stop: Zeilinger's Wool Mill where I stopped to say Hi to Leah. She was kind enough to give me this lovely socks. I picked up a pound of washed Alpaca which is being blended with my cormo.

Next stop was Bead Haven, Michigan's largest bead shop. I was completely overwhelmed so I just left with a book, Wire Style and a few supplies.I am really new to jewelry making and at this point totally inept (why can't I make pretty stitch markers????) but I think the projects in this book will be totally do-able. I am looking forward to trying anyway.......

My favorite purchase (well, it was a birthday present from my sis) is this book:
There are 26 patterns in this book and there really only one I dislike, and a couple I am only luke-warmish amount. The rest I can not wait to knit!!! I honestly can not wait to cast on my first one. I will finish the mittens first though........

Today is a rainy day here in White Cloud, so I am off to tidy my craft room/office up and do some sewing!

Second Purchase for the Stone Soup Challenge

I had such a hard time deciding what to buy this round but finally I made two purchases!

First this dreamy soap, and then this perfume. Yummy! Both Scent by the Sea and Cypress Lake Soap have lovely shops full of treasures. To find out more about the Stone Soup Challenge click here.


I am still pretty sickly so this will be a short post. Have a great day and support some Indies!

Mittens!

I love this pattern! It is from Spin Off so I am sorry I don't have a link but here's a pic of the first mitten. What makes this mitten so special? you ask.....well, I am glad you asked! It's lined! You pretty much knit a mitten inside a mitten. Pretty cool huh?



It's been one of those days when the paperwork seems bigger than you and the to do list wants to rule your life. There is more work than there is people or time to do it. So I am taking a deep breath, asking God for lots of help and doing a bit of the things I enjoy! So on my list of want to do is heading over to etsy to make my February purchase for the Stone Soup Challenge. I will let you know what I decide on!

Plus an etsy update:

and last but not least........Moukin's roving! I hope she loves it.