Category — Crafty Goodness

Yes, I’m still alive.

The kids are home, which means daily swimming lessons and finding ways to keep them cool and entertained.

On top of wholesale orders and still getting settled into the new house, there isn’t time for much else.

I do have some weaving, spinning, and knitting to share- maybe on a rainy day!

Slowly but surely, we’re getting settled into our new house. I’ll have to borrow my son’s camera to get some inside shots- the lens on my camera has too long of a focal length to show much!

The little guy started at his new school Monday. To see him, you’d think he’d been going there since the first day of Kindergarten. Having a child so totally comfortable in his own skin is a true blessing.

Now, if I can just get the dye studio set up!

I think that’s how you’d categorize what I’m experiencing right now. The good news is that we finally bought a house! It’s a cozy, fully modernized 1850’s cape in a nice neighborhood in the next town. It’s not the five or so acres we were hoping for (in fact, it’s about a third of an acre) but it has many wonderful qualities including a huge fenced-in back yard, gardens galore, and more than twice the square footage we are currently living in. The neighbors on the street include a former boss (who I like very much), several old schoolmates and their young families, as well as my high school history teacher and his wife next door. I can’t think of a better neighborhood for my kids to move into!

The bad news is that we’re in the throes of packing and cleaning. It’s been a whirlwind month-and-a-half of contracts, inspections, appraisals, endless phone calls back-and-forth with the loan officer, and closing and setting up utility accounts but the real work hasn’t even started yet. It’s a lot of work, but exciting work. We’ve been longing to own our own home for so long and it’s finally happening. Yay us!

I’ll resurface sometime in May with photos! Yay!! (Can I say *Yay!!* just one more time? We’re excited!!)

The folks at the central Modern Quilt Guild have asked all of us new guild member to post what modern quilting means to us. I was just getting ready to post when I read this post, from one of the founders of the first modern quilt guild in Los Angeles.

I simply could not have said it better myself.

Liam’s first handspun:

Not bad for a seven-year-old boy, huh? Now, what to make with it? I’m thinking a nice, snuggly neckwarmer. I wonder if he’d like to learn how to knit next?

all finished!

I know I’ve been slacking on the blog this week, mostly because I haven’t had time to take photos of the things I’ve been working on.

I did manage to get a photo of my finished modern siggy swap blocks though. They went into the mail yesterday. Now all I have to do is sit on my hands and wait for the package to arrive with all 100 blocks from different quilters in it. I can’t wait!

In business news, I’ve been dyeing and photographing yarns for the next big update. Tomorrow I’ll be dyeing sock club. I’ve been going with a mythical theme this round (Siren Song, Dryad’s Dance) so I’m pretty sure I’ll keep with that for this last shipment. I have a particular goddess in mind and I’m really excited to see how it turns out.

I’ll be opening up the next round of sock club soon, so be sure that you’re signed up for the newsletter if you’re not already.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that two new shops are now carrying Fiberphile Yarns. The Tinsmith’s Wife in Comfort, Texas and Purl Diva in Brunswick, Maine. If they happen to be in your area, stop in and say hi and check out the yarns in person!

waiting for labels

I’ve just finished the last of three large wholesale orders that I dyed over the month of January. It feels good to complete such a large body of work on schedule.

With that behind me, I’m looking forward to having time over the next week to dye yarn for a shop update and possibly even get a jump on next month’s sock club shipment.

I’ve made a bit of progress on my siggy swap blocks, but other than that, there’s nothing to report on the quilting front. I do, however, have a new pair of socks on the needles– Garter Rib Socks (Rav link) from Sensational Knitted Socks.

I love this pattern because it’s so easy to memorize, but looks really intricate when finished. I’ve only just started the cuffs but I’m already in love.

working on the cuffs

Can you see that color? Deep purple and navy overdyed with black.

This was a happy accident that I loved so much I couldn’t put it up for sale- who knows if I’ll ever be able to make it again? My husband laughs at me for this, but I know you all understand.

The February Friday Night Sew-In has been scheduled and I’ll definitely be in for it! I’ll either be finishing my modern siggy swap blocks or starting a new black-and-white quilt. More details on that little project soon!

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who entered! I’ll be sending out the gift certificates tomorrow :)