A new item up for sale--knitting kits with my own handspun yarn and my designs!

Breaking News!

I've just loaded my first two knitting kits in the Etsy shop. Last week I finally got the Three Rivers Kerchief pattern test-knit and posted on the site, today I'm adding my handspun yarn to the pattern so you can easily combine the right yarn with the pattern.

I have plans to continue with simple yet fun kits, adding my Elemental Earwarmer and Elemental Mitts (this is the pattern that appeared in the most recent Yarnmaker magazine) designs paired with appropriate yarn. If you have a color preference and I have the fiber, let me know and I can spin up something just for you in any of the three designs.

Yes, that's the same yarn in both designs; one was shot in a light box and the other was shot outdoors. I never noticed the difference until just now.

And the reason these kits haven't been listed until now? The garden is making me nuts. In addition to a ton of tomatoes (spaghetti sauce, chili, tomato soup and 8 qts in the freezer and there's still a peck of them left) and red raspberries, I have had 7 Cushaw pumpkins. Gave one to the neighbor, three more aren't quite mature and I'm not sure if I can use them, one has grown on top of the black raspberry bird netting and I need Husbeast to reach it. The biggest one is reachable but the vine is still alive so it's not ready to pick yet. This baby is HUGE, will probably make at least four pies.

That's a section of newspaper it's sitting on and almost totally obscuring!

That's the news from Chez Feisty. I'm heading for the coffee pot, I need fuel to continue the To Do List.

It's spring, and I'm in the garden and yard every day!!

No fiber chat this week, I've been busy with the outdoors and exploring my new blending board. I'm close to  coming up with some colorways for the board, and hope to have something in the shop next week. But this week I'll bore you to tears with my gardening chat.

We had 9 trees taken out last fall and the Caterpillar tractor they used to remove the logs tore up the lawn a bit. They were very careful but that much weight on tires with large treads will do damage. So we've spent the last 3 weeks (with the help of DS #1) hauling 3 cubic yards of topsoil around the lawn, spreading it, raking it smooth, seeding it and laying down some straw to keep it in place so it would sprout. One set of tread marks washed out and had to be redone with log "stairs" to keep the rain from washing it out again. No photos, but it was a lot of work.

At the same time, I've been trying to get the garden ready for the year. Something vicious bloomed last year (looks like mullein but isn't) and cast its seeds all over the garden. I've pulled 10 drywall buckets of the dang things out of the garden. And the chickweed! Ugh! But...it's all finished, the first planting of peas and the asparagus have sprouted and I'm a happy woman.

The yard has been filled with wild violets--my favorite flower. I had warned the arborist that if he wiped out my violets with his Cat, I'd hunt him down and make him replant them everywhere! But he's safe, only a small part of the yard hasn't bloomed and I know the violets will spread over that patch next year.

And I leave you with the view from my kitchen porch, where I sip my coffee every morning when it's warm enough. This is the sight that greeted me this morning. Life is good at Chez Feisty. Geez, I just love spring!

In which I report on another teaching venue, my garden, and my knitting pattern revisions

New Teaching Venue
I've been going to Fingerlakes Fiber Festival for several years now. Last year, I bumped into the lady who organizes the classes and chatted with her for a bit. Sent in my applications this spring. And received word last month that all three classes were accepted! Their website is updated with the 2010 classes and there's lots of other stuff to do up there. This is a wonderful hidden gem of a festival, folks, about 6 hours from DaBurg. There's lots of wineries around, and I can tell you where the BEST Indian restaurant can be found. This is the area that inspired my Upstate Meadows batts (which are currently sold out of my shop, but more will be made soon). Come on up and spend some time in the country!

Garden
Speaking of the country, I started harvesting my garden a couple of weeks ago. Well, actually, much earlier than that because lettuce and spinach come up FAST. After the lettuce, rhubarb and peas, the garlic was the first crop to come out of the ground. And I made a garlic braid today! I'm so proud of myself! It's hanging in the kitchen right now, with some bits of dirt still clinging to the roots. Couldn't shake/brush all the dirt without losing the dried garlic leaves, which is what one uses to make the braid. Making some caponato tomorrow with fresh eggplant and tomatoes from a nearby farm, and have some whole wheat Italian bread in the breakmaker right now. Lunch is gonna be GOOD tomorrow.


Garlic braid


Garlic fresh from the garden last week


Fresh rhubarb, peas and lettuce, washed and ready to go!

My knitting patterns
Reading the always-active copyright posts on Ravelry, it occurred to me that I hadn't looked at my copyright blurb in some time. It used to read "Garments knitted from this pattern are intended for the buyer's personal use and may not be sold for profit without prior written financial arrangements with the author". And I realized that it did not reflect what I actually wanted to say. I have always been happy to see knitters make something for themselves or their family/friends from my designs. *I* know I'm not going to make a boatload of money licensing my designs, but I did want some type of control over the items made from my pattern(s) and offered for sale. After all, if my name is going to be attached to a handknit item, I want it to be high-quality and the sales handled in a professional manner--and so I want to talk with the knitter to get a feel for who they are. And I LIKE knowing other knitters, especially the ones who like my patterns LOL. So I have taken out the word "financial" in order to be clear that I'm quite happy to have folks use my patterns to make and sell items--just please ask first.