$70 Tank

Do you ever get this? Someone you know (usually a nonknitter) comes up to you and says “wow, you must save a lot of money by knitting your own clothes.”

I get it pretty regularly. Happened to me last time I was visiting one of my cousins. Guess what my response was.

Absolutely! This tank only cost me about $70 and provided me with hours of entertainment.

I love seeing the look of shock come over their face.

WWSIP

This Saturday is World Wide Spin In Public day. We will be meeting at the same place that we met for WWKIP, Teazer World Tea Market Downtown. Bring your spindles, wheels and fiber and spend the morning spinning with us. We will start spinning at 10:30 am. If you have never spun before we will have extra spindles so you can participate. We look forward to seeing you there!

Photo 1 courtesy of Teazer World Tea Market Photo 2 courtesy of Velma's World
You can read more about spinning in public over on Velma's World

Teazer World Tea Market

2405 Capitol St # 104
Fresno, CA 93721-2256

(559) 237-7037

What better way to spend a morning than sipping tea & spinning yarn.

Photo 3 courtesy of Teazer

ETA: We will be giving a fiber gift to everyone that comes out on Saturday!

One Day Wonders

My niece went home with my sister on Monday & now I can't stop knitting baby stuff. Isn't she adorable!


Last night I cast on this little sweater. And by the end of the evening it was all knit up. I couldn't believe how quickly it went. The pattern is Inca-Dincadoo Cardigan from Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders. The pattern calls for organic cotton, but I used this lovely bamboo yarn & some funky sparkly pink eyelash yarn instead. I love how it turned out.





This morning I got up & sewed up the seams. And tada, we have a sweater! Now I need to go shopping for cute little buttons. Oh, and I am also casting on another sweater. This time I am using our sock yarn in Lizard Breath, which is also available in our sea cell & merino sock yarn.

For reasons I probably shouldn't share with the world, it reminds me of my sister & I absolutely have to knit it into a baby sweater for my niece.

Tips for Designing

1. Listen to your yarn. Sometimes, you want to make something work, but the yarn just doesn’t want to cooperate. That is ok. Listen to the yarn & try something different.

2. Don’t be afraid to rip.

3. Play- sometimes the best creations come from just fooling around.

4. Try new techniques. Trying something new can cause you to think outside of the box, which can lead to a new design element.

5. Try new materials. Different fibers will speak to you differently. As will different needles.

6. Write it down. You really won’t remember it later.

7. Keep a notebook to put all your ideas in.

8. Use pencil when charting by hand.

9. Remember there are no rules, there are no knitting police.

This Just In

This Tuesday our yarn & fiber are going on a little field trip. They will be spending the next two weeks at Ancient Pathways. During these fabulous two weeks you will get to oooh & aaah over our 40 lines of yarn & spinning fiber. Yes, that really is a lot of fiber. As a special little treat for all that were unable to attend Sock Summit, our three submissions to Dye For Glory will also be available.

Today I will be reskeining & labeling the last of the skeins that I have dyed especially for this show. This will also be the first time our new label will be seen in public. There are only a handful of skeins that will have our new label because as much as we would like to relabel everything. We thought it would be a bit wasteful to toss a thousand perfectly good labels. For those lucky few that will be able to get their hands on our skeins with the new label, we would love to hear what you think of it.

On a side note, if you look down & to the right you will see something new. We now have out Twitter stream on our blog.

ETA: Oh, and look up. We have a new logo! Watcha think?

So Much to Share!

1. I know I should know how to do this, but I don't. And the first step to solving the problem, is admitting you have a problem, right? So, here it is: I don't know how to create links in my blog. There I said it. So what am I going to do about this? I am just going to put the website here until I can figure it out. (ETA: Kiel has shown me the way of the link, so I am including them now.)

2. You can now find Anzula yarn in two new shops. You could already get our yarn at Ancient Pathway in Fresno, Dulitz Tree Farm in Springville, and Janna's Needle Art in Fresno. Now you can also get our fibery goodness at Knitique in Elk Grove and The Knitting Room in Lodi. Exciting, right!

3. I am now a Thea. My little sister had a little girl last Wednesday. Meet Olivia Marie!

















Isn't she beautiful! She decided to come a month and a half early. You wouldn't believe she is only 4 pounds and 6 ounces. But next to my sis, you realize just how tiny she is. I can't wait to meet her.


















My sister was able to hold her for three hours here. I am so happy for her.

4. I have finished loading all of our sock yarn on Hyena Cart. I am really proud of this. I still need to get everything up on Etsy, but it's a start.

5. I realized something the other day when I got an email from Facebook. The email stated that Suzanne tagged a photo of me in her album. I clicked the link, and saw this:

























I was confused for a minute. It is pretty obvious that I am not in this picture, but then I realized the yarn looked pretty familiar. It was Anzula superwash merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn. That is when it dawned on me. We need an Anzula page on Facebook. So, here it is: The Anzula Facebook Group
The sweater is pretty awesome, Suzanne said it only took 1 skein of our sock yarn. Pretty cool! I think I need to make one now. Ya know, cause I'm a Thea and all. She made it in a weekend.

6. We are going to be at Lambtown USA this year. Lambtown is in Dixon, and is going to be October 3rd. If you have not heard of Lambtown go here.
You don't want to miss it. There is a sheep to shawl competition, lamb tasting, classes, lots of fiber & yarn, and lots of other really cool things going on.

7. I love dyeing yarn, but sometimes draw a blank when it comes to naming the skeins. I was talking about this on Twitter the other day and someone said they would like to help. So I posted pictures on Flickr.com & created a Name this Yarn set. This all got me thinking. What would be cooler than to have you be part of the creation of Anzula yarn. So from now on I will be posting new yarn here, and you will get to be part of the naming process. We still only dye small batches of generally non repeating colorways.

8. I am going to knit on my silk & linen lace shawl now. Happy Knitting!

The Sock has Left the Building

The Sock Summit has come & gone, and I feel like a little bit of me is missing now. For so long I have been preparing for this wonderful event & now it is over. Kinda crazy. None of this would have been possible without the help of a whole whack of people, especially our little corner of it. I am so thankful to every one of you that helped out*. From skeining, to labeling, to feeding me, to helping me back up my crazy trailer, to loading & unloading, to design input, to... I could not have done any of it without my wonderful friends & family. Thank you.

So... wanna see what we all helped create?

We started out with a blank canvas,

















and worked to create something beautiful.









After the booth was set up we went to a dinner hosted by Lantern Moon at the Kennedy School.


















Wednesday we got up bright and early to go to a class taught by Barbara Walker.












































After class I went back to the booth,














and waited for the Market to open. We had a crazy busy two hours, then went to the Opening Reception.

















Friday morning I went to Cat Bordhi's class.
















then talked in the Color Me Crazy booth. Sorry no pic.
Saturday morning I went to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's class, again sorry no pic.














Then did a spinning demo.

Sunday morning I had a class with Nancy Bush. Who I have to say is the nicest, most humble, and incredible teacher.

















Then after the market, went to the Luminary Panel.














Sorry about the grainy pics. I had to do some editing to get them to come out.

































We went back to the market place after the Luminary Panel,














and were one of the last ones to break down.


















One of the Canadian vendors & their crew helped us pack up the truck. Which was especially cool since we were short handed.

Now I am home again, and not quite sure what to do with myself. But it sure is nice to spend time with my hubby and animals. I'd like to say I don't have much to do, but that just isn't true. I have a full schedule of massages, am preparing to send out the Sock Summit special orders, and am meeting with LYSO to carry my yarn. Oh, and there is the constant updating of the Etsy & Hyena Cart shops. Yeah, not sure what to do with myself. Right...

*A special thank you to my husband Kiel, Diane, Susan, Wendy, Darin, Yelley & Wendi.

We have reached the Summit

Wow, just wow. This really is an experience of a lifetime. There is so much to relay.

Wednesday morning Susan & I started the day walking about 3 miles in search of Voodoo Donuts, which was only about a mile from where we were. Unfortunately we started walking the first mile in the wrong direction. Thankfully the weather here is beautiful, and after the long drive it was really nice to walk around.

After our second mile, we decided to check out the convention center. St-1 & St-2 were buzzing around, we introduced ourselves & Stephanie Pearl-McPhee showed us into the Market.

Once we made it to Voodoo Donuts we met up with Wendy and had a fab lunch, not at Voodoo Donuts. After lunch Wendy dropped us off at the convention center so we could set up the booth. The booth went up so fast, it helped that there were 4 wonderful volunteers. A little later I met Cat Bordhi and Silvia Sterling in the Sock Museum.

Then Wednesday evening Susan, Sue and I went to the Lantern Moon dinner. Regina was supposed to join us, but was still laid over in Salt Lake City. Thankfully she got a flight first thing the next morning & made it here safely. The Lantern Moon dinner was wonderful, there was great music, we met vendors from all over & I met Jess, Casey & Mary-Heather. The bus ride home (I always call the hotel I’m staying at home when I’m out of town) was hilarious. A bunch of knitters on a yellow school bus, reminded us all of school.

Sue, Suzanne & I had class with Barbara Walker Thursday morning. It was an honor to be there & I learned to do mosaic knitting. I also relayed everyone's messages to her. She has an excellent eye for detail, and is a very patient instructor. One quick glance at our work & she could tell us whether it was right or wrong.

After class I went back to the booth, and the other vendors ribbed me for being set up already. I'm telling you, our team was wicked fast. I sat & spun, waiting until the market opened. Once it did, we were swamped. It was such a wonderful feeling seeing the knitters so excited about our Dye For Glory colors. Beer O'Clock almost sold out that first evening. We only have one left now.

When market closed we went to the Opening Reception. Tina & Stephanie gave an incredibly moving speech. It was amazing hearing all the trials they went through to bring us Sock Summit. Every step of the way businesses tried to tell them they didn't need to do as much as they were doing. They upgraded the size of the convention center three times! And each time they were treated as though they were nuts. Whether it was ordering fliers, making reservations, getting a server, or getting cake for EZ's birthday celebration.

They told us how thirty thousand people hit the website the moment the classes opened, causing the server to crash. They have a code amongst themselves, nobody goes down alone. When ever a decision is made, there are always two people present. That way no one person is ever to blame if something goes wrong. They shared that they believed they could do an event that valued the person and didn't have to compromise their morals. I love them for that. As a vendor I have noticed & appreciated everything they have done to honor us. It is invaluable having someone behind the scenes who has been there & done that. Knowing the ways in which she wished to be treated at past events and making it so here.

Friday morning I had class with Cat Bordhi, she gave us the tools to engineer new stitches. I created two new techniques while in class. There were a few really great moments during class. The best was when she noticed Back Mountain Studio's ABC stitch markers. She was really impressed with them, and said she had never seen any so pretty.

After class I went back to the booth and it was one great experience after another. I met a bunch of the people I know on Twitter. Had some teachers buy my yarn. Helped calm down overwhelmed knitters. Served people Beer O'Clock. My favorite moments were when knitters came up to the booth with a shout of glee, saying that they had been looking for me and needed something in my booth. So cool!

After the market Susan, Sue, Regina & I went into downtown and had Chinese food. Now we are back at the hotel resting and preparing to start all over tomorrow. Really looking forward to the Ravelry meet-up tomorrow evening.

Sock Summit Or Bust

Tomorrow we leave for the Sock Summit, a 753.11 miles and 12 hours 3 minutes journey. In preparation for this trip I have knit socks.















Starting clockwise from the top we have aran weight superfine alpaca & merino, fingering weight silk & superwash merino knit & designed by Sue, sport weight yak & merino, dk weight corriedale, sport weight cashmere/superwash merino/nylon knit & designed by Regina, sport weight soybean & alpaca, fingering weight cashmere/superwash merino/nylon, fingering weight sea cell & superwash merino, and fingering weight camel & silk. All others were knit by me. The socks designed by Sue, Regina and the sea cell & silk one designed by me are all part of our Head Over Heels sock club. Sock Club memberships will be available at the Sock Summit. When you purchase your membership, you will get the two patterns that are already out to our current members and the advanced released kit that will get shipped out in September. Current members can also pick up their kit.

We will have lots of wonderful knit & crocheted samples. Amazing patterns by designers from all over the Central Valley.

The spectacular buttons by Victoria:






















































Fantastic stitch markers from Susan:























And of course the wonderful & amazing yarn by Anzula:















See you at the Summit!

Knitting Dyeing & Massaging Oh My!

This has been quite a week. I have put off knitting on Beatrice, yup we have a name congratulations Ikkinlala!, to create a bunch of sock samples for Sock Summit. In the last 8 days I have knit 5 socks in my spare time: sea cell & merino, superfine alpaca & merino, corriedale, camel & silk, soybean & alpaca.

I have also dyed a few hundred skeins for Sock Summit. Including our submitions for Dye for Glory. I am super proud of the entries, they came out so beautifully.

Ode to the sock was inspired by the colors in the Sock Summit logo, and I don't believe it could have come out more perfectly.

The people putting on the Sock Summit have put their heart and souls into this event and I am so proud to be a part of it.

My next submission is in honor of all of the knitting beer drinkers, and especially Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Some days beer o'clock just can't come fast enough!


My final submission is in honor of the pursuit of the true red. 1 red shoe is named after my friend Becky's little red Miata. A true red is quite difficult to create, and I am happy to announce I have done it. If you think red is hard to dye, it is even harder to photograph. You will have to come out to the Sock Summit to see just how fab this red really is.

In between all of the dyeing and knitting I also need to pay attention to my other business. I saw more massage clients this week than I have in a long time. I guess when it rains it pours. I am so lucky to have two wonderful businesses that I absolutely love doing. I think the best part of my massage side of life is helping people function better. The majority of people that see me have chronic headaches, numbness issues, or loss of strength. It is incredibly rewarding to watch their symptoms slowly vanish.

Have a wonderful weekend!

eta: Oh & I forgot to mention, Go Vote!

http://www.ravelry.com/socksummit

There are over 200 wonderful submittions. You can find the Anzula submissions in the Kettled, Dipped and Random Stripes categories.

Sale Sale Sale!!!

all yarn in our sale yarn category on hyena cart is 20 percent off. we are clearing it out do to being discontinued. use the discount code 4 sale at checkout. we have 41 skeins currently on the site, and another 41 skeins will be going up soon. happy knitting

Jolene

I have had this song stuck in my head for a few days now and decided to share it with you. Here are a few of the renditions I found on http://www.last.fm/

Enjoy!











And not the same song, but still a good one.

Say My Name

The Anzula superwash merino/cashmere/nylon sweater is almost complete & it needs a name. So we are going to have a little competition. Who ever comes up with the best name for this sweater will win a skein of Anzula yarn. To participate please leave your name idea in the comments below. Only names left in the comments will be considered.

So... What's my name?