Shop Local!

This holiday season, I'll be selling locally at two craft markets- the Made Show & Sale on November 18th at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery; and the Craftateria Market on December 17 at the Gate.

I've been investing the majority of my craft time lately on creating items for these sales.  I've got a whole bundle of my hand-dyed, locally produced yarn almost ready to go:

I'm looking forward to these events, both should be cozy and fun affairs!

Craftateria II Recap & Wrist Pains

Last weekend's Craftateria Craft Show was a blast!  Of course, another spring blizzard blew in the night before, leaving us with piles of snow.  But despite that, craft-lovers from all over the city trudged through the white stuff to come check us out.

In addition to my already spun & dyed collection, I spun up a few new yarns for the show:

This is the scrappy yarn I showed being spun in my last post. Its made with sheeps fleece and scrap yarns & fabrics. It turned out wonderful and I can't wait to see what is made with it!  Unfortunately, due to some wrist issues, I was only able to spin one skein up... more on that later.

This is some handspun using local fibers- I'm calling it seedling.

 

 A couple shots of my booth- still working on display... found the wine rack idea online and it works well (and love how it holds wine in-between shows too!)  I also brought my folding lendrum spinning wheel this time, a great idea to show how handspinning is done, and also something to do during those quiet times:

And since it was the 'buy for yourself' edition of Craftateria (the last one was near christmas, so naturally it was 'buy for others'), I picked up a few things too.  Including this knit fish with catnip for Cohen & Dylan (and sorry it already looks gross- cats really are fond of it):

 Cohen enjoying the new fish!

All in all, it was a highlight for me and a great networking event for those involved in the local craft community.  I can't wait for the next one! Thanks so much to the organizers!

I mentioned earlier in the post that I've been having some wrist pains.  Well, I'm happy to say I went to the doctor and I don't have to stop knitting, crocheting or spinning (or typing)!!!!!  She said if I'm not careful it could turn into carpal tunnel and that I need to strengthen my wrist.  So I get to roll cans of beans in my hands!  Anyone else out there have any exercises they do?  I also have been wearing a brace on my wrist which has really helped.  Not so much when I am doing an activity, but when I am not.  The Dr. said to wear it at night even.  And I have to really start paying attention to how my wrists are bending when I'm doing my work.  I think with continental knitting (or picking) your wrist can tend to curl over... which is not good.

Anyway, I am just really happy that I don't have to stop.  That would be sad!  I definitely have had to slow down though.  But I've been filling my time with watching Mad Men (SO good!) and growing tomatoes and peppers to plant outside when it gets nice (HA!).  I've posted what I'm growing over on my other blog, The Lethbridge Veg.

Happy Earth Day and Easter everyone!  Eat lots of fair trade chocolate!

Craftateria II

It's happening this weekend, and I'll be there!
I'll be hauling my yarns, knits & crocheted goodies, and possibly one of my spinning wheels down to the gate for this great event.  The last one was so fun, this one proves to be just as good or even better.  I believe there are more vendors this time too.

 

Here's me spinning some scrappy yarn, getting ready for the show- full of fabric scraps, left over yarn bits, and squishy wool fleeces, it'll make an interesting finished project!

 

And this is my suitcase, packed full of yarny goodness... and I've even got some funky home-made earrings for sale too- a sneak peek and more on those later this week!

Hope to see all the locals there!

Edmo Visit

I've been a bad blogger the last couple of months.  Here's one of those 'catch up posts' where I talk about things that happened (what seem like) a long time ago.

In November, we went up to Edmonton; the first time for me since we moved back here in March.  It was the same old city and I was so happy to see friends and glad it wasn't too cold.  Some friends and I took a day and went out to Celeigh Wool; a shop outside of town (near Millet) that I've always wanted to visit, but never had the chance:

 

 

 

Friends Nickela, baby Violet, Ariel and me.

 

Marg, the shop owner, also has a small flock of Shetland sheep, complete with a matriarch llama, who's very protective of the flock, I hear.

I picked up a few things in the shop, some local merino fleece and (finally) an Elizabeth Zimmerman book:

 

I haven't had much time to have a good sit-down with it, but I'm happy to finally have an EZ in my collection.

After we got back from the shop, we went over to Nickela's house to check out her and Ariel's new spinning wheels; 4 in total including a couple of vintage country spinners, most likely from the west coast of Canada.  Aren't they beautiful?

 

You could put paper towels on these babies!  These wheels are made to spin thick, chunky yarns, probably for cowichan sweaters.   They would be perfect for spinning art yarns.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to get them working very well.  The bobbins pull the wool right out of your hands before you can spin it.  I believe they are scotch tension, and we tried adjusting it, but these wheels just want to pull.  There's gotta be a way to get them to stop pulling, but I wasn't able to figure it out!  I haven't heard whether they have got them working yet either.
 

Anyone out there ever used a vintage country spinner?  

PS: I re-opened the shop today after my little holiday break. 

Knitting & Crocheting a Community

I was happy to find out that there is a small group of people here in Lethbridge that get together once a month "for laughs, friendship, good conversation about social justice, perhaps good food and drink, and of course - knitting! Whether a novice or expert, all are invited to participate!"

And, their group is called Knitting a Revolution!  I admit, I haven't actually gone yet, but did participate in one of their projects:

"As you may or may not have heard, this past Saturday a young gay man in Lethbridge was the victim of a hate crime. His garage was broken into and his vehicle was spray-painted with several anti-queer slurs. In response, the Lethbridge community as a whole is coming together to protest actions of hate. Several organizations are coming together to hold an Anti-Hate Rally on Thursday, June 24 from 6pm-7pm at City Hall.

As this is during the Lethbridge Knitting a Revolution's monthly knitting circle time, I was wondering if we would be interested in being a group at the rally....perhaps knitting against hate or something? I think that having people knit is symbolic of anti-violent gatherings but we could do more than that."

So a few friends and I got together in my living room and whipped up a few squares over some wine.  The squares along with some foam heart cut-outs that people could write on were installed on the trees outside city hall:

Thanks to Arron for the pics!  Someone commented that once installed, the flags reminded them of Tibetan Prayer Flags.  These colorful flags, printed with prayers, are often hung in the windy hills of the himilayas and as they are blown in the wind, it is thought that the prayers are 'read' by the wind.  Lethbridge can be a pretty windy place, so I liked the comparison :)

Anyway, lots of folks turned out for the rally- and as it was said, this incident has caused more good than harm, as a community banded together to show support & love.

Hello, May!

Wow.. I can't believe it's already May 1!!

We certainly have had a wet April here in Lethbridge... ah Alberta spring.. one day a pile of snow, the next day sunny and green.   But the perennials are popping up everywhere, trees are budding, my tulips are open, and some of the lilacs have already bloomed! 

Right, on the day of the storm, the cats are wondering what the hell happened to the sunny skies and birdwatching??  Below are some of the shots of the heavy, wet snow.  We lost electricity for about half a day.

To celebrate May, (and hopefully better weather) the Alberta Etsy Street Team is having a May Madness Sale from May 1-7.  Over 70 homegrown shops are participating, and you can check out the details here!  On items that aren't already on sale in my shop, I'm offering 10% off.

Field Trip

This past weekend was a great one.  Not only did we get the keys to our new house, but on the five hour drive down to it, I stopped in at Custom Woolen Mills to check it out and buy some locally produced fleece for spinning.  They call their shop the kaleidoscope wool shoppe and it is full of wooly goodness.  Kits for making hats, socks, and all sorts of things, fibers, yarns, rugs, most of it being produced right on site with their historic mill equipment (see foggy last pic).  I couldn't stay long, but it was a nice jaunt out into the country.

 

 

 

I also stopped in Calgary and stocked up with some local merino/angora yarn- watch for some in my shop soon- I'll be dyeing, knitting and crocheting some new items & yarns- its sooo soft!
Our house is currently being renovated inside, and I'm looking so forward to moving in March!  Check out the pillows I just bought from TwoStrayCats for the new place:

 

 

Loca-Yarn

One of my new years resolutions for my business is to find more local sources of yarn & fiber.  I've been dyeing up a few skeins of Custom Woolen Mills yarn.  I've probably mentioned them before, but they are a historic spinning mill a couple of hours away from me.  They use their historic spinning machinery to process all kinds of Alberta and Canadian grown fleece. 
Here's a recent dye:

Also did this sock yarn from Briggs & Little, Canada's Oldest Woolen Mill a bit further away in New Brunswick:

More yarn & accessories to be listed in the shop this weekend!

Gorgeous finds with StringMeAlong

I'd like to introduce Carol; aka StringMeAlong on etsy.  Carol makes beautiful vintage-inspired jewelry, and she is a fellow team member on the Trans Canada Etsy team.  (She was the genius behind our recent 12 Days of Christmas promotion!). Carol is a huge supporter of Handmade, Canadian goodies. She lives in Moncton, New Brunswick and has an eye for collecting unique beads and findings that make up her jewelry- everything from earrings, hairsticks, brooches, and necklaces.  What I like about Carol's designs is that they are timeless.  Fads come and go but these really are pieces that will take you through the years with style and a touch of femininity & romanticism. 

Here are just a few of my current favorites in Carols jewlery boutique:

 

Be sure to check out Carol's blog too, which is full of lovely little tidbits- lots of great "wishlist" items are mentioned too! 

Alberta Prairie Harvest

The Etsy Alberta Street Team is having a Prairie Harvest Sale from Saturday, October 3- Friday October 10.  Over 50 shops are participating, everything from jewelry, clothing, accessories, housewares, paper goods, supplies and toys are all on sale.

My favorite part: it's the perfect time to shop local and get your christmas shopping done without leaving the house!  Here's a couple of my favorite deals running:

- Silver Sisters Studio:  Free shipping world wide + more specials in shop.  She makes the cutest accessories, such as these barrettes, with upcycled, felted wool!

    Littlejumpingbeans: 

25% off everything except custom crib sheets.  Love, love LOVE her little slipper booties for kids & babes, especially these pea pod ones!

cindylouwho2: 15% off all items.  BEAUTIFUL, natural jewelry, such as these pretty Paua Abalone Shell Earrings.

Splurge: 15% off all items, such as these Tiger eye and gold earrings, LOVE the natural elements in her jewelry designs!!








In my shop, I'm having 15% off your order, as long as it's not a custom order or already on sale.
Check out the Alberta Team blog for a full list of the 50+ shops participating:
http://etsyalberta.blogspot.com/

T.G.I.F.F.!!

Yay! Thank goodness its (fiber) friday.  What a wonderful week it's been; my grandma's 80th birthday, my 80th shop sale, beautifulllll weather (we hit a record of +31C here the other day!), lots of wonderful garden food, getting lovely etsy things in the mail, and new ideas (including brainstorming for a collaborative, fibery, fun, and performative house installation- oh the possibilities!).  And this weekend, a visit from my mom, who hasn't been for a visit in ages! 

But what I really have missed this week is spinning- I've been up to so many fun other things, that I think tonight I am just going to relax and spin and get things ready for our visit this weekend!!!  Honey will be out and about, and it'll just be me and the cats... oh the cats, have I ever introduced you to my lovely Cohen & Dylan?

That's Cohen, in the back, she was a stray that adopted us :)  Dylan's in the front, and he came from a stray mommy that my friend took in.  They look almost exactly the same, but have very different, distinct personalities... almost opposites!!  And yes, their names correspond with some of our favorite musicians! 

I'm a real animal lover- which is why my heartstrings have been pulled in all sorts of ways lately.  A fellow Alberta Etsy Street Team member, TwoStrayCats, who is also an animal lover, has recently went through a sad time with one of her furry family members, Sammy.  It seems he was struck with quite a force from behind, and now he is suffering from many complications including broken hips. 

Luckily, Sammy is hanging in there, and due in part to the amazing support the Alberta Street Team has offered.  Many sellers are donating part of their profits, providing encouraging words & support, and in general, being awesome.  After hearing about Sammy, I came home and gave extra love to my Cohen & Dylan.  I felt reassured that we choose to keep them as indoor cats; sometimes I feel guilty, but when I hear about things like this, it makes me so sad.  What is it with people who abuse animals?!  But luckily we have community, and each other in hard times like this.  You can visit this thread on etsy to find out how you can help, or what the latest news is on Sammy. 

I'll be thinking about little Sammy, and I hope you will give some extra love to whatever furry critter you have in your life!! 

Feeling Dandy about fresh food

I'm feeling kind of sad that the weather has suddenly turned cold. If I don't close the windows at night, its so chilly in the morning I have to turn on the oven just to warm up! I've been spending lots of time in the Kitchen, trying to preserve the abundance of food I know I'll be missing in the middle of winter. So far I have made some strawberry+rhubarb, Apricot, and Raspberry jams:

Blanched & froze rainbow chard & kale, made a huge jar of super-yummy bean salad, hubby and friends made a huge batch of apple wine, and we spent a whole night collecting wild saskatoon berries, sour cherries, and wild hazelnuts (below):

Finding the hazelnuts made me so happy- I didn't know for sure that they were hazelnuts but I had a hunch, and luckily it was correct! The ones shown above were collected in late July, we went back about 3 weeks later and there were barely any left; as they ripen & mature, the squirrels raid the forest. The amount of shells I found on the ground was evidence of this phenomenon. But I can't wait till have time to roast & eat the ones I did collect- what a treat!

We have about 40 tomato plants, most of them were planted by my hubby from seed back in March. Some of them were "volunteer" plants that must have sprouted from seeds in the compost heap- oh, how I *love* volunteers! Below is a shot of some of the "tomato bushes", as I like to call them, and some of their fruits. It's been such a cold summer that the tomatoes are only now starting to ripen :(



And lastly (for now), also somewhat garden related, I'm even sad about seeing the dandelions die this fall. I wanted to mention my Dandelion handspun, handpainted yarn is in this week's Etsy Voter. There are some lovely yarns chosen, so please go take a look, and if you feel inclined, please give my dandelion yarn some love! Also exciting: dandelion is off to Holland for my very first international order!!! So pleased that someone there loved it enough to order it!