Just a quick note.

My roses have started to bloom! I love them ever so much!

A few new designs are brewing. Some small, some medium and some BIG. I am very excited about all of them to be honest.

I love the green cotton yarn I get to work with for next months yarn of the month kit!

The Mulberry silk for another project coming up. Yummy Mulberry silk and crochet cotton. (Both from my stash) I can’t wait to start on that one! The chart is ready and just waiting patiently for me to get going. This will be a fun knit for summer evenings spent in my garden!

Keep an eye on this space! I will show you as soon as I have something to show! Other than this, there is not much to tell at the moment!

Talk soon! <3

Coastal colours socks

FUN SOCKS! I got this really cool yarn from Coastal Colours yarns to play with and I made socks! I love these socks and have worn them and gotten lots of compliments on them so far.The yarn is such fun to work with, the colour absolutely brilliant! You can check  out Rhonda and Charlie’s shop, and get some of their yarn to play with for yourself!

What do you think?

The pattern is going to be tested by the wonderful BevKnits and Knitty Lizzy! THANKS GUYS! YOU ROCK! After that it can go out in the world and be enjoyed by all. I will let you know when that happens on my FB page. so make sure you follow me there to keep up with all the pattern releases.

Little Owl

I had a lady come in the shop the other day asking if we sold ready made hats. Not really, I answered, but I could make her one, if she liked and if the deadline is not too pressing, as I never know how much knitting time I get during the day.

She said it was not pressing, but she really wanted a handmade hat for her sister, as she is about to undergo medical procedures. I got the feeling that a handmade hat would be very comforting, not just to the recipient, but the giver as well.  Giving something from the bottom of your heart sometimes means more then receiving a gift yourself.

So I agreed to make the hat and we set to picking out the yarn. The lady picked one of my favourite shades of Malabrigo and a little flower pin in pink!  I hadn’t knitted with this particular type of Malabrigo yet, so it was great for both of us!

The lady bought the yarn and I set to the task right away. That night the hat was done and she picked it up the next day! I do hope it will bring a smile to both of them and a wonderful memory!

A Shop-Owners Impressions of the LYS Tour (North Puget Sound)

First off:

THANK YOU ALL, FOR TRAVELING AND VISITING US!

We truly were honored by seeing how many of you came to check out our little shop up here in Fairhaven and it was SO awesome to hear how much you liked the shop and the patterns we came up with for the tour!

This was our first time in the LYS Tour and we really did not know what to expect. We were told it is going to be intense. There will be lots of people. So we thought, ok, lets print 60 patterns….(I was still a bit skeptic, if we really needed that many…HA!)

These last 4 days were the most intense work days I had in a while! It was amazing how many knitters and crocheters came out and participated in the tour! We ended up giving out close to 500 patterns!!!!

The Patterns! I haven’t shown them to you, have I?

Well here they are:

When we first thought about participating in the LYS Tour this year, we thought we should have a pattern for knitters and crocheters. For a while, this is as far as we got. Then we settled on wanting lace shawl patterns. Ok again, for a while, we hovered there. Finally we thought, we should try and make a knitted and a crochet shawl as close to each other as possible. This way, if you are a crocheter and liked the knitting pattern, you will still be able to have it and visa versa! This way nobody will feel left out, or sad, or feel the “other” craft got something unobtainable for them. We do feel very strongly about embracing all kinds of fibre arts and artists and wanted to do our best to express that in our patterns.

So, said and done and there were the shawls not long after. It was such fun to pick out the yarn, design the shawls and knit/crochet them up, trying to imagine how people would like them and what kinds of colours they would choose to work up their sample!

We were done with the sample shawls quite a bit before the Tour started and it was SO hard to keep them a secret and not show them off to people! FINALLY the Tour date rolled around and we got to take the precious out. We decided to hang them on the wall in the shop, so they can be seen from all over easily and if you choose to make them out of yarn differently than the suggested one, you could glance over there and decide which one of the tons of yummy yarns and colours you would like to imagine it in.

We were open until 8 pm on Thursday and Friday and we had two sets of knitters that came in just under the wire on Friday, calling and letting us know they were close and asking if we could stay open just a wee bit longer.

We thought, well if it was us in the car, coming up from down south for several hours drive to check out a yarn shop, we would be super disappointed if we didn’t make it, so we stayed. Can’t disappoint a fellow fibre addict!

We were happy to do it and it turned out the ladies were super awesome and we were happy to get to know them.

I have to say, it was one of my favourite bits of the whole tour! The chatting with fellow fibre enthusiasts! Talking about (and in some cases fondling) the latest project on the needles, discussing what and why one yarn is preferred over the other, checking out favourites and regaling in tales of past projects and past years of the LYS Tour of the knitters/crocheters that came in our shop for the first time ever. This is not to forget our regular friends and neighbours that -of course- also hopped on by this weekend! YOU ROCK, but you already knew that!

Look! One of our new friends and I!

I am amazed at the amount of creativity and generosity and happy attitude of fibre folk. I was a bit sad, that I had to “work” that weekend and could not go on the tour myself, but it ended up not being “work” at all. Many of you told us you really liked the shop and the patterns and generally made us feel like a welcome stop on the tour! It was so wonderful! I can really not begin to tell you how great that made us feel! I do hope to see many of you back for a bit more chatting and knitting/crocheting together (or even showing off some of the other projects I have been hearing about, like quilting and weaving and embroidery!!!!). Maybe we can enjoy a spot of tea together and get to know each other a bit more. If we can’t make it, then I do hope to see you again next year and that you at least stay in contact via email! I DO WANT TO SEE THE THINGS YOU KNIT WITH THE YARN YOU GOT! EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE OF THEM!!!!

Another really fun and sweet gesture was that Meg, from NW Handspun and Andrea and her husband, from Apple yarns took time out of their own busy schedules, to come over to our shop and check on us! I guess they remembered their first time on the tour and how hectic it can get. Thanks guys! It was such a nice surprise to see you. The gesture was absolutely appreciated and made us feel such a part of the group!

In recap: Lots of laughter, lots of ooh-ing and aaah-ing, lots of stuff learned, lots of tips swapped, lots of new friends made and A WONDERFUL TIME was had by Callie and me at Mrs. Hudson’s Yarns and Teas in Fairhaven!  We hope you had a great time, too, and we are looking forward to welcoming you again!

Thank you, from Callie and me!

An update is in order, methinks.

Ok so. I will try and be a better blogger! One update a week? I think that should be in the realm of possibility!

A lot of things are happening! We are getting ready for the LYS Tour (the local yarn shop tour) here in the pacific Northwest coastal region! It’s a big deal and 24 shops are participating from way up in the north, all the way down to a bit south of Seattle!

If you are in the vicinity, do go and check it out! It is tons of fun!

Every shop came up with at least one free pattern (and some even with two). They are all one or two skein patterns and the yarn featured in the patterns is 10% off that 4 day weekend! (May 16-19) There are daily prize drawings (and every shop will give away the same prize, so visiting a few is going to up your chances of winning!) and on the total you can get entered in the grand prize drawing by visiting at least 8 of the 24 participating shops!  Here is the link to the official website for the tour. You can check out who is who on the tour and where we are!

Ok on the knitting front: I have been knitting up a storm and writing as well. I finished a pair of socks, a pair of slipper socks, three kerchiefs, and a shawl, alongside the patterns for all of these! O.O  Pictures of the socks , kerchiefs and slipper-socks will be uploaded to my flickr account shortly.

I have no idea how I got all this done and still kept my sanity!

Let’s start with the shawl! It is my happy at the moment! I spun the yarn for it myself.  I wanted a tight and clean look,  something soft, but  not fuzzy that could hold it’s own in square miles of stockinette stitch. I decided on  a beautiful gray-ish brown Merino roving, spun with a short draw (inchworm) technique, to about a Dk weight.

The shawl was knitted from the bottom up with short row shaping on the “wings”. It’s  a small one, with only 39.5 inches from bottom tip to the top of the wings. I wanted something simple, something for every day, something warm and comforting. I have been thinking about my interpretation for a Jane Eyre Shawl for a few years and now it materialized.
The shawl itself is rather plain, in all stockinette stitch, just as Jane appears to be. The center spine, as it’s only embellishment, does give a hint of Jane’s playful nature though. Just as we get glimpses of it in the book! I dare say, I think Jane would have approved of it!

Here are some pictures of it blocking:

 

Let me know what you think! I will make modeled shots after I pick it up on Wednesday. I got it done on Sunday and blocked it at the shop, but it was not dry by the time I went home, so it is still there.

I really love the shawl.

I do want to change the style of my blog a little, so I will put additional pictures on my flickr account. If you want to see more of the projects, please feel free to follow me there! I apologize for the inconvenience, but I do believe it will improve the overall look of the blog and make reading it more pleasant!

March!?

Time flies by when you are having fun! The shop is going to be one year old on March 31st! We are going through prep for the “birthday party”. At the same time, we are working feverishly on the shawls/patterns/photos for the LYS tour (Local Yarn Shop Tour) that will be happening in May (but the patterns have to be done by the 23rd of this month! Then I have a custom order to finish (knitting a dresser scarf and night table covers!) and a custom spinning order to finish, not to mention teaching classes in between!

Oh boy! I do know what I am tired of at night!

Pictures? Sure! Hang on.. The shawls can’t be shown until the yarn tour, but the rest I can put here for you all to see

A new shrug! Pretty and happy in orange!

 

 

A new hat! WOOT WOOT! I really love this hat!

I don’t think I have shown you the cable wrap yet! That got done as well and is getting tested now!

 

 

I made owls (the pattern is already available! )

 

I re-fahsioned a turtleneck into a tank-top:

 

 

I sewed 5 pillowcases (well I cut an pinned, my daughter sewed) and then crochet around the edge:

 

I made a headband inspired by the one in French girl knits:

 

I wrapped cardboard letters in yarn together with my daughter (these were for the shop window in February, I knitted little banners for this month and Callie embroidered ”happy birthday” on it, I will show you that one soon):

The dresser scarf won’t be shown until it is done as well and the spinning will be shown in a future post. It’s for a giveaway for the shops birthday and a custom order of sock yarn! (you didn’t think I had forgotten about you, did you, Alice?)

PHEW! All caught up! What do you think?

Nest up: another book review! So stay tuned!

What? It has been this long again?

Oh folks. I promise, I will try and be better! Now that I am getting in the swing of working full time again, it should be easier to nip off some time here and there to blog about it all….

 

Ok what have I been up to? Not much, to be honest. Mostly hanging out with my family when I’m not at the shop. That is all. I have been knitting like a fiend, though!

Here is proof! Pictures of the finished lace shawl (100% suri Alpaca there! oh so soft and I added beads!) It was done quite a while ago, but I was too lazy to take pictures.

 

 

The pattern is being tested and soon you will be able to get it! I will  let you know when exactly!

Then I made this sheep hat for my daughter! HAPPY SHEEP! I got a sheep notion pouch for Christmas and loved it so much, when I saw the black yarn DD picked out for her hat, it was clear what it had to be! She loves it!

SHEEEEEEP!

I also made a skirt. Right now I only have a blocking shot of it, but here it is:

 

LOVE the yarn I got to use in this one! It’s the Cascade Eco +. Soooo nice! I still have one skein here in forest green! I have no idea yet what it will be, but working on it!

and another hat and cowl set here:

Little cables hiding the decreases.

Brand new yarn! Cascade “Casablanca” . One skein made both hat an cowl!!!!

We are having lots of things planned for the new year! If you are in town, stop on by, I would LOVE to see you all in person!

Then there is the jacket! My daughter claimed it, so I will have to make myself another one (no, not the same…) I am doing the math for the pattern for the snowflake jacket right now, so that should be done soon-ish as well!

If you follow me on Facebook (there is a link in the sidebar!!! HINT HINT) then you have seen it already, but here it is for those of you that haven’t found me on FB yet:

 

 

The jacket was knitted in the round until the underarms. I steeked it! SUCH FUN! I have done it once before and definitely will do it again! I knitted the snowflakes right in, but you could do them in duplicate. (I’m just too lazy to do that). The yarn for this one was Cascade 128. SO NICE!

 

All caught up on everything. There are a few more projects on the needles right now, but more about that later. How are all of you? What have you been up to? TALK TO ME!!!!

New pop top mittens! YAY

I have finished a pair of pop top mittens (only one is shown here, the other one is as a sample in the shop!) I love love love them!
The pattern is nearly written and will go live in the shop right after the project class/kal is one! (So if you want it early, sign up for the class *wiggles eyebrows*)

The pattern can either be knitted as fingerless gloves, or as the pop top mittens, which will have a thumb option. I love them and think they are sooo cute and warm (alpaca!!!!!)

 

What do you all think?

Busy, busy bee!

I have been busy since Monday! I was at the shop yesterday afternoon. We had such fun decorating the shop window to celebrate the start of school! We have been knitting tiiiiny swatches!

Here is a little teaser, in order to see it all, you will have to come to the shop! It’s worth it! It’s sooo cute!

He is simply my favourite little guy!!!!

Not much interested in knitting, the ball is so much more fun!

Sock-monkey knitting socks!

And then today I was volunteering. Instead only half a day, it turned out to be a full day. So when I came home, I was super tired (I only went to bed at 2 am last night and had to be up and out to volunteer at 8 am again). In order not to mess up with my pattern writing or the big shawls and having to rip back, I decided to finish my bottle cover, that I started last week, when it was so hot. My metal bottle always condensates so badly when it is hot outside and you put something cold to drink in it. I don’t like that in my purse/knitting bag.. so a cover had to be made. The fridge cold liquid also always freezes my fingers! (I think they might just be extra delicate, as nobody else seems to mind…). I made a cover anyway and I think it came out cute. Here it is. No pattern, just cast on and go! I am thinking of adding a handle though….

And here is another shot of all the cat toys, before most of them got sold!

What’s this? A nother update so soon?

Yes! I’m on a roll! I figured why not?
I finished a new project that came up between all the other projects! (If you follow me on FB you already know about it though and it’s not new anymore)

So we were thinking in the shop about small patterns, that use small amounts of luxury yarns. We tossed a few ideas at each other and at the end a steampunk cuff was the winner rising from the dust of the think-tank.

We picked some yarn and off I went. The poor thing morphed a few times while on the needles but here is the end result! Freshly done, maybe two hours ago. I’m going to do this one in a slide show, as there are a lot of pictures.

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The pattern will soon be available at Mrs Hudson’s Yarns and Teas. Just email Callie, if you want it at: callie[at]mrshudsons[dot]com