Busy, Busy Spring!

We had a great time at STITCHES South last weekend! Thanks to everyone who came by and said hi, showed us your finished objects and supported us! We appreciate all of you so much!

Jennie the amazing knitter modelling her
Girl Friday in Green Tea Corgi

Lovely customer with gorgeous vest alternating
Robin's Egg with a commercial yarn

Ann with two of her brilliant shawls designed in Squishy Lace:
Chittagong modeled by Stephanie and The Doubloon modeled by Laurie

There are a number of upcoming festivals and online events coming up, so here’s a brief rundown:

If you’re in the DC metro area, then hopefully you know that the Metro Yarn Crawl starts today!  Next Sunday. April 28^th, I will be doing a trunk show with our great friend, Ann Weaver at The Yarn Spot in Wheaton, MD. We’ll be there from 12 pm on, so please come by and see us!

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is coming up on May 4^th and 5^th, and we are excited to be a sponsor this year! You can find our yarns in the Cloverhill Yarn Shop booth in Main Exhibition Hall:D2, D3.  We have sent Jolene and her crew more yarns and fibers than ever, so you are sure to have a great selection.  As in years past, I'll be in the booth on Saturday afternoon, so please come say hello!

Two great designers, RosiG and Turtlegirl76 are spearheading a free Mystery KAL in our very active  Ravelry group, beginning on May 15^th. All we’re saying is that it is a two-color lace shawl. We’re working on kits that will include a full-size skein of Squishy Lace in one color and a mini-skein in a coordinating color for the trim. More information as soon as we have it!

Heroine Squishy Lace

We are also sponsoring several online events in other Ravelry groups! For the third year in a row, we are sponsoring both the Tour de Sock, a speed knitting competition based on the bike race with a very similar name:) and Sock Sniper, an assasination-style sock knitting game. You must check these cool programs out, as the proceeds all go to Doctors Without Borders.  Have fun and raise money for a proven organization dear to many a knitter's heart!

We are also sponsoring the Socktopus Book KAL that begins May 1^st. They will begin by working on the Totally Vanilla pattern, which gives you a perfect fit for your foot! Check each group for the sign up information and for the discount code we've provided for the participants.

Now, last but not least: Baltimore Satellite Reef project!  This project is a satellite of the Hyperbolic Coral Crochet reef project, based in the Institute for Figuring, started to raise awareness about our diminishing coral reefs worldwide.  My dear friend and colleague in yarn has been working for well over a year to bring this community art installation to Baltimore.  She has been working with  members of the Baltimore community, including an amazing group of middle schoolers at the Midtown Academy, to create pieces of the reef.  Here is her blog post and here is the facebook page.  Now, she has begun a kickstarter campaign to fund the last stage of the project.  Go now, and support this wonderful intersection of math, science, art, and community building!  And go, Karida!  She is amazing, ya'll.

Hello!

Roxy, new study bunny

I have a few awesome new things to tell you about.  First, let me say thank you so much for all of the compliments on our new site.  It has been quite a journey and i'm so proud of it.  And all of us on Team Dragonfly worked our butts off to get listings up on the site.  But truly, the credit goes to those brilliant web and graphic design people in my life. 

First, my amazing friend Katey Jackson, who built our first site and made it just what we needed at the time.  Then, when we needed more, she did the research to find the right platform AND the best people to carry out the plan.  And she spent tons of time with our web designer Justin Stanley and graphic designer Alejandra Monroy to help them understand exactly what we needed.  And they did an absolutely amazing job!  We are still working on a few things, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, I am so grateful. And pleased:)

In the next few weeks, we will have downloadable patterns and the capability for you to store what you have purchased on the site. Also, kits will be back in the shop.  Justin and Alejandra are also working on a way to easily find new products. I think it will be very cool! 

Next, a new colorway (or three) for spring!  One of my lovely customers Amy Godfrey asked me to make an awareness colorway for Endometriosis Awareness Month in March. The Endometriosis Research Center asks everyone to wear yellow on March 1st every year to show support; it's not quite March yet, but I couldn't resist listing Apollo in Pixie.  We expect to list Apollo in Squishy Lace, Djinni, and Dragon Sock a little later this week.  Who doesn't need a little extra sun this time of year? I almost wish I hadn't already started my Vitamin D in Emerald City... 

Again, stay tuned, as I know Amy is working on a shawl pattern to coordinate with our color.  We'll let you know as soon as we see it available!

And, finally, new, new , new yarn base.  We are introducing Corgi, a lovely super squishy and springy worsted weight NON-superwash merino spun right here in the US.  Corgi is a smooth worsted-spun yarn that is amazing for sweaters, hats, scarves, anything.  Except socks.  I wouldn't use it for socks:)

I was on a green kick last week, as you can see, and managed to invent not one but two new green colorways that i plan to keep: Green Tea 

and Lemon Grass.  

Malarky and Shenanigans are just that:)  Look for these yummy new greens in our other bases coming soon! in the meantime, enjoy the Mermaid all dolled up for her winter formal.

The less Good, the Amazing, and the Silly

Yesterday, I spent most of the day at a swim meet (nicely done, Titans!) and most of the evening on the computer messing with photoshop (my new Newsletter banner is pretty).  Today, I have risen to a new low: three hours watching Teen Wolf with Aquaboy and the snuggly dog.  Hard to resist, really. And I am a sucker for supernatural teen fiction in any form.  And yes, it is as silly as it sounds:)

Now, I've eaten lunch and checked email and facebook a few times, but the gig is up.  What am I avoiding?  Telling you about some price hikes that i don't want to make. The cost of several of our best yarns has gone up significantly and immediately: namely, Traveller, Super Traveller, and Squishy Lace. 

 

After sitting on the last price increases for more than a year, we did announce in our newsletter that the price would be going up to $21 and $23 for Traveller and Squishy back in October.  We were planning to make this change when our new site goes live on February 1st.  Now, I must tell you that our prices for these three fabulous yarns will be $23 per skein starting when our site goes live on Friday.

This is not fun for us; putting affordable yarn into the hands of as many knitters as possible has always been my mission.  Talking with my friends in the industry, the best reason we can come up with is the price of fuel.  As always, we have some irons in the fire to address these concerns.  One is, of course, to source as locally as possible.  I have my fingers crossed on this one but it may be the most difficult.  Of course, we are looking at some other mills.  I also have hopes for one yarn in particular that is also lighter weight (closer to fingering).

  

So please hang in there with us and wish us luck!

Now on to Vogue knitting Live!  We had the best time in New York last weekend!  I always for get how much i LOVE New York.  I always feel more alive there, and  it's a good thing because we worked harder than other shows too!  Elisabeth and I drove the van up after a brief stop in Baltimore for Karida's stuff.  Team Dragonfly-ers Mary and Laura followed in our "chase car".  Their mission was to drive up, set up the booth while I was "schmoozing", and go home.  And thank goodness they drove, or all of my yarn never would have made it!

Mission VKL

We had incredible luck with our bellman Victor, who was so sweet and married to a knitter!  He unloaded not only our luggage, but two vehicle's worth of yarn and show fixtures and got them to the right place.  Elisabeth and I felt like queens running off to dinner with Jocelyn at Salumeria Rosi and a lovely cocktail party at The Yarn Company.  You might wonder, why a cocktail party in a yarn shop?  Tavy and Assaf, the sister and brother team behind this fabulous yarn mecca, were honoring our lovely friend Ragga and introducing a pair of exclusive colorways that we designed together just for the store: Ragga's Glacier and Ragga's Mountain.

Ragga's Glacier

Ragga's Mountain

These gorgeous colorways were inspired by Ragga's photographs from Iceland and designed exclusively for The Yarn Company.  They will be available in Djinni, Traveller, Super Traveller, and Sea Monster and Polwarth Silk rovings  starting on Valentine's Day along with a full compliment of our best colorways.   I'm told that Ragga and Stephen West will be designing beautiful pieces just for the shop to knit with these two colorways.  Stay tuned and we'll let you know when they are up!

Beautiful Shawl made in Squishy Lace

The party set the tone perfectly for our exciting, affirming and fabulous weekend at the show.  We met so many great knitters and crocheters, saw an unending parade of beautiful and creative garments and sold alot of yarn.  We hung with friends from home and met a few new (to me) indie dyers and designers.  We ate great food; I think all the food in NYC may be amazing?  And, Batman came to our booth! What's not to love?

He always was my favorite

Yarnmageddon

There are so many great titles for this post: Smoke gets in your Eyes; Smoke on the Water; Smokey New Year!; The Fire that Wasn't; and Yes, That Worst Nightmare come to mind. The truth is: there was not technically a fire, or even very much smoke.  Our new year was already full of crazy since I decided the week before Christmas that it would be a good idea to do Vogue Knitting Live in New York (3 weeks away).  We had a meeting New Year's eve and made a plan; different people took responsibility for entering data in our new website (debuting in the next week, we hope), making the show happen, filling wholesale orders, and making lots of yarn.

Plan goes into action Wednesday.  Thursday, the studio is a humming hive of activity.  We are on a roll!  Late that afternoon, we discover that a pot has been left on for several hours, the water has boiled out of it, and the charred remains of yarn and pot are stinking up the joint rapidly.  I activated the yarn energency team (called everyone remotely connected to Team Dragonfly, that is) and everyone came!  Children, husbands, and in one case, a mom (actually Mary's mom Phyllis has become part of the team) rushed over and carried out every single skein and cone of yarn in the place.  I probably don't need to tell you that this is a lot of yarn:)

We consulted with a few experts, and got in and began cleaning like crazy.  Yarn was triaged and hung outside.  In some cases, yarn was washed.  And you know what?  We haven't lost a skein of yarn.  Not one.  Most never absorbed the smell.  In many cases, the smoky smell dissipated on its own.  I am blown away, and so grateful, at our good fortune.  Also, team dragonfly is amazing.  They got the job done; all dyed yarn was evacuated well within an hour.  The undyed yarn is not at all smelly.

We've had our ducts cleaned, and the yarn is coming home.  I expect that by the end of the day tomorrow, all yarn and fiber will be back in the studio and those orders that we've been sitting on?  They'll be on their way to their new homes.

We are grateful for the support we've received from our customers, friends and families.  Thank you so much for your patience and your understanding.  Also, we do regret any inconvenience, or lack of information.  I have communicated well with some folks; others, I am fairly certain, have fallen through the cracks.

So, you may be wondering, is the yarn really smoke-free?  We have been sniffing wool so much lately that our sinuses are full of lint, and we believe it smells like it is supposed to.  I also realize that we could have missed something.  Therefore, we are offering free shipping from today through February 8th.  Not only on orders leaving the studio, but also on returns.  we want you to be completely happy with our yarn, and if you are not, return it, no questions asked, and we will refund your return shipping.  Risk free shopping!  To activate free shipping, enter the code "FREE" at checkout.

Time to go back to the yarn, so here are some other upcoming events:

• Come see us at Vogue Knitting Live Friday, January 18 - 22.  We'll be in booth 209-211 on the 5th floor, right next to Cooperative Press and Cephalopod Yarns and across the hall from Neighborhood Fiber Co.  How's that for fun?
• While I'm in New York, I'll be attending a cocktail party given by The Yarn Company for my friend Ragga.  And plotting great things, including some exclusive colorways for her, so stay tuned.
• New website is planned to launch Sunday, January 13.  Not sure if we are set back a bit by yarnmaggedon; stay tuned.  Ps. it is amazing!
• Next dye class will be President's Day weekend; keep posted for the date.
• We will be offering Club Dragonfly 2013 memberships later in January.
• ?

So tired

I'm sure I have forgotten things, so please watch Facebook and twitter for more news.

All dressed up for the holidays

And, most importantly, Happy New Year!!!!  May your year bring you more happiness than grief, and if grief, the tools you need to manage.  And most of all, more love than you can handle.

New Gradient Sweater Kits

So, a few weeks ago, I posted about our new The Line sweater kits for complementing Ann Weaver's clever new book White Whale II.  I had a lovely time reverse engineering the colors we'd come up with by accident.  Not one to leave well enough alone, I decided people might want to make this sweater in other color gradients besides the grellow scheme of the original.

After a week of fun in the dyepots, here are some options:

Winter Woods Gradient

Arctic Gradient

Cheshire Cat Gradient

Flannel Pajamas Gradient

Titania Gradient

Raspberry Gradient

You can see that they are mostly variants of current colorways.  Sometimes, I took apart the colors in a particular colorway, as the Winter Woods and Titania options.  Cheshire Cat came from a request from my friend Kate, who wanted colors based on Tim Burton's Cheshire Cat:

The new listings are here.  I made separate listings for each color of the smaller three sizes.  For sizes 44 - 52, I've created one listing and asked folks to put their color request in the order notes.  Now you can make a rainbow of The Line sweaters!

One other new thing to note before I go.  Our friend and very clever designer Jeny Staiman, the Curious Knitter, has released her Metamorph pattern this week featuring our yarns.  This brilliant take on the moebius shape will defintely push us all to the next level in our knitting skill.  And, cause she's that kind of awesome, Jeny has made a video to help us figure it all out.

Knitting that makes us smart, and beautiful too!

Announcements!

With Halloween over, and Turkey Day next week (have never been able to figure out how this happened), the holiday season is nearly upon us.  Like most of us, i approach the holidaze with a mixture of anxiety (will i ever get it all done?) and childlike wonder.  The lights, and the trees, and the greens, and all of the family traditions are so beautiful and magical.  I'm not just talking about my own family and my own tradition; I mean the vast array of customs that surround this time of year when the darkness is at its peak, and we all look to the light.

Karida, and Sam and Sarah, and I have come up with our own answer to the holiday season.  Announcing...

The First Annual

Maryland Hand Dyers Guild

Holiday Yarn Crawl!

December 8 & 9, 10 - 5 

For both days, Cephalopod Yarns, Neighborhood Fiber Co, and, of course, Dragonfly Fibers will open our studio doors for a yarn crawl.  It's even better, though. We are inviting some wonderful local makers to come in and share our space and offer their wares.  You can get ALL of your holiday shopping done that weekend!  We don't have a complete list yet, but I can tell you that there will be bags from That Clever Clementine and This Chickadee, gorgeous handspun yarns and hand made goat milk soap from Folktale Fibers (from her own goats!), and beautiful and inventive knitting books from Ann Weaver.  In fact, we are putting Ann on tour; she'll be visiting all three studios throughout the weekend.

Sam of Cephalopod is making us a very cool passport for studio crawlers; people who get their books stamped by all three studios will be elibible to win fabulous prizes. 

What do you do?  Watch the blog and our Ravelry groups and follow Maryland Hand Dyers Guild on Twitter.  Pretty soon, we'll set up a facebook event so you can RSVP.  That way, we'll know how many cupcakes to bring.  We'll keep you updated on who else will be joining us as vendors, and anything else you might need to know.  And come!  It will be a fun way to bring in the time of sparkly lights, and candle lighting and dreidels, and singing songs.  Not to mention, cleaning house for visiting family, burning turkeys, spending too much money, and eating too much food!

The Line

Laurie and Amy setting up

And we're baaaack!  Phew, three shows in 6 weeks.  That means, if you're keeping track, that we had less than 10 days after returning from one show to get ready to hit the road for the next one.  Luckily, I like to travel and I love to do shows.  It's great to meet the people who buy and use my yarn and fiber and to see folks react to my (really our) hard work.  I must say though, with only a couple days off in that time, it's great to be home!  Spend time with the kidlets, maybe have a face to face conversation with my lovely husband (although now, he's hardcore studying for his CPA test, so not so much talking at the moment), and hug all the dogs, and cats and rabbits I want!

Finn and Charley hanging out

And of course, there was Halloween!  Lots of candy, and scary children.  And a few silly grown ups in there too!

Pumpkin Carving

The Krewe

Uncle Sam and Judy Garland

So, have you noticed that my clever friend Ann Weaver has published a new book (actually there are two, soon to be three, so stay tuned!)  White Whale Volume II is even more gorgeous than volume one!  The stunning sweater Ambergris is re-published in this book, along with several new and amazing patterns, including two featuring my yarns.  Check out The Doubloon shawl knit in Weaverknits Grellow Squishy Lace; a perfect combination!  Although you should see the sample knit in Airport Hot Sauce Squishy.  Yum.

Today, I want to share the sweater The Line with you.  This sweater had its humble beginnings last spring after Ann taught a color class at the studio.  She was talking (again) about her quest for the perfect "grellow" and I decided it was time to make it happen.  Ann, Elisabeth, and I fired up the dyepots and after multiple tries, came up up with the colorway you know as Weaverknits Grellow.  Because we dyed alot of yarn before getting it "right", I sent a  several prototypes home with Ann.

Fast forward a month or two and Ann is working on her sweater design for WW2; things are not coming together in quite the way she likes.  Meanwhile, she is knitting up a sample for a new Set-In Sleeve Class that she is developing using the earlier prototype yarns.  Eureka!  I think you know what happens from here, right?  The Line sweater is born, followed immediately by an email asking if i can somehow recreate those earlier grellow incarnations.  She has notes, she says...  People will want the yarn, she says...

Look at the collar!

So, may I present to you, The Line Sweater kits in two different kit sizes, corresponding to the different yarn amounts needed.  Each kit contains appropriate mount of Traveller yarn in three different colorways: (new and improved) Weaverknits Grellow, The Whale-Line, and The Chase.  As you probably know, this pattern is inspired by the "The Whale Line" chapter in Moby Dick.  The line that is attached to the boat at one end and the whale at the other, that is.  I read Melville's most famous book last year, inspired by Ann's first volume, and I loved learning about all aspects of the whale hunt.  This sweater pattern does beautiful homage to this critical and very dangerous piece of equipment.

For now, we are offering these colors as part of the kit only, but let us know if you must have them on their own, and we'll make it happen:)  also, i must mention, I've had a request to do the kit in pink and I'm seriously considering.  Maybe a Flannel Pajamas-inspired kit, or one that takes "Hot Pants" as a starting point?

Now, a couple of things happening in the next week or so: 

• If you are local-ish, come sit and knit with me in the studio tomorrow Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.  We'll have drinks, and folks will bring snacks to share.  And bring a recent FO to share.
• Next shop update is this Tuesday, November 6 at 2 pm est and it's going to be a whopper!  Also, as it is election day, all red and blue items will be 20% in celebration of our greatest civic responsibilty.  Also, there will be a special colorway called Vote! (I had to veto "Donkephant":)
• There are still spots left in next Sunday's Dye Class.  Come get messy and dye some beautiful yarn!

Did you ever wonder what a "Pumpkin Head" was?