etsy friday

I missed sharing etsy fridays! :)


Merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn from PigeonroofStudios.etsy.com
Harvest colorway

I've had this Pigeonroof Studios yarn for a while (relatively!) now... I loved it before both in skein and knit up, and Krista's new batches have more cashmere than before! Her etsy updates can still be hard to jump on but she does maintain a mailing list-- you may want to contact her thru etsy to get on it and get a jump on being ready in front of your computer when she updates. (Or, subscribe to her shop's rss feed!)

Normally I don't ball my wool til I'm ready to knit with it, and have tipped my hand here. I've been knitting with this new formulation, the dread secret knitting, and it's wonderful stuff and really does look great worked up-- no pooling. I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to make my next pattern for sale (one of the samples is knit in this yarn) thru Ravelry's pdf pattern delivery service when it goes live. A good friend, Jen from piddleloop, has a secret identity as a pdf pattern designer extraordinaire and I'm trying to convince her to make her services widely available to other designers like me who are all thumbs when it comes to things like that... I'm sure you'll hear more in the coming weeks on all points :)

Speaking of designing, a lot of my holiday gifts were handmade (purchased)-- including this beauty from a famous designer:


Designs By Romi sterling silver shawl pin

You guys know the giant brain behind Muir and Ice Queen (and an upcoming BOOK about beads and fiber and yarn oh my!) also has a shop selling handmade shawl pins, yeah? (Just checking!) Rosemary's not an etsy vendor but I can't keep this one hidden for any longer :) It was a gift for mom along with the Hanami stole and the red glass shawl pin from TexturedTurtle-- and I had a *hard* time giving it away!

It is supercool though-- the spiral is slightly raised so you can actually draw your knitted fabric in without having to dig down with the stickpin to secure the knitting; a really spectacular detail only a knitter could think of. It's also heavier/sturdier than I thought it would be, but in a good way-- not heavy enough to drag down your knitting, but enough so you don't feel like you're going to bend it out of shape using it.

It really is breathtaking.

(And I really did give it away!)

:)

Another holiday gift...


Handdipped incense from FooberryIncense.etsy.com

My mom has been on a huge incense kick lately, which is funny since she always accused me of ulterior motives when I burned it as a teenager :) Water under the bridge, I'm all about the watching the gap-- which is the reason I chose to buy a grip of incense from Fooberry Incense for mom this year.

This is the freshest incense I've ever experienced, leaning more to the blue boxed dry as a bone Nag Champa for my fix. Since Julie makes your order when you place it, the sticks are just heavy with scent. Not only heavy but varied-- Fooberry has over 200 items/scents for sale including unusual ones like BACON and TOMATO as well as standards like dragon's blood and patchouli. Being made to order, it does take a bit to receive but FooberryIncense was sure to let me know each step from creation to shipping so I didn't worry about it arriving in time.

One other custom holiday gift from an etsy vendor was for my son...


Child's vinyl and fabric apron from DesignsByNanaHome.etsy.com

My blurry child :) Seriously though, he WANTED this-- he's been on a "helping" kick in the kitchen lately, washing dishes and "cooking" alongside me, and we have had a throwdown or two over who got to wear (MY) red apron... so I searched etsy for his own. I knew exactly what I wanted (vinyl coated, for wipedowns-- we're messy round here!; not feminine looking; something size and age appropriate) and DesignsByNanaHome had this perfect one! :) Actually, she custom makes these aprons from several different fabrics, all sandwiched with vinyl-- I picked the perfect surfer one for my crazy haired kid :)

I have to say how impressed I was not only with the apron (it has a toggle at the neck so it'll fit as he gets older and taller, the pockets are a really nice touch), but with the packaging. I don't really go for a lot of fancy packing stuff since it just hits the recycle bin, but DesignsByNanaHome *flatpacked* this so the vinyl wouldn't get creased during transit-- and I was just thrilled with that minor detail. The fact I don't have to share my apron anymore is a plus, too :)

Good to be back :) I'll be back next week with new FOs and some pics of dyed rovings I'll list in my etsy shop (I have a new blend of superwash merino/cashmere/nylon, along with sw merino/seacell and my standard superwash merino to dye... wish me luck!)