Shop Update

With all this sunshine pouring in through my windows I've been inspired to do some spring cleaning.  I am de-stashing my yarn. 

For the past several years I have been buying fleece from our amish neighbor down the road. He has a small flock of Jacob sheep that has brought many smiles to the faces of my children. Each year I have the wool cleaned & carded. One year I had it all spun into yarn. Needless to say my studio is quickly filling up with more of this yarn than what I can use. 

I am making this yarn as well as the roving I have available for you at my shop. 

Jacob wool is a really great fiber to work with. It's very warm, and not too scratchy. It felts well, dyes well (the yarn in the picture was dyed with goldenrod), & can easily be handspun. I also use the roving as stuffing because it is so soft.

I have made a few changes to my shop.  I hope you will stop by!

Mermaid Warriors

I get caught up in what is expressed through art. The emotion that sweeps me up & pulls me in. There is something that is incredibly freeing when a person has the space to create without abandon. There is growth that can happen when allowed to freely express yourself through art. I have seen this & have tried to find away to give children this same experience when creating art. I am excited to have found an e-class, Mermaid Warriors to explore just how to do that for girls. I'm hoping that I will grow, be empowered, and  find the ability to share that empowerment with girls through the arts.

 

A knitting portfolio

I thought I might share with you some of the knitting projects I've completed in the past.

All these designs are my own.

These first two photographs are from a portfolio I put together for Cirque du Soliel. I had gone to see the production "La Nouba" in Orlando. I was deeply inspired by the production & wanted in some way to be apart of what Cirque du Soliel is bringing to the world.  I sent them a portfolio of a few items that I thought they might consider offering in their gift shop. 

The Bangle Clutch

La Nouba bag

A "Fancy Nancy" art smock

Nona Belle's Winter Ballet Shrug

Show Scarf

(also for Cirque du Soliel)

Show Scarf

Another designer & I worked together to design this outfit for a design contest. I designed the shrug while my partner designed the pants & the hat.

We won the contest!

Celebrating Nona

Yesterday was Nona's 5th birthday.  Phil & I went in to preschool to celebrate her birthday with her class. It was so much fun to watch how she interacts with her classmates and to see how she glowed with the honor of being "Birthday Girl".

As the kids sat and ate their treats Ms. Tricia had the class raise their hands to share what they liked about Nona. I loved hearing how the other kids like  "playing with the giant ball" with Nona and how they appreciate that she "lets them play with her on the computer".  

After preschool, we went on a carousel ride, picked out a birthday gift at the toy store, bought candy from the candy store & filled our bellies with warm soft pretzels. Nona was in birthday bliss until the moment she laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes on the special day.  I am so proud to call this precious 5 year old mine!

Happy Birthday Nona!

News from The Rocking Yak...

  There has been much excitement this week at The Rocking Yak!

First, I am excited to share with you some of the pictures that were taken at our first product photo shoot. It is very rewarding for me to be able to see the products that I designed & knitted up over the summer being used for The Rocking Yak.

I am also excited to tell you that another shipment of handspun, 100% yak down yarn is soon to be shipped to the United States! In this shipment, I will be receiving some Tibetan handbags that will be used in putting together some knitting kits for the patterns that we have. Once the shipment arrives, I will be adding these items to the shop.

From the eyes of a 4 yr old.

I love it when I turn on my camera to find little photographic treasures taken by my son.  He is just learning to use our camera & it's fun to see what he will chose to photograph. These are some of his photographs of our house.

Mama & Chloe

One very loved "Kankie"

The kids books & our crocks

House plant/tree

Seuss Update

This is the hats that we made.

Helping with our "Happy Birthday to You" Cake.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Today is the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  So today the kids and I are celebrating. 

First on the list is to go the library & checkout any Dr. Seuss books & videos we can find.

Second we will make Hoop-Soup-Snoop Group Potato Soup with Pink Yink Ink Drink.

Third we will make a Katroo "Happy Birthday to You" Cake. Because how can you celebrate without cake?
Last but not least we will make Cat-in-the-Hat hats & read our books from the library.

I hope you have the chance to celebrate to0!

29 Things to do before I turn 30

Today I turn 29.  I've been thinking about this for a while now, about how this is the last year of my twenties. I'm not sure why this feels like such a huge milestone for me. I guess because like everyone, there are goals I had secretly made while I was younger that I would do. Now, as an adult I still have not done many of these things.  Life does complicate things.  Some goals are not as easy to accomplish once married & having children, however not impossible.  So I decided to take a closer look at some of these things I had hoped to have done by now. What is it that has kept me from trying new things & achieving new goals? Is it really because of being married & then having children? No not really. The biggest reasons have been that I just haven't made an effort to do these things or that I was afraid I'd fail at them.  In making a new effort, I decided to make a list of 29 things to do before I turn 30.  Here it is:

1.  Travel to Tibet

2.  Adopt an active lifestyle as my own

3.  Give more than I receive

4.  Stop saying "I want to be..." and start saying "I am..."

5.  Go snowboarding

6.  Read at least 2 novels that I didn't read in high school.

7.  Learn to live a more sustainable life

8.  Do volunteer work as a family

9.  Test drive an extremely pricey car

10.  Shoot a gun

11.  Go skinny dipping with my husband

12.  Eat something I've never tried before (yak butter tea maybe?)

13.  Go to a rock concert

14.  Get a tattoo

15.  Travel by train

16.  Donate blood 

17.  Learn to ballroom dance

18.  Create my family tree

19.  Go to a drive in movie theater

20.  Treat myself to a spa day

21.  Learn to effectively start a fire

22. Master changing a tire

23.  Learn to chop wood

24.  Complete a self portrait

25.  Begin Letterboxing with our family

26.  Write a knitting pattern that is published in a knitting magazine

27.  Make journals for Nona & Jacob about their lives growing up

28.  Reconnect with the friends I had as a teenager.

29.  Become a better organized multi-tasker