Early voting has already started in many states, and from now until November 12 as a small thank you to those who vote in the Midterms I’m offering a 5% discount on all orders (use the code IVOTED at checkout). Obviously I have no way of knowing if you actually voted, but knitters by and large are honest folks.
Like many people I have been fighting a grinding sense of doom when it comes to current events. Scrolling through my Instagram feed a few weeks ago I came across Thea Colman’s post about writing postcards for postcardstovoters.com . The traditional forms of political engagement are either ill-suited to my personality (like most people I hate getting political phone calls; phone banking is not for me) or just impractical given my current situation (door to door canvassing is a lot harder with an infant) so finding something that I could actually do in my spare moments made me really happy. I like having a way to quietly remind people to vote without interrupting their dinner. And who doesn’t like getting handwritten mail? So I signed up to volunteer and set to carving a simple block print for faster postcard production.
Via Instagram I’ve been offering to send postcard writers sets of my postcards, and the response has been heartening. Sending out my neat little packets of postcards feels like send out bundles of hope; a visible reminder that I a not alone in my fears, that other people care too.
And when I read something in the news that makes me think grim thoughts I can sit down and convert that feeling to ink. In my experience, the salve for anxiety is action, however small.
I am addicted to the simplicity of Instagram, while my blog has become the thing I hide from in shame for not writing all the things I should have written by now, so I’ve been remiss in not making the same offer of postcards to my blog readers. If you would like a batch of my postcards please send me an email. The “price” is that you will promise to use them to remind others to vote.
The weather outside is frightful, but I am warm inside playing with yarn. I hope you are all likewise somewhere warm and yarn filled.
Fresh from the drying rack: two lovely neutral grays, one light (Woodsmoke) and one dark (Slate). Both colors are actually based on logwood (purple) heavily "saddened" with a mix of tannin and iron which gives them a faint purple undertone in the right light - I can't help but think of the "violet" sheep of the Odyssey (the dyeing is admitedly a bit of a cheat).
Worsted-spun 3-Ply fingering weight from the island raised sheep of Straw's Farm in Newcastle, Maine. I love this yarn. Smooth, with just a little bit of bounce, it would be perfect for socks, or Sanquhar gloves, or a whole sweater (I may do all three). This yarn is pleasure to dye and a pleasure to knit with.
Worsted-spun 3-Ply fingering weight from the island raised sheep of Straw's Farm in Newcastle, Maine. I love this yarn. Smooth, with just a little bit of bounce, it would be perfect for socks, or Sanquhar gloves, or a whole sweater (I may do all three). This yarn is pleasure to dye and a pleasure to knit with.
Suggested Needle: US sizes 0-3
Length: approx 110 yards
Dye(s): Logwood, Tannin
I couldn't help but take photos of some of my favorite color combinations:
With Tiger Lily
With Lichen
With Cress
With Zucchini
The view from my desk. Reginald the kaffir lime tree was not meant to see such weather.
I still have a few more colors in the works, but I wanted to get these up when I had the time. Check out the new colors on the Fingering Weight page. (Still to come, a hunter green, dark gray, light gray, and maybe a few more blues?).
Thank you creative Instagramers for the naming help!
Worsted-spun 3-Ply fingering weight from the island raised sheep of Straw's Farm in Newcastle, Maine. I love this yarn. Smooth, with just a little bit of bounce, it would be perfect for socks, or Sanquhar gloves, or a whole sweater (I may do all three). This yarn is pleasure to dye and a pleasure to knit with.
Worsted-spun 3-Ply fingering weight from the island raised sheep of Straw's Farm in Newcastle, Maine. I love this yarn. Smooth, with just a little bit of bounce, it would be perfect for socks, or Sanquhar gloves, or a whole sweater (I may do all three). This yarn is pleasure to dye and a pleasure to knit with.
Worsted-spun 3-Ply fingering weight from the island raised sheep of Straw's Farm in Newcastle, Maine. I love this yarn. Smooth, with just a little bit of bounce, it would be perfect for socks, or Sanquhar gloves, or a whole sweater (I may do all three). This yarn is pleasure to dye and a pleasure to knit with.
Suggested Needle: US sizes 0-3
Length: approx 110 yards
Dye(s): Weld, Indigo
For example - check out the Fingering Weight page to see more.
In other news, we bought a house yesterday. A whole house. With a very cool barn. And a work space for Upton Yarns. It doesn't quite feel real yet.
I have been dyeing away, mainly working with the Straw’s Farm Island Sheep fingering weight (with an eye towards Kanoko socks and more importantly, Kanoko yarn kits, see below for one idea) but a few dye lots of DK weight BFL have snuck through, including one of my favorites, Coe’s Naptime. I think it would make a great Arboreal sweater. (Now listed for sale over at the DK weight BFL page).
DK Weight BFL spun from fleece from Two Sisters Farm, Warren, Maine
With a skein of Silver Birch. Because reasons.
Stay tuned for Kanoko kits, and a whole lot of Straw’s Farm Island Sheep fingering weight in an array of colors.
Potential Kanoko Kit #1 - Zounds those colors are bright!
