Monthly Archives: July 2012

California Revival Knits: Interview with Kim Kaslow of the Woolen Rabbit

Posted on July 23, 2012 by StephCat | Comments Off

I’ve long admired Kim’s subtle, rich colorways, and was thrilled she agreed to yarn support for California Revival Knits! (Psst…she’s also doing yarn support for Hitch!)

Steph: How did you get started in this business? How long have you been producing &/or dyeing yarn?

Kim: It started 15 years ago with a single German Angora rabbit which quickly grew to 15 rabbits. I started off with dyeing angora and blending it with merino/silk fibers and slowly added yarns to the mix. I prefer dyeing yarn, so that has been my focus for the last number of years.

How do you choose your yarn bases? Are your having any made specifically for you? What are your favourite fibers to work with?

Yarn bases are very important to me. They have to be something that I would enjoy knitting and I usually prefer the more luxurious yarns. My current favorite is my yarn base Opal, which is a blend of Cashmere, Silk and Merino.

I loved working with Opal. What inspires your colorways?

Usually Nature. I can take a walk on a warm Autumn day and come home with many color patterns swirling around in my head.

What festivals or conferences do you go to as a vendor?

I don’t do too many festivals as my online store is fairly busy, which makes it hard to get away. I currently vend at NETA SPA weekend, Fryeburg Fair, The Squam Arts Fair ,The Fiber Revival in Mass and more recently at SOAR. I do plan to investigate vending at New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival this year.

How do you utilize the internet and social media as an indie dyer?

Given that the bulk of my business is done via the internet, I do try to stay in touch with people via my blog, facebook and of course, Ravelry. I am fortunate to have a strong repeat business base of women that I really enjoy.

What’s a typical day for you?

I start out with tending to the dogs, responding to emails and breakfast, then I go out to the studio. A typical day would be dyeing in the first part of the day, then reskeining and getting yarns boxed and ready for shipping before the post office closes. If I have time in between, I try to squeeze in some sewing. Evenings usually have me printing out labels, answering emails again, blogging and finally time to sit and relax with some knitting and a glass of wine.

What’s your studio like?

My husband just finished a new studio space for me in our barn. It has a small retail space in the front, a large work table, 2 stove tops and a sink. It’s a beautiful, bright and cheerful place to work. Upstairs is where my electric winders, spinning equipment, looms and sewing studio live. It is also where I keep all of my shipping supplies. I feel amazingly fortunate to have such a wonderful space in which to work.

What’s your favorite thing about dyeing yarn? Least favorite? I’m including all things ancillary to actual dyeing as well – so feel free to address marketing, website design, etc, etc.

Favorite….playing with colors and seeing them evolve into colorways that make people smile.
Least favorite is reskeining yarn…..it’s always a fight it seems to get the yarn to behave on the winders, but the end result is worth the struggle. Currently my website is giving me headaches as well…I am looking forward to having it redone once I can afford to do that.

Any dyeing or yarn plans for the next year you care to discuss?

My yarn club for 2012 had a Roaring Twenties theme. I had 6 of my favorite designers create one pattern for each shipment.

Thanks Kim!
Want to have a chance to win your very own skein of Opal in the Godiva colorway? Leave a comment on what base(s) & color(s) are your favorites from Kim’s site, The Woolen Rabbit, on this post, by midnight PST July 30th. I’ll use the random number generator to pick a winner. US addresses only, please, sorry!

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Tagged Knitting & Spinning, Reviews & Interviews

Yet more blocks

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Julie | Comments Off

I did squeeze in time for 5 more blocks for the graduation quilt yesterday. I’m getting there, slowly but surely!

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Tagged blocks, quilt, quilting, Sewing, Sister's Choice

Sheep of the Week: Finch

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Caroline | Comments Off

Finch, eartag number 0110, is one of my favorite wethers from last year’s class of lambs.

When he was quite young– maybe only 3 or 4 weeks old– he wandered away from his mama, Catalina, and tripped into a serious quantity of red clay mud (this would have been in April, the tail end of our mud season). He soon became the lamb I could identify the most quickly, because he was the bright-red dirty-lamb.

But he washed up pretty nicely, didn’t he?

I love the look he has on his face as Emily shears him: (Welp, looks like there’s nothin’ I can do ’bout this.)

He still looks pretty lamb-like in this photo from early this past spring.

But, how quickly they grow up!

His nose is longer, his deep Cormo neck-wrinkle is larger, and the perspective is, I admit, a little forced.

But I’m mainly so glad of the fact that he’s kept his bottle-baby sweetness and lack of fear, but somehow never acquired that famous bottle-baby brattiness. He’s a perfectly gentle, absolutely lovely sheep.

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Tagged posted by Caroline, sheep, Sheep of the Week

Long ago

Posted on July 23, 2012 by librarysarie | Comments Off

Wow - not only was I not able to embed pictures in my last post, it even stripped my formatting! (Not that I had much formatting. But really - it had to delete my paragraph breaks? Sheesh.)

Anyway, because I'm SURE you've been waiting with bated breath....here are the pictures I promised you. First up, senior prom 1995, very soon after we started dating.

I have to tell you, I LOVED that dress. It made me feel like a movie star. I would totally still wear it today, but I assure you there is no way that I will ever again fit into a size 4 column dress. Oh, to be seventeen again.

And a bonus picture, from around the same time. I can't remember when, exactly, this one was taken. I feel like it was over Thanksgiving in 1995, based on my haircut and the fact that we're wearing long sleeves, but I'm really not sure.

Aging is such a weird process. I don't feel any older than I did then, but boy, am I. We were such babies!

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Tagged Life, Personal

New dress, new job

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Maggi | Comments Off

Good Lord, how do I let three months pass without posting? Actually, I know how easily family time and work and home management and volunteering and reading and making and this internet fill up my days. I remember six years ago when I was waiting for Little B and moved into my VisArts job at 25 weekly hours ~ the building wasn't yet ronovated, my office was upstairs (where Digital II is now), social media was not part of my job duties, and we had no online registration. And I blogged about three times a week, for the fun of it as well as to meet the standards of the blogring. Remember those? What an explosion the blogosphere has seen in my nine years of writing here!

The responsibilities of my position grew as well, and as much as I enjoyed meeting them, the challenges of doing so in a 30-hour week, with two kids at two schools, finally prompted me to take the step I've considered for more than a year, and move into self-employment. I realize I may end up working more than 30 hours a week, but those hours can include ones when the girls are asleep. My non-profit salary won't be hard to match [she writes optimistically], and I am actually paying less for better health insurance that includes the dental I didn't qualify for as a less-than-fulltime employee. I still love the Visual Arts Center and will continue to support it as member, visitor, and student. And the girls have another ArtVenture week there at summer's end.

I have some interesting prospects percolating, I met with my first client this week, and colleagues are generous with offers to guide me into this new venture. First, though, I'm actually taking a summer sabbatical, joining the kids in experiencing some unplanned days to rest and recharge. We've never shared a summer break in my parenting decade! I will be musing on my business plan and designing my website, but I will also pick more blueberries, harvest volunteer tomatoes, ride bikes, bake brownies, and read a novel or two. We also have a house asunder, as Wee C moved back into her own room, dispersing my sewing studio, and the music room needs to share space as my home office. Files and fabric are piled on every floor, destined for new homes that aren't yet ready. But we'll get them set, if I can make like Mary Poppins and convince the small fry that *snap* the job's a game!

And that new dress? I whipped it up over Memorial Day weekend, which we spent on friend Susan's farm away from the usual distractions. I grabbed some Kaffe Fassett quilt fabrics from that other stash on my way out the door, in case I felt like sewing. I also took my machine and a book that I cannot find to note its title here, due to the aforementioned fruitbasket turnover of fiber supplies. Here it is:

Loose and cool, with deep pockets! The yoke and straps (as well as the unseed pockets) are two different fabrics, what with having to use fat quarters. Lotsa purple topstitching! Already my friend Lizzi asked me to make one for her. Guess I can also take in sewing . . .

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New Font: Kicks

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Adri H. | Comments Off

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Tagged design, font, illustration, typography

Stitching Sundays

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Caroline | Comments Off

There’s a certain tradition here at Juniper Moon Farm that we do our very best to uphold.

Every Sunday, we sit down at the long craft table to sew, knit, and work together while watching movies and chatting. It’s rare that we’re able to carve out the entire day for ourselves, but, every week, we do our best to take some time to make.

I’ve been working on an Aran sweater, and am almost finished.

Charlotte’s been learning to sew, and has been making a few things for her new apartment. Today, she made potholders.

I’ve been teaching her to use my machine, and, let me tell you– I would give anything to be as patient, encouraging, knowledgeable, and infectiously joyful a teacher as the women who taught me to sew back in March, or to have been such a bold and undaunted a student and stitcher as Charlotte is now.

Somehow, the potholders turned out all right: corners clipped, raw edges all on the inside, pockets fully functional.

Zac kept us going with a platter of cucumber, tomato, and lox sandwiches– all in all, it’s been a really stellar Stitching Sunday.

What do you all do to recharge your creative batteries?

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Tagged everything else, posted by Caroline

Summer Beauty …

Posted on July 22, 2012 by mvobsession | Comments Off

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Tagged flowers, Photographs

Boston fun

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Julie | Comments Off

We had a really nice time in Boston celebrating Jason’s birthday. We stopped at Penzey’s in Arlington on our way in yesterday because I had a gift certificate that wasn’t working online. We had lunch at Neptune’s and it was well worth the wait. We had time to wander the North End, passing by Paul Revere’s house and taking a stroll through the Haymarket. There was just enough time after lunch to grab a cannoli at Modern Pastry. I know Mike’s gets more buzz but Modern fills your cannoli right then and there so the shell stays wonderfully crispy and they do my favorite ricotta filling.Then it was time for a quick change at the hotel and we were off to see Cirque du Soleil’s Totem. It was a very enjoyable show and fun to be right up front where we could see things up close and personal. We finished off the night with dinner at our favorite restaurant, Hammersley’s Bistro. On our way out this morning we stopped at Lyndell’s which has replaced our old favorite, Carberry’s. I have to say, Lyndell’s was even better. The cinnamon swirl is to die for, sort of like a croissant in a cupcake shape with cinnamon sugar between the layers- buttery and not overly sweet.

More photos are available here.

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Tagged Around Town, birthday, Boston, Family, Jason