Page 127 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Thursday Yarn At Elliebelly

Posted on August 2, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I’m surfacing (briefly, but I’m surfacing) from Ravelry (and one of THOSE weeks at work) to show you pictures of yarn. This is yarn you can buy at Elliebelly this week.

I promise that this absolutely my last post rhapsodizing about ~~Nirvana~~ Ravelry, but the coolest thing is how you can have great yarn, yarn you adore, yarn you do not know what to do with. And, you can go to Ravelry, and twenty minutes later (ok, four hours, 15 minutes and 26 seconds later), you are all full of new ideas about what to knit with your yarn. You’ve got links to patterns, comments on modifications, and you’ve made three new friends, one of whom lives two streets away from you and invites you over to her knit night the next week. It is a cool place.

Elliebelly Yarn. I think the first thing you might want to look at this week is the new sock yarn. It’s a bamboo/merino/nylon blend with the beautiful shine of silk and the sproginess of merino ( you know what I mean by spronginess — it holds its shape and has some stretch to it.) This yarn takes up color in a really beautiful way. There are two colorways this week, Arianne and Cleo.

There is also a range of Blue Faced Leicester this week, some in an aran weight and some in bulky (the BFL bulky is not a true bulky, however. It is heavier than the aran but more around 3 stitches to the inch than a true, 2 stitch/inch bulky weight). I have added the option to puchase one-color coordinating skeins of two or four ounces this week. You can purchase solid yarn for a sweater or vest and trim it in the multicolor if you like!

There is also some Cashmere, in the Treasure colorway.

There is lots more including a silk cashmere blend and some Peace Fleece. Please drop by and check it out!

Squirt Is The Only One Who Gets It

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I think Squirt is the only one who gets it. He really gets yarn. He is ever grateful for the small private stash I keep in our bedroom, where he can cuddle in it. I think he secretly yearns for the joys of the wood-lined closet in my studio, where yarn for sale is kept, and where cats are strictly forbidden to trespass.

Squirt also gets Ravelry. I’m having a lot of fun checking it out and he likes sitting on my lap and purring — batting at the occasional strand of alpaca — while I get familiar with everything.

I don’t think the rest of my family gets it. They don’t seem to understand getting up at 4 a.m. to sign in, coming home from work and going straight to the computer (forgetting to cook dinner), and endlessly photographing stash.

I feel sad for them. Squirt and I are having lots of fun, looking at patterns and checking out yarn. Ravelry is Nirvana. If you’re a knitter and you haven’t signed up yet, trust me. You should.

In the meantime, there isn’t a lot going on here, other than the fact that I finished my work in Kathy McElroy’s incredibly beautiful Pock-et-ful round robin book, but I was so obsessed with going back to Ravelry that I neglected to photograph it before I packaged it up, and I’m hoping I can prevail upon Karen O to take pictures when it arrives in Atlanta.

I promise to surface by the end of the week, after I’ve thoroughly indulged myself by spending my non-working hours um, you know where. Please do stop by and take a look when I stock new yarn, including silk, cashmere, Blue Faced Leicester, and Bamboo sock yarn at Elliebelly on Hyena Cart, Thursday, at noon central time. Here are a couple of the new colorways, "Tonks" and "Cleo," that are joining some old favorites like "Treasure" and "Plum Pudding." The previews are up so you can see it all now. Please drop by for a look!

The countdown is ….. ON!

Posted on July 28, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I’m almost into Ravelry. I’m so excited!

In case you haven’t heard about it, Ravelry is only the coolest site ever for knitters with communities, features, patterns, stash counters and more and more. My friends who are there already rave about it. If you haven’t signed up yet, you need to! And great news, there will only be 13,900 people ahead of you in line waiting to get in.

When I checked my place in line this morning (I love that you can check, almost as much as I love the address for checking in — www.ravelry.com/antsy) it said:

Found you!

You signed up on June 5, 2007
You are #7130 on the list.
180 people are ahead of you in line.
13899 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

I have good information that they’re letting in 150 people a day! I had originally thought I would get in on Sunday, but now it looks more like Monday.

I can’t wait to get into ~~the promised land~~ Ravelry. I’m so excited about using the tools I hear it has for keeping track of needles and for matching patterns to stash yarn.

To keep myself from bubbling over, I started Lizard Ridge (see previous post). This is my first block, after finishing the first repeat.

I don’t think I quite have the hang of knitting the wrapped stitches, so I may have to rip this one, but i wanted to check out the pattern and get gauge, and this pattern is seriously FUN. I took sock pron’s

advice and decided to knit garter ridges instead of stockinette for more texture and to make finishing easier. I really like it, although I may try a panel in stockinette next and decide which I prefer before going on.

While I was in my LYS buying needles (because size 8 single points were apparently the ONLY size needle I don’t own and the one thing I really needed for this pattern) I stumbled upon this wonderful yarn from RYC. It’s called soft tweed and is 56% wool, 20% viscose, 14% polyamide, 10% silk. The label says it gives 12 stitches, 16
rows per 10cm (4inch) square on US 11needles. I’m planning on making a simple hat for boychild #2 to take off to school in Connecticut. If he doesn’t behave, it’s going to stay here and be mine (I have to say that, because he reads my blog). It’s very subtle and pretty.

I’ll pull out Ann Budd’s basics book and start this one up for some easy meeting knitting for the next few weeks.

Does anyone else go in cycles? I seem to stack up several projects so they are almost finished, then put them aside, case on a few new ones, knit a bit, and then go back and finish up the others in a huge flourish of knitting. I’ve never done it intentionally, but I notice that I’ve done this several times. Is it a character flaw?

Now I’ve got to go and look at spider eggs with Miss Ellie. She is graciously helping me stay occupied until Ravelry breaks down and lets me in.

The Nice Package In My Mailbox Today (Or, I’m Getting Ready To Start Lizard Ridge)

Posted on July 26, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I’ve been wanting to knit Lizard Ridge ever since it first went up on Knitty. It’s a wonderful, seductive pattern, don’t you think? This is the picture that accompanies the pattern.

I really hesitate to buy that much expensive yarn for something that’s just for me, but I really wanted to make it in brightly colored Noro, just like in the picture.

My very sweet Brother & Sister in Law (the parents of the very beautiful Miss Harper, my favorite niece) sent me a gift certificate to a yarn store for my birthday. Not only did this place them in the category of most favored relatives, it gave me the perfect opportunity to finally start in on Lizard Ridge.

One of the cool things about the pattern is that you can buy the skeins as you go. So I got the first six skeins. Aren’t they wonderful?

I’ve got to hunt around for needles — the size 8’s called for are, predictably, one of the few sizes I don’t think I have, although I’ve learned it’s always best to sort around through my various needle cases before being too sure about that. As soon as I get the needles straightened out, I’m going to get started on this.

I’ve also decided, at long last, and with the help of some really nice posters on the Knitty Forums, to make a custom fit raglan sweater for Teddy before he goes off to school in New England this fall. The yarn is a yummy bulky merino that I dyed earlier this summer. It has been waiting around for just the right pattern — something simple to show off the soft color transitions. I think this one will be just perfect.

I’ve also had a completely irresistible request for knitting. Miss Ellie eased on over while I was petting my new skeins of Noro. "Mama" she asked in a sweet voice that would melt butter, "Mama, could you knit my clothes for this fall? Can you make me more socks and some sweater and makes some pants to match?" She’s impossible to resist. She knows my weaknesses. She even, if one believes an eight year old capable of such guile, was wearing the Oh Jan dress when she made her request. School starts in four weeks. I had better get busy!

Successes Midway Through The Ten Week Plan

Posted on July 25, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I’m in the middle of week five of the ten week plan. The ten week plan involved my realization that the Colinette Ophelia Tank I was knitting from Giotto in the Paintbox colorway wasn’t going to fit me. It wasn’t even going to be close. Somehow, in under six months I had managed to gain a whole bunch of weight, about 25 pounds, which is a whole bunch when you’re only 5′ 1".

My plan was to finish the tank in ten weeks and lose enough weight to fit into it by the time it was done.

So, here’s the tank.

I’ve got about 10" done and I need to get to around 11" and then do the shaping at the top. Although I’m a bit ahead of schedule, I think finishing it will take me a bit of extra time, so I’m pretty much on target.

And the weight loss? Thanks to the miracle of low carb dieting, which lets me eat lots of cheese and fruit and drink an occasional glass of wine, I’m down about 12 pounds. I’m excited about all the money I won’t have to spend on new suits and that I can now devote to ~~crack~~ new yarn. Eight or ten more pounds in the next 5 weeks and I’ll hopefully both fit into the finished tank and feel a whole bunch better. It’s amazing what knitting can do for you.

Tomorrow is Thursday, which means I’ll have some new yarn stocking at Elliebelly. Please drop by and take a look! There is Treasure on Blue Faced Leicester,

Moonflower on Blue Faced Leicester,

Marseilles,

and lots more, including sock yarn on BFL Ultra in the Expelliarmus colorway.

Drop by Thursday at noon (central) when all the yarn will be available for you to purchase. I’m hoping I have enough in stock this week that it won’t all sell out in the first few minutes and you’ll be able to look around and buy yarn for the next few days. Make sure you sign up for the free lavender sachet lottery while you’re there too!

My Apology

Posted on July 21, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

I owe you all an apology. We left on a vacation — of sorts — on
Wednesday. I meant to post while I was away and then got carried away
by the sun and the water and well, just the sheer relaxation of it all,
and never did sit down at the computer for more than a stray minute
here and there. (and, for those of you who missed yarn talk, I promise
there is a little bit in the last paragraph).

It was actually a business trip. The Judge and I both had to be at the
same conference, so we took the littles along and made a vacation out
of it. We were in Point Clear, Alabama, one of my favorite places on
earth. It’s a wonderful place where you can enjoy the Pelicans and the
boardwalk and the Royal Red Shrimp, steamed just hours after it has
been caught. It truly is heaven on earth.

Bad me — it never occurred to me to take the battery charger for my
camera along, so I have very few photos. And this is the real reason I
need to apologize to you. We came across the most amazing sight in
tiny little Daphne, Alabama. A farmer had planted one of his fields in
Sunflowers. Rows and rows of huge beautiful Sunflowers in full bloom.
It was an incredible sight, but unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask
you to imagine it, because I wasn’t able to take a picture. I’m still
kicking myself.

Here are a few photos I was able to get before the battery suddenly, and with no warning, quit on me.

This picture is of the newly rebuilt boat houses on the Bay. It was
Ivan, not Katrina, that whipped through here, but there was a lot of
damage. You can see one dock that hasn’t been rebuilt yet if you look
closely, but most of them have been redone.

Woo found a little Hermit Crab at the edge of the water and brought it
up for closer inspection by his brother and sister. He also managed to
wipe out on the slippery rocks in the process, but I’ll spare him the
embarrassing photo. The Crab was very cool.

This is one of the squadrons of Pelicans that endlessly fascinated us.
How they fly those intricate patterns is a total mystery. I’m
convinced they are far more intelligent than we are. They have to be,
to be able to do that.

Finally, this last picture is sweet Miss Ellie, who loves the water as
much as I do. This picture pretty much sums it up. Being on the water
is perfection!

Strangely, this was a no-knitting, no-art trip for me, something that
hasn’t happened in years. I did have plans to knit on the Giotto Tank,
but it needed ripping, due to an evil stitch that came off the needles
and ran in transport, and I never managed to sit down and work on it.
Instead, I reread the sixth Harry Potter book and have big plans to
spend tomorrow (my birthday!) reading the new book.

Finally, for those of you who need ~~crack~~ yarn news: I did manage to stock a bit of new yarn at both Elliebelly and at Elliebelly at Hyena Cart
before we left. A few of you found it, even though I forgot to tell
y’all. There is still a bit there and I have some really exciting
dyeing plans for this week, involving this very cool
Merino/Bamboo/Nylon blend that is going to be the making of some
fabulous socks and shawls. Go check out the yarn if you have time. I
promise to have lots of knitting and dyeing to show you this week. I’m
also getting pretty close to getting my Ravelry
invite I think, maybe six days away. I’ve already got lots of my
photos organized in anticipation, and am really looking forward to it!
One last picture, here’s one of my favorite yarns from last week, a
Blue Faced Leicester aran weight yarn in my "Treasure" colorway.

Pock-et-ful Art

Posted on July 14, 2007 by Joyce Makes Art

My scanner is badly in need of a replacement, so I haven’t shown a lot of art lately, but I enjoyed working in Robin’s posie themed book so much that I decided to share anyhow. I got pretty involved in doing layers for the background of this piece. I also had fun plucking and drying some of the flowers from my drought-ridden garden, and used one bloom behind the sweet little girl’s head.

Here she is, slipped inside of her little pocket.

Robin’s book is absolutely wonderful! I enjoyed working in it so much, that I’m sorry to send it on, but off it will go to Karen first thing Monday morning, so that I can get to work in the next book.