Going to the Dogs

As you can see our Cody is growing up nicely. Still chews everything in sight, still can't be left alone for a second, but has now slept through the night for almost a week, so the puppy mama is getting a bit more sleep. We figured out he cd do it when my husband took a shift for me and the pup slept all the way to the morning. Then, I slept with him again and he got up at 2 am. Hmmm...I wonder what's happening here? The boy was getting tired of the sleeping arrangements, and so were the rest of us, so we bought a cheap baby monitor and put him to bed with his pup. Lo and behold, Cody slept through the night again. The boy dropped and broke said baby monitor the very next day, but I guess it worked for us!


Emmy remains wonderfully patient and sweet, and while she warns him, sometimes loudly, i can see she wd never hurt him. We worry, because she seems to be losing ground daily in the alpha vs. beta positioning. It's very clear that he is an in-charge dominant kind of guy. luckily, i know how deal with that, after having been taken to school for years by my lovely chessie girl, or "queen bitch", as I tend to think of her:) She doesn't seem to mind, oddly enough. We'll see how it goes, but maybe she would be happier as a "first lieutenant bitch":)

It's hard to resist the love in those eyes.

Now, it's time to talk about Homespun Yarn Party! You remember this show? It's our local MD/DC/VA fiber arts show and promises to be a ball again this year. Here are the det's:

What: Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!Who: All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness! And all our knitting/crocheting/spinning friends (you!) of course!!

Where: Historic Savage Mill 8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763 Just off I-95, plenty of parking!When: Sunday, March 21, 2010 - 12 PM to 5 PM Why: Who needs an excuse to get together and craft?! We wanted to get together and spread some fiber love! In addition to some great crafty vendors, we'll also have:
free lessons on knitting, crochet, spinning, and maybe more
fabulous door prizes to be given away throughout the event
weather-permitting, a sit and spin/crochet/knit area out on the deck

And we'll be collecting knitted and crocheted items for local charities!

Of course, admission is FREE!

Go see the vendor list. Some of my favorites will be here: SG, of course, and my Steph of LOOP will be coming down from New York with her amazing batts and clouds and rovings, and Woolarina, of course, and Ang of Serendipitous Ewe (yay!) and Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co. is coming in from Ohio, and Jen of Spirit Trail, and, well, you get the idea:)

I know Jess and Paula and Lindsay and Corrine and Lauren (and anyone else I'm missing on the Committee?) will do an amazing job this year bringing a variety of local fiber artists as well as some other great vendors. You know what the best part is? I'll have a booth on my own for the very first time! Yep, I'll be steppin out on my own. No more riding the coattails of the Sanguine Gryphon; I'm all growed up now:) How cool is that? Of course, i'm terrified I'll forget the money box, or the sign, or even the yarn!

I know that's not going to happen, cause Team Dragonfly has my back. In fact, our High Priestess, Laura Blueswirly is coming to Maryland just to join in th fun. You should know she did the graphics for HYP this year; nice huh? Can't wait to see her! So, here's the deal. You need to come to Savage Mill to join in the fun, and when you do, come see me, ok?

This picture is so last weekend

but here you go. More on my camera; hopefully, i can get more up for my next post. stay tuned!

Slowly shoveling out from under "Snowpacalypse 2010"

First let me apologize for the lack of new puppy pictures. They do exist, and i will post them when i get home this evening. I'm currently posting from a "secret remote location"; you guessed it: I'm blogging from work. It's possible that it may be slightly quiet here today.

I have a few things to tell you about. First, as you can see i did survive double snow storm week. Now that we are finally able to leave the hell-hole, I mean house, I am hearing all sorts of lovely stories about families snuggling up and enjoying the blizzard together, reading out loud and playing apples to apples and gin rummy. My lovely husband managed to escape town just before the storm hit to go weld..stuff?...in Connecticut for a "fast tracked" project. While i am sure that his colleagues, some of whom allowed themselves to be snowed in up there for the same project during the previous weekend's storm, very much appreciated his efforts, I am embarrassed to say that i spent more than a little time snuggling up with my resentments!

I did manage to stock up on ice cream and the first season of Smallville before the driveway was snowed in again, so every night the kids and i would celebrate making it through yet another day by snuggling up with the puppy, bowls of ice cream, and a few episodes of the teen Superman and his creepy classmates. Yes, Cody is doing very well, particularly now that i convinced our vet to come up our unplowed street to bring him tapeworm medicine:) Eats like a horse, barks at the cat, chews endlessly, and even(drumroll) got the big dog to play with him! At this point, he still hates the crate but will sleep nicely in his bed on the floor, leashed up to the bed. And when he can finally make it all the way through the night, I can go back to sleeping in my own bed with my own husband:)

As i don't seem to attract anything but "Alpha's" in my life, the puppy definitely likes to be in charge. He won't get to be top dog in our house, but definitely is on his way with the rest of the neighborhood, at 5 lbs and 11 weeks old. Emmy and i should be able to teach him his manners!

I have had a wonderful Go Saints! Superbowl Sale; thanks so much to everyone who helped me celebrate! My Naiad Sock has been well received so far and i expect it to do even better once people start to knit with it:) Laura, High Priestess of Marketing, and i will be hosting a Naiad KAL after the Winter Olympics to give folks plenty of time to get some. Any thoughts on projects? I think it is a lovely choice for socks and also for shawls and scarfettes, and probably spring sweaters too, if you have the patience to knit a sweater in fingering weight yarn. Although, you must go see Danielle's Geodesic Cardigan knit in Dragonberry Dragon Sock! It is absolutely gorgeous, and i want to make one too!

Right after I finish my scoop neck top down raglan in Dragon Worsted, Djinni Pomotomos socks, and super secret socks that i'm designing for the April shipment of Club Dragon Witch. Did you hear that the first shipment was sent out last week by Brittany? Color is beautiful and Rapunzel sock pattern is perfect (may need to weasel a kit from Brittany for um, research purposes? Oh, and the Citron that i have yet to cast on in the new version of Gaia Lace. Yum! I still need to show this to you, don't I? Let's add that to list of pictures that i owe:)

I did not update my shop this past week, as my studio has been under 3 feet of snow (hard-packed at this point) and I was too busy shovelling the driveway and bossing the kids around. In fact, there are still plenty of lovely yarns for sale. The lovely Jack tells me he has shoveled a few feet of space in my dye studio, so, who knows, perhaps i can celebrate Mardi Gras properly tomorrow over the dye pots. For customers who participated in my Djinni mini club, I expect to finish dyeing tomorrow (hope springs eternal!) and Carol the Shipping Goddess (who feels that "Goddess" is too pretentious a title and prefers to be called "Sprite" but I know she's really a Goddess) will be sending out invoices tomorrow in preparation for a Thursday shipping spree.

Next on deck for Dragonfly will be dyeing and shipping for the Color Coop. Now, this is an excellent concept. Club particpants submit photos for inspiration, and then vote to determine which picture the coop dyers will use as their inspiration. The person submitting the chosen photo wins a free club shipment for that month:) The five indie dyers in the Coop then dye their own version of the month's colorway and each dyer ships to one-fifth of the members. Each time, the members rotate, giving everyone a chance to receive yarn from each dye artisan. I'm planning to dye Naiad Sock yarn for my first shipment of this club, which should put everyone in the mood for Spring:) Laura of the Unique Sheep (and those beautiful Gradience Colorways) ably administrates the Color Coop; I'm not sure how she keeps it all straight, but she does!

Ok, so the next shop update will be Friday evening at 9 pm est. I'm not sure what will be in the update yet, but hopefully some new Naiad, a few knotty skeins of Djinni, and some spinning fiber, at least. I am considering shifting update times, cause I know this time is not convenient for everyone, including me sometimes. So look for a poll in the Ravelry group regarding update times; i'm thinking Sunday nights or alternating Sundays with Fridays. Tell me what you think, ok?

Introducing...

our new baby! His name is Cody, and he may be the world's cutest smartest, sweetest pup ever:) He's a lab crossed with, weel, who knows. Jack thinks he's part-pug, but I think not. Hie tail does curl a tiny bit, and is long, and wippy. He loves people and needs alot of snuggling. Clearly, he's already figured out where he is supposed to be:)

Also introducing Naiad Sock, my new merino bamboo sock yarn. It's content is 70% superwash merino, 20% bamboo, and 10% nylon for extra durability. You would not believe how fabulously soft this stuff is. It even beats Djinni, believe it or not! People naturally gravitate toward it. It knits up at about 8 stitches to the inch, give or take your needle size and knitting style, but the yarn also has wonderful potential for shawls as it has a lovely drape. Each 4 oz skein contains 466 yards of knitting joy.

You may already know the special qualities of bamboo. It is a sustainable material and naturally anti-bacterial, even after repeated washings. It also imparts a pretty shine to the yarn. Speaking of dyeing, the bamboo doesn't pick up color from the protein dyes, resulting in a soft heathered look and more diffuse colors. I'll be putting this beautiful stuff on sale for the first time during the super bowl.

And of course, the Super Bowl sale will be well, super! I have dyed a one of a kind colorway called When the Saints go Marching In! in Naiad Sock, Djinni Sock, and Dragon Sock in honor of my Saints finally making it to the big game:) Saints colors, of course!

I am planning to have plenty of Djinni, Naiad and Traveller up for sale (Saints, Pink Hydrangea, Heroine, ) and 20% off of Dragon Sock and Squishy Lace in stock. Also, some knotty skeins (20% off) and phat skeins (5+ oz) of Djinni as well. I will also give 20% off of spinning fiber that is already in stock, as well. And don't forget to check in with Knit Witch's rav group if you were able to secure a square before the deadline for her squares game. Mostly, i expect to be yelling at the tv:)

The Todays Update photo set has some of the phots for tomorrow's sale, but keep checking back in. This update will be a big one!

And do watch the blog next week for yet more yarny announcements and, of course, Cody updates. Right now, we are working on surviving a blizzard (yes, we still have power!) and potty training an 8 week old puppy in 2-3 feet of snow. Stay warm and rout for da Saints!

We are distracted...

That's right! Team Dragonfly is getting a NEW PUPPY! He is really for the boy, who gives every sign of needing a dog of his very own. Last night, we went to petsmart to buy all the necessities, and non-necessities:) Emmy dog scored a big bag of pig ears, and Trudgey was so high on catnip from his new toy he was out of his mind (took on the dog, for one!) He has had a bout a million names, but we may be settling on one. Unless we are snowed out, I will meet Jessica from Saving Fur Kids up in Hagerstown tomorrow am and bring our new baby home.

We'll be snuggling in and getting to know him this weekend, but no worries, we'll be on line for the Super Bowl Sale! Come back tomorrow, in fact, for a New Yarn! introduction:)