Snowmapocalapalooza!

So, this is my front yard after this week's snow. We have a row of tall evergreens (shallow rooted, apparently) along the side of our house. They have not been particularly healthy, but I love standing under them in the rain and snow, and having them next to my windows makes me feel like I'm in a tree house. They also shield us from our neighbors' lovely, but enormous house. Boundaries are good:)

People, particularly my husband, have suggested cutting these trees down, but I have resisted. Now, the front two trees are laying on top of the wires from the street to our house. Shockingly, our power is on and nothing has blown up yet. Not shockingly, despite multiple reports to the power company of live wires down on the street, no one has come to deal with this mess. My husband is taking one of his many trips to the hardware store (his favorite place) to get oil for his new chain saw. i hope he's not planning to cut the trees on the power lines. interestingly, everything is working in our house, except access to the network.


As you can see, the children are not the only ones enjoying the snow. Aquaboy and I just figured out that they have been to school one day this week. No wonder I feel alittle lost! There was a little bit of dyeing the day before the fun started, for a yarn shop in Fargo, North Dakota. Boucle Yarn Studio. Yay!

All that time in the freezing house with no heat made me decide to knit some new mitts. Even as i type in the heated house, my hands are freezing, in fact. These are figure out as you go, mitts from handspun superwash blue face leicester purchased from Wild Hare Fiber Studio. One down and the cuff started on the second!

Finally, as part of my super big website plans, i have created a group on Flickr for you to share your projects created from Dragonfly yarns and spinning fiber. My hope is that the projects shared in Made with Dragonfly Yarns and Fibers will be included in a gallery page that I plan to have as part of the site. Sound like fun? Come sign up!

I am wildly excited. There is a box in my living room. A big one and I believe it contains the future of Dragonfly Fibers. It certainly contains a bunch of yummy shaded bfl/silk and Polwarth! roving, which i can hardly wait to begin dyeing. I am waiting for Karen, my number one, to come drink tea, knit, and paw through it.

While I am waiting, let me update you on my Cassis progress. The mermaid and aquaboy had a swim meet this weekend, so there was plenty of time to knit (but no kittens:) (scroll down till you see the kitten). I have knitted 5-6 inches on the raglan increases, aren't they pretty?

This is a great pattern. Not only is the sweater itself beautiful, but Thea Colman has written the instructions clearly, with just the right amount of detail. No wonder it has been featured so long on rvelry's pattern page. Also, the knitting is fun. The stockinette sections make the knitting fast and easy, and are broken up by simple lace repeats on the fronts and on the lower part of the back. The knit one purl one edging makes the most flattering line possible. I might actually finish this lovely piece. Maybe even this winter.

Also, I am loving this yarn. The blue face worsted is everything one wd want the a sweater yarn to be: soft, springy, drapey at the right gauge. And feels like heaven to my fingers. I have a little more in the shop, but clearly, i must list more! The Winter Woods colorway sold out during the update Friday night, but don't worry, I will make more!

If you like the Blue Face Worsted, please note that you can win a few skeins and do something really good for a small farmer whose barn burned down:( An organic one at that. Go see Juniper Moon Farm to help him out.

As I am attempting to master the art of a quickie post, I will leave you with a link to a video of my son and his buddies practicing for the variety show try out. Super cute!

Ice Day and Next Update Announcement

Now that Terry is on the team as the Bookkeeper extraordinaire and queen of money and etsy listings, someone else is taking pictures at the studio. Usually, she grabs the little camera when Finn does something adorable, but occasionally, she shoots other action around here. At least once a year, i wind up dyeing in the snow. i suspect it will be more this year, as we are all having more "weather". At any rate, this is what winter dyeing looks like. At least 4 layers on top, and two pairs of pants. Heavy wool socks under my ll bean boots.

And this is what the deck looks like today. Unfortunately, i'v only dyed most of January's miniclub, not all of it, so i may let it warm up a bit and get out there. Despite the ice, it's in the upper 30's today. Downright balmy.

My dragonfly biggification efforts continue. The biggest component is the opening of a brand new website, with blog and shopping cart integrated. Right now, i'm looking at Big Cartel, which charges in the neighborhood of $30/mo as compared to the $150 - 200 that i am paying etsy right now to have a shop that is even somewhat full. My dream is to have an online store that actually represents what i have in inventory so people can actually buy it.

My lovely friend and high priestess of marketing Laura Blueswirly has already created for a me a new font, and is updating my logo as we speak. What do you think? Website design is next. And we have a deadline.

Now, onto the yarn! And the knitting. This beautiful Flamboyan show sample was knitted by dragonfly and friend Susan Enger, or Auntissy on Ravelry in Mushroom Hunting and Norbert Djinni. My show booth is going to be amazing! I will say the color is a bit off; luckily for all of us i'll be getting a tutorial on more accurate color photo's very soon. Important for the website, too!

This fuzzy beauty is a silly cowl that i made from some amazing cormo fleece that i processed for my friend Steph. (have you SEEN her bullseys batts? Oh my wooly soul, but they are amazing:) I dyed it in December Baby shades, and spun it from the lock. i get the cormo thing now. wow! The softest, silkiest fiber of any kind i have ever touched. And probably the only wool i can wear anywhere near my neck.

Finally, my next shop update will be this Friday, january 12 at 9 pm eastern. Keep an eye out for what i'll be putting in it, ok?

No sleepin' on the job!

Silly kitten! Finn is no dummy though, and that keyboard is nice and warm. So what if his help isn't always so helpful:)

He is now officially 10 weeks old, and growing into such a sweet and playful boy. Last night, he and the boy child went to bed together in a big pile. Sometimes he bites his nose in the middle of the night, but then, who wouldn't?

I want you to know that in my quest to embiggen Dragonfly Fibers, I have done a few cool things. Back in the summer, i contacted the very lovely Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops fame about carrying her patterns to shows. On thing led to another, and i sent her some yarn to design with. After a bit, she sent me pictures of this amazing shawl. Meet Coleus.

I think Kirsten may have created the perfect combination of pattern and yarn. Of course, her pictures, which i borrwed with her kind permission, are stunning. And she doesn't even know that I'm a gardener! This particular sample is made with Dragonfly Fibers Djinni in the Heroine colorway. I can't wait to knit it.

I think we may need a Coleus-along.

The other cool thing to share is that this book came out. I submitted a proposal for a design back in the early days before i even had determined exactly what woolie thing i was going to focus on. It took a while, but Little Red Riding Hoodie is now published. Oops, looks like we need a picture for its Ravelry page. This pattern is a cable and lace hooded cardigan, knit in the the very luscious Rowan Cashsoft DK. Yummy stuff. I knit the sample at a very tight gauge to get the cables to pop, but this may be less necessary with a yarn with a bit more texture.

The Lace pattern is a shetland pattern that i really enjoyed and i love the way the plaited cables look. Of course, you can't see the details in this very fun picture, but I do love the way Debbie Stoller's team styled the shot. There are tons of great looking and interesting patterns in this book, and as the call for patterns went out a few years ago, you can see the evolution of some talented and well-known designers.

Take Gryphon Perkins, for example. You know her, right? As you may know, we met early in our woollie careers, before she even knew she wanted to be an artisan yarn dyer. She was already published in Interweave Knits, though. And this one was soon to come! For Stitch and Bitch Superstar Knitting, she designed a sweet little horseshoe lace scarf. Go look at her designs on ravelry for the full range of wildness that she has dreamed up.

Back to the book, two of my favorites are Saxon the City :) by Julia Frank and the Fertility Blanket designed by Pamela Grossman. The Squirrelly Mitts by Elli of Elliphantom Kits are pretty awesome too! I feel honored and slightly awed to be in the company of these awesome knitters. Sadly, Debbie's book tour is not bringing her to the DC area, but go say hi, if you can. Actually, looks like she has one stop left, on February 24th in Philadelphia at the Free Library. So, check us out!

Happy 2011!

It will be, that is my intention. After a cozy and frenetic December, the new year dawns cold and bright. No plans for world domination yet, but definitely PLANS. I will need to grow Dragonfly Fibers if I want to be able to keep at it. Seem to me that the key to this is new customers and better communication. Oh, and knowing my numbers (blah, blah, blah...brain just put its fingers in its ears and said "I can't hear you!").



So, stay tuned for new website. It really is going to happen. I already have a new font, thanks to Laura Blueswirly, marketing genius and graphic designer extraordinaire. Looking at shopping Cart software; so far Big Cartel and Zen cart are in the running. Anyway, anything you'd love to see me do this year with the business, or the yarn and fiber, please let me know. Comments are great, and email is especially great: katechiocchio@verizon.net. I'm pretty sure we will not be adding any more animals to the household, so that's out;) but I promise to keep you posted on the the little beasties' progress.

For now, I have a few things to share this week. Club Dragon Witch, as you may know, is a collaborative effort between me and Brittany Newberry of Knit Witch fame and 6 fabulous designers. Every other month, starting in February, we will send a skein of yarn and a pattern, including but not limited to socks. I believe that this year will be even more fun than last, so join us, ok? The club will stay open through next.
I also want to let you know that I'll be doing a miniclub, starting this Friday. I'll be offering December Baby and a few of last winter's colorways (Winter Twilight anyone?) in a range of yarns and fibers. To influence my choices, go to this thread in my Ravelry group.



In the meantime, I have been knitting and spinning. Above is my sweetie's Christmas present, a cabled scarf in SG Bugga!, Hologram Moth colorway. This is my first time knitting the stuff and I do get it! A treat for the eyes, and the fingers. Hopefully, it'll be a treat for jack's neck this winter:)

This pretty thing is half of the collar of Cassis, knit in my Blue Face Worsted in colorway Hidalgo. I'm making it for my Rav group Sweater Kal. And no, these are not my only projects...

This beauty is n-plied Polwarth in the tempest colorway from Cloudlover. Lovely dye work on an amazing fiber. i'm in love with the yarn, and I think it may become a present for a good friend, she says mysteriously.

So, what's cookin' for you this year?