lulubeans

weekend plus

i feel like my weekend got a little extra added on to it because the girls and i got to meet and hang out with leah and her beautiful family on monday.  it was such a treat.  she and i were bad bloggers though, because the cameras never came out. thanks again for meeting up, leah!  

over the weekend proper, there was a little trip to gilsland farm, where the groundhogs (or at least one of them) are very friendly.  maybe a little too friendly?

 there was also so much green, and fields of peonies, frog sightings by the pond, way too much whining about bug bites, and more than one break to eat blueberries and cheese.  all in all, a very good time.

i tore myself away from the hunger games* to do a little batt update in the shop:

 

there are just a few days left to get a 15% discount with the code JUNEBATT.  i guess this month decided to just whiz by!  slow down, summer!  

*i'm pretty obsessed right now.  like, walking around the house with a book under my nose and staying up until 4 in the morning to read just one more chapter obsessed.  these books are making me feel like my intensely book obsessed 9 yr old must feel all the time, and it's pretty awesome.

rainbow seal gargoyle

natasha made this little guy.

i like him a lot.

and also: 15% off in my shop with the code JUNEBATT is going on now through the end of june.  i added some more small batches of uncarded fiber over there yesterday.

hope you are having a great thursday!

more rainy* day dispatches

the garden is not complaining.

and neither is this little bird.

however, the gray weather means that everything is taking foooorrrrever to dry.  my work room looks like one big drying rack right now.  after hitting the dyepots all weekend, i'm getting impatient. (and my drum carder is too!) 

the sun did sneak out for a little stretch yesterday, and small batches of freshly dyed fleece are making their way into my shop here and there:

blog i'm loving: 44 ways of looking at an apple (i love a good theme.)

*or cloudy.  whatever. either way, NOT sunny, and brrrr, not so warm.  summer, where'd you go?

kid friendly dyeing

 

kool-aid +  freshly washed wool fleece + fairly-independent-in-the-kitchen 9 yr old = rainy day fun.

i started dyeing wool by playing with kool aid and recycled sweater wool some 6 and 1/2 yrs ago, before moving on to acid dyes and spinning my own yarn.  i had forgotten how fun these colors are, and how yummy they smell while the wool is simmering.

natasha was able to do this dyeing pretty much all on her own.  she wanted a little bit of help with the oven, especially with taking the pots off the burners once dye baths had exhausted.  but she mixed the koolaid with water all on her own, and even improvised her own smoosh-the-wool into the dye method using old paintbrushes!  i had a good time hanging out with her while she worked.

i love the way her colors turned out! (clockwise from top right: black cherry, blue berry blast (or blue lemonade maybe?), pink lemonade and lemon-lime.)

dyeing is the extent of her fiber interest right now.  she has big plans for me to spin and knit her fiber though.  i spun up her first colorway, some border leicester which i believe she is calling, um, "bloody sheep".  it's so much fun to collaborate with her!

it's the merchant company!

and it's awesome!

if you are in portland, maine, make the trip down to 656 congress st.  you will not be disappointed!  40+ artists, crafters, and sellers of excellent vintage make this shop a very happy place.  i genuinely believe that you'll find a little something for everyone there. (or, a lot of something, if you are someone like me.  there's SO MUCH incredibly cool stuff in the store that really wants to come home with me.)

shop owners dunja von stoddard and giselle lafrance have done such an impressive job curating and creating a truly delightful art, craft and vintage emporium.

i'm super excited to have a table full of yarny delights there, and i'm looking forward to coming back again and again as a shopper.  congratulations, giselle and dunja!  you've created a really amazing place!

june sale!

with all the new fleece in the house, i'm feeling like i really want to get the batts that i have out into the world to make room for more!  so with that in mind, i'm having a sale on all batts in my etsy shop now through the end of june.* 

just enter the code JUNEBATT FOR 15% off!

 clicking on the mosiac will take you to the shop:

                                        

 

*that 15% off is actually good for anything in the shop, just so you know. ;)  maybe there's a way to use those etsy codes so that they apply to specific areas of a shop, but i haven't found it, so please, feel free to use it on any purchase! 

 

our little garden

it's coming along, so i wanted to join in sara's  thursday "around the farm/garden".

we have lots of greens coming up. we planted tatsoi for the 1st time this year, plus a mesclun mix, kale, rainbow chard, radishes, carrots, beets, soybeans, peppers and a bunch of herbs.  we have a few varieties of heirloom tomatoes too, and i still need to get squash and cucumbers in there but we've temporarily run out of space!

our garden is a collaborative one this year.   we're sharing our space with our friends who live in our building's first floor.  it's great to be able to share space, seeds, ideas, work and, ultimately, food!  

with a few exceptions, we grow pretty much exclusively out of containers and raised beds because our soil, like most of the soil in cities with lots of old houses, is full of lead.  

 

i'm hoping we actually get a few strawberries this year... there's this little garden pest who keeps wanting to add the blossoms to her bouquets. i keep trying to tell her that she'll like the berries even more!  all of those morning glory seedlings were self-sown from last year's flowers.

 

i'm loving spending time out here, by the garden. and it's all the better when enjoyed with wool!

i've been keeping busy scouring and picking some recent fleecey aquisitions that i picked up at the lovely maine fiber frolic this past weekend.  i came home with nearly 13 pounds of fresh fleece (merino, border leicester, and a really cool romney X), one toddler girl who likes play "naughty baby goat" and one bigger girl who likes to be our family's patient but exasperated sheep dog.  sheep dog commands have entered our family's daily vocabulary and a double feature family movie night with babe and pig in the city is on the agenda. i love those movies!

the first salad

this year's garden is going to rock. i can tell.

 

 

i think the greta girl agrees!

we will have some more garden shots to share tomorrow.  

and that salad?  i have to tell you, it was SO GOOD!!!

anyone want to come to a weaving in ends party?

i promise, it will be fun.

also, i decided that someday i really want to live in a house with an orange door.

bonus if it comes with a tree house and chickens like this one does.

a shop update

 

                                        

 

i had a chance to update my shop yesterday.  lots of fresh (and affordable!) handspun, and don't forget that there's a discount code on farmama's blog for my shop.  you still have time to enter my handspun yarn or drop spindle kit giveaway on the farmama blog too, if you haven't yet.  comments will close over there monday morning.  happy sunday, all!

a weekend giveaway

 

i am excited to be offering a giveaway this weekend on farmama's blog!  please go visit and enter to win a learn to spin kit or a skein of handspun yarn!  i am also offering a special discount code for farmama readers! happy weekend all!

                                      

 

magic

greta and i ventured out between bursts of rain yesterday to inspect our raised beds and....

 

 

...we have babies!!!  lots and lots of little green babies!!! the kale, mesclun, radishes and tatsoi that we planted on mother's day are sprouting.  it feels like magic.

 

also magic: new human babies!  i got to give these booties to a particularly incredible new little person this week.  

(rav link here, although i knit these in '09, set them aside, and promptly forgot all the details.  i dyed the yarn!  i know that much!) 

sleep

it's been an incredibly precious commodity around these parts lately.

happy mother's day!

 

                              

 

me and my mama, circa 1983.

i'm not sure how old we were when we stopped doing these annual height comparison photos.  i'm nine here, the same age my N is now.  usually i feel like she looks a lot like me, but looking at this photo, i realize that she doesn't really look that much like i did at nine.  the height ratio (me to my mom then, N to me me now) is almost eerily identical though.  we are short folk.

also, i love the glimpses into our early 80's living room that this photo provides. i love seeing our old orange couch, that quilt piece in the giant hoop, that creepy china doll.  weird how seeing objects in photos can stir the memory.   when i'm taking pictures of my kids, i sometimes wonder if i crop too much out. setting a goal to step back more often- maybe my girls will want to see our equilalent of that duck pillow when they are my age!

on the subject of motherhood, you've probably read tina fey's mother's prayer for her daughter by now, but if not, go. read it. it's so good.

happy mother's day to all the mamas in my life, to the mamas to be, and especially to the mamas doing it all by themselves.  hope your day is great!

first iced coffee of the year!

it seemed worth noting.

bobbin watch! (i've been adding locks from hands + notions to falklands that i dyed.)

here's my current view:

i heart spring.

 

okay, off to rouse the family for first friday!

 

happy may day!

 

             

 

we totally forgot to do our traditional basket making this year.  and i completely dropped the haymarket ball on talking to my kids about worker solidarity.  BUT YARN!  these two match my mood today.  and they're reminding me that i should never underestimate the elation making powers of green grass underfoot, warm sun on my face, fresh leaves on every branch.

funny enough, i dyed the fiber (80/20 merino/silk) way back in the dark days of january, but geez, they're a perfect tribute to utter sweet fabulousness that is this spring season.

                            
                                          (both yarns are available today in my shop!)

-also today, i just have to say that i am so into having a president who's smart and articulate (two yrs in and the contrast from his predecessor still strikes/delights me) AND funny!

oh, happiness!

the sun is extra extraordinary today, buds are bursting and my toddlergirl just played contentedly while i snapped many, many photos of fiber!*  i'm happy.

 

i've added new learn-to-spin kits to my shop.  i'm experimenting with my spin kit formula a bit.   i'm putting kits together with 2 ounces of soft and oh-so-spinnable falkands wool, a top whirl spindle, a muslim project bag, and detailed instructions.  less fiber than before, but at a lower price and with a higher quality wool that i still think works really well for spinners of all experience levels.  

and!  just a reminder- i'm offering a 15% discount when you enter the code "SPRING" good through midnight tomorrow!

 

*i couldn't resist snapping a few photos of her too.  man, i love that girl so much.

we eastered

and it was good.

the easter bunny was nice enough to bring the girls some friends.  she (or he?  who knows?  it's a constant mystery of evolving proportions in our house!) used petite purl's anything animals pattern.  i love the group photo of the whole gang of them.  the pattern was fun, cute and quick (or so i am guessing the easter bunny would report.)

i am feeling so inspired by the tend collective. i can't wait to get out into the dirt.  it's been a cold, wet spring here in maine and i can't wait for some sun and seeds and sprouts.

 

new handspun + a new coupon code

i am really proud of these four:

 

and i've added a coupon code good for 15% off anything and everything in the shop, good through the end of the month. just type "SPRING" at checkout! happy weekend!

today i labeled

 

and counted. and weighed. and sorted. and all that other organize-y stuff that i just have to be in the right mood to do.  i think that i am more or less all ready for the big thaw tomorrow. yay! (i just really need to get my fair knitting organized, and that means making sure i have something reasonably-mindless-but-still-fun to bring along.)

 

 

today i also entertained these three buddies.  or, more accurately, they entertained themselves, and i got to watch, which was very entertaining for me too.  greta was cracking up so hard that she had tears streaming down her face.  it was pretty awesome.

today i took stock

in preparation for saturday's craft fair!  i'm geting ready for the BIG THAW- come by and visit us at the mayo street art center in portland (maine) this saturday, 4/16, from 10-4!

 

 

the fair's organizers did a nice little interview with me here. thanks shanna!

fun with color and texture

i added a few new batts to my shop today. yay!

these two are my favorite.  happy colors.  full of bounce and squish and all that good stuff. they kind of make these batts in my blog header look a little dingy.  oops!

oh, february

then:

and now:

 

 

then:

and now:

 

sigh.

 

things i am going to do to survive enjoy this, my  least favorite of all months:

-take my vitamin d drops

-read lots of louise erdrich

-immerse myself in commission spinning

-delve into some fun baby knitting for some new little friends who are on the way. (i am in love with this sweater, and i think that every tiny person i know needs one of these!)

-stream the uk version of skins on netflix (i'm on season 2 and shamelessly obsessed!) and the bbc adaptation of zadie smith's white teeth on hulu

-dream about this year's garden to be (i'm loving pinterest for this type of scheming/planning/dreaming/admiring!)

-and, in all honesty, there will be a few beers on this month's menu, and probably my fair share of butter and sugar too.  that's just how february goes. 

2nd FO of 2011

the easy peasy cowl, by jennifer casa, knit in my handspun.  i used one of my own bulky singles, and i love how it turned out.  a fun, satisfying (and free!) pattern. here's a rav link with my project details.

 

                                       

 

 

(my first FO of 2011? the kitty slippers pictured in my last post. except now they aren't kitty slippers, they are beds for calico critters. even better.)