It's been so long...over two whole months...gotta settle in, coffee by my side, some lovely peace and quite blanketing my home while the kids are out for the morning... Ok, here I go... First and foremost, I do apologize for the Weekly Spotlight posts falling by the wayside, but life got a little busier at the beginning of March and something had to give. As wool season was winding down, I'm afraid the blog became the prime candidate. That's mainly because I do not write quickly. I think I've already backspaced more than is actually typed out so far on... Continue reading

Wait, what? It's Friday?? Where did that come from?! My boys have been on Spring Break this week, and I'm sorry to say I've let Time slip by again. Dadgum. And now it's late in the day and there's groceries to put away and dinner to fix and kids to snuggle up on the couch to read with on this rainy, rainy day... So, I officially extend the sale of the Handknit Linen Tie until next Thursday, April 10th - still plenty of time for Easter! Related articles Weekly Spotlight - Today, it is Spring! Weekly Spotlight - Mango Moon... Continue reading

If you've been following me on Facebook for a while, you may remember a bit of bother I had in mid-February with the Herringbone Stitch. It was a new stitch pattern for me, and I learned a very valuable lesson in the process: NEVER learn a new stitch pattern (specifically the Herringbone stitch pattern) with felt-able wool doubled up and in the round! I think I finally started to get the hang of the thing in the end, but if I had it to do over I would go back and practice on a smoother yarn first. You see, the... Continue reading

With Easter less than a month away, I suppose it's time to go digging in the closets to check the status of the "Sunday best". Are ankles and wrists peeking out of pants and shirts? Are toes getting squished? Is it time to step up to a grown-up tie versus a kids' tie? (Seriously, when did that shirt suddenly get so small..?) The colors of the Handknit Linen Tie are perfect for Easter, while the simple design makes it versatile enough for any day. Here's a portion of the description: The luxury of linen! This tie is made of hand... Continue reading

You know, when I wrote last week's Weekly Spotlight and was editing the appropriate listings in the Etsy shop, it never even occurred to me what day this week's Spotlight was going to be posted. Guys!!! Guess what!?! IT'S SPRING!!!!! Yes, it is official. Spring has arrived! And I'm sure Mother Nature will be checking her calendar any day now and making things right. Because surely she must agree that, no matter how much we may love our wool and whatnot, Old Man Winter certainly wore out his welcome quite some time ago. Oh, you've noticed my eagerness for the... Continue reading

As my frequent readers know, I've been featuring one item from my Etsy shop each week for a few months now and placing that item on sale. That item remains on sale for one week, until the next item is featured. Last week's item, Mango Moon Batik yarn, was featured Thursday, March 6th, and was scheduled to stay on sale through sometime tomorrow when I would post again. But there's one problem: I have a crazy busy day tomorrow and believe there's a very good chance that I won't have time to do the switch and write a post! Well,... Continue reading

The sun is shining! The snow is melting! It's almost 40 degrees! Yes, I do know that winter's not quite through with us and there's still plenty of time for yet another storm or two, but today...today, I can feel just how close we are to Spring! And, because I am a lover of words, here are a few words one might associate with Spring: sarong batik hot pink watermelon pink leaf green lime green SPRING GREEN Sound good? Then how 'bout this: This Mango Moon yarn, regularly priced at $24, is already listed in the Yellowbird Etsy shop for... Continue reading

I was organizing and sorting through my stash recently and looky looky what I found! Remember the Yarn Tasting I used to have at my River City booth? (For those of you new to Yellowbird, I used to have a booth at a local craft mall and, sitting on the table in my booth, there was a bowl with yarn and needles for people to play around and see if they liked the way a given yarn knit up or the way the needles felt to use.) Well, that Yarn Tasting is still intact, as promised, and sitting in my... Continue reading

I spent quite a bit of time considering what to feature for this week's Spotlight. For one thing, there's still plenty of snow on the ground as well as plenty of snow yet to come, calling for something either warm and snugly or else significantly winter-themed. But Spring, though...spring is what I think we all want, am I right? What we're beyond ready for? We want to experience warm and bright! We want to think of things that makes us happy to be outside, staying active and soaking up all that natural vitamin D! Bring on the long walks, the... Continue reading

Due to a change in scheduled days, the Friday's Featured Item posts will now be titled Weekly Spotlight. Last week's item, the Secret Heart Tie, will remain on sale through tomorrow morning as promised! Yes, I know. We're all a little ready to be done with the snow, aren't we? Done with winter and ready for spring? Done hearing about it everywhere we go? Done talking about it even? But you know we'll all still be talking about the winter of polar vortexes and Atlanta snow days for years to come. Our children will gather their children around the fire... Continue reading

I just can't help myself... Valentine's Day is just a week away, and that means there's still time to order something lovely for your love! And, wouldn't it be nice if it were on sale...say, as a Friday's Featured Item..? You gave him your heart. Now he can carry it with him. The Secret Heart Necktie will remain on sale one more week, until next Friday's Featured Item is revealed. Happy Valentine's Day! Continue reading

I was in grade school when my older brother introduced me to e.e. cummings. I connected with the poet's style from the beginning, enthralled by his ability to convey immense and complicated sentiments in such short poems by using simple and unexpected word combinations and seemingly random punctuation. His work still enthralls me to this day, and one poem in particular has been repeating itself in my head lately as I finished working on this week's Featured Item. The idea for this tie popped into my head as I sat knitting. The smart slate gray seemed to call for a... Continue reading

When I designed the Cardigan Ponytail Hat three years ago, I used a wonderfully soft and snuggly mohair yarn that I offered at River City. There were two yarns, in fact. One was fine, one was extrafine, and the high quality of both just made me so happy! Unfortunately, however, I knew I would need to find a substitute yarn eventually - in part because those yarns would become increasingly difficult for me to come by, but also in part because neither of those yarns were exactly cost-effective for someone looking to sell their finished products. So for the past... Continue reading

It's been one month since I started Friday's Featured Item and I haven't missed a single one. (Hey - three weeks to form a habit, right?) Sounds like cause for celebration to me! And to celebrate, I've decided that it's time to kick the Feature's features up a notch. Time to do something else I don't often do. Time for a SALE! From here on out, each item featured will be 10% off for the week! That means that this week's Featured Item, regularly priced at $46, is now officially priced at $41.60 and will remain so until I sit... Continue reading

Looking back, I can't believe it's been three years since I first wrote about the Month of Me. Well, here we are again, my friend. January. A month for treating yourself after working so hard to make the holidays special. For taking a little slow time, snuggled up against the chill, to make yourself something luxurious. Because you deserve a little luxury, too. And there is very little in the yarn world more luxurious than pure alpaca! The weight and drape of this Wolf Creek Alpaca yarn is absolutely lovely, and the feel is like warm running water. To hold... Continue reading

A one of a kind set. Natural beauty made prominent. Something special for you, or maybe something for that special knitter in your life. I have a set of Joan's Natural Knitting Sticks of my own, and there is such a romance in using them. You knit a little slower. You contemplate a little more. There is automatically a little more love and a little more patience added to each and every stitch. You cannot help but appreciate the beauty, the connection to the past, and the hope for the future in what you're doing. At least, that's my experience.... Continue reading

After some good quality time clicking through the archives of the blog, I find myself utterly amazed that I have not yet written about this particular version of my Cardigan Ponytail Hat. I actually made it some time ago and it was available at River City, but it took me some time to get it posted in the Etsy shop after the switch (you know...pictures). This was my fourth version of the hat, and the first time I used a different yarn than the one used to design it. I learned something very important through that change: bulkier yarn made... Continue reading

I've decided it's long past time for me to try something new. Something that gets me out of my comfort zone. Something that has, in fact, not worked all that well for me in the past but that I feel very strongly is the right thing to do for me now. And that something is a routine. Starting today, I intend to feature a different item from the Etsy shop on (most) Fridays. Why (most)? Because, while I've always loved the idea of routines in principle, and have started (or at least imagined myself starting) dozens over the years, I've... Continue reading

I love knitting. Obviously. And I love writing about what I knit, though that fact may be a bit less obvious as of late. What I don't love is taking pictures of what I knit. This could prove to be a bit of a problem when it comes to selling your work, don't you think? Or even just when writing about it? After all, I could tell you I knit the most adorable cabled ski hat for a friend, with a couple of pompoms, and lined it with micro fleece. But would you picture this? Or I could tell you... Continue reading

I've discovered the joy of knitting ties. I've knit six different ties in the past several months, and I foresee many more in my future. They're small, quick (depending on the yarn!), easily portable, completely mindless, and limitless in their creative potential. And, as many good stories do, it all started with a theme party. The guests were asked to wear pink and mustaches, so (of course) I ran out with my boys and had them pick out a pink yarn they were willing to wear and proceeded to whip up a different tie for each of us. There was... Continue reading

We all have people in our lives that affect us in unexpected ways. Sometimes the effect is obvious and immediate, providing a mental slap that changes our perspective on life, even if only for a moment. But sometimes the effect is subtle and ingrained, taking time to become part of the very base elements that define us as our selves. Last week, my family experienced the loss of someone I saw and spoke to rarely, but one who has influenced my life and my self in ways I will forever hold dear. Her name (well, technically her nickname) was Cookie.... Continue reading

I had a pretty decent stash already, thank you very much. There's a corner of my dining room that's piled with bags - bags salvaged after the purchase of sheets or comforters or curtains - now filled with skeins and balls and hanks of some lovely yarns I simply had to have. And all of that yarn will find it's purpose, given time. But with moving out of my booth at River City came the exponential growth of the in-house stash. In fact, there was no room to add to the existing stash and I was forced to expand into... Continue reading

If only I had a dollar for every time my husband started a conversation with that phrase. But I do apologize because I had promised to update you on the Open Knit decision some time during the past week. I'm sorry to say that my sons and I sank too deeply into "vacation mode" to accomplish much more than the daily necessities. Have you ever noticed that as children grow so do their clothes, requiring more loads to accomplish the same job as the year before? And did I ever mention my lack of dishwasher? Anywho... The final decision stands... Continue reading