Stocking on January 1st

I've decided to "re-open" my Hyena Cart store so I'm stocking on Tuesday, January 1st. For all of January, you can pay for shipping using $HC. I'll be stocking the first and third Tuesdays of every month from now on.

To learn more about how $HC works, visit this forum: http://hyenacart.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=535

A visit to a yarn store

I very rarely get to visit a yarn store by myself. I almost always have 1 (and usually 2) children with me. My most recent visits to yarn stores have been disasters now that my youngest is walking, talking, and yanking things off shelves. We visited a store last month only to have my daughter knock over their coffee accessories shelf (cups, stirrers, etc) and pull down just about every button they had on display. It was my fault. I should have put her in a stroller but I was lazy. I'm now very nervous about returning there.

So I ventured to a different yarn shop today, The Yarn Sellar, nervously hoping I'd have a more successful trip. And by more successful I mean that my daughter wouldn't tear the store apart or start screaming. So I brought a stroller this time and a box of animals crackers. And it worked! I had to move fast but I got my shopping done. And the two times I've visited this store, the women who work there have been friendly, helpful and, most importantly, not put off by my children. In fact, the women have made my children and me feel welcome. And today Keane was on the CD player, so the trip was that much more enjoyable.

One more thing: the store had a beautiful hat and pair of booties on display. When I asked about the pattern, the woman gave me these links: "suede" booties and "suede" baby hat. Now I just need someone I know to have another baby!

Francesca's new longies!

fran's new longies front, originally uploaded by pumpkinpiebaby.

My poor daughter has recently outgrown all of her longies and has been wearing capris and soakers even though we're in the middle of winter here. I finally found some time to make her a new pair right before Christmas. I used peruvian wool dyed by Maggie of Burgh Baby Gear. Maggie and I traded in November: I made her daughter a pair of longies in exchange for 4 skeins of dyed wool. Maggie was wonderful to work with and her colorways are beautiful. Now Francesca has a comfy new pair of longies to keep her dry and warm!

scrappies

For the past month, I've been busy working on lots of things. In addition to a couple of pairs of longies, I've been working on some wool toys, a pair of leg warmers, a poncho and two hats. There is something about making toys that is addictive. I think it might be that you can finish one in a relatively short amount of time and then move on to a different pattern. My favorite two non-food toys so far are these little guys!





The owl's green body is made of Malabrigo. I love the feel of Malabrigo and love working with it. I've also just made a pear out of that same Malabrigo and will post pictures of that soon.

I made the hat below for the little girl who also owns the monster longies.