Fearless Fibers Yarn

A Woman in Knee Pads … And Yarn Stuff Too!

In a comment on my last post, Shafira “tagged” me to post seven random facts about myself. I wanted to mention it here so that she wouldn’t think I was ignoring the tag. I was actually tagged for this long ago and already complied, so I won’t bore you with seven more random facts. Knowing 14 random facts about me is more than anyone should have to endure! My post today, however, will be a bit of this and a bit of that, which may well amount to seven random facts if viewed in that context.

Life goes on as usual here. My time is split between dyeing, all things business-related, and my time on my new house. We closed on the house about a week and half ago, and we’re already in full swing on getting things done that must be done prior to moving in. The house had only electricity and no gas, so we’ve had the house plumbed for gas and had the gas lines brought up to the house. We’ve had tons of contractors out to the house and have now selected one for plumbing and have that work scheduled for a couple of weeks from now. That’s a huge one! We’re having the entire house re-piped. We’re still considering roofers. (Yes, that’s right. We need a new roof too.)

Smaller jobs have been started as well. We’ve demolished the two bathrooms in preparation for remodeling both of them, including expanding one. We’ve ripped out drywall to prepare for the plumping re-piping.

I say “we” in all of this, but it’s really my husband and not me. My jobs are the simple ones that just help save him some time. This week in the few hours that I made it over to the house, I tore out filthy contact paper in the kitchen and cleaned everything (we’ll be living with the existing, horrific kitchen for a while), I ripped out all of the old and battered molding in the downstairs of the house, removed lightswitch and electric plates, and laid down painter’s paper and blue taped to prep the living room, two downstairs bedrooms and hallway for painting. I donned kneepads for this job, since I was down on my hands and knees for a long time. I must say that I felt quite empowered in my dirty sweats, kneepads, and dust mask!

If you’re asking yourself whether my husband and I are insane to take on such a project, the answer is probably yes. We did want a bit of a fixer house, but this one needs more major work than we would have liked. It just had too many things that worked perfectly for us to pass it up though. And on top of that, there was a sign that it was meant to be! (OK. I don’t believe in signs, but this one was too good not to mention.)

When we were trying to make our final decision as to whether we would put in an offer on the house, we went back for a closer look. In the kitchen, for no reason whatsoever, I randomly opened a drawer. (I say “for no reason” because the kitchen is so old and trashed that everything will be removed and replaced eventually, so how smoothly a drawer slides was totally irrelevant.) When I opened that drawer, imagine my surprise when I saw two big fat skeins of mint green yarn! Why someone would keep yarn in a drawer in their kitchen is beyond me. Whatever their reason, it tickled me to no end. It was as though the house was crying out, “You belong here! Buy me, please!”

Although the house project is keeping me extra busy, that doesn’t mean I’m not running full-speed on dyeing! The business will never take a backseat. A few things on that front …

I know many of you were disappointed that you did not get one of the 50 available slots of the Seven Deadly Sins Sock Club. Never fear, there will be another club at some point in the future, but there’s also an upcoming chance for you to get a small taste of the current club in November. Although the Seven Deadly Sins colorways will not be generally available until at least some time next year, there will be one exception.

Some of you may know that Anne Hanson of KnitSpot is creating a sock pattern for the “Greed” colorway. The pattern will be part of the final club shipment in late November. By popular demand, Anne and I have decided to make the Greed yarn and pattern available as a kit in late November. Here’s a taste of one of Anne’s design-in-progress photos:



This will be her “Acorn” socks. The acorn theme is Anne’s take on a greedy little squirrel, hoarding away his acorns for the long winter.

The kits will sell for $23 plus $4.60 for Priority Shipping in the U.S. (If you are interested and are outside of the U.S., you can send me a message for a Priority Shipping quote.)

I’m taking names for a pre-order list for the kits, so if you want to have a kit reserved for you and ready in late November, just send me an e-mail and ask to be added to the pre-order list. When the kits are ready, I will create “reserved” listings in my shop with the kits for folks on the pre-order list. Don’t worry though. You don’t have to be on the pre-order list to get a kit. There will be kits generally available as well, but the quantities will be small and will be replenished as they sell, so getting on the pre-order list is just a way to ensure you get a kit as soon as they become available and that you don’t have to scramble and try to snap one up before others do.

In addition to the kits, the sock club yarns, and my usual dyeing to replenish stock, there are plenty of new things in the works as well. Most of you have already seen the new Mohair/Wool and Alpaca/Wool colorways that I listed a couple of weeks ago. I’ve also taken two of those new colorways and put them on laceweight cashmere. I listed the first – Promise – today:



The second will be Verdure and will be listed in a few days.

I am also slowly but surely adding more Sportweight Superwash Merino to my shop, using some of my most popular superwash sock yarn colorways on the heavier sportweight yarn. Sublime was recently added and there are still a few skeins left.



Smoke was added this morning:



Butterscotch will be added very soon as well -- perhaps by tomorrow.

To jump over to a completely different topic, I also have a new acquisition to show you. I purchased this darling “cube” sock bag from Cathy of Schrodinger Originals on Etsy.

I really like the cube shape and I think it will be a bit more accommodating to my needs than the more shapeless, ovalish one that I previously used and that you most commonly see. (“My needs” include digging around in the bottom of the bag to try to find that missing stitch marker or size 0 needle.) I also really like that it’s made of a very sturdy fabric that not only holds its shape perfectly but should also wear well over time.

Cathy has a nice variety of patterned fabrics to choose from, so pop on over to her shop and have a looksy.

Alrighty then. I think I have officially rambled on in every possible direction long enough. Time for me to get back to work!