Sock Club Signups Now Open!

Just a quick post to let you know that signups for the Fearless Fibers Winter Harvest Sock Club are now open.  You can find full details in the shop listing here.  More about the club's inspiration is included in my post below from yesterday.

A Year Gone By

I can't believe a year has gone by since I stopped posting here. I blame Ravelry. And life.

For a long time one purpose this blog served was to share photos of finished objects made with Fearless Fibers yarn. Many of you shared your photos with me and were kind enough to let me post them here. It not only provided inspiration for others but over time also became a great reference to see how a particular color might look once knit. Now, Ravelry provides this resource but in a much broader way and of course, searchable as well. Asking people to share project photos and then posting them here became duplicative and unnecessary, even boring. The "groups" function on Ravelry also provides a place to post news and information, so to an extent even that function is covered elsewhere. Although not very active, there is a Fearless Fibers group on Ravelry. And so that's why I say (jokingly, of course) that I blame Ravelry in part for the year long death of this blog.

The greater reason that this blog has gone dark for so long is really just life. My life, that is. Although it's no secret that this is a business blog and is meant to promote Fearless Fibers, it's also a personal blog where I share my own knitting, along with occasional stories about things that happen in my life or commentary about whatever may be on my mind. For the first several years of this blog, there were plenty of stories and commentary that related to knitting and yarn for me to share. Not only was dyeing yarn my business but knitting was my hobby and passion.

Now, dyeing yarn remains my business and knitting remains a hobby but now it is one among a wider selection. I find myself with little time to knit and other than an occasional quick gift knit now and then, I must admit that I've barely knit in the past year. I still love everything related to knitting and yarn, still find myself browsing patterns and making mental plans for new projects, but the reality is that I haven't followed through with much of anything. A scarf for a friend, a hat for my husband, perhaps a pair of fingerless gloves for myself now and then. I need to get on the sticks already and make my mother her annual hat and scarf.

Now I know some knitting enthusiasts may wonder what on earth could draw someone away from the greatest pastime ever. Valid question. I myself at various times in my knitting career have reached a fever pitch of enthusiasm during which it seemed completely impossible to go a day without knitting, much less stretches of a month or more at a time! But things change. I still love to knit, but at the moment I also love to train and garden.

If any of the old FF blog readers from way back when are reading this, you may remember that over two years ago my husband dragged me kicking and screaming to the gym. A woman in my mid 40's, I had somehow gone my entire life without ever going to a gym. The whole thing made me uncomfortable and anxious and I truly hated it. My husband, however, pushed me because - as he so kindly put it - if we didn't get fit soon, it was going to be an accelerating downhill slide for us both.

It took some time, but I learned to accept the dreaded gym as part of my life. It was a long and winding path to find what kind of exercise and food intake worked best for me, but I've got things pretty well figured out now. I could write for hours and hours about my experience and opinions on the subject, but this is a knitting and yarn blog after all.

The other new passion that has taken much of my time is vegetable gardening. Again, for those who read this blog over the years, you may recall that I had a brown thumb. Other than one half-hearted and utterly unsuccessful attempt to grow a few things, I most definitely was not a gardener. That all changed this past year. Once my husband and I decided to give gardening a more serious go, we never looked back. In our usual go-big-or-go-home fashion, we jumped in headfirst. We built a greenhouse. We created five raised beds, each roughly 4X15 feet. We installed hoops over the beds so that they can be covered with plastic and serve as mini hoophouses in the fall and winter. We had our successes and our failures this spring and summer, but most importantly we fell entirely in love with vegetable gardening. I signed up for the Master Gardener class through Oregon State University's extension office and am taking that now. When the class is over I hope to find time to volunteer with the Extension Service and officially earn my "Master Gardener" title.

And so finally we come to what this post is all about. Since it's about time to launch another sock club, I've decided to use my newfound gardening interest as a source of inspiration and so I am planning a Winter Harvest Sock Club. The club will be inspired by vegetables that harvest in the winter. I've already got the colors lined up and I have to say that I find them to be nothing short of delicious!

Signups for the club will start very soon, perhaps even as early as tomorrow. I'll be sure to post all of the details here when the time comes.

Sock Club Signups are Open!

I'm very happy to announce that the signups for the Fearless Fibers Simple Value Sock Club Winter 2010/11 are now open! You'll find all of the details in the shop listing description.

Signups will remain open through the end of November (unless all slots are filled before then). The first shipment will be December 15th.

We're off and running!

Happy Halloween

No yarn news to share today, but thought I'd pop in and wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween weekend.

My husband and I are not "into" Halloween. We have no children but we do have a dog who goes a bit wild when strangers come to the door, so it's not the most pleasant of holidays for us. I also struggle with the whole idea of giving children mountains of candy.

My alternate-to-candy idea this year was to get some of the individually-wrapped prunes I've seen advertised on TV. Both my husband and my sister, however, squawked quite loudly about this. I was proclaimed a world-class "funsucker" by my sister and my husband was adamant in his belief that our house would be shrouded in toilet paper if we gave out prunes. (Although I must say the excess toilet paper might be rather appropriate for the whole prune-theme.)

I finally gave in to the complaints and opted out of giving prunes to the Trick or Treaters. I did, however, greatly enjoy spending the last few days trying to convince my sister that we and all of our friends should give out prunes. I told her repeatedly that I was trying to "start a movement." (I am easily amused. Prune puns are not beneath me.)

Today I found my alternative to prunes: Spiderman temporary tattoos! They are so cute. They come in little individual boxes with five per. I was quite pleased with my solution until I realized too late that Halloween falls on Sunday this week and that's my bowling night. I won't be home for the prime Halloween hours, which means I very likely bought far too many tattoos.

The neighbors should not be surprised if next week they see a middle-aged woman in the supermarket or at the gym sporting some Spiderman faux-ink.

Happy Halloween!

What's Shaking

Not too much shaking here at Fearless Fibers HQ, but there are a few things simmering. I'm focusing on dyeing to restock a bit, as well as to get the new Merino/Cashmere/Nylon DK Yarn ready to go. The early bird pre-orders are done now, so I'm dyeing up the initial stock for the shop. There won't be a ton of it for starters, so keep your eyes peeled for it. I'll post here, in the FF group on Ravelry, and will notify the FF mailing list when it's ready to go.

Once that's all squared away, it will perhaps be time for another sock club. It's been quite a while since the last one and I've received a few inquiries about when the next will be, so I think it's probably about time. It will take me a little while to prepare for that, but it should be coming before too terribly long. Perhaps in time for your holiday wish list?

That's what's shaking here. More to come soon.

MCN DK Yarn Early Bird Special!

I am so excited to announce the introduction of a new yarn: Merino/Cashmere/Nylon ("MCN") in a DK weight!

I have a fairly limited amount of this yarn to start and so rather than try to guess which colors might be most desired, I've instead decided to begin by offering an Early Bird Special. In a nutshell, this is a limited opportunity to purchase this new yarn at a 10% discount, in your choice of twenty of the most popular color options from the Fearless Fibers line. The yarn will be dyed to order and shipped within three weeks.

The early bird special offer will stand through October 14th or until the quantity available in this special shop listing is exhausted (whichever comes first).

This is the same lovely blend of fibers as the MCN Sock Yarn introduced earlier this year, but this time it's in a heavier DK weight. This is a lovely yarn for a wide variety of projects. Knit with size US5 to 6 needles, the yarn creates a lovely fabric for sweaters, scarves and other items that benefit from a beautiful drape. It can also be knit on smaller needles to yield a denser fabric appropriate for fitted items, such as heavyweight socks.

If you'd like to take advantage of this special offer, be sure to read the full details in the listing description.

Great day to all!

Something's Coming

Could be!
Who knows?
There's something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.
It may come cannonballing down through the sky,
Gleam in its eye,
Bright as a rose!

Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Under a tree.
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true,
Coming to me!

Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!

Alright. Enough singing for this morning! For those who don't recognize it, the above is from West Side Story. I just can't get it out of my head. Why, you ask? Because, of course ...

Something good is coming! A new yarn!

Just a bit longer and I'll have my ducks in a row to tell you more.

Something's coming, something good . . .