Friday Finds: All the happenings

Happy Friday, dear friends! This week's Friday Finds is actually a compilation of awesome things happening in June.

I've been frantically dyeing yarn all week in preparation for the Squam Art Workshops Spring Retreat. Next Tuesday I will be headed to Squam Lake in New Hampshire for a few days of rest, relaxation, and amazing classes. Then on Saturday, June 8th, is Squam Art Workshops' anniversary party, the Ravelry Revelry, which is open to the public. The day will end with the Squam Art Fair (also open to the public), at which I will be selling lots of yarn, alongside many other wonderfully talented makers.

The following week is Arts Fest Beverly, on Saturday June 15th. Cabot Street Studios will have its doors open from noon to 3 pm so folks can come by, see the raw space, and check out any studios that might still be available.

To finish off the month, Thursday, June 20th is Etsy Craft Party day! I am helping organize this year's Salem party, which will again be hosted at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. Attendance is free, but please sign up on our event page so we can be sure to get enough snacks and supplies.

Phew! It's going to be a super busy and super fun month. Hope to see you at one of these events!

Transitioning

EDITED: I am no longer managing the studios originally mentioned in this post, or at all affiliated with the organization. Due to serious ongoing issues with the landlord, several of us left. I wish the remaining artists the best of luck, but I am stripping any information regarding name, location, and links from my blog because I do not wish to send this landlord any traffic. There has been much heartache associated with this situation, and I am happy to answer any questions privately.

Even though the news has sort of been out for a few days now, I've been avoiding writing this post. It's not an easy post to write, because I am both excited about this new chapter, but sad to be leaving something wonderful behind.

The day I moved into Western Avenue Studios

I moved out of my studio at Western Avenue Studios this weekend. This is not a decision I made lightly. I spent months thinking about it. WAS is a wonderful place, filled with amazing people, and I'm really sad to leave this community. Someone else has already taken over my studio, which is a strange feeling. But I had to accept the reality that I live 45 minutes away, and it had become very hard for me to be in the studio as often as I need to. If I got to the studio and realized I forgot something at home, it was an ordeal. So as much as I love WAS, and the people at WAS, I chose to find a studio closer to home.

This brings me to the happy news. A friend sent me news that a new studio community was opening in [location removed], and I immediately called them up. Long story short, I am now the new Studio Coordinator at [information removed]. It's a brand new project, and we are in the process of leasing out studios and cleaning up the place (taking out old abandoned furniture, ripping up carpeting).

This is going to be my studio. The old rug is coming up, and so is the vinyl flooring - there's wood flooring underneath! The shelves I am undecided about. The best part? I get my own sink!

So here I am, happy, sad, excited, a little heartbroken, and anxious for the building to be ready for move-in. We are planning an opening reception for early September, and I hope to see you there!

A Favorite Place

First, an announcement: I was featured on Yarn On The House this week! There is an interview and a giveaway, so click on over to watch my awkward videos and enter for a chance to win one of two prizes!

This year continues to move at warp speeds, so I always appreciate being able to sneak in some purely indulgent moments. I had visitors from out of town, so I took them to one of my favorite places: the lovely town of Rockport.

Have you been to Rockport? What are some of your favorite places?

A different Friday Finds

For today's Friday Finds, I am sharing these old photos of my grandmother that my mom found. Today would have been my grandmother's birthday.

She passed away over 20 years ago, and I still miss her dearly. Sylvia was an amazingly gentle and creative soul. To me, she was one of the most wonderful people in the world.

Happy birthday, grandma.

Showing You The Stars

A few weeks ago, I met C.C. in a sock knitting forum. C.C. is half of the Geeky Girls Knit podcast crew, and a fellow knitting and Doctor Who enthusiast. Then I heard about a Doctor Who inspired sock pattern she had just released, and magic happened!

We've partnered up to bring you the Doctor Who Starry Socks Kit! The kit includes one skein of my Starry Starry Night yarn, and a PDF copy of her sock pattern, Rescue Me, Chin Boy, and Show me the Stars. The yarn is named for the episode "Vincent and the Doctor" in which the 11th Doctor meets Vincent Van Gogh. C.C.'s sock pattern is named for the episode "Asylum of the Daleks" with the 11th Doctor, where Clara calls upon the Doctor to save her. The pattern has a series of little stars along the front of the sock and the leg.

The kit will go live online on Monday, but I have a special deal to share with you - through tomorrow, Friday, at midnight EST, you can contact me to get the kit at a pre-release special price of $25 plus shipping. As of next week, the kit will be priced at $27. Sold separately, the yarn is $26 and the pattern is $3.50.

I hope you love this kit as much as we do! Leave a comment below or email me to snag a pre-release kit!

Sweater Situation

Well, I guess it's time to talk about the sweater situation. I've had this Breezy Sweater by Hannah Fetig on my needles for a few weeks and was making good time - until I had yardage problems again. This is my second sweater with Araucania Huasco sock yarn (the first was my Folded Sweater), and I've run out of yarn with both when I should have had plenty. My gauge was right both times, and the patterns are by different designers, so I don't think it's a pattern issue.

Araucania doesn't have dye lots anyway, so I ordered an extra skein. It doesn't match. In the photo above, the sleeve cuffs are done in the extra skein, and it's very different from the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater. Much more neon, and it doesn't have the soft peachy tones. So I emailed Webs and after a lot of back and forth, we figure out that Araucania has changed this colorway and I am pretty much never getting a match (grrrrrr). Conclusion: I picked a contrast color and am waiting for the yarn to arrive. I am majorly displeased. I have one more sweater's worth of Araucania in my stash, and then I don't think I will be purchasing from them anymore.

While I am waiting, I finally started that Blank Canvas Sweater I mentioned back in March. It's the perfect project to test out my new DK weight yarn, and I'm really enjoying these colors together.

What are you working on? Have you worked with Araucania, and have you had any yardage issues?

Stealing a moment

It's a funny thing, the weather - made fun of as the topic of small talk, but something that can have an amazing impact on our well-being. I've been overwhelmingly busy trying to get back to "normal" and cross off items on the ever-growing to do list. But I have noticed that Winter is finally giving up and Spring is slowly awakening. I managed to steel some moments outside and enjoy this lovely town we live in.

There's someone in our family who loves the sunlight maybe even more than me. Our cats are indoor cats, but we take them out when the weather is nice. Munin got his first outing of the year, and he couldn't be happier.

I have lots to share on the fiber front, but that can wait a few days. For now, we can all enjoy a few stolen moments of sunshine.