Tuesday, 15 February 2022

Hello ,

I hope that you're comfortable no matter what your current weather situation. Here in the NYC metro area, we went from record breaking highs on Saturday (61F/16C) to snow and a cold plunge on Sunday. Yesterday's high was 22F/-5C!

This time of year, late winter, is a challenge for me. I miss seeing green and being warm without wearing all my woolen items at once. I've dabbled with a few design ideas and swatches, but my focus is elsewhere.

Instead, I've been working on blankets.

Several of these are for my own use and made from my extensive collection of scrap and orphan fingering weight yarns.

The others? I'm conflicted about them. They don't exactly fit with my current world view and philosophy toward materials. You can read some more in my recently published Materials Statement.

With trepidation, I've decided to carry through with my original (12+ year) plan and make blankets out of the materials I have and offer them for purchase. Please keep an eye on the blanket category for available offerings.

Here you can find PDF patterns of my knit and crochet designs, a curated collection of tools (the very same ones I use every day), some of my handspun, and a growing collection of handmade gifts for heart and home.

Please help me move inventory out of my studio to create space for making new things. If you spend $150 or more you can unlock free shipping!

I read and swatch voraciously.

This year I shifted my blog post publishing to post at least once a month with content taking precedence over quantity. Here are a few recent posts in case you missed them:

Dot and I enjoy our afternoon snuggle time. She is a handmade blanket lap cat. She'll stand on the couch and yell at me until I sit and prepare a blanket for her. Yesterday, because it was very cold in my studio, she also let me cover her with the blanket I was knitting while she napped.

They are both fingering weight scrap blankets and designed for my, er Dot's personal use.

The crochet one, Hexies for Always, is of granny-square motif hexagons and I'm joining with a grey yarn.

The knit blanket, Chaotic Chai Blanket, is worked with the yarn held doubled.

Thank you for reading. I hope you found this newsletter useful. If you think someone else would find it helpful, please consider forwarding it. If this is your first time reading the newsletter, welcome. You can read previous issues and subscribe here. 

Finally, if you need to venture outside, please do so safely.

Please get vaccinated/boosted, wear your mask (cover your nose), remain mindful about social distancing, and wash your hands.

/penny