Mini Knits

I've been on a mini knits kick here recently. Great for using up leftover sock yarn, great for Christmas ornaments and just plain fun to make.

Free mini knits patterns I found online:

Mini Mittens - I haven't made these yet but I plan to soon.

Mini Sweater - This is the pattern I used for the sweater in the picture above.

Mini Socks - Different from the pattern I used for the sock above but I plan to knit this one too.

Have fun and as always, Happy Knitting!

Cyber Monday Sale

Enter "CyberMonday2009" in message to seller box during Etsy checkout and I will refund 20% of your purchase including shipping. Sale runs until Midnight on Cyber Monday in whatever time zone you are in. Happy shopping! :o)

New in the Shop: Satellite Sets

New product: Satellite Sets are 4 skein sets of matching hand dyed yarn. I use 3 skeins of worsted weight superwash merino and 1 skein of sock yarn and dye them together using my fingerpainting method. You can use these sets to make a unique set of coordinating knits. A pair of socks with matching hat and scarf or hat and gloves would make a great gift for someone special. So far I have two of these sets up in the shop but will have more up soon. I have a blue set that just needs to be reskeined and listed and I will be dyeing a few more of these sets in the next day or so.

Fingerpainted Browns Satellite Set (takes you to Etsy shop)

The sock yarn in this set is superwash merino nylon. This is a very sturdy sock yarn and I chose it for this brown set because I think it's good yarn to use when knitting socks for men.

Fingerpainted Purples Satellite Set

The sock yarn in this set is my new 2-ply superwash merino with a high twist. It takes the dye a little different than the worsted weight so the sock yarn in this set is ever so slightly darker than the worsted.

I'm really pleased with how these sets came out. I hope you like them and I would appreciate feedback on yardage, price, colors, etc.

Go Atlantis!

Atlantis and crew are set to launch at 2:28 pm EST today. Here's hoping the weather holds up.

Godspeed Atlantis!

Holiday Shopping & Crafting - Round 2

And the gift guide continues ...

Sheep Incognito Calendar - $19.95 + shipping. This artist, Conni Togel, is very talented. Sheep art, what's not to love? I love this calendar but would be happy to have any of her sheep art hanging around.

How about some knitting patterns? There are several I've had my eye on but these two are leading the pack for me right now.

Sylvar by Jordana Paige

Wicked by Zephyr Style

Gift Tags from Knit It Up on Etsy $10 + shipping. I love these tags so much. She has tags for knitting, crochet and general crafting. I plan to buy some of these to use on my handmade gifts this holiday season. They come in their own little tin and some of them have really sassy little phrases on them. This is one of my favorites:

The bottom reads "Just tell me if you don't love it... I'll keep it for myself!" .... isn't that great? Love it!

And just for the fun of it, I thought I'd share my Elf Yourself video of my family. Need a laugh? Check it out: See it here.

Rocket Spun

I spun up one of my Astrobatt sets last night into a thick 'n thin art yarn. Fun stuff! Here is the fiber:

And the yarn:

Holiday Shopping & Crafting

I've been thinking a lot about the upcoming holidays. The state of the economy coupled with the fact that our sole source of income is self-employment income has me thinking a bit more than usual about how and where I want to spend my limited gift budget this year. It is going to be a homemade holiday for sure. I always make a lot of our gifts because I love to make things and give them away. This year our budget is smaller than ever so I plan to make most, if not all, of the gifts we give. Sure I could go spend a little here and there and cover everyone on the list but I don't want to spend money that way. I prefer to give everyone something special, even if it is small. I've been working on my handmade gift spreadsheet (this is how i maintain sanity) and thought I would share some of the small gifts I plan to make this year. Here is a snippet:

• Knit Coffee Cozy - easy, quick knit, lots of coffee drinkers in my family
• Needle Felted Christmas Ornaments - using small cookie cutters in holiday shapes
• Knit Cotton Dish Scrubbies - quick knit, everyone washes dishes right?
• Hats - sort of small, can be fun and quirky
• Funky Fashion Scarves - aka the skinny scarf knit with funky, chunky handspun yarn, super quick knit and fun to boot!

So where do I plan to spend my money on supplies and the few gifts I don't make? Two places:

1) Any locally owned business in the small rural town we live in because they are hurting just like we are and I want to support my town. I've seen so many businesses have to shut down over the past several months and I want to help out in any way I can.

2) Any Etsy shop (Artfire, HyenaCart, etc are also options) because I know a lot of those sellers are stay-at-home-moms trying to make some extra money for their family. Last year Rocket Yarn sales funded our entire Christmas. Without it Santa might have had to skip our house.

For those of you with money shopping for a knitter or spinner I've compiled a list goodies that I would love to see under my own Christmas tree.

• Sit & Spin DVD by Jacey Boggs aka Insubordinknit $43 (includes shipping to the US)

• Goods for Knitters from WineMakersSister on Etsy $13.95 + $4.95 shipping. She has tons of great stuff in her shop but this mug is my favorite because boy oh boy is it ever applicable right now:

• Spinner's Control Card from Mielke's Fiber Arts $12.50 + shipping. I have one of these and I absolutely love it! Very useful little tool.

• Toe-Up! Patterns & Worksheets to Whip Your Whip Your Sock Knitting into Shape by Chrissy Gardiner. I would love to get my hands on this book. Knitting + worksheets makes me all happy. $24.95 + shipping but this is on Amazon so if you spend $25 you get free shipping.

Well that's it for now. Look for more posts coming soon as I find more goodies to share. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment on this post. Thanks & happy knitting!

Update: New Products & Sock Yarn Sale

Shop Update: My remaining stock has returned from SAFF. I will get the Etsy shop back up by then end of the day today. To celebrate the reopening of my shop and to make room for new products coming soon I am going to have a sock yarn sale. All sock yarn in the shop will be on sale for $16. Sale will run for three days. Several new Astrobatts will be listed soon as well.

New Yarn Update: Coming soon to Rocket Yarn is superwash worsted weight merino yarn. Skeins will be 215 yards each. This is a new item for me so I'm up for suggestions. I usually dye each skein one-of-a-kind but I'm considering dyeing the worsted weight in batches of two or three so you can buy a matching set. For those of you who buy hand dyed worsted weight yarn, what do you look for as far as yardage? Do you mostly buy for one skein projects or do you look for lots with two, three or more matching skeins? Input greatly appreciated! Also coming soon are two new sock yarns. A tightly twisted two-ply superwash merino and a merino-cashmere-nylon blend.

New Fibers Coming Soon: Rambouillet combed top and a lovely superwash merino/silk blend pencil roving. Yummy! I'm also making up some Astrobatts with a Rambouillet, silk and BFL.