Sea silk

Something I thought was pretty cool: yarn spun from a sea creature's uh, secretions? Parts? Turns out it's from a clam's saliva and is known from ancient times.  Click the link for a BBC article about something rare and precious that can make yarn.

Fall is coming!  Here is a free pattern from KnitPicks for little pumpkins, both knitted and crocheted versions.  The Lion Brand website also has lots of patterns for Halloween/Fall decorations you can make.

Yarnworks business: once we get all of our hats and things out of the library display cases at the end of September, we will be able to donate them (except, of course, the things you want to keep!).  I like Mercer Street Friends as a recipient - they are the beneficiary of my Warm and Fuzzy silent auction for which I make most of the things I post here.  They have a day care center and a teen program that will take hats and warm clothing, so I just need to figure out when and how to do that.  But I have a bunch of tags that I can print and attach to the items, so I thought it would be nice to have Yarnworks tags, which can also be used to indicate washing instructions or size.  I could use some help.  The tags are Avery 80511, a scalloped circle.  If you go to Avery Online and put in that number, you can then design tags.  They have a lot of pre-made designs, none of which are yarn-specific, but many are pretty.  If you go there and take a look, tell me your favorites.  I made this template, but I'm not sure what else I should put on it.  Ideas?

Today Ann (the farmer) and I went to the NJ Sheep and Fiber Festival to look at lambs for sale, spinners, and yarn.  I was good and only bought one skein of alpaca to complement one I already have.  Lots of beautiful stuff, but most of it too costly to justify making something for the fundraiser - if I spend $40 on yarn making something and the bids don't reach $40, it feels like a failure.  I wanted some angora but didn't like the way it was spun, she didn't find any lambs she liked, and we finally decided to use our original spinner to spin the rest of her wool.  She took the 11 hats I gave her last week to a market, and sold 3 of them!  The ones with sheep and the ones with earflaps were popular, so that's what we'll focus on.  I have 7 more hats drying after their wash, and only enough yarn for one or two more, so I'll finish them up, then work on other projects while waiting for more yarn.

I have a crocheted bunny in progress, a knitted cat (I hate the finishing details so I'm dragging my feet), a scarf barely started that will go to Florida with me, and I keep finding bags of half-done stuff, so I need to sort that out.  And stop myself from starting something new until I finish something!