Thursday, April 23, 2009

We apologize if you receive this post twice in Bloglines... when we published it it posted itself back down the list by several posts (apparently blogger posts in order of when you wrote it not when you hit publish?). Those who aren't following with a reader might not have found it so we're re-posting it.


by Kathleen and Caroline













Caroline and I are quite honored to have been given this blog award and I'd like to thank all the little people... except that there aren't any little people. You guys are all BIG people to us!

Seriously, it's always nice to know people enjoy our ramblings. This blog was started so that two sisters could share a common interest from miles apart (623 to be exact). And though you couldn't tell it from our infrequent postings we love the give and take, the sharing and the reactions.

There was a bit of discussion with this last run of "blog awards". If you've been in the blogosphere (love that word... seriously, fun saying it... try it... blooooogospherrrrre. Cool huh?) for any length of time you'll see several awards making the rounds. Sometimes it can make folks feel like they're not part of the cool kids and that's unfortunate. 'Cause award or no there are a LOT of cool kids out there!
So this is what we want to do...
1) Express our thanks for Beverly's noting her enjoyment of our blog.
2) And suggest some really cool blogs you might want to give a looksee to.
My bloglines reader has almost 200 feeds. Needless to say I couldn't name them all. And some of them have plenty of readers and others nominating them. I thought about what these awards do offer to all... and they offer, in the listing of other "nominees" the chance to find new sites. So my suggestions are smaller, or less well read, for the most part... but seriously interesting sites you should explore sometime. Then there are a few which aren't so small, but they're still fabulous eye candy. And then there are a couple that are just plain fun.

A Little Yarn on the Side ... Toni made a vow to knit only from her stash and to knit only WIPS for a year each. But here's the crazy thing... she did it! And the finished items are lovely! Check out her projects... and her cat Theo's water physical therapy. Talk about crazy!

Yarn in my Pocket ... knitting and sewing. Check out November's full 1770's Marie Antoinette outfit. From underpinnings to gown... gorgeous!

Knitting on an Island ... Janine is a wonderful designer and gorgeous knitter living on the Isle of Guernsey in the middle of the English Channel... I love how big the world is (and yet how small the blogospherespheresphere)!

SusinOK ... Susan recently got into dyeing and she's going for it big time. She just opened an etsy store and her colors of sock yarn and roving are gorgeous. She spins lovely yarn and she knits wonderful sweaters!

Stitches of Violet ... wonderful sweater and sock knitting and amazing photos of birds!

Beadknitter Gallery ... Wonderful knitting, but check out her beaded flowers (for her daughter's wedding bouquet) and her beaded beads in (February and March)!

Field Trips in Fiber ... Every week Vicki does a round up post of eye candy and finished objects and tutorials across the blogosphere (blogoooospheeeeeere...heehee). Mostly a quilter her quilts are amazing! And she tie-dyes better than I've ever seen someone do so.

Stitchworks ... a textile artist... her work is intimate in scale and layered with depths of color, texture and meaning.

Tini's World of Fiber Arts ... a knitter and garment maker living in Germany... she had a photo essay of her sock which traveled through Europe recently. It was mostly in German but you could see the joyous grin on the sock's face... er foot...

Yummy Goods ... A fabric designer, artist, store owner living in Cape Cod. She collects and thrifts lots and lots of coolness! shapes! colors! the textures! A feast for the eyes! Her studio is featured in the most recent ClothPaperScissors issue of Studios...

The Textile Blog ... An erudite and witty blog with information about designers, trends, styles (and more) in cloth, interiors, rugs, tiles (and more) through the past hundred years (and more). I learn something every time I read an entry... and I enjoy it as well... every time.

Bent Objects ... okay, not a knitter or sewer or textile person in any way (much) but what a funny sense of humour! Love the... well, the bent objects he creates!

So many more I would recommend... Knitting on Impulse (indie dyer who lives in the mountains of BC), Sarah in NYC (maker of Jewish ritual objects and sewing daredevil), Knitting Jung at Heart (lace knitter who posted a photo of her front view every single day of the year last year), and so many, many more... you'll end up with 237+ feeds too!

Caroline here - My blog reading has been much closer to home, lately. If you look at the left sidebar you'll see the ManchVegas Knitters. That's my group. These were my first blogs (other than the Yarn Harlot) and it was with these people that I first experienced that odd feeling of knowing complete strangers. Happily, they are strangers no longer. I have enjoyed both their knitting content and the bits of their lives they have shared in their blogs. Check them out, they are not all regular posters but they are fun.
A second shout out to Toni. She has a second blog, A Little Off The Beaten Path, in which she is documenting a year of no processed foods. If that doesn't take creativity then I don't know what does.

I suppose I should alert these blogs that I've mentioned them here in this post. I don't think of this as a nomination really (though if you wish to claim the award... go for it!)... just a recommendation. Surf a few of the photos. Read an entry or two. Explore and discover... there's so much to enjoy and learn! Here in our great Bllllllllogosphhhherrrrrrrrrrrrrre.
(Hah. Yes. I'm 12 years old.)

(If you would like to claim the "award" here's the "rules"... post the award photo, link back to this blog as the giver, and name a bunch of others that you recommend. Let them and us know you've done so!)

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Retail therapy?

by Kathleen

I'ts been a bit stressful here at Chez Overcommitted. I opened three shows in five weeks (one the largest show we've done to date in my 15 years here, and two within one week of each other), went without water in the house for a week (none in the kitchen for even longer) and sat with/on DH after minor foot surgery.



And how do the stressed deal with stress...?



Shopping of course!


First a few goodies from a couple of my favorite on-line indie dyers...




Impulse of Delight sock yarns in
Lupin Tweed, Bluefaced Leicester wool
Blackberry, Superwash Merino
Blackberry, Silk and wool blend (terrible photo, it's much more of a slate and grey purple)
Blackberry, Bluefaced Leicester

Why yes, I liked the blackberry colorway... a lot. Why do you ask...?



And a fingerless mitt kit, in purple and green!









Then from Slackford Studios two corriedale rovings. They're different colorways but very similar; one has some gold in it... I'm planning on spinning singles of each and then plying them together.

Then I picked up some nice manly blue green Trekking to make DH a pair of socks. I guess I was worried about his poor hurt foot.







And then, I'm walking into a going out of business sale in a local craft store and... they have yarn, wool yarn, on sale 75% off. It's a conspiracy I tell you!
This is a local sheep farm, Cestari or Chester farms I'm not quite sure...





Some superfine merino in Indigo


Some white and natural 2Ply, lots of lanolin

And some cotton, wool and silk blend in two colorways (I plan to overdye the two to blend the light tones into one color)










Well! Let's just not mention the little yardage tally numbers to the side there... the ones that haven't changed since forever? yeah...

So, not to change the subject, but... anybody hear from any swedish ivy plants lately.... hmmm ?