Woolarina

500!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:42:00 +0000

Hah, it's taken me a month and a half and four days stuck at home from a snowstorm to get back to blogging! To be fair, I did go back to work last month, so that kept me a little bit busy.

Snowpocalypse (or whatever you're calling it): we survived. Oliver isn't a fan of walking out in the snow, but who can blame him?

Instead of playing in the snow, he's been perfecting his feat of getting stuck on his belly and needing rescue. And wow, 5+ snow days in a row gives us a lot of practice time! And, heh, leaves us passed out on the floor more often than we probably should be!

I have actually been making progress on the crafting front.. finished a cardigan (minus the buttons) for the baby, and sewed some baby yoga pants and a little cap from here.

The cardigan is using Shepherd's Wool, which is a pretty dreamy merino milled in Michigan. (Guess where we're going to be stopping on vacation this summer?!) I picked this yarn up at Fibre Space, which has a great assortment of it.

So what will this next snowstorm bring? Who knows, but bring it on, we've got milk and eggs and toilet paper, and (of this morning) a shovel - how novel. And of course plenty of yarn and fabric. I think we'll survive!

Happy!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:58:00 +0000

We are generally pretty dang happy around here these days. (the last few days before I go back to work full time!) It's all still a blur, but what can you do?

I think at the tail end of vestvember I was inspired to make a vest for O. And for once, I finished a project within a week, including sewing on buttons! It helped that it was bulkyish handspun. Love knitting that stuff!

Some of us still have all of our hair, but mommy is starting to shed hers like crazy. So awful. There is hair everywhere! Ahhh, the side effects of pregnancy/momhood.

Anyhow, you can see our holiday vested boy is ready for the celebrating! Hope everyone has a great christmas if you celebrate it, and a happy 2010!

Next up: 500th post!

End of Year Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:28:00 +0000

We long ago switched to different yarn bases, but some of this stuff has stuck around and not sold. It's time for a sale!! There are some pretty good prices here - lots of louet yarns and some other fun stuff!

Heavyweight

shiny

superwash merino dk

skinny merino

skinny wool nylon

speedy sock

December? and shows update!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Good golly, it's december already?! Jeez, I am stuck in a time warp or something. My maternity leave officially ended December 2 - the "sick, lets me use donated leave and advanced sick leave" part of it, at least. In reality, I have a month more of blissful baby days. Or something. I really do have to start putting hours in at work (from home)! Getting a paycheck is nice! We've got daycare lined up starting one month from now, so I better get back to it!

Woolarina has been busy with mindless knitting - lots and lots of mitts!

These will be for sale (with the usual yarn!) at the Handmade Mart in Silver Spring tomorrow! Do come and stop by!

I'll also be at the fourth (!) annual Holiday Booty Market, for some last minute christmas shopping! This is always a fun show (with free snacks and whatnot!) so put it on your calendars!

a month and a day!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:03:00 +0000

Yep - we had a baby! Oliver is over a month old already... was in labor for labor day. (Haha!) We delivered at a birth center and it was actually pretty great, considering. At least, after they got me to take a nap with the help of Ambien! The whirlpool helped greatly, and labor thankfully went pretty fast. Mr. Boy had his little arm up by his head the whole time, so caused a little trouble, but nothing huge. There was another issue, which you just don't want to know about (so not fun!), but I survived, even without pain meds. Whew!

The real fun started the next day, when we noticed him pretty yellow... the pediatrician sent us to the hospital for tests, and we got admitted to the NICU! The boy had insanely high levels of bilirubin in his system - way higher than what the blue lights can take care of. He had to have a transfusion to get it out. Then there were other issues, and then he just wouldn't eat. We ended up staying in the hospital for 15 days! He has started eating,of course, and we have a follow-up visit (we're hoping one of the last!) today... we're hoping for the best!

Anyhow, wow.. I'm a mom all of a sudden! So strange. Our days consist of sleeping and eating, and dreaming of cleaning and whatnot. On successful days we get out for walks even. But mostly we snuggle lots!

And - Gingy was the closest in predicting who this baby would be... sorry our name wasn't closer! ;-) Anyhow, she wins since she was closest. A boy, 8 lb 6.5 oz!

CRAFTY BASTARDS, take 6!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Woolarina will be at Crafty Bastards again this year with our yarns and a bunch of knit goods. We're thrilled to be a part of it again - we've been there from the start and are so glad to continue!

Woolarina Kate will be manning the booth, as we've got a new little guy to look after. Details soon!

Baby Contest...

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:52:00 +0000

This photo just about sums things up...

I'm full term as of last Wednesday. I waver between wanting to get the show on the road (soon!) and wanting to wait as long as possible (we might not have daycare until January or March of 2010!). We don't yet have both names finalized, so hopefully baby will wait for us to figure out that, at least!

We can't wait to see what sort of baby we'll get - boy or girl? We know what the magic 8 ball told us, but that's about it!

What do you think? Will it be a boy, or a girl? When will it come? (due date is 9/9) How much will it weigh? Important questions!!

Whoever comes closest will get a bunch of yarn, or fiber! (your pick!)

super sale

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:45:00 +0000

I've been cleaning out closets and finding yarn all over the darn place, so it's definitely time for a sale! For now, it's some of our older yarns, but we hope to add more to the sale soon! Yarn on super sale!

We've also got some of our spinning kits up - kits include an Ashford spindle, instructions, and about 4 oz. of roving.

The magical 500th post will also be coming up soon, so keep an eye out for some prizes!

gardening + cute = busy times!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:38:00 +0000

I don't know what the heck I am doing in the garden these days. I meant to learn how to prune tomato plants, or some other unknown trick to make the darn tomatoes that are supposed to be big bigger. And to keep weeds under control, and other such gardening feats. Fail fail fail! Until this week, it's been a fortnightly effort, due to rain and sickness and vacation plans. Still - what the heck? Veggies are bountiful - my garden seems to have taken into account my birthday and that there's a hungry baby in me, and I'm starting to be swamped with veggies!

I harvested 2 sorts of garlic last week - both elephant and regular white or german (or so - half of which had been somehow stolen(!) despite the electric fence), a bunch of smaller-than-they-oughta-be red onions (unfortunately - see laziness on my part in not planting soon enough!), lots of beets, some green peppers I couldn't wait for to turn red, a carrot that accidentally came up with the beets, the usual herbs - basil/parsley/rosemary, the first few days (of many I hope) of delicious sungold tomatoes, some random other not-as-rad tomatoes, some green beans, and the first of the blackberries!

I'm itching to make pesto, some sort of beet dish, some caramelized onions. Mmmm. If only the busyness would let us have time to cook!

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We're also starting to be swamped with adorable baby gear! less than 2 months to go still! It's starting to get a little tougher on me to wait, as all the summer babies are popping out... we can't wait to meet this kid already!

Anyhow, super cute gift #1 is from my cousin who stopped over from Japan on the way home. My favorite is the ducky washcloth! SO cute! And clearly this kid will have to have better taste in food (sushi) than us, with these adorable chopsticks! :)

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And my gift to myself, since our last camera decided to only read the card 1/3 of the time... mr. orangey!

Unfortunately, we thought that our old camera and this one used the same size card, so I have to wait until I can get to a store to pick up one. But hooray! A portable camera once again! (We love our d-slr, but just can't justify taking it some places, like the windy windy beach we were at last week...) And who knows - maybe we'll start posting annoying baby videos once this one's doing something interesting! ;)

sewing fail

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:32:00 +0000

Last Sunday, for the first time in ages, I had a whole free day! I couldn't go to the poor neglected garden (again) due to rain, I was too lazy to go get a haircut, and didn't urgently need groceries. I thought I'd peruse my fabric stash and start on a new project. Maybe a Mei Tei for this baby?

Then I remembered that I have a baby quilt to finish, for some unknown baby. This quilt I actually started when I was in grad school I think... many years ago! I don't remember which baby it was going to be for, but they are long out of diapers at this point! I suppose if this one is a boy, it'll get first dibs? Though my quilter aunt seems to be scoping out colors from us, so I bet hers would be nicer! Anyhow... have been in a finishing sort of mood lately, so I thought I'd start finishing it!

I managed to get all the flannel squares quilted, and assembled the binding. Then, as I was sewing the binding on, my machine started.. freezing up! Then it would go again. Yikes. So I oiled it and greased it, and still the same. Ugh. I was 1/3 done with the front of the binding! *sob!*

Now my machine looks like this:

And the quilt looks like this (except where it doesn't!):

Hopefully my machine will start working again soon, or I can get to my moms to finish! Sigh... may be time for the repair shop. I'm sure it needs a tune-up anyhow, considering the age of the poor machine!

------

In other news, am recovering from pregnancy cold of death! I coughed so hard my rib got displaced. One of the joys of pregnancy? (I can't decide if this is making up for the lack of heartburn and morning sickness so far...) Today I'm heading to a chiropractor in the hopes that they will fix it somehow? I have no idea, and have never been so not a clue what to expect! Will be interesting.

Happy!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Three years ago today we got hitched! We'll have been together 10 years at the end of June. I hope the next decade is even better than this one has been! Happy Anniversary, M!

Worldwide Knit in Public Day!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Woolarina will be celebrating WWKIP Day this year in Takoma Park, along with some yarn and fiber, maybe a wheel! You should come and join us! There'll be a few other rad vendors as well!

I'll have a bunch of my superwash merino cashmere along, so come fondle it a bit! :)

Handmade! Mart! TOMORROW!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Don't forget to come out and enjoy the sunshine (finally!) tomorrow! There'll be tons of great craft vendors, as well as some yummy italian ice! :)

New Woolarina yarns that I'll bring!

And a whole lot more, actually! A LOT of my Lux superwash merino cashmere sportweight (my favorite)!

So come out and say HI! Downtown Silver Spring, May 31, 10 AM - 5 PM!

Handmade Mart!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Woolarina will be vending Sunday May 31st at Silver Spring's newest craft fair: Handmade Mart! Check out all the great vendors here: http://handmademart.blogspot.com/

Since I'm going to be on a little maternity hiatus at some point, I'm trying to clear out the closets! This means that I'll have a huge box of yarns discounted next weekend! Some are giant skeins, some are a few bucks off each skein. All are great deals! Come out and take some! :)

I'll be back later this weekend to show some of the new stuff I've been dyeing -- lots of superwash merino cashmere (yum!) and some superwash merino silk too!

After Party!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:30:00 +0000

I'm a little bummed that this year, lots of knitpals are gone... so many people always leaving DC! Sheep and Wool will be different! But!! There's much a-happening, as usual. Have you seen this MDSW After Party? It is bound to be loads of crazy fun! :)

You should go sign up now! It's just a measly $6 for the first 50 people, for snacks, door prizes, and a cash bar! The ravelry party last year was totally fun, and this one's sure to be rad!

Hoo-ray!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:05:00 +0000

Thanks for the well-wishes! We are pretty dang excited. Just 5 more months! (That seems like such a long time!!!)

We got our first glimpse of this baby... we looked away while she measured the legs, so no idea on sex yet! We're going to be surprised!

In the meantime, I am just always incredibly sleepy. Always! People say the fatigue gets better, but not yet for me! Yawn...

in case you're under a log or something!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:51:00 +0000

Like half the people we know, it seems, we're expecting a baby! I'm at 17 weeks, and so far, so good. Have been mostly tired and hungry for the past 4 months. (Hence the bags under my eyes and the extra padding around my waist! ;)

Thanks!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:51:00 +0000

The Homespun Yarn Party was a resounding success! Thank you to all who came out - vendors, volunteers, teachers, and of course shoppers! There was a crazy long line waiting to get in before the doors opened (and snag some sweet goody bags!) and we were busy most of the day! Thank you thank you thank you to all who participated, especially Jess, who was the co-#1 lady in all this! She tied up all the loose ends and made sure things were printed and assembled in time, in addition to being totally organized the whole time! She rocks!

In celebration, I'm extending the coupon I handed out at the party - 10% off all orders through 4/15 with the coupon "yarnparty"! Website has been updated!

I hope to have updates this weekend - new yarns and rovings! Do check back!

4 more days!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Do you have your calendars marked?!

Have you heard that it's going to be so awesome that we had to extend it an hour to contain the greatness?!

Have you seen the super cool vendors we have managed to find!?

You should see the pile of roving I have on my couch, and the skeins of yarn... gonna take a while to label all that goodness!

Hope you can make it! Sunday March 15th, Noon to FIVE PM! Details here!

Home Again Home Again!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Being out of town for 6 days means no knitting! Well, some plane knitting, but otherwise, it was meetings from 8-6 pm every day! and multiple cities this trip. Ugh. But it's over for quite a while, so yay!

Have you all been keeping up with the Homespun Yarn Party Blog?! There are so many rad vendors this year, and more each day! Check it out.

Also, check out our flickr for a quick preview of some goods that will be there!

Yarn Party Contest!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:38:00 +0000

So there are just three short weeks until the yarn party! March 15 in the Great Room at Savage Mill, from Noon to 4 pm! Mark your calendars!

We are having a blog contest over there - some handspun yarn, some handpaints, and more!

Check it out, and spread the word on your blog and everywhere you can!

Also, are you on facebook? Join our event there and invite all your yarny friends!

I heart trader joes!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:24:00 +0000

My husband thought these were asparagus when he put them into the grocery bag.

Luckily, we didn't have to wait long to see how much prettier they are!

Crafts & Kisses -- this Sunday!!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Woolarina will be at Crafts & Kisses again this year! There's going to be 30+ awesome local vendors as well, so come and check us out!

Date: Sunday, February 8, 2009
Time: 12:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Josephine Butler Parks Center
Address: 2437 Fifteenth St NW, Washington, DC

Inauguration Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:12:00 +0000

Through Inauguration Day, all fingering and sport weight yarn is $3 off per skein! Get yous now and celebrate the new president!

tis the season

noreply@blogger.com (paula) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:28:00 +0000

for cute baby stuff! Have you ever noticed how babies tend to come in waves? Several people I know are expecting new babies this year, so there's been a bunch of baby knits around here! Including some that turned out a little too tiny, at least for a spring baby. oops!

Elijah I knit sort of last-minute, as the Baby Surprise Sweater I was working on was looking too small!

The finished elephant is awesome, but I think it's something I'd have put down for a while if I was not in a hurry! It's pretty fiddly, and you stuff it as you go along. This is great in that you are done when you bind off the last part, but annoying that you have to move this elephant blob around always! I do think I finished it way faster than I would have had there been sewing-together to do after knitting, so overall it was good.

I whipped up this onesie the evening before the baby shower!

Luckily, there seemed to be a lot of cute baby jungley stuff, including other elephants, so these seemed to fit in! Now I just need to figure out how to keep gauge for a 6-12 month baby sweater!!