Whoa! This is a long one!

As I type, Marcel is running around my desk, nibbling on hay and papers he finds here and there. He is quite frisky, curious too. And get this, he is potty trained! You should of heard Adrienne and I when we found his lil poos in his litter box -- cheering, ooohing and aahhhing. We now think he is ready to take his SATs.

Cleo is absolutely in love with Marcel. It is however a different kind of love then the love Adrienne and I have for him. Perhaps hers is a love of feast. She sits diligently at the base of the table upon which his cage sits. After the first four days, Cleo finally began to sleep again and to eat again. Which reminds me, I received in the mail a book titled House Rabbit Handbook. It was sent anonymously. Thank you, huge thank you to whoever sent this book! In the first five minutes of reading it, I began to understand Marcel. There is a chapter in this book titled Rapport with Multiple Animals. Literally, it reads "I'm sure I am not the only person to bring home a new animal and think within the first hour, What have I done?" Oh my! Someone else feels this way! The author is lucky that she had that worry for only the first hour. I was so happy to read this sentence, and hopeful, that things will quiet down.

Today is Wednesday, which means that I have a store update to share with you. I am happy to announce we have added an Organic! line.

Organic! Merino Worsted Yarn


Organic! Cotton Boucle Yarn
This yarn is too cool. The cotton used in this yarn is grown in Northern California. It is grown in a soft green color. I have dipped this yarn in indigo to enhance the green color. As you use this yarn, the green will grow in richness.


Organic! Merino Fiber


I also have some Organic! Cotton sliver for spinning. I forgot it at my studio but will photograph it and have it ready for sale by next week's update. Otherwise, I also added some new colors of 50% Silk-50% Merino fiber and 50/50 Baby Camel Silk fiber.

A bit of a warning, my head has been heavy with thought, my heart heavy with emotion, for those of you daring to read further, there are strong opinions expressed.
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This weekend was Pride. San Francisco was alive with activity. Every year, Adrienne and I head over to the city on Saturday night to hang out with the ladies and walk in the Dyke March. The parade always starts with Dykes on Bikes.





Pink Saturday party in the Castro.


This year, we had our friends from New York visiting, Keisha and Erin.

They were here because Keisha had a short film in Frameline. We went to the showing at the Castro theater. The shorts were great. Some a little quirky, one which was very quirky, involving a girl dressed like a sheep. I would have preferred her to be dressed as another animal, you know? All and all we had a fabulous time. It was great. Very festive. Wonderful to see the support. I honestly get a little misty eyed when I see so many people come out to support gay rights. And gay marriage being legalized in California...don't even get me started if you don't want to see the tears roll down my cheeks.

Viscous Cycles.
As you may have noticed from the above paragraph, I have been feeling quite emotional. I am sure that some of this feeling has to do with working a bit too much. I love my work so much, to the point where sometimes I think that I may lose perspective and become numb as I work longer and longer hours. I have a history of this kind of behavior. I can also become highly critical of myself as I try to alter this obsessive callings. I try to use my business as a platform to learn more about these habits and to alter them while also remembering that this type of "work ethic" runs in my blood and to have compassion for myself. We all have our good weeks and our not so good weeks, right?

Right now is such a monumental time in the United States. We are in a transitional time that I believe is only going to gain momentum over the next 12 months. I can get very caught up in the political atmosphere of the U.S. To give you a little bit of my history, when Bush became president, notice the lil p, I was so angry. I am still angry (thank god for knitting and spinning). When I learned that I had received the Fulbright to study in India. I was ecstatic. Not only because I was being given the opportunity to research textiles, but because I swore that I would not live in the U.S. while Bush was president. I knew, packing my bags, that I would try to live abroad for as long as possible. I arrived to India on Sept 9th, 2001. Only for the horrific events on September 11th to happen within 2 days of arrival. For obvious reasons, I was devastated to learn of the destruction and suffering. And then further shocked, and continually dismayed by the way the U.S. government has used this incident as a platform and tool to instill fear. I dragged out my Fulbright to two years. Recognizing the inevitable, I arrived in the U.S. as the Iraq war began.

Since my return to the U.S., I find myself wavering between outrage and numbness. Especially after Bush was elected for a second term, I felt powerless. Whether or not that is true, that is up for discussion, but that is how I have felt nonetheless.

Now, the news, pounding away about housing, gas, stock market, unemployment, and about the war in Iraq. I am so angry about where we are at as a country. And, I am so mad at the media! Living in fear, what an awful place to be. No wonder I feel sad and angry! I know this tirade is exhausting, but when it sits there in my heart, I must say something.

However, I don't want to forget that there are always 2 sides to the coin. On this coin, the other side for me includes Obama and Clinton running for president, something I am so grateful to see in my lifetime. And, gay marriage is now legal in California. While there may be some truth to the news about the economy, I would like to put it into perspective, I can not allow the media or the government to scare me into thinking that we are at our wits end. Hardly able to survive. Fear makes me bitter, angry, and at its height uncreative. It is defeating and ugly. I strongly believe that those of us living fearlessly (or trying to anyway) can influence and change those around us, and those around them. So, who out there is going to join me and get on the "fearless living" bandwagon?!

Wednesday Store Update: Linen Merino Yarn

For today's update, we have this lovely linen superwash merino yarn. I love this combination of fibers. The linen provides a structural texture and is fun to knit on for something different. The merino provides softness and flexibility. This yarn is a nice summer-y sport weight. In the heat of summer, knitting on this for a pair of socks, a market bag, or a lacey scarf will not weigh you down.

For this update, I am offering a 10% discount on all of our new Linen Merino Sport Yarn. Enter wed25update at checkout. This discount will be available until Friday, June 27th at midnight PST.

I have lots of stories to share, unfortunately, they will have to wait for another day. Bewteen Cleo and Marcel, we have a little bit of a Sylvester and Tweetie show going on! And, my father's day cards are still sitting here on my desk.

Here is one last thing, this is the headline of an article I clipped out of the San Francisco Chronicle, April 4th, 2008:
Herding sheep addictive for people, dogs

Confirmation that I am not alone in my love of sheep!
I hope all of you are well!

BSG 2008: A Very Furry Time

Ah! The Black Sheep Gathering. Sigh. I love it.


The booth looked beautiful.


I had some free time to hang out with Adrienne and spin. She was on a spinning buying frenzy. Hopefully, in the next couple of days she will blog about it. I was trying out her new Ken Ledbetter spindle. It has inlaid lapis. Beautiful.


Here's a little guy that I absolutely love and know all too well. The black blue-face leicester.


Ok, let's show you the new stash. Beware. Warning. This is intense. I am in love. There were so many things that I could not resist. I have been so good, keeping to my very tidy, neat budget. Well, you know how when you go on a diet, and you are so good and then, you go crazy and start with jalepeno poppers, move onto a cheeseburger with french fries, and then move to a deluxe banana split. Yeah, well, this trip was something like that.

After perusing about 20 spindles, there are 2 that I purchased. The one on the left is a Spindlewood made out of pink ivory and ebony. The spindle on the left is made by -- shoot, I am going to have to get back to you about this one. I packed the tag away. When I get home I will tell you. What I do know is that both spin, and spin, and spin.


Toots LeBlanc: 50% Alpaca / 50% Jacob. This is going to be knit into Wicked.


I played Black Sheep Bingo and won a prize! Oklahoma Wool Snob! I never win anything! I am so excited. This yarn is so beautiful. Wool & Mohair.



Here come the fleeces! Oh my! I told myself that I had enough fleeces (5 from last year) and that I was going to buy yarn instead this year (Toots LeBlanc) and buy fleeces again next year. However, I had to go over and just look at the fleeces before they went on sale. Going through the preview, I saw a ton of beautiful fleeces but frankly, I didn't really see anything to break my promise. But, then, I noticed that the one of the fleeces that won best in show was up for sale. The race was on, my competitive spirit kicked in. I had to have this fleece. Lierally, this fleece is lavender in color. Seriously.
Romeldale x CVM


Alright, so the Romeldale was expensive as is should be. I walked over to he register to pay and get the H out of there before I "accidentally" found something else. Well, Adrienne and I thought that they accepted cc -- and they didn't. So, she had to run to the car. Well, I thought, I will just peruse. Killer! Because then, I found this fleece!!

Wensleydale!! From the same grower as the Romeldale. This fleece shines and shimmers. Literally, it is like a Tahitian Black Pearl. As you turn the fleece, it flips from dark grey to light grey to irridescent white. I flipped through it again and again. I said to myself no, you are not going to take this. And, then a woman walked over, I saw her glance at the Wensleydale fleece -- and I grabbed it tighter. Ok, it's coming home I guess.

I am so happy. Sara, Marlowe, and Caitlyn came to the Black Sheep Gathering too.
Here we are with our new baby...you read that right...can you guess what's inside?


Please meet Marcel Oliver, our new French Angora bunny!


His beautiful creamy-red fleece.


Love!! Now, I must run away and play!

Jeanne! You've won!

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for playing along in the WWKIP contest. It was great to learn about all of your plans. Thanks for playing!

The winner of the contest is Jeanne from North Manchester, Indiana. Jeanne, get in touch, email me your contact info and I will mail the fiber to you. Congratulations!

Tomorrow, we head to Eugene, Oregon to the Black Sheep Festival. Very exciting. The AVFKW store will be up and running while we are out of town. I will be checking my email while we are gone. However, anything purchased during this time will not be shipped until Wednesday, June 25th.

Soon!

WWKIP: SFMOMA here we come!

Saturday was WWKIP day. Basically, I love anything that has to do with fiber and socializing. Which is kind of funny, under most circumstances, I would consider myself an introvert. I guess fiber really pulls me out of my shell.

On Saturday, I didn't have any solid plans for WWKIP. The real issue is -- is that there are too many things I want to do and not enough time. I knew that really I should work, and continue dyeing for the Black Sheep Gathering but how can I resist a little knitting in public? I knew of three potential places that knitters were gathering. Knit-One-One in Emeryville, Memorial Park in Albany, and Union Square in San Francisco. All great places filled with great people, but we decided to do something altogether different. At 8am yesterday morning, the time of day when I get most of my ideas, I recalled Adrienne telling me that the SFMOMA is now going to allow photography in the permanent collection's galleries. So, I thought -- hey let's go and knit with the paintings!. We called Sara and we were off...

Adrienne with a Rothko.


Sara with a Joan Mitchell.


This is an amazing piece. These are silk flowers sewn together to make a curtain. Not like we haven't been sewing things like this since let's see eternity. But now a man has done it - so it's Art. Ooooh hiss!


I am with the Femme Au Chapeau by Matisse. Here she is looking at me.


And here she is looking at my shawl that I am knitting. I don't think she approves. She told me to frog it! How rude!


We couldn't leave spinning out. Moore. Calder.


Then, we went back to the studio to sort our new Cormo fleece (Cormo + Merino). As explained a few posts back, I wrote that I fell down and bought another fleece!! At least this time I took Sara down with me, and the nice Cormo sheep grower agreed to split the fleece. So, when all was said and done, I ended up with only a quarter of a fleece. This is kind of like telling a cocaine addict that one line won't really get you addicted. It's just recreational. So, here we are, high as a kite, sorting the fleece to be washed.


Then, Adrienne and I carried the knitting and spinning party to our favorite cafe, Bittersweet. It's a chocolate cafe! One of the breakthroughs to having my new studio, is now, I only frequent Bittersweet once a week instead of 5-7 times a week. This would be absolutely fantastic news except that now I have a new cafe I frequent, Cafe Clem. It is literally on the other side of my wall at the studio. It is a french cafe. You can imagine the pastries and cakes.



For everyone who is just tuning in, right below this post, there are details about a contest I am holding right now, let us know how you spent WWKIP day, and you will be entered to win a bundle of baby camel / silk spinning fiber.

For all of you who have already played, I have loved reading all of your comments about what you have planned for WWKIP day. I absolutely love to learn of all the different places people live. It has totally yanked me out of my bad mood!

Finnsheep & WWKIP Contest

In this week's store update, first, we have Finn also known as Finnsheep or Finnish Landrace. The great thing about Finn is that it has the semi-luster and softness of merino, but a longer staple length, about 3-6 inches. This is a great wool for all spinners; from beginners to experts. Also, it is great for a large variety of projects.


I also updated a few things that have been out of stock: black bluefaced leicester overdyed with indigo, madder, and cochineal. Bluefaced Leicester is a dream to spin. Black Bluefaced Leicester is a great variation to the classic white. The overdyes of madder, indigo, and cochineal add a bit of color without overwhelming the palette. I am dreaming of spinning the black bluefaced leicester overdyed with indigo and knitting the Falling Leaves Shawl by Katy Wight.

Then, finally, the creme de la creme: 50% Baby Camel / 50% Tussah Silk. au natural.


CONTEST!
For some reason, whenever I am in a really bad mood, I want to give something free away. It's as if, maybe that would make someone else excited, and then their excitement would be contagious, and then I feel better. Does that make sense? I look at it almost like a good deed. Oh, and let me tell you, today has been that kind of day. The kind of day when all I really want to do is sit and knit, put the whole world on mute. But I have so much work to do. In one week, I leave for Oregon. I am hoping to sneak away and knit a bit for WWKIP on June 14th. Where will you be knitting?

Reply to this post, let us know how you plan to celebrate WWKIP day, on Tuesday night at 10pm PST, I will draw one name, and mail the winner a 2oz bundle of 50/50 baby camel - tussah silk au natural.

Good Luck! Soon!

I am warmed.

The studio warming was amazing.




We had so many wonderful visitors.


Jennifer with her handspun alpaca.


Kai being simply adorable.


Karrie with her handspun California Red. See that sachet behind Karrie's head, she makes those! I love how they smell.


Lacefreak & WonderMike -- oooohing over her handspun madder dyed black bfl. She spun a laceweight 2 ply. She came with her sister May and brought cherries and cake! You can see more of Michael's photos here. His photos are gorgeous!


Betsy spinning silk. She is also sporting a lovely bracelet of handspun vermillion bfl.


Marlowe...


and her gorgeous Merino yarn in the colorway Cosmos. Marlowe also brought delicious, homemade cupcakes. She is quite a baker amongst her many other talents.

I wish I would have taken more photographs. Honestly, I get kind of shy with the camera. Thank you to everyone who came. I am so glad that I had all of you to celebrate this occasion. I had such a wonderful time chatting with everyone, showing everyone around the studio, and seeing everyone's projects.

On Saturday night, after the opening, we went to our friends' wedding. The bride Alicia is Chinese-American. She wore a gorgeous red silk, custom made wedding dress. It was amazing and they served a 10 course dinner (including sharkfin soup and jellyfish). Halfway through the dinner, 2 dancing dragons entered the room, with drummers. They did all sorts of acrobatics. Then, one of the dragon's came over to Adrienne and literally ate her head -- for a good minute and half -- her head was inside of an upholstered dragon's mouth. It was hilarious. And, I didn't have my camera! I can't believe it!