Women and Makers...

As women we are born to make. We make beds, make our children and grandchildren behave, make dinner, make dirty laundry magically disappear, make-over ourselves, our husbands, our houses and sometimes our friends. We are makers of endless making. :-)

It seems a common thread among the makers who have entered the shop this year. We all ask ourselves what we are making that will be here when we are done making. Those things that someone will touch and remember or place up high on a shelf and admire. What thing, what part of us, as first-class makers will we be remembered by?

I've been touched by the conversations around me recently. By the visitors in the shop whose comments have equalled my thoughts. While we rush around to make dinner, make beds, and make everyone happy, what are we accomplishing that is a visible sign that all this making isn't for nothing?

I felt the need to write about it. It struck me as the heart of why I knit. Not just for the calm, zen quality that is knitting time. But, for those things that will outlast me and that hopefully will be a memory one day for those I love. 

It's already 2014! What will you be making this year?

2013 Our Year In Review

My dream came true when Bella Luna Knits opened in Fort White on January 14th with an amazing Open House event that immediately captivated a large group of fiber lovers and friends.  

By February the shop included locally handmade consigned jewelry, crocheted doilies, and an assortment of other handmade fiber items for sale.  Four area Alpaca breeders and an Angora breeder added their spinning fibers and yarns to the array of local products for sale in the shop.

  

In the early Spring we were invited to attend an annual Alpaca shearing at Sanderon Farms in Fort White.  It was amazing to watch!  Followed by the April 6th Spin into Spring (including a personal visit from Blaze, an alpaca owned by Linda Brink of High Springs) a group of spinners began to spin monthly at the shop; I got a spinning wheel and learned to spin; then eventually bought a drum carder and learned a little about blending fiber; learned to wash and prepare raw fleece from two local breeds (Florida Cracker and Jacob); and met a new world of fiber fondling fiends!  In late Spring Ewephoric Fibers of Gainesville added their hand-dyed spinning fibers and sock yarns to the mix of consigned inventory.

We spent the year playing with yarns from Malabrigo, Blue Heron, Interlacements, Universal, Feza, Cascade, Trendsetter, and Imperial Yarns just to name a few.  We discovered cashmere blended with cotton, 100% mink yarn and Malabrigo's new merino roving.  We knitted a yarn bomb,

learned to knit socks, loom hats, crochet granny squares, knit felted purses and lace scarves; and, we even knit stranded colorwork Christmas stockings just in time for Christmas.  Some of us who thought we'd never knit because we crocheted! learned to knit in a big way.  We laughed and learned from each other's successes and failures.  We bonded in ways only fiber fiends can bond.   

During Summer things slowed down a bit but, a few very special fiber friends continued to knit and crochet and spin and enjoy each other's company every other Friday night.

Fall brought with it the addition of Haldecraft's hand-dyed yarn, handmade soaps and handcrafted ceramics to the offerings in the shop.  In December we offered free sock classes to anyone purchasing Haldecraft or Ewephoric Fibers sock yarns.  New sock knitters have been born!  We rang in the Winter with Handmade for the Holidays on November 30th where 20 local crafters sold their handmade items.

It's been an amazing year, full of surprises and new found friends.  We couldn't have done it without you all!  Thank you so much for making our first year amazing.  Watch for news coming soon about surprising changes in our business plan for 2014! HINT: We'll be a bit more mobile!

Cheers to 2013 and hopes that 2014 will be another amazing year!

Shop Local, Support US Jobs

Just like we support US sheep farmers, by buying US sourced and made yarns like Imperial Yarn and Brown Sheep Co., we also support locally produced spinning fibers by Ewephoric Fibers, Alpaca Ambassadors, and C&J Angoras and local indie dyers like Haldecraft who also happen to make beautiful, unique ceramic items.  You can find these, and more, on sale in the shop.

Jewelry, some made exclusively for Bella Luna Knits, is another item we carry; from hand crocheted and knitted necklaces - many featuring Swarovski crystals - to intricately beaded bracelets and earrings.

Local Knitters and Crocheters share their beautifully crafted handiwork at prices you don't expect for such exquisite work.  

Twenty artisans and crafters will join us at the shop on November 30th for the First Annual Handmade for the Holidays. Starting at 9 am you will enjoy shopping for your Christmas gifts among the many handcrafted items on sale.

Don't miss this opportunity to support your local community of makers while purchasing unique gifts for the Holiday Season.

A drawing for a handmade, queen-size quilt will be held at 5 pm.  

Tickets available the 30th until 4 pm.

Thank you for supporting local business and buying locally made products this holiday season and beyond!

Crafty Vendors Wanted

KAL- update!

I just passed my own halfway point and wanted to share a quick tip about joining the next skein. Keep in mind that every 4th stitch (the purls) you will be dropping so you need to be careful WHERE you join your new yarn strand.

New yarn strand joined- view from the back (wrong) side.

I try to join mine on the right side (majority knit stitches) on the second-to-last stitch. This means my pattern is not interrupted during the ribbing nor when adding stitches and the new strand in anchored in place on the return row (wrong side). It also lets me use the edge to hide the strands when I weave them in! I am willing to lose a little bit of yarn to make sure I hit this spot but I make sure to keep that in mind for balancing the amount of yarn needed on the decrease side.

How is everyone else doing on their knit along?

Playing with Kool Aid

Saturday afternoon, following a fun Yarn Swap with Vicki, Laurie, Jewel, and Donna, Vicki and I decided to make the best of some old (and slightly smelly) 100% virgin wool from a long ago stash (really, does anyone remember Lee Wards?) and here's what we did We started with this

then we "hanked it up"

After that I mixed up some Orange Flavored Kool Aid with a little warm water until dissolved. We added a quarter of water to the color. Meanwhile, the hanked-up ugly yarn rested in tepid water until it was nice and soaked. We then lowered it carefully into the glass bowl of orange Kool Aid zapped it in the microwave for 2 minutes, squished it down with the spoon; nuked it for 2 more minutes and as it cooled down the last of the color absorbed into the wool and the water became clear!

We then gave it a quick rinse in tepid water (the lovely aroma of orange Kool Aid permeated the air) and hung it up to dry:

Resulting in a totally different yarn (shown here with Tropical Fruit Punch Skein - processed the same day, with the same technique)Somehow I failed to get photos of the red, which is actually a lovely, faded sort of tomatoish red. So, now you see how cool it is to have a yarn swap, exchange for something inspiring, and when you get stuck with your own yarn turn it into something new and magnificent! What's not to love? Thank Goodness it's Tuesday and I have a yarn shop. :-)

Week One Update- Knit Along with Bella Luna Knits!

With a little more that one week down in this 8 week Knit-Along (KAL) I have made some decent progress! I am roughly halfway through my first skein of yarn and I love the way the yarn colors are turning out.



Front Side of the Clapo-Ktus

Wrong Side of the Clapo-Ktus
(you can really see the rib design on this side)

 Kim has been working on her project too:

 

 

 

Feel free to share your progress- either by email, in the comments, or on the Facebook page!