Name Changes Coming Soon….

Hey guys, before Feburary 2009 is over I will have restructured both my blog and my business to reflect my changed priorities and direction. Start getting used to the name: Virtuous Threads & Virtuous Threads Fiber Arts Studio, home of Heartknits Handpainted.

I now proudly present to you . . .

The Grand Opening of my new online fiber & yarn shop!  Fiber updates to the shop will occur twice a month as close as possible to the 1st and the 15th.  Handspun updates will be monthly occuring around the 15th.  Please bookmark us and keep checking back as I anticipate adding handpainted laceweight yarns to the lineup before Christmas with blended luxury batts coming after that!  Now there’s some laundry I’ve been neglecting that’s calling my name . . . . . . . What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

The trials of Summer 2008

Wow, it’s been a hard summer so far and we still have a little over 4 weeks left to go.  I know I haven’t kept up with my blog since we moved but let me tell you . . . .

We did find a wonderful rental house; a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with 2 car garage.  No separate dye studio space granted, but a wonderfully large kitchen and dinning room that will work for now.   Our pretty new home gave us a nasty little present after we moved in, head lice; so we’ve also dealt with that lately!  Then the kids switched schools and my youngest started all-day kindergarten.

(side-note:  I had to go shoe shopping for my 9 year old daughter and she now wears a WOMEN’S SIZE 7!!!!  end side-note)

One of my largest hurdles has been my health.  My migraine headaches suddenly increased from 2-3 a month to almost constant pain along with several other symptoms.  A doctor’s appointment, an ambulance ride to the ER, and lots of tests later we still don’t have a concrete diagnoses but we’ve ruled out alot of nasty stuff.  We’re treating the migraines while I’m set to meet with a neurologist on the 3rd.  Turns out the meds I’m on for the migraines are also a mild anti-depressant which opens up another can of worms totally.  Not only are they working wonders for my pain, I haven’t felt this good in years.  Which of course made me curious enough to research clinical depression symptoms.  Turns out I’ve actually been ill, not just under the weather for the last flippin’ 15 years.

All of this and . . . . my online fiber shop opens tomorrow!!!

Dyers are a friendly bunch!

I just realized the other night that I’ve been on Ravelry for over a year. That just blows me away! I have met and become friends with soooooo many wonderful people, male, female, knitter, crocheter, spinner, dyer, yarn collector, and those who manage to do it all with aplomb.

Recently though I have sought advice from one Raveler in particular, Stacey. Stacey is an indie dyer who is extremely humble concerning the popularity of one of her yarns. She is a wonderful, giving person who is showing herself to be full of great advice and generous with her time and talents all to my benefit. I met up with Stacey this last week for the first time, oh, yeah I forgot to mention she is a local gal! Anyways we brought our kidlets and met up in person. There were funny mommy stories swapped, frozen lemonade consumed, and lots of fiber fondling goin’ on. I had my oldest snap a pic before Stacey and her daughter had to run. Sorry it’s so fuzzy.

Thanks Stacey for the superwash and everything!

Mary Jane Booties

Just wanted to share one of my rare commissioned projects, a tiny pair of mary jane booties. Aren’t they darling? A dear friend is anticipating the birth of her first granddaughter and she lovingly sewed up an adorable bonnet, blankie and bib. All she lacked was a pair of booties to match. A few days later, a complete layette.

Pattern:  Free Baby Mary Jane Booties

Yarn:  Bernat Cottontots

Needles:  size 3 double points used as straights

Notions:  yarn needle, sewing needle, white thread, white ribbon, 2 white/cream pearl buttons, 2 tiny pink accent buttons.

Thanks guys for all the feedback on the new logo!  I’ll be sharing more and more about my new biz over the next couple of weeks.  So stay tuned! 

A Peek at Things to Come…..

My shiny new logo, drawn & inked by a talented artist I found on Ravelry. Here’s a link to some of her other work.

Ya likey?

Mr. & Mrs.

Hello blogland! I’m coming out from the other side of planning my brother’s wedding last month finally feeling human again. I have a wonderful new sister-in-law and gained a nephew and 3 nieces! Wanna see some pictures? Thought so.  Next up: My first lace F0, my first handspun laceweight and a major announcement!

Bachelorette Party

The bridal shower

The Rehearsal Dinner

Getting pretty

The Big Day!

My siblings and I are very close.  The are my best friends and I’m soooo lucky to have them!

Spinning progress

Bronze Peacock BFL laceweight singles & beads., originally uploaded by heartknits.

Just a quick post to try out a camera my sister gave me. Here’s my current spinning project. If I have enough yardage I’ll be knitting up the Aspen Grove shawl by Miriam Felton for my grandmother as the first christmas gift of 2008.

Okay, okay, I’ll post.

I  got tagged by Kat with the “Power of 7″ list.    She knows how to get me to actually blog!

The instructions are:
Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. (done, above.)
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. (I won’t be doing this part. I don’t think I’ll get sued or anything.)

1.  I have finally reached the point of spinning a true 2ply laceweight and I’m a little shocked  and thrilled that I have!

2.  I’m very antisocial about 60% of the time.  I like being alone and quiet.

3.  I’m becoming addicted to lace knitting with 2 shawls on the needles and 2 more waiting in the wings to be started before the month is over.

4.  I’m a part-time, by request only,  wedding planner.

5.  For the most part I hate school fundraisers.

6.  I’m secretly (Oops!) a slob.

7.  I’d rather exercise strenuously than be told  what I should and should not eat.

There Kat!  You accomplished what others’ requests have not, a blog post.  So give yourself a pat on the back and get busy knitting my socks!!  (Just kidding!!) 

As to all the rest of my small but loyal readership, we will be buying a new camera before school is out in May.  I’m hoping that will be the  kick in the pants I need to blog more frequently.  It’s really hard to do it without decent photos.  I’m still knitting though and spinning so if you’re on ravelry.com come  check out my project page.  I’m Heartknits over there too.  And if you’re not on ravelry, get on the ball and sign up for an invitation already!

Wow!

You guys sure know how to make a girl blush. Thanks for the huge response. I guess I needn’t have feared. Okay I’d write you a full progress report right now but all my pictures are on my other computer. However let me say that I have a lot to tell you my friends. Till tomorrow, knit with all your heart.