Happy Birthday NLFC!

So it has been one year today that I've been in business under the new name and I have to say it's been a great one! I have really enjoyed the people I have met online and in person. Contributing to Phat Fiber has definitely been one of my better decisions as I love being a part of that little community!

So to celebrate I am doing a Sale for the rest of the month! 30% refund on all items in the shop - including the gift certificates!! And I am doing a give-away! Comment on this post and you will be entered to win this skein of my dk weight yarn in the "pacified" colorway along with my new pattern "Mood Lifter Slouch".

It's been very wintery here lately (big surprise - I do live in Alaska! lol!) and here are some pics!

June Phat Fiber! - My Box is in!

So after a long wait and many schedule items getting in the way I finally was able to dive into my June edition of the Phat Fiber Sampler Box! I have never managed to do a great run down of what's been in my box, but that is about to change! When I opened my box this is what I saw!

Isn't it just lovely!?!? I think Jessie (the mastermind) does such a fantastic job of keeping the box fresh and using the themes in great ways! This months was Oceanic - I was pretty excited to see what everyone came up with!

Here's the fiber!
Starting with the lovely grey batt in the lower left corner & working in a clockwise swirl - here is what I received fiber-wise...

1. Dawning Dreams Murano Granite - It is a lovely & squishy wool batt in all natural colors
2. Into the Whirled (I love their name!) Mercer's Pier wool roving - LOVELY deep color
3. H.A.Y. "Oceanic" Batt - made with delicious luxe fibers and in bright and tropical ocean tones (think Merino, BFL, Corriedale, Tussah Silk, bamboo, milk fiber, Angelina, and recycled Sari silk - it just doesn't stop!! :)
4. Silver Sun Alpacas "The Great Barrier Reef" Batt is another sumptuous blend of luxe fibers, Mohair, Bamboo, Superwash wool, wool, and glitz. Just beautiful colors!
   
5. Mad Angel Creations "Oceania" Batt was packaged in a sweet little organza bag, but when it was pulled out it almost grew to twice it's size in fluffiness! I have been hoping to get one of Paula's samples for awhile and I am so glad to try this batt out! It has hand dyed wool, white silk noil & silver angelina!
6. A generous .5oz sample from Gale's Art of Deep Blue Sea on Black Blue Face Wool - I haven't tried this wool before and am anxious to get it on the wheel, pretty sure I am going to like it! It is a beautiful, deep jewel toned colorway!
7. Smoky Mountain Fibers "Frosted Sea Glass" on Merino is a lovely soft color and would be fantastic for hats or baby items (in fact this is one of the samples used in the newest hat I made...)
8. WoolyHands Tropical Fish on wool mill ends is a refreshing colorway with an exciting combination of colors. I might save this for some needle felting embellishments that I have been wanting to do!
9. Natchwoolie's "Blue Hawaii" on Silk Milk & Bamboo is just amazing! Dyed beautifully with natural plants I have been "dyeing" to try this stuff! (Bad pun I know...). Plus she win's packaging in this months box! I love her hawaiian printed fabric and flower that ties up the package!
10. Twisted Fiber's un-named (but delightfully bold!) superash merino sample. I love color combos like this one and know it is going to look fantastic spun up!
11. It's not included in the above picture but it is in the last pic at the bottom (doh!) but I was super excited to get super shiny and soft Mohair lock from Goat Goat Sheep (another riduculously cute name!) They are amazing bronzey colors and I can't wait to use them!

Onto yarns!Starting again with bottom left and working clockwise....

1. Moonlight and Laughter submitted a 50 Superwash Merino/25 Alpaca/25 nylon blend I had never seen before and oh my YUM! I forsee this yarn being in my near future!!
   
2. Holiday Yarns Flock Sock Yarn (75/25) was lovely shades of purple and green (very close to my wedding colors ;) a definite nice choice for sock knitting, would produce very crisp stitch work!
3. Sneaky Pig Yarns (just can't help but LOVE this shop's name!!) sent in a great worsted sample (don't see many of those and it's nice when you do!) of 100% wool in a great semi-solid tonal yarn in rich deep greens. Always a favorite color for me!
4. WC Mercantile sent a FABULOUS Panda Sox yarn 60 Superwash Merino/30 Bamboo/10 Nylon. Amazing sheen and a beautiful colorway named "Sea Glass", very vibrant!

Last, but definitely not least the yummy accessories (& one fiber sample that escaped my first photo!)

1. I got one of the ceramic buttons!!! I was SO hoping to get one of these and her workmanship is even more beautiful in person! Heartstone Ceramics had a fantastically packaged product and I loved reading her touching note on the back! This will definitely be used on something special!
2. Winemakerssisiter made up a super cool Koi stitch marker that I love!
3. Miss Becca Designs included a stitch marker as well. I liked the bead colors as they reminded me of sandy shores with water I also got her Phat Pacific Octopus Pattern and will definitely be knitting up a couple of these! I know my boys would love them!!
4. The other pattern I got was the Fish Pattern which can help me work on my crochet skills (which is much needed). It's a cute little pattern that will be great for using some samples as well (think sneaky pig!) It was submitted by Sunnie Fairy.

Whew! I made it!!! Talk about a lot of fibery goodness! That's not even including the amazing pirate treasure map!! My family was over as I was going through and photographing my samples and they were pretty in love with that part! (They are yet to be fully converted to the fibery way! My mother for example thought it was very odd that I was photographing my box to share with you all...) If you've made it this far, thanks for sticking with me!!

and....I feel like a broken record but, if you haven't entered my contest you really should! I am drawing the winning number on the 23rd!

Contest!

First I want to say thanks to all my customers! Today I woke up to my 100th sale under my new name and shop. It was an amazing feeling and I really appreciate each and every purchase that brought me here!

To show my appreciation I am doing a give-away! I would love to share my buttery soft Cashnyro sport yarn with someone. I will be moving towards the end of this summer (if all goes well!) and I would love to get some moving tips from you! Leave a helpful tip and I will enter your name (number) for a random drawing! The yarn is dyed in my water lilies colorway and is a delicious 80/10/10 Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend with 250yards in a 4oz skein. Here's a pic (ok it's really a collage, and yes I know that I am addicted.....:) I will draw the winner one week from today, so that would be June 23rd.


Also I have been doing more hand carding and now have quite the bag full of little rolags (I feel like that is not a nice sounding term for the little lovely's that I am describing). They are so light, airy, and just plain amazing that I had to share again. After about probably a good three and a half hours of carding here and there I now have 3.5oz of rolags. Prepare to be amazed. I have included above skein of yarn (which weighs 4oz) for a scale purposes. I cannot wait to start spinning this stuff up, I think it is going be dreamy. I am forcing myself to work on other projects right now though (sock summit stuff!! So they are still pretty exciting too!)

Tulips....where are you?

Today was a nice average day. Perfect for getting out into the garden. Which (after really putting it off) I did!!! With much help from my Aunt I was able to really get most of the big weeds out and really "bring to light" my bulbs and perennials! I really am wishing that I took a before picture as it was pretty bad. I have so much grass coming over from the next yard it makes it a little difficult to keep up with! Not to mention that I was pretty pregnant at the end of last summer and my garden really suffered. With most of the weeds out and everything cleaned up I am hoping to have a summer with lots of time tending my plants. A few didn't come back this year - but most are back a rearing to go. The new grass we planted has come in pretty thick and I think it's getting close to being ready to mow. I will be taking pics of freshly dyed fiber tomorrow and I will try to get some "early summer" pictures of the garden then too.

In the home I have been meeting more goals. All of our meals for the past week have been cooked from scratch and they all have been much heavier on the fresh fruits and veggies too! I just need to really keep things going to try and make this habit - I think the key for me will be having the evening meal thought out and ready before evening arrives. That is what's been working so far.

Anyhow no fun pictures or links tonight! Though I will most likely finish up some handspun yarn tonight that I plan on putting up in the shop! It has definitely been a while since I have spun yarn for sale.....I have been a little greedy ;P

I will include this recipe that is a favorite of my family - handed down by my Grandmother.

Ginny's Beans:

1 Can Pork & Beans
1 Can Lima Beans w/ham (I usually use butter beans...)
1 Can Kidney Beans
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
1/8 Cup (+or-) mustard (try different varieties to kick it up a notch)
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2lb-1lb Browned Ground Beef
1 Medium Onion, chopped (optional)
1 Green Pepper (optional)
1/2lb Crumbled Bacon (Optional)

Put all ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook on low for 2-4 hours. For the cans, just make sure they are all the same size - this recipe is very easy to double for more people! Yep that easy!

I love this recipe as it is easy to make last minute as the key ingredients are easy to keep on hand! Especially shopping at Costco. It is very flavorful and the mustard and brown sugar come together to make an amazing combination. This is one of my husbands very favorite meals - he asks for it often!

June Phat Sneak Peek...

As promised....though there is one set of samples missing from the pics...they'll just have to be a surprise! Clockwise starting from the top left.....Big Blue World on Seawool, Citrus Siesta on Seawool, Big Blue World on Cashnyro (this is already in the shop), and Kelp on Yakino. Due to some shipping error and a big storm I will actually have double the samples this month! So most of the people should a get a sample from me!! Which works out nicely as I am taking off the month of July from Phat Fiber....letting the truly non-woolly sellers shine!

Swap'oholic

I think I'm addicted! I participated in a swap on The Fibery Goodness board on Ravelry! Spiderspins sent me tons of fiber! Two batts were by her as well as one roving and then she also included a set of mini batts from Terra Bella Spun! They are all so beautiful! I couldn't resist spinning some up yesterday and I got approx 240yards out of the Mother Earth Batt. I spun it as a slightly thick n thin single. Already plotting what to make with it! I thought it was very aptly named and it is a very soft blend of Superwash Merino, BFL, and angora bunny! YUM! Here is my collage of what all was included!
Here is the finished yarn spun from the Mother Earth Batts:

Last night I went to knit night at Far North! It lots of fun and I am pretty sure I will be able to be there next week! My Aunt Connie came with and it was awesome to have her with me - plus she helped me feel brave! I meant to take pictures and while I remembered my camera I forgot to take it out! Oh well another time I guess!

In shop news, my recent yarn orders came in and I am back in the swing of dying again! Some are already up in the shop - Lots of new yarns including cashmere, seacell, tencel and yak blends! Also I am running a special in my shop today only - In honor of the Phat Fiber Boxes going on sale today I am offering a 20% refund off your entire purchase - Just put "Phat Fiber Day" in your checkout notes!

Sock Summit!

So today some friends came over and we got some real plans made with reservations and everything for Sock Summit 2009! I cannot wait and have several projects in mind to have done by then. Now I am anxiously waiting for the class list & overall schedule to come out so we can devise our daily plan! The details are still being worked out but we will be working in a family vacation around SS09 too (something John and I have been meaning to do for awhile!).

On to the promised pics from Monday's Dyeing marathon! I will be putting up these yarns into the shop throughout the week!

Whew!

Marathon dyeing session tonight....took it out of me! I did my most colorways in one evening - a whopping (at least for me :) NINE! With at a minimum of two skeins per color. So I should have lots of fibery color to share with you tomorrow! I also have some news to share about socks! Hand knitted ones of course! That's all for tonight!

Thankful

Sometimes I let my own frustrations build and I forget how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and bends over backwards to care for me and his boys. Not only that but he listens, responds, and always squishes my yarn when I ask him too (I am trying very hard to reciprocate in the area of snowboarding....).

My toddler is two, and I think I am having my lack of patience constantly thrown in my face. I have been reading the book "Making children mind...without losing yours", (don't laugh) seriously seems as though the author wrote it personally for me. I had been doing really well, but being sick was seriously bringing me to my limits. I also felt like I was in a downward spiral of feeling too sick to do anything, but then feeling even worse because I was doing nothing. So I used the excuse of running out of milk to head out to the store. I was amazed at how much better I felt at just getting some fresh air. My head instantly cleared and I felt so much more like my normal self. I think it did the same for Corbin as he cheerfully (and loudly) sang his version of the alphabet down the aisles of Carrs Safeway. After groceries, dinner, and hot chocolate, we made our way home and things ended on a sweet note with me reading to both my boys before tucking them into bed. As things are tight right now I have no "professional" pics, but here are a couple pics I've taken this past month of my boys. I thank God for their health and the light they bring into my life.

Before getting my butt off the couch today I did make lots of knitting progress while watching P.S. I love you (A great movie) and Blues Clues - Blue's has a Baby Brother (yes, I could probably recite this movie to you). First, I finished the february baby sweater that I had started in January and I am very satisfied with how it turned out! I wish I had taken pictures when there was natural light as there is no "shine" to this yarn at all, nor is the purple so bright, but you get the idea. Secondly I finished one mitten out of my handspun, the yarn was a little hairier than I expected, but I think it will wear great and feels very squishy on my hand.




I dyed up quite a bit of my new yarn bases and can't wait until they are set and dried and I can share pics! They look very promising!!!

One skein down.....

11 more or so to go! I must say I am in LOVE with how this skein turned out. Looks like it should be the perfect weight and I should have more than plenty! This skein turned out to be 171 yards and three oz and looks spot on for aran weight (though I still need to check wraps per in). It has a delicious feel and I want to just start knitting it now!

Through thick n thin

Finished up a custom today! Some super soft and squishy thick n thin merino in my "firecracker" colorway. These colors just make me instantly think of the firecracker popsicles!

It's been nice having John home today, and was able to get quite a few things done as well as getting in some good family time! It doesn't get better than that.

oh yeah and don't forget Phat Fiber Boxes go on sale February 15th! Only 10 days away!

Wire Free!

Our laptop (cheap - very cheap, bought for basic school work stuff) has always had issues with wireless connections. But it is now fixed and I am now typing from my comfie couch versus hiding at the built in desk in the dark corner of my room. SO MUCH NICER!

I did get some dyeing in the other night (as I mentioned) and here are the results - Tada -



They are all listed in my shop as of today!

I was planning on getting a couple lbs of roving done up tonight, but cabin fever had set in on me today and my sister came over and chatted with me. It made for a relaxing evening during which I was able to be just Kelsey....not wife, not mom, ok maybe a little bit sister (but I have been that as long as I can remember).

I must say - it felt nice.

Ripping back

I have found myself content and surprisingly so, to have ripped back the legwarmers I am working on. I found that I had cabled wrong about 20 rows back. Even just a couple of months ago I might have let it pass. I must be growing up or something as the words my mother always told me ring in my head - "If you are going to do it, do it right". Now the fact that I am working in super chunky yarn helps as well. ;) I only have 10 rows left on the first one. I think I will have them both finished before the week is out - if not sooner.

I have a new batch of yarn steaming, I love that I still get so excited about dyeing. I get excited every time, impatient for it to steam and dry until I can touch and see it in the light waiting to be spun, knit, or felted. I know the colors are a major booster for me during the long winter months as well.

Silk Hankies (spinning or felting) will soon be in the shop. I just put an order in for them and can't wait to try them out!

no pics today. I was not quite with it last time I uploaded pics, as I left the camera on. It is now charging.

oh! I am now on twitter! my user name is Akyarnie (northernlightfiberco was just too long for them!)

Phat Fiber Sampler Box

Whew I finished all my samples for Phat Fiber for the next two months and they will be going out in the mail today! What is Phat Fiber? An amazing sampler box containing all manner of yarn & fiber goodness by indie artists. I am super excited to be a part of it! Especially since I am sending enough samples to get my own box! Jessie (the powerhouse behind Phat Fiber along with her hubby Marcus) even put up a YouTube video of what the upcoming samples were for January. Sixty-six boxes sold out in a manner of minutes and Jessie has set-up a sign-up list through which you can find out the secret stocking time on Etsy! Check out her website for more info and to see who's participating!

February's Theme: Romance & Chocolate
March's Theme: Celtic

I updated shop today as well