Shop update

On January 15, my etsy shop re-opened under the name Mousewife Designs! 
I started a Facebook group (I'd love for you to join me there, if you haven't already).

The change from Mousewife Knits & Yarnables to Mousewife Designs was a natural decision.  Mousewife Knits seemed a much narrower focus, whereas Mousewife Designs encompasses much more of what I am using the name for.  It covers my knitting designs, as well as my spindle and jewelry designs.

I have been playing with silicone molds and polymer clay as well as wire-wrapping techniques to create designs that are as unique as they are beautiful.  I've been having a lot of fun, especially with the spindle making.  I've been experimenting with everything I can get my hands on: cold porcelain, polymer clay, resin.  I've even been mixing and matching media - coating cold porcelain in resin, finishing the wood shafts with resin.  Then there is finding different ways of tinting the resin for unique looks.  I recently learned that the jaquard acid dyes I use for dying wool also make amazing resin dyes.  Eyeshadow works beautifully, too, for a more opaque finish.  This is an amazing way to get a huge range of colours and use up eyeshadows that have expired.

This hasn't stopped me from designing, either.  I have been very busy on that front, having just had a "super secret project" accepted, finished, and submitted recently.  I will post more on that design in July, when the magazine is ready to hit the shelves.  :)

All in all, I have been busy.  Hopefully that busyness won't keep me from updating more often.

In the meantime, have a few more pictures of recently finished designs:

Raw, tumbled garnet gemstone earrings.

 Goldstone orifice hook.

Hematite orifice hook and howlite stitch markers.

Lavender Blue Fingerless Gloves.

Photography troubles

I'm having some trouble taking pictures.  I am not even close to a professional and I only have a little point-and-shoot camera.  I'm not very good at taking awesome professional pictures.

I have 4 white spindle bowls and a clear dish that need to be photographed.  Unfortunately, my light box is white, which is blinding them out, and using a sheet just doesn't look quite as nice.

I wonder if I could convince H to upgrade our camera...

So far, this is the best I have managed.  It's okay, but it's not the best I can do, and I know it.  I have a few more days to figure it out...

Find me on Facebook

Mousewife Designs has made  it's debut on Facebook.  Find me there and click "Like".  Facebook fans and friends will enjoy 20% off in my first two weeks of business.  Plus, you will enjoy extra coupons, savings, and chances to win free stuff.
https://www.facebook.com/MousewifeDesigns

See you there. 

Merry Christmas!

The New Mousewife store

I've been off on a rather long hiatus.  I cannot promise to update my blog more than sporatically, but I do hope to update a little more often than I have been doing lately (which is to say, more than not at all).

I've been up to a lot just lately.  Most of my attention has been focused on the rapidly growing little Mouselette.  I can hardly believe how big she has gotten.

But aside from my life revolving around motherhood, I've been very busy designing, submitting, accepting rejections gracefully, designing more, submitting more, etc.  I try to keep finding time to sit and spin.  I spoiled myself with a tahkli spindle this fall, as well as a WooLee Winder for my spinning wheel (Christmas gift).

But mostly, over the last month, I have been prepping to re-open my etsy shop.

I shut down my shop when Mouselette was born.  I just did not have the time or energy to keep up with it.  I still don't have the time or the space to keep up with creating spinning batts and handpainted yarn and roving.  But what I have been getting back into lately has been my love of clay.

I've been making polymer clay spindles, crafting knitting needles with fancy little toppers, making stitch markers, carving crochet hooks, and doing all sorts of little things like this while Mouselette eats and/or naps.  So, as of January 15, 2013, Mousewife Knits and Yarnables will be re-opening with a new focus.

Here's a sneak peak:

handwoven project bags.

 bead whorl spindles and spindle bowls.

knitting needles
and even handcarved nalbinding needles.

There will be the occasional bit of roving, batt, or yarn, but it won't be the primary focus of the shop anymore.

A New Blog Post

So I take a hiatus and when I return, I find that blogger has completely changed their format.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I don't like change.  I like things to remain old and comfortable.  It's possible that the new posting format (which is only behind the scenes, so you readers can't see it) will eventually grow on me.  In order for it to do that, I will have to post more often.  In order to post more often, I will have to find more time.  In order to find more time.... I think, quite possibly, my baby will have to start kindergarten.  Or at least learn how to go to bed and take a nap.

I can hear her through the monitor right now, playing.  Not sleeping.  Not at all.  H and I picked up a crib bumper pad from the second hand store.  It's really pretty and matches the colour her walls will eventually be (when we get around to painting and decorating her room, which won't be until after the basement is done and I can move all my yarn and wool out of there).  I know bumper pads are bad for babies, but I'm pretty sure they mean little babies, and my little one isn't so little anymore.  She's 8 months old and is squirmy and mobile.  So after she got her leg and/or arm stuck in the slats for the umpteenth time, we decided a bumper pad would be a good idea.  Unfortunately, it's pretty, and she likes pretty things.  They distract her from sleeping.

On the subject of knitting.  Yes, I have been.  In fact, now that Lil Bit is all mobile and stuff, I tend to sit on the ground and knit beside her while she plays.  I could sit on the couch, but it's too far away if she starts crawling off her (recently extended) playmat.  I have several projects on the go.  I have plans to finish my mother's sweater (I know, I know, it's still not done) during the Ravelympics (also occasionally referred to as the "Knitting Olympics") this summer.  I've been working on a number of other projects, too.  Unfortunately, those are super secret projects that I cannot post about until I know whether some of them are going to be published and until others that have been accepted for publication have actually come out.

I will say this:  I designed my first ever shawl a few weeks ago.  I did it using charts.  I've never charted lacework before (actually, I've never done much with lacework at all).  In fact, I've never done much with charts until now.  I submitted it for publication, but I don't want to say where or with whom.  I can't even show a picture of the shawl until I know if it's accepted or not.  But it is beautiful.  I couldn't believe how really beautiful it turned out.  I was (and still am) very happy with it.  My fingers and toes are crossed.

My post is done now.  It took me 15 minutes to write.  My daughter is still not sleeping.  I can still hear her playing through the monitor.  It's taking all my willpower not to go in there.  I know she'll fall asleep eventually.  And hey... at least she's not screaming.  ;)

Time flies

Time flies when you're having fun.  Turns out the old adage is true.  I haven't purposefully neglected my blog.  I've just been awfully busy.  My life is a neverending pile of laundry.  I keep meaning to vacuum.  I could be doing that now, but my poor neglected blog needs an update.

First, updates in the world of knitting...

I've been pretty busy.  Mostly, I've been catching up on some "me" knitting.  In February, I picked up some wool to spin and knit a pair of longies for the Mouselette.  They turned out well.  Unfortunately, the problem with only having a set amount of wool to spin is that sometimes you end up with insufficient yardage.  That was the case with the longies and I had to finish the cuffs in a coordinating yarn.  Still, they turned out quite nicely. 

I also knit myself up a pair of fingerless mitts.  I revisited my old "Fancy That!" pattern and discovered that it is actually a pretty decent knit.  I was pretty happy with the way they turned out.  The yarn was a bit thicker this time around, so they are a little looser than I'd like, but they make very comfy driving mitts.

I'm still plodding away at a certain sweater I promised my mother.  I had gotten to a decent point on the last version, but when I started the sleeves, I realized that I hated it too much to finish.  So like any self-respecting knitter, I tossed the whole thing in the closet and started over.  I'm nearly done the new version.  It needs another 3" on the body and then the sleeves and then I'm done.  It's actually quite a bit lovelier than the original version.  It's more understated and classy.  I can't post a picture yet, though, as I'm just not done enough.

In the world of patterns, I'm still working away at several projects and enjoying them immensely.  I think I will put the soaker pattern on paper, as it came out of my own head.  I think I will make it free, just as a reward for cloth diapering.  Not that I think using disposables is bad, it's just that using cloth is a COMMITMENT (especially once your kid starts solids) and that kind of commitment deserves a reward.  In my opinion.


Now on to the other half of my life: Mouselette.
There's not much to say that the picture doesn't communicate.  The bonnet just kills me.  I love it.  I picked it up when she was a few weeks old and it's just fitting her now.  It's going to be perfect for the summer.

She's not crawling yet, but I'm fully expecting to turn around one day and see her halfway across the room.  That stance is just full of crawly anticipation!

That's it for the update for now.  I think it would be easier to update if my life was less two-dimensional.  ;)  I'm sure I'll have another update in a month or so.  ...after the Knitters Frolic in April, for sure!!