It’s probably obvious from the whole 3 books published in just over 6 months thing, but I work a lot. I love what I do, and feel so grateful that this is my work, but still it’s definitely work. And because I love it, and love releasing new things, it can be hard to take time off – even weekends feel like stolen time, and I take them rarely. But, I’m trying to convince myself of something I know to be true in the abstract, that time off to recharge is crucial to remaining creative, not to mention sane.

After Tnna I spent a week with Kristi Porter, who tech edited Whimsical Little Knits 3, and her family in San Diego.

The ocean just a few blocks away, a colourful farmer’s market full of exotic fruit and vegetables (even these tomatoes seem exotic in January!) and reading in the sunshine – pretty much doing nothing, in the most delightful way.

Now I’m in Denver, having fun with my friends at Fancy Tiger . Arriving in a snowstorm was a little shocking after the sunshine in California and Arizona (this Tnna was in Phoenix), but everything is so pretty and yesterday’s snow meant classes at the store were cancelled so I took over the space and worked on a fun sewing project

This morning I woke up to big flakes falling, but by the afternoon it was warm and sunny enough that ice cream seemed like a good idea. I ate it while wandering around the neighbourhood, where I found a brand new store full of lovely handmade clothing – Sewn.

I’m taking another couple of weeks off, starting with a few days in the mountains here in Colorado and then I’m going to spend a week surfing in Mexico. That trip was kind of a splurge for me (money that could be spent on printing!) but I’m very excited about it and given how many new ideas and projects I’ve already come up with – it might almost count as a business investment. After that I’ll be returning to Denver where I’ll do a book signing on the 17th, lecture from 7-8 and signing from 8-9. With the photobooth! Then I’ll be heading to California for Stitches West where I’ll have a booth with lots of samples for you to try on, the photobooth and I’ll be signing all five books. Five, when did that happen?! I guess it was time for a holiday!

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I’ve been busy recently, so busy that it’s taken me a couple of weeks to actually write this post. The whirlwind of VK Live and Tnna is over and I’m writing this in the Phoenix airport as I await a flight to stay with friends in California, where I’m going to catch up on remaining work and then spend some time relaxing. Very excited about that! So, in case you haven’t seen, here are the two new books.

The first is Whimsical Little Knits 3, featuring more of the same kinds of fun little projects as the first two in the series.

The second is a collaboration with my friend Jeni from Fyberspates. She asked me a while ago if I’d like to develop a colour palette in her Scrumptious yarn and I jumped at the chance to choose any colours I wanted. So there are 6 of my colours now available (you can order from Fyberspates or ask your local yarn store – Lantern Moon are distributing them in the US, Fybersaptes in the UK). Of course, once I had these colours I had to work with them and the result is a book called Saturday Treat with six accessory patterns. All but one use just one skein, and it’s possible to make a few Pear Drop shawls from just one.

Both books are currently available to pre-order and a pdf ebook can be downloaded instantly. Individual, more print friendly pdfs of each pattern are gradually being uploaded and printed books should be shipping by the end of the month.

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Wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend, whatever you’re doing. We gathered this week to celebrate the solstice and getting two new books to the printer. There was delicious cake, we exchanged gifts and we took this extremly dorky photo with the my tree, not that you can really see it. The matching outfits were completly unintentional! Sarah dyed, spun and knit my Damson, it’s so pretty.

We’re all taking a few days off to spend time with our families so please give us a little time to get back to any emails or comments next week. Make some merry x

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The Oxidize hat pattern is now available to purchase as a pdf, on Ravelry and on the website. The pattern will be part of Whimsical Little Knits 3, which we’re working really hard on getting to press. However, since it isn’t quite there yet I don’t want to open up pre-orders. At the same time I don’t want those of you who think you’ll want the whole book to have to wait for Oxidize so I thought we’d try something new. Included in the pattern is a coupon code that will give you a 25% discount on the book when it comes out (note that this will only work if you’re using the same Ravelry account or email address).

By wonderful coincidence I’m writing this post sitting in the dye studio at A Verb for Keeping Warm, where the yarn featured in Oxidize was dyed. The blue is indigo dyed which is an incredibly fascinating process, it isn’t like any other dye. I was going to have Kristine write a little about it, but then I realised I could record video with my camera so it seemed like a fun idea to record her giving a little introduction. It’s a little dorky and poorly edited but I hope you enjoy it.

If you’re interested in this really unique yarn Verb are offering a coupon for 15% off of the Slick yarn (which does come in a range of other beautiful, naturally dyed, colourways if the indigo blue isn’t your thing). To receive your discount enter the code “ysolda15%” at the checkout. This offer is valid through the end of December, perfect for holiday gifts. If you make the shorter version in the smaller 2 sizes you can even make two from one skein. Or, if you prefer the two colour version, you can make two hats from one skein of each colour. It might be fun to do fraternal twins using a different MC for each hat.

We’re also working on something secret with the indigo that I’m excited to show you in a couple of months.

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One of the best things about visiting Fancy Tiger Crafts was that, since they do all kinds of crafts, they have sewing machines set up in their classroom. The well appointed space combined with an inspiring fabric selection proved too tempting and one day I put my computer away and started playing instead. I love sewing, but don’t have much time to do it these days, and just like knitting I like to make up my own projects. Jamie and Amber ended up joining my skirt making and it’s thanks to them and their experience making sewing tutorials that you can make a skirt like mine too. Click through to their blog to download the free tutorial that they put together! I really love that this gave me a way to use a small amount (a fat quarter) of wonderful handprinted fabric by a local artist. Now I’m excited to get home and look at the other special little pieces I have stashed.

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I was greeted in Denver with a snowstorm, which was a little shocking after Austin but within a few days we were driving out to visit the yaks in brilliant sunshine. The yaks are from the Himalayas so Colorado’s crazy high altitude climate is perfect for them (running in Denver was er… interesting!). I’ve admired Bijou Basin’s yarns for a long time and there’s a pattern coming soon(ish!) in one of their yarns so it was really interesting to meet a few of the animals that provide their fibre. And we really did meet them, they were super friendly and eager to eat treats out of our hands.

We even snuck in a little photoshoot – the yaks were rather too interested in the socks though!

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Visiting Bijou Basin Ranch was one of the highlights of my trip. So much so that I know have 1000+ photos of yaks to go through, here’s just a glimpse at the cuteness.

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I had a wonderful time in Portland, shopping, visiting Lantern Moon to talk about something super exciting, teaching at Happy Knits, an awesome early Thanksgiving party. It was so fun and busy though that the only photos I actually took were on a walk I took yesterday.

Hotel’s wifi was down, or I would have posted this yesterday. You might have gathered that I’m once again attempting to blog everyday in November. I’m not going to let tech problems put me off though, since the challenge isn’t really about succeeding but in getting back to this space a little.

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Today, via a knitter who had just returned from one of her retreats, I received an awesome gift from Cat Bordhi. You might remember that she tried to freeze my mousie at tnna in dry ice so this is a little mouse. And, because this is Cat, h’s has a nest that jingles.

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