(Scroll down to learn how to win a free skein of yarn!)

Hemp Laceweight is easily the most popular yarn I dye.

As soon as I list it in the shop, it sells out.
As soon as I bring it to A Novel Yarn, it sells out.

Because of it’s fly-off-the-shelf qualities, I’ve been dyeing the same 5 colors:

Grape

Azalea

Pumpkin

Leaf

Fog

And now I have a big cone of unddyed hemp and I’m ready to try something new!

Is one of the above your favorites or would you like a different color?

Leave your suggestion in the comments below and NEXT Friday I’ll choose 1 response (randomly).

The winner will win a free skein of hemp in the color they suggest and that color will be available in the next hemp update (whether it’s a new color or current color doesn’t matter, just tell me what you like!)

Did you know Valentine’s day is a month away?

I’m not a big fan of V-day, but I do LOVE thinking about love and how we change with it and how we change it.
And of course, when I think about something, it seeps into my yarn.

All this love-thinking birthed the Month Of Love series of yarns, 2 years ago.

Month of Love is a month-long yarn-party from 1/15 to 2/14 (Valentine’s Day!); I make a yarn representing a famous pairing or couple (and this year: group) every weekday for the entire month and share it the very next day.

Last year I asked for your suggestions and that post became the MOST popular post on my entire website. I got so many great ideas and awarded so many prizes and the whole thing was SO much fun, that I’ve been dying to do it again this year!

And here it is, the day before the Month of Love!

Let’s get this love-y party started!

I think I said it pretty well last year:

I’m interested in how this interplay of colors and how the addition of a color (or person) to a yarn (or your life) can change a color or at least, the perception of that color. And some couples, they just have a single color to symbolize the pairing (ex. Cheech +  Chong = green). Of course, this applies to more than just romantic couples; it happens with any sort of pairing: PB & J or Bert & Ernie.

(PB&J, from last year’s Month Of Love)

I need help thinking up these couples AND the colors associated with them!

If you suggest a couple + color that I choose to use, you will win 50% off any skein in my shop.

To enter the contest: leave a comment below this post with both a COUPLE and their COLOR(S). You must include your email (no one will see it) so I can let you know if you’ve won. You may suggest as many couples as you like and if any couples are duplicated, the winner will be the first who mentioned both that couple and the colors I use.

For example: Sesame Street: red for Elmo, yellow for Big Bird, blue for Cookie Monster, green for Oscar
(note: I already made that yarn, so don’t suggest it!)

PS. To keep up with Month of Love yarns, you can see them on the blog every Friday and you can getthem in this section of the shop. Last year, the yarns sold out pretty much as soon as I listed them, so I’m thinking they won’t hang around for long!

My work A Novel Yarn (you know, my real-life yarn store!) has put me into contact with hundreds of independant yarnies.
I’ve read their blogs, poured over their online shops, signed up for newsletters.
I have observed.

And all this observing (combined with my own yarnie-experiences) taught me a few things:

1. Everyone really has their own style of yarny-ness
2. That own-style-thing means that everyone has something different to offer
3. A lot of yarnies aren’t highlighting their own, unique, awesomeness on their website, blog, twitter…in other words, on their public face
4. Many of these yarnies have scattershot marketing, if any at all.

These problems are so overwhelmingly universal (with a few exceptions like ColorBOMB) in the handmade world – this is so NOT limited to yarnies.

And this is a shame,  because there are so many awesome makers of awesome things that are toiling in virtual obscurity because they don’t know how to share their thing.

All this observing has ignited a passion inside me.
What was once just a vague thought (I’d really like to somehow, someday  help other handmade businesses) has turned into a solid plan.

I want to help handmade businesses reach their right people in a non-icky, super simple way.

I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve studied a lot and I’ve done a LOT of trial & error (& error & error).

I’ve put together systems that have worked really well for me (newspaper & magazine articles, showing up in books, etc) and that can be applied to ANY crafty business.

And as part of my Sharing-It Pledge, I’m ready to share this aspect of my business in a 3-week online class.

You can read all about the class here and the subjects we’ll cover, but the short version is this:

• You want to share your thing with the world
• You have something unique to offer
• Together we’ll discover the best places for you to share your thing, a system for doing it consistently AND ways to highlight your you-ness.

If this seems like something you might like, you can learn more and register for it here.

Have any questions or comments? Leave them below!

Although I’ve taught plenty of people to knit in person, I’ve been wondering how my Learn to Knit Kit would fare on a true non-knitter.

Diane from CraftyPod has answered the question thoroughly! In her review she shares some screen shots from the videos and what do you know, she learns to knit! Read her glowing review here and then get your own copy (for a non-knitting cousin!) here.

And just a friendly warning – December 17th is the last day to buy the kit for Christmas delivery!

This week is Learn to Knit Week; every day I’ll be sharing tips, ideas or stories of learning to knit.
If you’d like to share your story, leave it in the comments!

In all this making-a-kit-for-new-knitters, I’ve collected a list of tips for new knitters. Instead of keeping it just for the people who buy the kit, I thought I’d offer it for free!

So, my husband, Jay, otherwise known as “the shipping department” was supposed to make me a handy little sidebar button that says “Yarn Mail” so that you can, anytime the mood strikes you, click over there and sign up to get yarn, in the mail, every month.
But he’s been super busy shipping the already-subscribed-people’s Yarn Mail and didn’t really think we needed a button since people keep signing up for it. And he’s not all together sure the shipping department (ie. he) can handle more yarn mail-ers.

But the spinning department (ie. me) says “The more the merrier!”.
Actually, no, I don’t say that, because he’s sort of right. I can only handle a few more yarn-mailers before I turn into a yarn-making, yarn-mailing crazy person.

But I thought, before that happens, that I’d let you know: you can, for now, click here and get some wooly (or vegan!) knitterly mail.

For now, because very soon (maybe 5 more Mail-ers?) and I’m going to close it to new subscriptions). I’m not sure because, darn it, I love sending people yarny mail!

You can sign up for a subscription or you can pay all at once and never think about it again.

If your loved ones are asking you “What do you want for Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/your birthday?”, here’s your answer: A Year of Yarn! If they’re not asking you, what’s wrong with them?

This is a particularly good test of just how close a “loved one” is: could you ask them for a Year of Yarn? Or would they find that completely ridiculously crazy? If they don’t blink an eye and instead say something like “Hmm…that’s 12 months of yarn for the price of 10, what a deal!”, you know have a keeper. Like, forever. If not already blood related – marry this person! Put yarn in your vows! Knit yourself a dress like this!

Oh, right, back to the topic at hand: Yarn Mail! It’s tasty!

That is all!

Banana fiber is a super-unusual, super-fun fiber to spin. It usually flies out of the Boutique before I even have a chance to tell you about here.  But there’s still a few colors left (and I have about 2 lbs undyed), so I thought I’d talk a bit about spinning with it.

Peacock Banana

If you’d like to know more about how eco-friendly and fair-trade banana fiber is, be sure to read this.

Spinning Banana Fiber

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, this is a funky, funky fiber. I don’t spin it straight, I tend to blend it in with something a little more spin-able. I usually spend a few minutes teasing it apart and then cut it up as I add it to a batt.

If you don’t have a carder (or handcards), or if you want to make it really funky, you can add it in while spinning something else. Start spinning with your “main” fiber (wool or something sticky will work best). Pull apart a chunk of banana fiber and hold it in the hand that ’s not holding the main fiber. Let the banana wrap around the main fiber as you allow the twist to travel into it. Tuck the ends of the banana fiber into the unspun portion of the main fiber (or let them fly out for extra texture).

One of my customers is spinning a very fine, smooth yarn out of the banana fiber at a high twist with a lot of drafting.

If you’re ready to experiment with banana fiber, buy it here.

As the summer heat (and humidity!) gets more oppressive, I find myself working more and more with organic cotton. It’s soft, it’s lightweight and it doesn’t make me all sticky when I spin on the porch. (Wondering why organic cotton? Read this.)

But as I stock the shop with a rainbow of handspun organic cotton yarns, I’ve been getting asked: “What can I make with it?”

The short answer: Anything.

What? You want more than that?

Ok, the long answer.

First, the details:

You can get Handspun Organic Cotton right here.

This yarn is handspun into a smooth worsted  to heavy worsted weight. I suggest using needles that are US 8-11. But of course, everyone’s knitting is different, so you may need a different size!

A few things to remember when working with cotton:
-It’s not as elastic as wool, so your fabric won’t “bounce back”. This means you’ll probably want to avoid knitting things that might sag (like skirts or shirts).
-Cotton is heavier than wool, which contributes to the “sag factor” if you make something big.
-Because of it’s inelasticity, it may be harder on your wrists. I combat this by using circular needles, so there’s not so much weight on one wrist at a time.
-Cotton can be machine washed! But if it gets caught up in your washing machine, it’ll be pulled out of shape, so I always handwash (if you have a front-loader that won’t happen).

Pattern Ideas:
I’m  making a shawl with the cotton and banana yarn. I’ll be releasing the pattern next week (but here’s a sneak peek).

Until then, here are a few other ideas:

• Le Slouch, a beret (on Ravelry)

• Bubby, a bear (on Ravelry)

• Simple Baby Bib (on Ravelry)

• knitCOWL (a cowl!), a Free Ravelry Download

What are you making?

See what everyone else is making by checking out the Handspun Organic Cotton Ravelry page here.

You can also share ideas, thoughts and your projects in the Blonde Chicken group on Ravelry.

What would you make with Handspun Organic Cotton?

Since quitting my day job on July 1st, I’ve received a lot of questions about how it feels, what it’s like.

Most of the questions relate to the quitting and the dayjob: What’s it like to not go to work? Is it hard to stay motivated without a boss? Do you miss having coworkers?

But  these questions are hard to answer. My life is so different now, I find it impossible to compare dayjob to yarn-job.

This whole big scary experiment doesn’t feel like a quitting as much as a launching.

A launching into a new way of thinking about work.
A launching into a new way of connecting, of being a part of my community.
A launching into more responsibility, more discipline than ever.
A launching into a  very unknown future.
A launching into doing what I love, without excuses, without somedays, without anything (but myself) to stop me.

Like a big space rocket launch, it’s exhilarating and terrifying and filled a thousand movable parts that look like they might fall apart at any time.

I realized this week that although I told everyone I quit my dayjob and I immediately devoted myself full-time to Blonde Chicken Boutique, I didn’t take the to celebrate. Or to ask you to celebrate with me.

This is a big momentous thing that needs proper yarny revelry.  I’ve pondered the best way to make it a real celebration and I’ve come up with a  Grand Launching Week-long Extravaganza!

Launching Party Fun-ness

Everyday next week, I’ll share my story, from French Major to Yarn Wrangler, here on the blog. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of it.

I’ll also be answering your questions, everyday at 3 pm on Twitter (starting today!). We can talk about any little thing (quitting the job, wrangling yarn, studying French Lit, ANYthing!).  Just put #askthechicken in your tweet to ask me.

Launch Party Yarny Discounts

For the next week, any NEW customer of the Boutique will get $10 off orders of  $30 or more and returning customers will be get $5 off orders of $25 or more.

Really want to party? Buy more than $100 worth of yarn or fiber and I’ll send you a skein of yarn (or bump of fiber – your choice!) and a pattern for FREE in August. Think of it as investing in your future!

Not a yarn-y person? This sale ALSO extends to the Gift Certificates!

Thanks for celebrating with me.

I wouldn’t be launching into this new life if weren’t for you. Whether you buy yarn or not, whether you comment or not, whether we’ve met or not, everyone who shows up here has helped bring me closer to this goal, has helped encourage me and teach me and inspire me.

Thanks!

(PS. Special sparkly rainbow of thanks to Leonie for the gorgeous graphic!)

The best part of the new house has to be the front porch. Even before any of the boxes were unboxed, I dragged a chair to the porch. I sat down with a roving from On The Round

and pre-drafted while admiring the view

and started spinnning.

The yarn tuned out pretty,

but before I had a chance to list it, someone claimed it!