Sock Yarn Cinema and Spinner's Cinema

Alrighty, I know you're busy decorating and shopping and baking and furiously creating last minute gifts (hey, anytime in the month of December is last minute when you're hand-making it!) but I wanted to update you on our plans for next year.

To start with, we're going to be pulling back a bit on dyeing yarns and fibers to focus on our monthly clubs. The Sock Club comes out in January, and it features Sock Yarn Cinema, so there'a good chance that demand is going to go up a bit (well at least we hope so), plus I'm starting to miss out on some of the joys of mothering, so I'm going to really streamline things for a few years. We'll still be dyeing up yarns and fibers and creating gorgeous spinning batts, but updates and crazy sales will be a bit further apart than they have been in the past.

Next, we're going to change the system for Sock Yarn Cinema. Although we've enjoyed the freedom of billing things out monthly, and the way it makes cash flow easier to control, we're going to change back to a prepaid only system, selling several months at a time. There are many reasons for this change, a big one is that it will allow us to put in our order at the mill way in advance so we can be a bit more regular in our shipping. The other is it allows us to offer our members discounts for buying multiple months at once. The third and biggest for us is that we're planning on trying for another little fiber lover this year, and my pregnancies are a bit unpredictable. Some days I feel great, but sometimes I can't get out of bed for a week. To plan around this I will probably be dyeing up 2-3 months at a time just in case I'm not feeling well each month.

Now here are the really exciting parts of the plan for all of you:

1. Because they're prepaid, they make great Christmas gifts - start begging your families and significant others now and you could end up with a year of yarn!

2. You can choose any length of subscription and pick and choose what movies you want with your membership. So if you love 6 of the movies we have planned, choose a 6 month subscription and let us know which ones you want - it doesn't have to be consecutive months. The way they are priced, you'll end up with a discount too!

3. There will be a limited number of packages available for each month, but we'll let you know in the etsy listings if any month is getting close to being sold out. We'll take reservations as lons as they're available, so if you want to wait till March to join, no biggie, you can totally do that.

4. We're doing a crazy giveaway to promote our Spinner's Cinema club - a brand new Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel. It's great for beginners and can grow with you as you get more comfortable. Each month purchased = 1 entry into the drawing. So if you're just starting to spin and you want to upgrade from your drop spindle to a real wheel - here's your chance! Or if you want to give a 3 month subscription to your fiber buddy as a gift and have a chance to win yourself a wheel - there you go! We just want to spread around the spinning love!

(It's a big thing to ship - so this giveaway has to be limited to US participants - but if an international buyer wins the drawing, we'll do our best to find a distributor in your country, if we can't find one that is reasonably priced, we'll give you a $350 gift certificate to the shop instead - you can get a whole lotta fiber for that!)

My little family would just like to send out a big thanks to all of you for supporting us in our fiber endeavors! It has been amazing to watch our little independant business grow and we look forward as we continue to Knit it Up!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Kate

Poppytalk

First, can I just say how much I love the name of poppytalk's blog? I think because it sounds like "poppycock" which seems like such a fun word to use in casual conversation. I'm definitely going to use it sometime this week.

I do spend most of my talk-time chatting with kids under the age of 5 so it shouldn't be too hard.

Anyway - just wanted to give a little plug for Poppytalk's Handmade Market. Here are just a few of my faves that I've found in their new holiday market:

kiki and polly

white owl jewelry

beehive kitchenware

Dye Pots are Bubbling

I love it when I get an unexpected opportunity to throw some yarn in pots and get them going!

Just getting a bit more stock ready for the Black Friday madness. (Seriously, doesn't shopping for yarn in your jammies sound better than getting up at 4AM to stand in the cold and buy stuff that isn't even fibery?)

Etsy Love - Kande

Oh etsy, how I love thee! Where else can I find such a conglomeration of handmade goodness? I got this bracelet from etsy seller Kande (aka Kristina Henning), and just adore it! It is very well-made and came in the most beautiful packaging. Any item from her shop would make a lovely Christmas surprise for someone on your list, and you won't even have any wrapping to do!

I have excessively simple tastes when it comes to jewelry, so I'm always looking for pieces that are special, without being too crazy. I guess it's because I'm kind of petite, so big chunky statement pieces never look right on me. I'm very excited about this etsy seller in particular, because her jewelry is just the right mix of sophistication and fun. Here are a few others I'm coveting, (just in case Santa is reading this post).

Twitter Tuesday - Giveaway

Hey - want to win a tin of our lovely gift tags just in time for Holiday gift giving?

Follow us on twitter, and RT our latest tweet about the contest. We'll pick a winner at the end of the day, you get to choose if you want knitter, crocheter, or crafter tags and we'll send them right out.

Man, that was so easy!

Handmade or Buy It?

Obviously with two etsy shops and as a lover of all things fibery I am a big proponent of handmade. And whenever I check out Martha Stewart's blog, I'm sure to find another project that entices me. Like these textured pillows.

I find myself yearning to create them - they're so gorgeous and yet... Check out these beauties available at Target for $20. Which is very likely less than what I'd spend making the Martha ones.

Know what? I bought the pillows from Target. I'll spend my free craft time knitting furiously on the Christmas gifts I haven't even started yet. (And quite a few that have been cast on and are patiently awaiting completion!) But I'm still tucking the idea away for that mythical time when my children are all grown up, I am independently wealthy, and have my days completely free to craft to my heart's content.

Well, until then, there's always Target!

Etsy Finds - Where the Wild Things Are

The night Max wore his wolf suit, and made mischeif of one kind, and another, his mother called him...

Although I haven't seen the movie yet, Maurice Sendak's classic has been a favorite of both of my children. My baby (OK so he's almost 2) is particularly loving it right now. I love that it stokes their imagination and encourages them to deal with their fears. When some very scary looking trick-or-treaters came to our door on Saturday, he roared at them!

So here's a collection of some lovely etsy finds inspired by Wild Things...

Max Ornament from Batzie09

Belt Buckle by flightpathdesigns

Illustration by Nan Lawson