I’ve settled in and I’m back. My hometown, my beautiful, beautiful city, I’ve missed you. The trees, the smog and the coffee. Indianapolis  is still breathtaking.I’m headed up to my LYS to see if I can work out a similar consignment arrangement to the one I had in Kodiak at the Rookery.

I’ll write more later but I wanted you to see this:

I missed you big city. Thanks for taking me back.

Every year Kodiak has two big events, Crab Fest and Whale fest. Whale Fest is fast approaching so I thought I’d put in the blurb:

April 14-23: Whale Fest Kodiak
A Migration Celebration Whale watchers celebrate the return of migrating whales, with whale sightings reported daily. Special art, literature and performances are scheduled during festival.

This year I was asked by the Whale Fest Committee to put in some yarn. 20% of the proceeds will go towards next years whale fest.

Whale Watch 140 yards

Beluga 140 yards, plied with beads.

In the beginning of January The Knitters of Craftster held a challenge to break out and try something new. I know how hard it is for me to step outside the safe zone and put my work out there. I wanted to reward those intrepid souls who put their work out there so I offered a gift certificate to my Etsy store.

Voting ends TODAY! As soon as I find out the winner I’ll post here with a link to their work.

And the winner is: Nven. Great job on your side button sweater. I hope you enjoy the yarn!

I got put in a treasury on Etsy! Specifically, for Manic. An Etsy treasury is where artists give other artists a nod. For me, it’s like an oscar of the hand craft world.  Here’s the link. Mondays rock!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=34173

Sometimes living on Kodiak can be depressing. I wanted to make a yarn that would make me laugh. I laughed so hard watching the Corpse Bride, I named a yarn after it. Who hasn’t been the crazy girl trying to just make it work?  Corpse Bride is an ultra bulky Merino wool. I’d probably use size 15 needles and up.

I love this yarn! It’s a a variegated green Firestar plied in French knots with a grape colored merino. Fabulous. I love the way that the Firestar crackles around the merino. I have about 65 yards here. Hooray!

I know you’re dying to see what I got right?

It’s the Strauch ballwinder! Strauch is a vermont based family owned company that makes the best fiber tools, period.  I have a pair of their carders, and when I sell $500 worth of yarn, I’m treating myself to one of their swifts! Yippee, I’m more than half way there.

I was supposed to meet Don Parker from Fyresmith today about making me a blown glass oriface hook for my spinning wheel. I was super excited and then snow and 50 mph winds! Ack, Maybe next Saturday.

Also in the cool news department, my friend Larissa http//:www.knitmonster.com is getting married next week on the cliffs of Fort Abercrombie State Park. It should be exciting, a wedding outside in Alaska in February!

I found this gorgeous roving online. It’s black merino with a sprinkle of navy and burgundy merino fibers throughout. The roving was so masculine and earthy, I was dying to spin this up. I had planned on plying it together, but then decided to ply it with some hand painted silk yarn I had spun up earlier. I named this yarn Twilight because of the soft way the colors blend, one on top of the other. I was able to get 156 yards out of 9 ounces.

Every Saturday our knitting group meets at our Local Yarn Store (The Rookery) for some gossip, snacks and coffee. Oh and uhm, knitting. This week I made apple champagne scones. I used some leftover champagne in the dough, but you could use apple juice if you’re out of bubbly. These are the best scones I’ve ever made. Try them with a little butter on top.

Apple Champagne Scones

2 cups apples, minced      2 cups flour      2 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar       1 Tbsp. brown sugar      1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt       2 Tbsp. butter      4 Tbsp. Shortening

1/2 cup raisins      1/2 champagne

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Cut in the butter and shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in the apples and the raisins. Add the champagne 1/4 a cup at a time until mixture forms a stiff dough. Roll out dough on a floured surface until it’s about 1/2″ thick. Cut into triangles and bake for 10 minutes, or until scones are light brown. Enjoy!