We’re Live: In Trumpeter!

I’ve been dyeing yarn for our Local Yarn Shop, The Net Loft, for almost two years now, and in that time we have focused on selling locally in our tiny remote town.  I always gave you a phone number and encouraged you to call or email if you wanted to purchase some yarn, and some of you very patient yarn lovers did just that!  Thank you!

Well finally, today, I can give you a link to order Snow Capped Yarns online!

Dotty, the owner of The Net Loft, has put together a lovely website showcasing many hand-dyed yarns and specialty gifts.  Let me introduce you to my newest colorway…

Trumpeter

In honor of the elegant Trumpeter Swans that reside in large numbers throughout the Copper River Delta.  I’ve dyed a batch of yarn inspired by their coloring: natural white accented by tawny browns, a range of grays and punctuated with crisp black.

I dyed this colorway on 5 different bases, from fingering to heavy worsted weight.  But I don’t have to tell you all the details over here…because they’re all on the website!

But I am really excited about this new yarn base, Chenega, a fine count single ply wool:

Chenega in Trumpeter

and about Perry, an Alpaca/Silk/Merino blend that knits up like this, and feels like a dream:

Here it is in the honey cowl pattern by Madeline Tosh :

Everyone needs one of these, maybe more!  I wish I didn’t have to put my honey cowl back on display in the shop, it’s cozy enough you just want to keep it with you.  I see why more than 11,000 of these that have been made so far, with 10,000 more in queues!

Anyhow, let’s leave you with some images of the Swans themselves.  I took these just this past weekend out on the Copper River Delta.

and maybe just one more of what you might see if you walked in to the shop to buy yarn in person, Dotty does such a nice job with the styling of all her displays:

But in case you aren’t in Cordova in the near future, we’ll be putting up all the Snow Capped Yarns right here!

Thank you all for your support and encouragement, and if you knit with our yarns please tell us what you think.

Swans In the Springtime

This is my third spring in Cordova.  As we drove out the road this morning I said to a friend that every year we’ve lived here has been a year of superlatives.  First, a colder than usual winter, pipes froze for the first time in 30 years.  Second, a snowier winter than usual, remember Snowpocalypse…they actually called in the National Guard to help shovel the roofs!  And now this year, the latest Spring in a long time.

Buds are tight on the trees, wild grasses aren’t yet green  and the skunk cabbage has hardly begun to unfurl.  My neighbor’s daffodils just bloomed this week, amidst a constant downpour, 60mph winds and a spattering of snow.  I had to shelter the new flower baskets, flown from Washington, in our garage….for 4 days, because it seemed all the flowers might die of exposure.

Today, we took a boat ride down the Eyak River and it felt like maybe, just maybe, Winter was ready to turn over the landscape into the capable hands of Spring.  There’s very little growing but it just had that feeling that the snow on the mountains was melting rather than accumulating.  It felt good to get some sun on our faces.  I look forward to heading down the river in June and July, spying the wild irises dotting the river banks with dark violet.

But lest we be lulled  into a Summery outlook, the clouds managed not only to rain, but actually to hail on the boat ride back up river.  The hail didn’t last long but the thermometer in the truck reading only 37 at midday was a cautious reminder that Winter is never too far behind or too far ahead here.  Cordova is like the real Winterfell.

Enough about the weather.

We made our way out the Delta looking for some of those elegant Cordova residents I mentioned yesterday.  Here’s a clue to what’s coming next from Snow Capped Yarns.  Something, subtle and sophisticated, nothing flashy but lovely none the less.  

Fresh

So it’s been a few months since I’ve been in touch…sorry I’ve been away.  I’m just emerging from the virtual rock I’ve been hiding under for the past half a year.  In the real world I’ve been nestled down at home learning new things and going about with the weekly cycles of life.  The days have been rich and full at times and dreary and flat at others.  There’s been plenty to write about but I’ve felt private, guarding my experiences close to me.  Blogging offers such an interesting opportunity to write so frankly and share so openly but with no idea who’s eyes will land on your words.  It leaves me wondering just how much to share.

Lately I’ve been devouring blogs and the rawness and honesty with which some people write is inspiring.  When I read their stories they are so relatable, so human, and their vulnerability strikes me as strength.

These thoughts have largely been stirred from some lovely e-courses I’ve participated in over the past 5 months.  This dive into e-courses was originally inspired through the magic that is Squam.  I was introduced to this network of creative brilliance through SquamItlalia…a creative retreat in the Abruzzo region of Italy last October.

It was magical, to say the least.  So when Elizabeth, the mastermind or should I say masterheart behind Squam decided to start offering e-courses led by amazing instructors I didn’t hesitate to sign up.

I’ve found these courses to be an amazing way to bring the full hearted creative impulse back home with me.  I wasn’t sure if it would work, creativity inserted into my ordinary day via my macbook,  but it does!   I think  the changes and the transformations may even be more enduring than a week long retreat.  Less of a brilliant spark and more of a steady slow cook.

Here’s a recap:

In January Thea Coughlin urged me to pick up my camera and taught me to start shooting in manual mode and I haven’t looked back since.

In March Ysolda sparked all sorts of new ideas about sweater construction that inadvertently brought me to this point of starting a knitting club at the high school. (More on that later.)

In April, Susannah Conway, knocked my out of my head and back into my heart and allowed me to reclaim writing and journaling as a powerful practice of self growth and transformation.  Watching her interviews with amazing individual such as Andrea, Jamie Ridler and Helen Thomas sent me on a virtual quest, from blog to blog, seeking nourishment from the many many creative people out there.  They’ve been there all along.  It’s amazing how once you’re turned on to an idea, there is almost a limitless amount of information out there, just waiting to be found.

So I’m very thankful at this point, to have some fresh inspiration, and to feel connected to the world at large from the comfort of my kitchen table.  I’m still pondering my own views on private and public in the blogosphere and I look forward to exploring this more in my current e-course, Blogging from the Heart.

See you soon….just a few days this time.  I’ve got some new yarn dyed up, inspired by some of Cordova’s most elegant residents that I’d like to share with you!

In Transition

I’m working on making some changes here and look forward to meeting you back here real soon, with some fresh updates and current content!

All About August

This is August:

This is his mom and dad:

Remember them from here?

Well now they’ve got August.

Isn’t he precious!

Here he is sporting the baby coat I made for him out of Jamieson’s Shetland Chunky Wool.

Looks like it might fit him for the next…umm…2 years!

And since it didn’t fit quite yet I had to make him something else, something for this winter.

After several fitful attempts we ended up with this little green sweater.

You can’t see too much of it…but it’s knit with simultnaeous set in sleeves.  A technique I learned from the brilliantly talented  Gudrun Johnston this October at Squam.

Here I am with the dashing young August:

It’s a simple stockinette pullover with seed stitch cuffs, hem and collar.

I see more of this construction method in my future, what a great way to set in a sleeve!

Oops better get back to the subject at hand.

This is supposed to be all about August.

Here’s one more with his mom:

And then just one to highlight the wonderful effect that gravity has on his little cheeks:

What a sweet, gentle little boy.

Welcome to the world little August, I hope to see you again soon!

Merry Christmas Eve!

12. 24. 2012

Hope your holidays are merry and bright!

with love, Heath & Shelly

Winter Solstice

December 21st, what a perfect day to reflect on the Winter Light.  We’re lucky to have clear skies and cold temps outside today, I’ve already been out admiring the purples and smoky pinks of the clouds and have delighted in the tiniest bits of morning alpenglow…at 11am!

The low angle Winter light is one of my favorite things about living in the Northern Latitudes.  The dynamic nature of it, the extremes, the dramatic change in the angle, the light on the peaks, the way you have to go looking for the light in the winter; either by getting out of the mountains’ shadows or climbing up above the neighboring ridge lines.  The light could be just a backdrop, something to overlook,  but this time of year it stands out, it is remarkable.

The Winter Solstice is always bittersweet to me, signaling an end to the dark shortening days  and the impending return of the long days of nearly endless light.  I’m probably one of those few people who favors the darker half of the year over the brighter half, but I can’t help it, I love the depth of winter.  I do feel in good company, knowing that one very accomplished local painter, shares my predilection.  That would be David Rosenthal, a master at capturing the dramatic low angle light playing off the landscape.  In addition to capturing landscapes of Cordova, David has spent four austral winters and six austral summers living and painting in Antarctica.  Here you can see a sampling of his stunning  collection of paintings.

This past month or so I had the good fortune of hanging one of David’s paintings in my house….on the dining room wall for a bit while I contemplated colors and then propped in the studio while I mixed dye, trying to match yarn to a painting.  This painting in particular:

Sheridan Lake Sunset, a painting by David Rosenthal

Isn’t it lovely!

I came up with three colorways  meant to echo David’s painting and encapsulate the feel of the Winter Light. At this high latitude the long stretching rays of the sun cloak the world in a beautiful pearly shimmer for long hours at sunrise and sunset.  David’s painting captures this light beautifully with the lavenders and pinks reflecting off the blue ice, the greens in the glacier and the rusty browns and olives on the hillsides.

Winter’s Light: 
The colors of “Sheridan Lake Sunset” distilled down to just a few shades of lavender, smoky rose and greyed out blues.

Winter’s Light on Cashmere Silk Blend

Glide: 
In honor of the epic ice skating of early season, that draws David, like so many of us out to explore the ice.  This is not the ubiquitous turquoise of the frozen lake, but the minty aqua light reflecting back out of the glacial ice, you just might catch it, out of the corner of your eye.  Look deep between the ice bergs on the painting and see if you can find this pistachio light.

Glide on Cashmere Silk Blen

Alpenglow:
These muted corals, golds and cantaloupe colors cloak our mountain peaks every clear morning and evening during this special time of year.  This color is not pulled from this painting but rather from the glow off the snow capped peaks surrounding town.   It is the archetype of the Winter Light for me.

Alpenglow on Cashmere Silk Blend

If you’re interested in having any yarn for yourself Dotty has written up the details of what’s available with pricing.  You can find it over here: The Net Loft

Here’s a few shots of the yarn at the shop, waiting to be picked up, and brought home to start a new project.

Here’s Alpenglow & Winter’s Light in one of my favorite bases: Latouche.  A lovely 100% BFL DK weight yarn

Latouche

And a close up:

Here’s all of the Cashemere Silk Collection.  Those skeins look small but that yarn goes far.  That scarf pictured below measures 6″ x 58″ and I still had 1/4 of an ounce left on the ball once I cast off!

As hand dyeing yarn is hardly an exact science there is some color variation between bases and individual skeins.  I try to use this to my advantage…and it works, most of the time.  Winter’s Light & Glide pictured below on a superwash base, Knight, underwent more color breaking than other bases and turned out fantastic.  The colors are a bit more vivid, as they usually are on superwash, but I think they are some of the most intriguing of individual skeins.

There are some wonderful bulky weight yarns in Hinchinbrook and Montague, you’ll see some pictured in the basket below.

I’ll be back in the next few days to share more about the 3 new patterns I wrote to accompany these yarns and some fun pictures from our photoshoots..like this outtake!

Season’s Greetings!

Hope you enjoy the new Yarn!

Happy Solstice Everyone!