I know, I know long time since a post but it's sooo cold my fingers have frozen.  OK, not my best excuse, not even a good one really.  It has been incredibly cold here in fact we have had snow constantly on the ground since Christmas eve. That is not a common occurrence here.  We usually only get 2-3 snow falls a year (with enough to measure) and it has usually melted away within a day or two.   I can't get my car out of the driveway and haven't moved it since Dec 23.  Crazy I tell you! 

You would think with so much time in the house I would be accomplishing a ton, however with the holidays and then frozen pipes I have not been able to get much of anything done.  Then I decided that Tempted needed a new laptop and have spent the last 2 weeks updating, transferring and on hold with various  technical support offices around the world. 

I have managed to keep the birds feed although I think I have gone through about 10 lbs of bird seed.  I really don't think they are just fluffing up to stay warm I think they are really just that fat.  I took this picture while comfortably warm in my kitchen, I have a wonderful big kitchen window that looks out onto a field typically dotted with black cows.  However the cattle are staying close to the water and in the trees to stay warm I am sure. One evening we saw 6 doe crossing the field to a thicket that probably will provide some wind break from the very cold north wind.   I did get all six in this picture but several are very difficult to see, talk about camouflage.  I do enjoy all the natural beauty I am surrounded by.  Again these photos where taken from the warmth of my kitchen, through the window.   One of the doe decided to venture out into a field alone first then the other five joined her.  She looked very young probably only born this last Spring.  She seemed to be limping a bit but the longer I watched I realized it was just because she was breaking through the ice on top of the snow and when the rest followed they all had the same halting gait.  Yes, I may have been lazy during these last few frigid weeks but I have enjoyed it to some degree.  It is much better to me then the 100 degree plus weather we are sure to have in July. 

 I have done a bit of dyeing all of these are for more of the Stacy Shawl Kits.  Most of these are deeper and more intense then the previous kits.  I am very fond of this batch, the red is already gone but I think the rest are still available. :)   I am trying to decide on another new base yarn.  I have choices to make and it hasn't been easy.  Both are lovely Merino/Silk blends.  Decisions decisions....

I hope you have all stayed snug and wrapped in your wonderful hand-knits.  xoxo

Christmas came early here this year, well part of it.  Keri from 3AM Enchantments came down for her visit to put the club packages together.  She showed up with a bag full of goodies.   Books for Emily some very appropriate coasters and a glass for Bob and this beautiful quilt for me.  Not sure what on earth I did to deserve such a wonderful gift.  I know that it will always be keeping me warm in the years to come.

I have also been blessed with a complete set of Paula Dean cookware, new silverware set (service for 12) and new dinnerware (service for 12).  If you know me, you know that I do a lot of entertaining so all of this is going to come in very handy!  I do the Grandma's house kind of entertaining nothing fancy just wanna make sure everyone has a full belly and a smile on their face. 

The final shipment of the Tempted @ 3AM Bag and Yarn Club is now in Santa's sleigh and on it way to the waiting arms of each member.  So now it is time to announce that YES indeed we have decided to do it again!  Here are the particulars for next year.

 2010 Club: 
Current Club members, please notify Stacy via email (stacy@temptedyarns.com) by 12/14 if you wish to continue with us next year. If you have already notified Stacy, you are good to go. We will be opening the club to the general public on 12/15 at 2PM Central Time - sign ups are first come, first serve. You will receive an acknowledgment within 48 hours of sending us a message!

Here’s the breakdown for next year’s club: 
Cost: 
$200 if paid up front or $27.50 x 8 for installments 
Money will not be collected prior to 2/1/10 - we will have a for-sure billing and shipping schedule posted some time in January 
Shipments: 
Total of 4 shipments, starting in late March or early April, and ending in December. Each shipment will contain: 
Yarn: a skein of hand dyed yarn from Tempted - the base yarns will be suitable for socks (or projects with similar weight/yardage requirements). 
Bag: 
Handmade bag from 3AM Enchantments - the plan right now is for 2 KIP bags, 1 Emily Lace, and 1 Large Notions pouch 
Goodies: 
We plan to have buttons again, Soak sample packets, and additional hand crafted goodies from a surprise artisan (will be similar in value to 2009 Club goodies). 
Pattern: 
We will not be including patterns this year. Mainly this is a cost issue (time to design, plus the enormous cost of ink!). We look forward to seeing what everyone decides to do, and will have plenty of suggestions ourselves! 
Theme: 
The theme we have selected for the year is really exciting, and should inspire some truly incredible yarn. Stacy is planning to introduce at least 1 new yarn base to the Club again this year. The fabrics will all be high quality quilt shop cottons … I wish I could give you more of a hint, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise!!

I know it has been a very long time since I have posted and I am sorry.  If you only knew how writing anything stresses me out you would be amazed I manage to post as often as I do.  What I should do is practice practice practice.  I might consider a daily post for the entire year of 2010.... Maybe, I'll consider it.

There have been a ton of things happen over the last few months, a visit from Wendy Johnson, more Stacy Shawls, the super-crud, Glam Grrl went up at TLE, visits from lots of good friends and my DD and I have almost completed the first half of the 7th Grade.   Seriously I think I love Virtual MS, her grades are way up and the attitude is way down, and she actually talks to me frequently.  It has taken a whole lot of my time but it has to be the priority.  I have also finished several of the projects I previously showed you.

 I really should have taken the time to wash this mirror before I took the picture.  Anyway, you can see I did finish my Twist and just in time.  The deadline for the KAL was 9pm on November the 30th and I finished putting the buttons on at 7:30pm.  Nothing like a deadline!

I totally love this cardigan, I have worn it every chance I have had.  The pattern is written very well and was a dream to knit.  I did have to change the number of stitches that I picked up for the buttonband and thanks to Keely at SWAK for the help she gave to my good friend Keri of 3AM Enchantments who then shared it with me.  We both were knitting the Twist.  I used Berroco Comfort that I purchased at SWAK and I bought the pattern at TLE. 

Shortly after I finished my Girasole shawl Emily decided that she needed it to cover up with it in the morning.  I couldn't give it up so gave her a chance to pick a pattern and yarn and told her  I would be happy to make whatever she chose.  She chose Wendy's "Order to Chaos" (how fitting considering school and all) and  11 skeins of Cascade 220 in Black Forest.  I got a pic of Bella and Rose playing on it and put my slippers by it for scale.  Unblocked it measures 6 foot 6 inches in diameter.  Emily loves it and she is rarely seen without it close by.  I have promised to block it but it will have to wait till after Christmas for 2 reasons, 1) Emily intends to take it with her on her Christmas trip and 2) I won't have the space to lay it out till the Christmas Tree comes down.  I knit this from beginning to end without any problems, a total joy to knit and of course it was written perfectly.

Well that takes care of the knitting content.  Keri is here visiting this week so that we can get the final installment of the Tempted @ 3AM bag and yarn club, I think its a good one.  We will start signups for the 2010 club soon so if you are interested keep an eye on the Tempted board on Ravelry for the announcements.

I am also looking at a new base yarn I think it should be here tomorrow so you may want to check out the Etsy shop every once in a while too.

Finally I want to tell Sherie A. HELLO! 

Just a little taste of what will be up on Etsy tomorrow around 12 noon Central Standard Time.

I can't wait to see all the shawls made up in a rainbow of colors!

Now I must get back to the dyepots.

Busy, Busy, Busy, I finally received the Glam Grrl base yarn and have been working on getting them dyed for The Loopy Ewe and the Trunk Show at SWAK in the City on October 23 and 24.  This picture is a small sampling of what I have been dyeing.  I have really tried to make sure that there is a lot of diversity.  I will be getting this off to UPS and The Loopy Ewe tomorrow. 

I am really looking forward to the Trunk Show at SWAK later this month and of course seeing Wendy again.  She will be teaching several classes at SWAK and I am so happy that I will be able to spend some time with her again.  I highly recommend classes with Wendy, she is an excellent teacher and a very talented designer. 

Speaking of Wendy, she and I are in the process of collaborating on a project.  To be honest I approached her a few weeks ago and asked if she would be interested in putting a kit together including one of her shawl designs and some of my hand dyed yarns, specifically the Luxe cashmere base yarn.  Today she posted pictures of her finished "Stacy Shawl", I complained about the name but she said she likes it, at least she doesn't know my real name. LOL  I am amazed at her creative design abilities.  Seriously, I contacted her and before I could dye the yarn she already knew what she was going to do.  This is really a very exciting project and I am looking forward to knitting my own "Stacy Shawl".  I am hoping to get the kits together and ready to post by next weekend.  Like Wendy said, I agree that this will be a wonderful quick gift idea.  I hope you all will enjoy it.  I will be dyeing many different colors for this project, feel free to let me know what colors you would like to see it in.

I have been working away at Emily's "Order to Chaos" and it is coming along very well.  It is going to be HUGE,I am estimating that it is at least 5 feet in diameter so far and I still have half of chart D, all of chart E and the edging to go. 

If you notice the first picture in this post all those skeins are laying on the shawl and will give you some idea of how large this is going to be.