Fiber Field Trip: Ewetopia Fiber Shop in Viroqua, WI

Photo (c) Ewetopia Fiber Shop

 Finally!! A fiber field trip to one of the shops a bit closer to home!! I am pleased to introduce you to Ewetopia Fiber Shop. This place is one of my most favorite local yarn shops in the driftless region of Wisconsin. Nestled in the historic streets of Viroqua, this shop has a lot to offer: local wool, classes, spinning supplies, dying supplies, and of course, more yarn than you can shake a needle at. Ready to learn more? Well, wipe the drool off your face and read on, fiber freak.

 When Sailor and I first moved to this area almost a year ago, I cracked opened my outdated-even-then Fiber Field Guide from 2010 to scope out the yarn scene. I did some google checks to make sure the shops were still opened and got ready to hit dem up. Ewetopia was one of the latter ones on that list, but let me tell you, it is one of my favorites.

I have made many trips out to this shop and have loved every one. Ewetopia has been opened since 2007 and is run by three generations of women from one family. I love that! It was opened by Kathryn during her senior year of college. Her mother and grandmother help out in the shop. Ewetopia even has a farm in the area where they raise their own cattle, horses, and (you guessed it) sheep. They produce wool and roving to be sold in the shop and even dye and spin some of it to make the most delicious local yarns. Too cool right? Right.

 Because stocking high class yarns, producing their own yarn, running a store and a farm isn't enough, Kathryn also designs and writes stunning knitting patterns. You can find the patterns online as well as in the shop. Her creations are stunning and inspiring. Perfection.

 Ewetopia even offers a large selection of spinning supplies. I bought my spinning wheel here! They were so nice and helpful. I was even allowed to play around with the wheel for almost an hour in the store before I decided to buy it! Amazing.

They always have the cutest displays in their windows

So there you have it. If you are even in the area, I recommend checking out his bea-ewe-tiful shop. You will not be let down, I promise.

Happy field-tripping!!
-Carolyn

Linkin' up at these fine sites!

Giving Handmade Gifts for Holidays or Any Day

As you may have guessed, I gave a lot of homemade gifts for Christmas this year. I could go on and on about the merits of giving handmade, but I'm guessing if you are reading my blog that focuses mainly on crafting you probably don't need convincing. Today I'd like to talk about the etiquette for giving handmade things.

Even though the Christmas season is over, I still feel that it is a good time to chat about giving handmade. The tree may already be on the curb, but it's never too early to start planning for next year! Or...thinking about all the other potential handmade-gifting opportunities that'll spring up before Christmas time comes around again. Birthdays...Flag Day....I don't know. Just go with it.

The Art of Giving Handmade Gifts
I feel that the etiquette of giving handmade can be broken into three areas of attention:

1. The proper recipient
2. The proper project
3. The proper care

Rule One: The proper recipient

My mama's mohair scarf also makes a nice earwarmer, apparently.

The hardest person to craft gifts for: Sailor.

But I had victory this year. Republic of Georgia Hat FOR THE WIN.

When deciding to give someone a handmade gift, you must consider the person first. How well do you know them? If it is a distant relative or somewhat casual acquaintance, tread with caution. Putting a lot of time and effort into a gift for someone you do not know very well is risky business. Even if you plan to make a simple scarf or some hair clips for this person, keep in mind that your efforts may not be used at all. Perhaps you may consider saving the supplies and time to make something for someone you know better. I am speaking from experience here.

In the past, I have labored over handmade gifts for everyone I knew with the thought that it will be the ultimate sign of love and care to those who get the goodies. I spent quite some time working on everyone's gifts. While nobody was rude about what I made them, most people's reactions were mild. "Oh that's nice" and the gift was set aside. I wasn't looking for fireworks and tears of joy, but it dawned on me that I need to really think about who will appreciate the effort I made, and thus get more joy out of the gift.

But, then again, maybe you have unlimited free time an pile of free supplies to use up and you just want to wrap every passerby in handmade love. That was not meant to sound sarcastic. I'm serious! I don't know your life. But most people (like me) probably do not have this kind of time on their side. For the best homemade gifting experience, I say give to the people you know well so you can make something you know they will love. Which brings us to the next point...

Rule Two: The proper project

Daddy loved his do-rags. He even wore this Dr. Seuss one to a party later Christmas day, and wore an entire outfit that matched it. Blue shirt, red tie. Looove it.

 Not all gifts are created equal. I believe that whether handmade or store bought, the best gift is one that the recipient will use and enjoy. Giving your uncle a hand-crocheted wedding gown probably isn't logical, though he may appreciate the effort you put into it, it's kind of doubtful he will use/enjoy it. (Though, your uncle might. See above. I don't know your life.) But that is all pretty obvious. With handmade gifting, you need to put extra consideration into what the giftee will use and enjoy.

Sometimes, this task is super easy because your aunt straight up emails you a pattern of a scarf she wants. Sometimes, it's tricky because you started a hat in the color your cousin liked a month ago, and then she texts you saying she now hates yellow. If you are really stressing picking the proper project for someone, do some sneaking! I had my mom help me on reconnaissance this year for my sister's gift. If you don't think reconnaissance is possible, just ask the giftee. Better safe than sorry.

Another tip for this rule is to try not to let your own desires get in the way of selecting a project. Some of you might be like, "What are you talking about, Carolyn?" I'm talking about the mental image you have of your husband in a tight Aran knit sweater you made him pulling the nets back onto his fishing boat off the coast of Maine, when you live in a land-locked state and your husband hates wool sweaters. Maybe I'm just talking to myself here, but just make sure that the project you choose is something they want to use, not something you want them to want to use. I have a serious problem in this department.

Aunt Harriet lives in California, and while she may go "Ohhhh myyyyyy" at the thick wool bedspread you made her, it is probably not going to get much use. Uncle Glenn does work in a butcher shop, but knife cozies are not a thing, no matter what pinterest tells you. Though your mom laughs at possums, she will not wear a possum-shaped hat. Be real, yo, and your gifting will go much better.

Excuse me while a tuck this sweater pattern back into my folders before we move on to the final rule.

Grandma and her neck warmer.

 Rule Three: The proper care

This might have been a risky choice, giving my cousin a wool hat. But I think he can be trusted, since his mama is super crafty as well and probably does most of his laundry.

 Now that you know who you are going to give a handmade gift to, and what you are going to make, it's time to talk about care. The care of what you made, that is.

Handmade things have the potential to require a bit more attention to care than store bought products. When giving handmade be sure to include care instructions for the materials you use. And again, consider the person you are making the project for. Does your cousin have a habit of being really bad at following directions? Well, maybe you should give him a pre-felted wool hat instead of one that will turn to a barbie hat when he inevitably throws it in the washer despite your warnings. It is also probably a good idea to make sure nobody on your gifting list has allergies to anything you might make.

Grandpa can be trusted with wool, because Grandma does his laundry. And she knows what's up.

My cousin got a scarf made of cotton, because it's easy to take care of. And it's so soft, so he can wear the scarf year-round. Maybe.

So, there you have it! The best rules for giving handmade gifts! Hope you found this helpful or at least somewhat readable!

Yours craftily,
Carolyn

Linkin' up here!

Tapestry Cowl: Free Pattern!

Did I just say free pattern?? Why, yes I did! 'Pattern' is, however, a bit loosely used in this sense, because this cowl is so easy it hardly requires a pattern. So, maybe I should say: "Free Method". But....if people are talking about this it could sound a little odd:

"Did you see Carolyn's sweet Free Method she just posted?"
"...A what? A Free Meth Head?!"
"Yeah! For making a knitted cowl!!"
"She enslaves meth heads to make cowls??"

I'll just stick with 'free pattern', I guess. But consider yourselves warned, it really is not much of a strict "follow this and you will have exact results" pattern. More like notes I felt like sharing with you. Yeah! Notes. That sounds good.

 I made this cowl for my mother in law for Christmas. She wears a lot of neutral colored outfits, so I wanted to make her something she could wear with anything! The yarn I chose did most of the work in that department, so I had to stitch up a cowl that really showed off the colors without getting too distracting. So a simple knit and purl cowl was born!!

 The texture it created was interesting and subtle; perfect for such a multi-hued yarn!! Since for some reason I have a ton of variegated wools, I am all about patterns that create nice texture and really show off the yarn.

 So versatile!! I was quite tempted to keep this cowl for myself. Good thing I have a lot of this yarn left! I can probably whip out four more of these for me.

Dat drama!

The cool thing about this pattern or method is the level of customizability there is available. I used about 250 yards of worsted weight wool and size 6 circular needles for my cowl. You can use and size yarn you desire!! Just be sure to adjust your needle size and (possibly) your stitch count to suit your needs. Nothing else really has to be changed! I would love to see this worked up in oober bulky yarn. So pluffy and cozy!!
 

Tapestry Cowl Pattern
By Last in Line

Materials:200-300 yds yarn of your choice
Circular needles in a size appropriate for your selected yarn
Scissors
Stitch marker for marking the beginning of the round
Yarn needle for weaving ends

Stitches Used:K: knit
P: purl
CO: cast on
BO: Bind off

(So far so good right? If you can knit and purl, you are pretty much set.)

Cast on 160 sts for worsted weight (Remember, you can adjust your stitch count to accommodate the size of yarn you use. In fact, you don't even need to count!)
Join for knitting in the round and begin:

Round 1-6: knit
Round 7: purl
Round 8-9: knit
Round 10: purl
Round 11-18: knit
Round 19-20: purl
Round 21-25: knit

I repeated these 25 rows twice to make this cowl. I believe I even added a few rows at the end to get the height I wanted. Really, the pattern is all about tossing random purl rows in between groups of knit rows to get a little texture. Not much of a pattern, but hey, I thought someone else might find it useful.

Yarn I used: Taos by Crystal Palace Yarns Color #10: Hopi

Enjoy your cowl!! Be sure to comment me with a link if you do make one inspired by mine!! I'd love to see what you come up with.

Happy Monday, darlings!! Hope you all have fantastic weeks ahead of you!!
Lots of love,
Carolyn

Linkin' up

Winter is Coming Direwolf Cowl

When it comes to nerdy crafting, I am the first on to jump aboard. In my adventures of Christmas gifting, I knew I was going to get my nerd on with one particular giftee: my sister in law, Kori.

The year was 2012. The month, October. The place? A car on the highway headed to Tennessee. In our adventures to go pack up the rest of Kori's belongings and move her up north. She was reading the fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series (aka the Game of Thrones books, for all you non-readers). Every now and then, while she was reading, she would go "oooohhh snap" or something like that. It was an exciting book. On that very same trip, Kori bought me the first book of the series and sparked my love for it.

As a tribute to her introducing me to the GoT universe, I had to get nerdy for her Christmas gift. I used the Double-Knitted House Stark Direwolf Scarf chart by Katie Dawson on Ravelry. I only took a segment of the pattern and used it to embroider the direwolf after I knitted the cowl.

Funny enough, she got Sailor and I Game of Thrones themed shirts for Christmas. He got a Night Watch shirt, and I got a "My Little Dragon" one. Too perfect.

Dat wolf. I really, really, REALLY wanted to keep it for myself. Maybe I'll make my own. After all, winter is coming. I mean....winter is already here. It's cold.

Bark baaaarrrrk.

The pattern for the direwolf is free at the link I posted above. The cowl itself is just knit on circular needles. I think it's 170 sts for 44 rows. Math.

I have a few more nerdy knits coming up, so keep your eyes peeled!
Love,
Carolyn

Linkin' up

New Year, New Planner: Free Printables!!

January 2015 Edit: So glad these pages have been so popular! I've done some editing on them to make the planner even better for 2015. Due to the time I've spent on them, I've listed them for instant download on Etsy for a couple of bucks a piece. You can still score your own awesome planner for less than you'd spend at a big box store! Plus, you have the peace of mind that you are shopping small and supporting a nerdy artist. Thanks again for being so awesome!!

 I do not get excited about New Years basically at all. I am full of whimsy and fairytales about all sorts of things, but I just do not understand the whole obsession with celebrating New Years. Woot woot, the start of another cycle of the calender we adopted as a modern society! Cooooool. Though it's a nice beginning with which to measure change and new commitments, I see no reason to glorify a "new year" as the most important reason to go all "new year new life" and buy a ton of exercise equipment. New Years is a liiiieeee....any day can be the start of a new yeaaaarrrr. It's all about your attitude towards change, not the day of the year!!!! -slapped by everyone who loves new years-

THAT SAID. I find the new year to be a very important time of change for one thing: my planner. Time to get new calendars!! New planners!! And we all know how much I love calendars and planners and office supplies in general. (Hint: It's almost more than chocolate. Which I also love.)

Since I really started getting this blog in shape a few months ago, I started really heavily relying on the freebie planner my mama gave me for planning posts and whatnot. I was also using it to plan events, meals, craft projects, and (for a while) everything I ate. It got a little crowded! But seeing as I started really using it in like, November, I saw no reason to replace it before 2014 rolled into town.

 So, I started thinking about what I would look for in a planner because I knew that once I got into the office supply store, everything would leave my brain and I'd just grab the glittery one. I decided I needed to divide and conquer. I.e., get a planner for life in general, a planner for the blog, a planner for food.....maybe one for pregnancy?? Then I started thinking about THAT idea: What, I'm going to carry four or five planners? I have issues keeping track of two sets of keys. Five planners was not going to happen.

But how, oh how would I find a planner that fit all my needs? I have so many need, you know. I need separation of topics but in one book; lots of room to write but not just a blank book; and, oh yeah, it has to be cutely colored....but not SO MANY COLORS. I can't commit to an outfit for the whole day. How am I to be expected to commit to a very specific color scheme for 365 days?? What if I suddenly decide that fiesta flowers and pictures of crockpots is upsetting??? But...if it's all blank....will I be sad???

Clearly, I was not over thinking the planner thing at alllll. Sarcasm, my dear friends.

Eventually, the stress of thinking about planners made my go troll Pinterest for ideas. I love free printables, so I thought that perhaps there may be a solution to my woes and sadness. First world problems, my dear friends.

 I found a lot of really fantastic, creative, FREE planners available for download. I was so giddy, I could hardly contain myself. While looking about for the perfect one (or perfect several, since mixing and matching is totally legal), I decided on a couple that I loved. Of course that was not enough, so I supplimented some of the pages with my own derpy creations, which I'm going to share with yoooouuuuu!!! Because sharing is caring, and I want to save you the twitching I experienced while trying to find poifect things.

Enough words!! Onto my 2014 Planner!!

 I decided on half a sheet of normal, A4 computer paper for my planner's size. Easy to print, easy to design, easy to carry about in my purse.

Since I could not find a month page that I liked that printed two per A4 paper, I made my own! I went with a write-your-own-month-and-dates style, so I can use it next year if I want. I tell you, I was on my a-game.

 The first section of my planner is for general use: appointments, dates, due dates, birthdays, whatever. Each month starts with my month blank I designed, and is followed by weekly planner pages from JoyKanani.com. Her free printable weekly planner pages come in four colors!! I used the Seagreen for my general pages, and the blue for my blog pages. We'll get to that later.

 Find the free download here!!

 Onto the blog!! Everything is separated out by tabs I got at OfficeMax when I took my planner to be bound. I think the tabs were $3, and the binding/covers were $5. $8 for my perfect planner. Score!! At least, I think it is.

I am already putting this section to very good use! I plan about 2-3 weeks out for my posts, as you can see here. It makes writing so much easier!! I just check the planner, type up the post, and schedule it. If I'm all set to write one that is in three weeks, I write it whenever I have free time and schedule dat bad boy. Easy peasey.

 This section is a big one for me. With all my dietary specialness, I need to at least try to plan things a week in advance for what I'm going to eat. There's no "Oops, I don't have a dinner that's safe for me to eat at home, guess I'll go out" when you have such a restricted diet. Meal planning is my refuge, and my arch enemy. It can get a little overwhelming to figure out what to cook for me, when I know Mr. Sailor can eat whatever he wants. Blarg, another rant for another day. Onwards!!

 I loved the free menu planner from SweetBellaRoos, but it didn't fit the size of planner I wanted to make. So I edited it a bit to make it work for me. Love the design!! You can find the original for free download here!

 It doesn't have to be pretty, folks. Seriously, I scribble and scratch all over it. But it gets done!! Even though one night this week I was feeling so barfy that I abandoned the plan completely and ate cereal, at least there is food in the fridge that I can make that is safe for me to eat.

 This is also genius. Shopping list on the plan page! I just tote my planner into the store and I am set to go. No more reading my list and going, "What....did I need beans for? Musta been nothing..." and then not getting beans because I didn't have my meal plan with me to see I was going to make beans and rice tomorrow!! Dang it!! I would highly, highly recommend doing some meal planning if you haven't before. Get your life on track, yo!!

 The final section is another one that I designed!! Woohooo!!! I wanted a section of the planner to be dedicated to my crafty endeavors, but I didn't want a section for each individual craft. So I devised these pages to be opened enough to work for sewing, crocheting, knitting, whatever, but still structured enough to give me notes to reference back to if I want to remake the project. I seriously love these pages.

 The pages are blank on the back, allowing me more room to doodle and take notes if I need too. Sheer planner perfection right here, home dogs. I tell you what. Want one of your own? Find the download here.

 The cover is pretty plain, but my dear friend who lives overseas sent me some adorable stickers of some cute-tastic ponies I dreamed up a while ago. They went straight onto the white vinyl cover. BOOYAH. Personalized cover with art drawn by a friend. Awwwwww yeah.

Sweet babuuuu. Look at dat face!

Hngggg, sooo cuuuttteeee.

So, there you have it! My planner for 2014. Totally personalized, totally perfect, totally not pricey for all the perfection I required. I printed all the pages at home (so....our ink cartridge is low now. But it was over half gone before I started, so I can't take all the blame), sliced them in half with my handy dandy paper cutter, and stacked them up and trotted off to Office Max to bind 'em. It only took a few minutes! I added the tabs post-binding. Guh. I love this planner.

Project Notes Page Download

Month Page Download

Please leave a lovely comment if you use my printables!! Let me know how you like them or what you use them for!!

Happy New Planner!!
-Carolyn

Happy New Years!!