The sun and water are helping the plants to grow. Little peppers – yellow and green – are popping up everywhere. Pale plump little tomatoes are hiding amongst the leaves. Every morning I discover something new.

There’s been an array of busy things to do this week, aside from the usual, more pleasurable aspects of work. (Accounting and bookkeeping, for example. Endless accounting and bookkeeping. My my.) But that’s all done and now we’re trying to slow down again. I love the slow down. I love taking deep breaths and just admiring the scenery.

Having my mom here has been wonderful. I’ve learned a lot about hand-sewing (for making more nabastagner) and I’ve learned a few new knitting patterns. There’s nothing I can impart at the moment though, because as you may recall, I have to go through major translation barriers when it comes to knitting terms and symbols. It’s pretty hilarious. (And brain twisting!)

Today I want to make some time to sit down with my favorite blogs and just catch up on what you’re doing. That’s always peaceful and inspiring.

And, a very warm thank you to all of my customers. Many, many warm thank yous, in fact! We appreciate you so much…

This weekend swirled by in a combination of color and cleaning. (My mama’s coming to visit!) I dyed up a mini-storm on Sunday – ten new fiber colorways – and this morning I’m busy braiding and photographing. And did I mention my mama’s coming up to visit? I am so beside myself with joy! She almost never has time to come up. But this time she pushed everything else aside – arranged for all the grand-babes to get picked up from school, rescheduled the doctors appointments and physical therapy sessions, pre-made a week’s worth of dinners for dad – just to be with us a for a whole seven days! We’re planning on doing any/all of the following: knitting, sewing, baking bread, cooking some really old Armenian recipes, watching ‘Three’s Company’ and ‘Dallas’ and just talking over coffee.

In more detailed fibery news – I’m having one big update this week! The colorways are all dreamy. (I even painted a few of them for myself.) Some of the new colorways are available in doubles.

I will be posting update preview photos on flickr later today or tomorrow. But in the meantime, here’s a sample of what’s coming to the shop!

Oh, and while you’re at my flickr gallery, please join my group! I’d love to see all of your handspun and knitting projects created with SC fiber and yarn!

A flower for the flower of the family…

Today I’m working with some rather wild vintage beads. I’ve never been big on animal prints, but I do enjoy them in small doses – they can be fun and tres chic.

I’m also getting ready to spin some playful yarn. Since the ‘Garden’ theme is going on this May, I plucked a ‘Root Veggies’ batt set from the shop and will be working with them. I’m not sure how I want to spin them yet, but I’m leaning heavily towards plying. Maybe a nice and textured thread-ply.

And here are some ‘Zinnias’ for your garden…

For about seven years, I worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District. We coordinated sports activities for elementary school kids, and during that time, I worked at over a hundred different schools throughout LA. The job was a blast, and we all felt lucky to do the work. (How sweet was it to have a fitness job from the age of 18 to 25, working out and playing sports for a paycheck? And I miss the tan…) During the last three years of that job, I was employed at a small school up in the foothills of LA, down the street from my parent’s house. One afternoon, a tall, dark and strongly-built man walked into the school gym. I had never seen him before, so I walked up and introduced myself. He smiled kindly, and said he was Phil Mendez. Something tickled the back of my ear. Phil Mendez. That name was so familiar…

Suddenly, it hit me.

“Excuse me, are you the Phil Mendez?”

He said yes, and I almost fell over. I must’ve done some wild arm gestures or something, because I remember the look of surprise on his face when I exclaimed, “‘Kissyfur’ was my favorite cartoon EVER!” I then launched an endless stream of OhhowIloveditso! and Iwouldnevermissit! and MygrandmaandIwouldwatchit! and on and on and on. I’m pretty sure I embarrassed myself royally, but he was beyond gracious, and even flattered. I asked about his work with Hanna-Barbera and ‘The Jetsons’ and ‘Yogi Bear’ and I can’t remember what else I blurted and blabbed. I remember his smile and how very humble he was.

He said, “Did you know that ‘Kissyfur’ was named after my son? His name is Christopher, but he would call himself Kissyfur…”

I never knew that, of course, but it was so touching to hear. I really wanted to tell him how much ‘Kissyfur’ meant to me as a child. I wanted to express how much ‘Kissyfur’ inspired me to love art and to paint and draw, and how my grandmother and I would watch it together. But trying to explain it was impossible. Most of the wonderful things we experienced as children are hard to grasp, like beautiful rainbow bubbles.

He asked if I ever read his book, The Black Snowman. I said no, I hadn’t, and I was very sorry I hadn’t. He just smiled. Phil Mendez has a beaming smile.

The next day at work, a woman walked up to me and handed me a big envelope. She smiled and said, “Phil asked me to give this to you.” I opened it, and this was inside:

And this was on the inside of the cover:

I never got a chance to thank him. But in my heart, I thank him every time I read The Black Snowman and look at my very own sweet Kissyfur.

You can read about Phil Mendez here, and catch a glimpse of all the wonderful things he has created.

Today is a happy day. It’s Dennis’ birthday! Birthdays have a whole new meaning for me since last year. I don’t think I’ve ever cried at a birthday before, but today already makes me teary. My sweetie turned forty-two (the answer to life, the universe and everything!) Yay for 42! And here’s to a hundred more birthdays, Mr. Bear – all happy, all in good-health and laughter. And I wish all of you a hundred happy birthdays too – filled with joy and good health.

I promised to share my secret sewing project, so here we go: it’s a bunny rabbit! We love bunny rabbits – our house is filled with stuffed bunnies and porcelain bunnies and bunny art, you name it. So I thought it would be safe to add just one more little bunny to the family. Meet, Dennis the Nabastag:

(Nabastag means bunny rabbit in Armenian.) Isn’t he a sweetie-heart? His eyes are vintage buttons, and his nose and mouth are hand-stitched.

Oh, and he has floppy ears. And Dennis just loves him!

If you want to make your own box-shaped bunny, the pattern’s in this lovely book! (The fabric I used was brown linen, and some prints I found – and totally fell in love with – at Joann.)

I have been working on a top-secret sewing project. It’s been a combination of pure fun and hearty challenge. I finished it up tonight after working on it for four nights. (Nights, because that’s the only time a certain someone in this house will play some video games, so I can quietly disappear for a few hours into the studio…) I’m taking a big risk talking about it today, because that means I’ll have to keep you-know-who away from this blog for a full day! It’s not like he reads it, but occasionally he will pop in to test server stuff. Thursday is you-know-who’s birthday, and this is his present. (I’m so happy – I think he’s going to love it!)

This is my first official sewing project, so I’m beyond excited to show you what it is! Tomorrow, I promise. I’ll gift it to him in the morning, and then post some pictures.

In fibery news – I decided to combine today’s and tomorrow’s mini-Garden updates, because my day is already pretty hectic. So expect a number of new and pretty fluffies in the shop tomorrow!

Wishing you a wonderful (not-too-warm) day.

Our veggies are growing…

I am loving this month-long daily ‘Gardening’ update. (Uh-hem. I took today off so I can do some shipping and other stuff that will take me out of the house.) Yesterday I added some handdyed yarns, and I think ‘Tulips’ is my favorite colorway ever.

‘Calla Lilies’ and ‘Hyacinth’ are on one of my favorite yarn bases ever – this amazing and shimmery-soft merino/mulberry silk blend. It’s dreamy.

Much more tomorrow, including a glimpse at a Top-Secret sewing project I’m working on. Wishing all of you a wonderful week!

Oh, May… May is such a pleasant month. Summer is almost here, but the gentility of spring hasn’t faded one bit. Our little garden veggies are now twice the size they were when we planted them. A week ago we sowed some heirloom carrot seeds, and they’re do to sprout within the next ten days. (I talk to them every morning.)

All of April I was busy with clubs and SALs and didn’t have much time to update the shop. I felt like a neglectful parent sometimes, looking at my shop and saying, I’ll be back, I promise! This month, I decided to forgo any new clubs or custom orders, so that I can update the shop a little every day. I have so many new and pretty things coming for May’s continuous ‘Garden’ themed update! (For example, I’ve had it in my mind to spin mini-veggie skeins, so I’ll be introducing 4oz veggie kits, like ‘Heirloom Carrots’ and ‘Tulips’, for striping/plying/carding, or in my case, spinning mini coordinating skeins! I’ll start that project this coming week.)

I wish I had more time to knit. My sweet friend, Stacey, has been doing some amazing fiber work – spinning and knitting and just wowing me daily. Her blog is a major source of inspiration to me.

I’ve also been inspired by sewing and fabric. Much much more on that soon. For now, I’ll focus on fiber (and a new colorway called ‘Bright Lights Chard’ – named for the veggies, of course!)

Today I was puttering about in the studio – organizing, washing and ironing fabric, cleaning the carder and weighing bundles of fiber. Spring got me all worked-up, and now I’m ready to fall back into the pleasantries of ritual and rhythm. I’m re-learning to love and find peace in the process.

Taking photos of pretty things is forever a source of peace and joy as well…

And a little glimpse at what’s coming during next week’s ‘Gardening’ update:

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.