Colorway #3 Blue Ice Reflection

Colorway #3 "Blue Ice Reflection"

Mary of Michigan named our third colorway. This cool blend of blues, grey and a touch of white and sparkle reminded her of her hiking adventures in New Zealand. She says " The blue ice of the glaciers made the most unusual and incredible blue streams and rivers.  They were milky blues and aquas along with the rushing over the rocks and the sparkle of the snow."

I love how these colorways are summoning up happy memories for people. As a (research) psychologist, I'm well aware of the importance of smell for bringing up memories, but I wonder whether color palettes my also do something similar. I'll need to do some research :).

Roll River, NZ Source: http://vimeo.com/22014449

I'm sorry for the delay in getting this third (and soon the fourth!) colorway up. We've had some health incidents in my family and that set me back a week. All is good now though, and the fourth colorway will be posted shortly! A huge bunch of batts are all ready to go out this weekend, and those of you who have waited 'til the very end for your batts have an extra surprise in your packages.

I hope spring is treating you well and that everyone is enjoying the beautiful colors, sounds, and smells that mother nature is blessing us with! 

Here is a picture from Rosemary on a swing bridge over one of these streams.

Mary on a swing bridge in New Zealand

Beautiful rugs

I "met up" with an amazing fiber artist on-line who was destashing some of her fiber. I've now added to my stash from her twice, with some gorgeous Lincoln, Targhee and Karakul.

I found out that she uses it for hooked rugs, and was I ever in for some eye candy when I found her Etsy shop and flickr feed. Vicky Brickle-Macky lives in South Carolina and does amazing work with fiber. She previously ran a cross stitch company (Fanxstitch), and her designs must have been amazing. Here are two from her Etsy shop:



What really moves me though are her rugs. I fell in love with them, and am hoping that maybe one will come my way for Mother's Day. I thought this is a great gift for a mom who loves fiber and traditional arts and crafts. Here are three of my favourites:

Random acts of kidness

Signal boost. This is a great way to show compassion and spread some good. I'm happy to pay to ship Ottawa's contribution, if your square is done by next week and you can get it to me (email me for my address). So, let's spread some love...

Taken from the Yarn-a-go-go blog

"Hi Rachael,

This is a bit awkward for me because I've only just learned who you were a couple of weeks ago, but you were the first person that came to mind. I've been reading your book, A Life in Stitches, because I told my nook that I like to knit, and it thought I would love what you had to say about it. I do. I love it so much, and more than one chapter has attempted to choke me with tears (and succeeded...like yesterday in the lunchroom...my first sweater will now have rows of your memories in it). 

I just got through the part where you talk about the Love Blanket everyone made for you when you lost your mother. Krystle Campbell, one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing earlier this week, was the niece of a coworker of mine. Wilma was so proud of her, so fond of her, you would think Krystle was her own daughter. It feels like it was no coincidence that I happened upon your book when I did, or read that particular chapter while flailing inside because showering Wilma with hugs this week just hasn't been enough. I started by going around the office and hounding my friends on Facebook in hopes of finding people who knit or crochet because the thought of, "Rachael knows who can help," just sounded crazy. I've hit that particular level of determination where crazy sounds like the Best Idea Ever.

If you can help get the word out, that would be absolutely amazing. I have no deadline at the moment, but none of these families have closure in one of the worst ways. If there are enough squares (which I'm hoping for beyond hope), I want to piece together a second blanket for Wilma's brother--Krystle's father. I can give them both to her here at the office.

Please, if you can help, feel free to pass out my email to anyone willing to put together an 8" by 8" square--crochet, knit, it doesn't matter, any color or style--and I'll get them my mailing address.

Thank you so much,

Rena"

Second colorway "Garden Key"

Envirobatt in Garden Key

   

Queen Angelfish

Our second colorway from the Envirobatts campaign is ready. Grace from Brockville is the namer of this colorway. Grace and her husband spent a day in the Dry Tortugas (a national park in Florida) in February and all the photos that they took have these colors in them.

They saw a Queen Angelfish like the one below which is rare unless diving. What beautiful colors this fish has!

Grace without shoes

Grace has been knitting for 54 of her 58 years. She says "I prefer fine yarn and tiny needles and I'm grateful that my family has more legs than a centipede. Sock knitting has been an addiction since I turned my first heel in grade two!"


She has three daughters who are scattered from sea-to-sea, so her free time is now filled by singing, gardening and set construction for the Brockville Operatic Society and Brockville Theatre Guild.

Thank you Grace for your support of Envirobatts and for naming this colorway!