Good morning! I hope you are doing well and finding lots of time to enjoy the fiber arts.

I wanted to tell you about two important things this week.

September Club Colorway

First of all, I decided to use “Girl with a Pearl Earring” as the inspiration for my September club colorways. Here it is:

I’ve been wanting to use this painting for a couple months but decided to wait until the beginning of fall since the colors in the painting are a bit fall-ish. I think this colorway is going to be wonderfully dramatic. I have everything figured out except her skin tone, which is going to require some experimentation. I say that with a smile because I love experimenting with dye colors to get just the right shade.

This painting is often called the “Mona Lisa” of the North, though Vermeer painted it about 150 years later in 1665. Personally, I find the painting even more intriguing than Da Vinci’s masterpiece.

If you would like to join one of my monthly yarn or art batts clubs, you can do so here. If you would like to make any changes to your current subscription, I just ask that you do it by the first of the month as usual.

Yarn Advent Calendars

I also want to tell you that I have my Yarn Advent Calendars listed! If you follow me on Facebook, then you know I’ve been working on these for quite awhile now, so I’m happy to announce that they are ready to go. This is the first year I’ve done these, and I’m really excited about them.

Here’s how it works: Every day starting from December 1st through Christmas Day, you will get to open a little package containing one 20 gram mini skein. The colors will work up as a gradient.

I’m including Ambah O’Brien’s Adventurer Scarf and Wrap knitting pattern as part of the kit, and I’ve designed the colorways to go beautifully with that pattern. Of course if you crochet or weave, you can certainly find some other wonderful ways to use the yarn.

I don’t want to give away too much of the surprise, but I will tell you that you can expect there to be splashed and speckled yarn, and that the colorways will go from light to dark to light again. Also, I have opted not to use Christmas colors. Instead, I’ll be using my burgundy rose colorway along with several shades of blue and purple. I want this to be something you can make in the time leading up to Christmas and then wear all year long for years to come.

You can find out more and order yours here.

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

The new Spin Together spinning competition is going amazingly well thanks to some incredibly talented volunteers and just a tremendous response–far beyond what I could have expected. Individual spinners will be able to join teams beginning on September 1st. I had originally planned to have a Purple Lamb team, but I realized that, since I started the whole thing, it wouldn’t look right if my team won, and it wouldn’t be fair to my team members if they couldn’t, so I’m sticking with organizing and sponsoring prizes.

I’m dyeing up and listing lots of new goodies today and tomorrow with a focus on my So Silky Sock and Squoosh DK yarn bases. A few of the colorways include Nebula, Cherries Jubilee, Eowyn’s Mantle, and something completely new for fall–West Fork in Autumn. Can you tell I’m chomping at the bit for the beginning of fall? You would be too if you lived in Arizona!

I also just got mulberry silk hankies. This is the first time my wholesalers have had these in stock for a very long time, so I was excited to get them. These are so much fun to spin! I listed some undyed for those of you would enjoy dyeing them, and I’ll be dyeing up some as well. I also have mulberry silk top, which I’ll be dyeing up for you soon, so keep an eye on the New This Month section of the shop.

Happy fiber artistry!