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Author Archives: Rebekah

Forty Skeins of Yarn

Written on May 13, 2012 by Rebekah in Dyeing, Etsy, Yarn

Does anyone have a “get life to slow down” free card? I could use one. Things have been downright crazy around here, but I believe that God is working it all together for good.

Family members traveling, a family member dislocating a knee, yeah. It’s been pretty crazy.

So, I’ve decided to move the reopening of my yarn store back to June sometime. And (ready for this?) I’m keeping the name Maiden Yarn. It’s a good name, and it’s a name my customers know. At this point I’m thinking “Wildwood Fibers” will be a sub-brand for some extra special products I’ll be carrying. And don’t think this means the store won’t have some really neat additions and improvements! I’m still very excited.

In other news, I dyed forty-something skeins of yarn during the last two days for my friend at Annie and Co. That is a pile of yarn, y’all. I barely have room on my drying racks for all of it.

Yes, all the pictures for today are in black and white. My camera’s little electronic brain was so blown by the sheer gorgeousness of the tones, it flipped out and couldn’t portray them accurately. (And maybe I got a little filter-happy.)

So, the rest of May will be spent getting things ready for Maiden Yarn’s reopening in June, and having some friends come in from out of town for a mutual friend’s wedding. You can be expecting some pictures of the former (not the latter) in the weeks to come.

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The Saga Continues. . .

Written on April 15, 2012 by Rebekah in Etsy

Whew. It’s been crazy around here, what with inventory creation, plans for some special new items, and taking care of business odds and ends. But, the plan has moved forward to phase “shutting down Laceweight Fibers.” (Moment of silence.) It’s been a lovely little store, and I’m sorry to see it go, but I know it will be happier reunited with its sister store MaidenYarn (Soon to be Wildwood Fibers.) It will officially close its cyber doors at the end of April, but meanwhile all inventory is 30% off. Yep. Lots of hand dyed laceweights are looking for a new home. A nice weight for spring and summer knitting.

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Happy April!

Written on April 3, 2012 by Rebekah in Etsy

My, my, my, where on earth did Spring go? We’re in the 80 degree range down here. There was practically no winter, a brief spring, a massive dump of pollen, and now we’re racing onward toward the heat of July. Or, at this rate, late April.

Lots of things are afoot around here, besides the pollen. We filmed a dvd on “How To Knit”, which will be added to this collection of dvds as soon as it’s edited and I’ve bitten the bullet and written the little booklet that goes along with it. I’m having difficulty buckling down to that, though, for a couple reasons.

First off, I have a few ideas for novels begging to be written, and in my humble opinion, a fantasy novel is much more fun to write than a series of materials lists. But, that’s just my opinion.

Secondly, I’m getting ready to dive into creating the inventory for Wildwood Fibers! Huzzah! (Round of applause.) As you may have noticed, Maiden Yarn on Etsy is temporarily closed, and Laceweights will be following soon, so if you want something, grab it quick.

Today’s work session revolved around deciding which colorways I’ll open the new shop with. At this point I have no idea if it’s a delicate balance of weighing data, or random chance, but hopefully I’ve narrowed in on a nice balance of colors. A few old favorites are carrying over, of course, but some will be modified for a fresh new look.

There’s lots of work ahead, but it’s looking bright and cheery.

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Name Change Sale!

Written on February 18, 2012 by Rebekah in Etsy

Maiden Yarn is moving forward on the name change process. Talk about an exciting new phase of existence!

In an effort to get the ball rolling, and new supplies laid in, all current inventory is 30% off, so have fun.

~ Velvet Slippers Sock Yarn

~ Not a Daisy Roving

~ Spring Roving

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Etsy Treasuries

Written on February 17, 2012 by Rebekah in Etsy

Despite the pile of work needing to be done (somehow the desk gets cluttered, I can’t understand it) I took some time this afternoon to create a couple Etsy treasuries. These are member created lists of items that looks nice as a group, so it’s sort of an art project for me. I like finding photos of different items with similar characteristics and colors.

I made two. The first is “Not Quite Black and White.”

And the second one is “Late Summer, With Love.”

These pictures only show half of the items in each, but you can see the full sized versions by clicking on their names. Drop by and let me know what you think.

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New Yarns

Written on February 13, 2012 by Rebekah in Yarn

I listed some new laceweights in the store this morning. Lovely new sage-y greens.

Aside from that, things have been a little slow on the yarn end of life. I’m still hoping for time to start in on new inventory for the soon-to-be Wildwood Fibers, but I’m pretty much hogtied with another project at the moment. I’m working on another one of those handicraft DVDs – knitting, this time – and the due date is looming up rapidly.

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Naming Things

Written on February 5, 2012 by Rebekah in Dyeing, Fiber, Uncategorized

A huge part of what I do in my yarn and fiber business revolves around coming up with names. Names for yarn bases. Names for colorways. Names for special coupon codes or snazzy sales. This in itself can be exhausting (I can’t imagine what Adam went through – naming all those animals) but when you add in the fact that the name should be somewhat appealing, descriptive, and easy to remember and spell, you have a recipe for a lot of hyperactive tension.

For instance, shall we look at a sample?

This might look familiar. It’s that beautiful fluffy green roving I mentioned a couple posts ago.
Now, how to go about coming up with a name for it. First up, the first few things that pop into my head. Lemongrass. Leaf bud. (Which tangents into Twigs and Twiggy.) Cucumber. Silver veil.

What on . . . .? Where did silver come from? I think it snuck in there because of the softness of the green. Rather like dew drops.

Well, I already have a lemongrasss in my store, and it’s a much yellower green than this, so that’s out. Leaf bud just doesn’t have a nice, aesthetic sound to it to me. (Everyone has a different opinion on this, which is what makes names so personality-filled.) But I do like the idea of a leaf bud. Some other ideas coming from that might be “tender.” Now, I like tender. We’ll just file that away and keep skimming.

Twig sounds cute, but could create issues with people visualizing vegetable matter in the roving. Otherwise I’d go with something like “Tender Twig.” But “Tender Cucumber” just sounds weird.

Leaves. . .Tender. . . Spring. Spring is a good word, and we’re getting close to Spring, but to me “Spring” is a much lighter green than this roving. (Maybe it I just wasn’t so picky we’d have this figured out by now.) Rain! Rain makes things darker and carries a sort of silvery conotation to it.

The final name? (After several days of not thinking about it.) “Spring.” Although now that I’m thinking about it again, “Spring Rain” would be a nice one, but that would call for blue. Or even “Budding Leaves.” But! It’s named, and we’re going to leave it. (For the sake of my sanity.)

I finally got this braid, and a couple others up in my store, so take a look and let me know what you think.

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February Dyeing

Written on February 3, 2012 by Rebekah in Dyeing, Fiber

It’s been a busy week on the dyeing front around here – as evidenced by the growing pile of yarns and fibers to be photographed, the rapidly filling drying racks, and the ever-changing splotches of color on my hands. It’s not every profession that allows you to get away with blue and yellow streaks on your fingers. (Yes, I love my job, why do you ask?)

The biggest project has been a twenty-skein order from a local yarn store. Remember, the one that carries my merino/silk laceweights? We’re swapping out some current colorways and renewing some old favorites.

I’m a little concerned though. My supplier might be hiking the price on the laceweight yarn base, and that would mean hunting for a new yarn blend. I have a potential source in mind as backup, but we’ll wait and see.

And, in and around those twenty skeins, I’ve been doing a lot of fiber dyeing. I’ve got at least five batches of rovings ready to be photographed, and listed in the near future. I’m rather tickled about that. It’s been awhile since I brought in some new fibers.

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Sparkle Cards

Written on January 25, 2012 by Rebekah in Finished Project

In which leftover confetti and a brand new set of colored ink pens meet an urgent need for some nice “Thank You” cards.

I think I’m going to have to make more of these.

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Exciting New Things

Written on January 24, 2012 by Rebekah in Personal Thoughts

Well, it’s finally time for me to reveal some wonderful changes that will be taking place in Maiden Yarn and Fiber. Yay!

The first big one will be that Laceweight Yarns will be re-merging with Maiden Yarn. It’s been lots of fun having them separate, but the time has come to pull it all together and let the creative fusion begin.

The second big one will be that my business is changing names. (Yes, I know, I like Maiden Yarn and Fiber as a name, but wait until you hear the new one.) The name for new company will be Wildwood Fibers, and it will be amazing.

Wildwood Fibers will focus on having gorgeous, repeatable colorways that are in good supply instead of just the occasional one-up skein. The over-all feel will be magical and imaginative, and the products will reflect that. Who knows? There might even be more than spinning fibers and yarns.

On a practical level, I will be keeping the Maiden Yarn store on Etsy and simply re-naming it for Wildwood Fibers. And even then, the re-naming won’t be happening for at least another month or so. I’ve got to get the new store inventory developed and ready to roll.

Some favorite colorways will definitely be traveling over to Wildwood Fibers, although they might appear under other names. Dawn Treader is coming, as are Ink, Blackberry Jam, Butterfly in Shadow, Eye of the Peacock, and Nightshade.

This is very exciting. I can hardly wait to see what Wildwood Fibers becomes. But, meanwhile, keep on the lookout for “cleaning out current inventory” sales. Good places to watch for info are on Twitter (@MaidenYarn), here, or Maiden Yarn’s facebook page.

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