Speaking in Public

So, behind the safetly of a computer monitor, I am pretty outgoing. With people I know, I am pretty outgoing. Put me around people I don't know and I turn 8 shades of red when I speak.

So I have decided to live on the edge and accept Amy's (a Lucky Lurker, e-mailing pal, fellow knitter) invitation to speak at their Knitting Guild in Bellevue WA on Monday night!

I am going to be speaking about my wonderful world of Duet Yarns!

Actually, Amy said that it's a smaller group during the summer so this will be more of a question and answer type thing than actually 'speaking' (can you hear my sign of relief all the way on the east coast?). Q & A is definitely more my speed...feels more like friends talking yarn than anything!

I am actually pretty excited!!! Nervous, but excited! And I am bringing yarn! An evening talking yarn sounds fabulous to me!!! Wish you all could come!!! For those of you who are going to be there...I can't wait to meet you!!! :)

Sign Ups started TODAY!!!

Today is the day!!! Open sign ups began for all hopeful Lucky Lurkers!

If you haven't been a part of the Lucky Lurker Club before, here's the low down. Over the course of 3 months (Sept. Oct. Nov) I send out a skein of Duet Yarns in an exclusive colorway never available to anyone else. Each month is a different weight yarn and each one comes with a pattern specially designed with that yarn.

In addition, a welcome package is sent out in August that is sure to get everyone excited about the upcoming months. With every pattern and skein, $1 of each person's membership goes to an animal shelter to help homeless critters. The appreciation from these shelters has been fantastic and it's all in the name of Lucky Lurker Members!
Space is limited because I can only dye a certain amount at one time, so once the club is full-that's it. Every round so far has been sold out. There's only a few spaces left right now and I only posted the openings this morning!!!!

Hopefully everyone that is wanting a spot is able to get it!!!

Happy lurking!!

And the winner is.....

Thank you to everyone who submitted a pattern in the first ever "Win a Spot in the Lucky Lurker Club Design Contest"!!!!!! They were all absolutely fabulous and deciding was very difficult!!!!

The winners of the contest were Tori, Kelly, Elaine, and Jennifer!!!!

But wait, that's 4 winners and I said I was only offering 3 spots...

Well, one of these wonderful designers did something I had never considered-She created a brand new Basic Duet Sock design!!!

That means, the upcoming round of Lucky Lurker Club with have 4 brand new designs instead of 3 !!!

Congratulations everyone!!!! I can't wait to share your designs!!!

Bonding Bunnies

After the last few months of bunny after bunny getting spayed, the day had finally come where they were all healed and ready to be put into their new colony.

The decision to put all my bunnies together happend because I know the benefits of the bond bunnies can share through cuddling and grooming eachother. Originally, it was strongly reccommended to not to put them all together because of the loss of fur production. After 2 years, and more than enough angora fur than I can spin in a lifetime, their happiness is far more important than the fur I can get.

And so the process began...we went from indoors/seperate cages, to enclosed outdoor(Bundo)/seperate cages to this! That was a chore itself. We had to dig out all the dirt from before, and go down about 6", lay a layer of wire on the ground so they can't dig through and then bring in a new layer of gravel and spread that.

Then I added, 7 hiding spaces for 5 bunnies, one tube to run through, a litterbox cage, and a lovely seagrass mat to add to the ambiance :) Then I added the bunnies. That wasnt' pretty AT ALL! It was all out war! After a few hours of watching them constantly and seperating them with a broom, I opted for a ride in the truck to help with the bonding process.

In the truck each one went.

Back and forth in the drive way, over and over

Until all the bunnies are doing this.

Pretty much what the car ride does is put all their differences aside and has them join together out of fear. I have bonded 2 bunnies before, but 5 at once definitely required more aggressive measures.

So back to the new Bundo the very scared bunnies went. There continued to be some bonding and pairing, then once the fear of that truck ride passed it was all out war again.

I ended up sleeping in the Bundo part of the night with them to make sure the attacks didn't go to far. It was a restless night and by morning, they seem to be ready to get some rest themselves. I slipped away to get cleaned up for the day and that's when the two want-to-be queen's went at it. I caught only the end of it and it had been a doozy. Penelope has definitely been kicked down the totem pole. I almost went to the vet with her (which can do more harm than good, because seperating them can make them an outcast and their beating post) Thankfully, she seemd to perk back up minutes before we were to leave!

The rest of the day had relatively minor scuffles and my anxiety level, though still quite high, has come down a bit. By night time I was confident that I didn't need to sleep in the Bundo with them because the fights were getting less agressive. Today is that much better. We are now 36 hours into the bonding process and I am very pleased. This is definitely not something I ever want to do again, because it is heartaching to see your little furbabies attacked, but I remind myself that they are animals and this is their process-I can break up the fights for their safety, but they need to work through their process.

The end result will be so worth it! The companionship, the snuggles, the constant exercise and the freedom. They will be very happy bunnies!

This round of Lucky Lurker

By now, everyone has recieved their June installment of the Lucky Lurker Club! I am kinda excited about this one because it's the first of it's kind that I have ever designed and I love that it's something you can make with sock weight yarn that isn't socks!

I am sure, like many of you out there, I have an over abundance of sock weight yarns. I do love knitting socks, I have 2 pair on the needles right now, but to keep things interesting I like to add different projects into the mix so I don't get burnt out on the socks. This one was a BLAST! So quick and easy to knit...now I find myself thinking, "Oh that yarn would make a pretty pair of undies!!"

I hope everyone loved the fresh idea for sock weight yarn too!

Since I forgot to share May's installment of the Lucky Lurker Club, here is the pattern that was included in May. It's Mermaiden Tale. I created a stitch repetition that would sorta duplicate scales then the waviness for a mermaid tale. It was pretty fun to have a theme for the stitches that I used. Knowing I wanted an aquatic feel to it put a new spin on designing it!

The response was overwhelming for this colorway too! Lots of Blue Lovers out there!!!!

I hope all you Lucky Lurkers are having as much fun as I am this round!!!

Stay tuned for July's installment!!!