March update

Thanks, folks!  Invoices are now out; I’ll pack yarn on Sunday and will have it in the mail on Monday.

To claim some yarn, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com.  An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices.  I’ll send out PayPal invoices about an hour after the update starts, once things start to quiet down a bit; please note that invoices are due upon receipt (with a little leeway for different time zones and schedules).

Reminders: Colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or skein.

Four Quarter: Top left: Grinning Faces in Dark Places; Top centre: An Unbusy Brain; Top right: Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds; Bottom left: Wild Berries for Worried Friends; Bottom centre: Water My Plants; Bottom right: Quiet Together

Four Quarter: Top left: Joyous Colour for Thoughtful Creatures; Top centre: Happy Thoughts for Skittish Folks; Top right: Niblets on the Move; Bottom left: Bright Tunes for Afternoons; Bottom centre: Caring Deeds for Doleful People; Bottom right: Little Snuggler

Four Quarter: Top: Quiet Care for Fearful Felines; Bottom left: Better Than Well Water; Bottom right: Snow Buntings are Dear to Me

Four Quarter: Left: Tiny Big Fruits; Right: Big Hugs for Little Mugs

Four Quarter: Left: Sitting in Silence (gradient); Right: Resurgence of Dolphins (Straight)

Four Quarter: Top: Dance Party Cleaning Blitz; Bottom: Quiet Clatter (Straight)

Four Quarter: Top: Moments of Grace (gradient); Bottom: Pelicans in the Night (Straight)

Four Quarter: Left: Tarnished Silver Box (Straight); Right: Two Comets (gradient)

Four Quarter: Top: a e i o u (gradient); Bottom: And Sometimes Y (Straight)

Four Quarter: Top: Knitter’s Kiln (gradient); Bottom: Cool Bobbles (Straight)

merino fingering doubles (one long gradient, dyed over two cakes): Left (top & bottom): Dreaming of Blooms; Centre (top & bottom): Watching Pea Shoots Grow; Right (top & bottom): Watching the Paint Dry

 

ASL (alpaca/ silk/ linen): Top left: Device-Free Atrium; Top right: Too Bright to Call; Bottom left: Mana-tea Party; Bottom right: Through the Branches, a Wolf

ASL doubles (alpaca/ silk/ linen, dyed as one long gradient over two cakes): Left (top and bottom): When the Skies Are Gray, I Bring You Rain; Right (top and bottom): Whatever You Like

 

merino/ silk fingering doubles (one long gradient, dyed over two cakes): Left (top & bottom): Garden-Planning Party; Centre (top & bottom): Generous Hearts for Weary People; Right (top & bottom): Naming the Lambs

merino/ silk double (one long gradient, dyed over two cakes): Wild Rainbow

 

Strange times

This weekend would have been Knit City Montreal.  Instead of setting up in the marketplace and hoping to pick up some bagels for later, I’m working out of my New Brunswick studio, watching it snow as I cake and photograph new gobsmackers for tomorrow’s update.  The speed with which things are changing is all a bit disorienting, but I feel very fortunate to be safe at home with a decent internet connection and a dog who needs regular escapes to wide-open spaces.

Fennel the dog, checking out the smells as we keep our distance from others.

Tomorrow’s update (28 March) will be posted here on the front page of my site, as usual, going live at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time.  I know that the internet has been a bit slow in some locations, due to unprecedented demands for service.  While I hope that the update will run smoothly, I ask for your patience if you do run into trouble.  Remember, special requests are a possibility if you find that updates are moving too quickly or if you have something particular in mind.

Please recognise that delivery times for yarn may be a bit longer than usual.  At present, Canada Post is running well, though they’re warning that deliveries may be slightly delayed; your postal service may have similar delays.

I hope that you’re finding some respite from the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic in your knitting, your crochet, your weaving, and all of your other creative endeavours.  If you (like me) are experiencing a strong desire to cast on ALL the THINGS, may I suggest that you look into the Knit City Montreal ensemble MAL (Make-a-Long)?  It’s an event, hosted on Ravelry and other online platforms, to encourage folks to work on projects using yarn, supplies, or patterns from a vendor or designer or teacher who was planning to be at Knit City Montreal.  You can find the full list of vendors here and instructors here.  (Note that I’m not an official vendor, as I was to be a guest in indigodragonfly‘s booth.  For this MAL, please support individuals and businesses who are official participants.)

Covid-19

Dear gobsmacked fans,

Things are moving fast with the virus situation, with lots of cancellations of major events. Knit City Montreal has just been postponed— quite rightly so, as it makes a lot of sense to try to slow the spread of covid-19 as much as possible, to protect people and to avoid overwhelming the medical system. Unfortunately, the new date for Knit City (in July) doesn’t work with my existing commitments, so Montreal is not in the cards for me.

As disappointing as the cancellations are to me, I’m fortunate in that gobsmacked is a part-time business, not my sole livelihood. There are many, many small business owners– yarn dyers and LYS owners and folks who run bookstores and local coffee shops and restaurants– who are really going to be hurting during this pandemic. I encourage anyone who can to try to support small businesses, whether by ordering online or getting takeout or buying a gift card to use later or whatever.  As a start, there are virtual and small-scale in-person events this weekend, 13-15 March, in place of Vogue Knitting Live, which was cancelled in Seattle.

If you’re eager to nab some gobsmacked yarn to keep your hands busy and quiet your mind, I’m moving my March online update to the date of the original Knit City Montreal: Saturday 28 March at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time (note recent change to daylight time!). Pushing the date back will allow me to offer an even bigger online update, with gobsmackers that I’ve been preparing for the big show.  I’ll send a brief reminder email just before that update, to make sure that you don’t miss it; you can find details for how to join my mailing list here.

In the meantime, wash your hands well, avoid big gatherings, and check in on friends or neighbours who might be feeling the stress. Oh, and if you’re participating in the annual gobSMACKdown, don’t forget to post your last few WIP or FO photos in the threads on Ravelry— it ends on Sunday!

January update

Thanks, all!  Invoices are now out and packages will go into the mail on Tuesday.  The sold yarn is shown in strike-through font, but there are still a few things available; if one of them catches your fancy, just shoot me an email and I’ll get back to you shortly.

Hello from beautiful (but grey) New Brunswick!  Today’s update features merino/ silk DK hat sets (33g gradients + 50g Straights) and sock sets (pairs of 50g merino/ nylon gradients).  There are also some oddballs or trial bases, each priced as per the photo captions.

Remember that colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or skein.

To claim some yarn, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com.  An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices.  I’ll send out PayPal invoices about an hour after the update starts, once things start to quiet down a bit; please note that invoices are due upon receipt (with a little leeway for different time zones and schedules).

Shipping for paid orders will happen on Tuesday 28 January.

Four Quarter: top: Dark & Dusky Eve; bottom left: A Darker Dawn; bottom right: Off Without a Hitch

Four Quarter: Left: In the Brambles; right: Beautiful Strange

Four Quarter: left: Confetti Rainbow; right: Setting the Record Straight

Four Quarter minis (50g cakes, $22): left: The Big Idea (blue-purple to acid green); right: Mozart’s Favourite Joke

Four Quarter mini (50g cake, $22): Setting Out For Sunset

Four Quarter mini (33g cake, $22): Sour Grapes

large variegated gradient skein set (5 x 50g Four Quarter, total of 1000m/ 1095 yd, $112): A Glorious Overflow of Colour

large variegated gradient skein set (5 x 50g Four Quarter, total of 1000m/ 1095 yd, $112): All the Glory of the Peacock (very saturated turquoise to royal purple with touches of magenta purple)

merino fingering: left: The Light in the Depths; right: That Lovely Instrument

Cabra: left: The Moon Last Night; right: It’s Come True

Sock (two matching 50g gradients, wound in opposite directions to better illustrate colours): top: Out From the Past; bottom: Upward & Onward

Sock (two matching 50g gradients, wound in opposite directions to better illustrate colours): top: Winter-Colour Wonder; bottom: Set the Light Aglow

ASL DK (100g of 50% alpaca, 25% silk, 25% linen, 250 m/ 273 yd; $50): left: The Grasses Will Grow; right: And the Harvest Will Follow

merino DK double (one long gradient, over two 100g cakes, $90): Villainous Healer

merino/ silk DK hat set (33g gradient + 50g Straight; $50): left: Spice & Cooling (soft rose pink to coral to gold gradient + pale blue-grey Straight); right: Melon & Water (sky blue to charcoal gradient, with pale dapples + warm coral-peach Straight)

merino/ silk DK hat set (33g gradient + 50g Straight; $50): left: Mint & Berries (deep mauve to denim blue gradient + bright minty blue-green Straight); right: Beets & Pea Shoots (soft leaf green to pale yellow gradient + deep magenta-purple Straight)

merino/ silk DK hat set (33g gradient + 50g Straight; $50): Ice & Snow (pale aqua with sage green to dusty turquoise blue gradient + undyed warm white Straight)

New year, new location!

Hello from Atlantic Canada!  I’ve arrived here in New Brunswick, where I’ll be living for the next half year or so while I’m on sabbatical from my day job.  The set-up of the new studio is moving along slowly but steadily.  I’m really excited about the space, as it has excellent light and beautiful proportions.

I’ve done a bit of dyeing here and am getting my equipment up and running in preparation of my next update on Sunday, 26 January at 3pm Eastern time.  (I’m keeping the updates tied to the usual Eastern time zone, to minimise confusion, even though I’m now in a different time zone myself!)

The January update will feature sock sets (2 matching 50g cakes of merino/ nylon Sock) and merino/ silk DK hat sets (each consisting of a 33g cake-dyed gradient and a coordinating 50g Straight).  If you want to scope out yardage, price, and other yarn details, you can always find that info on the yarn pages (lace, fingering, and DK).  I’ll also be offering some unusual gobsmacked experiments, trial bases, and odds-n-ends that I cleaned out while packing up the Ontario studio for the time being; I’ll describe each on in detail in the listing on Sunday.  See you then!

Happy gobSMACKdown!

Happy new year, everyone!  I hope that 2020 brings many good things your way.

For me, the new year finds me headed off to New Brunswick, on a sabbatical from my day job.  I’ll be establishing a new dye studio (gobsmacked East) in our home in Sackville and will be carrying on from there for the winter.  I am planning to have an online update in January, but won’t schedule it until I’ve gotten settled in the new digs.  I’ll send an announcement of the update as soon as I can; if you’re not already on my email list, you might want to sign up for my newsletter.

In the meantime, please come check out the annual gobSMACKdown on Ravelry.  The gobSMACKdown is a friendly make-along (knit, crochet, weaving, etc.) that runs from 1 January until the Ides of March.  There are a lot of inspiring projects, great pattern suggestions if you’re looking for just the right idea for your own special gobsmacker, and of course prizes as well!

December

There are still lots of hat sets and some merino fingering doubles left, so do take a look!  I’ve sent out all invoices for existing requests and will get packages ready to go out tomorrow (Monday).

It’s early December and we’re already buried in snow and bundled up in woolens here in southern Ontario.  And even though I have a big stash, and access to the dye pots, I find myself eyeing more yarn– especially Silky Yak DK in hat sets and shawl sets to use for making warm cozy accessories.  Check ’em out below!

Remember that colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or skein.  To claim some yarn, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com.  An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices.  I’ll send out PayPal invoices about an hour after the update starts, once things start to quiet down a bit; please note that invoices are due upon receipt (with a little leeway for different time zones and schedules).

Shipping notice: If you are in the US, tomorrow is the last day that Canada Post recommends shipping for arrival before the holidays.  Folks overseas should realise that packages are unlikely to arrive before Christmas.  The Canada Post recommendation isn’t a guarantee– if you would like to expedite or track your package (today or in any update), let me know and I’ll get you a quote for the increased shipping cost.

Four Quarter: Left: Far From Shrinking; Right: Forest Flight

Four Quarter: Top left: Significant Growth; Top right: Loverly; Bottom: Moving to Molehills

Four Quarter: Top: Why Not Get To It?; Bottom left: Home Safe; Bottom right: Keep Going Up

merino fingering doubles (one long gradient, across two 100g cakes): Left column: Rising Heart; Middle column: Bringing It Forward; Right column: Oh, the Theramin!

merino fingering doubles (one long gradient, across two 100g cakes): Left column: A Community Effort; Right column: Down at the Shore

BFL DK hat set (50g gradient + 50g Straight): In a Pool in the Woods

Silky Yak DK hat set (33g gradient + 50g Straight): Outside the Straight and Narrow

Silky Yak DK hat sets (33g gradient + 50g Straight): Left: Stealth Plum; Right: To Sing and Shine

Silky Yak DK hat sets (33g gradient + 50g Straight): Left: Although It’s Night; Right: Here and There

Silky Yak DK hat sets (33g gradient + 50g Straight): Left: Mix and Match; Right: Running Hot and Cold

Silky Yak DK: Set For Tuesday

Silky Yak DK shawl sets (one long gradient over two 100g cakes + 100g Straight): Left side: Off To the Fields; Right side: Finding the Ocean

Silky Yak DK shawl sets (one long gradient over two 100g cakes + 100g Straight): Left side: Dept. of Night Mysteries; Right side: Gone to See