June update

Thanks, all, for another great update!  I’m working on invoices now and will get packages ready to go into the mail on Tuesday.  Edit: I’ve had a slight delay in packing, so yarn is going out in Wednesday’s mail.

Welcome to the June update, Pride edition!  If you see some yarn you’d like to claim, 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 set.  Also note that package delivery is likely to be slow due to measures that postal services are taking against the pandemic.  If you’d like to have your yarn sent with tracking, please ask me for a quote for the additional cost.

Four Quarter: Top: Keep Your Feet on the Floor; Bottom left: Emerging From Midnight; Bottom right: Knock Loud

Four Quarter: Left: Why I Don’t Keep a Giraffe in the House (This cake has a few spots of dark green that I consider flaws, so it is discounted to $40 Cdn); Right: The New Normal

Four Quarter: Left: Evening Nap; Right: Afternoon Nap

Four Quarter: Left: Feelin’ Moody; Right: The Secrets of Squirrels

Four Quarter: Left: Melancholy Songs to Right Our Wrongs; Right: Thorns & Roses

Four Quarter: Butterfly Migration

Four Quarter: Left: Here With You; Right: Confetti Fight

 

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Lazy Hazy edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Jewel edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Retro edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Peppy edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Road Trip edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Solitude edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Summertime edition

Rainbow minis (12 x 20g, superwash merino, $108 Cdn): Nightswimming edition

merino fingering: Left: Mud Season; Right: Waiting for Spring

merino DK: Jester

silky yak DK: Left: Gunpowder Sighs; Right: Your Dark Shadows

 

Pride in a pandemic

I’ve always been a rather quiet queer: an introvert, not big on crowds or parties or parades.  So for me, I guess Pride in a time of global pandemic is both unsettling (“It’s a global pandemic, people!”) and life as usual (“Maybe I should try to be a bit more visible?”).

One thing I can do is to celebrate Pride in a yarny way, with rainbows– in this case, rich and colourful mini skein sets, every one unique and beautiful in its own right, just like the folks who make up the queer community.  Each set is twelve 20g minis of Four Quarter (100% superwash merino), for a total of 240g.  They’re $108 Canadian for 960m (1045 yd) of awesome.  (Edited 25 June to correct yardage.)

A stack of rainbow minis, waiting to be labelled for the June 15th update.

These will be available, along with regular gobsmackers, in tomorrow’s update, Monday 15 June at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time (Toronto/ New York).

Whether you’re queer or an ally, if you’re looking for something fun to do for Pride this year, why not use your favourite rainbow, from gobsmacked or from stash or from your favourite LYS, to knit some love in shawl form?  Here are a few of my current favourites:

Play it by Queer, by Shanel Wu

Bright Side, by Amy van de Laar

Rainbow Relay, by Jane Murison

All Together or First, Love, by Nim Teasdale

Fibonacci, Mark Two, by Ampersand Designs

 

PS: One thing that is quite a bit different in pandemic times is shipping.  I always get everyone’s yarn in the mail as quickly as possible after an update, but please be aware that the pandemic is affecting shipping times worldwide.  Mail between Canada and the US seems particularly slow, with packages that normally arrive in 5-7 days taking two or even three times as long.  Mail is getting through; I haven’t seen any problems with lost packages.  But the current mail situation is definitely going to require some patience on everyone’s part.  If you’d like to have tracking for your package, just let me know and I’ll get you a quote for the extra cost.

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!