Bandana goes live!

Do you remember how I was spinning Canadian grown and processed flax a while back?  Extolling the virtues of the whole thing?

That flax became yarn, which got simmered to wash it, and then it got balled up and knit into....this.  A new design.  It's called Bandana.  It's available on Ravelry as part of the Manitoba Fibre Festival's Flatlands Collection.  As a result of being part of the collection, the fabulous ash of sunflower knits did a photo shoot, and it was lovely.  Really artistic.  Beyond what I'd hoped.

 This accessory collection is launching August 1st, and to celebrate the Manitoba Fibre Festival KAL, everything in the Flatlands Collection will be 30% off (no need for a coupon) from now until August 6th at midnight, CT.

It's currently summertime warm in Manitoba. The true confessions part of this is that I wear a lot of linen in the summer. I wanted to design something that would hold up to our daily roughhousing.  This past weekend, for instance, we went cherry picking, had an impromptu trip to Gimli for lunch and ice cream. Back in Winnipeg,we played in both the yard wading pool and at a neighborhood one, and watered the lawn with the wading pool leftovers.  There were hands-on opportunities to be stained with cherries, ice cream, grass, soaked with water, covered with sidewalk chalk, and more...

 I'd like to pretend I'm wearing this bandana as an elegant shawl option....and not just folding it up "for good."  For now, it is being held for display at the festival, which happens September 15 and 16, 2017, at the Red River Ex in Winnipeg.

 If I get a chance to wear Bandana, it's far more likely to be on my head, or being used to wipe off bits of ice cream from passing six year olds....but I'd like to dream of an elegant knitwear future.  (That's why I love those fancy photo shoots...)

 Bandana is available as a digital download on Ravelry right now, and will cost US$6---but it's 30% off until August 6th!  Please join me in a quick and cool summer knit.  I know I can't be the only person who needs a little textured hidden paisley or two to jazz up my summer wardrobe. :)

making

Nothing gets me back in my "work groove" better than a little quiet and a chance to do things and make stuff.  This past week has been pretty darn productive.  I've written two articles (and one will go live this weekend sometime), I've done some blocking and knitting, I've mended some clothes--which instantly increases what I can wear again...it's all good.

Both twins are also somewhat better settled when they are back at school, so I love routine.  Part of that routine is getting to do something absolutely crazy beyond producing meals for everyone else--It's eating a homemade lunch, by myself.  Better yet, the lunch doesn't comprise of a calzone or sandwich (things I could eat one handed while trying to feed those babies, for instance) but rather a salad.  here's an improvised delight I ate yesterday.  One cut up leftover baked potato, some spinach, some dilly beans--canned by me in long ago hot summer weather, some leftover 'mediterranean' type salad on top (cut up tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, with oil, vinegar, and Italian herbs), topped by plain yogurt and some peanuts for crunch.  Eclectic?  yup.  Good?  You bet.  And...I did not have to compete with two five year olds over the salad, which, by the way, is an issue.  I have two boys who love salad but will eat it all before I get to serve myself any!  

 Also on the schedule?  Writing up a pattern to submit as part of my local festival's collection!  Here's the sample, all blocked and tidy.  The yarn?  Handspun flax, from TapRoot Fibre Lab.

That one bead?  Recycled glass, purchased from an African fair trade vendor, at a long ago street fair.  Having a deep stash is great when it comes to finding that perfect bead or button...
Happy Spring Making!
Joanne