Loading up the shop for spring!

I had a great time at Spring Flint on Saturday in Ferndale -- great to see so many talented artists and crafters and to see so many people out shopping and supporting independent artists on a beautiful sunny day!

Last night I loaded up everything that didn't sell into my shop, which includes about 10 skeins of hand-dyed wool, a bunch of beer bottle cozies and even some leg warmers!

So, come on by and check them out. And remember, if you know someone who would like to have a baby blanket, shawl, or a coffee or beer cozy custom made in their favorite colors, I offer gift certificates in any denomination.

Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend -- I had a blast hanging out with Jay from Jennifer Joy Creative and Noonday Textiles.

And thanks to Shannon at Comfortably Lovely for organizing everything!

In a sea of dye...

In honor of the upcoming Spring Fling craft show, I ordered 2,000 yards of dyeable wool, and my kitchen has pretty much been a chaotic mess of dyes, saran wrap and stock pots ever since.

I've had some successes and some... well, some skeins will be loved by SOMEone, I'm sure.

Here are a few shots of me toiling away tonight. I can't wait to see the end result of some of my combinations. I hope this yarn finds a good homes!

Spring Flinging it!

This blog is long overdue.

I'm one of about 20 vendors participating in Detroit's newest spring craft show April 4 at The Loving Touch in Ferndale.

You can check out a full list of vendors HERE.

I'll have everything that's currently listed in my shop, as well as a slew of things that aren't so wintery -- like beer bottle cozies, baby blankets, ice cream pint cozies, legwarmers, coffee cozies and 20 skeins of hand-dyed wool!

And don't forget that gift certificates are available in any denomination! Let the recipient help design their own baby blanket, cozy, shawl, etc.

Some folks will be DJing all day too, including La Femme's main squeeze, for the first 2 hours.

The show will be going on from noon to 7 so stop by Downtown Ferndale's newest pool hall (next door to the Woodward Avenue Brewery, owned by the same folks) April 4!

La Femme's BFF Jennifer Joy Creative will be sharing a table once again, offering all kinds of handmade, hand dyed clothing items, purses, yarn and MORE as well as hand dyed fabrics for sale from her new shop, Noonday Textiles.

Stop by and see us!



P.S. There's a new music show on WDET every Saturday and Sunday hosted by Ann Delisi called "Essential Music." A few weeks ago, I was listening when I heard they were holding a contest for a theme song.

My squeeze Dan composed a piece of music and threw his hat in the ring, along with 57 others -- but screw them!

VOTE FOR NUMBER 7 HERE!

Tiny sweaters

Check out this video about the woman who made the tiny knits worn by the miniatures in the new movie Coraline.

Check out the video HERE.

La Femme featured on the Michigan Women's Forum!

Check it out HERE.

Alpaca goodness

Here are some excerpts from a blog i just posted about my afternoon in Downtown Berkley. Check out the full blog HERE.

But here are the excerpts about my yarn store finds (both the finding of a yarn in a store and finding a completely new store!) and how my new angora cowl came to be:

Perusing some local yarn stores last weekend I found this baby alpaca and knew it had to be mine. I rarely (OK, never) make myself stuff, so last weekend I decided this would be it!

I have had a lot of success and positive response from the new cowls I have been making, so I decided I needed one.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am only beginning to baby-step into wearing color. For more than a decade, black has been my color. (In high school, one of the administrators used to say, "Is it Johnny Cash day again just about every time he saw me).

Going through the piles and baskets and compartments of yarn stacked high at Have You Any Wool? and felt this amazing yarn. (Did I mention they give you a mimosa on Saturdays? I swear it made the it even softer.) I didn't even know what it was. Then one of the employees said, "That's what that vest is made out of." and pointed to this cool sweatery-vest thing. As I made my way around the room, I kept looking at it and when I got there -- everything else went back on the shelves. This is what I was going to make my cowl out of.

I bought two skeins of the yarn just in case I needed more. Well, it only took one, so that means I can make a cowl to sell. I've just posted it in my shop. Within a few minutes a friend ordered a custom one for her sister-in-law and I've gotten several views on the one I posted. I love it!

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I discovered another little yarn store. Twisted Stitches. It's basically across the street from Have You Any Wool? so it's odd that I never saw it. If I hadn't been walking by, I wouldn't have seen the yarn through the window and never would have known it was there.

I had a great talk with Maureen, the owner. We sat down and talked about yarn, my experiences in the Detroit Urban Craft Fair, and all things Etsy. She gave me the most adorable, teeny, tiny, miniature buttons that she bought from a button vendor in Manhattan. She's having a big sale right now -- especially trying to get rid of her lot of scrapbooking supplies and bookbinding supplies so she can focus more on yarn and things. She had a some great hand dyed yarn and a dozen or two other kinds, much of which will be half off in the coming weeks. I bought some really great lumpy, bumpy wool in varying shades of blue for half off and started a scarf out of it last night.

Maureen has made a new friend and customer for sure -- I will soon be back!

Knitting for a Cure with Knit Michigan!

I'm going to be knitting (and gathering some new tricks to put up my sleeve!) at Knit Michigan's Knitting Marathon Feb. 7 in Bloomfield Hills.

Through my $90 registration fee and whatever pledges I -- and the other knitters, spinners, crocheters and weavers can gather -- the organization hopes to raise $50,000 this year for cancer research.

That being said, do I want your money? Yes, if you can spare it. I'll take $5 or $50 or $500 (wishful thinking, I know). I know I only have a few weeks, but I'd like to surpass the suggested $250 donation and I'm setting a goal of raising $1,000. I will continue to update on my blog how much I've gathered in donations. It would feel great to reach my goal!

There are few different ways you could contribute:

1. Sponsor me! Help raise money by funding my $90 registration or part of it. You could send me a check or I can bill you via PayPal and you can pay with a credit or debit card.

2. Send me a tax-deductible donation. You can make it out directly to one of the organizations Knit Michigan has chosen to donate to for this year's Knit Marathon:

Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
Beaumont Hospital's Rose Cancer Center
Genesys Health System
Gilda’s Club
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

Any amount is tax deductible and I can even send you an official Knit Michigan receipt for it. If you would like to donate this way, e-mail me at lafemmemonkita@gmail.com and I will tell you where you can mail a check. If you would rather PayPal me the money and have me write a check, I'm fine with that too. Just let me know.

3. Do you knit, crochet, etc? Make a comfort donation! I have to contribute at least one, but I hope to donate many more. There are patterns for chemo caps, comfort blankets and other items on the Knit Michigan Web site, as well as various places online.

4. Donate something for the Silent Auction! Any items that don't sell will be donated to a local woman's shelter.

Items you could donate include:

Stash yarn that needs a new home
fiber tools
books
videos
completed projects (even if you don't have time to make a chemo cap, donate a scarf for the auction!)
hand spun yarn

OR

gift gertificates from a Detroit area nail, hair, masseur, restaurant, gas station -- whatever you think people might fight over! Again, if you want to send me the money via PayPal I would be happy to buy gift cards from some local restaurants or salons.

I know we're all struggling right now with this crap economy, but if you have $10 or something else you could donate, I'm pretty sure there are some people who will appreciate it. Just let me know if you would like to help.

Thank you!

Kirsten
La Femme Monkita


UPDATE:
1.6.08 2:30 p.m. Just got my first donation! Thanks K. Michelle! She got the pot rolling with a $5 general cash donation to Knit Michigan.