Tag Archives: yarn

It’s Time for Something Different

Some of you may or may not have noticed that I closed down my etsy shop a couple of weeks ago. I tweeted about it last week, but otherwise, I closed it down fairly quietly. It was not a bittersweet moment for me.

dinning room before

The glamour of selling hand dyed yarn and fiber lost it’s appeal about two years ago. If you’ve been reading my blog since May 2013, when we had to leave our cozy little apartment and I didn’t have a place to dye for awhile, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise. I’ve bounced around with what I’ve shared with you since then, a little sewing, a little printing, a little gardening, even a free knitting pattern or two. Each and every one of those things was so much fun in the moment that I wanted to share them with you, hoping you’d be diverted as well.

But as I go back and read over some of my posts, I have to admit, that I am less than impressed.

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I can tell I was just dashing off posts as quick as can be–and lets face it, they were pretty shallow.

minerva

One of the reasons I closed down my etsy shop was that I just didn’t feel like I fit in there anymore. I love the DIY lifestyle. I love making my own chicken stock and yogurt, I love processing my own yarn from a big greasy fleece. I love composting and gardening and making my own soap–but you know what’s left after you do all of those things?

A mess.

messydesk

A big fat one.

But etsy is selling a curated, tastefully simple, DIY lifestyle these day, and kind of leaving the DIY out of it. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a million, brilliant artists still selling on etsy, but most of the time those artists are buried in a sea of not-so-handmade listings.

airbenderstripes

When it comes to the fiber arts though, my competition remained largely other indie dyers and small farmers, and I was completely cool with that. What I was not cool with was the ever increasing price it cost just to get product views.

When I was really having fun with dyeing yarn and doing my yarn club, I could make a couple hundred dollars or more a month off my web sales, after etsy and paypal fees. Not enough to live off, but a couple extra trips to the grocery store if need be or a part for the car, that sort of thing. A couple of years ago, etsy introduced search ads, which allowed you to put your product at the top of the page when someone searched for the keywords you used on your listings. You could cap how much money you wanted to spend on search ads each week, and I thought it was effective. I put my reasonable cap on and saw an increase in sales and in page views when I used them.

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A few months ago, they switched the search adds to a bidding system which was not cost effective for a small shop like mine. The minimum cap was about $1/day. I gave it a try one month–while admittedly not doing a whole lot of other promotion–and paid about twice in fees as what I made in sales. I turned it off the next month and received hardly any page views and no sales. I don’t think I’d ever had a month with no sales since I opened my shop, but in December and January it was zilch, zippo, nothing.

I’m not blaming etsy’s new systems entirely. I have already said my heart wasn’t in it anymore, but the recent changes were the nail in the coffin of my little etsy shop. It feels like, as etsy has switched from a website where you go to find handmade originals, to where you go to find what’s on trend, that etsy is more preoccupied with selling the idea of a lifestyle rather than the goods that make that lifestyle possible. I thought etsy was supposed to be a stepping stone for launching a handmade business, but it feels to me now like it’s more concerned with nickel and diming the indie artist out of their studio space.

It certainly wasn’t the right place for me anymore.

clementines and cherry blossoms

And I feel like, while I was trying to fit into that etsy aesthetic, so was my blog. My identity as a blogger was confused. My writing was mediocre at best.

I wrote in November about sticking with Nanowrimo for the first time ever, even though I have goddamn degree in creative writing. I haven’t stopped writing since I started back in November. I’m putting the finishing touches on a draft of a novel, and hope to start searching for an agent sometime later this year. It’s taught me a lot about myself–one of them being that I tend toward caution when I really want to kick and to curse and to generally stir up a fuss.

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Writing my novel has shown me that while I don’t believe in censorship, I certainly was practicing it on myself a lot, telling myself this was too controversial to write about, or that was too political. That I would write “fuck” too many times and offend someone.

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And now I kind of don’t give a damn.

What’s this mean moving forward? I’ll still write about my knitting and my gardening, but I might also write about books or my writing. I might piss you off. I might insult you. Mostly, I hope to make you laugh, or to motivate you to live your dream. Because I have always wanted to be writer, but I never had the courage to let myself be one before.

imadeit

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks so much for all the love you all gave to our new pattern collections and to Neve, our newest Spring/Summer yarn. We have a few more patterns to share with you next week, but I’ll be taking a break for the rest of this week to bring you some other content.

In the meantime, the winner of our Neve Giveaway, chosen at random, is:

 

Giveaway winner!

Marja (lovely name, by the way) please email me with your shipping address to claim your six gorgeous skeins of Neve!

And be sure to check out JMF Facebook page later today to see if you won the giveaway over there.

 

Up next, The Uptown Collection

Can you believe that we have even more amazing news patterns that you haven’t seen yet? It’s crazy but it’s true! The Uptown Collection uses our Findley DK yarn, but all of these patterns can also be knit in the varigated version, Findley DK Dappled, if you prefer.

BLUE LAUREL hat and mitts set

Blue Laurel Hat and Mitts (Knit by the lovely Jen B.)

KHALIFA shell, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

KHALIFA shell, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

KHALIFA shell, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Khalifa Shell (knit by Danielle K.)

PIPER Cardi, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

PIPER Cardi, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Piper Cardi

LUCY Collared Tee, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

LUCY Collared Tee, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

LUCY Collared Tee, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Lucy Collared Tee

As always, these are all available as individual printed patterns at your local yarn shop and as downloadable PDFs on Ravlery. You can find our yarns n the same shops or by using our store locator.

If you love these patterns, please help us spread the word by heart-ing and queueing them on Ravelry, and/or pinning them on Pinterest.

Once again, all photographs by the brilliant  Caro Sheridan, with the exception of the Piper Cardi which was shot by yours truly.

The Electric Collection

Last year, we released one of our most popular yarns ever, Zooey! A  60% cotton/40% linen yarn that is perfect for summer knitting.

This year, we’ve released Zooey in a rainbow of new colors.

Juniper Moon Farm's Zooey, a cotton/linen yarn for summer knitting.

Pam Wynne designed four lovely garment that really show off this yarn. You are going to have trouble picking which to knit first.

MONATOMIC Tunic, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

MONATOMIC Tunic, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

MONATOMIC Tunic, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

MONATOMIC Tunic, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Monatomic Tunic (knit by my friend Beverly K.)

CIRCADIAN pullover, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

CIRCADIAN pullover, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

CIRCADIAN pullover, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Circadian Pullover

ARGONIC dress, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

ARGONIC dress, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

ARGONIC dress, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

ARGONIC dress, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Argonic Dress (knit by the uber-talented Pam A.)

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FIREFLY_back_medium2

FIREFLY wrap, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Firefly Wrap (knit by Deb T., a test knitter extraordinaire who I hope I never have to live without!)

As always, these are all available as individual printed patterns at your local yarn shop and as downloadable PDFs on Ravlery. You can find our yarns n the same shops or by using our store locator.

If you love these patterns, please help us spread the word by heart-ing and queueing them on Ravelry, and/or pinning them on Pinterest.

Once again, all photographs by the brilliant  Caro Sheridan.

The Stria Collection, a new yarn and a giveaway!

Had enough yet? Or are you hungry for more?

Today, I bring you The Stria Collection! All of the designs below are knit in our new yarn Neve. Neve is a 100% cotton yarn with a lovely soft hand. It’s named after one of the best people ever born, my friend Neve. Neve works her backside off on the farm and is an all-around good egg. Isn’t that enough reason to have a yarn named after you?

Neve

 Designer Pam Wynne did some really cool things with this new yarn.

Campbell Shawl, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Campbell Shawl, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Campbell Shawl (knit by my dear friend Brenda B.)

Oasis Pullover, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Oasis Pullover, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Oasis Pullover

RUPERT, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

RUPERT, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Rupert Vest

SIDNEY, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

SIDNEY, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Sidney Tee (knit by the wonderful Laurie M.)

PORTRAIT Throw and Pillow knitting patterns from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

PORTRAIT Throw and Pillow knitting patterns from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

The Portrait Throw and Pillow (Knit by Lyn C. and Ann K., respectively.)

Old Shale Kitchen Towel, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravery. Old Shale Kitchen Towel, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravery.

Old Shale Kitchen Towel

STRIPEY potholder, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

and Stripey Potholder (Both beautifully knit by Carol P. and my good friend Erin L.)

As always, these are all available as individual printed patterns at your local yarn shop and as downloadable PDFs on Ravlery. You can find our yarns n the same shops or by using our store locator.

If you love these patterns, please help us spread the word by heart-ing and queueing them on Ravelry, and/or pinning them on Pinterest.

Once again, all photographs by the brilliant  Caro Sheridan.

 Now for the giveaway:

To celebrate the release of this collection and the new yarn, I’m giving away six skeins of Neve to a lucky blog reader. Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would like to knit from this collection. For a second chance to win, visit our Facebook page and leave a comment on the giveaway post over there.

The deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18th, 2015.

Good luck everyone!

Fairisle February 2015, Week 2

This week, members of the fairisle course had their first chance to STEEK!  Yes, we did.  We cut through our knitting.  And, we did it with impunity!  Hahah! (snip, snip, snip!)

Here are some photos from class...



I love their color choices!  Check out those beautiful palettes!



I was able to make some fairisle swatches using the knitting machine, and I am fairly certain it's what helped many overcome their fear of cutting through their knitting.  Amanda might recognize this yarn if she looks closely... thanks, Amanda!


Lots of students even decided to go the traditional route instead of doing the crochet support.  I think this group was especially motivated to cut their knitting.


Modern Amusements

Today we’re introducing Modern Amusements, a knitwear collection by Pam Wynne that features our most popular yarn Moonshine, a blend of wool, alpaca, silk and moonbeams. (I’m kidding about the moonbeams, but it does have a lovely glow due to the other fibers.)

LUNA by Pam Wynne. Pattern available on Ravelry

LUNA by Pam Wynne. Pattern available on Ravelry

Luna Pullover. (Knit by the amazing LA Bourgeois.)

DREAMLAND, a knitting pattern by Pam Wynne available on Ravelry

DREAMLAND, a knitting pattern by Pam Wynne available on Ravelry

Dreamland (knit by my neighbor, Marie G.)

BOARDWALK, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Boardwalk Shawl

TILLY, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

TILLY, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

TILLY, a knitting pattern from Juniper Moon Farm. Available on Ravelry.

Tilly Cardigan

These are all available as individual printed patterns at your local yarn shop and as downloadable PDFs on Ravlery. You can find our yarns n the same shops or by using our store locator.

If you love these patterns, please help us spread the word by heart-ing and queueing them on Ravelry, and/or pinning them on Pinterest.

Once again, all photographs by the brilliant  Caro Sheridan.

 

Our Spring/Summer 2015 Collection is HERE!

The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity as we prepared to release our new yarns and patterns for the Spring/Summer season.

I know that I am always enthusiastic about the pattern designs that we release, but this collection is actually something extra special. Designer Pam Wynne has created a knitwear collection that pretty much defines the Juniper Moon Farm aesthetic.  And, because Pam is a passionate knitter (like you) the patterns are well-crafted and fun to knit.

I’m going to introduce you to one collection per day, because there is so much here and I want each pattern to get it’s due.

All of these garments are designed using Juniper Moon Farm yarns. (You can find our yarns at your local yarn shop or by using our store locator.) The patterns are available as printed patterns in the same shops and as downloadable PDFs on Ravlery.

First up, The Downtown Collection, knit in Sabine.

Buckham Cardigan

CLIO_full_medium2-1

Clio

FENTON_hero_medium2

Fenton Dress. Pattern available on Ravelry.

FENTON_full_medium2

The Fenton Dress

HOW RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE IS THIS DRESS?!?!?!

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Huron Pullover

This sweater is a wardrobe staple for me. It can be dressed up with a pencil skirt or worn with jeans every day.

If you love these patterns, please help us spread the word by heart-ing and queueing them on Ravelry, and/or pinning them on Pinterest.

All photographs by the brilliant  Caro Sheridan.

It’s 5am on a Saturday, and I Have Been Awake for Ages

Good morning all. How are you this lovely, cold Saturday morning. I am sitting in bed, in the dark, because I have very successfully woken myself. The last time the baby woke up to eat, about an hour and a half ago, he woke me up out of the middle of a sleep cycle. To avoid falling asleep while I was feeding him, I started thinking about work–well, apparently nothing gets my blood boiling in the pre-dawn hours than thinking about things I can’t do anything about until Monday.(He, of course, ate and went back to sleep immediately.) Next time, I am going to try to think about something more fun, like flowers or yarn.

It’s November 15th, and for the first time ever, I am keeping up with Nanowrimo. Usually by now I have completely given up on the whole endeavor. My first weekend in November is notoriously busy, and so I always start out the month a few days behind on my word count, and then I never catch up, and by the beginning of the second week I am too daunted by the sheer volume of words I am missing, and instead of writing for writing’s sake for the rest of the month, I just give up on the whole enterprise completely and for the rest of the year the only thing I write are blog posts and grocery lists.

Considering I have a degree in creative writing, this is pretty embarrassing.

This year, I decided I was really going to finish. I didn’t have a story idea until the last minute, and I have done absolutely zero planning. I’ve always been a fly by the seat of my pants sort of writer anyway, so this whole making stuff up as I go along and having no plan is fun. Not sure how much substance my story has, but that’s not the point right now. The point is to write everyday, and that’s what I’m doing.

Only took 2 1/2 years after graduating to get my writing mojo back.

Now that I am writing everyday though, my other work is slowing down a little bit. After finally finishing Brock and Felix’s Flax sweaters last week, I had a small bout of startitis and cast on Wheaton which I think is too gorgeous for words. I am knitting the worsted weight scarf version, because while I think this pattern is stunning, I am also aware that I have a very short attention span for knitting anything that turns out to be a rectangle. But I think a blanket, or even a stole in this pattern would be the epitome of luxury.

I am also working on a pair of mittens for Brock. I am using Skinny Fit Mitts as a template because I like the cable pattern on them a lot, but the pattern was written for someone with tiny hands, so not only am I changing it up by making them flip-tops, I am also having to lengthen and widen the thumb gusset, lengthen the hand and figure my own decreases for top.

And since it is supposed to snow today, I really need to make Felix a pair of mittens. I am just going to use my chunk wool and knit him a pair of thumbless mittens. That should be quick, and I hope to do it this afternoon after I finish my word count.

What are you working on?

At last, our Moonshine Design Contest Winner!

You know what the worst part of taking time off is? All the stuff that you fall behind on while your away! I will be playing catch up for the next couple of weeks on some things that are long over due.

First up is announcing the winner of the Moonshine Design Contest that we sponsored in conjunction with my good friends at Jimmy Beans waaaaay back in June. We received so many amazing, lovely and thoughtful entries! I was certainly very glad that I wasn’t in charge of choosing the winner, because it would have been impossible for me to pick just one design.

The folks at Jimmy Beans selected a pattern named Lianaby first time designer Gus Baxter, and then worked with him to turn the pattern into a four skein pattern that created a more generous wrap.

Here’s a bit about Gus, in his own words: “I took knitting lessons from Close Knit in Midland Park, NJ (previously in Wyckoff, NJ), in January 2014.  A month later, I was offered a position to work at the shop.  Being around my coworkers, who are all more accomplished and skilled than myself, has instilled a sense of fearlessness in me.  Even if I run into trouble with a difficult pattern or stitch, there is a shop full of talented knitters that can always help me understand it.  So I have been knitting for 7 months now.  I love it.  This is my first original design.  I have a bachelors in Biological Anthropology from Drew University in Madison NJ, where I studied the human skeletal system and our biological history in great detail.  Structure is an important influence for me.  The human body would be immobile and shapeless without the skeleton, much in the same way that a building would collapse without its internal structure.  Structure is found everywhere in nature, from the smallest cell wall in a plant cell to the largest tree that makes up a forest.  I like using these structures as the inspiration for my design elements. “

So, for those of you keeping score at home, Gus learned to knit in January of this year, got a job at a yarn shop, designed his first pattern, entered a design contest and won it six month after picking up a pair of needles. I suspect that we have discovered a future knitwear designing superstar here, y’all.

And without further ado, I give you Liana.

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How much do I love this shawl? Very, very much.

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[FYI, this pick are of the 3 skein version of the pattern. The four skein version is just that much more lovely and amazing.]

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Liana this week. I overnighted it back to Gus this weekend so he can take to Rhinebeck this weekend. If you see Gus and his shawl at the festival, please do go up and introduce yourself. I would love for him to be recognized by fans! But if you aren’t going to Rhinebeck, feel free to leave him a comment here– I’ll make sure he sees them all. Now, you are probably wondering how you can get hands on this pattern. So glad you asked. Liana is available with Jimmy Beans amazing Moonshine Bouquets. I got to see these in person when I was in Reno this summer and they are absolutely adorable. The stems are knitting needles, of course.Yarn Bouquets for Knitters!  http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/knitting/yarn/JimmyBeansWool/YarnBouquetsReviews.asp?showLarge=true&specPCVID=60027#detail   More later this week, including a sneak peek at the very exciting project I’m working on.   Big congrats to