coming soon...a big announcement!

In the next week or so I'll be fully unveiling the new sister company to LDK. Dionne at www.studiochicdesign.com is working to get everything looking awesome and I am working my butt off to get "stuff" done so that you have eye candy when everything is done!

Ravelry...who knew ;)

So, I've been meaning to post this for quite a while and fiqured now would be as good a time as any! This is shameful and as a fiber artist I hate to admit it, but until recently I never knew the true potential of Ravelry.com. The forums, the boards, the abundant gobs of information and fellow fiber loving knitaholics! Maybe it was because I never had time to sit and browse it fully, who knows. Regardless, I have come to fully understand the vastness of my new favorite site and it is awesome!



The best part is the swap boards. I can trade yarn or other wooly goodness from my stash that I'll probably never use for yarn and fiber that I probably will use. There are swap groups where I swap a box of items with another member of the group a few times a year and one for just the month of common birthdays. So fun!



Even though I have started a sister business to LDK, life up here on the Afognak can be s-l-o-w and my only lifeline to satiate my fiber addiction is Chris at The Rookery, a 30 minute float plane ride to Kodiak. I needed another way to get in my yarn retail therapy. After becoming involved in these swaps, it has become abundantly clear to me that it isn't the buying or shopping for yarn that makes me giddy, it's the people that share this same love. The folks that are as happy as I am to learn of a new way to use a favorite fiber or teach a different technique. Don't get me wrong, I still love wooly goodness. Without it, what would we talk about? LOL

So I am happy to say that the year long swap I am involved in underway and that gal I'm paired up with is a joy. It's kind of like a pen pal but with yarn! YAY! So stay tuned for updates and fun pics. Who knows, maybe I'll see you roaming around Ravelry one of these days...now that you know about it! ;)

LDK is settled up North

So as some of you may know my family, myself, and LDK has moved up to Afognak Island, Alaska. This move meant that I had to close Lovey Dove Knits for a few months. Well we are here and all set up...kinda :( The problem with living on a remote island is that we are completely dependent on float planes to deliver the mail and take the mail to Kodiak. During the summer it's no problem but during the winter, it could be weeks before we see a plane. So because delivery is so inconsistent, LDK is closed until the weather gets better in the spring. I'd hate to have someone order something and have it sit here for a month or more!

So in the spring, I will have new items including hand dyed fibers and maybe even some hand spun! I update new items and opening dates on Facebook regularly, so check with me there for the latest info!

Corn, bamboo, and pearl...yarn?

Why, yes and why not? With technology today and everyone trying to lower their carbon footprint, I say that it is about time and bring it on! I LOVE unique fibers and these fibers are what inspired my tag line "Specializing in all knits unique". My only problem is that it is so hard for me to use the hanks and hanks and balls and balls of these unique fibers. Not hard in the aspect that I have tons of these wonder yarns, but that it is so hard to find a pattern deserving of using such luxurious and awe inspiring mediums.

But the day has come and I have had some corn yarn begging to be used and as I sat down in an emotional process that I don't care to share...ok I was stressing about it, I'm working on it :)... I made this beauty of a hat. Part of the reason that I stress about using this product is that it is quite expensive and is supposed to be knit on #4 needles or about a size F crochet hook. It's teeny yarn and it takes a bunch to make a project. So it's emotional!

This hat was made using 100% Corn yarn. Yes, real corn just like what you are having with dinner! It is made by making the corn into a slurry then the mixture is spun to extract the starches which are then extruded into a very fine and eco-friendly fiber. Even if you have a corn allergy, you can still wear corn fiber and not only is it super soft, cooler than cotton, stain resistant, biodegradable, and hypo-allergenic, it is machine washable and dryable too!

The flower is made from the most luxurious yarn in my stash, Sublime Bamboo Pearl. This too is an eco-friendly and hypo-allergenic fiber that is also antimicrobial and machine washable and dryable to boot! The pearls are freshwater pearls that are ground into a fine powder then spun into a fiber than is then spun with bamboo viscose to make the final product. It is by far the softest fiber I have ever felt!

So there it is folks, the low down on two of my most favorite yarns that have FINALLY made it out of my yarn stash and into a finished product.

By the way, if you ever go to your LYS and get into the Sublime stash there, or if you are thinking of finding anything made by Sublime, have about your yearly yarn supply budget doubled and ready to go in one fell swoop because this stuff is addicting! Like sickeningly addicting. The Lilli Blanket is made out of Sublim Cashmere Super Fine Merino Silk Aran Yarn and it took nearly 200 hours to make. When I say "it was like butter through my fingers" in my sales description, I mean it. All of the Sublime yarn is worth every red hot cent that you spend on it. Consider yourself warned!

Will knit for Dutch Bros Coffee

For those that know me, they know that I almost always have a Dutch Bros Coffee Kahlua Kicker in my hand. Don't ask me why it is called a Kahlua Kicker, all I know is that it is pure joy to have one. I started drinking them ever since they opened about 3 years ago so I must be closing in on my 1,000th mocha, heck, I've probably surpassed that!

With all those trips to Dutch Bros, I have had the opportunity to get to know the gals and guys there fairly well!

One of the gals had mentioned that one of the other gals daughter was turning 1 next weekend, so I wanted to make her an Owl Hat. The hat is cuter than anything I think I've ever seen for kids!

I was super stoked because I actually had the chance to use the Sublime Bamboo Pearl Yarn that had been burning a hole in my yarn stash, but I couldn't stand to use. It is too special because it is the softest yarn I have ever felt and is made from bamboo and pearl viscose. That means that real pearls where ground to a fine powder then spun into a fiber to make the yarn. How cool is that! The best part, it is machine wash and dry! The Sublime yarn was used to make the pink and white flower...like I said, I have a hard time using this yarn so I will use baby steps ;)

Here it is!

Hello, my name is Tara and I'm a Knitaholic

If there is one thing I shop for that can make my heart skip a beat, it is yarn! The colors, the textures, the versatility! I have always admired yarn, but it took a long time for me to have the patience to sit and learn to knit and, more recently, crochet.



My sister, Melissa, has been crocheting for years, creating beautiful things that my mind just couldn't grasp. How in the world could one create such tantalizing blankets by wrapping and pulling yarn with a little hook? Or use two sticks to make a detailed and luxe sweater? I had to learn, but I was hard pressed to figure it out through a book. Enter Lion Brand tutorial videos...



It was a Monday night and as I was waiting for the first video to load, I had that terrible, anxious, "I MUST figure this out or it will drive me insane!" feeling in my stomach. I was clumsy at first, to say the least, but I was starting to understand. If my hubby, Esa, only knew better then, he would have ripped the needles and yarn from my fingers and forbidden my attempt to ever learn how to knit!



Within a week I had 3 blankets done and was working on projects for Christmas. There were many sleepless nights where all I could do was stare at my ceiling envisioning my next creation. It got to be so bad that I had to put down my needles all together. Knitting was consuming my life! "Hello, my name is Tara, and I'm a Knitaholic". Thank the Lord that Esa had a few weeks between projects and was home! My children may have had to fend for themselves!



Side Note of Seriousness-I am completely kidding by the way! My three girls are first and foremost my main priority in life. I am so blessed to be a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) and would never allow a hobby to interfere with precious time spent with my girls.



After a few months had passed, I picked up my needles with a new found prospective and a will to balance life and knitting: put on a load of laundry, make lunch, read to the girls, make dinner, clean up, THEN knit. I was able to have a clearer vision of what I wanted to create. Inspiration was found in simple things and I could mull the vision over for weeks until I had it perfected. It was okay to finish my project in a month versus 3 days! Life was right again!



Then someone said, and I can't for the life of me remember whom, "You make beautiful knit goods! You should sell them!" Uh-oh and Oh Boy! Did they not know the can of worms they just opened? Did they not know that I would take that idea and R-U-N with it? Oh well, what's done is done, and I am very appreciative of those nine little words because those words were what started Lovey Dove Knits.

After thinking about it for about a second, what could be a better solution to feed my inner monster of creativity and love of all knits unique? I would actually have an excuse to spend time at my favorite yarn shop going over every hank, skein, and ball of yarn while envisioning what I could possibly create with said yarn, reviewing patterns online after the girls had gone to bed, and learning and mastering new techniques. Oh, how the possibilities are endless! Oh, yarn how I love thee. But wait, I have a new found perspective and balance, right? Right!

So therefore, my name is Tara, and I'm a Knitaholic...