Miss Babs Blog

Babs

[caption id="attachment_1184" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Yesterday's done blooms and today's getting ready to open![/caption] This is one of my favorite times of year....I absolutely adore Spring when the greens come on and the grass in the meadows goes absolutely brilliant green. My eyes get happy then. But this time of year is when the daylilies bloom. Oh...how I love them. Each day brings a different gathering of color as the different plants move through their buds. [caption id="attachment_1185" align="aligncenter" width="300"] One of my favorite Daylilies! Really intense yellow, much like... Read More

Small Business Grant Application

Babs

What's this grant we are applying for?? Well Chase has a grant program where 12 small businesses will be awarded $250,000 to help their businesses fund major improvements with their business. Among other things, I would love to be able to increase my warehouse space, retrofit my 800 square foot studio space, and update my website and somehow have it be interactive with my inventory. All of these are actually focused on being able to make the lives of my employees better and allow us to provide better customer... Read More

To Dye or To Write?

Babs

So most days when I get up, my first thoughts are about what colors I am going to dye today, not what am I going to write about in my blog. And that is pretty obvious by the state of the blog. Here are some of the other things I try to fit into the start of my day: 1. Drinking Coffee 2. Exercise 3. Meditation and Prayer 4. Walking the dogs 5. Spending time with my cat who lives upstairs because she is afraid... Read More

Party Time! (And Destash too...)

Babs

Carmen and I were the only two working at the Studio last Thursday, which meant she was all alone in the studio, and I was all alone in the office. All alone is not so much fun, so we decided to have a Party! I bought the party hats, and a great time was had by all (notwithstanding my sub-par self-photography skills...) [caption id="attachment_1089" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Carmen, Helen, Woolbert, and Woolhemina have a fun Party!"][/caption] Woolbert and Woolhemina were loathe to leave the party, and stayed long after Carmen and... Read More

Just One Left - Orphan Skein Sale! Cyber Monday! 20% Off!

Babs

Cyber Monday Sale! Orphan Skein Sale! These are the last of One of a Kind Dyelots! We have a number of single skeins left in a number of bases. We will be offering these on Cyber Monday at 20% off. These are in the Destash area of the website. I will be going through the inventory and finding more to add through the day. This is our banner ad on Ravelry. Read More

Post-Thanksgiving - Knitting and Wrapping!

Babs

Thanksgiving dinner was lovely. We had a small dinner contingent....just right! My nephew who is visiting from Ohio. Plus Jen (juniperloops on Ravelry) who many of you know from shows and her daughter Emma. Dinner came off without a snag and the pies were delicious. No pictures though of the table before or after. Once dinner was done, I was able to get some knitting time in. I finished my Trillian in Yet. Started working on the Bandana Cowl in Yowza, and am also working on a Citron in... Read More

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving 2011!

Babs

I drove to Nashville, TN to Bliss Yarns last week for a Trunk Show on Saturday! It was a great time. Nice folks all the way around - from Dana, Tyna, Emily, Kim and all of their customers! You were all wonderful! Thanks! [caption id="attachment_957" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Magic Rav Full of Yarn!"][/caption] Now to Thanksgiving! While I was Nashville, I stopped by Trader Joe's to stock up on some goodies like wild rice and olive oil. But I got crackers and cheese and potatoes, and lots more for... Read More

Gyllis in Sojourn!

Babs

We've been waiting for this to go up on Ravelry for a few days! Here is Stephen West's Gyllis done in my original Sojourn! This is his first lace pattern. We will also be knitting a new sample so you can see it in my booth in 2012 using Sojourn IV! We will be adding kits on the website tomorrow in both my original Sojourn and Sojourn IV. Feel free to contact us (use the contact page) about buying a kit if you are interested in buying a kit... Read More

In Search of...

Babs

Jen here...We have a lot of color here at Miss Babs. There are over 100 that Babs can reproduce with regularity. Then there are the one-of-a-kinds, those fleeting and often spectacular colors that happen as part of her continual playtime with color. I just wanted to post a picture of a new Red that we will soon have across our yarn bases. This is special because Red is hard. It's hard to dye with good quality, and it is one of those colors that people have distinct opinions about, gut... Read More

Sojourn and Sojourn IV - A Story in Yarn

Babs

Once upon a time we found a lovely yarn to use made of cashmere and silk. We enjoyed it and our customers enjoyed it too! Oh so soft and dreamy to knit and wear around our necks, on our heads, and and hands. It was nice enough that we gave some to Stephen West this year at Stitches Midwest and he used it in a design he was developing! Then, drat! The supplier of this yarn had trouble sourcing it just as we needed to dye it so we... Read More

Bad Girl! Bad Girl!

Babs

So I have been bad and not blogged in forever, and one of my customers told me as much at dinner tonight! So here I am...no pictures, I am on the wrong computer for that, but adding some words to the blog. We are at Rhinebeck for the first time ever as vendors! We are all excited! We are in Building C, Booths 25/26. Nice building with natural light and good space. We have brought lots of yarn in lots of bases, as well as lots of fiber!... Read More

We've Been Searching for that One Right Word or Phrase...Can You Help?

Babs

As many of you know, I do lots of repeatable colorways in monochromes and handpaints. But I have also started doing a lot of "one of a kind" colorways that are essentially limited editions. We have tried using the phrase "A Day at ..." as a way to indicate this difference, and then we couldn't find more that didn't sound really contrived. We have done a selection of "The Wreck of..." (which we will continue to do) but these tend to have a lot of blue. And then we... Read More