Miss Babs Blog

Rambling about the Studio and Being Back Home

Babs Ausherman

So we've been back in the studio for most of the past month busily dyeing for orders from shows, for the Bliss Trunk Show that was 10 days ago in Brentwood (Nashville, TN), as well as some special things for Thanksgiving and the gift season. It has been wonderful to get some full nights of sleep, to spend some time with our loved ones who don't see us much during October when we're at the end of prepping for shows and then being on the road. I missed the last... Read More

Rhinebeck and SAFF - Coming up Fast!

Veronica Parsons

Autumn is here and two big shows are coming very soon! We are dyeing like crazy to have lots of beautiful yarns for you. Here is some yarn drying in the studio... And some yarn waiting to be twisted... Of course we’ll have lots and lots of your favorites - we are practically bursting with gorgeous skeins of Yowza and Yummy - but Rhinebeck will be the first place you can see Katahdin, our new light fingering weight BFL in giant 1750-yard skeins. Looking for a... Read More

On The Road and At the Studio

Babs Ausherman

Babs here...Jen and I are on the road between Stitches Midwest and Michigan Fiber Festival. At home, it has been raining cats and dogs and frogs. Roads, and driveways, and basements are full of water! Here's a picture Carmen took this morning of one of the roads in to where my house and studio are. Apparently the road from the other direction has the asphalt coming up from it and and will be turning into a mud/clay mess?? The real reason for this post is to let you... Read More

Yarn and... Molasses?

Helen C

Helen here... My family has always been slightly different in our pastimes. Writing stories, knitting, silversmithing, woodworking, antique photographic processes, exercise, we've tried it all. My younger sister's latest thing is taking photos with a jar of Molasses. There is a long, crazy story explaining this, which you can find on her Molasses Tumbler page. At any rate, wherever she goes, and wherever other members of my family go, Molasses photos are taken. (I abstain. I'm not a huge molasses fan. Sticky things don't do well with yarn,... Read More

Here We Go Up Again

Babs

Well, we've been putting this off for a while, but the time has finally come that some of our yarn prices need to be adjusted upward. This decision was forced when one of our yarn bases went up almost almost 25% about 2 months ago. It was just as we were packing yarn to ship to the West Coast for Stitches West. That jump forced me to sit down and really look at the increases that have been happening in the past two years on most of my yarn bases.... Read More

New Patterns in Our Yarns!

Babs

There have been several new patterns in our yarns released recently! The newest of these are in the May- July 2012 issue of Cast On, the magazine published by TKGA. There is the amazingly gorgeous Vlad's Tunic by Arenda Holladay, using our Northumbria DK: [caption id="attachment_1119" align="aligncenter" width="340" caption="Vlad's Tunic by Arenda Holladay"][/caption] As well as the uniquely constructed Once Around the Ankle Socks by Charles Gandy in our Northumbria Fingering: [caption id="attachment_1120" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Once Around the Ankle by Charles Gandy"][/caption] A very Northumbria issue! As... Read More

Miss Babs Knitting Tour 2012 - A Club for Armchair Travelers!

Babs

2012 Miss Babs Knitting Tour Are you passionate about knitting and travel? Do you dream of knitting in far-off locales? Well then this is the knitting club for you! In 2012, we will be taking you to four breathtaking locations - Island, Moors, Mountains, and City – all from the comfort of your favorite knitting chair! We’ve got one trip planned every three months, which will give you plenty of time enjoy the adventure, savor your project, and rest up for the next exciting journey! TRAVEL: We’re taking you on an... 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

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

Shy Babs

Babs

Shy!?@#! Heck no!!! But there are those who like photos of themselves and those who hate photos of themselves. I am in the Hate category. I don't care to see myself, just as I don't like hearing myself on the phone recording and so on. I am probably just like many others this way. But a customer of mine took this picture at SAFF this fall and when I opened it up, I said to myself...that actually isn't too bad. So here it is: [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="257" caption="Miss Babs... Read More