Is it autumn yet?
It’s definitely summer outside, but in my mind, I’m already in autumn. It’s looking like it will be a busy fall this year, with a few special events planned for the business, along with a lot of ideas I want to bring to the shop before the year’s end. I’m also just ready for the cooler days, the changing leaves, and the cozy evenings that autumn brings with it.
While I wait for fall’s arrival, we’re keeping busy in the garden and in the studio. A lot of the creative side of running a business comes down to planning things out months in advance, so my mind is already deep into autumn for all the things I need to prepare to stay on schedule. But that also means there’s lots of exciting news to share with you all in the coming months.
Tour de Fleece 2026
We right smack dab in the middle of this year’s Tour de Fleece, a fun spinning challenge that aligns with the Tour de France bicycle race.
This year I didn’t have any strict plans or goals I wanted to achieve, but I was inspired by another spinners sweater spinning goal and decided to take on one of my own using a few braids of combed top I had in my spinning stash. I divided them each into small pieces of fiber and plopped them into a basket so I could randomly grab sections and spin them up in what I’m calling my “chaos combo spin”.
I’ve just finished my first skein of three last night & am hoping I can get a good amount of spinning done this weekend!
our summer look book
Still looking for some summer making inspiration? I’ve put together a summer project lookbook featuring our newest addition to our summer yarn line up, Summer Sock & DK, to get that creative spark flowing! I’ve paired each design with some color ideas from our Hollyhocks in Santa Fe collection, which is open until August 31. All of these designs, and more, can be found in our Summer Ravelry Bundle.
from my garden
The peppers are popping! Very warm temperatures over the past few weeks have made the peppers very happy in the garden. I counted over 15 peppers already on our Hatch pepper plants the other day, so I am very excited about a good pepper roasting season this year.
Usually I find the peppers to be one of the more difficult plants to grow in our shorter seasons, but this year I feel like my tomatoes are the ones who are a bit behind. My cherry tomatoes are doing well, but the bigger varieties seem to be lagging a bit and I’m not sure why. Sometimes that’s just the way things go in the garden and you tell yourself, “there’s always next year.”
news from the studio
In the studio, I just finished dyeing up the January-June colors from our Sing-along Club across our line-up of yarns & fiber to prepare for our next preorder. This one is going to be a pretty quick one, with ordering only open for a week so we can stay within our 4-6 week turnaround time. Our calender is already filling up for fall, so I had to kind of sneak this preorder into the schedule to fit everything in.
With that dyeing finished, I’m hoping to take a few days to work on developing a new autumn collection that will be releasing in September. It’s an idea I’ve had for a few years now, and I’m hoping I can finally get it out of my head and onto the skein.
on my plate
Does anyone else just crave lots of fresh salads in the summertime? I love everything from pasta salads to garden salads, but this summer I’ve really gotten into bean salads as a way to increase my fiber intake and enjoy plant based protein sources more.
One of my favorites that I’ve found so far is this bean & corn salad from the NY Times. It keeps well in the fridge and I enjoy it by taking big scoopfuls on tortilla chips. I did add some hot & spicy pickled jalapeños from Trader Joe’s to mine (one of my all time favorite ingredient to add to anything I can think of). An additional perk of this salad - no lettuce. 👀
mark your calendars
Here are a few dates to keep in mind for happenings in the shop:
- JULY 25: Jan-June Sing-along Club preorder opens at 4pm MT (newsletter subscribers - that’s you - gain early access at 9am MT).
- AUG 1: Sing-along Club preorder closes (unless we reach capacity early).
- AUG 15: September Sing-along Club sign-ups open
- SEPT 15: October Sing-along Club sign-ups open
- SEPT 16: NEW! Fall collection release (newsletter subscribers get early access)
- OCT 15: November Sing-along Club sign-ups open
- OCT 20-24: Trunk show at Coast to Coast Yarn Co in Wichita, KS featuring new fall collection & fiber
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