I can tell you about our first new product.  They will be Knit Kits, which will include yarn, needles, and patterns to make a scarf or headbands and smartphone sleeves.   We’ve teamed up with a Master Knitter here in Austin, who designed our patterns to be as beginner friendly as possible, while still looking shnazzy.  Her name is Staci Perry and you can find her wonderful website at www.verypink.com.  The Knit Kits are almost finished.  We just need to finalize the packaging and then we will be off to the races.  Er, at least off to the printer.

Our second new product is something that is still super secret.  I can only tell you to think luxuriously soft.  Mmmmmm, soft…

That’s a nice looking sweater the penguin has on.  I wonder what other patterns would look snazzy?  Wouldn’t that be funny to put a tuxedo sweater onto a penguin, hehe…

Seriously though, with the oil fiasco in the gulf right now, I wonder if one could knit anything for any of the animals that are affected.  Probably wouldn’t work for a sea turtle, but what about a pelican?  I wonder if anyone involved in the cleanup knows anything more about this?

]]> http://www.yarnharvest.com/2010/05/sweaters-to-the-rescue-after-oil-spills/feed/ 2 http://www.yarnharvest.com/2010/04/expositions-on-green-living-in-austin/ http://www.yarnharvest.com/2010/04/expositions-on-green-living-in-austin/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:34:03 +0000 Greg http://www.yarnharvest.com/?p=256 This past weekend was the Green Living Expo at the Austin convention center and I was there representing Yarn Harvest.  For those that don’t know, the Green Living Expo bills itself as Austin’s green lifestyle event, where you can find all aspects of greenness for your life.  I was both excited to be a part of, and curious to see what a “green lifestyle” meant to everyone at the expo.

The actual event was held in one of the huge rooms of the convention center.  The hosts did a great job sprucing up the space… they even brought in small trees to greet everyone as they entered.  The event was very well attended, both by exhibitioners and attendees.  Row upon row were filled with all sorts of stuff.  Everything from electric cars and concrete wall kits to handmade pasta and gardening tools.  There was even an entire section filled with hot-tubs.

Yarn Harvest was part of the Go Local Austin set-up.  We were a bunch local artisans who had banded together to share the price of the booth.  I could have in no way afforded a booth on my own, so even though it was a tad cramped with all the 15 artisans sharing the space, I think we were all happy to be there.  In fact, I think that we were some of the most energetic and fun vendors at the entire show.

And I had the best time getting to know my fellow Go Local vendors.  Over the course of the three days of the event, I really got to know each of them, as well as what their products meant to them.  On one side was Terra, who’s stained-glass mosaics were a way to add splashes of color to the little moments in life.  On the other side was Christy, who’s soy candles were illuminating new uses for the soybean plant.  Add in the wonderful attendees we met the whole time and we were a very diverse group of people and products.  So much so that it got me thinking about what a “green lifestyle” meant to me.

The green stuff, including the hot-tubs, was nice to see, but ultimately, it was the people who were at the Green Living Expo that made it “green.”  I know for sure that Yarn Harvest and I did our part to contribute.  I’m definitely going to sustain our new-found relationships through the HOPE Farmer’s Market, and hopefully we can all pull together for a lifestyle that’s a little more local, a little more connected, and a little more enjoyable for all.

Your looking forward to May blogger,

Greg

Super cool to be able to say that we now ship nation-wide.  Now if only I could get my lace stuff to do exactly what I wanted…

I’m starting to get a hang of it.  Just need to keep practicing :)

Cheers,

Greg

For more information, wander over to the Green Living Expo site.  Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and Free for children 16 and below.

And as always, Yarn Harvest yarn is available every Sunday at the HOPE Farmer’s Market.  For those that haven’t discovered HOPE yet, it’s a quirky, fun market on Sundays from 11:00am to 3:00pm in East Austin at 4th and Waller.  In addition to farm and food goods, there are artists galore, free yoga and live music.  It’s a great way to spend Sundays.

Hope all’s well and cheers,

Greg

The post yesterday was an April Fool’s post, as we are not selling Kitty Capes online.

That being said, I did indeed knit Uncle Cecil’s Kitty Cape myself.  It still needs a lot of work, I must admit, but I’m going to make revising and improving it my next priority.  This way, we can offer the pattern in the future for those who wish to knit Kitty Capes for their own kitties (and yes, Uncle Cecil does actually not mind wearing his).

I hope everyone has a fantastic start of April yesterday and happy knitting!

Greg

Kitty Capes for Sale

We’ve been working very hard over the past month on a product that we are now happy to announce, Kitty Capes!

Does your cat ever feel ostracized from society?  Does it ever need more attention than it gets?  Well, now you can give it all that it ever wanted by ordering a hand-knit, Yarn Harvest “Kitty Cape.”  Included in our offer is one, full length Kitty fashion cape, which makes a statement no matter which social function your kitty attends.  Whether it be a friend’s house, the vet, or just lounging around the house, your kitty will look and feel its best.  Works great in sunbeams too!

Kitty Capes come in an array of colors and one size fits all.  Order on our Products page and please specify color when ordering.  Kitty Capes retail for $19.95.

I present to you our shop cat, Uncle Cecil.

"Supervising" the work process

~

Needless to say, we don’t mind the company, even if his “help” is sometimes wanting.  Indeed, he has proven to be somewhat of an inspiration of sorts.  People also ask if Yarn Harvest has any knitting or crocheting patterns available.  We’ve been working on a couple patterns, which will be included in our upcoming Knitting Starter Kits.  All I can say is that Uncle Cecil has proven invaluable regarding one of our patterns.

As for an update on the Knitting Starter Kits, we’re working on the instructions at the moment.  We’re hoping to have the instructions finished over the next couple of weeks, so that we can get our printer working on them soon.

Your hoping the Spring is treating you well writer,

Greg

The first is from a fun, peach colored yarn.

Which turned into this lovely hat.

The second creation was made by a fellow HOPE Farmer’s Market vendor.  Amanda Joyner is a pastry chef and her son Arthur (who happens to be quite the chef himself) gets the honor of highlighting the flower she crafted.

We love getting emails with pictures of what everyone has made with our yarn, so keep them coming.

Cheers,

Greg

Soooo, we are working to create a Knitting Starting Kit, which will include a full skein of 126-yards of yarn, a pair of needles, and a set of beginner’s instructions…. everything needed to start out knitting.  We’re still working on a lot of the details, but we hope to be able to offer it before Spring gets too far along.

And speaking of Spring, the Spring edition of Edible Austin has hit newsstands and there is a wonderful article about Yarn Harvest in it.  It even has a picture of the first koozie I ever made, complete with a local micro brew in it. Needless to say, quite exciting stuff.

Your looking forward to Spring Yarn Harvester,

Greg