Dresses!

Nona and I have been having a great time recently, making spring and summer dresses for the shop! Nona was inspired to crochet a beautiful pinafore dress from a pattern from the 1940's. I have been enjoying creating different versions of the Kaia Babydoll dress. A customer gave me the idea to try one with a fabric skirt and I was really thrilled with the result. A soft, stretchy handknit bodice meets fun, colorful fabric...I already have a half dozen different dresses designed in my head! I am also working on an entirely knit custom Kaia Babydoll in gorgeous, rich colors that make me think of a sunrise. It will have a drawstring through the eyelet holes in the bodice, that ties in the back.


We're well into spring now, in Colorado...which means sun one moment, wind and rain the next...followed by snow the very next day! This past Thursday was a great example of that. We had thunderstorms in the morning and suddenly, the clouds cleared and the sun emerged. The children and I took the opportunity to go for a walk on a beautiful nearby hiking trail called the Coal Creek Trail. It's a dirt trail that winds along a creek. The air had that wonderful humid smell of dirt mixed with rain. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and got a good walk in before the skies clouded up, and the storms resumed.

I hope you are enjoying spring wherever you are!

Starting our seeds

Yesterday the children and I took a trip into Boulder to pick up some seeds and a seed starter tray at McGuckin's Hardware. I had to make some quick decisions as Annie was intent on pulling as many seed packets as possible off the racks, and then trying to peel them open. :)




Today we got our wet soil into the tray and planted the seeds that we want to start indoors, for our garden. The children were surprised to see all the different sizes and shapes of seeds, from the tiny herb seeds to the giant sunflower and bean seeds. We're really looking forward to seeing our first little green sprouts!

Things have been quiet with the shop this week. I'm working on a little pink shrug sweater in a 6-12 month size that I should have finished by mid-week or so. It will be something easy and versatile to put on over a sleeveless or short sleeved top or dress to keep little shoulders and arms warm. Then, I'm excited to try something new for spring and summer -- a Kaia Babydoll dress that has a hand knit cotton bodice, and a matching light cotton (fabric, not knit) skirt, in a fun print. I'm hoping it will turn out well and will be something that I can offer on a regular basis, in a variety of sizes. We will see! I also have plans to do more booties, in both newborn and 3-6 month sizes, and in new colors.

The winner is...

Heather. :) Please contact me at revolutionarywoolens at gmail.com and let me know which shirt you would like. Thanks so much everyone for entering; it was fun!

And thank you all for your lovely comments; I sincerely appreciate your kindness.

Spring is really here!

First things first - I'd like to offer up a little giveaway! I currently have five embellished tshirts in stock in the shop and will give away one (your choice) this coming Saturday, April 17, at noon MST. All you have to do is leave a comment after this post. I will use a random number generator to select the winner and post his/her name here. Good luck!

Well, spring is really here in Colorado (finally)! The kids and I have been working on planning our garden plot (D3!) in the Flatirons Community Garden. At this point the short list looks something like this: carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, peas, parsley, basil and arugula. Maybe a little ambitious...but that is what plans are all about, right? :) Spring seems to be all about possibilities. We can't wait to get our hands in the dirt.

As for Revolutionary Woolens, both Nona and I just finished up some custom items and listed them today (pictures below!). It's always a great feeling to finish a project, big or small! We also listed some pretty spring/summer dresses in the last week and are starting to figure out where to put our energy in the warmer months. I have decided to stop offering embellished t-shirts, and instead to focus on my knitting, so I have reduced the prices on them. Along these lines, I am *always* open to feedback regarding what you'd like to see in my shop, or what you think might do well! One advantage to creating one of a kind items is that I am very nimble. ;)




Hope you are enjoying your spring! Thanks for reading. :)

Traveling down new roads

Well, I finally have a really good reason to start a blog. Or two, actually. So, here we go!

First, this is the Flatirons Community Garden as it looked on April 6, 2010. This community garden is an initiative of the Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette, Colorado, which we started attending this past year. Our family has a plot in this garden and we're so excited to participate in this project. It will be such a fun road to travel down, learning more about gardening and getting to know our fellow gardeners. I love looking at this picture and imagining the transformation this land will experience over the next several months. I will be posting updates and stories regularly, so check back here to experience this transformation with us! We will be donating a portion of our produce to the Sister Carmen Community Center food bank.

The process of opening an Etsy shop, Revolutionary Woolens , has also felt like venturing down a new road. My dear friend Nona and I opened this shop on Valentines Day this year. We have loved knitting, sewing and crocheting things for our children and decided to open up shop and share our products with the world! It's been a great learning process so far -- sometimes wonderful, sometimes disappointing. It's a journey that's just beginning though, and I'm excited to see where it leads me.

I'm currently working on a lightweight knit spring/summer dress in the perfect rosy shade of pink. I'm knitting this dress from the top down with no seams using the Kaia Babydoll pattern (for which I am a licensed knitter). Here is a picture of my work in progress. It is approximately a 6-12 month size and I will be listing it in the Etsy shop sometime on Friday the 9th. I'm still trying to figure out where to focus my energy in terms of the right products to offer, and hope this one will be popular.