dear iceland, takk for your sheeps

i am smitten for this icelandic yarn!
it has a pretty natural look to it and after doing some research on icelandic yarns, it really is great stuff.

the top two are crocheted with icelandic yarn, yums!

the yarn is spun from the machine carded fleece of icelandic sheep which are a domestic shorty tailed sheep, some with and without horns. their fleece has two layers, one that is wet resistant and one that is light weight, soft and insulating. in other words, perfect for the colder months of the year.

i've done some hats so far with this neato yarn and am currently onto gloves, but with all the spinning off i really should give my hands a break at some point. to save my knuckles from a bit of soreness, i've decided to pencil in some time with my lovely Ed Gein Machine and sew up some toasty buttoned scarflettes for this new batch of things for le shop.

i have to admit spinning out all these toasty things is pretty exciting. i really do love just creating something hand made and one of a kind, just putting it out there to the world for someone to take home. believe me when i say that every piece i make has a big ol' drop of my heart in it 'cause i do what i like and well, i like what i do.
with all that said, i have something else i'm looking forward to that comes with the cold. just around the corner is another year of schooltimes! I cannot wait to see the lovely ladies in the studio and the friendly crafty faces in the Crafts and Design wing.
i decided last year that once school begins, i'll focus all my energy on staying on top of projects and homework but in order to do that i go into request mode with my little shop. though last year i hadn't thought of listing request items online so i have every intention of doing just that this year as well as taking up any offers that may come my way in the school hallways.
along with requests during the school year, i also try and do as many tags i can to promote my shop and help get the word out there.
i did one before i posted up the tote bags for sale, and have been working on little ones and one biggy one to do before the first day of school. that biggy one i'm saving for when my brother comes home to give us something else to work on together like we did with the esty commercial contest we entered last year.
he splurged himself with a wonderful Canon 500d digital slr earlier this year and agreed to photograph me doing up the biggy tag before school starts and then to make up a sort of video short of sorts to both get used to the video settings and to make up a kind of promotional video to post around online, fun!

with all this yarn talk, i leave you with a toasty little ditty featuring one of my favorite muppets on le drums, Animal

internally yours,
sister valentine