SouleMama

1.31.18 ~ another Suzanne

This cheeky monkey got herself a new dress this week. I squeezed in a few quick moments of sewing and she was the lucky recipient (truth be told, really the only one who will wear what I sew for them anymore!). I went with the classic Suzanne by Citronille, which I can pretty much make in my sleep by now. I think when I envision my daughters in my mind at these young ages, they're either wearing a Suzanne or a Geranium dress! I add some elastic on the shoulders, and finish the seams, extend the sleeves, and do a blind hem...but otherwise, it's Suzanne (Fiddlehead's sells the pattern in English). The fabric is a Cotton + Steel, from Alewives, and is such a cheerful print that hopefully no one will ever notice that the body of the dress I actually cut out upside down (I didn't realize until the dress was on her that it has a print direction). No matter - some of the faces are smiling up at Annabel this way, and that seems just right for my cheerful wild littlest one. (The forest treehouse is from Nova.) 

1.29.18 ~ warming up the sewing machine

I'm pretty grateful to be starting my Monday with this. I cut the pieces out last night after the kids went to bed, and this morning, invited/convinced Harper to come into my studio to work on his spelling alongside me, which he happily did while the girls were otherwise engaged in wooden animal play in front of the woodstove. It doesn't always work like this, but sometimes the stars do align just so, and I thank those lucky stars.

Wishing you a cheerful start to your own week! 

Chasing Windmills {a soulemama sponsor}

Greetings from Chasing Windmills!

We are makers of merino wool children’s apparel. We launched Chasing Windmills in June 2015 with a simple goal: to capture the adventurous spirit of childhood through the natural goodness of merino wool.

Springing from a deep appreciation of the outdoors, we longed to create a bridge for parents to share the goodness of nature with their little ones -- to be able to soak in the adventurous spirit of childhood everyday. By sourcing the finest merino wool from mountainous New Zealand and Australian ranches (courtesy of our friends at ZQ Merino), Chasing Windmills allows Mother Nature to provide the soulful base of everything we create. Amazingly, the merino wool used in our collection is naturally super soft, breathable, temperature regulating, and lightweight -- truly an ideal fabric for little ones all year round, and especially as the seasons change. 

Our collection includes merino wool long johns, basics for everyday play, as well as nursery essentials.

Follow Chasing Windmills on Instagram and Facebook.

SouleMama: Since the last time you were featured on SouleMama, in what ways has your business grown or changed? Is there anything new you'd like to tell us about?

Sarah: Since our last post here on SouleMama, we released a new merino long john style- a colorblock style that adds just a pop of color. As with all of our long johns, we designed them so that they can be worn as super soft pajamas, but also during the day as a comfy, quick drying, insulating baselayer. With our kids playing outside everyday during the winter in their snowsuits, they often will roll out of bed in their merino long johns, all ready for school and the great outdoors! One less step getting ready in the morning too ;). 

We are also working on releasing a new product for this spring/summer- tank top/short john sets! Some people still do not realize the many benefits of merino for warm weather. Since merino wool is temperature regulating, it is actually cooling in the summer and keeps you feeling dry and fresh with its antimicrobial properties. Plus, the tank tops can continue to be worn as an additional core baselayer in the colder months, so these will really be all season! We're looking forward to sharing them soon. 

This weekend, Chasing Windmills is generously offering the following gift to ONE lucky SouleMama reader:

A shop credit of $75 towards anything in our collection

Additionally, Chasing Windmills is also offering 10% sitewide with code Soulemama10 through Monday, January 29th.

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To enter today's giveaway, leave a comment below (one entry per person, please). Comments will close by 9 am EST on Sunday. Winners will be chosen by Random Number Generator and announced in this post shortly after. Comments closed. The winner is...

Just Beautiful!!
Posted by: Bonney

1.26.18 ~ Dovetail Cowl

Another day, another cowl, and more of me on this blog! Oh goodness. I suppose that's my punishment for all this selfish knitting! But oh, it does feel indulgent and good and none of my people are complaining for a lack of hand knits for themselves, that's for sure. 

This one is the Dovetail Cowl, and it was so close to being finished, I really do wonder what it was that made me put it aside when I did. The yarn is Camellia Fiber Company that I purchased in North Carolina at Black Mountain Yarn Shop (yes, are you getting the gist here? I travel and buy yarn as a souvenirs, naturally). The yarn was as lovely to knit with as everyone says, and I particularly love this pattern for the way the cowl can be doubled up and therefore extra warm and snug so close to my neck (so very perfect for the chilly early morning chore run). 

I really am moving onto finishing up knits for others, and I promise you'll see a face other than mine here next week. That is, if the shawl I just cast on for doesn't become my obsession of the weekend (which it very well could. Oops!). 

Have a wonderful weekend, all! 

1.23.17 ~ Drift Cowl

Another one off the needles, another one for me! And goodness, that means more photos of me, and there are only more coming I dare say. It really is by chance that every one of the knits I'm finishing up first happens to be for myself. But then again, no one else in my life really needs a knit anything, so it might as well be this way. (Though they're still getting some knit things coming their way, need or no need.)

This cowl was a quick knit, and a test knit of sorts, for an upcoming class we're hosting at the Taproot Market in Portland. A Learn to Knit (this cowl!) with Hannah Welling. The yarn is hers, and I love it so. Most especially I suppose because it's so soft and cozy and has a great drape too. But also because I know the beautiful and loved sheep that the wool came from, and I know the shepherdess and her enormous heart and care for her flock! We've had a bit of a rough go in our barn with our own flock this past week, and I've found myself in the barn for more hours than I can count, trying to puzzle it out and nursing one of our sheep back to her feet (I'm happy to say she's well once again, little Thalia). I've sent countless texts and made many phone calls to my small but mighty group of fellow sheep keeping friends and I'm eternally grateful for their help and guidance. I'm blessed by their friendship and advice!

If you're in Portland would like to join us for this class, we'd love to have you! A great farm lunch will be provided by Lauren of Swallowtail Farm. You can find all the details here. And after the class, I believe Hannah will be making this pattern available for purchase on Ravelry.

Onto the next one....!

P.S. - The green sweater is my Shalom that I made oh so long ago. I still wear it tons and love that sweater! 

1.23.17 ~ Veronika Cardigan

The first time I knit with Stone Wool Cormo I wanted to wrap myself up in it. And so, when searching for the perfect yarn for the Veronika Cardigan, which I knew I had to knit, I found my way to that yarn once again, on the shelves of Fancy Tiger Crafts while in Denver. Peer pressure of the best kind - a bunch of knitters to encourage indulgence! As I had hoped, it was a dream to knit with, and this project such a fun one in the construction. And now I do really have the coziest warmest wintry wrap to wear. I love it!

With this big one off the needles (and with this cardigan now on my shoulders), I've continued to work my way through that unfinished knits pile, making quite a bit of progress (be forewarned of the knitting content to come!). It's so satisfying. Though a package of yarn did just so happen to arrive in the mail recently, for a Taproot project (excuses, excuses), and oh...startitis is real, my friends, it really is! 

 

Woolen Moss {a soulemama sponsor}

Greetings from Woolen Moss!

Woolen Moss is a women's clothing line designed and produced in Upstate New York. We specialize in organic merino wool clothing, and I’ve just recently brought in a new line of mid weight merino colors. A wine red, a peacock blue, and a royal purple as well as black. It’s a tightly knit 330 gsm that fluffs and softens with the first (gentle) wash. I’m also carrying a heavy weight merino that is softer and warmer than you can imagine. Perfect for the coldest winter days. And as always, I still carry a line of organic cotton bamboo clothing too. All Woolen Moss garments are soft and warm. All you need to feel good.

Find shop updates, sales, and general musings on the Instagram @woolenmoss and Facebook.

SouleMama: Since the last time you were featured on SouleMama, in what ways has your business grown or changed? Is there anything new you'd like to tell us about?

Kate: Brrr! Breathe! Sigh! Just a few of the exclamations I’ve uttered over the past few months. It’s been very cold, I’ve been very busy, and winter is beautiful. Not the only sentiments I’ve had recently, but certainly the most recurring. It has been one of the coldest winters and the wood stove has been nonstop. The air has had the kind of bite you’d expect from the north pole, but the winter sun has been stunning, and the waterfalls are glistening with ice crystals. Leggings, leg warmers, a skirt, long sleeves, a sweater, a cardigan, and a neck woolly. I pull on layer after layer of merino wool just to step out for a deep breath. And it turns out, so does everybody else! It has been a busy time in the studio, trying to keep everyone warm, and some days just trying to keep my head above water. But at the end of the day, there’s always a solid feeling of accomplishment. My work is as cyclical as a farmer’s, only opposite in it’s seasons. I produce heavily all fall and winter long, and I work lightly along with lots of idea generating and sketching all spring and summer. It is the perfect rhythm for me. It allows for the balance I crave. 

But even during the business of my winter, I occasionally I look up from my work and realize the immense beauty around me. I take a moment to bundle up, step outside and see the beauty of stillness. Of quiet. What may seem dark and gray to some seems magical to me. The sound of snow falling is one of the most peaceful sounds of quiet I have ever known. It’s important we take these times for ourselves. To breathe, and sigh, and with a few extra merino wool layers we don’t have to say brrrr nearly as often. 

 

This weekend, Woolen Moss is generously offering the following gift to ONE lucky SouleMama reader:

A pair of merino wool leggings. The most essential item in my closet. They’re good under a pair of pants or a skirt, or just along side your favorite sweater. There are a lot of merino wool leggings options in the shop right now, so take a good look at the listings, or feel free to ask me any questions about the differences. They come in several colors and weights, so make sure to get what suits you. 

Additionally, I’d also like to offer 15% off any garment from the shop through the end of January. Just enter code STAYWARM at checkout for your automatic discount. Enjoy!

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To enter today's giveaway, leave a comment below (one entry per person, please). Comments will close by 9 am EST on Monday. Winners will be chosen by Random Number Generator and announced in this post shortly after. Comments closed. The winner is...

Awesome colors and I bet they are really soft.
Posted by: Arawen

1.19.18 ~ January Knits

I'm sorry does that last image give you a little heart race? I know, it's a bit much, isn't it? I really admire those knitters who are able to focus on just one project until completion. Clearly, I'm not that kind of a knitter. January has traditionally been a time when I unpack and survey the unfinished knits pile and evaluate what really is going to get done, and crank through a few. It's always the month that I finish some of these up, clearing some space and finally getting back those long occupied needles. I did just that last weekend, and took a few out of the pile to unravel, knowing I would never finish them. This is what remains. I'm nothing if not a time optimist. 

But before those babies, I really am focusing on just two projects. I'm nearing the very end of my Veronika cardigan and simply cannot wait to wear it. And I'm making a quick cowl with Mindful Folk Farm Fiber as a test knit of sorts for an upcoming learn to knit class that Taproot is hosting here in Portland (find the details here). Thankfully, there's plenty more sweater and cowl wearing weather ahead here!

Since carpal tunnel has entered my life, I've found that varying the needle size I'm working with on a daily basis helps quite a bit. So these two projects - on size 4 and size 8 needles are really just right as a balance to one another. And I think I mentioned Solomon's Seal Root Oil here already? That's been so helpful as well. And getting off the dang laptop hand use with appropriate keyboards and mouse instead. Oh, and a night brace. And mostly (and most challenging for me) not overdoing any one thing or the other with my hands. That all helps to keep the pain at bay, and for those things I'm so grateful. I may not be able to knit quite as much as I used to - for a multitude of reasons, really - but I am ever so grateful for its presence in my life - as a meditation, as a means of giving and so much more. Oh, the feeling of a project in my hands is just the best of all. 

And on that note, the hearth calls....knitting by the fire is the absolute best pairing to listening to a new reader practice her skill! 

Have a lovely weekend, all! 

1.16.18 ~ from the deep freeze

Hello from the deep freeze! It is Maine and it is winter after all, but goodness we're having such a cold one. Today, my crew is on the mountain (they care not that it's mostly ice, and very, very cold), and I'm at the office on deadline for our next issue of Taproot (HEARTH! It's such a good issue!). I started the morning at the shore - I was missing the ocean, and I wanted to move my body before a day in front of the screen. It was lovely, brisk, and beautiful. Oh that cold air feels good, really. But I must admit that I'm finding it challenging to feel active this time of year and in this particular weather pattern we're in. The woods are hard to walk in and there's ice everywhere. I've been enjoying a 30 day Yoga with Adriene at home though, which is such a nice way to start the day (especially with Ani at my side). 

How about you? How do you keep moving in this colder months? I think I need to find a way to make knitting more aerobic. Hmn....that could be a thing, right? 

Enjoy this day! 

1.12.18 ~ one for Pop (or me)

It's rainy and drizzly and oh so warm today, with a whole lot more rain coming tonight and tomorrow. The snow is melting! It'll be back, of course. But it's melting today. It makes for a slippery walk out to chores, five gallon buckets in each hand to hopefully balance me. 

There was one more hat knit recently! This one for Pop, finished just in time for his stocking on Christmas morning. It's the Tall Dark and Handsome hat by TinCanKnits, knit with half a skein of SeaColors Yarn. It's obviously a bit big on me, but it certainly works when Steve leaves it behind and I grab it on my way out the door to feed the animals in the morning, behead, pajamas and all.

Cheers to the weekend! It's here!

1.9.18 ~ thawing out

We're thawing out! At last! I mean, it's still winter and it's still cold, and goodness there is a lot of snow out there. But at least we are out of that very long and very cold snap that had us up through the night, running water to avoid frozen pipes, filling the stove to stay warm, and checking on the animals out in the barn. It was a rough stretch, that week plus a few days! And I'm grateful to be on the other side of it and into what feels like a much more normal winter season for us. The crew is all skiing (well, excepting those who are in high school classrooms at the moment, but be assured they get plenty of weekend time on the slopes), and as always, I have grand hopes for my Tuesday's at home. Today I had hoped to get quite a few hours of Taproot work in, and thought I might do a thorough clean of Annabel's bedroom and dresser, maybe start on a new dress for her, and get dinner ready for their arrival home. But looking at the clock, nearly noon now, I think that might have been a bit ambitious. A good deal of work and then sitting to knit a spell will be my reward before everyone comes in the door, hungry and ready to tell me all about their day on the mountain. I'm so close to casting off for a sweater right now...and then there's the dreaming up of what comes next. Oh, I love January for that! 

 

1.3.18 ~ ski hat (for the non-skier)

All Ezra wanted for a gift this season was a vintage wool overcoat. Well, I found that, and in the process of my vintage clothing search for him, I found one for myself as well. Oops! But oh my gosh, this coat is my very favorite thing. It's warmer than any down parka, and oh so cozy. Even if it does make me feel a little bit like the Evil Stepmother in Snow White when I have the collar up. And even if the kids are embarrassed by me when I wear the coat with my wide brim wool felt hat. I don't care. I love it so.

But that's not what I was going to tell you about. I was going to tell you about my new hat! All this home time has been good for one thing, and that's my knitting, of course. A little hat for my nephew, and then one for Pop (he's hard to nail down for photos), and one now for me. It's just the very groove I needed to get in to find my way to the needles again. The simple satisfaction of a knit hat, promptly placed upon a head and then not removed (because holy moly, it's still not getting above zero). The hat is Slalom Ski Hat by Swans Island Company, and the yarn is the same Cashgora that I used for Coleman's hat, carried by Port Fiber. I skipped the pom pom because I wanted to wear it right away, but that might come later. It looks like plenty of chilly days ahead, just right for warm wool hats...and more knitting. Yes.

1.2.18 ~ dark days

Happy New Year! We had such a lovely and incredibly mellow night ringing in the new year, with just three of us left standing at midnight (and then asleep promptly by 12:05am)! It was quite unlike our usual New Year's Eve, where we traditionally host a big party. But that seems to be the tone of this holiday season - unexpectedly home, and relatively quiet. I missed the friendly faces that we usually gather with, but I'm not complaining about the easy days and nights at home that we've been having. I think we all needed that.

The extreme cold spell we're in has been hard. It's not just the discomfort, or even the hassle (such a hassle) of frequently frozen pipes - that's really nothing compared to the danger of this type of weather for the extended period of time that it's been going on (and will continue). We do our best to tuck everyone in well, and make the animals as warm and comfortable as possible. Extra food for extra calories to keep warm, and plenty of water and heat in the barn. But still, for those that are susceptible, this weather is brutal. We lost a goat a few nights ago. She was older, and had been showing signs of weakness, so it isn't shocking. Just heartbreaking. Friends have lost animals this week too. And even though it's normal, we still ask ourselves if there was more we could have done. We'll never know.

There's been more sadness from this weather. I know I've mentioned our dear old Bruce here before - the older gentleman who has been the best kind of neighbor anyone could ask for. He lost everything in a house fire a few nights ago, started in the wood stove chimney. It was a terrifying moment, when the kids saw fire out the window and Steve and I ran like wild, praying that he wasn't still inside. He had just made it out in time before the house was engulfed. We sat with him as firefighters battled for hours, with frozen hoses due to the far below zero temperatures. The next night, the remains of the house caught fire again, more dangerously freezing temperatures in the air.

That's such a somber tone to start the new year, I'm sorry. But there has been such great joy too, and that's what I really want to tell you about, because it's what I feel most in my heart today. Bruce is staying with us for a little while, as he sorts out his plan. And I find myself tearful many times a day as I've seen his community come by to offer a hand, bring him some new clothes, a meal, or just to sit for a cup of coffee and talk about the old days. Folks that are our neighbors, really, but whom we've never met (each one of them 'welcoming' us to the neighborhood, though we've been here seven years now). My kitchen has never been so full of beards and plaid flannel, and it's been an honor, really, to hold the space for these exchanges to happen. To witness such kindness and generosity. Steve and I avoid politics at that kitchen table on these days, but instead focus on what connects us to whomever is sitting across from us. And what joy it is, in these moments, to discover just how much we do share. 

Cheers, my friends, to more kindness and love in 2018. That's my hope.