There are many enterprising yarncentric folks out there, creating wonderful lives for themselves by building neat yarn oriented businesses on the net.  Jennifer Tan of ‘Gosh Yarn It’ is one of those nifty yarntrepreneurs.
I ‘met’  Jennifer a year or so ago when she commissioned me to make her daughter a one of a kind spool knitter and then asked me to design and make some 2 peg spool knitters for ‘Gosh Yarn It’.  It’s been fun to see Jennifer growing her business and when she got in touch with me again a couple of weeks back, I asked her if …read more

Here’s a fun contest for the green days of summer:
Jill Ammon Vanderwood has kindly donated a copy of her new book:

What’s It Like, Living Green?
to Hankering for Yarn,
because of my passion for green and eco friendly living.

What’s It Like, Living Green?
Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live
features families who live green,
kids who are
making a difference for the environment
and tips as simple
as putting on a sweater,
rather than turning up the heat.

Link: What’s It Like, Living Green? By Jill Ammon Vanderwood
How do you win a copy of the book?
Simple!
Leave a comment in the box below, with a …read more

Yesterday, it was summer.
That is, until a spring snow storm blew in and dumped feet of snow on us.
It was a wild and woolie night… I kept getting up to watch the snow  building up.
The snow storm began as thick thick fog that gave up on itself and flopped down as wet mush.
That picked up it’s spirits and so , then it really got into the swing of things.
It  started dumping hefty globs of snow and sculpting trees and wires and fences and windchimes and and and
our little corner of the world turned very white, yet again….
The geese, who had …read more

Yesterday, I began the ‘Face of Joy Challenge’. So, that has me thinking about how to show the Face of Joy in as many ways as possible.
It’s a F A C E of Joy challenge, right?
Soooooooooooo…..
that means that the face doesn’t have to belong to human being.
AND……
I did say that for this challenge,
WIRE counts as yarn, right?
So……..
my entry for ‘The Face of Joy’ challenge for today
is
A teddy bear that I crocheted from 28 gauge coppper wire.
He has a big heart and a happy disposition.
He’s got wooden beads inside his head and his tummy to keep him
from squishing flat when he’s …read more

Any month that starts with with a day of foolishness deserves to have a celebration of playfulness, doesn’t it?
I’ve been reading up on ‘play’ (click the link to read what wikipedia has to say about play)
and playfulness.
Expert after expert has talked about the importance of being playful
for our entire lives.
There was a wonderful conference about Serious Play last year.
All the experts agree:
Play is essential to our well being, in body, mind and spirit – as individuals and as communities.
Being playful can alleviate all kinds of stress.
Playfulness increases resiliency and flexibility….and, whew… do we ever need to be flexible these days!
Because …read more

Because I have been running the Creative Clutter Control Contest, I felt that I had to clean up the mess on my drawing table in my studio.
In the contest announcement, I  posted a pic, taken from my computer desk, looking across at the drawing table.

There’s no way I am showing that pic again (click the link if you must…. shudder….)
But, I am showing the newly cleaned off drawing table, tadah….
I can actually sit there and draw again! Hurrah!
Thank you, Diane Dobson Barton for inspiring me to clear up some of my creative clutter!
(Click on her name to order your copy …read more

Today, I asked my husband to pick a number between 1 and 21. Why?
Because in the Compassionate Knitters contest,
there were 21 entries. all of whom hoped to win the kit for the Compassion Cap from Laurel Hill .
My husband called out, ‘14′, which is Karen Gonyea.
Thank you so much, Karen, and I will be emailing you for your mailing information.
Thank you also to all the other lovely people- your entries are most appreciated, as is your compassion!
Thank you so much, Laurel Hill and Knots of Love for your work in getting compassion caps to the people who need them!

Ohhhhhhh, I am probably going to regret posting this photo…. but I’ll go ahead anyhow…. and blush….
This ……….
is a shot of my studio, taken from my computer desk,
looking across at  my design desks.
They are totally out of control right now.
I have just finished launching 2 self published books,
Rosie Recycle Dolls and Spooligarumi,
and am going like blazes on the next one……
as well as getting up to speed with Hankering for Yarn.
Because I have so many balls up in the air, things have just heaped up to the point of- ‘aaaaaaggggghhhhhhhh’
here in the studio….
So, when I read about Diane Dobson-Barton’s new book: …read more

I just posted about the  crocheted compassion cap Knots of Love kit  that Laurel Hill is kindly donating to one of the  readers of Hankering for Yarn.
And, now I am pleased to offer a second contest, courtesy of
Knots of Love and Laurel Hill.
This contest is for a compassionate knitter.
The prize is one of Laurel Hill’s
knitted compassion cap kits
How do you win?
Simple, post a comment, telling me to  whom you would donate  the compassion cap that you will knit from this kit.
The contest begins now and closes on March 17th.
It is open to citizens of Canada and the United States.
(image …read more

Some kinds of synchronicity are really neat. Others are more poignant.

I received a note the other day from Christine Shively at Knots of Love,  telling me about the chemo cap kits that they are now working with Laurel Hill to create.
‘Great!’, I thought, knowing how many people’s lives are being radically altered by cancer in their family or among their friends.
Then, a few days later, I received a note from a dear friend, saying that she is now facing the challenges of cancer. 

I immediately went into prayer, visualization, breath work and healing imagery mode for her.
Her family and …read more