So Fae

What a great kit! I designed it? Oh, thank you. (smile)
A little background here: I was away from crochet for a while and then I found a single skein of sock yarn. Just laying there all by itself. It wasn't enough for a full pair of socks so I thought I'd do something radical: crochet! At exactly the same time, I fell upon Laurel Hill's crochet hooks. These crochet hooks single-handedly brought me back to crochet. At a show I bought one of the Palmwood hooks and it was so light and lovely to touch, I just had to...well...crochet!

In this lovely marriage of material and tool, I came up with a simple headscarf pattern because I'd been trying to grow out my short locks. After making a couple of these, I really wanted to do more. At the same time, Laura and I were starting this business and I saw the perfect opportunity for just that.
I sent Jen Hintz a picture of some Lichen from here in Portland and asked her to create a hand dyed yarn with withher bamboo/wool sock base that picked up on these colors. She went us a few skeins, but we immediately fell in love with this one.


In our kit, we're including an ebony crochet hook (from reclaimed wood) from Laurel Hill with our pattern and a big skein of Jen's yarn. I seriously hope you'll give this a try and it's a relaxing projects and slips through your fingers in the most delicious way! So Faerie. So Fae.

Tools

Mostly I just took this picture to show you some of my cool stuff. Everything except the Sajou needles and thread holders (gifts from Jody) has been with me for a while and each has a little story.

There's two darning eggs (one more "egg" than the other) The first one was my Mom, the second is from Sweden.

Two crochet hooks. The big wooden one is from Sweden and it certainly looks it! The little ivory one is actually a set of two that I bought in an antique shop years ago and use all the time.

The little booklet is a needle case sent to us when I was a kid, as a gift from our local oil company. Interesting concept and much better than a calendar!

The magnifying glass with the Bakelite was my Mom's. I remember her using it to take splinters out of my fingers. Not a pleasant memory, but I still use it all the time for sewing or reading teeny tiny labels.

Those spools of thread (and there are more) are from my Mom as well. They are at least from the 40's perhaps before. I remember hand sewing doll clothes with them.

And, nestled in there are some crocheted buttons which are a part of my extensive button collection. Some are from Mom and some, like these were bought at antique stores.

A sentimental day. I have such strong feelings about passing down needlework supplies. What are we using today that will be considered "retro" and "cool" or quaint? Is the high-tech of our world, breeding it all out of us?

If you treasure these things, hold onto them or pass them to someone else who will use and care for them. Yes, I do use a darning egg!