October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and the color to display is purple.  Through the Facebook pages we have a current give-away for a lucky winner.  All you have to do is to become a fan of my page as well as Earth & Soul’s Facebook pages.

Domestic Violence affects many people, and is one of the standing silent social issues in many parts of the world.  Some families and people encourage negative and violent behavior towards their spouses, and many raise their children in the same manner.  Domestic Violence demeans the main victim as well as it negatively affects the family and friends and community.  Low self-esteem, drug and
alcohol abuse, suicide, and many other factors come into play.  There is NEVER an excuse for this type of behavior.  If we unite as a community and make sure that the message is clear – THIS BEHAVIOR IS NOT ACCEPTED OR TOLERATED.  If someone you know comes to you with an issue, please do three things.

1. Listen – Believe me, this will be the start of thehealing process.
2. Provide Support – Whether it is money, food, medicine or a place to stay for a few days.
3. Get help – There are many organizations which will help a person in this type of situation.

The entire message is clear.  Let’s be aware, and be a positive part of our community by supporting each other, and not this terrible behavior.

Remember the give-away? Below you will find the beginning of a hat which is hand crochet.  This hat is made with super soft and yummy yarn (if this yarn was food, I would eat it).  It is half silk and half merino wool.  It comes in gorgeous hues of purple.  It will be part of the give-away for a lucky winner.

Good luck and don’t forget to enter by becoming a fan!  Remember these hands are made for Creating!  Lets spread the message of Domestic Peace.

The weather is getting warmer, and every now and then the temperature will drop.  This reminds me that at some point Fall and Winter will get here… and we will be in need of hats.

I decided that I want to try something bobbly.  Check the progress on this hat that I am working on two needles.  I am thinking that this will be a slouchy style hat with bobbly rows.  I can’t wait to see how this is going to come out.  It doesn’t look like much right now… But if my vision is right, it will drape on beautifully when it is worn.   I will keep you posted.

Remember the post about the trade in work?  Click here for the original post.  I received word that my socks are finished, and I am very excited about it.  I have never had hand knit socks, and I cannot wait to share it with you all.  I would like to share some pictures of the hat that I am making for this great knitter.  It is almost finished, and so far this is what it looks like.  

I will post pictures once that it is finished.  Please let me know what you think about it.

I am very excited to bring part one of this journey to all of you. If you knit, then you are used to giving away your precious handmade art to friends and family as gifts. If you have a knitting business, you are either making a custom order for someone, or creating something from your imagination and you know that it will interest one of your customers. Now this is the first time that I am having a swap with another knitter. This is so exciting. She is an expert sock knitter, and I laugh as I still am working on the first cuff of the first sock. (It’s been six months.) Having handmade socks are an absolute treat for me. What does she want? She wants a slouchy hat. She asked for some light colors, and I told her to pick colors for my pair of socks. I would like to share this hat’s journey, as it is going to a very special knitter all the way in California. This is the beginning of this hat. I have chosen a hat of different colors but staying in the light and creamy hue as its main color.

 I look forward to sharing with you this hat’s journey. I can’t wait to share with you the precious socks once they arrive. I think that it is wonderful when two artists get together to share with each other their craft.

It is still very very cold.  And we have been having fluctuating temperatures.  From leaving the house at 5 degrees, to ice and sleet, and now 40 degrees followed by a healthy dose of rain.  What oh what is a girl to do.  I picked up my crochet hook, and a fabulous yarn, and started a hat on a whim. 

I think that sometimes inspiration can hit you anywhere, and it hit me with the changing of the weather.  One moment you have over dressed and you wish you had a simple sweater and jacket, and the other moment you are looking at trees covered in white, and another moment, you are cold again with the rain.  I wanted to have a hat to depict all of that with just color.  This is what I got at the end.

I looked at the hat, and I noticed that happily I made it long enough so that it warms up someone’s ears during the winter.  And then I asked the questions.  What if I don’t want to warm up the ears.  Then what?  And this is what I came up with.

   This is perfect!  I love a hat that can be worn many ways.  It is nice to have something hand made, but we just love to get two things for the price of one. (Hee hee hee! Why not!)

I looked at my creation with that gorgeous soft yarn, and decided that it needed a test run in the cold.  So, I took the hat outside and this is how it looked. 

    I mean how else are you going to know how the hat looks, but outside on the bare snowy elements!  How about a side view to see the gorgeous colorful design!  Of course let me know what you think.  Note that this hat is up for grabs.

This has been a very busy week.  With the crazy weather that we have been having in New York, and the fact that lack of heat has been a factor for many… I got a custom hat order this week after reviewing a swatch with the client.  Have you ever wondered what happens to a hat that you have ordered?  Whether it is a custom order, or if it is just a wonderful item that you fell in love with that is custom made?   I thought that I would share with you this hat’s journey.  The knitting kept my fingers warm during the cold (blurrrr), and now the computer will keep me warm (hee hee).    Here is one hat’s journey.

I began to knit the rim, and although the design is custom for this client… I wanted to switch it a bit in order of making the hat a little practical as well. 

This hat’s main purpose is to match with her coat, but with hues of brown as her coat’s furry hoodie.  So, I used two types of yarn.  One is a wool and cotton blend, and the other is an acrylic yarn which I am sure that combined, they will keep her warm.  So, I continued

The rim of this hat was customized to insure that her locks fit on top of her head without looking like a weirdo with a pile of paper on top of her head and inside a hat.  I closed the hat in a soft rounded way and not so pointy.  The point of this hat when it was made was that it could give her several looks with the same hat.  She can round the rim and let her locks into her hat, or flatten the rim and have an extra warm and cozy ear warmers as well as a hat.  This is the outcome.

Here is a view of how roomy the top of the hat is.  Which is perfect for anyone who has long hair!

Ta daaa!  I hope that she lets me take a picture of her with the hat on.  Let me know what you think of this cool varigated look.  Feel free to leave me a comment below or to contact me.

I absolutely just LOVE stuff the Yarn arts; and artsy stuff (of course it isn’t the only craft that I enjoy; however….) I just love it!  For a very long time, I find myself just looking at what others are wearing.  .  I haven’t been able to ride my bike to work due to our crazy winter weather lately.  At first I was a bit sad since I haven’t been able to get my mental break and physical exercise with the bicycle.  Well everything is a great opportunity right?  Sure it is!

I love going to the train station and just looking at what others are wearing.  Some things are just so pretty that I wind up staring (hopefully people don’t think in a creepy way).  When someone is looking pretty grumpy (check out this blog post about grumpy faces in NYC trains), I look and I wonder if the that cool scarf and mittens set is store bought or not.  Some items just look home-made, and I love their character and I tend to smile a lot because of it in the trains.  From that great beret that a lady wears, to the cutest little cowl that a kid was wearing recently in the train, street, etc.  I find that looking at what others are wearing, just fills me with inspiration. 

My husband asked me if I want to just do hats and scarves and bags!  I said ‘NO!’ there is a world of opportunity on the wonderful things that can be made.  Sure, that sometimes, only a couple things will be made because of an inspiration hit, but that is just the beauty of it all.  Making something by hand and whether it was inspired by what someone is wearing, or a picture or just a thought… is a wonderful art!

By my lookin’ at you kid…. I will then get inspired and show it to the world!

This wonderful hat is loom knit with a combination of wool blend yarn and acrylic yarn. It is the perfect knit for a toddler’s fun days in the cold.  The main color is gray and the stripes are green and red.  I like hats that fit perfectly into the many winter wardrobes that a child can have during a winter. 

To purchase this hat, please click here.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.

This wonderful loom knit childrens hat is super warm.  This hat is made with an acrylic blend yarn which is very soft for your young one’s little head, and equally warm enough.  This hat will fit a toddler / young child.  It is very thick and the perfect hat for the frigid winter days.

To purchase, please click here.  Feel free to contact us with any questions.