It has begun!  you can sign up for sock club now at MyHedgehogKnits.com (read previous entry for more details) .   enjoy!

Sign ups start on February 4th @ myhedgehogknits.com. (i’ll post a direct link the day registration opens).

Here is how it works:
The yarn club runs for 4 months, during which time you will receive 3 shipments of yarn. Each shipment contains one skein of sock weight yarn, pattern support & some surprises.

Over the course of 3 shipments, you’ll receive one skein of our lovely Starling Sock (this is the one with cashmere, ooooo!), one skein of our popular Pigeon Sock & one skein of our brand new sock base which has yet to be unveiled. Each skein will be handdyed in a brand new colorway, specific & unique to the TDYarn Club. These colorways will not be made available to non-TDY Yarn Club-members for at least one year, if ever.

The cost of the club is $55 plus shipping (& tax if you are in florida).

As this is our first TDYarn Club, we are opening registration to only 20 people

This has been the decade of all of my favorite things.  the people who matter the most to me, have come into my life over the last 10 years.  the things i love to do & the things i am best at doing, have come to fruition in the last 10 years.
the aughts = tallahassee, kalyx, pocket novel mystery, dcf, reagan, heather, jeanie, thursday night knitting, pat puckett, the rest, whitelodge, maetera marble, wooly bully, hannah, sara, fender jaguar, shari & the hill family, wedding day, elijah, hummel, august finch, mercy june, turtle dove yarns, redirections. 
here's hoping for teenage wildlife!!  2010-2019 
happy 2010 to everyone!
x o x o

I have always heard that you should spend New Year's Day doing whatever you hope to do throughout the new year.  So, this New Years (and the following weekend) will be dedicated to getting lots of yarn dyed!   Wooly Bully has a big order coming to them & MyHedgehogKnits.com & the TDY Etsy shop will be fully stocked in January.  I have received requests for LisaFrank inspired colorways & NightMareBeforeChristmas inspired colorways, both of which will be created this weekend as well as some of the original TDY colorways, Reagan, Peacock, Rapunzel, Tigerlilly & more.  Can't wait to make some Sally-inspired yarn!!  Check back soon!!

Today there will be a shipment of TDY hand delivered to Wooly Bully in Tallahassee.  If you are a local, swing by & check out some of the new stuff.  There will be a handful of Starling, our new Merino,Cashmere,Nylon sock yarn and some Pigeon - our stand-by, original, go-to sock yarn as well as a teeeny bit of RareBird lace.  enjoy!

First of all, it just occurred to me that it is in fact October 30th and I have yet to make even a single entry for October on the blog!  I know, I have heard from many of you who "follow" me on twitter, saying "um....hello???"
You're complaints are justified.  I have been away far too long.

Look.  Mercy wishes I would spend a bit more time on my blog or dying yarn even.  she's all....'um, i need my space!'

Reality is that I have, in fact, been dying lots of yarn & you'll get full access to the new colors available around November 10th.  Until then, I'm being sent out of town for a training sponsored by my new employer. 
I recently became gainfully employed at a non-profit agency here in Tallahassee.  This is my excuse for being away.

But do not equate this shift in my schedule to a decreased amount of yarns available either locally nor online.  I have lots of ideas for Fall & Winter colorways as well as a few new patterns & even a couple of new yarns which will be debuted very soon.

So, in the mean time, enjoy something creepy & something sweet & keep an eye out (harharhar) for new stuff from TurtleDove!

WE HAVE A WINNER!  Big Thanks to all of you who participated in our "name that yarn" contest.  We were looking for a special name for our brand new sock yarn comprised of soft merino, cashmere & a bit of nylon for strength.  There were so many good ones!!
… after going through over 120 entries, I tried diligently to put together my top 10. but i was not successful at first. I was initially only able to narrow it down to the top 17 which included the following: Merlin, Pheonix, Plume, Sparrow, Bishop, Phoebe, Dove, Nestling, Swan Spun, Fleur, Fauna, Damsel, Stellar, Starling, Nightingale, & Kestrel.

Then i spent some time looking at the names in written form, imagining how they would appear on the TDY labels & researching to figure out which ones had already been taken.

I especially loved Merlin, but it is a yarn already from Louet. So, I had to toss that one out along with a few other good ones which are currently being used for yarn names already.
I was also very drawn to Bishop, with my love of Fringe & all! Then I was staring at Phoebe, Starling, Nestling, Plume, and Swan Spun, thinking that “the one” had to be among these really beautiful names.
After hours of debating over these names, I was finally able to pick my final two.

I felt like there should be some kind of dramatic conclusion to this experience. but it was just me & pat & a sleeping baby & so I put off the final decision a while & baked a celebratory chocolate cake with blueberry icing!
After indulging, I felt like I was ready to make up my mind…
The final two names I’d chosen were - Swan Spun & Starling.
I really couldn’t decide between these two & felt that if i weren’t a vegetarian, it probably wouldn’t bother me that Swan Spun reminded me the tiniest bit of Swanson Broth or Chicken… eewww! But it is such a beautiful sounding name…perfect for such a lovely new yarn for TDY.
But alas, I chose Starling. it resonates with a twinkle & a bit of magic indicating just how special this new yarn is for us.
YEAAA! Thanks to WickedKnitted for her submission. i’ll be waiting to hear which colorway of the new Starling Sock she will be getting!!!

And of course thanks to all of you who participated in this contest. It was a lot of fun seeing all the names you all came up with. If you missed the competition all together, here are some of the highlights:
dik dik
boobie
samuel (haha, diggeramy thinks we should name the yarn after her adorable baby boy…)
condor
titmouse
tip towhee



and the one that made me laugh the hardest, 

Ken Lee! 




x o x o

e

The newest edition to the TurtleDove Yarns family is such a special yarn I cannot seem to find the right name... 
So, I am employing the bright minds of all you creative people to help me come up with a name that both adheres to TDYs m.o. and does justice to this very special yarn.
It is a super soft blend of Merino, Cashmere & a bit of Nylon for strength.  It is a true lux sock yarn!

There are no rules, just submit a comment with a name, any name, could be your own name, and as many entries as you'd like.   If I choose the name you submit, you will receive a free skein of this stuff in your choice of these two colorways, Biancabella which is the pink & purple jewel toned skein, or Sochi, a blend of navy blues, rusted orange, deep emerald and cocoa.    enjoy!!!  

****I am currently busy dying a bunch of this yarn & it will be available here asap.  thanks!! ******

I knit this pair of shortie socks for my husband as a birthday gift.  They were created using TDY's Pigeon Sock in the colorway Little Owl.  We have Great Horned Owls in our forest and one in particular that I see perched on the same branch in the evenings, just above Black Creek.  This colorway was created just for him in the hopes that he'll stick to eating the not so cute things & will leave the wild bunnies alone.  I have faith in you little owl, that you will do the right thing! Little Owl is one of 3 new colorways introduced for Fall '09. 

You'll also find this one, Rapunzel, a blend of brown, burgandy, red, and gold with a touch of cream & avocado.  I love the warmth of this colorway.  Right now it is available in Pigeon Sock, Heron BFL, and Magpie. 

Biancabella is the 3rd colorway in this release, featuring deep purple, violet & pink.  The purple sections are overdyed multiple times for depth & dimension.  It is currently available in the RareBird Lace & will be coming in other bases soon.

Most of these yarns are available in the shop, but the BFL yarns are only available on the etsy site.  enjoy!

If you were around Wooly Bully last year at all during our afghans for Afghans campaign, then you have probably seen the Firefly sweater.  It is one that I designed specifically for people who wanted a quick & fun project to knit for a4A, while at the same time making something functional, wearable & warm.  Many people knit this sweater as their very first sweater & I think that it is a perfect project for someone looking to learn the basics of raglan sweaters. 

Firefly is a simple, top down raglan style sweater knit with a placket of seed stitch down the front. 
Knitting this sweater is a great way to use up scrap yarns by changing colors throughout for a striped look, or just at the cuffs & waist band for a varsity look.  Some people have used intarsia techniques to add interest in the placket. 
You'll need to know how to knit, purl, work in the round & on dpns (or 2 circs) and how to use place markers.  The pattern also calls for using a Make 1 increase and K2tog as well as a tiny bit of seaming under the arms. 

The small size of this sweater can be expected to fit a child 10 months to 1.5 years while the large size may fit a child 2 -3 years of age.  These are of course guesstimates.  I always encourage people who are making this sweater for a specific child, to measure their torso & arms to ensure that they make the sweater & sleeves long enough.
If you make this sweater, I'd love to see pics.  If you wish to teach this sweater in a class, just contact me for my specifications.  Thanks!