works in progress

we're keeping busy around here. this arrived the other day:hundreds of pounds of soap making and shipping supplies. last year i wasn't prepared for the holiday season and quickly sold out of all of the good stuff. i had thought about making a lot of things in August - it just never happened. this year i would like to do some craft shows with my friend Abby who does jewelry, and i want to have lots of inventory for the holidays, so i'm making lots of soap now.

the handmade paper that i use for soap labels comes from www.paperworks.biz. a fine company that ships very timely and has a gorgeous selection. the website was down in july and i almost had a heart attack, but luckily it came back up even though they closed their retail location.

here's the progress on the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Nothing extrodinary, i got bored. not sure i like the color/handpaintedness of the yarn. something more subtle might have been more to my liking. but i will finish it. right after i finish this:
the Child's Tunic from Knitting Pure and Simple. i'm using Treliske organic merino, which is growing on me. i love the color, and i think it will be pretty soft after blocking but i did here that it pills easily. we'll see how it goes. So far the knitting has gone well, but i overlapped the placket with the buttonhole on the inside and had a bit of an issue picking up stitches for the hood on the first side. that's okay though. i'm not so much a perfectionist or habitiual frogger.