Sweet Sheep Featured Fragrance: Honey Beeswax

Posted on April 17, 2015 by shoelaceswitcher

Before I jump straight into the featured lotion bar fragrance, I wanted to let you know that the Fiasco and I will be vending Sweet Sheep products TOMORROW (Saturday 4/18) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mount Hope Farmer’s Market in Bristol, RI. Stop by and say hi! And sorry for the late notice, between deadlines and a conference I’ve worked 10+ hours every day this week and have not had a moment to breathe, let alone blog (and we’ll all be lucky if I’m not slumped face-first in the lip balms by noon tomorrow). Altough now that I check, I don’t see our name on the vendor list… so, err, hopefully we’ll be at the market and if not, we’ll be selling out of the back of our car, because we’re not waking up at the crack of dawn for nothing! #spaz #indiebizfail

Onwards and upwards, this week I’m featuring our Honey Beeswax scent!

Sweet Sheep Featured Fragrance: Honey Beeswax

Why I love it: This fragrance is the one I recommend when people ask advice for gift-giving but have no idea what the recipient might like. It’s an all-around appealing scent that not a single person has ever said “Ugh!” to when they smell it (I’m endlessly fascinated by the reactions people have to different scents). Most people respond with “oh, that’s nice!” in a slightly surprised tone. It’s a subtle scent, not overpowering, a little bit sweet, and a little bit sultry. It smells… warm. Like a summer day.

What it pairs well with: I include Honey Beeswax in a Sweet Treats gift set along with Sweet Almond and Chipotle Caramel. However, it’s not particularly candy-like and would work equally well with floral scents. If you were interested in building your own custom mix pack, I think it would mix nicely with Spring Meadow (a light floral) or Chamomile Bergamot (a fresh new tea fragrance that I have not yet added to the shop due to lack of photos).

So that’s Honey Beeswax in a nutshell: a rich, warm scent that plays well with others.

I’ll be at Mount Hope again on Sunday (just as a spectator) to celebrate the Great Rhody Yarn Crawl and buy stuff from awesome vendors, so if you don’t make it Saturday, perhaps I’ll see you Sunday! I’ll be the one spinning (haha that’s a joke because there will be so many spinners). #sotired #lamejokes #delirium #fortheloveofallthatisholystophashtagging

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Posted on January 27, 2015 by shoelaceswitcher

Here’s what the Great Blizzard of 2015 looks like from my home office today:

Blustery!

The nice thing about my job is that I can more or less do it from wherever there is a computer with internet/network access. However, that means I don’t really get snow days, I get ‘work from home’ days. At least I’m still in my PJs, right? And I’m honestly just grateful that I don’t need to be out in that mess.

Overdyed Cypress vest, inching towards the finish line.

Here’s a small mess I had to tackle this morning. I knit on my vest all weekend long, racing through the neckline decreases, feeling the possibility of finishing this thing inching ever nearer… only to discover when I reread the directions that I was supposed to change the rate of decrease about halfway through the neckline before reaching the shoulder shaping. Rip, rip, rip. Luckily, I only had to rip back about 3″ of knitting and with all of the decreases there really aren’t too many stitches on the needle right now (benefit of knitting in pieces vs. in the round!). It’ll be a bit of a stretch to finish this by part three of my birthday celebration this Saturday, but I’m still harboring hope. If I can finish the front and block the pieces today, I can seam tomorrow night, and hopefully whiz through the armhole and neckline ribbing and tubular bind-offs (because tubular bind-offs are ever so speedy — ha!). And then, of course, we’ll all have to keep our fingers crossed that the thing actually fits.

Baby It's Cold Outside | Woolen Diversions

My first Plucky

I’m remaining focused on my vest, but my newest yarn acquisition is begging to be knit. I acquired this lovely grey-with-the-slightest-hint-of-teal skein of Plucky Bello Fingering (55% Merino, 45% cashmere) specifically to knit Thea Colman’s Black Tea hat design. I handled the sample at the Knitting Weekend (part one of my birthday celebrations) and fell in love. The luxurious yarn is held double and the cables stand out nicely even while the fabric is covered in a delicate halo from the cashmere. I fiercely coveted the hat, so I hunted down the yarn and now can’t wait to get started. It will be my post-vest prize, other knitting goals be damned (I’m the worst at plans).

The Breakers

Splendor

The mansion’s namesake

View from the water

Details, details

My sweetie

My parents

Our amazing desserts

Speaking of the weekend, my parents came up to celebrate part two of my birthday extravaganza. We saw John Oliver perform at the Foxwoods casino (I’ve never heard anyone utter the phrase ‘like a menstruating snail’ in my entire life, but it was hilarious. Go see him, he’s genius.) and managed not to lose too much money. The next day we headed to The Breakers, the ‘summer cottage’ of the ridiculously rich Vanderbilts in Newport, RI. It was gorgeous. There’s a whole string of such mansions to check out, if you’re so inclined. (There were people surfing in the water, btw. Crazy!) Then we headed to an excellent Irish pub and ate the hell out of some whisky-and-Bailey’s-infused desserts. Well worth the caloric indulgence, I’d say.

Last day of the sale! Click for shop.

I’ll leave you with a wee reminder that today’s the last day of my 30% off birthday sale at Sweet Sheep.

Are you experiencing a snow day? How are you spending your time?

WIPWed #67: Un-zen-like

Posted on October 1, 2014 by shoelaceswitcher

I’ve been having the kind of week where knitting time is essentially zero and I’ve had to miss my last two yoga classes due to working overtime. Such conditions lead to a very un-zen-like-Alicia, let me tell you.

My honey cowl, click for project page.

Pretty yarn helps, though. That honey cowl is the only thing I’ve worked on this week, but it is progressing nicely. It serves well as a travel project because it is so. stinking. simple. and was great to bring around with me over the weekend while my parents visited.

On our way to Block Island

Mom, the Fiasco, and Dad

Artsy rope

Love this pic of Mom

Artsy goldenrod

Some bluffs

Love this map

Fiasco & Dad, about to moped

This guy.

Me tentatively feeding that guy.

Alpacas!

North Light Fibers!

This wrap was worn in Downton Abbey!

Another alpaca!

Artsy grass

We took the ferry over to Block Island, which is a very special place full of sand, sun, and alpacas. Mom and I encouraged the fellas run wild on mopeds while we let loose in North Light Fibers.

I got the Fiasco some socks, so we’re even, right?

I took home a couple skeins of a really lovely laceweight 60% alpaca / 40% kid mohair blend. I have never been a huge fan of mohair but there’s something about this blend that feels really weighty and delicious in my hands. They had it in worsted, too, but I have little use for single skeins of worsted nowadays and I thought I’d get more knitting bang-for-my-buck with laceweight.

WaterFire in Providence.

We followed up our island adventures with a trip to the city to see the WaterFire event. WaterFire is a neat art installation / street festival that takes place in Providence every few weeks in the summer and fall. Over 80 huge bonfires are lit along the rivers that run through the city and they pipe beautiful music through speakers along the whole thing. There are often vendors, food, performances, etc. and it switches up every time. It’s a cool thing to check out.

Jo Dee Messina

Giant pumpkins

Floral arrangements

Cute goats

Judged handspun

Interesting knitting

Llama!

Fairgrounds

Fluffy bunny

Quizzical chicken

Regal Romney

We finished up our visit with a day at the Durham County Fair in Connecticut. There were animals, rides, concerts, and plenty of fair food. After such an exciting whirlwind weekend, it’s no wonder I feel a tad… unbalanced. I’m looking forward to some time this coming weekend to catch up and get back in touch with my zen. What do you do to keep your cool when things get busy?

In the meantime, have you entered my Blue Sky Alpacas giveaway yet? Entries will close tomorrow (Thursday) at 11:59 pm Eastern time, so make sure you do so soon! And check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis.