Post on the new website!

TreasureGoddess New Blog Post of the horror.....the ugly stepsister sweater that did NOT block out. It blocked WORSE! *shudder*

SPARKLE Socks!!

Post showing the fabulous new SPARKLY socks I got as a gift from Tim the Great over at the new blog home....NEW & Slightly Improved TreasureGoddess Blog!

Please change your feeds to the new web address and come say howdy!

TreasureGoddess has a new home!

Please come and see me at my new home, change your blog rolls, google blog reader lists, etc. We'll have lots of new yarny adventures I'm sure.

New TreasureGoddess Blog: New TreasureGoddess Blog

Craftzine 5.4.3.2.1. things about...

Click the button above for a cool tour meeting all kinds of creative people! Here's my info:

I'm TreasureGoddess Christine. I live & breathe wool. I love dying it, carding it, spinning it, knitting it, crocheting it, heck, I love just carrying around a skein of handspun yarn and petting it like a little dog. Forget purse dogs, we should all be carrying purse skeins of yarn! I *heart* everything wooly or alpaca-y or mohairy! My favorite thing to do is to create knitting and crochet patterns for unusual textured or art yarns.



One project I am particularly proud of
is that I've raised two very crafty, creative and entrepreneurial children. One creates his own line of animal magnets and the other creates amazing art with old cd's, fingernail polish, glitter and other misc craft supplies she finds around the house. My kids rock. I would choose to hang out with these two even if they weren't related to me. (and I don't particularly like kids so this is saying something!)

Two mistakes I've made in the past
Mistake #1 The Leaky Boob Sweater, where I learned that it truly pays to TRY ON a sweater as you make it, not just to make sure it fits, but also to make sure there's not a strange pooling in the handpainted yarn or some other unflattering feature along the way.
Mistake #2 Undervaluing my work. In the past I've brushed compliments aside with an "oh anyone could do that" or "it's not that special" kind of attitude. I've also underpriced my patterns, yarn and hand dyed fiber in the past as well. I create amazing, unique and FUN fibery things and should be PROUD of what I've created. I've learned when my prices are more realistic, my sales are stronger.



Three Things that make my work unique
#1 Me. I'm a bit odd, quirky and fun loving. I believe my patterns and fiber creations reflect that. I am the TreasureGoddess! I snort when I laugh too hard, which usually makes me laugh even harder. I think of myself as the Goddess of Wooly Treasures.
#2 My family. We have a strange part redneck, part art & culture, part LOUD, part soothing and part crazy life. The outdoor adventures clearly play a role in my creation process, as there's always knitting along to keep me sane.
#3 My studio. My studio is in the middle of utter chaos. It's full of textures, colors, yarns, photos, flowers, colored pencils, spinning wheel, implements of destruction (knitting needles), magazines, fabric, unfinished projects, amazing natural light, view of the creek behind our house, and also doubles as our dining room when we have big family gatherings. No quiet studio loft with white walls and amazing counter space for me.

Four tools I love to use
#1 Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel, stained to enhance the wood and the wheel is painted deep red. It makes me happy and makes amazing yarn from nice, sturdy and respectable yarn to crazy art yarn supercoils!
#2 Knitpicks interchangeable circular knitting needles.
#3 Roaster for dying large batches of spinning fiber or yarn
#4 Notebooks. Can't EVER have enough.


Five Inspirations
#1 Nature. As much as it tries to eat me, maim me or kill me, it truly is inspiring and beautiful. I'm glad we still have wild areas of the country to explore. And I'm very glad there's bugspray.
#2 Knitters and Spinners and Crocheters. Just talking with other fiber artists, seeing their projects, their color choices, textured stitches used....it gets my brain crazily finding new tangents or what about this stitch with that yarn and on and on and on. Knitters, Spinners and Crocheters ROCK!
#3 Craft Blogs. There are so many creative people out there!
#4 Old movies. Amazing costumes, textures, fabrics, styles
#5 Ravelry.com. My life is so much better with ravelry!

the Kansas Creative Quarterly & WOOLFEST 2012!

The Kansas Creative Quarterly is a cool little online resource that features artists in our little corner of the midwest. Their winter finds is HERE. It has some warm & wooly items available online in each artist's own little online venue. It also has a nice directory of Handmade Artists Supplies HERE. The list includes some pretty fabulous fiber & handspun yarn artist shops (including mine). I was intrigued by the t-shirt yarn shop. Very cool.

YAY! Winter Woolfest!! Sat, January 7th, 10am-4pm at Columbian Theater in downtown Wamego, KS. Free mini classes and demonstrations, fiber vendors and WOOLY FUN FOR ALL! I can't wait! I will be a vendor there. I'm bringing batts, fiber braids, yarn, felted flower pins & cool little fiber related goodies. Please come and see me and tell me to stop spending all my profits on everyone else's shops!! There are some amazing vendors there!!!

Merry Sheepmas!

ALSO MAJOR after Christmas Yarn Sale ALERT!!!!

Knit Wit in Olathe, KS (no website to link) 1815 S Ridgeview Rd, Olathe KS 66062
Dec 26th 9am-4pm
I think it's 25% or 30% off yarn, there's a sale on knitting bags, needles, patterns all on sale & SUPER AMAZING $3 tubs of yarns. YARN, PEOPLE!! I will be there at 9am and may or may not knock over anyone standing between me and the mohair. Just a warning. I'll be polite and talk AFTER my hands are full of yarn. :) (those that don't know me think I'm kidding here, you have been warned.)

Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS Yarn Barn Website
Dec. 26-29th Sale on yarns, mill end cones, selected looms & spinning wheels.

Merry Christmas Eve!

I've pretty much come to the realization that the Christmas Sweater will probably be a New Year's Sweater or a Valentine's Day Sweater...or next year's sweater.... no, I'll just knit on this thing straight and true, not deviating to that pretty sock yarn calling my name, nor the beautiful lace scarf waiting for my attention, or wrist warmers, or the 43,082 things I'd rather be knitting.... I WILL finish this thing, it just realistically can't be completed in the next 24 hours. Ah well. I'm good with it.

Proof that I embraced the sparkle in Vegas.....

My husband and I had such fun, I was so very, very proud of him at the awards dinner! As each bigwig stood up to speak, they each thanked their super salesmen and then the wives as we hold the family together, etc while the men are out selling their arses off. I think they told it more eloquently than that, but you get the picture. My husband was the first one to accept his super saleman award. In his little speech he said that those presidents and vp's were all right and he wanted to say how much his wife was a part of him getting such good sales. I got all teary, I couldn't believe it, it was soooo sweet.....then he said his wife was always telling him to hit the road selling if he was home more than 4 days in a row. Cripes. He's totally right. HA! He'd be driving me insane and I'd casually suggest that the big client out in McPherson would probably be expecting him soon....or how are those guys out in Garden City doing? You know, it's been a while since you visited your clients in Iowa....

Ah well, I was still proud of him, smartass and all. It was a GLORIOUS trip and I was very thankful that we wives got to go enjoy the vacation as well. I hardly left the spa, slept in each morning and ate and drank to my heart's content. (and that's saying something!)

Merry Merry Christmas to you all, happy sparkle too!