Club Deadlines!

Today is the LAST DAY to sign up for the Art Nouveau Club! We have some beautiful designs and colorways lined up for this club and you do not want to miss it!

Today is also the last day to receive the Christmas in July discount on the Christmas Club. Sign Ups will remain open for this club until October 15th, but why pay full price if you don't have to?

Email Issues

We have been having some issues over the last few days with emails that we have sent being bounced back. Thankfully I *think* we are getting a failure message every time this happens but some may be slipping through without our knowledge. If our original attempt bounced, we will try again using a gmail email address -- theuniquesheep, kceells or lbullins @gmail.com.


If you are expecting an email from us and it hasn't arrived, first check and make sure you don't have an email from one of the above gmail addresses caught in your spam filter. If you still don't see it, email us at laura@theuniquesheep.com and let us know-- we may have responded already and it just didn't make it.

Sorry about this inconvenience. We are working on fixing it but the downside of running a two-woman business is we don't have a tech department to hand our problems over to! 

Happy Independence Day America!!

We hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful summer day, especially if you are celebrating Independence Day today! Take a break from the heat with a Unique Sheep design to color. Enjoy and stay safe!

Your Unique Sheep Dyers
Laura & Kelly

Crochet Block of the Month Club

I consider myself bicraftual- or maybe "polycraftual" would be a better term- anyway what I mean is that I like to knit but I also like to crochet (and sew, and bead and weave and...). But a year or two ago I realized that while my knitting tended to be complicated and lacy, my crocheting was in a rut. I knew the basic stitches but had never gone further than that. And that is when we started the Crochet Block of the Month Club. Each month club members received the yarn and pattern to make a brand new block. The blocks are quick projects-- I use them as "palette cleansers" between larger projects-- but with each block I learn a new stitch or discover a new way of putting them together. And after a year you end up with enough blocks to make a lovely lap-ghan or sofa throw.

Club member Gina made all of the blocks from 2011 (the first year of the club) and finished them off with a simple striped border using scraps from all of the blocks. You can read more about it on her blog.

If you weren't part of the club in 2011, you can purchase individual block kits or a kit for the full year of blocks here. We are continuing the club this year with two new designers and lots of fresh, unique patterns. You can sign up for current block shipments here.

July's Featured Designer: Charles Voth "Stitch Stud"

This July we'd like to turn the spotlight onto our long time designer Charles Voth- also known as "Stitch Stud". Charles has been designing for us for almost as long as The Unique Sheep has been in business and we have been thrilled to see him develop as a designer and become well known in the fiber arts industry. Charles' designs are always popping up in magazines and, of course, in Unique Sheep clubs!

We will be giving away one of Charles' patterns FREE with July orders*! You can see more of Charles' designs on his Ravelry page.

When did you learn to knit and crochet?

I learned how to crochet when I was 4. A friend of my mom taught me.
I was 10 when I learned how to knit. My grade 4 teacher taught me, but my dad bought me my first needles and yarn from a yarn store. She left after grade 4 so my dad asked the yarn store ladies to teach me more things.

How did you get into designing?

I started designing when I was 15 because I wanted men's items for myself to wear. The yarn store ladies taught me how to swatch, calculate gauge, draw a schematic with measurements and then design on the needles from there out. I had to teach myself how to read patterns when I was 18 and worked in a different yarn store.
I started designing crochet about 4 years ago just for fun and things just kind of took off for me from there. Now I enjoy designing in both crafts.

What is your favorite fiber and yarn weight to work with?

For knitting I like DK and 4-ply (sport) weight the most. Natural fibres are my favourite, and really like wool/silk blends. For crochet, i like 2-ply lace and 3-ply fingering weight and silk, tencel, alpaca and wool are my favourite fibres, and blends of these are the best of all.

What are you currently designing?

I'm designing a crocheted shawl for a yarn company, a men's sweater for another yarn company, some baby/yound kids' sweaters for my own pattern line and some thread crochet for my own pattern line.
 

Part 2.
1. What is your favorite word?

Any Elfin/Elfish word from the Tolkein trilogy
2. What is your least favorite word?

The f-word
3. What turns you on?

Lively Latin-Jazz fusion.
4. What turns you off?

Sexist women (who give me a hard time about knitting/crocheting), I can handle the men...they're just naive and fearful. This type of woman comes across like I've trespassed into private territory.
5. What sound do you love to hear?

Ocean waves
6. What sound do you hate to hear?

Traffic
7. What is your favorite curse word?
Malparido (Spanish for Bastard)
8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt

Magazine Editor
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Anything in the field of medicine
10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

You've been an awesome Dad and Husband, and thanks for remembering to dance and laugh and for enjoying the music I inspired humans to create and the colours I dabbled into the world around you.

Website:  charlesvothdesigns.ca
Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/people/StitchStud
Twitter: Stitchstud
Email: Charles@charlesvothdesigns.ca

*Free patterns will be included with all non-club orders placed in July for $30 or more while supplies last