BOO!

I love Halloween, and not just because of all the sweet treats. I love the costumes. If I could, I would wear costumes throughout the year but since that would likely end with padded walls I have to wait till that one night a year when costumes are celebrated. I'll be going as a 18th Century Zombie. I found this great dress at a local theatre's sale, it was rather worn with some of the lace coming off and a ripped seam or two so I got it for a steal. Then I added a bit more grim by splashing it with black tea and dragging the hem in some dirt. The look is finished off with zombie makeup. I just have to decide if I want to wear a poufy white wig or if I'll be able to tease my hair into something resembling a Marie Antoinette style do. I'll make sure to take some photos at Saturday's Halloween Party so you can see how it turns out.

Aside from the fun of dressing up yourself, there is also the fun of seeing all of your friends dressed up for the holiday. We'd like to see YOUR costumes and to motivate you we are offering up a prize or two. Keep reading for contest rules and details.

Contest Rules

1. Submit a photo of you, your spouse, child or pet dressed up for Halloween by emailing the photo to laura@theuniquesheep.com no later than November 3rd.

2. Photo does not have to be from this year.

3. By sending us your photo you give us permission to post them on Flickr and on this blog.

4. You can send multiple photos if you want to, but you'll only get one entry per person.

5. Winners will be selected by random drawing from all entries on November 4th.

PRIZES

We will be giving away skeins of our special HALLOWEEN themed colorways. The exact colors, yarns and number of prizes awarded will be a surprise.

Holiday Gifts

Now that it is October its time to get serious about our holiday gift making and shopping. I hate to leave it to the last minute because I don't like battling the crowds downtown or at the shopping mall once we get into December. Like most of your I'll be making a few of my gifts this year. My little brother has requested his annual knit hat. He always asks for the same pattern, which I designed for him, but picks out different colors each year. This year he has asked for green and yellow to support our cousin Ryan who joined the Packers this fall.

Of course some of my friends and family knit for themselves so they will be receiving yarn as gifts, rather than finished items. That way they can enjoy the process and the finished result. Since part of the fun is picking out your own yarn and colors, I'll be wrapping up Unique Sheep gift certificates in pretty envelopes to put under the tree.

Not all of my gifts will be yarn related, of course. I've also been searching Etsy for gift. This really unique handmade mug looks perfect for one of my slightly-eccentric caffeine addicted friends!

For neighbors, the ladies in my knitting group and my square dancing club I think I'll do some baking. Which of course means that I need to "practice" some of my recipes now to make sure they taste ok! I think this week I'll do shortbread cookies and use some cute fall cookie cutters to make them festive.

I love gift giving. The challenge of finding the perfect gift - or making it- and then the reward of seeing the recipient open and enjoy the gift. But anytime I'm going to be spending money, even if its on other people, I try to be responsible in my spending habits. So I choose to spend my money at small businesses and on artisan produced goods. My baking ingredients will come from a local co-op grocer, my gifts will be found on etsy or at independent artisans' websites.

What gift making and giving do you have planned for this year?

New Pattern Releases!

We have added a bunch of new patterns to the website today!

Absolem Socks

Hanging Gardens Socks

Jewel Box Mitts

Down the Rabbit Hole Socks

White Rabbit Socks

Queen of Hearts Socks

Envy Mitts

Mausoleum Bag

Flamingo Socks

Christmas Stocking

Tulip Festival Shawlette

Enchanted Mitts

Khufu Mitts

The Knit and Crochet Show- Greensboro, NC

Thanks to everyone who stopped by this weekend at the Knit and Crochet Show! We had such a wonderful time meeting new customers and spending time with old friends. Now its back to the dye studio we go to prepare for our next show-- SAFF in Asheville, NC October 21-23. See you there!

Come See Us at The Knit and Crochet Show!

We will have a booth at the Knit and Crochet Show in Greensboro, NC Sept 23-25 so stop by and say hello! There is a great line up of vendors and teachers so it looks like it'll be a fun weekend.

See you there!

The wrath of Irene

The flooding from Irene has caused great devastation in Vermont, the state where I (Kelly) grew up. The people of Vermont have lost big parts of hundreds of roads, and many, many bridges were destroyed, including several historic covered bridges.

Here is a part of the road that my family used every day to go to work, school, and even the grocery store. This road abuts the Cold River, so there was more than this one wash out along the 10 miles we used to travel.

It is going to take a long time for this little state to recover. Homes and businesses were destroyed and damaged, along with all the roads and bridges. I grew up with the owner of Wilk's Paving, pictured below:

Although I now call North Carolina "Home" (well really anywhere my DH resides is home for me :)), seeing all the pictures and videos of Vermont, after Irene, has brought tears to my eyes and lumps in my throat. I have seen pictures of disaster many times before, but seeing places under water and torn apart, that I knew as a child and young adult, make this storm much more personal.

As you all might know, we donate 5% of our net profits to charity every year, so Laura and I decided this is a good time to put some of that money to work. We know that other states have suffered great damage due to Irene, including many counties in the Eastern part of our beautiful state, North Carolina, so we chose to donate $1000 to the Red Cross. Since it is an international organization, we are sure they will find a good place to spend our donation to help people in need no matter where they are, including Vermont.

We want to also take this time to thank all of our customers for their support of The Unique Sheep. If not for you, we would not be able to make this generous donation. 

Warm, fuzzy and hand painted HUGS to all of you....

Kelly and Laura

New Pattern: Bashful Butterflies

We are so pleased to announce the release of this new shawlette pattern! It can be knit with one of our Fingering Weight Sock Sets (the sample is in Sushi Socks) or 200g of Pima Petite. Julia is an up-and-coming designer from the UK; you can see more of her designs on Ravelry.