Dyer’s Rants

Hi Everyone,

It seems life has been in running away at full tilt, many details to contend with, both in business and personal worlds. With all of the national attention on the inauguration, my family was in Washington, but for a different reason…a much more sober one. You see, I lost my step dad last month and we buried him in Arlington Cemetery 1 week before all the festivities. This was the second time I have participated in such a service. My dad is also buried there-some 24 years ago. Both these guys were the real deal. My dad was a Marine Corp Colonel, was a field commander during Vietnam and my step dad was a Naval Aviator, landing jets on many aircraft carriers (not for the faint of heart.) If you ever have the opportunity to see a military funeral at Arlington-go-you will never forget it. The guard at Arlington are the best and treat our soldiers with such respect and dignity. Here is a peek at the day. We also visited my dad while we were there.

walk to the gravesite

at the gravesite during the service

My little guys at my dad's gravesite

And so it goes….

This is the beginning of 2009. Owner of a business in this economic downturn is a bit unsettling. We can either react out of fear-or move forward with confidence. I choose to do the latter and have faith in what I offer yarn shops and knitters. At this time-I select the 2009 colorways and washes. I hade fun this year in that I put the word out for ideas from our Raveler’s group-the Scarlet Fleece Flock. The winner will get sock yarn in their created colorway. Yarnartist won with Guitar Hero. You will see the following colors in your yarnshop orfavorite website soon:

Camo with a Twist

Guitar Hero

Apricot & Plum Jam

Pink Chocolate

Professor Plum

Miss Peacock

Colonel Mustard

These are the new colorways-will be posted on the website soon.

We are working on new patterns-several to be posted soon. Here is one I am working on:

Painted Ladder Scarf

I am using the Painted Merino in Colonel Mustard and Apricot & Plum Jam for the scarf. I am also going to working on matching fingerless gloves. And Cheryl has completed a wonderful guy’s sweater-also in Painted Merino. This is a great  yarn for such projects because it is washable. All will be posted soon.

And another thing I am working on is a trunk show for Clothos Children Spinning Guild next month. Not only will yarn and roving in the new colors be available, so will hand made drop spindles that will be available soon…more on that later.

And check out the homepage-you will see that Scarlet Fleece is starting to appear more in the major magazines such as Knit N Style and Interweave Knits. Where other small companies are backing off due to the economy-we are not. Perhaps more will discover Scarlet Fleece! Take care-more later.