A Healthy Outlook

Gearing up for summer by "tightening the belt"-- I am back on my sugarplum diet and feeling good.  " What is the Sugarplum diet?" you inquire?  Well, a few years ago I made up this diet to fit into a size 2 ballet costume in 4 months (I was a 6 at the time), but I didn't want to be unhealthy because I also had to dance the Sugarplum Fairy variation, which is physically challenging.
  The diet is extremely simple-- no sugar, no fried food.  And even though the first two weeks are absolute murder, it works amazingly well!  The first time I followed it strictly for 4 months and lost 25 lbs.  The second time I followed it loosely (treats on Sunday), and lost 15 lbs.  The great part is you loose the weight slowly and consistently, so it tends to stay off.  But the very best part is that you feel fantastic and strong.  Already, after following the diet loosely for a month, I have lost 15 lbs and my energy has gone up by about 20%.  And now I'm really cracking down in an effort to feel great this summer-- post-preggers can be hard on your strength and endurance, and I want to be dancing at full speed again come Fall. So-- wish me luck!

On the NTS front, we had a big shop update this week, and we have just one spot left in the lace club! Lots of new silk spinning fiber, some sock yarns, a lace gradient, and more-- check it out here!

I am also really happy to say that I have finally finally finally started on Caeden's First Birthday Sweater-- I was really starting to feel the pinch as he is now 6 months!   I am using Claudia Handpaints in Spring Break and Marigold, and Dye My Darling Before it was Cool Sock in "One Cool Caed", dyed especially for this sweater by my husband :)  I am also knitting Baltic Blossoms in the Tussah Silk lace from NTs for my SIL's wedding shawl, and my goal over the next week or so is to take out my Snow on Leaves Cardi and finish it up-- I need some yardage out for Stashdown, and this is the closest finisher I've got!

Competition is over for DTTM this year, I am so ready for some fresh starts in general-- new diet, new choreography, new projects on the needles, and some new yarns and fibers in the shops super soon-- change feels so good!

Forget Your Troubles, C'mon Get Happy

OK, so sometimes I really need a reminder that my life is good and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family, such great friends, and a really fun job... even just writing that makes me annoyed at myself for how crabby I have been this week.  So, I will now list some great things that I am happy about:
1. My husband helped me plan an amazing party for Caeden's 6 month birthday.  We rarely see our MA relatives, and we were actually able to gather both bobby and my families, as well as our best friends Coco and Ed in one place for the first time since the baby was born.  Also, I have a beautiful and healthy 6 month old!

2. I spent the morning dyeing, and things look delicious...
3. Robert has had a great time this week running around in the warm weather and going to the park, tomorrow morning I am taking him to the Septa transit museum, which he loves
4. My wonderful friend Leilani has cheered me up yet again with delicious bread and sympathetic conversation
5. I got some amazing angora/silk and alpaca/silk fiber in a trade, as well as some mink, and some Kauni, which I have been dying to try! 
6. Lots of good and secretive pattern goings on for NTS!
7. We are almost full in the lace club :)
8. This week is ballet party week-- FIESTA! and smoothies, yum!
9. We finally got an umbrella stroller for two kids to make my life easier
10. I am resuming my feel great sugar free diet and Bobby and I are going to start doing long baby walks at night!

It's Up!

SPOTS ARE NOW OPEN for the Light Dusting Lace Club!

A Little Light Dusting!

So, for fans of the NTS Light Dusting Lace Club, I am very excited to say that sign-ups will be opening soon for club spots! This round we will be doing things differently, I am very excited to say we will be able to incorporate more luxury yarns and I have some really exciting plans for the club pattern as well!




Here are some of the details:
Lace Club will run from June- August, one shipment/ month. Shipments will go out by the 15th of the month at the latest.
Club spots will cost $120 for a three month subscription, included US shipping.
Canadian and European Club, $135 Any other International $150

Club members will receive-
1 month 100 gram skein of 2ply Mulberry Silk Lace, 1000 yds/ 100 grams (skeins may be slightly larger, but will never be smaller than 100 grams!)
Colorway-- your choice! Please give me a general color family, and I will custom dye this for you

1 month NTS Merino Lace, 880 yds/ 100 grams
Colorway-- Exclusive Limited Edition NTS colorway, available only to club members-- I will not be repeating this colorway

1 month Mystery Luxury fiber, 50 gram skein, yardage will vary from 700-900 yds. This could include wool/silk blends, cashmere/ merino blends, merino/cash/silk blends, 100% alpaca, or 100% superfine merino wool. If you have an allergy to any fibers you can let me know, otherwise it will be a surprise!
Colorway-- No Two will be alike!


PLUS! Extra goodies! The club pattern will be available to club members for a full month before it is available to the public, and there will be surprise goodies each month as well :)
Past goodies have included extra mini- patterns, stitch markers, samples, coupons, and treats!
As a club member you can also enjoy a 10% discount in the No Two Snowflakes or Dye My Darling shop for the duration of your membership :)

The spots will open up on Thursday, April 8th, at noon EST. The last 2 rounds the club closed very quickly, and I am again having to offer limited spots, although we will be able to do more than last round. Get yours quickly, as once they are gone, they're gone!!!

Hidden Beauty

So, Easter was a big success with the babies! Not only was Robert super excited to egg hunt ( he wasn't very swift, he just ate the chocolate as he found it), but both R and Caeden made it through candy, church and the egg hunt with white pants still intact-- my babies are so good!

Enough parental gushing, let's talk yarn! A beautiful new set of silk lace in the shop that can be used for the Evenstar KAL, check out Sophistication I and II if you get a chance... New spinning fiber is coming to NTS late this Spring, we should have some merino and Merino/Silk in the shop, I am really excited as lately I have been a bit of a yarn pig and need to switch focus to spinning more :)

My Evenstar is not progressing well, as I only knit it when I'm at Nangellini, and I'm trying to release a bunch of patterns soon... Keep your eyes open for a new lace cloche pattern coming in May, "Come Rain or Shine", and I will also be releasing a new Worsted Cardi this summer. I also just finished my #02 Lace jacket, and I don't like the way it fits me, it may go to my poor mom who gets all my knits I don't love. But I am divided and may keep it for summer anyway, because the Jaipur silk used was a gift from my most lovely pen pal Margot in Sweden, and it is one of my all time fave colors-- so beautiful! The image is of it blocking on my boards...
















Lately, I've been finding great things in unexpected places-- this silk arrived from Margot unlooked for, I've been finding pattern inspiration everywhere, and an amazing something (secret) fell out of the sky to me the other day... I guess it just goes to show, sometimes the egg really will have something surprising inside!

Tales from the World's Worst Blogger

Well, let's see. We have a new son, Caeden Casimer Corry, 9 lbs. 2 oz when he was born October 19, 2009... he is almost 6 months old now and 20 lbs., and I am writing my first blog post since he was still in utero-- I am officially the world's worst blogger. But we have had quite a bit going on...
Bobby (our wonderful "Mystery Dyer", and the talent behind www.DyeMyDarling.Etsy.com) is getting certified this Spring to become an EMT, and he is in an ongoing accelerated program for nursing. His program only accepted a few students and since he has straight A's, he was a great candidate to get in! Meanwhile, Robert has been great adjusting to being a big brother -- lots of hugs, kisses, and "he's nice" in the direction of his baby brother.

And as for me-- well, super incredibly busy as always! My ballet students did NYCDA this year, and the workshops were amazing-- I loved the Contemporary and the Hip Hop. And at our second competition this year Kier and Sophia took the top 2 overall spots for senior soloists-- they so deserve it! The image is of Kiersten in her "16 tons" costume.

And at NTS, we have had some amazing goings-on... new yarns, custom colors for the Evenstar KAL, a new 2nd Anniversary Shawl by Karen Walker, 2 patterns published in Knitcircus magazine (with a third to follow this fall), and 2 or 3 very cool things on the burners right now... very exciting, but a secret until I know a little more :). If you haven't been by the shop, you should come and check things out-- among our newer offerings are 100% Mulberry Silk spinning fiber and 50/50 Cashmere/Merino lace, an incredible yarn that screams "cuddle me"!


Now that I am back to Blogland I will be posting much more often-- I have many, many projects to post about, lots of new designs I am working on, and more fun stuff-- but for now, Happy Easter all!