Monday, November 23, 2009

Wonderland Auctions end tomorrow!

Just a quick reminder that he Auction, HC$ Auctions, and FFS Drawing will be ending  tomorrow along with the congo wide contest - be sure to enter the trivia contest if you haven't already :)

Monday, November 9, 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009

Blackberry Fairy Shipped!

Just a note to let all know that the last orders of Blackberry Fairy will be shipping today :) I will begin dyeing Cliffs of Insanity next week.


Thanks so much!

~Melissa

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Lookie what I did :)


Just wanted to share my second spindle spun baby :) This is 8 oz of superwash merino fiber in my Mermaid colorway that I spun to a heavy worsted weight and about 260 yards. I about dislocated my collarbone doing it in about 4 days, but I have to say I learned a lot again and am quite pleased with how it came out (although by no means perfect). I am trying to decide if it is too girly to make some shorties for Emerson... what do you think?

Thanks!

Melissa

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Look what I did!


Having been bitten by the spinning bug (no not some exotic Texas beetle - the driving desire to create handspun yarn, LOL!) I ordered a spindle (OK, 3 different ones) online. I started yesterday spinning about 8 ounces of my Lady of the Lake colorway on superwash merino top into 2 skeins of 4 ounce single plys. Then today I finished them up and plied them together into an 8 ounce 2 ply skein. This is my first attempt, and I certainly learned A LOT from beginning to end :) But I am very happy with the end product as a first attempt - I was afraid it would be some hideous tangled mess by the time I got through, LOLOL! But boy.... does my back hurt!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Stocking Reminder

Family Pendragon will have a double stocking on Thursday Oct 15th. We'll be at our own shop at 11am and at Wonderland Congo at noon Smile Come visit for some fluffy fiber, kettle dyes, and Pre-Orders. The Tunisian crochet longies pattern is on sale for $5 off too!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Previews up for 10/1 Pre-Orders

I am not sure how much if any instock yarn I will get done before the stocking. But I went ahead and started previewing the Pre-Orders that will be available. I have also added a Charity Auction which will close on the stocking day.

Thanks for looking ;)

Melissa

Monday, September 14, 2009

Stocking Reminder :)

Just a quick reminder that we'll be stocking tomorrow, Tuesday Sept 15th at 11 am :)

Thanks!

Melissa

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Mini Stocking on the 15th!

Hope everyone had a great holiday - we sure did! As I am quite busy with dyeing Pre-Orders, and getting ready for a couple of upcoming coops, I couldn't stock much on the 15th. But I have added a couple surprises :) Come see!

Thanks :)
~Melissa

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Today's the Big Day!

Stocking reminder - the Grand Re-Opening Extravaganza is today at 11am EST - Be there, or be square, LOL! I'll be wearing my party hat ;)

~Melissa

Sunday, August 9, 2009

All the rest of the Sneak Peeks!! :)

OK, without further ado...

Let me introduce "Vintage" featuring wine inspired colors of Merlot, Blush, Raisin and Rose. Shown here on Morgaine Superwash Merino Fingering.




And "Fire Swamp" in shades of Fiery Red and Orange, Swamp Green, and Smokey Gray with dapples of subtly accentuated color - inspired by one of my all time favorite movies, "The Princess Bride" and a long overdue addition to my Princess Bride series of colorways. Shown here on Morgaine Superwash Merino Fingering.




And "Pan" in shades of Reddish brown, Purple, Turquoise, Green, Cantaloupe, and Fire Engine Red is loosely based on a one-of-a-kind colorway called "Pan's Meadow" that was created during my stay at the Enchanted Glen congo. Shown here on Guinvere Superwash Merino Worsted/DK.




You may recognize this glistening beauty with shades of Peach, Spearmint, Turquoise, Wisteria, and Purple :) "Mermaid" is a new version of the one-of-a-kind colorway that was created for the Enchanted Glen Mermaid stocking with the same name. It is essentially the same colors except it is space dyed and since I took no notes at the time, I am sure it is slightly different color mixtures, LOL! I just loved the combo and had to bring it back! Shown here on Arthur Superwash Merino Sport, Morgaine Superwash Merino Fingering, and our new Excaliber Superwash Merino Bulky which is to-die-for soft! It feels like a superwash version of Gaia Bulky!! I am in LOVE with it :)




Meet "Merman" in soothing shades of Navy blue, Purple, Sky Blue, Turquoise, and Spearmint Green it is a wonderfully masculine counterpart to our "Mermaid" colorway. Shown here on Morgaine Superwash Merino Fingering and Excaliber Superwash Merino Bulky.




And those of you that are very familiar with my colorways know that I tend to love LOTS of color and its reaaaalllly hard for me to leave any natural yarn showing. BUT, in an effort at some zen balance I thought it was appropriate to honor the Arthurian legend, "The Lady of the Lake" with a more reflective, simple and soft colorway with the pale watery shades of Iris, Turquoise and Spearmint and an equal amount of misty white. I couldn't resist and lightly dappled very muted shades of those colors throughout the white - though its barely visible :)




And finally we come to "Caprica", the second colorway born of my love for the now defunct "Battlestar Galactica" series. Based on an amazingly complex character that is both the downfall and savior of the human race, this colorway features Light and Dark Red, Very Pale Blue, Butter Cream Blonde, Natural White, and Steely Silver.



These are the last of our announced 10 new Fall 2009 colorways. These sneak peeks are meant to give you an idea of the colors, but the really rockin' pics are yet to come. I can't wait to get some really nice professional pics from my sister for the listings :) Who knew posing yarn could be so much fun, LOL!

Thanks so much,

Melissa

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Another sneak peek!



Please welcome "Battlestar" to the mix :) Featuring tan, dark red, dark green, navy blue, silver and charcoal it reflects all the colors that I associate with my much loved and missed Sci-Fi (now goofily called Sy Fy) series "Battlestar Galactica".

For those looking for a more traditional boyish colorway - I hope this one fits the bill, LOL! BTW, all dyeing is now done, and the yarny goodness is just waiting for its day with my sis the photographer ;) I decided to keep all yarn heavier than fingering weight in 8 oz skeins rather than dividing them. So there will be no knots to contend with :)

Have a great weekend!

Melissa

Monday, August 3, 2009

Another Sneak Peek!


Since it sounds like I have a whole lot of yarn due in soon and should be elbow deep in dyes (figuratively of course, my gloves are only wrist length, LOL!) I thought I would go ahead a slip you all another sneak peek of one of the new Fall 2009 colorways :) Please welcome "Jubilee" to the family! Decked out for a celebration in shades of Wisteria, Purple, Sour Apple, Avocado, and Cantaloupe it is festive and colorful without being specifically feminine - no pink here :)

Saturday, August 1, 2009

1st Sneak Peek




As requested - the first sneak peek! This is "Banshee" on Cestari, which will be offered along with a trim skein of wisteria at the big stocking :) I totally picture this as a skirty! Bright vibrant colors - Magenta, Wisteria, Turquoise, Sour Apple, and Cantaloupe. It will also be available in sock yarn - that would make some very pretty socks too! Before the stocking my sweet sister (Ramona of Adora Boutique on Venus Vanguard) is going to take professional pics for me with her super duper digital camera and great eye - so expect it to look even better by then, LOL!

Grand Re-Opening date set!

The official Grand Re-Opening celebration will be..... (drum roll please)

.

.

.

.

.

September 1st at 11:AM EST!




So far I have planned for the festivities:

~An auction for the Magic Wand Tunisian capris set from The Enchanted Glen starting at only $10

~One charity auction listing for sock yarn starting at only $10


~A Pay It Forward (PIF) drawing to win a free copy of the Tunisian longies pattern


~A PIF listing for a free copy of the Tunisian longies pattern


~A PIF listing to win a free Cottage License for the Tunisian longies pattern


~A PIF listing for 2 skeins of Cestari


~A 2nds listing for 2 skeins of my classic colorway Faeries of Avalon kettle dyed on Licorice Twist Merino


~And of course - all the new Family Pendragon ™ Fall 2009 colorways on 45+ skeins of beautiful superwash yarn from fingering to Bulky, some Cestari too, as well as several custom dye spots.


As a teaser I will share the names of the colorways with you now, and throughout the month I will share some sneak peek photos of them :) The new Family Pendragon ™ Fall 2009 colorways are:

1. Banshee
2. Jubilee
3. Mermaid
4. Merman
5. Lady of the Lake
6. Battlestar
7. Caprica
8. Fire Swamp
9. Pan
10. Vintage

And there may even be a surprise colorway :)

I am very excited to be re-opening again and hope that you will join me for the celebration on September 1st. Also be on the look out for a members only discount code to be announced before the big day!

Thank you :)

Melissa

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Stocking Reminder - Free Shipping!

Just a quick stocking reminder - all my remaining hand dyed yarn is up for grabs tomorrow, Thursday July 23rd at noon EST. Free Shipping on everything! This will be my last stocking with The Enchanted Glen congo, as I will be focusing on creating my new Fall colorways and preparing for the Grand Re-Opening of my own shop Family Pendragon Yarn and Crochet. In the meantime I am open to custom dyeing if you have any "needs" I can fill ;) Just drop me a line!

Thanks so much, and I hope to see you tomorrow at the Glen!

Melissa

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Secret Members Only Pre-Sale!

I have decided to hold a special Pre-Sale for my Yahoo Group members only. I have been getting numerous emails regarding previewing items for the next couple of stockings. So rather than make you all wait, and in hopes of funding our familymoon (or Staycation) to The Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark Hotel next week I am holding a members only Pre-sale of those items. You will need to follow these links to view the items. They will stock at noon EST tomorrow - that's Sunday. I will run the presale on any remaining items through Wednesday. Anything not sold will go back into preview mode till stocking day. These are all One-Of-A-Kind dye lots and will not be repeated. All of these items have free shipping to the US and Canada. Other international customers will only pay the difference in shipping :) Ok, on to the good stuff! (BTW - Blogger is acting strange, so I am including active links and linked pictures. If this doesn't work I will repost JUST the URLs. )



Elemental Truth - 4.1oz Zohar Fingering Sock Yarn


Elemental Truth - 8.2 oz Licorice Twist Merino Worsted - Trim Option

Elemental Truth - 8.2 oz Gaia Organic Merino Worsted - Trim Option

Petal Path - 11.2 oz Cestari Fine Merino &Trim

Unicorn Valley - 11 oz Cestari Fine Merino & Trim

Pan's Meadow - 10.9 oz Cestari Fine Merino & Trim



Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Exciting Stocking Tomorrow!


Welcome Wizards One and All - if your love Harry Potter, or the Wizard of Oz, or just magic and fantasy in general :)


Tomorrow at Noon EST will be our Wizard themed stocking! Don't miss your chance at several custom yarn slots! As well as...

Beautiful Newborn longies for only $25!



1 LB of Magic Yarn


A beautiful Tunisian capri collab with Fairycakes & Pixiebows



And for all you mermaid lovers, there are still lots of mermaids swimming around the Glen as well!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Stocking Reminder :)

I will be stocking on The Enchanted Glen Congo today at noon EST! This stocking's theme is mermaids and similar fantasy folk. I have a collaboration , a Free for Shipping Lottery , an Auction , and some really beautiful kettle dyed Mermaid Yarn on Cestari Fine Merino with trim option. Previews are also up in my shop for our July stockings with the themes of Wizards and Witches :) Be sure to check out all my congo mates goodies as well. If you haven't yet joined our congo newsletter, please do! We will be sending out special member's only discount codes as well as some special member's only presales and clearances which won't be visible to the general public. To join you can go here or just use the link on the left side of the congo page

Monday, June 15, 2009

Great sadness

I am devastated to share the news from my first OB appointment today. Our babies heart stopped beating two weeks ago at 8 1/2 weeks, and we are now waiting to miscarry. Please forgive me if I am a little unavailable for a bit while we deal with this.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Stocking Reminder Thursday at noon!


Just a reminder that Family Pendragon will have a small stocking on The Enchanted Glen Congo. The theme of this stocking is Gnomes and I have a large hand painted playsilk, a one-of-a-kind colorway on Cestari Fine Merino and the winner of the $5 Gift Card will be announced. By the way, there was a glitch - make sure you are still entered! The Tunisian pattern will return to its normal price tomorrow of $15. So catch that sale now!

The stocking after this one will be dedicated to Mermaids and Merfolk in general on June 25th at noon. The congo stocks the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month at noon. July will feature Wizards and Witches - I am already working on some goodies for those as well ;) A little hint: If you like my Unicorns and Wizards colorway and my Tunisian capris... well lets just say you'll be very happy come July 9th!

Thanks so much for your continued support,

Melissa and the rest of Family Pendragon

Friday, May 22, 2009

Lottery for $5 Gift Card to Family Pendragon!

I have posted a lottery to win a $5 gift card to Family Pendragon at The Enchanted Glen Congo. The drawing will be our next stocking June 11th at noon :)Come enter!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Previews are UP! Pattern too!

I have loaded all my previews of the items that will be in stock tomorrow at noon. I decided to include my Tunisian longies pattern and will have it on sale $5 off (so only $10) until the next stocking in June :)

Go see Family Pendragon at The Enchanted Glen!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Family Pendragon joins the Enchanted Glen

I will be adding some yarny goodness to the themed stockings at The Enchanted Glen beginning with the Royalty stocking this Thursday at noon 5/21. The tech-gurus are working on getting my cart loaded as we speak!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Family Pendragon Now Closed :(

I have made my last payment to Hyenacart and removed the last few items from stock. The pattern is still available, you'll just need to email me if you want to buy it. I am not going to be maintaining the site anymore. I am hopeful we'll be back in a few years to start again. Thanks for everything :)

Sincerely,

Melissa

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Update on my son

UPDATE: Emerson had his surgery this morning and is recovering very well. Happily I can report that what we are doing IS working. The effected teeth had improved and slightly less work was required than initially thought I have stopped using the Ionic toothbrush as it seemed to have reversed some remineralizing that had been taking place, but am using the Restore toothpaste and feel it is very effective. Also, my dentist mentioned that he is hearing chatter about licorice helping with teeth and to do some research on that. So I will. And I am waiting for info on a Dentist in Texas that uses Healozone. Thanks to everyone for your support :)

~Melissa

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone that made our stocking a huge success. It's nice to go out on a high note ;) I pulled the last 2 skeins out of stock and donated them to the fundraiser for Amanda. This sweet Momma of 8 just lost her husband to suicide and needs any help we can give her. Please check out all the listings for this charity auction HERE.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

FFS Lottery and Auction now active!

You can jump in on the auction and FFS Lottery now :)

Stocking Date Set!

Okey dokey! Things are coming along nicely, and I am beginning to work on listings :) I am setting the stocking date for Thursday, Feb 19th at 8am EST. This will be my Spring Cleaning Sale! Cleaning out as much of my inventory as I can before going fairly dormant, LOL! The day of the stocking everything is being offered in sets, and marked down $2 per skein. Each listing will be a "HOLD" type of listing which allows you to put it in your cart if you are stalking an item and still get other items as well rather than having to create several different orders using the "Buy It Now" button. You will see a timer letting you know how long until it will be put back in stock if you have not checked out with it. Yahoo Group members will also be sent a coupon for another 10% OFF!

The day AFTER the one day Spring Cleaning Sale I will re-list all unsold items as individual skeins, but they will be listed at full price. The 10% off coupon will still be good however through the end of March :)

Friday, February 13, 2009

Small stocking soon

I will be stocking some kettle dyed OOAK colorways as well as some scraps soon. I am trying to have fun dyeing up my remaining stock rather than have it sitting. So look for primarily OOAK fun stuff versus my standard colorways :) I will announce here when I have an actual stocking date set. I will also have a freebie or two and a coupon code ;) Stay tuned...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Details of our regimen

Thanks for everyone's well wishes. I surely will let you know how its going :) So far the xylitol mints and everything else we are doing has had one noticeable effect on his teeth. One of his incisors which is still coming in had immediately decalcified upon emergence. It turned powdery white and began to dissolve like the others had. It has since stopped turning white and actually begun returning to the proper color which is a sign of remineralization - or healing itself. So that is giving me much hope.

For those that wanted more information, here is what we are doing:

Drinking and cooking with only reverse osmosis filtered water (we fill up the big bottles at Walmart and bought a simple lead free water crock on ebay).

Brushing with Spry xylitol non-fluoride tooth paste after every meal or more.

Giving him about 15 Ricochet xylitol mints (chocolate, punch and lemon lime flavored) from per day through out the day

Drinking only raw organic milk from pastured cows, no homogenization or pasteurization - ditto on the cheese found through realmilk.com
Minimal organic juice - only used to mix a small amount with his Fermented Cod Liver oil from Green pastures each morning

High vitamin raw butter oil from pastured cows processed as per Weston Price

Vitamins and mineral supplements crushed up in his food. The Bio-Dent and Catalyn from Standard Process

Organic pastured farm fresh eggs from my best friend Vikki
Organic pastured meats from local sources and coops

Organic veggies and fruits from coops and local sources

All grain products are made from grains I grind fresh with my new magic bullet from Walmart since I can't yet afford a real grain mill.

I process grains as specified in Nourishing traditions by presoaking them in kefir etc over night.

I am making and giving him daily fresh kefir, fil mjilk yogurt, home made cream cheese and a little bit of kombucha all purchased initially from Nick's Natural Nook


I am cooking everything in lots of butter as well as virgin cold pressed olive oil and coconut oil available from Radiant Life.

I am using Celtic or other nourishing salts in my seasoning.
For sweeteners we are using Raw Honey, maple syrup and Rapadura.

On its way in the mail from dentist.net I also have Dr. Collins Restore remineralizing toothpaste and an ionic tooth brush we will start using on him.

If any of this information can help anyone, I am very happy to share it. It is the result of pretty exhaustive research :) Much information is from the Weston A Price site and the cookbook Nourishing Traditions

I have incidentally lost 13 pounds so far in the last couple weeks without any real effort since making this diet change and taking the cod liver oil and butter oil. Which is a nice little bonus for all my hard work ;)

Best wishes to everyone else dealing with this mess,

Melissa

Another big change...

For those that don't know what has been going on with our family... my 2 year old son has been having some health issues. Nothing life threatening, we are in many ways very fortunate that his problems only involve his teeth. However, due to severe enamel problems he is having to go under general anesthesia for a second time to have more work done. The first time last April was horribly traumatic. So we aren't excited to go through it again. As a mother, I am of course trying to find the cause and solution to this problem. In spite of the near death experience that was his entry into this world, we are assured his issues are not the result of any of the medications or procedures he had or I had. Given that, and the knowledge that it is not a lock of hygiene. The next culprit I looked at was diet. While we were not perfect, I did think I was doing pretty well by him. Thanks to a very informative thread on Mothering I came to the realization that what I thought was a healthy diet was actually quiet poor. While I may never know if diet was to "blame" for his problem, along with excess fluoride in our water. What I do know is that there is a chance that I can stop and potentially reverse the damage through the diet found in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook and Weston A Price website. However, there is no way that I can continue to operate my business in any responsible way and give to my son the full and concentrated effort he now needs. I am running all over North Texas to locate and purchase the things needed for this diet. I am cooking intricate meals that require planning and coddling for days at a time. My kitchen has become a virtual science lab with jars of kombucha, kefir, fil mjilk, whey, and fermented vegetables. I've tossed out the microwave and invested in a monstrous freezer to stock up. My life must now revolve around healing my son. So... I am closing up shop. www.familypendragon.com will soon be gone, when I have the time to figure out how to close it. www.hyenacart.com/familypendragon will be restocked with only the sweater stones and pattern. I can imagine that a few times a year I may be able to stock some yarn or a custom or two. But it will be a rare occurrence I imagine, and will be announced through the blog and yahoo group. If you have a custom with me, have no fear, I do not let people down :) I am a little slower than normal, but I am reliable. I have loved creating for you. Thank you for the joy it brought me. I will miss you all very much. But I must be a mommy first :)

Sincerely,

Melissa