Whether you like your knit goodies big & chunky or thin & petite, Chaucee from taylorhouse has you covered! She started knitting in college and soon found the need to open a shop. Sound familiar?

Chaucee also has a wide selection of vintage finds. Ya gotta love one stop shopping ;)

This week, you have a chance to win Knit One, Embellish Tooby Pittsburgh’s own Cosette “Cosy” Cornelius-Bates. Read on to find out how to win!

Cosy is an active member of the Pittsburgh Craft Collective and quite a prolific crafter! I had to know how she got started knitting, spinning, and dying her own yarn. She says:

Knitting came first. I saw a friend knitting for the first time right after I graduated from University. But – she knit left handed. So I taught myself how to knit out of the ‘Knitting and Crochet for Dummies’ book.

Spinning and dyeing came simultaneously when the wool shop closest my home in Vancouver BC was an old school wool shop with spinning wheels and fluff everywhere. I found out they offered classes and learned both spinning and dyeing there.

If someone wants to start spinning their own yarn, how should they begin?

I’d suggest a lesson of some sort. However, nothing can be hurt by playing around with a drop spindle and some fluff. Some people get very frustrated with drop spindles and go straight to a wheel.

What inspires you when creating new work?

I’m inspired by all sorts of things. Creation, colors, experiences, memories…

What are your crafty goals for the rest of the year?

Oh my. I’m currently pondering applying to Renegade Chicago, so I guess big craft fairs. My ultimate goal being the business getting bigger and bigger each year (within reason). It looks to me that the demand is for dyeing, so I’m doing a lot of that right now.

Don’t you love handspun yarn? Even if you’re just a newbie knitter or crochet addict (like me!) your projects will look fantastic! The color variegation, the texture… yum!

If you’re looking to purchase Cosy’s yarn – or her hand-dyed roving to spin your own – check out the CosyMakes Etsy shop. You can also find patterns so that you can play with your new yarn!

Now for your chance to win! In order to win a copy of Knit One, Embellish Too! by Cosy, you must:

• be a resident of the US.
• visit the CosyMakes Etsy shop and pick out your favorite yarn, roving, or pattern.
• for a second entry, share this giveaway with your network! Use the Share/Save button below or share the giveaway on your favorite networking site. Our favorites are Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon.

This giveaway will end Sunday, June 21, at noon. The winner will be chosen randomly and notified by email. Thanks for playing & good luck!

Unfortunately, I missed out on going to the Pennsylvania Farm Show this year. It was just too dang cold for my little one – but that’s Farm Show week weather, right?

Luckily, my reporter in the field, Amanda, took her daughter Ruby and snapped some pictures of some amazing HiP artisans!

Alpaca Yarn

This rainbow of yarn is brought to you by the Pennsylvania Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association.

Wool and Angora Hats

Fabulous wool and angora fiber hats by Twin Ponds Fiber Farm (fiberfarmer AT epix DOT net) and The Wool Garden.

Blacksmithing

Traditional blacksmith items by Acorn Forge (acornforge2612 AT aol DOT com).

Maple Cotton Candy

I think I’m most disappointed that I missed this hand-spun maple cotton candy from the PA Maple Syrup Producers! Amanda says, “The Maple Sugar Candy was wonderful! Income from the sales of this years Farm Show are used for promotion of Pure Maple Products.”

Be sure to come back tomorrow to find out about the ladies of Z-town Made! And Thursday, you can learn more about Nicki Leigh Bath & Body!

Looking for more help promoting your business? Don’t forget to enter the ad space giveaway by Friday at noon!

I’m proud to announce our first featured artisan: Natasha from luxefibre.com.

Natasha is a fiber artists who knits & crochets, as well as spins & dyes her own yarn. She & her family came to the US from South Africa while she was in preschool. Without many toys, reading books & playing with art supplies filled her days. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t creating! Later, she chose fine arts for her education but says, “I always had a problem with only using traditional materials. I like to think that my work sort of blurs the line between art and craft.”

Natasha started knitting about 5 years ago when her friend taught her the skill. She quickly became obsessed (sound familiar, anyone?). She is hesitant to follow complicated patterns and would rather experiment as she goes. Her advice to me as a new fiber fanatic was, “I do like to learn a technique to where I feel confident with it, and then do my own thing, and I personally think it is a great way to carve out your own style.”

I asked Natasha about getting published, as her amigurumi was featured in this book. Although she’s hesitant to “toot [her] own horn,” she related her story of being featured in several books:

Jenny Dowde is a free-form crochet guru and has written a couple of books. I loved her books and thought it was really great to see such amazingly creative work that is more art than anything. I sent jenny an email saying how much I loved her work and asking if she would like some of my artyarn to play with. She was incredibly nice, I didn’t hear anything for a while and then I got her book “freeformations” in the mail and she had used the yarn in a pattern and named it after luxe! How cool is that? Then, I went to a fiber and knitting show that stunk. i popped by shannon okey’s booth, the famous knitgrrl.com author and dropped off some little baby skeins of this green and pink supercoily artyarn that had sequins individually threaded and spun in all over the place. I bought some fiber too. She was teaching a class and we needed to leave the show, so she only got my postcard and note and the wee yarn. We ended up contacting each other via email and are great friends and she asked me to give her a sock pattern for her lion brand sock book, so I got in there. [...] I also make amigurumi (crocheted softies) which I do without a pattern. [...] I entered a softie art show at crammedorganisms.com and they published an amazing book that 4 of my pieces were featured in a spread.

There is so much more I’d like to tell you about Natasha and her work! But I’ll let you find out for yourself. Check out her website & blog at luxefibre.com. You can find her work for sale online on Etsy.

Natasha’s goals for 2009 include having her work included in more venues: fine art & giclee prints in galleries, knit wear in boutiques, etc…