The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Rabbit!

We've all heard about magicians making rabbits appear out of a hat. But we've got a twist on the rabbit theme here at L*K....our little rabbit has DISAPPEARED!

More specifically, our kit model for A Little Gray Hare Limited Edition Kit (premiering at market soon!) has mysteriously vanished.

Honestly, this is one the cutest models I've ever done. I adore this little guy. I didn't originally plan the design to be an "egg". My finisher, Mona, came up with the brilliant idea. (If you aren't into eggs, it would be darling finished differently - that was my original plan).

During our recent office move, I put A Little Gray Hare in a zip bag - for his protection.. The model got carried to/fro the new office/old office/my family room during the kitting process. After a few hectic days, I realized he wasn't sitting on my desk with my other new models. Alan said "no worries, he will show up".

But now we've looked high and low, far and near, and in all kinds of unexpected (wrong) places. The needlework detectives are working overtime, but this case is still open....our BUNNY is gone!

OK..it's a little embarassing to go to market with hundreds of this Limited Edition kit, but the sweet model is MIA. While we've been searching for the elusive hare, I had my printer make a big 16" x 16" poster of him. Perhaps I should have added the caption...WANTED!

So now I'm stitching away on a replacement model. I cracked open one of my own kits (a new experience!) and got to work. After one fabulous basketball game shared with friends, he's almost complete!

During this "hare-raising" saga, I keep thinking about this beloved children's book. The bunny keeps playing hide and seek, but he's always found.

Will we end up with TWO bunnies eventually? I figure the best way to find the original is to stitch another. You know how those bunnies tend to multiply....

"with a little help from my friends" (getting ready for market!)

We're headed to Nashville Needlework Market soon, but things have been in "high gear" around here since 2015 began. No matter how prepared I think I am, getting a batch of newbies ready for market, in addition to the regular release schedule, is HECTIC (7 days a week & evenings!). 

Here's what's coming SOON to your favorite needlework shop! Some of these projects are Limited Edition, so make sure to pre-order and add to your stash.

K77 Hip Hop Kit

Time for a little Easter fun! We've got lively chicks, lots of eggs, carrot and flowers, all done in cheerful spring colors. Kit includes 30 ct. creamy linen, JABC flower button, super AWESOME finishing fabric, polka dot ribbon and complete finishing instructions. This gorgeous finishing fabric inspired the whole project. There's enough included for front and back. Time to HOP!

K80 Farm Fob Kit (2 sided fob!)

This farm fresh design is our last minute addition to the market mix. Just last week, I was busy stitching and miraculously it came together (with the help of super-finisher, Mona). Kit includes stitching fabric (some assorted pale linens and evenweaves I discovered when we moved our office!), antique gold rick rack and a stash of little rusty beads. Mona wrote some easy-to-follow instructions so your fob can look farm fresh, too!

A Little Gray Hare Limited Edition Kit

This kit was featured in our previous blog post (scroll back for the whole story).  It's full of goodies...hand-dyed WDW seafoam linen, 8 colors of WDW overdyed threads, teeny pink beads, pale pink rick rack, finishing fabric for back, egg template and complete finishing instructions. Get this one now...it's hare today, gone tomorrow!

K78 BUZZ Kit

No, this chopped-off photo it's not a mistake! This one is a surprise - complete photo will be revealed at market (gotta keep some suspense!). I'm still obsessed with BEES, so it's a bee theme (you guessed it). 

I worked with Marilyn at Picture This Plus to design a custom linen for BUZZ. It's called Verdant (definition: green, leafy, luxuriant, lush), and it's an awesome shade of yellow green. Kit includes Verdant 28 ct. linen and 2 mother-of-pearl round buttons. It's bright and fun, yet has some vintage appeal... it's cross stitch fusion!

Marilyn just delivered our gorgeous Verdant linen last Thursday (she made a road trip to Wichita). We were in a time crunch to get this one ready, so we asked for "a little help from our friends". We buckled down and got all the fabric cut, folded and ironed, sacked the buttons and prepared the printing. 

Then last Sunday afternoon, we hosted an impromptu "Open House/Volunteer Day" at the new L*K office. Friends came and went all afternoon, toured our little office, enjoyed a few snacks, and tried their hands at putting together kits.

I meant to take lots of photos (sorry to those not pictured), but stayed busy giving tours, and keeping these talented new kitters busy. We set up a couple extra work tables and the rookies got going. Talking, laughing  and snacking while working were strongly encouraged.  

Before the afternoon was over, the entire batch of BUZZ kits were finished!  Several friends arrived later, and alas, didn't get to slide kits into zipper bags...darn (their loss). 

It was really fun to have my fabulous friends visit the L*K office and try something new. Maybe they'll want to change careers? I was fortunate to have a couple bankers, attorney, elementary librarian, school bus driver, legal secretary, medical receptionist, construction company owner, oil exec, insurance adjuster extraordinaire, college professor, children's author, accountant, retired teacher (and others) and even a wheat farmer helping me out!!! 

YIKES...hope they don't ask me to do their jobs. I told them the only qualification to be a kitter at L*K was to be able to close a zipper bag. Little did I know that sliding the kit contents IN the bags would be challenging for some.

Shout out to my fabulous church friends who keep me inspired (and help me in a pinch!). LOVE you all!

We'll get by...(and get to market)...with a little help from our friends!

A Little Gray Hare!

It's that time of year again....Nashville Needlework Market. In a couple weeks we'll be loading up the car and traveling across 5 states (Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee) to the annual cash and carry market.

We've been working hard on some special goodies for market, and here's the first we want to share.

A Little Gray Hare Limited Edition Kit

Our friendly distributor, Norden Crafts, approached us many months ago and asked us to do a Limited Edition kit for them. What does this mean? Well, for shops it means that they can purchase this kit only from Norden Crafts. It won't be available directly from L*K. The Little Gray Hare will be MIA in the L*K market booth. 

For stitchers everywhere, just contact your favorite needlework source and request this kit!  It's "hare today, gone tomorrow!". We're only making a limited number of these this spring.

We're including all the supplies on this one (what were we thinking?). We used beautiful overdyed seafoam linen (Weeks Dye Works), 8 luscious shades of WDW thread, petite pale pink beads (on the eggs), light pink rick rack, and coordinating finishing fabric. Our finisher extraordinaire, Mona, has written complete finishing instructions, and we're enclosing an egg template. 

Here's a quick look at the evolution of A Little Gray Hare:

After I did the design on my computer, I stitched the model. While I stitch, I make notes about thread colors and amount, fabric choice, and other ideas. It looks like I originally called this "Good Hare Day" or "Happy Hare". I like "A Little Gray Hare" much better! I often make little design changes while stitching, so those are noted and corrected, too. Look closely at the 2 designs - I couldn't decide until I was stitching, and chose the right hand one!

Since it's a kit, I start calculating supplies (applying my math skills...you know the ones your high school teacher told you would be necessary for a successful adult life), and get everything ordered.

I mail the completed model to my finisher Mona, and wait for something fabulous to arrive in the return mail. Mona and I will chat about possible finishes, and she texts me photos of finishing ideas. Then we decide together what will look best (and what I can effectively "source" for supplies). 

The cones of Weeks Dye Works threads arrived first. I forgot to snap a pic when they were full, now they're almost gone...

and they've been transformed...measured, snipped and coiled into little 3" x 3" thread packs. Alan has perfected an ingenious method of pulling all 8 colors at once. Still, it's a lot of work!

The fabric finally arrived last Friday. A big, beautiful box FULL of seafoam linen.

So you know how I spent a long weekend.

Notice that I'm wearing my Klutz glove. No more accidents with me and the rotary cutter. That ER is no fun!

Here's our dining room table decor (definitely no eating occurring!). Going clockwise from upper left: pink rick rack, cut/folded/ironed seafoam linen, pretty finishing fabric (for back of egg), folded pink instructions, and egg template.

And, of course, the beautiful covers! I had so much fun designing this pretty cover and photographing A Little Gray Hare on a bed of pastel eggs.

I can't imagine how many hours have gone into this prep, but it's finally time to get our assembly line going. . OK...it really was "time" a couple weeks ago, but we'll get it finished. Maybe a little help from our friends? I've had an extraordinary offer from a group of able assemblers...will keep you posted!

Coming soon - 3 Little Words & more!

Here's the scoop we've been promising on our new 3 Little Words Flip-it series!

I'm really excited to share our new Flip-it series with all of you! I looked everywhere for little bits of inspiration...in only 3 words! After I chose my favorites (the hard part!) I graphed them in groups of 2 sayings. There are 7 different Flip-its in the series, so that's 14 little phrases. Stitch them all together, stitch them separately, or choose your favorites and create your own personalized inspirational stitchery. These little treasures are QUICK, fun and a great way to begin 2015!

• There are 7 designs. Each Flip-it has 2 sayings, so there are 14 sayings in all.
• We stitched the series on 32 ct. lambswool linen (choose your favorite light-colored fabric).
• Each 3 Little Words Flip-it will have the same embellishment pack with olive button.
• All 7 designs fit vertically. Total stitch count, including FREE border, is 95W x 388H.
• We'll post a list of FREE instructions for combining the whole series on our website. We'll include thread list, design template and extra border design.
• Stitch them all together, or mix and match your favorite inspiration designs to create your own inspirational sampler.
• Thread list: One skein each, unless otherwise indicated. Weeks Dye Works bright leaf, Madison rose, deep sea (2), chestnut (2), grits, guacamole, oscar (2), verdigris. Classic Colorworks boysenberry.

We've packed a lot of inspiration into 3 Little Words! To get all of you involved, we will be hosting an online contest to submit your favorite 3 word sayings! We'll select 10 favorites, then hold online voting. Once the winning saying is selected, we'll graph it and post it on our website for a FREE (optional) addition to our 3 Little Words series.

The first 3 titles will be shipping to shops everywhere on February 10:

F148 Be Kind Always

F149 Forgive Move On

F150 You've Got This!

And that's not all that's coming soon! If you need any of these goodies, let your favorite needlework shop know so they can preorder.

K75 A Little Luck

Remember when we asked for ideas for more "Little" kits? We're using them! This quickie project is perfect for St. Patrick's stitching. A Little Luck comes with 32 ct. lambswool linen, and golden horseshoe charm and beads.  A bit 'o luck included for FREE!

S117 Be Silly Flora McSample Snippet

Our little sampler girl, Flora, is doing a series of Snippets this year. Each design has vintage motifs and a sampler feel...and they're sweet, quick and CUTE (just like Flora!). This is a classic saying from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and we think it's perfect for right NOW

K76 ABCs of Faith

We're pleased to bring you another ABC kit. This design has beautiful colors and is kitted with Weeks Dye Works threads and DMC for some of the small bits. We worked really hard to create the ABCs of Faith text (prayer was involved!). We hope this stitchery is a blessing to you as you stitch and enjoy later. 

We're busy assembling all of theses new goodies in our NEW office! After a hectic long weekend, we've almost completed the move to the new office space. What a change to be working from a different place!

Here's the new, improved, larger shipping area. There's a bit of every L*K product there - easy to reach, package and ship.

This is the boring back room with big boxes of chartpaks, Snippets and Flip-its in their original boxes from the printer. My desk is not ready for the camera! 

Have a great stitch-y week, everyone!