Hello and welcome! I’m Holly Chayes

I help makers, thinkers, builders, operators, creators, etc. implement solid containers for creative chaos, and functional systems for sustainable momentum, all in aid of making a life or business you love. 

Right now I’m working with people and businesses in a couple capacities… 

Business

Business coaching and consulting for small businesses ready to dig into the practicalities of what’s next.

When you’ve graduated from mindset-only to mindset+ 

When you’ve built something that functions but doesn’t flow yet.

When you’ve outgrown and overrun what used to work.

Whatever you’re stuck on, we can get you moving to what’s next.

Get in touch here

Individual

Life and clothing magic for individuals who thought they would be more prepared for this moment.

Personal or professional.

Once in a lifetime or every day.

A surprise or something you’ve been working towards for years.

Whatever this moment is, we can get you ready for it.

Discover more here

Projects

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Knit, knit, spin, spin

There hasn’t been a huge amount of knitting going on. Partly because it has been so hot, and partly because I’ve mostly been spinning (at leas that’s what it feels like).

The Not Quite Argyle Sweater, the shawl with 8,000 beads, Ghosts & Mirrors, and my purple Zodiac le Plume have all gotten a row or two added to each of them, but certainly not enough to be very noteworthy. The two projects I have been working on however, have seen a tremendous amount of progress since the last time you saw them.

The first, which was only just started the last time I photographed it, and now fits comfortably around the 40″ circular that I have it on.

The lace patterning isn’t super clear in this photo, but it’s interspersed with sections stockinette stripes. Sort of potato chip knitting, because I love getting from stripe to stripe to stripe, and it would be complete potato chip knitting if the rounds weren’t beginning to get really long.

I was going to spread this out once I transitioned into the second skein of yarn, but before I knew it, I was a few rows away from binding off. So now I’m in the middle of the bind off and that little ball at the top of the photo is the yarn I have left. Fingers crossed it lasts, and we’ll see how it goes.

The singles I was working on the last time I talked about spinning are done and plyed, but not washed yet.

I 2 plyed them to preserve the color transitions. Since it just came off the bobbin, I haven’t counted final yardage or weight yet, but it’s a decent amount of yardage, in I would say a lace weight.

I also plyed the Fibernymph dyeworks singles that I was contemplating last time. You can see the color progression better in the photo below. It goes from the blue-purple, to the light purple to the grey-purple.

I ended up n-plying it, first to keep the colors together, second to make the yarn a little bit heavier, and I’m really glad I did because it’s very thin even with the three plys. It also hasn’t been washed yet, so I don’t have exact weight, but there are certainly parts of it that are lace weight. No idea what it’ll become but probably a shawl (shocking I know.)

Maybe the weather will get less gross soon, and I’ll want to knit more. Probably wishful thinking, but I can still wish.

Photos: Spider Silk

Spider Silk. I’ll probably switch out some of the photos in the pattern for some of these because I think these show the details of the shawl much better. The fabric is light and airy because it’s knit in a lace weight, but at the same time it’s cushy and soft due to the garter stitch. It’s very simple to knit, since I designed and knit it at a time when everything was kind of crazy, and I just needed something easy to work on. Something that I could pick up and put down without thinking about. So as a more experienced knitter I found it to be great comfort knitting, but for a newer lace knitter it would also be a great introduction to knitting with lace weight yarn.

Ravelry Project Page

I Have An Idea

I’ll let you know more when I have the written component outlined and fleshed out a bit.

I also have knitting & spinning progress to talk about, but that will come when I remember to get photos before the sun starts to go down.