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Upcoming Candle Company Shows

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scented chocolate strawberry candle Artwax offers many detailed fruit and vegetable candles but their scented chocolate dipped candles are my favorite. They also have great apple, pear, eggplant and pepper candles. The apple candles look very realistic and would make a great gift for a teacher. Artwax also has handmade bakery candles, floating flowers, wedding favors and candle holders.

The locations of Artwax.com shows:

  1. July 13-17 at Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market
  2. August 12-15 at New York International Gift Fair
  3. September 15-18 at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

Racoon River Candle Company creates their candles with natural soy wax, scents and dyes. They also have a line of bath and body products made with goats milk, shea butter and other natural ingredients. You can purchase their products online or check out their upcoming shows in person held in Iowa. Some dates and locations of Racoon River Candle Company’s events:

  1. Craft Show at Iowa State Fairgrounds, Friday September 21-23
  2. Cedar Falls Craft Show at the UNI dome, October 20-21

buy u candles mason jarBuy U Candles are highly scented, hand poured and last for hours. Their shop is located between Welsh and Lacassine, Louisiana. Buy U Candles and gift baskets are very reasonably priced and triple scented. They also have an online store showcasing their products. Buy U Candles just had an event at the Gator Guns and Knives Show but will be appearing again at the Civic Center  in Patterson, Louisiana from August 4-5. Next shows to be announced so check in with their website.

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Knits with Sheep

It felt like it had been a while since I’d done a roundup of knitting patterns involving sheep, and if search is any indication, that is true. I found a roundup of patterns for knit sheep from a few years ago, but the only one with v I could find is from 2015. So it’s definitely time to revisit this fun genre of knitting patterns.

This all started with a headband. Alyssa Kaat’s Icelandic Sheep Headband (free on Ravelry) to be specific. Ravelry showed it to me as a pattern highlight and I couldn’t resist taking a closer look. It’s worked with two colors of worsted weight yarn and alternates sheep with stars around your head.

Another great sheepy headband is this one from Loch Fyne Crafts on Etsy. These sweet little sheep are worked in bulky yarn and you can make the background look like field and sky or work it in a solid color.

Or make a headband (or a hat, cowl, or all three) covered with a flock of sheep with this set of patterns from New Age Knitting CA. These pieces also use the field/sky coloring, but you can use whatever colors of worsted weight yarn you like.

Speaking of hats, there’s also the sheep hat from Lynann Knits Designs. The sample was worked in Icelandic wool to make the sheep and the hat extra fuzzy and warm, but any worsted weight yarn will work.

There’s also the Wandering Sheep hat from Kat Hudon (on Ravelry), which features a fun collection of speckled sheep that can be worked in different yarn weights to make different sizes of hats for kids and adults.

And lest you think sheep need to be knit in traditional stranded colorwork, check out the Rebel Sheep Mob blanket by Deborah Moore. This one is worked in mosaic knitting using fingering weight yarn. In mosaic knitting you’re only working with one color per row so it’s pretty easy. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

I can’t possibly share sheep knitting patterns without mentioning the amazing Black Sheep Shadow Shawl by Mark Jamieson. Shadow knitting is a technique I want to do more of, but it involves working two rows alternating in two different colors and the pattern emerges when you look at the design from an angle. It’s so cool and the sheep on this one are amazing! It’s not a beginner project but well worth the work. You can find it on Ravelry or at the designer’s website.