~~YarnYenta~~

Productive

2012-01-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

I actually added dates to my google calender.
I created swatches and samples and, get this, MAILED THEM.

Right now I am waiting for yarn for several print projects. (book and magazine)
also Stitches West is looming over ahead, just a few weeks away. This is always a good show, unlike the hit and miss if the midwestern shows. IPS has almost 3000 users now.

Today I also created my own planning/action worksheets. I love behance products but needed a better fit to me. Their sheets wont ask for yarn weight, gauge, needles used.
So tweaked a bit and ready to go. Also ones for planning meetings and crafty classes.
I was trying to read my notes from KnitLab, and all the wonderful info from Ann Budd and Donna Druchunas is mishmashed on pages.
This way I can rewrite (and hopefully not have to rewrite future classnotes) and get a better record of information.

On The Needles: Lisa Souza Superwash Merino Sport
YUM! I love this yarn
I can't tell you what I am making, another secret project BUT it is SO cute!

On The Needles: Tactile Fiber Arts Sierra Sock
Thanks to Sock Summit, I met Maia. She is amazing! We always have so much fun together. At KnitLab we had dinner together almost every night. Great Food and Company.
Sampling and swatching and making socks in this squishy yummy Sierra Sock, makes me so happy. I am working on an unconventional sock, with crazy structure.
Yes It is also a secret and I can not show it.

and last but not least
MINDLESS KNITTING ON THE NEEDLES:
the Scarf of Shadows Sherlock Scarf is a fairly good length, but I want to make it extra long.
This is made from KnitPicks City Tweed DK. admittedly, I would have never tried this yarn if Shmuli had not asked me to make this scarf. But I also love this yarn!It is going to be such a luxurious scarf. I am now wondering what else I can Make with this yarn. I Love IT! (is there yarn I hate, you may be asking. Yes, Yes There Is! but I am keeping that to myself)

The Scarf of Shadows

2011-12-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we went on a date to the movies and saw the ne Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows. The first time we are reunited with Dr Watson, I gasp over the scarf. I am immediately figuring out the stitch count and as I count rows i hear a whisper "Can you make me that scarf? Didi you figure out how many rows of each colour?"
He Knows me so well. By the time the scarf is no longer around Watson's neck and adorns the gypsy, I have it down. I know exactly what yarn to use.

We came home and he immediately ordered the yarn!
Knit Picks City Tweed, in the perfect colours

The yarn arrived, along with a few other things to boost the cart to $50 and get free shipping....

So I Present to you "The Scarf of Shadows" a free download on ravelry.

The end of 2011 is nigh

2011-12-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Jaden will have his 12th birthday. Which means another intense year of hebrew and torah study. His bar mitzvah will be "christmas weekend" 2012. (mark your calendars).

This means crazy holidays are going to start, chanukah and christmas and new years and Kezzi's birthday and then Tirzah will be off to London. All in the next month.

So a blog post while I can :)
I can not show you much knitting as it has all been in secret but will be in print and online next year, so you will get to see it eventually :)

But working with all these wonderful yarns and playing and swatching has had me thinking. Have you seen the Knitter's Life List book? It has all these challenges on broadening your horizons, trying something new, meeting amazing knitters, and going to fiber festivals.

When I first began knitting i would scour the internet for anything knitting related. this was 8 yrs ago almost, we have a much richer knitting world now. (Thank you Ravelry!)
I would look at yarn like Lisa Souza's Gendarmes and Chameleon Colorworks, and I would say to myself, "one day I wil be good enough to knit with yarn like that", as i slide sts in red heart across my needles, squeak, squeak.

Also I collect PATTERNS, Ravelry is a horribly addictive place for pattern collectors! There are so many I was going to knit one day. Some I have definitely out grown now. Thankfully I never made a poncho for myself just for the display windows of an LYS. All that yarn!

My question for you today is what is the "one day I will be good enough for" project or yarn that you once dreamed of? Have you knit it? What is holding you back?

Next year be daring, buy the yummy yarn and actually use it!
I discovered a skein I have been hoarding has breaks in it. Gasp! I have no idea if a small child once cut it, if it was defective (doubtful) or if something munched on it while it sat in storage with lavenader and mothballs (my guess is a small child armed with safety scissors). But it should have been used.
We talk about using our existing stash, but we HAVE to keep yarnies in business and add to our stashes. Has any one actually made it a whole year without buying new yarn?!

I digress...

KNIT! Knit the sweater you are obsessing over, make baby booties cuz they are cute even if no one is expecting a baby (some one will eventually and you'll be ahead for once). Make Stuff! Create with string. Enjoy the new year by not sitting on your hands and waiting.

Santa Cruz

2011-11-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

Every autumn, we go to Santa Cruz for some MISPOCHA TIME!!!
So After kNit Lab...unpack, wash and repack and pack everyone else...are you seeing a theme? for the last 6 wks it has been like this!

What did we do?

Hunted for Walnuts (note the double duty for the bag from slippedstitches)

Hung out with some crazy guys

Then went to the beach for a long hike (2 miles each way) to the elephant seals.

While out there, I made Kezzi model the latest design for the Austentatious Knitting ebook (on Ravelry).
Mrs. Bennet's Nite Cap

Knitting Lab 2011

2011-11-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

While we were at STS East we got a chance to go to KnitLab in San Mateo, which was great, but meant a quick turn around, unpack, wash clothes, repack....

check out the Knit Lab swag!

The Market was small and intimate compared to the 10 previous events of the last few years. It meant I got to see each booth! I always feel like I have missed half of the market when I leave a show.
Next to me was the fabulous Laura of Slipped Stitches. She had a new line of fabrics which HAD to come home with me.

A lil bit like a knitting Gorey picture isnt it?! Perfect for Super Sock Scarefest.

On the next aisle over was my friend Maia, and her amazing Tactile Fiber Arts.
Some of Maia's yarn across the top of the photo.

These are soo lovely. Not only are there beautifully commercially dyed yarns, but she has a line of wild crafted yarns. (dyed from leaves and plants)
While helping her with booth set-up (cuz laptops are pretty easy) I got to put up these amazing shawl pins!!!

they are textured and patina'd, the rose-like one i think is my favourite.

While at KnitLAb, I had a lovely time with Faina, Stefanie Japel, Romi, Donna Druchunas, Anne (with an "e") Berk. Eventually I ran into Leslie aka Chewy Knits who makes the most amazing versions of her sock designs on size 00000 needles!

dollar for scale.

While at lunch, I met Amy Detjen and Meg Swansen. Remember when I blogged YEARS ago about Meg calling my house? Well she is even more lovely in person!
Do I have Pictures? nope!

Alice Starmore was the special guest of the weekend. She personally went to each table and talk to everyone at the tea. On Romi's blog you can see my hand in the bottom left hand corner with Alice Starmore! heehee

This was the most fun I have ever had at a show. Oh and I got to talk to Eunny!
really it was lovely!

I was inspired to design a new sock. But you will have to wait for that, it is lower on the knitting que.

Stitches Eastcoast Style

2011-10-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Where is this sock off to? well this time its Hartford!

One of the perks of doing the Stitches East Market is that my best friend (24 yrs), lives a short drive away. Tirzah came with me this trip and helped out not just at my booth but at the Knit Princess booth as well. :)

We had a great time, and ofcourse where Tirzah went, so did MrTumnus (pattern from NoisyBrook. Tirzah made him all by herself. :)

We also celbrated her 16th bday with dinner at Tamarind,

with friends from the vendor market; Leslie Wind, Lisa and Rd Souza, the Richlin family, Allison the Knit Princess
DEEP FRIED cheesecake. crazy but good and beautifully decorated.

bought a couple cute bags... Erin Lane and AmyButler

After STS East was over we stayed with Lee a few more days, took Tirzah for fried dough in Mystic, had great dinners, I got to see my east coast parents, and my niece and nephew.
Fabulous trip!

Choose your yarn like you would choose your friends..

2011-10-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

ok, the real quote is about books and authors.
However I was telling someone (mom) at knit nite that when I do a design, and I have to choose yarn, I feel like I am choosing between friends. "Who shall I play with today".
Over the last few years, and 10 events, I have met some of the most wonderful people.
The best part of any event is Saturday Nite dinner.

Sometimes dinner becomes a huge banquet of creativity. amazing food, creativity, solution solving, networking, and laughing. Lots of LAUGHING. One guy told the waitress "I'll have what they're drinking", her response..."They are drinking water."

I love what I get to do, travel, knit, meet amazing people, and share Intwined software with the world. Chicago was a hard show, it was my first product theft. alot of product. Some of the vendors I barely even know, were so kind, and sympathetic. I was really overwhelmed by the kind words.

So back to choosing yarn.
I tweeted that it was hard to choose betwix them all.
Holiday Yarns (genius! and bacon! seriously), Lisa Souza Dyeworks(when I first learned to knit I thought, someday I will be good enough at knitting to use THAT yarn) , Grinning Gargoyle (signature red and gold stellina sparkles!) Zen Yarn Garden (Japanese Red Maple!!!!), KnittingNotions (standing in her booth you feel at home), IndigoDragonfly (TARDIS yarn! you get sucked in and can not leave), Creatively Dyed (Calypso yarn, I am convinced Diane dances and has steel drums in the dye room, cuz this is yarn that can't sit still) TactileFiberArts (FiberDuck sent us to Maia, we love her! Wild Dyed with prehistoric plants, can you get much cooler than that?).

I collect people. It is true. Besides that they are wicked talented you should hear their stories. These are some amazing people.

And I havent told you about homemade toffee, speaking in estonian, knitting with glass, tears over cancer, joy over new babies,pajama parties and knitting, lots of knitting.

When you go to a knitting event it is one place you can walk into alone and find someone to have coffee with, a group for dinner, and people who understand you were completely over come by the fiber fumes.

Have you been to Stitches, Sock Summit, KnitLabs, FiberFrolic, Lambtown, BlackSheep, or any of the other amazing events? What is your favourite? Besides glancing at the yarn here or there, have you actually gone in and looked at the booths, the art?

Who is that you have to drive hrs to see at an event?

What makes you drool? Have you seen the bags? and shoes? Jewelry? did i mention the bags?

Have you tried the Stealth Needles or the GLASS needles or the scary pointed needles?

Right now some of my favourite people are at Rhinebeck this coming weekend, go find them.
In a few weeks some of us will be in Hartford, you'll hear the laughter and wonder why you can't get a table at a resturaunt.
Come join the fun, linger and talk a moment to talk to people. and buy some of the ART that is crafted.

Mathematical Knits

2011-10-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

It develops math skills. A knitting project is geometric.
~ Maggie DeCuir

There are days when I hear my older girls complain about math. I had the some complaints and tears. I hated math. I hated especially algebra, getting an answer, having the answer be right, but not being able to figure out how I got the answer....

Having been bitten by the knitting bug, I can tell them "You want to knit, you want to create? You need math."

The hexipuff craze is one pattern that is full of geometry. Haved you seen it? You know you want to make one.
BeeKeepers Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits

"Crochet, knitting and other crafts allow people to visualize, recontextualize and develop new problems and answers," said Carolyn Yackel, a mathematician at Mercer University in Georgia.

There are even knitting math books "Making Mathematics with Needlework"

Is it a surprise that so many designers in their professional lives are physicists, scientists, mathematics professors, biochemistry and computer science majors...

They may know how all the numbers come together and work, and how to properly scale garments to fit any form... I appreciate that talent. It isn't a gift I have.

But there are these magical moments, when you chart and plan things on paper...or IPS, and then watch them take form in tactile ways. Textures and morphing patterns combine together to make beautiful garments.
This is one of those moments, where a bunch of my guesswork actually work because of the magic of math. Can I show it to you? nope...secret knitting projects.
Spoilers, sweetie...spoilers...

ok. maybe a lil picture.

Austentacious Knitting

2011-10-02T11:56:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year the first Austen inspired pattern, Regency socks, was released.
These are part of a series of designs I am doing at the prompting, nagging, and begging from my girls.

Last Night I bound off the last st and blocked the second pattern, UpperCross.
I love Persuasion. It is probably my favourite Austen novel. It is at Uppercross that Anne Elliot sees Capt. Wentworth again after soo many years. The agony of waiting to see how he will respond to her presence, both of them trying so hard to not show the pain they feel over the loss of their love and trying to the depths of the same love still... Such tense moments filled with hope and heartache, eyes averted least the speak what is in their hearts. SIGH... I love this movie. My favourite is the 1995 version,

So the shawl...simple and uncomplicated,with a touch of lace.

$6

need to watch a lil persuasion?

Socktoberfest 2011

2011-10-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

October is here! That means SOCKS!!!!

Unlike Oktoberfest, Socktoberfest actually takes place in October.
This has nothing to do with the sock monkey who shows up at beer festivals. It is about socks, handknit, yummy socks.

Lolly Knitting Around started Socktoberfest in 2005 on her blog.
The Socktoberfest Ravelry group has over 1500 members. The challeges are individual, knitting from stash yarn, knitting socks that are more challenging than what the knitter usually would choose, mystery sock KALs.

My goal is to finish some socks, free up the needles holding those stitches...some since last year! Some are designs that are half written, and yes, one is lace weight yarn on tiny, tiny needles.

Later this month my oldest and youngest have their birthdays, Shmuli and I will celebrate our anniversary, almost every High Holy day is crammed in this month and Tirzah and I will fly out to Hartford, visit LeeAnn, and attend Stitches East. Given how busy this month is, we will see how much knitting gets done.

If you are on the East Coast, come to Stitches East, drop by booth #908 and show off your Socks for Socktoberfest!

Integrated Circuits and Microprocessors

2011-09-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

earlier this Spring, I was texting my friend Brenda, who has numerous patterns on Knitty, and I sent her a silly sock I was making. Brenda text'd back that I needed to submit it to Knitty. This was a frightening thought, especially since the submission deadline was that week. So even though Knitty rarely takes baby patterns, I thought I would have enough time to make baby socks before the deadline. So I modified the pattern, made baby socks and gathered up all the computer innards that my boys had around their room for "decor and ambiance". Once the socks were Photographed, I sent it off to Amy.

It takes forever to hear back when you have submitted a design. Now it is a lot faster with Knitty than with a paper printed Magazine, but every day, email HAD to be checked.
Amy finally wrote back that she liked it but would I mind redesigning for adult socks.
:0) Since this was what I had originally planned...so ofcourse I was happy to comply.

And then Summer craziness ensued. 2 different camps for kids and all the driving, funerals, and then me actually working 9-5 in an office for the first time while hubby's secretary took a much needed and well deserved vacation. oh and SOCK SUMMIT and then Stitches Midwest.

Somehow all the socks were knit up. Deadlines met. and then the waiting. It was totally Franklin's fault. :)

This being said the new Deep Fall Knitty 2011 came out this week.
I am so blessed to open the site and see those silly socks among such beautiful patterns. Many thanks to Amy for saying yes, Brenda for pushing me to do it, Jill for colour advice, and to Kate the wise, who wisely reminded me that Knitty has an international audience....and my instructions need to be REALLY CLEAR.

If you feel so inclined to make Microprocessor socks for the Geek in your life, or for your inner geek, here are some tips.

Swatch your colours.
just because they look lovely and give eachother nice compliments on the shelf, they may not want a lifelong commitment as socks.

Cast on 16 sts and join in the round. Work the corrugated ribbing for several rounds. If you are working with a striping yarn, especially one with long colour repeats or shifts, this may not work for showing all your colour changes.

and girls can be made happy with knitted rings.

Also, keep the stitches at a happy medium and not tightly bunched up.

Ode to Red Heart

2011-09-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

I know, you are shocked, an Ode to Red Heart?!

YES! The wonders of Red Heart.

Having spent a decade of my life pregnant and surrounded by babies, there were VERY FEW cleaning products I could use in our home. Risk of miscarriage and birth defects are just not worth a sparkling bathroom.
and being that i have "morning sickness" all 9 mons, I spent alot of time in the bathroom. I got to know porcelain really well.
Hot white vinegar was and still is the best for wood floors, but cleaning bath tubs was a real challenge.

Then I became a knitter.

I started with Red Heart like alot of knitters, because if I messed up, it was only a few cents in yarn thrown into the trash.
But what to do with those swatches.

Let me tell you, Red Heart Dishcloths scrub soap scum off like nothing else! Not even alot of elbow grease. The petroleum by product, squeak when you knit with, plasticy dishcloths are one way to clean and not have to use tons of harmful chemicals.

So put the RedHeart to use. After making socks on size 0 needles, you will be shocked at how quickly a couple work up.

Sock Summit 2011

2011-08-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

I missed the last Sock Summit. This year I was able to attend and represent Intwined Pattern Studio and also take some Classes.
Because I was taking classes, we had a team for the Intwined booth, my mom, Bobbie, my daughter Kezziah, and friends Maureen and Brenda and Jude were all there to lend a hand and demo the software.
I had some wonderful classes and learned alot in most of them. I feel very often that I don't know what I am doing as far as designing and had hoped for a great epiphany to come from the classes. I gained some insight, but needed beyond the basics.
Maybe I know more than I give myself credit for????

I met some wonderful people, and Spun for the Fleece to Foot competition

The skirting of the fleece was ...well... it should have been skirted, but i can not attest to it actually happening. Spinning in the grease is one thing, spinning in the wet pee was entirely another. not to mention the chunky bits. EW!

but we spun like mad!

In the end, the Canadian team one. They had more knitted pieces. BUT we had a more finished and kitchnered together sock. :0)

It was a great weekend, if I were to go again I would not take classes on the last day. (market closed before the last classes were even finished) and I would bring instant breakfast items with...no breakfasts at the hotels and the market opened EARLY at 9 am.

Orion's Nebula Socks

2011-07-05T20:00:00.001-07:00

As Stellar Sock Series 2 starts up, the patterns from the first Stellar sock clud will be available a little at a time...thru summer.

Orion's Nebula was a beautiful sock full of twisted stitches.

By Plim who helped test knit this sock in Holiday Yarns SilverSock yarn (sparkles)

LYS Paradise Style

2011-06-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

LYS- local yarn store.
for quite some time, my local yarn store has been anything but LOCAL.

This weekend a new yarn store opened, not just a place to "run in for an emergency needle that I some how need but do not own" kind of store. You can shop for ER knitting supplies as well, BUT this is a "stop and linger, feel the yarn, sit down and knit in the tea room" kind of store. Stop in and enjoy the shop, be prepared to linger.

With wonderfully friendly owners who ask how your current projects are going and can add expert advice. Aimee's Yarn Cafe is a wonderful addition to Paradise.

Only a fiber addict will truly understand, I have a new fiber home.

The garden outside is lovely and full of flowers for knitting and getting a lil sun. Talia whispered today "Miss Aimee, I love your garden". and she ofcourse had to bring home a vintage key, strung on a ribbon like Alice In Wonderland. She knows its a magical place too.

Best of Luck to Aimee and Mike!

Hearts of Gold and Rime and Reason

2011-06-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Early this year I designed 2 kits for Holiday Yarns.

The patterns are now available for purchase, and you can still get premeasured 2 colour kits for Couer D'Or or beaded kits for Rime at HolidayYarns.com.

Rime and Reason
a good wintery sock with an icy beaded cuff and beads thru out

$6.00

Couer D'Or
was originally knit in gold and wine but kitted for valentines in cheeky and lavender
I cant wait to see the variations of this

$6.00

Steampunkery

2011-06-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

These socks have been a secret for so long, I am relieved to get to speak about them!
Debuted at the Mass Sheep and Wool fest last weekend, is the new kit designed for Holiday Yarns.

I love these socks. I love that the idea and the finished product match.
I love the buttons.

Pictured in Vanilla but Jenn will let you switch out colourways...cuz she rocks...wait til you see them in Garnet! yum! The booth ones are in charcoal.

Jennifer will be at several fibery events, stop by and see them, tell her hi for me!
Upcoming show schedule:
June 4th-5th at the Maine Fiber Frolic!
June 9th-13th at the Summer TNNA show
July 28th-31st at Sock Summit in Vancouver, WA (I'll be here too)
Aug 25th-28th at Stitches Mid-West in Schaumburg, IL (near Chicago) – I am here as well
Sept 24th-25th at the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival in Greenwich NY.
Oct 15th-16th at Rhinebeck (aka NY sheep & wool festival)

2011-05-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Last year for my birthday, we bought a house. Ok, Sam bought a house b/c it turns out I have actually ZERO credit. Never had a loan, no college debt...nada.
So Last week our van was given a death notice...and with the tags soon to expire and 6 kids to drag around town with me, something had to be done. So this year I get a car for my birthday.

We searched for a vehichle to seat 8 people that didnt eat a ton of gas and was in our budget. not easy. BUT we found one. and got a loan, and they let my name be on the loan!!! which means i will have actual credit now. Being a grown up is scary!

In Celebration of the newly acquired debt and building up credit, all patterns are 25% off now thru June 22. Coupon Code NEWVAN

MY RAV Store

So between now and my Birthday, which is a significant one (Double Chai!!) all the patterns will be on sale.

after all, socks don't knit themselves...

2011-05-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Being an official home owner now, meant this spring i bought rose bushes. ok, Sam bought rose bushes, cuz i am a bit timid with the whole putting down roots thing. It is a new thing for me. 8 schools by the time I was done with my elementary eductaion. 10 moves in 15 yrs while married to a civilian. roots are foreign and scary.

...and I tend to kill plants. I love them. I draw them. I kill them.
Last year my aristotle basil plant was alive for 6 mons and doing great, until i went to Poland. Aristotle's death can not be blamed on me. I left explicit instructions for his watering. No one paid him any attention.
There is currently a living orchid that has been with us 3 mons. Don't hold your breath.

Back to the roses....we planted 6 rose bushes. 2 white climbing tea roses , 2 charisma roses, and 2 crazy red olympia roses. The girls room has the tea roses, the living room has the charisma roses, and the far end by the boys room, had the olympia roses.
yes, HAD.
Bambi and Faline brought their children through the yard for a BUFFET!
They ate the rose bush! They ate the leaves the rosebuds, the THORNS!!!

So since I can't show you the secret knitting I have been doing....and I can't show you the olympia roses, I will leave you with a picture of the charisma rose.

Living and uneaten roses.

Heart Soul and Mind

2011-05-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

For Holiday Yarns' Greek Mythology Lace club, I designed Psyche and Cupid, a lace weight and square shawl. Psyche is also greek for soul and is symbolized by a butterfly.
The shawl has hearts and butterflies lace motifs, and the a more complicated patern, which is ofcourse changing and challenging like the mind. So the triangular SOCK weight version is officially
Heart, Soul and Mind

May Day May Day

2011-05-05T11:55:00.001-07:00

May has rolled in with perfect weather, warm and sunny and even a good breeze. Birthdays and Mother's Day, this month is perfect for picnicking...and knitting of course.

Packages are starting to arrive With the third installment of the Stellar Sock Club.
This means i can now show you:

ANDROMEDA

When I lived in NH and babysat for a young lawyer, he would spin tales of fancy, and teach his kids (and me) about the stars and galaxies. I can still find Andromeda in my sky (no streetlights have made this much easier). It is fuzzy, there when you don't look at it. Vanishing when you gaze at it directly. Andromeda is mysterious.

Hubble has made it even more so. The more we see, the more we know, the more we discover that we know nothing.

Jennifer has captured amazing colours in the Andromeda Colourway this month. This skein is deeply saturated in colour. I LOVE IT.

This month's sock is a little more traditional in its construction. BUT it is cabled. Yum! Lovely cabled goodness. You need a good yarn to make those cables look crisp and not flat. Thank you Jennifer!

The last 3 months have been so much fun. If you missed out on the club, Jennifer is doing a Summer Stellar SOTM.

3 months, 3 Stellar Packages.

400 yard skein of FlockSock Sock Yarn or a 420 yard skein of Silver Sock (Merino/Silk/Nylon/Silver)!
Matching Beads!
Stellar-themed stitch marker!
Stellar-themed Sock Pattern

Andromeda in Butter From Holiday Yarns

where do i find a guy who has a top hat?

2011-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

Tirzah as most of you know, is a little bit Austentatious. Ok, its way more than a little bit. Some day she may find a guy who actually owns a top hat. While she waits...she can atleast knit Austen.

At her request I am designing a few Austen Inspired patterns.

Regency socks are the first in her series.

I love the way this lace motif worked out.
The inspiration in these socks comes from the wallpaper in one of the many BBC Austen movies Tirzah watches over and over.

(Rio De La Plata sock yarn is sadly discontinued.)

If you want to knit along with Tirzah, the pattern is now up for sale.
Regency Socks $6

Recap

2011-04-20T20:37:00.001-07:00

the Stellar Club designs have been very fun to do. the final touches are being made on the third design.

Orion's Nebula was followed by Gienah Cygni (this was the pink and purple bits shown a few posts back)

Gienah Cygni is a orange binary star in the wing of the "swan" constellation , Epsilon Cygni, the name is from the arabic and translates the wing of a swan.
Jennifer did a fabulous job on the red-orange colourway.

The Greek Mythology Lace Club's second package was mailed out, and some are still arriving...so no pictures yet.
The first Pattern will be available for individual purchase in May. Psyche and Cupid is the LACE weight square version, the SOCK weight triangular version is Heart Soul and Mind, pictured below

I love this blue butterfly colourway!

besides that there are several new designs and even a couple submissions that are still secret. I was blessed with some amazing test knitters, and they have been hard at work deciphering my scrawls. I am amazed at a couple of them, I can hardly believe how beautiful they turned out.

AND SOCK SUMMIT IS COMING!
hotel room booked. classes looked thru and i am torn of which ones to take.
Top 5 choices anyone?
there are the big names of course, and some surprises.
are you going????

Sock Madness 5

2011-04-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

March rolled in and with it came the madness that is sock madness.

Round 1
Suppoter's Socks by LilyMarlene
Shibui Sock

i loved the way the yarn felt but was battling the pooling of colours, and wound up doing the sock on 0's instead. it didnt wok on sock 2 as well because the skein had a knot, that half of the skein coloured the other direction....VERY ANNOYING. if you are going to give me a skein with a knot, could you atleast make the colour repeats match?!

Round 2
NorNir by Caoua Coffee
Colinette Jitterbug in Jewel

the pattern was slip stitched all over, these socks took forever, but they didnt pool! They are very squishy and have now been test hiked. Sadly the yarn is not superwash, and they are slightly felted from washing. the pattern is named NorNir, but mine are just Nir which is hebrew for a plowed furough, which fits very well with the design.

We are currently on round 3

This sock by Maya has some pretty wide cables, which can be difficult to manipulate on 2.25mm needles. Luckily I have my trusty Leslie Wind cabling ring. She gave me this one at Stitches. Leslie made this at a 2mm diameter. usually for socks you need to use a needle a bit smaller than what you are knitting the item with, and you still have 4" or 6" of a needle to deal with. the ring is soo much better, and out of the way.
THANKS SO MUCH LESLIE!!!

Round 3
Dangerous Curves by Maya
Shibui Sock in Jonquil

Pink Petal Snow

2011-03-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

When I was young, my father's job brought us to live in Washington D.C.
Fireworks on the roof of the pentagon, the best macaroon cookies in pentagon city, museums and moonrocks you could touch, and the cherry blossom festival.
I loved the cherry blossoms. I loved hiding in the trees, up in the fragrant branches and eventually playing with the pink snow as the petals fell.

LAFujiMama's post on the japanese cherry blossoms, brought these things up, last year.
Claudia Handpaint's Strawberry Latte drove the idea home.

With a twisted Latvian cuff and a softly textured stitch, you can wear the blossoms on your feet.

Edited to add: all proceeds of this sock will go to help Earthquake Relief in Japan between now and April 9th, whch is the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
$5.00

2011-03-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

where have the days gone? we have been bust and things are about to get busier with Passover on the horizon. did i mention Purim is this weekend? skits and hamantaschen and fun...
shabbat is no longer shabbat around here. shabbat is work. so monday we took a day off to ourselves, work still crept in. as it has every monday since october. we need to guard our day off more.

knitting wise this is parts of the next secret sock for holiday yarns

this is the end of march shipment- not the colorway, that is still being dyed.

Stitches West 2011

2011-02-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

We left last Thursday for StsW at 6:30 am with snowflakes falling all around us. Thankfully we got out before the storm, because Paradise and Magalia were hammered while we were gone.
Tirzah and Kezziah came along this year. Our first girls road trip. I was so blessed to have my girls there. It reminded me of when I was pregnant and felt them move for the first time. No matter where I went, I wasn't alone. They made me braver then and they make me braver now.

This year when we arrived, we knew what we were doing since it was our 5th event in the last year. Which meant this year I was not so nervous that I didnt eat for DAYS. I ate. I ate well. Persian on friday was amazing at a santa clara restaurant something like Chelokebabi, (its on El Camino Real and Wolfe) amazing food! The menu was in arabic so i text pix to my brother. After all if your brother speaks arabic, there should be occasional perks like menu assistance.
Jeff and Debra of Debra's Garden are my fave dinner companions, so along with my dear friend Leslie Wind and new friends Lizette and Don, we had amazing food, and laughed well.

I briefly got to see Merike as she was teaching classes. Romi was there, Marisol and Carrie (irish girlieknits,) Lisa and Rod, Brenda, Diane, Lynn, Gryphon, and ofcourse the wonderful Lionnesses of Lion Brand, Zontee, Lindsey, and Kendra. Top it all of with WonderMike of Fiber Beat and some of my favourite people in the fiber world were in one place. (jennifer sadly did not join me, i am thinking of forgiving her since she was after all dying yarn for my designs....) Really there is no way for me to mention and hyperlink everyone, people of great importance will be left out.

Spinolution needed to park some wheels which turned out to be great decor for the booth. 2 wheels may have come home with me, but i am not admitting to it at this time. the bee fits into a carry on! seriously!

Before we go any further, let me say that there are 5 knitters and 3 spinners in our house. Sometimes sharing is an issue. so try not to judge.
:0)

Lynn had bags of yarn , BAGS OF YARN, for $20 Shelia Earnst was there with coblat glass needles. seriously amazing to knit with once you get it out of your head that its glass. 9they will fix them if you break them)
Jordana Paige was lovely as ever, and Kezzi took her money she saved up and invested it into a Bella Bag from JP. LJ Kaelms in green needed to come home, the amazing african baskets acrossed from us, they gifted us a few b/c of our loaning of containers so the baskets could be shaped.
Picked up some new books one on weaving, JC Briar's charting book, Betty Fryer's Lace Primer (made with intwined), Omas Strickengeheimmisse (grandma's knitting secrets).

New patterns from Gryphon (BEOWOLF SOCKS) and Kollage and somewhere else i cant remember
Llama Sparkles yarn, baby llama and silver.
Jill of fibersphere had namaste buddy cases and needle cases, which coordinate to the new JP bag very nicely.
oh this lad had magnetic scarf claspy things, which i am going to use for shabbat shmatas.
a larger tunisian crochet hook from stitch diva, new della q project bags for shawl cases.

pictures will be added later. breakfast needs to get finished, and jaden yanked a tooth out of his head....

Collaborations

2011-02-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

Here we are in February, and its all hearts and flowers and fiber.

This month Exclusively thru Holiday Yarns is a special Valentines Kit of a sock I designed, Pictures will be posted soon. The yarn is so yummy for this sock which is in 2 colours.

The first installment of the Greek Mythology Lace Club will have my first shawl design. I really enjoyed Stefanie's shawl design class. There could be more lace designs in my head now. scary and dangerous I know, but it is possible since socks and lace are my 2 favourite things.

If you are interested in signing up, you still have a chance to get in on one of the clubs, but not for much longer.
Greek Mythology Lace Club
Stellar Socks Club

Blah Days Need Good Food

2011-02-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

yesterday started out in frustration and stress. a general feeling of overwhelmedness. is that a word?
so when Sam asked "what's for lunch?" I was not really in the mood. Being frdgeless for the last 15 wks has definitely cramped my life. I am bored to death with brown rice, potatoes, pastas even if the are whole grain. I just couldnt take another sandwich as well.

So out of the recipe files came Middle Eastern Pizzas. I havent made these in about 10 years. When Rupesh and Ashish would come over several nights a week we were curried out and I threw these things together.

The great thing about these, okay maybe it is the great thing about my kids, EVERYONE eats these! some eat it like pizza and some like a pita pocket sandwich, but they all eat it.

Note Tali's Don't bother me, I am eating face

Zemeira wouldnt even look up as she ate

Recipe:

Middle Eastern Pizzas
Pita Bread in a pinch, if you have the time a big yummy home made foccacia bread
grape tomatoes- quartered
Balsamic vinegar and pomegranate vinegar
red and yellow sweet peppers
1 lemon
salt
Tahini in a can
Plain nonfat yogurt
black olives
feta

1st take the quartered tomatoes and cover them with a blend of the vinegars, set aside to marinate.
slice the peppers and place them and olives in dishes for garnishing

Take the yogurt and tahini and place in a food processor, with the juice of one lemon and a lil salt (to taste) blend into a nice smooth sauce.

warm pitas in the oven, or use the fresh warm foccacia, spread tahini sauce on top.
because everyone likes things a bit different, AND Zemeira is allergic to tomatoes, we keep it all separate and top them as they like. dolmas on the side just because you can always eat dolmas.

so yum!

Stitches and Stars

2011-01-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

For a couple years now, i have been bugging indie dyers that i know, to create yarn based on the Hubble telescope photographs.
I am constantly amazed by the colours and the infiniteness of what we do not know. One of the things that just is so jaw dropping is the account in Job, where G-d is taking this man who is plagued with worldly suffering and asks, "have you held the pleiades in your hands"

or where it states thousands of years ago that stars sing. Only a few decades ago we learned that stars emit sound.

or

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Isaiah $0v12

We tqalk of Job's patience and faith, up there on some pedestal so far above us. He was just a man, but a man who got to see what we are only now discovering with Hubble's technology. Faith is built a little at a time and sometimes it is given galacticly. (I may have made up that word)

so back to yarn- i asked for hubble yarn. No one wa sall that interested until i said something about it a couple months ago. Turns out my friend Jennifer has been thinking Hubble yarn too. But not just yarn dyed to match the photos, spinning batts of fiber, yarn with silver sparkle threads. we both were so excited that someone else had the same thought so now....we bring you (official drum roll)...

Holiday Yarns Stellar Sock Club

and I get to play with the yarn and make a couple patterns for it.
The patterns will be available in kits only.

Canterbury Flower Fairy SOTM

2011-01-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

Last spring this design was for the Flower Fairy KAL/SOTM, but with the winter storms, maybe we need a little spirng NOW.

With bavarian twisted stitches this sock has lovely little bells sculpted in wool.

$5.00

Persia socks

2011-01-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

Toe up, with bobbles. yes it sounds crazy but they are so much fun!
Part of the Magic Carpet Ride SOTM club, these socks mimmick a pattern in Ruth's rug.
Floral symmetry sculpted in yarn.

$5.00

Red Hot Socks now available

2011-01-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

Need to thaw out?

Fata Morgana is a supierior mirage. It is not only complex but rapidly changing, not just distrorted images, but flipped upside down! The legend of the Flying Dutch Man is believed to have originated from Fata Morgana Mirages.

$5.00

Spring is coming-I promise

2011-01-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

This Spring I will be involved in a new project. Common Threads. This will be a multigenerational project.
After school on Wednesdays i will be volunteering my knitting skills ( i know you are all shocked that this is knitting related).
I will be teaching Teen and young women who are pregnant, how to knit.
I will be joined by others who will come alongside these girls and just be there to listen, help cast on, and let them know they are not alone.

Over the last 5 yrs, college kids who volunteered for the summer, teenagers who needed a distraction from their chaotic lives, and just about anyone who asked, was given yarn and needles from my stash.
The supply of "cleean needles" as some of them nicknamed empty/available knitting needles, has dwindled.
I could use some help!

If you have any old needles to contribute, message me for the mailing address.
If you are going to be at Stitches West looking at all the new fancy needles, bring me the cheap aluminum ones you firsted learned to knit on. At stitches, everyone who brings needles to donate will get a raffle ticket for a basket of yarn. Winner will be announce Sunday- the last hour of the Market (must be present to win).

After Stitches for those who want to Mail needles, you can win yarn too! June 1st is the birthday of someone i love dearly, in the honour of friendship to the one who held my hand, the winner will be chosen.
Each pair of needles equals one Ticket, the more you send the better your chances of winning :0)

Heatherly

Projects :
Washcloths
Bibs
Baby booties
Baby sweaters
Blankets
Soft Toys
Each project will work on a new knitting stitch/technique, building on their skills

size 2, 4, 6, 8 are especially needed straights or circulars

what a great present!

2010-12-24T21:51:00.000-08:00

tirzah and i went to Barnes and Noble and had free smoothies
(thanks to the nook coupon)
while there, i picked u a couple magazines. i didn't look at them there, brought them home, both the girls read thru them while i made dinner. finally i got to sit down with them.
i started flipping thru, and stopped, had to look again, because there in print, were charts made with intwined studio!!!!
this wasn't even the mag that reviwed us or they one we advertised in....
so i scream, i start showing it to sam and the kids, call my mom (who was not home), called brooke (also not home) called sue who jumped up and down with me (because she was home).
so if you heard a scream, it could have been my fault. sorry if i made you jump.

thank you Yarn Forward!!!!!

G-d bless us everyone!

2010-12-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

we being bored and without refridgeration decided to have dickens style dinner today, not on the 24th or 25th...cuz i can keep things in a tiny mini fridge.
so....

so we are marinating chicken to create "18th century drunken english cider chicken"
roasting brussel sprouts and chestnuts, potatoes, and parsnips.
yes, parnsips.

now parsnips have been an enigmatic food. my mother recounts stories of them being boiled, mashed and served but told she was eating mashed potatoes. this is not a nice way to introduce foods to a child.
she is actually thinking i am punishing my children by cooking roasted/glazed parsnips. HOWEVER we are farmers market fanatics. each week in summer, our kids pick a crazy new fruit or veggie to TRY. no one forcing them to like it or eat every bit on their plates. (several generations of eating disorders in our family- i do NOT force any foods on any of the kids, nor the "clean your plate" tactics.)
so i have no idea if the parsnips will be edible or what to expect them to taste like, but it will be memorable.

we also are going to try plum pudding and a christmas pudding with brandied sauce.
this also is a strange and unfamiliar food. but we are going to have fun! :0)

so keep your fingers crossed.

Mazel Tov and baby knitting

2010-12-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

i have finally gotten to a stage in life where everyone else is having the babies and i just get to do the knitting! the moms labours were 30-46 hrs, so i will take the knitting job any day!

Quentin, Nehemiah and Jeremiah were all born in the last month. which meant baby sweaters blankets, socks and hats to knit.

my favourite baby sweater right now is Jonah Rav Link
Blog Link

i made mine from classic silk which i am hoping wont be a hassel for the mama to clean (sand coloured in the photo)

then i ran out of yarn for the border of the blue blanket...thinking of sewing a satin ribbon border on, good for babies to suck on right?

the last sweater is iceling, the baby version from the knitty pattern, from stolen stitches, it will have a shwal colour to curl op over the babies ears.
i added the stripes....we will see how it turns out.
but i love using my "glass" needles on this project. (glasspens.com)

fave baby patterns? please share!

so you know you have not been reading blogs lately when

2010-11-19T14:47:00.000-08:00

...you log on to bloglines website and it turns out it doesn't exist.
(at least right now, i guess some one bought it and is fiddling with it)

so because i was locked away up in the mountains on dial up until a few months ago, i do not even know what blogs i used to read.

so if you have a fave, please share.

Knitting wise the third and final Magic Carpet Ride sock club sock will get mailed out soon. pictures to come. actually this club was in the works while i was in europe, so i don't think there are project pages or that any of them have been raveled yet. oops!

i have a new yarn addiction to Holiday Yarns flock sock. seriously the bacon yarn is begging to become something. must find a good wiggly sock pattern for it.

Paradise Knitters has a new knit nite schedule, we swapped weeks with the paradise spinning guild.
KNITTING 1&3 thursdays
SPINNING 2&4 thursdays
everyone on 5th thursdays when they occur
we still meet at feather canyon gracious retirement, so feel free too join in anytime.

that is all for now, must finish some knitting, most of the stuff has been secret or surprise knitting.

blogging blogging

2010-10-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

ok, so i am kinda busy and haven't blogged recently. one of the reasons i thought i should get the ole blog redesigned. i did this part myself but need a change.

since blogging last i have been over to europe with sally klein o'connor on an amazing journey, tour of roses. life changing. amazing. after i got home, i felt very much as if we had walked thru the valley of the shadow of death yet were totally covered by G-d's hand. i am still processing the death camps, treblinka and auschwitz, the documentation center in nuremberg, zepplinfeld, and the towns that were terrorized by the holocaust. warsaw was most difficult as it made me miss my rebbe so much, whose father escaped warsaw's ghetto and had died just the year before. i miss them so much, 4 yrs since our last visit.
treblinka caused a slight panic attack that made me seek solice on the edge of the woods, and then be able to continue.
auschwitz steals every word away.

there was beauty in the midst of suffering, and brokenness. but it was challenging to refocus my gaze from the horror to the beauty. polish bubbe's kissing your face and whispering words of love, helped. it was easy to love individuals. it was a thought changing time for myself. the mandate to love all and to forgive. i want to keep that close. it doesnt erase death and murder, but it changes me.

the girls have had their birthdays, tirzah- 15 and talia-5. also our anniversary, 16 yrs...no crazy party this year just scrapping enough cash together for dinner. :0)
but it was lovely.

then a trip to the ER with talia who rather than take a bath decided to flip off a chair in the boys room, smack her face on chai's oak bed. totally scray, nothing i could diagnose and fix....so trip to the ER. a black eye, a headache but her vision isnt effected thankfully.

samuel was asked to fill in for a few months for a friend at a local church. it was really funny the first week as it was communion sunday and he was a bit lost with the traditions. brachas in hebrew are fine but in english....
that evolved, they decided to keep him, then voted to make him the official pastor at FBCP. i have no idea how this will effect our lives. i think they will figure out we are meshugge pretty quick....if i ever am around long enough that is.

i leave wed for hartford and stitches east. it is at LeeAnn's so i am over the moon ectstatic to be with her and kiss her babies who are too old to be babies.
so you can expect a rambling report from stitches.
and pictures ofcourse.
lots of quick posts via twitter to facebook, so really if you want to know what is up, that is where you should look.
:0)

Sock Blocking

2010-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

I didnt get out of my booth much, but i didnt see Purrfectly 's wooden sock blockers so i came home from STS MW and needed sockblockers!

JoAnn's had on sale half off (now $7.99) their ArtBin boxes, which i needed more bins to store yarn in for different companies and submissions.

inside each container are 4 divider sheets. since i don't really need them, they are going to be sock blockers. 4 boxes= 16 sock blockers.

Kezzi has now gotten taller than me, and her sockblokcers need to be bigger, so we measuered the length of her foot and extended the size of the blockers so they can holder her socks.

We could Sharpie intials on them so each of the sizes for the kids could be easily identified.

enrolling her help soon i had a nice stack of sockblockers

which needed to be dressed of course

but what to do with the scraps????

wee tiny sock blockers

more scraps? with Chanukah being 100 days away, i need to get crafting! i decided the kids need mittens. so how about tracing their hands so i dont have to guess at size? this means the also will not be suspicious in the coming months. ("...um, hey let me see your hand and where your thumb is...")

this also means MITTEN BLOCKERS!!! so i rounded off the hand shapes, added the name followed by the age of each of the kids.
so as long as they do not read my blog, it will stay a surprise.

Stitches MidWest-Schaumburg, IL

2010-08-27T13:16:00.001-07:00

Last week i flew to Chicago, alone...which i have not flown alone since the week before my 18th birthday. that was the summer i met Sam and i've followed him around the world ever since.
anyways, my "taxi" turned out to be a Limo. which was a new experience also.

The hotel for the event was amazing but my hotel room at the courtyard was much bigger and nicer than their rooms. AND staying in the same hotel, room below mine was Jennifer from Holiday Yarns.
You may know her as yarn dyer for the Tsarina Tsock kits.

ofcourse i needed the vintage sock kit (remember when yarnharlot made all those tiny leaves?) and the phoenix for my mythology girl, and cowboy socks for the boys. Jennifer also had the most amazing smelling anti moth potpourri! seriously, i am going to need a pound of it for sachets for every drawer/clost/stash bucket. soo good!
the really cool thing was for each colourway, she had knitted sock toes so you could see exactlu what the yarn was going to do. so many yarns look great skeined and horribly as socks. this made it much easier,(no harder) to choose sock yarn. i wanted soo many of them :0)
we had a blast together, with her mom who is wonderful, and discovered we were mishpocha.

Creative was in the booth directly behind mine, since i have several skeins of her yarn waiting to become socks, i did not bring home anymore calypso BUT did take advantage of the lace weight being 50% off.

SomeBunny aka Kimberly came by and brought Franklin Habit with her. He was delightful to talk to, and let me get a picture with him and be a geeky fan.

PJ party:

Friday nite at the PJ party Franklin wore the amazing lace nite cap that he did the article in knitty on. if i can find the pictures i will load them.

jewelry making demos by Leslie Wind

My Aunt Carolyn flew up from houston and spent the weekend with me. we had so much fun. Leslie Wind shared the booth with me so she jopined us for dinner with Debra and Jeff of Debra's Garden and Rose Hunter who was teaching heirloom rugs over the weekend. we laughe dall nite. oh- and Adam, Debra and Jeff's son, so Aunt Carolyn wasnt the only non-knitter.
While in chicago Aunt Carolyn stumbled onto the set of Transformers 3 and got some amazing pictures. if she had a working computer, i'd show theose to you too.

so that is a brief sum up of Sts MW 2010.

August

2010-08-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

summer is not slowing down here, things are just gearing up.

PennyRoses Yarns Luxury Summer Sock club released the first kit featuring a pattern i did for Ruth, Fata Morgana Miarge Socks and heatwave colourway yarn. its always fun to get and idea and start researching and creating. the visual anamoly caused by varying temperature layers they believe caused the stories of the flying dutchman.
Ravelry Link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fata-morgana-mirage-socks

Brigit has been working hard test knitting a new sock for my Flower Fairy Socks KAL
and the pattern will be out soon, featuting bavarian twisted stitches.
Sneak Preview:
Canterbury Bells

in 2 weeks i wil be at Stitches MidWest, booth 732.
Demoing Intwined Pattern Studio's software. The latest issue of the Knitter magazine (UK) has us featured in "things we love". so exciting!
let me know when you get a copy, i have only seen screen shots.

Leslie Wind will be sharing the booth with me. you remember her fab cable needle necklaces i blogged awhile back? she now has a cable needle ring for sock knitters so its a smaller diameter and right at you finger tips from some tricky sock designs (do you know anyone who has tricky sock designs? hmmm)

also blackthorn knitting needles! i love these have you tried them?
i cant tellyou how many DPNs i have snapped or the boys have snapped for me. these however are made from the same stuff the stealth's outer skin is made from. virtually unbreakable but stll amazingly light.
so stop by the booth and test drive them

after i come home i will be getting ready for the tour of roses trip to poland and germany. if anyone wants our fundraiser gourmet home made super yummy Strawberry Jalepeno BBQ sauce let me know i still have several jars left- $8 pints and $15 quarts.

Design with Intwined II

2010-06-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Intwined Studio Contest:

if you have Intwined Pattern Studio, share a link to what you have made with it between now and October 31. Each entry will qualify for a chance to win a lovely prize!
knitting, weaving, cross stitch ...any craft pattern qualifies

Blog about Intwined and send me the link to your blog post for a bonus entry.

Prize:
Yarn and swag

See what people are saying about Intwined:
www.intwinedstudio.com

How to enter: Leave a comment, include a link to your pattern, blog post, too!

Cool Beans!!!

2010-06-10T15:13:00.001-07:00

I was blessed to get to be apart of SockMadness 4 this year.
My pattern CoolBeans was round 2. and now that SM4 is over (won by the fabulous EricaG) Cool Beans is now available to the public.

A fairisle sock tribute to Coffee

Creatively Dyed Yarns Version

techquilter's amazing version

CoolBeans Sock Pattern $5

winner!!!

2010-06-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Using the amazing skills of a four year old and a bowl of papers with names written on them, the Intwined Studio Winner is:
Ashley of AshleyKnits!

as soon as i get your address, i will send you the knitting prize basket!
congratulations!

not quite pemberly

2010-06-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

but we finally moved into our own home!
some where midst the boxes you can find us at what is known in our family as "Chesed House". tirzah had hoped for a more austen like name.
and with all the new colours it was decided that david crowder's "o happiness" is the theme song of the house.
i havent knit in 2 weeks.
i am not sure where anything is, but it is good to be home.

the winner of the Intwined Studio pattern concert will be announced in the next post.
i am waiting for dsl connections so i can contact the winner and gettheir info.

also big news at our house:
i am going to poland and germany this fall.
it is very exciting and more info will follow of course.

Stitches West 2010

2010-02-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

wow i am soooo tired
the night before stitches i couldn't sleep- got maybe 2 hrs.
it didnt help that we also put a bid in on a house and dropped the papers off on the way out of town.
my hands were shaking at the opening of the first 2 market sessions.
by today i was doing a little better and actually got hungry and wanted to eat while i was there.
jordana paige did a wonderful blog post on how she used intwined studio for her latest pattern "Shane" so it was great to be able to thank her in person. she was our first celebrity endorsement.
friday i turned around to see cookie A in our booth and gasped. she demo'd Intwined pattern Studio in her class, the she sent janel laidman over who was so sweet and gave me a copy of enchanted sole. i wish i had my rivendels on when she was there.
i adore the becoming art yarn that is coming home with me, got to get in person chameleon colorworks yarn, creatively dyed yarn (calypso painted with over 500 yds!)
00000 and 000 DPNs, and some other wonderful stuff.

march 3 a new book will be out "how to knit a love song"
the author Rachael herron was lovely and i am so excited for her.
i can't wait to read her book.

Michael of fiber beat is way too much fun!

and the editor of knitter's magazine, Rick Mondragon asked if he could do a write up on us! so watch for future issues! ( i will let you know when i do which one summer or fall when i do)

it was so good to see becka and husboy. we had a wonderful time celebrating her 30th bday. and wow ! what an amazing ammount of hair on her head!

it was soo good to see merike! not long enough!
hopefully at stitches south we will have more time. i may have to take a class so i can talk to her ;0)

pictures of course to follow:

Talia's Wings

2010-02-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

It's almost time for Sock Madness 4, so i thought i would release the pattern used in round 3 of last year's Sock Madness 3.

the socks are ofcourse named for our youngest daugter Talia.
Talia means dew from heaven, but is also according to hebrew legend, the angel who keeps the sun in its course.
So the golden angel wings which melt into hearts were perfect for Talia Socks.

gritterknitter did a lovely job modifying the pattern to fit her daughter's feet for matching socks.

Intwined Pattern Studio Contest

2010-02-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

Favor Software's Intwined Pattern Studio has been available to purchase for almost 2 weeks now. So far it has sold in 8 countries: Korea, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, England, Austrailia, Canada and the USA.

Being that it is so easy to modify the stitch sets to your liking, it lends itself well to creating mulitlingual patterns.

Very often I would rather knit from a chart. I can keep track of my progress and see what it is supposed to look like. With Intwined, besides designing, I can create and graph charts from the written text of patterns for my own personal use.
or vice versa, chart the graph symbols and receive text if charts aren't your thing.
You can go from idea to PDF without needing any other software and you don't need to take classes on how to use it in order to get a design out.

When you think that its the price of 2 skeins of yarn- the good stuff ofcourse- and that I at least spend that much and stash it, its a pretty good investment that doesn't take up closet space :0)
I am very excited to see how things go at Stitches West in less than 4 weeks.
it is very exciting to get to see atleast one crazy idea take off. :0)

Intwined Studio Contest:
if you have Intwined Pattern Studio, share a link to what you have made with it between now and May 31. Each entry will qualify for a chance to win a lovely prize!

Stop by booth 1135 at Stitches West and mention the contest for another chance to enter.

Blog about Intwined and send me the link to your blog post for another entry.

Prize:
Yarn and swag...i will post more on the prizes in a month.

Nevermore

2010-01-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

Edgar Allen Poe Tribute Socks for Super Sock Scarefest 2008

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“‘Tis some Sock,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door
Only this, and nothing more.”

Toe up, short row heel and raven feathers

$5.00

pain from paradise to PortAPrince

2010-01-14T18:35:00.000-08:00

24 hours ago I dropped my children off at my mother’s to sit with beloved friends who were fighting for their daughter in law’s life. Stephanie was feeling run down and went to the ER, houre later she was flown to Sacramento with bits of her family in tow. Including her 6 wk old daughter, Evelyn , 5 yr old son Gavin, husband, brothers and cousins…culminating in 4 generations gathering to proclaim their love for her.
No cause, no reason, no idea how to treat this beautiful 27 yr old who was losing blood as fast as they put it in. little by little Stephanie’s body shut down. The amazing CICU staff brought her back from the brink, tried every treatment comprehensible. I doubt if Dr House himself could solved this one.
I have never seen anything more heart breaknmg than a daddy whispering to his infant baby that her mommy loves her while the staff are asking where he stands on DNR. So strong, so tender.
Stephanie stopped breathing, and the last machine turned off as a bell announced the birth of a brand new baby, we think the 10th born that day. Very surreal, very complete.
Baby Evelyn has been admitted to the hospital, pre pnemonia. Blood work being done since during her mother’s mysterious illness she was still on breast milk. Pray for the family, pray for Justin, Cat and Brian, all the mourning hearts. Pray for baby Evie safety and health. Pray for answers and healing.

2010-01-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday we picked up the girls from their rosebowl adventure and we
hung around Sac for a bit. B Dalton is sadly going out of buisness but happily we got to bring home a sack of books.

And then i got to meet up with Marisol of Purls just wanna have fun
Sac was almost half way between us, so it was a great rendevous spot.
Marisol will be joining us at Stitches West, so be sure to stop by Booth #1138Intwined Studio

locksley

2010-01-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

i am currently addicted to RobinHood thanks to netflix
its nice to have something we all want to watch and don't have to send the kids to bed first.

so if arrow motifs show up in the socks, you will now why

News!

2009-12-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

So a year ago, i took my knitting software and tossed it into my husband's lap declaring my frustration with it, and asked....ok demanded, that he make something better.
Taking it up with his boss, the 3 guys at Favor Software came up with this great new Knitting Design Software. Intwined Pattern Studio

"Intwined Pattern Studio is pattern design software designed to be easy to use, powerful, and flexable, at the same time that it's affordably priced. Here are just a few of the many features:
*Create an entire pattern and print it or save it to PDF directly from our software.
*70+ stitches and 40+ cables available from the default Stitch Library. (Ablity to add stitches, and change icons).
*Type in your pattern and generate the chart on the fly, this can handle circular and flat knitting styles.

We will have the software debut at Stitches! Yipppeee!
As of This moment we are booth #1138
So Stop by and say hi if you are going to be there!

darcy and leslie

2009-12-21T14:53:00.000-08:00

i went to the mailbox today in the down pour, its 2 houses to the east of my house so it sounds really adventurous.
being in the small 300 people town, my postmaster is a friend. Tiff gets as excited about our mail as we do. she loved all the postacrds from india and nepal.
so i opened it right there.
:0)
inside a plain bubble envelope was the most amazing Cable pendant engraved "Love Darcy and Leslie"

i love it! did i mention its on a thicker cord so i can't loose it?!
not only is it invaluable to knitting but its my favourite jewelry.
years ago when leslie had this idea, i was totally for it so i would not loose my cable needle in the middle of a project or forget i hooked it on my shirt collar.
i am so proud of where she has taken it. 6 magazines i think so far have done a spotlight on it. (vogue,interweave, spinoff)
so if you get a chance go congratulate her!
http://www.lesliewind.com/

and schmooze with darcy too!
if you stop by you can enter to win your own Cable needle necklace!

NEWS!

2009-11-23T11:40:00.001-08:00

I am pleased to announce that i am woking with Penny Rose Yarns on a new Sock Of The Month club for 2010.
the socks are all going to be based on the Flower Fairies by Cecliy Mary Barker and ruth dyes amazing floral yarns, so we are very excited about this partnership.
Details on purchasing the SOTM subscriptions (spring, summer etc) will be at
Yarnarian or at her etsy Fritzl

if you are on ravelry you can find the group at: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/flower-fairies

953

2009-10-28T13:17:00.001-07:00

as of today there are 953 downloads of the screaming girl lace socks pattern i designed for Super Sock Scarefest.
seriously.
i am so amazed.
so the 1,000th Raveler to download will get a special prize!
Link: http://www.ravelry.com/dls/heatherly-walker-designs/23511?filename=ScreamingGirlLace.pdf

Screaming Girl Lace Knit and Splattered by Olivia23

2009-10-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging as much, here are some of the things that have kept me busy. The sock patterns are available on Ravelry.

Celtic Pennies
Celtic knots socks knit with 2 colours, heart shaped toe with heart cables

Originally Designed for PennyRose Yarns as an exclusive Kit, this sock is now available for purchase.

Crystal Continuum Socks LGW1

Inspired by the Looking Glass Wars
"Lewis Carroll got it all wrong. In the Looking Glass wars, the horrible truth is revealed. Alyss Heart battles to regain her kingdom from her evil aunt, Redd.
By traveling thru mirrors into the crystal continuum, wandering thru portals, Alyss, Dodge and Hatter Mattigan are able to escape…but for how long?

this one is by hexidecimal, striped yarn:

Mandy and Kendall

2009-09-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

we are so blessed! mandy got to bring baby kendall home from sacramento.
home is currently an RV in kendall's grandparents' yard.but it has no drs or tubes.
please continue to keep this lil family in your prayers.

Been Busy

2009-08-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

my brother is getting married in 3 weeks.
so i have been busy.

knitwise:
Ruth from PennyRose yarns is using a sock design for her upcoming wicked women KAL.
You can go to her etsy fritzl.etsy.com and website http://theyarnarian.blogspot.com/ for more info. but it should be very fun. Socks and scarves make up the kits.

Plus alot of people asked to do Super Sock Scarefest again this year so next week that will be in full swing. the Fabulous Janine Le Cras is designing with me again. it will produce some funky socks!

And we have been reading the Looking Glass wars books. Several new designs are on ravelry based on the TRUE story of Alyss Heart ;0)

Hope your summer was great! Sorry i have been absent. now that the library has internet i may get to post a bit more :0)

Kendall Grace Jensen

2009-08-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

our friends mandy and chris jensen had their baby unexpectedly early.
please keep this little 4lb 6oz princess in prayer so she can come home quickly, and for her parents who were recently informed by their landlord that they would need a new place to live after august.

My #1 Fan

2009-07-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

this is my friend Linds, aka Olivia23, knitting a sock i designed at garden of the gods in colorado springs, my old home.
she took this picture just for me so i could get to feel like i got to visit too

here is a picture of the finished sock: Celtic Pennies for Penny Rose yarn

Sole Mate knitter socks

2009-07-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

For my bday, Shmuli bought me some socks...cuz i knit him socks for his.
They are purposely mismatched crazy socks. perfect for a knitter right?
i love them. the maker's site: http://socklady.wordpress.com/
which shows she is a knitter and that's why the socks are so great.
i hiked mount lassen last month when there was still about 20 ft of snow and i was the only one with warm feet :0)
my socks are green and purple and red ones on the far right

proof of snow in june

PennyRose yarn

2009-06-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

I have been collaborating with Ruth over at PennyRose yarn this is Olivia23's version
i designed this sock for her exclusive kits. if you are interested in pruchasing it
you can find Ruth over at etsy
it comes in 2 colourway aztec gold/emerald and rose/chartruese

ChrisMyRockstar Update

2009-06-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

we were so blessed to get to have chris come see us in the midst of his sister graduating and then having to get ready for new york.
bella was soo excited. she whispered to me " i wanted to scream when he came in, but i knew it wouldn't be appropriate"
:0)

he gave her the new CD and she has been singing it all over the house

keep him in prayer, he looks wonderful, but is still fighting the cancer.
he has a busy concert schedule and speaking engagements this summer but we hope to have him back "home" in october for our big anniversary bash.

Bubbe's Shawl

2009-06-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

After years, mom finally got a shawl.
it took extra long since i ran out of yarn 5 rows before the end.
sockotta 3.25 skeins

Sock Wars 4

2009-05-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

sam made it safely to thailand saturday-ish. he called us sunday. it was great to hear his voice.
we took the van in to be fixed last week and as of today i am still car-less. :0(
if they cant make it work and smog i will be home way more often. being home gave me time for:

sockwars!

sock wars 4 began friday as i was on my way to sonora. they released 3 patterns so i couldn't just have it read or text to me as originally planned. luckily a motel 6 by the quick subway stop had a free wifi i could tap into and i was ablr to download the 3 patterns.
by the time i was home sunday, i had just a few rows on the toe left, but then had to ripp back to the first instep cable and start over.
now sock#1 is done again. however yogaknot
is gunning for me!
celtic memory having fairy magic directly inserted into the fiber has served me well and sock#1 is done! highly recommend jo's lovely yarn!

Sock Wars IV

2009-05-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

early this morning a crisp envelope arrived with the dossier of the one i am to kill with a pair of socks.
after some investigating, i discovered a colourful yet uppity burro in the state of connecticut.

as long as the pattern arrives early on the 15th, i should be good to go! (when i leave for a weekend in sonora...great knitting time) my team mates have my cell just incase the pattern needs to be text to me.

working furiously on the mother's day shawl...obviously not done for mother's day.
:0) but its 80% there.

hubby leaves for thailand on thursday, so i will need books and knitting to keep me company. the kids and i picked out some new stories to read aloud while daddy is gone. "the last of the really great whangdoodles" and the looking glass wars plus a time travel book and a mysterious adventure.

Pray For Chris MyRockStar!

2009-04-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

we have been privielged to know chris for 5 years now.
he has slept on our floor and had our kids climb all over him, sung to bella on stage, ate pizza with us and played some awesome concerts for us. he even was the band for our 10th anniversary.
so needless to say, we are very fond of him.

Chris is going thru chemo and laser treatments for a cancerous tumor behind his eye.
Please pray for him (and his 2 lil babies) for healing, and peace....

Up and down like san francisco

2009-04-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

Sock Madness Round 3 is a pattern i wrote.
i SENT THE OLD BAD FILE. DUH!
Seder for 100 people went so well!
we had an amazing time in San Francisco with New Light Ruins.
but my van is broken , and we got to borrow the batz suburban

Came home, talked to Chris MYRockStar about his chemo.
he is so heavy on my heart i can't even knit.
G-d has more for you than this.

SAM IS HOSTING A WEEK OF RADIO shows! whoohoo!
thailand will be in monsoon season when he goes.
New Light Ruins will come up here in a few weeks.

so i am a roller coaster of emotions right now

Sock Madness Rnd 2

2009-04-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

Zemy' tokena pattern was great to knit, the 2 colours made it a lil harder but seeing the pattern materialize helped it go quickly.
the finished opicture is not quite clear so you get yesterday afternoon's almost done progress sock.
Malachai is the new owner of these socks ( 2 of my kids now have bigger feet than me)

SM3 Round 2

2009-04-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

well, sat AM i rushed out the door, yarn in hand (charcol & white), printed the pattern and grabbed a needle, turned out to be too small of a needle, so i had to restart yesterday!
KP Gloss Yarn in serengetti and burgundy
now on a US 2
Token by Zemy

Contest!

2009-04-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

you need to go enter over here: http://darcyknottyknitter.blogspot.com/2009/04/these-are-few-of-my-favorite-things-and.html

do you remember the posts about the fabulous leslie wind cable needles?
well you can win one that matches the one i wore at stitches west, with the silver butterfly....
plus alot of other great stuff!

:0)

Vera's Cowl

2009-04-02T15:43:00.001-07:00

my MIL was coming to visit from Colorado, but weather and plans change.
So i mailed her the cowl i made.
Here it is on Tirzah.
Vera is usually busy working hard and i figured scarf ends would get in the way, so a cowl for ease and warmth. :0)

(pattern available on ravelry)

Sock Madness round 1

2009-04-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today is the close of round 1
luckily i finished my socks a few days ago.

these are Mer-tini socks which included the recipe to mix up the drink :0)raspberry based them on the drunkard's path quilt square featuring an afterthought heel.
i used bamboo spica 100% bamboo from julia's yarn.
i love them! they now live at Bubbe's.

SM3

2009-04-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

this is for a future pair of SM3 socks

Robin DOdge One Sheep Hill yarn in "poppy"
i love her yarn!

SOCK MADNESS 3 starts this week!

2009-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

so here are some of the lovelies that may be worked up over this year's games.
louet gems, meilenweit multiringer, rio de le plata, misti alapac sock, arucania ranco in a delicious green, knit picks gloss burgundy and serengetti.

round 1 requires 260 yds. which is leaving me guessing which to use.

Knitting books in Review

2009-03-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Knitting books find their way to my house quite often. A bibliophile at heart, I love books more than I love yarn. (GASP!) I edit my books with pencil notations and even if the mistake is terribly irksome, with White-out. (With as many basic typing mistakes as I have, this may come as a shock to my blog readers.)

Today with in the first 10 minutes of playing with the book Knitting: The Complete Guide, I was horrified. I would not show my face if I were the editor. I feel horrible for the poor author. All the work of putting together a book and it is a disaster. It is heartbreaking.

JUST THE TABLE OF CONTENTS! The page numbers are totally wrong. Sections are either out of order or duplicated.

Then there is the entrelac photo for undulating dropped stitches, the bobble edging photo for all over bobbles, the poor bobble stripes chart… Did I mention entrelac directions are nowhere to be found? I am truly scared to look in depth at the rest of it for fear if I find a stitch I like, the directions will be wrong or the photo that drew me in is a tool of deception.

Oh the hours of swatching stitches that must have been wasted!
Can you issue errata for almost an entire book?!

The Field Guide to Knitting however was an unexpected delight. As the author states at the beginning, “This easy to carry book contains instructions for each stitch pattern along with such valuable information as the characteristics of the fabric it creates (Will it stretch? How will it drape? Does it lie flat? Will it distort?); the amount of yarn it will consume, history and background of the stitch and ideas for how it is used.”

There are little symbols for if it is a stitch that you can do while watching TV, whether the stitch eats up yarn, if it can be used in the round, etc… This takes a lot of doodling and swatching and planning out of a design and helps narrow things down a bit faster. (Like some people hate long division, there is a short cut with this reference tool!)

I used to call my mother when we were separated by states, and have her interpret pattern lingo to me. Being very wise she made sure I learned to read patterns and charts. This is invaluable to me today. However there is something that “knits you together” with another person as you step by step go thru the way the fiber curls, loops, and dips, and what it should look like. The Field Guide to Knitting really does have an open friendly feel as if Jackie Pawlowski is sitting at your side teaching you about each stitch. Like Elizabeth Zimmerman, Jackie believes you should know how to read your knitting and offers you the tools to do so.

If you are without an LYS, (or if they are one of those that charge an arm and a leg if you bought the yarn somewhere else and have the audacity to ask them for help) get this book! (And if you don’t know about knittinghelp.com, go there too!)

There’s my 2 cents. hope you find some lovely books... and pass on the titles to me???

Finished!

2009-03-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

this is elenora.
in a cheap lionbrand baby (sport weight) but lovely green.
us5 needles

i was working on this at stitches west. it is warm and comfy and just right for spring when i may not need a whole sweater, just some sleeves.

Lucy Neatby!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

what more can i say?

Sneaky Short Rows

2009-03-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

at stitches i took sneaky short row shaping.
(www.knitability.com tell them yarnyenta sent ya!)

this was a great class. i learned 4 short row methods including japanese short rows...with and without pins.

i had left the pink yarn in the car and started the class with the sock yarn wedge. but shmuel, my hero, brought it to me. :0) so the rest of the wedges are in similar yarn weights.

inked

2009-03-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Acer is the latin for maple tree. so i decided to name my acer aspire one after a maple tree. :0) (all those botanic illustration classes)
acer miyabei is a japanese maple tree. the miyabei has something to do with snow/white so since its a white acer... this is Miyabei

the fabulous tattoo came all the way from Ha Eretz (Israel). and they sent tons of fun bonuses. love them! so if you are at etsy, check out Post. they make these great vinyl tats for the toilet tank! very fun!

2009-03-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

on our way down, the almonds were blooming. or as they locals say "a'monds" (cuz when they fall from the tree it knocks the "L" out of em)P

anyways...they smelled amazing! it was so beautiful!
so here is a quickie picture as we drove by

Knitting Wounded

2009-03-04T16:48:00.000-08:00

while at stitches i got to meet my beloved Becka IRL.
we had not enough time but still it was great. Husboy and Shmuli indulged us in dinner. wow, was the food yummy. And considering how insanely lost we got getting there, it is a good thing! :0)

this was my favourite part of the whole trip :0)

Stitches West 2009

2009-03-04T16:42:00.001-08:00

ScrabbleQueen and I at Blue Moon Fiber Atrs.
(thanks Irishgirlieknits for snapping the pix! check out one of her great patterns)

Stitches was wonderful.
great friends, great food, fabulous yarn and amazing classes!
i kept forgetting to pull out my camera....
so the pictures are scarce.

while i was in Estonian Nupps Bobbles and Berries, Shmuel went shopping. I know some wives were pretty envious. He actually listened to my ramblings and found the key things i wanted :0)
Then i met Marisol and Preacher's Kid in their swallowtails...mine was in the car.

Happy Valentines!

2009-02-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

we are luckily ging to the local firehouse for dinner and a movie ("fireproof"- isnt that cute?) so the snow wont keep us from walking over! :0)

here is sam digging us out of this morning's 14"
we sent the kids down the hill yesterday so they could make it to Wonderful Winter Weekend in Sonora....good thing!

Sam's 40th bday

2009-02-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

operation black sabbath was a success.
sam had no idea we had big bday plans.

chris and shemu spoofed a song (this will be on youtube hahahaha!)
and the cake was awesome!

Darfur

2009-01-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Pencil cases for darfur are needed by Jan 24th
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/darfur--end-the-genoicide/480483/1-25
pattetns and info on it can be found at our Rav group

The challenge is here:

”… Our next Annual Fund Raiser is actually just 6 weeks away. I don’t know if it would be possible for you to send us some pencil cases in time for that, but it would be a great addition to our Silent Auction of arts and crafts…”

What if we can’t make it to the Annual Fund Raiser, will you still be interested in the idea? Maybe they can then be stored for the next fundraiser, or given to the kids of Sudan?”:

“We’d be interested regardless of time frame. If it works out to get some pencil cases in time for the fund raiser, then that would be great too. But send anything when you can, and we’ll use it for both fundraiser purposes as well as bringing some to Sudan on our next trip over.

Mailing directly to us would suit us fine. Our mailing address is:
HELPSudan
5255 N. Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
USA

Thanks so much for your interest and willingness to serve in this way. I look forward to working with you and your knitting friends.”

Patterns:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pencil-case-for-helpsudan
http://clarasroad.tripod.com/pencilcase.html
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pencil-pouch
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pencil-case-for-darfur

StitchesW knitting

2009-01-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

Marisol over at PurlsJustWannaHaveFun invited me to join the show your stitches group at Rav, where they are knitting the swallowtail shawl by Evelyn Clark. (which is now a free download (pdf)
here is mine so far

HandMaiden Seasilk in Rosegarden

Yarn Raffle

2009-01-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

so this is a warm your heart good deed raffle for a lil boy who lost his mama
go buy tickets...but if you win the sea silk...i am short .18 of a skein for my shawl :0) so feel even nicer and share with me :0)

http://peacesoup.wordpress.com

Stitches!!!

2009-01-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

who is going?!

hubby called today and i get to go! whoohooo!
so leave me comments if you are going!

2009-01-04T13:22:00.002-08:00

at one point Shemu in his shorts and t-shirt was shoveling. a snowplow guy had pity on him and cleared our driveway. :0)
jaden however is pitiless and hammered snowballs indiscriminately

tali still wanted a ride on shemu's shoulders, can yo blame her? she gets so lost in the drifts!

Dec 2008 Snow Days

2009-01-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

zemeira the snow princess and kezzi the snow warrior

chanukah 5769

2009-01-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

chanukah was lovely and snowy!
shemu spent most of it with us before having to go to the east coast.
we had some great snow ball fights
actually every kept calling to see if they could come play in our snow. it made us quite popular. :0) christmas eve we had 8", christmas day 6" the next day there was an earthquake (4.5 in quincy) which shook all the snow off the house. so we had to dig ourselves out again.
the best part is lots of snow but no minus zero temps like when we lived in colorado or new hampshire.

2009-01-04T10:07:00.001-08:00

hansi makes these amazing bug patterns and squids and "peculiar" things.
here are some of our bug bits- mantis and orbweavers bodies
each part is named scientifically, so its great science knitting for the boys

look up hasnigurumi on etsy to find her crazy stuff

Tirzah update

2008-12-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

hurray we got another 3 min phone call!
tirzah recorded a radio interview. it will be broadcast in 3 countries.
burundi, tanzania and rwanda.
and she is bringing acopy home.
it is pouring rain there...and she left her poncho! oops!
there is a petrol strike in rwanda so they can only get approx 5 gals at a time.
this is creating obvious difficulties. boy do i feel guilty for griping about gas prices...atleast we could fill up if we could pay for it.

also "On Monday, the day we got to byumba, a terrible van accident happened that killed 11 students from the University here in Kigali. One was a wife of a pastor that Pastor Samuel knew very well. It affected the whole area of Byumba. On Tuesday they held a memorial service for all 11 people that were killed and we attended it. Thousands of people came to pay their respect. Only the immediate family show emotion but everyone else looked very sad.

one of the biggest challenges- poverty and the need for jobs. Only one percent of the population works to get a paycheck. All the rest are self employed in their gardens and fields trying to raise enough to feed their families."

more on tirzah's blog

WorldWide AIDS Day Hay

2008-12-06T23:30:00.000-08:00

Dec 1 is world wide aids day.
So in honour of the day and tirzah's work with the AIDS/HIV orphans this week i
began this hat.
Brooklyn tweed AKA Jared Flood's Habitat Hat
Cascade 220 in red (cuz i have lots of 220 from my felting days)

you have only one L1FE, do something.

2008-12-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

HI we got a phone call from rwanda last night!!
actually 3...we missed the 1st 2 calls. oops!

tirzah was with the refugees (near the congo border) for 4 days, they are now beginning work with the HIV orphans. she has made 2 friends her age, Angie and Candy. she has also spoken at 2 churches.
She says it has been hard and wonderful.as she starts work with the Aids orphans pray for G-d to protect her heart from the destruction in these children's bodies she is going to behold & that she will bring comfort.

apparently there will be alot of photos when she gets home. :0)

daytime shawl shots

2008-12-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

my sweet Kezzi Rose

the colour is garnet which happens to be her birth stone :0)

thanks for all the sweet comments! lace knitting is so scary. it was so lumpy before it was blocked...i was really worried.

Bat Mitzvah Baby#2

2008-12-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Kezzi helped me pin the sections out on the bed (the bed is a king, so that will help refrence the size. i have not measured it yet.

Shew! this shawl took 1/3 the time of the last shawl.
and we are DONE!
Kezziah had a very hard time picking her pattern and colours, b/c she didnt want to make too much work for me. :0) she is so sweet. so she finally nailled down a few designs for me to combine. i had to rewrite parts so that they would work better together. but we really like the effect.

more details on ravelry of course

~*~YarnYenta~*~