At a yarn store near you. . . if you live in Issaquah

Cultured Purls in Issaquah, WA will be teaching a class featuring the Tulip Cuffs.



The class is October 21st & 28th from 1pm - 3pm, you can see more details here.

If you live near Issaquah, scoot down to the Gilman Village and learn to make these little lovelies for yourself or for a holiday gift!

A bit of a knit whore

Long ago it used to be that I would buy yarn and knit one thing at a time, just ONE project at a time. Now I'm monogomous no more. I am a harlot on the needles and am currently working on FIVE projects simlutaneously:

#1 Professor Socks for Cody - Cascade Fixation Blueberry

#2 Lettuce Pullover - Knit Picks Shadow Kettle Dyed Clementine


#3 $5 in Paris - Caron Simply Soft (colors a secret, for sister)


#4 Many pairs of manly fingerless gloves


#5 Mystery project (a surprise for a friend)

Having so many projects going at once really slows down the progress on each but hopefully they won't all take too long.

I've decided to take a mini design break and not release any new patterns until after the new year. That isn't to say that I won't be designing, I just won't be releasing anything until 2011 (gosh that sounds far off). I figured things would be hectic enough this holiday season (and the months leading up to), I didn't need to add undue stress of additional deadlines. I have several things sketched up and it is shaping up to be a big year.

The weather in the great NW has turned chilly and I LOVE it. Time for leaves to turn and the wind to blow and I will love every moment of it. Time to wash and re-block all of my stuff for autumn weather wear. Oh yeah. . . . knitters like it cold.

One month gone, one year older, and one pattern heavier

I blinked and a month went by, I swear. It was JUST the fourth of July, then I closed my eyes and took a breath and it's August! During that very long and slow blink, Ted and I went to Lake Chelan for our annual week of doing nothing while sitting on the dock, with Gin.

Days look like this


And evenings like this

While there, I turned one year older. Sigh. Last year was a big one, 3-0. I was kind of excited for that one because it was a big milestone. Now there isn't another milestone until 40. Hmmmmmmmm, I have awhile to get comfortable with that.

Spent the rest of the month thinking about getting started on Christmas knitting and finishing my Professor Sock pattern.

Description:

The twisted stitch pattern on these socks reminds me of many professors I had in college. Mr. So-and-So the Third, there were so many of them with various roman numerals after their names. As if the smarter they got, the less imaginative their names became.

This pattern is dedicated to my dear friend who just finished his Masters degree in Creative Writing. Congratulations Mr. Cody T. Luff, the first.

I never thought I would be the kind of person who starts thinking about Christmas in July. That task is reserved for the super motivated, highly organized and deadline driven. I don't posess any of those attributes. It doesn't seem right but if you are going to make any handmade gifts, you really have to start now-ish. Every year I have VERY lofty goals and then in the end only accomplish a fraction of those goals. Then, inevitably, my New Year's resolutions are filled up with the compulsory promises of losing weight and doing more handmade items for next year. This year will be no different but I think the trick is to increase the percentage of completed projects. I know I will never get all of the planned gifts done before the deadline but I will get more done than last year.

Pie Maker Apron

I'm very happy to announce that I have launched my second pattern, the Pie Maker Apron:When I was a little girl, my family and I lived in an orchard and during the late summer/early fall we would bake pie after pie during the harvest. We always needed an apron so that we wouldn't get completely dirty and covered in flour. It is difficult not to get completely covered in flour while rolling out dough (or having a flour fight with your sister). My favorite parts of baking were the flour fights and extra pie dough dipped in sugar/cinnamon mix. These are still my favorite bits of baking. This pattern reminded me of those times so I decided that an apple pie recipe (Apple Pie with Cardamom) needed to accompany it.I miss a lot of things about the orchard. I loved the trees, rows and rows of trees. At first they would be covered in blossoms and then heavy with fruit. Late in fall, the discarded apples that weren't gleaned for cider, would start to rot on the ground and create a wonderful smell. I know it sounds gross, the smell of rotting apples on the ground but it is a very comforting smell to me. It meant that my favorite season, autumn, was coming.

Along with the new pattern in the Etsy store, a few sets of stitch markers were added for sale. I really like matching my stitch markers to my project in the same way I would match my handbag to my outfit, it just feels right.

More to come soon, after a good night's sleep and a clearer head!

Felt and Naked Bike Riders

Ahhh the Barton Bag is finished. It was my first felted project and I was surprised by how long it takes for felted wool to completely dry. I finished the gusset and strap and assembled it on Saturday night. Felted it in the washer (for 25 minutes) then rinsed it in cold water in the sink, rolled it in a towel to get out excess water, then laid it out on the table to dry. I wouldn't say it was completely dry until Wednesday. I really wanted to show the ladies at my knit group, so dry or not, it was going with me Wednesday night.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day was last Saturday and I was all ready to go out into the world with my sticks but Ted had to work and so I took our lovely baby Ginger for a walk at the park instead.

It was a beautiful and busy day in Bellingham since most of the high schools and WWU were having their graduation ceremonies that weekend. People, pets, kids, one bridal scavenger hunt team (looking for the radio museum) and then came this troupe. . .

According to the 30-40 people that biked past us in their all-together-not-all-together, it was Naked Bike Ride Day. Haven't look this up to see if it was actually a declared day or if they just decided that it would be Naked Bike Ride Day since it was such a rare sunny day. I do find the idea of Naked Bike Ride Day and Knit in Public Day being scheduled on the same day a little scary. Pointy sticks and fast moving naked bodies don't seem like a good combo in the event of an accident.

I've cast on my next project:

Sodera Socks

I'm knitting them out of Malabrigo Sock in Chocolate Amargo on US Size 1 dpns. I haven't taken another stab at my sock pattern since the big frog (tore it all out of those readers who are non-knitters). I have two sock patterns and one mystery pattern that are in the works and I hope to make some good progress on them in the coming weeks.

Limoncello

The Citron is finished and looks great. Like everyone else, I am surprised by how small it turned out but it was only one skein of sock yarn after all. I could have blocked a little more aggressively but I didn't want to pull all of the ruching out. I added beads to the bottom and that added some weight which I like. This was my first foray into beads + yarn and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I have never really thought of myself as a bling kind of lady but the sparkle that the beads add is really fun.

I added three small clear beads to every other bind off stitch to make little loops along the bottom.

After the beading was done (which took a few days and several trips to the craft store), it was time for blocking. Dilemma! I have no blocking mats! No problem, picked up these little babies at a local drug store for $5. I think they were made for hopscotch.

After checking them for color leaching (and finding none), the shawl was pinned & sprayed & and sat for 30-ish hours.

. . . .And ta da!

One pretty project.

My husband, Ted, says I'm obsessed with my knitting (I think it's an unfair statement, I just enjoy it a lot and often). So as soon as I finished this project, I cast on the next one:

The Barton Bag

This was a free pattern at Apple Yarns during this year's LYS Tour. Mine is a dark olive-y color and is nearly ready to assemble. After knitting on 5's for the last project, size 10 needles feel like using the big crayons at school. Or one of those large novelty pencils. This will be my first felted project. That will make two (count 'em TWO) new techniques for this year. Both new techniques (beading and felting) seemed like two things that I didn't necessarily NEED in order to function as a knitter but they are fun novelty things to do.

World Wide Knitting in Public Day is coming! (Second Saturday in June) I don't know where I will be but I will manage to sneak a little knitting in somewhere in public I imagine.

p.s. my spell-check thinks ruching isn't a word. It so is! This spell-check has not been watching enough Project Runway

Woohoo!

I just received word that the Tulip Cuff pattern is featured right now on FoundHandmade.com, you can see it under their blog section for May 25th. Hooray! I get all glowy and giggley when someone likes my stuff.