Monday, September 17, 2007

Swarm of Stuff!

Bimonthly blogging... what a concept. Thank you, thank you to those intrepid readers who still check in here from time to time. I have no excuse for not posting, so I won't bother with any inanities.

I will try to catch up on all the new stuff, in no particular order. There has been lots of knitting in the meantime. Warning: picture-heavy post to follow.


I finished Lacy Waves, which I love. I scored the Rowan Linen Drape yarn from Urban Yarns, who sometimes gets lots of discontinued yarn and sells them at a big discount. Modifications? You bet. I added hems to the body and sleeves instead of ribbing. I incorporated body shaping and bust darts. I think that's all. I really, really like the results. I don't have a pic of myself wearing it so this will have to do for now. Detail shots:




Here is a partway done Tibetan Sock from Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One. I have only wonderful, wonderful, wonderful things to say about this book (there is a bit of affiliation in that I tested a couple of the socks before publication). This book will turn sock knitting on its head... or heel... and remove the need to slavishly follow patterns, forever. A plus... studying Cat's excellent tables has given this knitter new confidence in knitting... and designing... toe-up socks. It can do the same for you. There are cuff-down socks in the book too, by the way. This sample is a Coriolis architecture, which gives the sock a great spiral across the foot that is not only a design feature but shapes the foot up to the heel. Simple and remarkable.


I have a lot of new samples of designs that have been out for a while. Here is a new version of the River Rock scarf from No Sheep For You done in Noro Cash Iroha in very, very dark indigo (looks black, doesn't it?) and topaz/berry ab beads from Earth Faire.


Two new Diamond Fantasies with beads:


Lovely Francesca of Three Bags Full models a DF scarf in red koigu with magic copper lined red beads from Earth Faire.


New in-between-scarf-and-shawl-size DF with silver lined crystal megatama beads, in Nature's Palette Odd Duck No. 4, a colorway that seems particularly suited to lace and is quite subtle and forest-y to my mind.

Now... mystery items. Can't give details on these at all... but feel free to guess.



Some new jewelry creations:


This one is swag, brand new and available from Earth Faire as a kit.


Beads on the Vine, a beaded I-cord necklace with a graceful and sexy dangle in the rear, available as a kit from Earth Faire.


Same necklace, a different colorway. I love experimenting with the pointillism of beads on yarn.

Matching earrings, light, bouncy and fun. Also available as a kit.

A new stole pattern is being finalized. I call it the Moonshadow Lace Stole because yes, I love Cat Stevens, and you can see the perfection that is the special handdyed Moonshadow yarn that Kelly Eells of Liisu Yarns is doing for this project. It is so beautifully midnight-in-the-moonglow! The beads are frosted matte megatamas from Earth Faire, of course. In this picture of the unblocked and in-progress stole, you can see the beaded side edges which remind me of dewy droplets shining in the moonlight.


Another colorway, not my favorite but you can see the beaded border, which goes lengthwise at top and bottom in this blocked version:


Lastly but certainly not least, I have been spending hours on Ravelry updating my notebook with pictures and details of all of my designs, including all the ones in print elsewhere besides my website. Finally there is one spot where you can see it all! If you are on Ravelry, drop me a line and let me know.

And happy, happy fall to all. What knitter could wish for more?