It’s Out!

Happy birthing on a suitably gray, rainy day, Moonshadow! Pictures courtesy of the very talented guerrila photographer, Yee Jee Tso and the Three Bags Full yarn shop.





The top two pictures are the color correct ones. The yarn is Leili from Liisu yarns in the Moonshadow colorway. If you haven't heard of this gorgeous mohair/wool blend fingering weight yarn yet, you should seek it out. It is soft, strong, and behaves beautifully with lace and beads. Liisu yarns only sells wholesale, but you can find her beautiful yarn sold here, here, and here. Hopefully, all will have kits of this stole available soon.

Beads, as usual, are from Earth Faire. I used frosted crystal megatamas for this one. Drooling yet?

For now, you can find the pattern for sale here in both print and pdf formats. Happy, happy knitting to all...

Moonshadow Up Close

Coming very, very soon.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, all you wonderful Canucks!

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?

Moonrise

Long time no post, yes?

I am very grateful to those blog readers who are STILL LEAVING NICE COMMENTS on blog posts that are more than a month old. You are so great, all of you... you know who you are.

So. What's been happening since June? Lots really...

One of the nicest things I have to show is this little beauty:


The Moonrise Neckpiece was inspired by a gorgeous bracelet kit I purchased from Earth Faire a little while ago. I wanted a knitted neckpiece that matched the densely beaded bracelet... and a few short rows later, the perfectly circular Moonrise Neckpiece was finished...

Just like Ellen Sandin's brilliant Bead Stew bracelet pattern, the beads are strung in a completely random fashion before the knitting starts. The beads are placed on wrong-side rows: knit one stitch, pull up a bead close to the right needle, then knit the next stitch (the piece is all garter... so easy). When you turn the piece over to do the next right-side row, it is a lovely surprise to see the patterns emerging from the beads that were strung so randomly. It is always beautiful and always changing, row by row by row. Doing this piece was the most fun I have had in a long, long time!

For now, you can get the Moonrise Neckpiece kit on Earth Faire's website here. I am getting inspired to do a whole series of knitted neckpieces and matching earrings... yes! earrings!!!

Ok... twist my arm, here is a preview of an earring:


The fun continues...

Gray Day and Pearls in the Sea

Ever have one of those days when nothing quite works out?

Today has been that for me... and a weird weather day to boot, with gray skies, cool temps, hail and rain and then some sort-of sun. Not exactly June-ish even for Vancouver. This does affect me, truly it does. Maybe because I am doing a rather intense "spring cleanse" with herbs and a restricted diet too...

Then, there is the sock, a *secret* sock for the Blue Moon sock club, which has been a long time coming, what with the show sample knitting and all. Finally finished last night... just to find that the trusty little postal scale tells me that the leftovers won't be quite enough to make its mate. Grrr. Back to the frog pond for me, at least for a little while.

The good news is the quickie Diamond Fantasy I made for a dear friend who attended TNNA and who wanted a new scarf for the occasion. This pattern is kind of a restful knit for me actually. I have knit it many times and I am always pleasantly carried along by the rhythm of the lace. Such a nice knit... and this time, I made it with beads. I don't know if you can see them very well, but they gleam when the light hits them right. I did something different with the pointy edges.. put the beads one stitch in from the edge, kind of subtle-like.

The scarf's recipient calls it "pearls in the sea". Yarn is Sea Wool by Fleece Artist, one skein of Capri. Beads are 4mm silver lined crystal megatamas from Earth Faire.

I gave myself the finger

I saw this on Nathania's blog today and couldn't help myself...

You Are a Pinky

You are fiercely independent, and possibly downright weird. A great communicator, you can get along with almost anyone. You are kind and sympathetic. You support all your friends - and love them for who they are. You get along well with: The Ring Finger Stay away from: The Thumb

What Finger Are You?

Making Waves

Yesterday was the photo shoot for the new version of Waves in the Square. Thanks to my wonderful and creative friends (and co-owners of Three Bags Full) Yee Jee and Zoe, who seem to regularly bail me out when it is time for picture-taking, here are the results below. Zoe was kind enough to model the shawl as it was much more her color than mine.





It was very hard to decide (and very late at night to boot) which shot should grace the pattern cover, but I decided on the top one because it shows the shawl as I love to wear it most - like a wrap with one long end thrown over a shoulder. But I LOVE the interesting corner details that the other shots reveal. This shawl is kind of a mystery... very few people figure out that it is three-quarters of a square unless they actually see it lying flat. The shape lends itself to a very stable fit and "seats" over the shoulders very much like a raglan sweater. Yet there are lots of interesting ways to drape and wear it.

I am very happy with this latest version... the beaded picot border is new and I think it adds a lot of charm to what used to be a very minimalist garter stitch bottom border.

This shawl is being packed up today to fly away to TNNA. Join me in waving a tearful bye-bye... Don't know where, don't know when, but we'll see each other again someday...

New version, Waves in the Square, available now in pdf and printed format.

Addi Love

In answer to questions about the new Addi lace needles, yes, they are SO much nicer for lace than the "regular" Addis. Here is a visual comparison of two 3.75mm (US 5) needles, the bottom of which is a lace Addi, the top is a regular Addi:


Click for bigger if you want...See how the point is longer on the bottom needle, and the tip is sharper? It IS very nice to have a sharper tip, although to tell you the truth, I was getting along just fine with the old ones. I have also heard a lot about the better grabbing of the lace needles and I do notice a different surface texture on the needle (gold in the photo) that is less slick, but again, I had no trouble with the slickness of the old ones so that is nice but not a selling point for me.

But the longer tip area is what is really winning me over to the lace needle camp. All of a sudden, I am noticing that is no longer such a chore to do k2togs and ssks. I actually enjoy the maneuver as I get to watch those elegant long tips swoop in and out of those stitches in style! Yeah, baby!

The cables are still wonderful on the new needles, as you can (hopefully) see... almost exactly the same as the old, as far as I can tell.



And thanks to all who commented on the new shawl and the new wheel... yes, I am thrilled with both! However, just to clarify... the Waves in the Square pattern has been around for a while - this is just an updated version, with a picot bind off added to jazz up the bottom edge. I beaded mine because I love what that does to the drape of the shawl, and I will be including instructions for doing this in the new version of the pattern. If you want the new version, PLEASE WAIT TO PURCHASE IT.. I still need to take a new cover photo of the shawl! Alternately, please email me if you want to be put on a list for the new version with the beaded picot border. The rest of the shawl pattern will be exactly the same as the current version.

As for my new Sonata, I love her! I love her! Just need more time to sit in front of her and spin to my heart's content. One little tiny thing... I am finding that the bobbin spindle needs a good bit of lubrication, and oil doesn't quite seem to be cutting it as I still seem to be having a tiny bit of noise/vibration (but I am very sensitive to noise and vibration - this may not be a problem for most, and it does not affect the spinning one little bit). I am about to try some vaseline for my next spinning session.

Other than that minor point, I am really really happy with the wheel, the action of the treadles is smooth as silk and I like sitting right in front, almost on top of the wheel, so the positioning is perfect for me. I love the light-yet-solid feeling of the wheel, the footmen with their cute little plastic tubing connectors, love the quick-snap bobbin change, love the beautiful turning on the wheel, love the easy fold and perfect flatness of the folded wheel, in a word, love it all!!! Even with my Symphony (now gone to a new owner who had more floor space than I), spinning wasn't this easy and fun. Those Kromski folks have done up a nice one, folks.

Now... back to trunk show knitting!

New Waves

New waves... fresh off the needles and blocking...


Am I alone in loving lace that is not quite symmetrical? Take a look at what's happening in the corners, first the bottom front:


Then the top where the "seams" meet:

Nice, eh?

And this was coincidentally right above the shawl:


I am getting turned on by pink everywhere!

New Waves in the Square, yarn Handmaiden Mini-Maiden, 2 skeins rose. This shawl is to be shown at TNNA and will be made available for a travelling trunk show thereafter.

The trunk show knitting is almost done! Here is what I washed and blocked today:

One more brown Journey Cable Sock to go...

Not much spinning has been done unfortunately, with the close knitting deadline, but here it is for what it's worth:


Can you imagine this plied with the licorice all-sorts from the previous post? No, I can't either... hopefully I will have some newly plied yarn for you to see in the next installment...

Playing Hooky

Yes, procrastination continues to happen as the deadline for the TNNA trunk show mail-off looms very near...

Saturday was FibreFest International, at nearby Abbotsford, and two friends escorted me away from duties and responsibility into the fantasy world of fibre...

Where I purchased this:

a Kromski Sonata folding wheel. She is beautiful and I love her. I think we will be getting along just fine!

I also purchased these:



The bottom two are topknots from Aurelia Wool, lovely little bite-sized confections that are perfectly sized for socks or a hat. Charming, eh?

The one in the last picture has been split into two parts, one that I think is Aurelia's "licorice all-sorts" colorway, black with brights, will be one ply, and the other, strips of soft lilac and purple roving, will be ply #2. Here is what the black combo looks like on the bobbin:


I am just having way too much fun.

However, knitting for the trunk show is also happening, thank goodness. I have a new-to-me yarn on the needles that is gorgeous, Mini Maiden by Handmaiden Fine Yarns, and for a special treat, I am using the new lace Addi Turbos. Pictures will be forthcoming soon, I promise...

Bead Show Swag

The Whole Bead Show came to Vancouver this weekend. I wasn't going to go, having in mind a weekend of intense "good girl" knitting, with TNNA coming up straightaway and a new trunk show to fill.

It didn't take much to sway me from my straight and narrow path. One little email from my friend Cathalynn, fellow beader and designer, and I was gone. Yesterday we toured the shop displays and took a class on wire working.

Swag was purchased - almost none of which is destined for knitting projects. No, a new obsession has been born... making wire and bead jewelry. Here are some of the not-so-ill-gotten gains:


The priciest gems I bought (although not nearly as expensive as I thought they were going to be) were strings of faceted garnets and faceted hematite rondelles, which seemed to go very well with some beautiful handmade glass beads and sterling silver chain. I love garnets, which are not only my birth stone, but are my favorite color. These will become something very special...


Then there were some lovely rosy-gray freshwater coin pearls which begged for some zebra rose quartz to go with. Not shown are some almost transparent gray phantom quartz beads which will almost certainly be included in the piece. Such a sophisticated mix of textures and subtle color.


I could not pass up some more "show specials" - multicolored freshwater pearl strands that had broken from the original threads and sold for an astonishingly low price, and some lovely semi precious beads made from amazonite and jasper, all in greens and other earthy colors.


In the class, I did a freeform wire bracelet adorned with magenta freshwater pearls and small silver beads, courtesy of Cathalynn who shared them from her stash. I think I like it better today than I did at the class yesterday. Maybe we will make friends yet...

I actually do not wear a lot of jewelry, preferring knitwear as a quieter form of embellishment, but that may change soon if the earrings, neckpieces and other playful ornaments dancing in my head ever come forth into creation. Here's to creative play in all of its forms...