30 September 2008

Sterling!

I've finally started offering my penannular style pins in sterling silver, and the first to go is ::drumroll:: the heart! Here we go:

This is a shiny finish (compared to the brushed nickel finish), and sterling is a brighter and lighter colored metal than nickel, as you can see here (sterling on left, nickel on right).

I love sterling silver (again sterling on left, nickel on right. :)

Oooooooh. Shiny!

And to celebrate, I have, you guessed it, a coupon! Good through October 5, enter coupon code SILVER at checkout for $6 off your purchase. Wooooo! Get yours here!

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29 September 2008

Monday's Musing

"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day."
- Quoted in
P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

IMHO, it's amazing what a smile can do, even in uncertain times like these.
:)

Have a great week, everyone!

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23 September 2008

Did I mention?

I'm feeling a bit silly here. I know I posted about the Waves of Grain pattern in Knitty, but I forgot to tell you the fun news related to that pattern! I am working with Karen over at the Royale Hare on some designer yarn colors (including the one I used on Waves)! She is a fabulous dyer! Here's what we've come up with so far:

Moravian Barley (the Waves of Grain color)

Wedgwood

and Spring Wheat.

Yum! You can buy them on Karen's site. They are alpaca laceweight only at the moment, but stay tuned for more colors plus more yarns & fibers & weights! I'm really excited about this and I hope you like!

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22 September 2008

Monday's Musing

"Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain." - Author Unknown

Make it a wonderful week, everyone!

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16 September 2008

Winners!!!

At long last! Drumroll please....

After throwing all of you into the hopper over at random.org, the winners of my blogiversary contest are:

Sophanne, who receives the
copper "C" shaped penannular

and

Lorraine, who receives the
nickel heart penannular! Woohoo!!! Congratulations! Please email me at romi (at) designsbyromi (dot) com!

Many thanks to all of you who entered! Your answers to what inspires you inspired me big time! I hope to continue to get to know you all in the coming years! Thank you for reading my blog!

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15 September 2008

Monday's Musing

"If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." - Oscar Wilde

Thank you, everyone, for the great comments you have left me on Waves of Grain! You all rock! :)

Happy Monday!

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10 September 2008

Knitty's up!

...and there may be a little something in there by me. :)


eta: Isn't this a cool little button? So far on Ravelry there are 7 projects and 660 694! people have Waves of Grain in their queues! Woot! You can queue it here.

You can get the yarn here, at dye-master Karen's site! Enjoy!!!

Blogiversary contest winners comin' up soon!

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08 September 2008

Monday's Musing

When I dragged myself out of bed today, this was the quote going through my head.

"Make today a great day!" - Del

Thank you, Del! You have no idea how often I say that to myself and my kids!

Thank you all so much for the inspiring comments on my blogiversary post! I've really really enjoyed reading them. You all inspire me! I'll post the winners tomorrow!

Have a great week, everyone!

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04 September 2008

Happy blogiversary to me!

I can't believe it, but it's been two years since my first post! Have you ever gone through one of those periods of time that simultaneously feels like it lasted ten minutes and ten years? Yup. That's what it's been like. Whoosh!

Ahem. My girl Jamie found me in the new Knitters Magazine! It's a good thing I have you all to watch my back, because I seem always to be the last one to get my copy of whatever it is. :) I'm on page 22. Jaimie scanned it for me. Thank you Jamie!!!

So in honor of the blogiversary and the Knitters mention, I'm going to have a contest with the two pins shown as prizes: a brushed nickel heart penannular and a copper "C" shaped penannular. Y'all have until midnight Sunday, September 7th to leave me a comment telling me what inspires you. I love hearing about others' inspirations. :) I will choose two winners randomly!

Thank you all so much for reading my blog!

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03 September 2008

Tutorial: a grafting trick

For some reason, the Kitchener Stitch and I have never really been on speaking terms. And something had to be done. Really. I know I am not the first to try this, but I may be the one who uses this trick most often! For all of those of you out there who cannot seem to graft without dozens of little errors, this is for you: grafting using a waste piece of yarn as a path through the stitches.

Shown below are the two halves of my soon to be released Delta Queen scarf, knit from Habu bamboo lace (my current favorite thing in the world!). The scarf is grafted in the middle. When I finished the sides, I worked a row of stitches in a different colored waste yarn (ETA: in pattern, which in this case was a plain knitted row). When I grafted them together, I followed the pathway of the waste yarn. Here's how it's done....

First, keep a tail at least three times the width of the piece you will be grafting. I always tie the waste yarn to the working yarn with a slip knot, just to make things easier. I undo it later.

I lay out the two sides...

and pin them out. I have tried this with both right sides and with both wrong sides facing, or with one right and one wrong side facing. It didn't seem to make much difference in garter stitch. This is a right side and a wrong side.

With the working yarn tail (at least 3x width of the scarf) threaded through a blunt tapestry needle, begin following the path of the waste yarn, working loosely so you can see where you have joined the pieces. It is important to keep in mind here that you are "knitting" the row that holds these two pieces together.

As you go, you can keep the waste yarn in the stitches. You will be able to unzip it later.

I also often leave the needles in while I work the initial loose row of kitchener, being very careful to follow the path of that waste yarn through the stitch! Note: this is regular old kitchener stitch, and a great tutorial can be seen here. My little trick is just that: a little trick so that I don't get lost in the middle of what I am doing when the kids call me. :)

When you have worked around five inches or so, go back to start tightening up the grafting. Don't over-do it though, as it is very easy to go back to tighten things up again, but very difficult to loosen the row once it is too tight.

Here it is tightened up a bit more.

After the initial tightening, go back and, if you have not already done so, unzip the waste yarn so that you can check how well the row of kitchener stitch blends.

Tighten it more if necessary.

Repeat these steps and at the end, you will have a lovely join! (Unfortunately my last pic of the join was blurry, and the scarf is now at Knitterly on display, but you can imagine it, right? Instead we have the requisite cheesecake shot.)

Delta Queen, comin' soon. :)

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01 September 2008

Monday's Musing

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." - Ovid

Happy Labor Day! And have a wonderful week. :)

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