A-muse-ing? Yes! (+ a give-away!)

Though I wasn't really very a-muse-d while binding off. This is what I ended up with at the end of a frantic row!

Yikes! I admit to weighing it over and over again while doing that last row. Does knitting faster use less yarn? I'm sure it must. And yes, for those of you who are wondering...I am altering the pattern a teensy little bit to make the yardage a little more forgiving!


So. Wanna see? Here she is blocking!

Those are super flexible extra long blocking wires I am using, from Inspinknity. I love them deeply. See how they curve around?

I used them at the top of the shawl, as well. They even everything out so much better than just using pins.

And now, because I am too excited to wait until the end of the post...Rachel at Inspinknity has agreed to give one of her lovely sets of ultra long premium blocking wires to a random commenter on this post! Is this not fabulous?! So...please keep reading. Details at the end!


This shawl design is a little gift to a friend who loves gold. And fleur de lis. (The lovely lovely yarn is Pale Au merino/silk from Ripplescrafts who will have more soon! Plus she might have a little deal on said yarn.)

My interpretation. I think my friend likes it. So far, so good!

Right now, I'm fixing up the pattern and sending it off to my testers. But meanwhile, you get to guess her name!

Leave me a comment with your guess as to the name of this muse and you will be entered to win the fabulous set of extra long blocking wires! You have until 11:59 PST, Saturday June 2nd. Ready? Go!

try to work that way

Have you ever heard that old saying? My mother always laughed at it: "put your ear to the ground, your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel. Now try to work in that position."

Look at that! Projects, projects, projects.

Monday's Musing - Memorial Day Edition

In Flanders Fields
by John McRae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson

A Memorial Day remembrance and heartfelt thanks to those who have given everything, and to their families: thank you.

The winner!

...Wendy! Wendeluu on Ravelry - the 37th commenter, chosen by random.org - has won a digital copy of The Complements Collection by Kristin Omdahl. Congratulations! Please email me at romi(at)designsbyromi(dot)com.

A little something different

I don't usually talk about crochet on my blog, even though I come from a crochet family. I learned to crochet long before I learned to knit! Trivia fact: I cannot follow a crochet pattern. My grandmother taught me how to crochet, but she never followed patterns, and so I never learned. This all means that I am even more than generally impressed by crochet designers. Knitting is so tidy and easy to make into a pattern. Crochet is so open to interpretation. Or so it seems to me. :)
Well, today I have the honor of featuring the lovely Kristin Omdahl's new booklet for Bijou Basin: The Complements Collection.

Kristin, besides being one of the most beautiful people I have ever met (truly - she glows), is an incredibly prolific designer of both crochet and knitwear. Sarah figured out that she does about 3 designs per month. Wowza.
The booklet actually had me thinking about getting my crochet hook out. I think I need one of these:

Perfect for the colder winter climate here in Nevada. And I do still have a crochet hook. Or ten thousand. ;)
Though Kristin had me thinking about crochet, I do have to admit to still gravitating towards knitting. This is my favorite project:

It's a little lace capelet. I know; big surprise that it's my favorite, eh?
All in all, this is a fun little booklet with a funky retro feel to it. And do you know what else? I have an electronic copy to give away! So leave me a comment by this Friday (May 25), midnight PST and I will enter you to win!

Monday's Musing

"Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always." - Dante Alighieri


I love this quote; it's a little like "today is the first day of the rest of your life." Only better. :)

Monday's Musing

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein


Have a fabulous week, everyone!

Mother's Day Sale!

Happy Mother's Day!
Enter coupon code:
mother2012
at checkout in your Ravelry cart and get 15% off any of my patterns listed for sale on Ravelry! Good for one day until 12 midnight PST on Sunday May 13.
Have a great one! :)

Multi-tasking

It's something I'm trying to get better at doing. I always ask myself: WWAHD? (What would Anne Hanson do?) Because she gets so much done all the time. I am quite often in deep awe of her. This year has been pretty insane, as most of you know. But somehow I have managed to get five six(!) secret projects done in amongst my other work by trying to channel Anne's mad multi-tasking skillz. You'll see those projects later on this year and next. But here's a little project I can show you, a cowl made from the Melpomene stitch pattern.

It's worked up in String Theory's Caper Aran, the Black Tulip colorway.

I hope you can see how amazing this color is. It is truly incredible, a perfect black-toned purple. I asked The Bear to model it for me. (Notice that he's beginning to get swimmer's dreads? I convinced him not to cut the cuteness). 

He was quite taken with the cowl. He gets super cold in winter and this yummy yarn has cashmere in it. Oooooh. Soft!

He wants one with a straight bottom.

How can I resist? So I think it will come in two styles: the scalloped edge and the plain edge. It will be released as an extra pattern in my current eBook subscription and as a single pattern. Speaking of the eBook, I am finishing up several projects at once. Here are the yarns.

On top, that's Alisha Goes Around. Middle is from Ripples Crafts, a lovely merino/silk in Pale AU. Bottom is Fresh Grass from At Bullard Farm. (WOW! I just went to look at what she has stocked at the moment - gorgeous!) It's another silk blend, this time with BFL.
They are all in progress. Multi-tasking. It's all good.

Travelin' Part Deux

Remember when I said there was yarny goodness forthcoming? Well. Look at what I found in Minneapolis! The first new dyer to me, All for Love of Yarn was one I was swooning over at 3 Kittens. I only agreed to let the yarn go to another home when I was assured that Angela, the dyer of this yummy yummy stuff, would be at Yarnover the next day. I wish I could show you her booth, but my picture was horribly fuzzy. So I will just show you her yarn. And can I just say: WOW! Look at these colors!

I can't get enough of looking at them!

And this?

Is it not divine?! Yes. It is. Ready for more? This is Lynae from Grinning Gargoyle.

She has some fabulous high twist sock yarn that I love.

It has cashmere in it. And it's high twist.

Need I say more?
And then here is Francine of Rovings in Winnipeg. I am a long time fan of hers.

And just for fun, a shot of some bags of top. It's called Three Feet of Sheep.

Love it. :)
When I was in Minneapolis, I was so jealous of all the lilacs in bloom. But what do you know?

When I came back home, they were everywhere here too!

Aren't they lovely?

And the smell is utterly intoxicating.
In other news? Another secret project completed. A small but not very secret project completed today and drying. Feeling a little productive again despite the continued upheaval in my, and my family's, lives. One day it will calm down and I'm sure I'll get bored. Well. Not really. ;)

Monday's Musing

"We have learned the answers, all the answers; it is the question that we do not know." - Archibald MacLeish


Little late today! Things got away from me. Happy Monday (evening)! :)

Travelin'

(Note to Teresa: got your address and will ship your book asap!)


I don't do much of it (traveling that is), but I always love going to Minneapolis for Yarnover! This year I also taught at 3 Kittens the Friday before Yarnover. Bear with me. This is a super picture heavy post and I still didn't get pictures of so many people!
Laura from 3 Kittens picked me up at the airport and she, Cecilia and Janine took me out for dinner at the wonderful Twin City Grill at The Great Mall of America. I had the Walleye, like a good little tourist. It was amazing! We split a gigantic piece of chocolate afterwards. It was so gigantic, in fact, that each of us basically got a full piece. It was also delicious. I am still drooling over it.
Afterwards, we walked around the Great Mall.

Yes, that is an amusement park. It is in the center.

Here you can see the top of the Ferris Wheel. Insane.

Here are Laura, Cecilia and Janine. I made them pose with SpongeBob. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
The next day it was off to 3 Kittens, a beautiful and welcoming shop, one of about 30 - yes, 30 - in the area. Our people are strong in Minneapolis.

The classes were actually at the Mendoberri Restaurant, diagonal to the shop.

The food and ambiance were wonderful, and I have to say that Laura and my two angels, Janine (yes - I had an author as a class angel - is this not cool?!)

and Cecilia, made me feel like royalty. I loved every minute of being there, meeting people who I had only known virtually, and teaching. So a giant thank you to my class

and to 3 Kittens! 

After my classes, Janine and her mother Rosemary - who has taught half of Minneapolis to knit and actually took my classes! - drove me over to the meet and greet dinner at Yarnover. I'm afraid I was a little brainless at that point, and didn't take my camera iPhone out.
Next morning was Yarnover and classes! First thing in the morning? It was lace surgery. Thankfully, I think we had all had our coffee. :) Look at the surgeons at work!

Isn't this great?

I always have a great time teaching the lace surgery. :)
After class, I wandered a bit and look what I saw!

A Calliope's Odyssey on the hoof! It turned out to be my online friend Gwen, but I didn't know it until she came by to visit and show me her gorgeous shawls

Snowangel and KnittingKathy came by too!

The green shawl on the left is my spring club shawl and Susan was the first to finish! Kathy is wearing a Taygete. I loved seeing people enjoying their shawls!
After lunch, I taught my Bijouterie earrings from Knitty. After a little initial learning curve, we had a great class with lots of fabulous earring! Just look!

Aren't they awesome!? The last pair shown was the first pair finished, btw. A speed demon!
Can I just say that Yarnover is fabulous? If you ever have the chance to go, grab it!
That evening was the teacher/volunteer dinner which I absolutely love. It gives us all a chance to chat a bit after a successful event. I missed so many great pictures, but here are three of my favorite people. I love this series of The Rainey Sisters and Anne Hanson.

We were having great time. :) Tomorrow: super fantastic yarny goodness from Minneapolis!