Blue skies

I'm definitely getting spoiled - in a way I would love to continue to be spoiled - with the gorgeous weather lately.Yesterday was my birthday, and it's the first one in a long time when there was no rain. It was a fabulous birthday present! And - may I say - I was so touched and buoyed by your birthday greetings on ravelry, facebook and twitter. Thank you all! It was a Good Day.

This was my big gift. I love that the inside is so high tech,

and the outside is so vintage.

This is the new Kindle Touch and the e-ink is incredibly cool. Since I love books and the printed page, I held out for quite some time. I've always had a huge collection of books and I couldn't stand the thought of losing the smell and feel of them! But I have to say that the convenience of the size is what finally won me over. And when I found out that the e-ink is actually little particles of ink, well. I couldn't resist. I may have dropped some (very broad) hints. I know the Fire is what Amazon is really pushing right now, but I passed on it and I'm so thrilled to have my e-ink instead! I spent some serious time just looking at the gorgeous photos of typewriters, pens and printing implements that serve for the cover page when the Kindle is turned off. If I were a black and white photographer, I would put together a portfolio for Kindle. It's that beautiful.

After opening my gifty, I headed over to knitting group where they sang me happy birthday. I wish I could have gotten my video camera (erm, iPhone) out soon enough to catch A's stunning performance, but alas, I was too late. It is burned into my memory though. :) My three boys picked me up for lunch and we had a lovely one at a local cafe. Later on, we all saw The Muppets (fabulous!!!) and went out to eat Ethiopian food. It was the boys' first Ethiopian and #1 Son was dubious as always. The Bear was entranced by all the lentils, though - his favorite. They both ended up absolutely loving it, and - as the portions were humongous - we stuffed ourselves and still took home as much as we ate. I did point out that - so very sadly - an Ethiopian family could probably live a month on the amount of food we ate. After dinner, we were treated to traditional Ethiopian coffee, and we could smell it roasting in the back as we were finishing our last bites. All I have is a poor iPhone photo, but this is how it was served, with incense burning.

I loved the top of the coffee urn, and was happy not to worry that it would fall out when I poured.

The coffee was the absolute best I have ever had. Truly. The waiter/owner told us the chef roasted cardamom with the beans. It was very strong, but had no bitterness or aftertaste, and didn't need to be sweetened. I would go back just for the coffee, even if the food weren't so amazing.

When we arrived home, I found a little parcel from France on the doorstep. I opened it and was reminded why I no longer use the iPhone app to order from Amazon.

For those who don't recognize it, this is "Singin' in the Rain." In French. But in the Amazon app, this information (language) is not important enough to put on the front screen; it was buried. Too funny. And too bad that international DVDs won't play on US players. I think this would be fun to watch. I might try it anyway. Heehee.

Next is some catch-up from my period of anonymity. At Stitches West this year, Miss Babs gave me some of her gorgeous yarn in Terra Cotta.

But while digging around in stash a couple of months ago, I wanted something to go with it for a two color project, so off I went to check around her site for a willing partner. I fixated on Plum, and she and her assistant kindly looked at the two colors together and confirmed that Plum is, indeed, a good mate. It is stunning by itself.

And don't they look happy together?

I've also been working on some lined cuffs to go in the pattern with my Poinsettia hat.

Just a simple little project to use up a skein of yarn and some left-overs.

And it shows a pretty little ruffle at the cuff of your jacket.

I'm quite enamored. And the pattern should be out very soon.

Last, I saw some great Melpomene FOs on Ravelry and wanted to share. This one is from Ali. She blocked the edge into rounded scallops instead of flat across the bottom of each scalloped bit.

Great color! And the following one is from Justine. I love the way the stitch pattern pops in this yarn (Tosh). Justine's is blocked with rounded scallops too. It's so cool how a different blocking method can change the whole look, isn't it?

I love looking at the different yarns and colors everyone is using, so I've decided I'd like to start featuring FO pics on my blog. If I use your photograph and you don't want me to, please just send me an email requesting that I take it down and I will gladly fix it post haste! Also, if you want to share your FO, please email me a little linky to your Ravelry project page. I will not use people's faces without permission.

It's amazing. For so many months, I've felt that I have nothing to say at all. Now I can't seem to shut up. I didn't realize I was so stressed. Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Running as fast as I can

And still not quite making it to post here! I had such good intentions. I am doing the swim mom thing at the moment, but I promise to have a recap of TNNA and a little more info on 7 Small Shawls, Year Two: The Muses, my new eBook subscription! What do you think of the cover?

Don't you just want to jump into that yarn, throw it in the air, fill a bath tub with it and dive in? I do. :)

If you ordered the first eBook, you will find a coupon code for year two on the very past page. Good through the end of June for $4 off. Enjoy! I'll be back writing as soon as I can.

Decadent

(Heh. I began this post 2 days ago! I'm finally having a moment to finish it on the airporter going to SFO. On the way to TNNA! Yay for WiFi!)

I am feeling decidedly decadent. My last small project for the eBook is being tested and I am so excited! It is knit from the most incredibly soft yarn ever. OMG. When I met Iris Schreier of ArtYarns at TNNA Long Beach, I had no idea she would rock my world! But she, or rather her cashmere sock yarn, did. I can't even begin to tell you how soft this stuff is. It is a dream to work with and even better after it's been washed. Now it smells good too. It's my new blankie. :)

So. Wanna see?! Here is a sneak peek at the Merope cowl.

Up until yesterday, it was still cold enough to wear it!

It is the softest thing I have ever owned. It's perfectly decadent for that little extra warmth under a jacket.

I've been working on a second one along with my wonderful test knitters. This one is in Road to China Light. It has almost exactly the same yardage per gram, but is a thinner yarn. That's because most of this yarn is alpaca, which is a heavier fiber than cashmere. This is a lovely yarn as well. And, as you can see in the picture, we finally have sun! This makes me Very Happy. I was worried that we were getting too late a start on building an ark.

And speaking of eBooks....

I am planning a new eBook subscription! This past year was so much fun that I'm doing another. :) It will be available for purchase on June 15th. And even better? Those of you who purchased the 7 Small Shawls eBook will get a coupon in your next update (the one with the Merope Cowl and Taygete's Spring Ascot) good for $4 off the new subscription through the end of June.

Since last year's theme was the Pleiades sisters, I decided to keep going along in that same vein. So this year? It's the muses! There are nine muses, and I want to do another 7 Small Shawls in this eBook (because I'm going for designing and knitting 11 in 2011), so seven muses will get small shawls and the other two will get accessories. As in this past subscription, there will be three accessory patterns extra in the book, but unlike last year, they will also be sold separately. All of my designing and knitting will be finished in 2011. When you purchase the eBook subscription, you will receive all of the patterns by June 15, 2012. Some will come to you in 2011, but not all.

I announced my news the other day on my Ravelry group and was so super excited at the great response that I was walking on air! So of course, I promptly pulled out bags of yarn to sort through for the projects.

Yummy, isn't it? I think these two lovelies from Sunshine Yarns may be the first muse.

Yep, a two color project! Of course, as soon as I had decided the yarns, I had a Very Good Mail Day.

Didi from Little Red Bicycle sent me some absolutely gorgeous goodies. Oooooooh precioussssssssssss.

I know that one or two of those are going to end up in the new eBook!

Well, that's it for now! I am off for TNNA in Columbus with a stop at Anne Hanson's. She has promised me fresh strawberry shortcake. As if it wasn't already wonderful enough to get to spend time with her! I am so lucky. :)

tap tap tap

Is this thing on? I can't believe how long it's been since I've written!

I guess I should start at the beginning, eh? When I returned from Stitches West, I had four days to get ready to fly off to Maryland and the Indie Artist Celebration at Eleganza Yarns in Frederick. I was the featured artist. How cool is that?! I felt very very honored.

The four days were and whirlwind and off to Maryland I went! By way of Charlotte. I know! It was a long day of traveling. (But isn't this row of rocking chairs at the Charlotte airport fabulous?)

The trip, though long, was absolutely worth it. Look at this adorable little shop!

Paul, who owns Eleganza Yarns with Kristi, told me that a family used to live here, and that their ancestors come back and visit as part of a family reunion. It's a log cabin! Now, being a Californian who did not grow up around this type of history, I was completely taken by the story. The history in Frederick is just awe inspiring to me, and I was lucky that Paul is a history buff and was able to tell me all sorts of little factoids while driving around. So cool.

Here's Kristi, sorting patterns.

She doesn't like to have her picture taken, so I had to catch her unawares. (She said it was ok, though!) Isn't her hair gorgeous? I've always envied red heads.

I had two days of classes, but I only took pictures the first day in my Shapely Shawls class. I plead brain death. But I did get some good pics. Here is Brandy, who is one of the moderators on my Ravelry forum. She's wearing Sevillano and that's Elektra and Celaeno on her chair.

She is completely and totally awesome. I just wanted to get that on record. And, apparently, so is her boyfriend. He baked these cookies for me! And they're my very very favorite: oatmeal/chocolate chip. Let's just say that, although I knew Brandy was fabulous, I did not know the extent of her fabulosity.

Here's Brandy with Cindy from my forum. Note the gorgeous Brandywine that Cindy is sporting! I got to knit a row on Cindy's Rayonnant sweater. Is that not cool?!

And while we're talking about Brandywine...today's donation brings me to $17,000 total donated to Doctors without Borders! Thank you knitters!!!

Here's a snap of everyone concentrating. (I've only given names where I am pretty sure people don't mind having them splashed around on my blog - from here on out, name tags are blurred if need be and names are not mentioned.)

Note the lovely Celaeno! It's so much fun seeing these in person after admiring them on Ravelry!

My class was filled with wonderful and friendly people.

I loved the way people were helping each other and we all had a great dialogue going on. I think this is my favorite class to teach! I so enjoy the different shapes that are possible with shawls; it's one of the most interesting things about designing them.

Tomorrow: pics of the yarnz and the celebration! (I really do mean it; I'm going to blog tomorrow too!) :)

...and so on, and so forth

First things first, eh?

A few people have expressed concern that the last of my 7 Small Shawls have not yet been released. To all of you waiting patiently, I wanted to let you know that I am, indeed, working on releasing everything, including the extra small patterns to be included in the eBook. I really am not writing this in a defensive mood, but sometimes it's difficult to write about things like this without sounding like one is, in fact, throwing out all sorts of excuses and defending one's self. So. If I do end up sounding defensive, please do forgive me and accept that it truly wasn't my intention.

First of all, I absolutely do understand people getting antsy. I can't say that I wouldn't be, were I in your position. And really, I am quite flattered that you all want to start knitting as soon as possible! I have loved the project and everyone's response to it, and I thank you all. That being said, I also want everyone to realize that this is a subscription and was a challenge to myself to design and knit ten shawls in 2010. I did not have the shawls designed before I offered the subscription and I tried to make it clear that I might, in fact, even fail in my attempt. In the end, I did succeed, and I think it was due in large part to your support! The whole thing was, and continues to be, a learning experience for me. One important thing I learned was that designing and knitting the shawls is, for me, the easy part. It actually takes more time to write a good pattern that people can follow and then to have that pattern checked and test knitted properly, than it does to design and knit the initial shawl. Surprising, isn't it? Because I have to admit, I still have difficulties reminding myself that a pattern isn't finished when I put the needles down.

Once in awhile, I run into problems, be they with a particular design or just in day to day life. This makes everything take longer. Even when things are taking longer than they ought, I do want you all to know that I work very very hard. I may not always work as smart as I could do, but I'm working on that too. Right now, I am having to learn to pace myself more, after a particularly difficult time. No - nothing horrible, but just basically what happens sometimes with kids, homeschooling, swimming, work and life. :) I know I'm sounding cryptic here, but often times things happen that I just am not at liberty to share, and also? I really hate making excuses. So in that vein, I'm going to stop here with this: I promise you all that I will have everything out to you as soon as I possibly can, and the patterns will be the highest quality that I can make them. I thank you all for hanging in there with me while I am working on finishing everything up, and I promise I won't start my next eBook until this eBook is complete. My biggest resolutions this year? Not to say yes to everything, to schedule better, to take more time away from work, and to learn that I can't please everyone all at once all the time.

ok. If you have read this far, you really do deserve some yarn and pattern pr0n, don't you think? So let's start with the new pattern!

Released today to the general public, Sevillano was part of my 2010 Pins & Lace Club.

It's knit from the bottom tip to the top, and uses short rows at the top to shape the triangle.

It's named after a variety of olives that you often see growing in the wine country where I live.

I'm really fond of this pattern.

I love how the short rows are hidden in the pattern, and I adore the open mesh of the middle back.

It is very easily re-sized, and it includes both charts and written instructions.You can purchase it here for $8. I hope you enjoy it!!!

And now? The yarn! Yesterday, I began to wind that gorgeous String Theory yarn into a ball, and I must have put it on the swift the wrong away, because I have never had such a mess of yarn barf! After a couple of hours, I gave up and took it off the swift; I had this.

After watching "Princess Bride" (perfect for untangling) it was still not done. I finally finished it today on the way to the doctor (#1 Son sprained his ankle badly and he wanted the moral support of the whole family at the doc - he thought he had broken it; Dad and I were pretty sure he hadn't; he's ok now). I was utterly determined. I did ask Karen over at String Theory about the yarn, and she said it was a limited edition, but she thinks she can find her notes to dye some more up. I have my fingers crossed, because of course it has now become my obsession, but I don't want to make something out of it if you can't all find the same yarn!

Today was a little bit of a tough day with the kiddo, so I needed some nice yarn to fondle. You know what I mean? I pulled out the cashmere that Iris Schreier of Artyarns gave me at TNNA.

She was saying that knitting with it really spoils you for anything else, and I have to say that even petting it has spoiled me! I got two skeins of laceweight - the dark reddish black and the soft golden yellow. I thought when I picked it up that the green was a laceweight but it turned out to be a 5 ply yarn that is not twisted together.

Of course I had to have it. And at 100 yards, it's just about right for a sweet little neck warmer or wristlets. A perfect little green bonbon of a project. Then I had to try the cashmere sock yarn. Look at the interesting texture in it!

These are little areas of superwash merino to keep the cashmere from felting. Isn't that amazing?! I love the look it gives the yarn.

After petting, I started winding. Lo and behold. All the yarns I wound were green. I'm not sure how I do this without realizing it, but I always seem to surprise myself with the green love. In the first picture I took, manual focus was on accidentally (I'm a pointer and shooter), but it looked so cool that I thought I'd put it out there anyway!

The second and third were more to the point.

In this one you can see how the 5 plies of that cashmere stick together (top ball is cashmere; the bottom is the tamed String Theory yarn).

I can hardly wait to try it! Off to swatch. :)

This, that, and the other

First things first, am I right? :)

Shawl #6 is...

Asterope!

And that makes shawl #7 Alcyone!

Many many thanks to all of you who have commented and played with me, subscribed to my eBook, and generally cheered me on in my quest. I could not have done it without your support and general fabulous-ness! I cannot believe it's over. Well, not quite, eh? There's pattern tweaking and test knitting happening!

And on to the winners of my little contest, randomly chosen from the commenters: Malin and Beverly! Congratulations ladies! Please send me your snail mail addresses and I will send your pin out when I return from TNNA!

Did you see? The Knitscene preview is up (love this issue!) and I have a pattern in it: Rayonnant Pullover.

Made out of Louet MerLin, it's a fun quick knit and flattering on a wide range of body types. (Photos © Interweave).

This is one of the projects I designed last year while doing the shawl challenge. And next week, after I return from TNNA and get my first club shipment of 2011 squared away, I will show you everything I did last year (with the exception of one that is not yet released)! And with that, I'm off to Long Beach and TNNA!