calling all knitters!

Because Stephanie needs some love and support. She's almost finished with her garter stitch version of Lyrica Euterpe, but she had a bad dye lot experience. A cringe-worthy experience, and she ripped out her shawl halfway through the lace section. Ugh. So if you can manage a little teensy extra moment, could you go on over and give her some love? I think she could use a little extra today. 

Once she has one of these:

I know she'll laugh about it all. :)

Too many secrets

(Does anyone else remember the movie Sneakers?)

Six secret knitting projects. Two unavoidable life projects.

Almost four knitting projects done. Life projects in motion.

I know. I promise more later.

Meanwhile, behold the gold.

I am definitely in a gold mood lately. I've been fondling these and am balling them up to knit on between the secret projects. Then at least I can show you progress, right? The golden merino/silk on the left is from Ripples Crafts and it's going to be a muse shawl. The golden mink/cashmere is from Great Northern Yarns and it will be a muse, as well, but one of the extra fun little non-shawl projects in the eBook. Dreams of petting/knitting with these beauties are making me smile.

ftw!

The a-musing race to Stitches West!

Sample finished.

Test knit finished.

Pattern finished.

Kits made up with a limited edition Muse shawl pin.

We're ready. We're set. Booths 1134 & 1136; see you there!

Progress

It's being made.

Off to the swim meet!

Moving along....

Just look at these yummy yarn cakes!

Things are moving right along in the Great Muse Race for Stitches. Had a little bit of a setback last night, but I'm back on track!

Loving the texture. A Verb for Keeping Warm yarn. Stop by our booth at Stitches West (1134 and 1136)!

Erato!

She's here. :)

And we also have a winner! There were 87 comments, so I went on over to random.org and plugged in my numbers. Random.org said 8, which made The Bear happy, since that's his favorite number. But I digress. The winner is...JaneSezKnit! I guess I ought scoot on over to Ravelry and tell her, eh? :)

I had a lot of fun taking some pictures the other day when the sun peeked out from amongst the clouds.

This one has a similar construction to Maia, from the first year eBook, but there are definite differences. First of all, there are cables. There's a fine and plump lovers' cable twining down the center of the back.

And across the shoulders are mini cables.

Second, the panels are not equal in size. One side of the miniature cable increases at a greater rate than the other. This gives greater width across the back and less in front, and makes the shawl curve nicely around your shoulders. There is subtle shoulder shaping by decreasing the number of increases along the mini cables. (Doesn't that make a strange sentence?) The mini cables merge into the border.

And the large cable morphs into an edging cable. (Can you tell the above picture was taken indoors and the below was outdoors? Look at the difference in color even after correction!)

I am particularly smitten by that little detail.

There is a twisted edging.

And the bottom edge is a little bit ruffled. If you want to expand the size of the shawl, you can keep working that edging chart. It will get a bit more ruffled each time the chart is worked.

All in all, I am quite pleased with Erato.

I hope you like her!

Erato is for sale on Ravelry for $6.50 or as part of an eBook subscription of 7 small shawls and 3 extra patterns for $20. Happy knitting!

Muse noooooz

Wrapping up testing here, on a Muse! So you know what that means, right? You get to guess the name and enter to win a prize!

Leave your guess in a comment by Thursday (tomorrow) Friday February 3 (by request!), 12 midnight PST to be entered to win a sur-prize!

11 & 12

Happy New Year! It's a bright and shiny one, full of possibilities, and I always feel wonderful on New Year's Day! I hope you do, too. :) Right now, I have a pot of Hoppin' John cooking and this evening we'll have our traditional New Year's feast: Hoppin' John for good luck, greens for prosperity, cornbread for gold, sparkling cider for celebration, and a salad (just because we love salad - tonight it's arugula and pear YUM).

But back to 11. By the skin of my teeth (as my grandmother would have said), I designed and knit 11 shawls in 2011! (eta: OMG! Jeanne, the most fabulously wonderful moderator, just reminded me that I actually forgot Sakaki! I am adding it into the post right now. That makes 12!!!) It's not as much as I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to be completely finished with the knitting on my Muses, instead of just the designing and part of the knitting. But, under the circumstances, I've become ok with it. 2011 was a year of stepping back for me. It was the year I really internalized that things in life don't last forever, and it's pretty important to enjoy what you have right now, at the moment you have it. Though I have to say, I'm not yet sure how to enjoy pre-teen angst. ;) But on to the shawls! (There were a few other projects, but I'll show those later this week.)

The year started with my first 2011 club offering, Spanish Moss (#1). Though I did most of the knitting in 2010, I technically finished it up in 2011. And since I've done basically the same thing this year with my first 2012 club offering (I am finishing the knitting up on that one in 2012), I think it balances out!

My next project was Live Oak (#2), though it didn't come out in Knitscene until the fall of 2011.

eta: Next - because it actually came out in April 2011 even though I forgot it in January 2012! - was Sakaki (and I am calling it #12 here because I am adding it after Jeanne's reminder) for Japan relief. There were two versions. One with a lace panel of a Sakaki tree,

and a plain beaded version. (ok - now I'm feeling a little better about the year's shawl count!)

I did a club offering for Kristine over at A Verb for Keeping Warm, Cáliz (#3).

Later, I re-released Cáliz (after the period of exclusivity) in an expanded format so that it could be knitted in both fingering and sport weight yarns.

Around the same time Cáliz went to Kristine's club members, Lisianthus (#4) went to my club.

July brought Katanya (#5) to my club.

And then I began the muses with Kleio (#6).

Buttonwillow (#7), released at Vogue Knitting Live in LA, was next up.

Melpomene (#8), another muse, went out to eBook subscribers

and Madroña (#9) went to my club.

The last two muses of the year are both unnamed and unreleased to those musing along with me. There is Muse #2 (#10 of the year overall),

and - finished and blocked yesterday - Muse #5 (#11 of the year overall)! (The knitting on #3 is not yet finished.)

The other two muses, while designed, are not knitted, so they don't count in 2011's total of 11. Whew. I do actually feel some accomplishment! And I am in love with Muse #5.

She has shoulder shaping,

and uses beautiful yarny goodness from Brooke over at Sincere Sheep: Tenacious Sock in Winter's Night and Ohlone colorways.

My class at Interweave Knitting Lab chose those colors as my second to next project to be done, and I started the other color combo (my next project to be done, according to vote), but this one wanted to be finished first! I couldn't argue with the muse. ;)

This one has it all!

Faroese shaping.

Texture.

Mosaic knitting.

Lace.

And you can expand the size, too. In fact, I knitted a few extra rows at the end and used up the rest of my second color. I bound off at my knitting group on Saturday, and everyone saw me freaking out for awhile, until I finally was left with this.

I love using up all my yarn, and I was "sure" when I started the last extra row that I would have enough, but I have to say, after about half the bind off row, I was every bit as "sure" that I was hosed! I was mentally going through my stash to find something that matched close enough to do the last ten or so stitches I was sure I would have left over. I almost ripped, but I'm glad I didn't! Whew! I lurve her.

Soon you will all be able to guess on the names for Muses 2 and 5 (and win prizes)! So stand by!

Traditions

It's funny how traditions take root, isn't it? Around here, the central holiday tradition is my elder son misbehaving in some horrendous way. This year, though he is keeping up his end of the tradition nobly, we are trying not to partake as completely as in years past. I'll let you all know how that one works out! Isn't it amazing how my polar opposite sons come from the same genetic pool? I marvel at it daily.

Meanwhile, quick and hearty meals become a must in the chaos leading up to Christmas. And because The Bear can't eat dairy or eggs, we don't eat a lot of processed foods (something we thank him for regularly - we're all convinced that the family is healthier because of The Bear.) We've re-written many recipes Mr. Romi and I grew up with to make them Bear-safe, and yesterday I trotted out an old favorite that my southern grandmother used to make: hot dogs baked in a pan of cornbread. I re-wrote that one, too, of course. Instead of buttermilk, the cornbread is made with soy milk and vinegar. The hot dogs became chicken-mango sausage, and The Bear's cheese was a vegan Monterey Jack I picked up at the local store (and which received two thumbs up). I filled ours with Havarti and a few little shreds of cheddar so I could tell them all apart.

This is one of the most satisfying foods of my childhood. And the kids love it too. Comfort in a pan! The cornbread is unsweetened like my grandmother made it ("sweetened cornbread is nothing but Johnny-cake!") and I think even as much as she loved using buttermilk in her baking, she would approve of the soy version. Doesn't it look inviting?

If any of you are interested in the cornbread recipe, or the cornbread/sausage recipe, I'd be happy to post it. Though the sausage is obviously not vegan, the cornbread by itself is. Let me know? In fact, please just say hello and let me know you're out there. I was so enjoying reading your responses to my post yesterday! Thank you for writing. :)

In knitting news, I've been working on some textured yumminess.

I posted a picture on Twitter the other day, and now I have a little more of a hint to show you.

I am loving this next muse! The yarn is from Brooke at Sincere Sheep and the colors are wonderful! I had some knitting time today, but not as much as I would have liked. This is the 10th shawl I've designed and knit this year, and I have another half-finished muse that may make it into the 11th spot. That is, unless something crazy happens! :knockonwood: A this point though? I'm just rolling with it.

(btw, it's chilly in the house and I'm sitting here, toasty warm in my lined Poinsettia Tam. I guess it works for wimpy Californians as well as Canadians!) ;)

Time is ticking down to Christmas, Mr. Romi had emergency oral surgery today, and the kids got into the presents while we were gone. Wish me luck! I'll be wishing you all well too. :)

Coming (almost) Clean

Right now, as I look at the calendar, the past year seems simultaneously one of the longest and shortest of my life. I can't believe it's a day away from December, and I know I owe you all an explanation for disappearing off the face of the Earth.

I came into the shiny new year of 2011 with the best of intentions, planning hard work and efficiency. Life kind of derailed me, I have to admit, but I am so not here to complain. So many people are going through so much, and I am so freakin' lucky that I am knocking on wood every minute or so as I write this.

A very few of you know about the health issues in my family that have been ongoing, but that's all I can really say. It isn't my story to tell. What I can say is that sometimes the cure prescribed turns out to be just as bad – or worse - than the ailment was in the first place, and once you start down that track it is difficult to stop and get bearings. This past year was one filled with little niggling issues, like a trail of dominos. Things that could turn out to be as bad as they could possibly be, or innocuous in and of themselves. Wake-up calls. One after another, and difficult to ignore. So, instead of spending that extra hour working on my pattern or my pins or my knitting, I put it down. Because the one thing that I finally realized was that I have it really really great right now. These are the Good Old Days. And I am going to enjoy each and every moment that I can with the people I love.

I am so lucky to be able to say that, although things have been unpleasant and long lasting, they are livable. And probably not even chronic in the end. :knockonwood: Everything just takes longer, if you know what I mean. It's one of those years – we had one about 5 years ago too – when we joke about having our own wing at the emergency room. And right now, I am in the happy position of looking back on it and believing that we are moving into a calmer period of time.

Looking back on those problems also makes me realize just how utterly behind I am in everything at this point, all of my plans having gone by the wayside. Although I have my muses designed and sketched up, most likely I will not make my deadline of having them all knitted by the end of the year. I can't even begin to tell you how upsetting that is to me. The sad thing is, I was stressing so terribly about it that I wasn't even enjoying the knitting of them. As soon as I accepted it and began mentally writing this tome of a blog post, though, I felt a sense of relief and started enjoying the process again. As Mr. Romi says, I was too "wrapped around the axle." Now it's time for me to move on and concentrate on finishing them. But you all know...they have to be perfect. :) I hope you can all bear with me, and I thank you for your patience.

Speaking of the muses - I have finished another one. Would you like to see a few little pictures to tease you?

This one is knit from Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Sundown Orchid (I could only find some here; others seem to be sold out). I love the cable that runs down the back. It's a little asymmetrical, but not too much.

There's a little bit of shoulder shaping using a mock cable in the upper stockinette portion, and it moves straight into the border.

There's some twist to the edging, and a little eyelet.

But I mostly love the border.

It ruffles a little.

And I just want to touch that rich texture every time I see it. I am thoroughly enjoying passing this one by on the mannequin every time I walk into my studio.

Remember when I told you that I had a secret project I am working on? I had planned to have that one all ready for you too, to knit for the holidays. But I am terribly behind, so instead of getting the whole thing out as planned, I am working on getting one of the projects to you for some fun holiday knitting.

The secret? I'm putting together an eBook called "Doily Heads" and filled with lacy hats. (There's a Ravelry group by the name of "Doilie Heads" btw, and I made sure they were ok with the title first).

I'm going to be releasing a tam, and hopefully some wrist warmers and perhaps a cowl to go with, but really? I have been sort of over (under?)-shooting the mark lately, so I will just say the tam for sure. One of the versions is in this lovely black alpaca from Misti.

I decided to line it with some magenta Silk Cloud from Shibui.

It keeps your head warm if you happen to live in Canada and not California. This is the inside.

And the top. I showed everyone in my knitting group and they were wearing it inside out. :)

But I also have an unlined version. Don't you think the pattern looks like a Poinsettia? I do. So I dug out some gorgeous red Sunna in Garnet from Spirit Trail Fiberworks.

I love the stitch definition.

And the color is perfect!

It's a nice light hat for a day with a little chill in the air. Or for someone with a hot head. Hee.

I love the way they turned out!

The pattern is in testing and will be available soon.

I feel like my post is so long already, but I can't leave this out. Jürgen in Germany sent me some beautiful hand spun silk!

Try as I might, I couldn't capture the luster of the yarn. It positively glows. And look at how incredibly even it is! He did this on a drop spindle!

So gorgeous....

Thank you Jürgen!

Oops! One more thing...Monika asked about the black background in the photos of Melpomene and Cåliz. In order to get a black background, I photographed outside in direct sunlight, with the shawl in full light, but against a background that was in shadow, and I metered on my subject. The shadow area in my photos is not actually all that dark in real life. There's a grey stone wall and trees back there (but most importantly, they were in shadow). I also positioned the mannequin rather far away from the background - about 8 feet. I shot with a macro lens at f2.8. I Googled around, aNd Step 4 on this page is a nice and simple explanation. It's really fun to do with flowers. :)

Well. Off to bed with me. I'm feeling too energetic right now!