This and that

Trying to play a little catch-up! Finally. :)

One of the coolest things that happened while I was incognito is that the amount donated to Doctors without Borders from Brandywine pattern sales has reached :drumroll: $19,000!!! Isn't that amazing?! Knitters are completely and totally awesome! And for Sakaki, funds donated to Direct Relief International and earmarked for Japan (from pattern sales through May 31, 2011) were $2,705! (For pattern sales in June of 2011 and forward, $5 of each will be donated to Doctors without Borders and will not be earmarked.) I got little thank you letters, and you were all such a part of it, that I wanted to pass on the thanks to you!

Mail has been unusual of late. About a month ago, I got a very interesting post card.

At first, I couldn't figure out who I know that might be traveling to Pakistan, and this card was not signed. Then I started reading the front of the card.

"Postcards from Pakistan. Saving our image one postcard at a time." And then, of course, I went to the website. So very amazing to be randomly touched by another part of the world. I haven't yet catalogued my card, but I am looking forward to uploading it.

Hmmmmmmmm. What else has happened? .......

I have signed on with Deep South Fibers to wholesale my patterns, and have begun reformatting my patterns for them to print. So far, only a few are available, but I'm working on it!

And then there's my Live Oak Shawlette in the fall Knitscene. I love that magazine! Lisa Shroyer (the editor) is a complete genius.

For Live Oak, I used some gorgeous Madeline Tosh sock yarn in Glazed Pecan. I love one skein shawls using sock yarn. They're like little knitted bonbons: bite sized, relaxing and satisfying. Lisa let me go on this one and I hope I made her feel good about her trust in me! I had had another idea in mind, but when she sent the Glazed Pecan color, it reminded me of the ground cover of leaves around the base of Live Oak trees. Even though the trees are evergreen, they shed their leaves throughout the year, and the dead leaves are incredibly close to this color. The shawl takes one skein, but you can easily make it larger.

I had a few good mail days, and this is the lovely Road to China Light that came my way for a secret project.

I sent off pins and lace club July packages. I will show you the goodies soon. :)

I know you all want to hear about the Muses! And hear you shall. And see, as well. Coming up next post!

Monday's Musing

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." - Mother Theresa

And in that vein, even though I can't help everyone, maybe with your help, my Sakaki pattern will help a few!

Designed to help Japan after their devastating earthquake and tsunami, $5 from the $6.50 purchase price of each Sakaki pattern sold through the end of May will be donated to charities allowing earmarking for Japan. Beginning in June, 2011, $5 per pattern sold will be donated to Doctors without Borders, which does not allow earmarking for Japan but does wonderful work there and throughout the world. Like Brandywine for Haiti, the goal is to sell 10,000 patterns, and I will keep donating until that number is reached! (Which is basically forever). ;) I released the pattern last Friday without any announcement, except in my Ravelry group where group members were stalking the new pattern list. (Isn't that fun?!) So far, I've sold 155 - thank you so much everyone!

Sakaki comes in two flavors: unbeaded with a leaf lace panel:

and beaded with no leaf lace panel.

The lovely green yarn I used is the decadent Sunna from Spirit Trail Fiberworks.

I used one skein of the colorway Acadia, and I used almost all of the yardage (350). (I see she is already sold out of that colorway, but maybe she'll dye more for us!)

If you feel that you are a loose knitter, it might be prudent to have extra yarn on hand and/or to keep close track of yarn usage by using a handy-dandy scale (don't leave home without one).

The incredible red I used is from Alisha Goes Around. (Her Etsy shop should be returning today!)

I truly cannot do this color justice with the camera. Amazingly, it looks good on everyone who has tried it on.

It is an incredibly rich ripe tomato red: her Panoply of Peacocks fingering weight in On the Vine, along with bronze size 6/0 hex cut seed beads.

Sakaki is knit side to side and the method used creates a nicely curved shoulder wrap. Once you have the pattern memorized, it is super fun TV knitting. I knit a lot of it watching my new full Deep Space 9 dvd set. :)

My favorite site explaining the importance of the Sakaki Tree is this one belonging to UCLA's botanical gardens.

Sakaki the shawl was designed as a tribute to the amazing spirit of the Japanese people as they face - with grace and determination - what is sure to be a long recovery. Thank you for helping me help them!

Monday's Musing

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." - Winston Churchill

Have a great week and be true to yourself!

Sakaki report: beaded shawl finished and ready to be blocked. Pattern test knitted. Corrections and clarifications being made. Pattern to be released this week.

Dilemma: to what charity shall the proceeds be donated? MSF is not earmarking funds for Japan but they are doing a ton of work there. As much as I admire the Red Cross, a little too much of each donation goes to overhead for my taste. I am inclined to give the first sales through some period of time (perhaps June) to a charity that allows earmarking for Japan, and the remainder (up to 10,000 patterns sold, like Brandywine) to MSF, even though they are not earmarking donations. I admire them tremendously and I know they will continue to work in Japan until they are no longer needed.

Do any of you have suggestions for a great charity doing work in Japan?

knit knit knit; test test test

First of all, I think a little sneak peek is in order, don't you?

Are you getting excited?

How about now?

I am loving how reversible the Sakaki pattern is!

And how nicely it drapes using the lovely Sunna yarn from Spirit Trail (Acadia colorway).

And now, just to make it as irresistible as possible (because I so want to maximize the funds going for Japan support!), I'm doing a red version.

And what a red!!! Alisha (who has a new etsy shop with lots of goodies!) gave this skein (On the Vine colorway) to me at TNNA, and it is sublime! A perfect ripe tomato red.

No leaves on this one, but plenty of beads.

I found some hexagonal bronze seed beads and they look amazing with the red.

I'm really enjoying the knit in the evening while watching my latest acquisition: the full Deep Space 9 series. (squeeeee!)

All should be tested and ready soon. :)