The winner!

Everyone who blogged, plurked, tweeted and posted on Facebook was entered into my drawing. And the winner from the random.org number generator is...Kimberly (somebunnyslove)!!! Congratulations! Just send your address and I'll send you your pins! :)

In other news, I finally picked up a copy of the summer issue of Interweave Crochet. I am seriously coveting the cover sweater.

Seriously coveting it.

And look what's inside!

It's a book excerpt from my book, Elements of Style: Knit + Crochet Jewelry with Wire, Fiber, Felt + Beads. Woot! Not only that, there's a full page ad that uses some of my photos!

Mine are the beaded and felted strand, the felt balls and the resin beads. :)

This past weekend I was at the Knit-One-One Jumpin' July Craft Sale. It was awesome, and Síle is fabulous! I was thrilled to reconnect with several old friends and meet some new ones! :waving: I'll be there a couple more times this year, I think, so if you missed this sale, I hope to see you next time! I also talked to Síle about the possibility of teaching there. I love her studio!

Back to stealth knitting....

Monday's Musing

"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

Don't forget my Sneaky Sale through Wednesday!

And have a marvelous week. :)

Nooooz!

As in: more than one new thing. :) I thought it was about time that I had more than one sheep, don't you think? So I got busy with a ewe for my little ram. And here's what happened!

Isn't she cute?

Then in a burst of genius(?) craziness(?) sleep-deprived euphoria(?) ummmmmm, well, you'll see. I figured that if we would have one from the front, then there should really be...the south end of a northbound sheep! Hee.

Have I completely lost my mind? Perhaps. But how cute are those little sheepy pajamas? And it's your little secret, because no one but a true fiber fanatic will ever guess. :) Imagine wearing it to a business meeting. You can laugh at your own private joke. Am I right? You know I am!!

And a beauty shot, just because.

Okay, after this one I'll stop.

To celebrate the new members of my flock, I'm having a 15% off Sneaky Sale at Designs by Romi! Just enter coupon code SHEEPY at checkout and receive 15% off your order of $15 or more (patterns excluded)! The sale lasts through next Wednesday, July 29th.

And the give-away? Retweet (mentioning this blog post and @RomiDesigns), blog about or plurk about this sale with appropriate link to my post here, and be entered to win a pair of nickel sheep, one front and one back! I will choose a winner next Tuesday, July 28th. Let the games begin! Or something.

FTW!

It's Sandy who wins a Bluebird shawl pattern for her comment on my weekly give-away post! She was the eighth commenter, and the number 8 was chosen at random by the random number generator over at random.org. Congratulations, Sandy! Please send me your email address!

Remember the weekly special is on through tomorrow, July 22nd, so you can still get 20% off my shiny nickel shawl pin, #el_46n (scroll down to the right hand corner) when you enter the coupon code OOHSHINY at checkout!

Look at what just made its way to me from A Verb for Keeping Warm!

It's baby camel and silk top in the Glenda colorway and it is soooooooo yummmmmmy!

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but the baby camel is this lovely soft brown and the silk has taken the purple dye. I can't wait to see how it spins up!

Here's a fun little knitter's cake. Check out the link. Really. I'll wait.

Isn't that the coolest?! Thanks to WonderMike for that one. :)

And finally, I'll be at Knit-One-One this Saturday, July 25th from 10am to 4 pm with a host of other great vendors for Knit-One-One's Jumpin' July craft sale! I'm bringing my shawl pins and my book + projects.

I would so love to meet you if you're in the area and can stop by!

Okey doke. Back to work on Secret Project #1: 2 sleeves on 2 circs. :)

Monday's Musing

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." - James Dean

Have a great week, everyone!!!

This 'n' that

First of all is Joan's lovely Bluebird (Robin) shawl (from my pattern Bluebird, but hers is in robin red)! Sooooo pretty!!!

A week ago, I went to our local "Bleed 'n' Feed" (blood drive) and I wasn't allowed to give blood; my hematocrit levels were too low. I had been feeling super exhausted, so I guess it wasn't that big a surprise! Well, my husband bugged me until I went to the doctor and it turns out my iron levels are low (although I had taken some iron and the hematocrit levels were up to low normal) and I have a Vitamin D deficiency, which I now understand is more common than I thought! So my doctor prescribed mega doses of Vitamin D; I took the first one on Friday and wowza! That and iron had me flying high; I had so much energy I was almost manic! It's leveled out now and I'm really enjoying feeling human again. :)

Next up: I'm working on three secret projects. I feel really bad that I can't share them with you, and that my blog is so boring! So please tell me: what would you like to see when I can't show you any knitting or crochet? Tutorials? Pics of projects and lists of techniques from my book? Pics of pretty yarn and roving? Links to cool blogs I've found?

Last, don't forget my special and give-away! I'll announce the winner on Tuesday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Weekly Special!

Since I've had nickel on the mind lately...I've added some more shiny nickel on my most popular pin!

Until now, it's only been available in brushed nickel (as well as copper and sterling), but if you go here and scroll down to the bottom of the page on the right, you will find a new shiny nickel option!

I know...you're waiting patiently for the Designs by Romi weekly special, right? :) Through next Wednesday, July 22, enter coupon code OOHSHINY at checkout and receive 20% off your purchase of a shiny nickel swirl penannular (el_46n) - one or more!

And the weekly give-away: leave a comment on my blog and make me laugh, and I'll enter you to win a Bluebird shawl pattern! Ok, even if I don't laugh, I'll enter you. :) It could be a joke, a riddle, a pun, a limerick, an observation or...surprise me!

This Week's Winner is

...a Tweeter! Vicki Stiefel wins her choice of a copper or nickel shawl pin from my site. Congrats to you, Vicki! Step on up to claim your prize. :)

Winners are chosen using the random number generator at random.org.

Monday's Musing

"No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it."

"To bring anything into your life, imagine that it's already there."

- Richard Bach

It was difficult to choose only two quotes from Richard Bach. Amazing guy. Those of a certain age will remember him as the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. :)

Have a great week, everyone!

Weekly Special: Hearts!

It's no secret that I'm partial to hearts. It's something that I share with June, a good (and blogless) friend of mine. And I have plenty of them on my site. :) There's my penannular style pin:

the classic two piece:

and my newest heart; a clip that is great on cardigans too!

So...the weekly special? Through Wednesday, July 15, buy any heart pin at Designs by Romi and receive a free pdf copy of my "Love Squared" scarf pattern!

Love Squared is a fun little scarf knit with sock yarn! It can also be expanded into a lovely stole by increasing the repeats.

And this week's give-away? Tweet, blog or plurk about my special offer (and link to this post) and be entered to win your choice of copper or nickel shawl pin from Designs by Romi! Be sure to let me know in the comments section, or by mentioning @RomiDesigns in your tweet. One entry per medium! IOW, do all three and get three entries! Take advantage of my special offer or order another pin by Tuesday morning (July 14) and receive two more entries into the give-away! Winner to be announced Tuesday afternoon.

Hurt, but still worth it!

That would be Interweave's Hurt Book Sale! There are still many bargains left, including hurt copies of my book, Elements of Style: Knit + Crochet Jewelry....

Hurry over and get yours!

...and the winner is

ME! Oh, wait. That comes later. :)

According the random number generator, Jessica Rose-Kim has won my contest! She gets to select a nickel shawl pin of her choice from my site and off it goes to her! Thank you all so much for entering! I'm having so much fun with these little contests that I'm going to keep having them. So if you didn't win this time, please keep entering!

btw, the Sneaky Sale is still on through tomorrow. That's 15% off an order of $15 or more at Designs by Romi. Enter coupon code NEWNICKEL at checkout. Patterns are excluded from the sale.

Speaking of contests, my friend Lisa Shobhana Mason had one in honor of her new pattern release, Kimberly, and I won a collection of her patterns! I love the clean lines of Kimberly. Did you know Scout photographed it? Scout and Lisa rock. :) Thank you, Lisa!

In other news, a pattern of mine is in the summer issue of Living Crafts magazine. Knit of Habu merino/stainless steel and beads, it is similar to the scarf necklaces in my book.

This yarn is so much fun to knit and crochet! I'll be talking more about that later on this week!

Monday's Musing

"Opportunity is as scarce as oxygen; men fairly breathe it and do not know it." - Doc Sane

Have a wonderful week of opportunity, everyone! :)

(Psssst: and don't forget the Sneaky Sale and contest!)

Happy Independence Day, USA!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - from the Declaration of Independence

Shhhhhhh...Sneaky Sale

Well, my nickel bluebird was so popular

that I've now put nickel up as an option for all of my Designs by Romi Elements Collection! Compared with sterling, nickel, also called German silver, is a harder metal and the color is a bit warmer. It also doesn't tarnish like sterling!

To celebrate all the new nickel, I'm having a site-wide Sneaky Sale (patterns excluded)!

So, through next Wednesday, July 8, take 15% off your purchase of $15 or more when you enter coupon code NEWNICKEL at checkout! Enjoy! :)

Tweet about this sale with @RomiDesigns in your tweet and be entered to win your choice of nickel shawl pin from Designs by Romi! Or link to my sale from your blog, let me know and be entered to win! Or hey! Do both and get two entries! :) I'll announce the winner Tuesday!

Feeling plummy

Just feast your eyes on what came in the mail!

Aren't the colors gorgeous!?

They're even better in person.

Secret projects are happening. Shhhhhhhhh.

In other news, a sock is progressing.

This one is my husband's favorite of the three sock patterns I've designed. Look for the second pattern release at the end of this week! And there are another two skeins of delectable sock yarn just waiting for me to finish the third pattern. :)