Beautiful Fleece Artist Sea Wool!

Recently, I received some Fleece Artist Sea Wool in the Hercules colorway from Sheri at The Loopy Ewe. (Thanks, Sheri!) It is so beautiful, soft, and luscious! I just finished a pair of socks from that yarn. The colors are so gorgeous, I decided that just plain old stockinette was the way to go. Take a look for yourself!

I did something new with the toe. Rather than have the toe decreases placed one stitch in from each side, I decided (inspired by the way Colin did his toe increases on a recent pair of socks) to keep a set number of stitches in the middle of the toe and have my decreases slant toward them instead. Here is what the toe looks like when you do that.

Don't you just love having a newly finished pair of socks?

Now, I MUST get back to working on some purses!!!

Solstice Slip

Solstice Slip
Originally uploaded by TerryRoss

Just a quick note to show my completed July socks . . . . Rockin' Sock Club Solstice Slip.

Accidental -- the dishcloth that wanted to be a purse

Here is the link to my pink bag. The file is in PDF format and the purse is called Accidental. Just scroll down until you see it, then click the photo.

Happy knitting, and be sure to let me know if you knit it and where I can see YOUR version!

Every day brings a new surprise

Sometimes in knitting life, you have a happy accident. This week, I intended to knit a dishcloth. A pretty, pink little thing with some nubs on it that would make good scrubbers. And, I wanted to play around with knitting a square in the round. Yep. A square in the round.

Well, the idea was a good one. The technique is a good old tried and true method of casting on enough stitches for the perimeter of the square and then making double decreases at each corner until you get to the center, and then pull the remaining stitches tightly together. The happy accident happened when I chose to cast on too many stitches with a yarn that was too heavy. Twice as heavy, as a matter of fact. I used Peaches and Cream Double Weight Worsted Cotton yarn.

The hapless dishcloth turned out to be 17.5" square when finished. So, it quickly metamorphosized into a very cute, very pink, very nubbly envelope style shoulder bag. I lined it, gave it a cute button and crocheted button loop, and attached a nice long cross-the-body length shoulder strap. As soon as I get a minute to do it, I'll write up the pattern and post it on my free pattern page.

Here are some photos of this little cutie. Well, not so little. It's 12.5" wide and 11" tall.

The back of this bag has the center rosette I made just before binding off.

There's a cute flower design button, and the straps were put on simply by attaching the purse loops through the stitches at the top of the bag.

The lining is a double thickness of a floral printed organza.

So, there it is. I'm pretty happy with this happy accident!

Reveling in Ravelry

Everyone I know who has become part of the new Ravelry community is completely in love with it. Like thousands of others, I signed up for the beta version a couple of months ago when I first heard about it. And a few days ago, I received my invitation to join. I've spent lots of time over the last several days entering information into my little Ravelry cubby and making some acquaintances there.

What is Ravelry? For those who have not heard of it yet, it's an amazing new online community for knitters and crocheters. And more than a community, it's a wonderful collection of organizational helps like a place to inventory your fiber stash, needles and crochet hooks, and track and display finished objects and works in progress. You can also queue up projects and organize yourself into the future.

The creators of Ravelry are a couple, Jess and Casey, who birthed this fabulous new concept and then set about growing it to some maturity before setting it loose on the public at large. They are doing a great job of that, incorporating member suggestions for improvements daily, hourly, and sometimes almost minute to minute. They keep members informed in the Forum section of the community and solicit feedback for improvements there.

They've created an environment where beginning yarn crafters can rub elbows with more seasoned knitters and crocheters, and where designers can incubate projects and relationships. They are really making the best of what the 'net is all about -- networking.

I've noticed a personal impact for myself already. Just seeing the amazing works of others is motivating me to do more. And already I've made contacts with people whom I might not otherwise have the chance to know, including some of my favorite knitting podcasters.

One of those people is Sharon, who has the She-Knits podcast. If you aren't familiar with her podcast, you can check it out at either Itunes or her podcast site. You don't need an Ipod to listen, you can just download onto your computer and listen.

Sharon has a thing for felted bags, just like I do, and it's been great having a chance to get to know her a little bit, and I'm looking forward to knowing her better.

Aren't we living in an amazing time? A time when we can reach out across states and countries and meet other people who are more like us than we realize? And then to become friends with them, helping one another along the way? Just goes to show you that we are creatures that crave interaction. It's what we were built for, and even as our world becomes more and more modernized, mechanized, and computerized, we find ways to use all that to create and nurture relationships.

Anyway, check out Sharon and her podcast, and if you think you might be interested in Ravelry, check that out too. And when you get there, look me up. I'm always pretty easy to find.

Have a great day!

Wave your Stars and Stripes!

You can fly your colors with my new bag design, and if you knit fast . . . even by the 4th!

Here's a bag I designed for the July bag of the month at the Yahoo Bag-a-holics group. The pattern is available for purchase at my website Shopping Page. The cost is $4 for the PDF version, which will be e-mailed to you upon payment.

Socks for Sale . . .

OK, so here's my very first ever for-sale-to-the-public sock pattern. It's called Flambeau, and I hope you'll like it. Here's a photo of the sock, knit in Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Cotton, a blend of bamboo, cotton, and elastic. The pattern requires 3 balls of Panda Cotton, or 390 yards of fingering weight yarn for a ladies size US 7.5 (ladies medium).

If you'd like to order the pattern, please visit the Shopping Page of my website. The pattern costs $5 and will be e-mailed to you in PDF format.

What a Trip!

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. It hasn't been because I didn't want to . . . it's just been. . . well . . . . frenetic.

June 20 through 25, we were in San Francisco where I had meetings with both Bare Escentuals and with Crystal Palace Yarns. You can read all about the Bare Escentuals part of the trip in my post at BE Addicts Forum in this posting. It was an amazing trip and we were treated like royalty.

The CPY part of the trip was just as productive. As many of you know, I've been designing projects for Crystal Palace since the spring of 2006. The week before we went out there, I found out about a huge new project for which they want me to design some bags. So, I got busy and ended up taking 12 completed projects out to Susan. Some of them are the regular projects for free download on their website, and the rest were for the new project. I'll tell more about that when there's more definite information on the final details.

While we were there, we got a chance to go to Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39. We took the kids to the aquarium there and they got to pet some fish. They had a great time, and we also got to see some sea lions, ride the carousel, and just enjoy the fantastic weather.

It was a hectic 5 days, but the travel went as well as it can when you are traveling with 3 kids (2 of whom are smack in the middle of potty training). We're glad to be home, and I'm still trying to catch up and make the house look like the luggage didn't throw up all over it.

On my knitting needles, or should I say just off the needles, is a new sock design that I think I'm going to offer for sale. Be watching for more particulars about how to order either a download or a hard copy of my new design called "Flambeau" using Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Cotton sock yarn.

Next for the needles? I'm not sure yet. I'm waiting for a box of yarn to arrive from CPY, and that'll give me all the raw materials I need to do several more bag projects for them. I guess I'd better get myself down to business sketching them out, huh?

What a week . . .

Man alive, what a week! The small church we've attended since it started up 3 years ago imploded. What a mess. We chose to remove ourselves from the fray and asked to have our names erased from the member roster. On to something new now and hopefully less volatile.

Duncan's kindergarten graduation was on Tuesday. Look how handsome he is in his little cap and gown!


And then I got a lot of work done on my Crystal Palace projects. I finished up the third of three and it's blocking dry, and all that is left to do on the projects is the finishing work. I also worked up another that's in the machine felting right now. It's part of a special new project I'm doing with CPY that'll launch this fall. More about that when I have more details and can release the information.


Book sales seemed to pick up a bit this month so far, maybe as a result of TNNA in Columbus. CPY took several of my bags with them to display in their booth, and they also are promoting my books. They have them available to sell to local yarn shops and online stores that purchase their yarns, and so they give the books a great boost whenever they set up a booth at one of these conventions.


CPY has some luscious new colors coming out in their Fjord and Iceland yarns, and a new bulky weight yarn called Kaya which is like their Taos yarn, only double in weight. I'm working up something with it now in a gorgeous colorway.


It's good to be back in the CPY saddle again after having several months off while I was getting my book launched and getting some other things caught up. I think having my yarns and stuff organized, visible, and easy to access has been a big motivator for me to start designing some new things to make with all those yarns.


So, here we are at the beginning of a new week. It has to be calmer than last week . . . . right?

I've been busy, oh so busy . . .

It's been a busy couple of days since my last blog entry. Yesterday was Abby's birthday, and so we celebrated last night with cake and presents, just the five of us at home. Here's birthday girl blowing out her candles. She was having a "Shirt Optional" kind of day.


The last several days, I've been working on getting my new yarn studio in shape, and I'm almost done with that. There are still a few of Art's things in there, but they are slowly but surely being moved down to his shop in the basement. I still need to put another couple of smaller shelving units in the room (after he gets his stuff out), put the stuff on them and then I'll be done.


I've been spending time reorganizing my yarn and stuff as well. Here are a few photos of the work in progress. This photo shows 8 feet of shelving along one of the walls. The yarn supplies are there, as well as some laser paper, envelopes, and other miscellaneous office and mailing supplies. I totally love these mesh baskets. I just can't get enough of them. Also, I'd love to find just the right size bookcase so I could put it in the room as well to hold my collection of knitting books.


The next photo shows the view as you enter the area. The desk, computer,and printers will stay, but you can see I've commandeered the file cabinets and drawer storage for my knitting goods. The former owners used this room as a guest bedroom, and it has an attached half bath. We've always used this room as a home office. The space is about 12' x 12'.





This shot shows the cedar closet. At first, I thought I'd use it for yarn storage, but I decided I'd rather have my yarn in plain sight than any more office supplies.

Next, you see how I've sorted and labeled my yarns. If you can't see it clearly, this tag, which I tied onto the mesh with yarn (appropriately enough) says, "CPY" in the blue section, with "Fjord" in the top orange block and "Solid and Print" in the bottom orange block. Aren't those yarn balls pretty?




Here's another shot of some miscellaneous felting wools.




So, I'm pleased with how this is all shaping up.




On my needles, I'm an inch or so away from beginning the heel on my newest sock design, which is toe up. Still working on the Candle Flame shawl as well.




I haven't managed to knit very much the last couple of days. But I did manage to get a glorious nap in this afternoon. Art took all the kids out today for several hours, and so I hunkered down for a 2 hour nap. After that, I plugged into my Ipod for some knitting podcasts and worked some more on my knitting studio organization. It was a great and productive day.



To cap off the day, I fried up a bunch of chicken . . . some for us for dinner, and some for tomorrow for a wedding shower/potluck luncheon for a friend. Art picked up breasts and thighs while he was out (both boneless). Very, very tasty!



So, that's the news from here. Stay tuned for more adventures!

I guess I wasn't running fast enough . . .

Because Jules tagged me and I'm it! OK, here are 8 random facts about myself that you may not know (depending upon, of course, from which context you know me)!

1. I'm the oldest of five siblings, married to the oldest of five siblings. We each have 3 sisters and 1 brother.
2. In 1974, I and my four sisters turned our birthdate age on our birthdays. I was 18 on January 18. Annette was 9 on July 9. Sissel was 7 on November 7. Kim was 3 on May 3.
3. I didn't knit for 40 years after I taught myself to do it. Then I took it up and started designing stuff.
4. I used to teach puppy kindergarten.
5. I used to be a part time court reporter in a law firm.
6. I once shared a table in a Japanese restaurant with the now deceased actor, Jim Varney. I once sat on an airplane next to actress Gina Hecht. I waited at a Chicago street corner once for a light change next to David Morse and his dog.
7. I can't stand yard sales. They give me the creeps.
8. My family are 3-generation funeral directors. My mother and grandmother are both licensed directors, as is my brother, and as were my father and grandfather.

So there!

Socks and School and Sneezy Noses

Thank you to everyone who has written to me to say how much you like my Bella Catena Italiana socks. I'm already working on a new sock design, a toe up pair which I've cast on already. I've charted it out, swatched to see how the design plays, and now I'm just getting into it to see if it emerges from the needles as I see it in my head. This is definitely a challenge.

I really admire those who can design socks in a way that seems so effortless, and which result in such beautiful work. And then write a pattern that is coherent, correct, and also covers a multitude of feet. My socks are off to all you talented designers! I'm SOOOOOO not worthy! Oh sure, I kind of know my way around a felted purse, but socks! That's a different knitting skill set altogether.

School is quickly winding down here in northeast Michigan. Duncan has tomorrow, then a field trip on Thursday, another day in class on Friday, then Monday will be another field trip, followed up by kindergarten graduation on Tuesday. Quiet knitting time may become quite an elusive thing around here after that.

The girls have had some allergy symptoms the last several days. The pollen count here has been really high this spring, and it seems like allergies have been at an all-time record worst. We're going through tissues at a rate which would certainly please the makers of Puffs Plus.

Abby is having her third birthday on Friday, and so I need to get geared up for a birthday cake and a couple of gifts for her. She's been going around telling me "It's not my bir-day yet. My bir-day Goon fust."

Which rapidly approaches.

Well, back to those toe ups!

Bella Catena Italiana

Just a quick note to let you know that the sock pattern is now ready for download. Here is the PDF pattern for Bella Catena Italiana.



Enjoy!

Pretty, pretty socks . . .

Well, I've just finished my latest pair of socks using the Italian Chain Rib stitch. So pretty and feminine, and the lacy rib is so stretchy. I did a plain stockinette stitch heel flap so there would be nothing to distract from the beauty of the stitch pattern. Here's a photo of the completed socks. I'll work up the pattern and post a note about it here in a day or two letting you know where you can download it, if you like.

Now, it's on to work on the Candle Flame Shawl from my sock yarn remnants.

We're having a lazy Memorial Day holiday here. Art and Duncan just got back from a little tennis game, and the girls are just about ready for naptime. My next adventure involves working a bit more on the "clean out the office closet" project. I'd like to get that done today. Maybe.

Happy Memorial Day to all!

Squirrel Cuisine

If I'm going to get a blog entry done today at all, I need to do it now, don't I? It was a good day today, and a busy one.

I met some friends for lunch today. What a good time. I met two new ladies who came along, and so we were 6 all together. Lots of laughing, lots of other talking of things of more import. And sweet potato fries. What fun! I'm always amazed when you get a few women together and begin hearing about their dreams, experiences, and talents. It always strikes me that women together, combining their gifts, become a power with which to be reckoned.

Of course, it's not like you can just up and run out the door when you are an old woman with young children. It's a logistical exercise of military proportions just planning how to get bathed and then made up. I did manage to shower and wash my hair before the girls got up this morning. And then after their breakfast, I plunked them in my bathtub while I put on my face and clothes. Even so, it took from 7 this morning to 10:30 to get the three of us in shape to exit the house and drive the 45 minutes to (first) Grandma's for a drop off and then to the place where we met for lunch.

I did manage to squeeze in a trip to Wal-mart to stock up on some summer clothes for the girls before I needed to pick them up and head back north to get Duncan from Kindergarten.

It was a beautiful day today. After yesterday's heat, today was a breath of cool, fresh air. Sunny and in the 60s mostly.

I got a few more rounds done on my socks today, but nothing to write home about. My June TSV from BE arrived today. Cute, cute, cute bag. I can't wait to get a chance to try out the colors in the kit.

Tonight at dinner, Abby told me that big girls don't eat squirrels. Emma told me that she DOES, in fact, eat squirrels. And Emma also says that squirrels eat lady bugs. Duncan asked me what squirrels taste like. I told him, "Chicken."

I've got to keep a closer eye on those three!

Italian Chain Rib Sock Update

I thought I'd take just a minute to pop in and post a photo of my socks. The heels are turned and I'm headed down the foot through the gusset decreases. This photo illustrates how stretchy the stitch pattern is. These socks are being knit with #1 needles on 60 stitches from Opal solid sock yarn. I'm getting about 12 rpi and 10 spi for gauge in stockinette in the round.

More later!

Quiet time . . .


All the kids in bed, and finally asleep. Quiet. A glass of wine. Time to catch up on some DVR'd programs which have gone unwatched until this chance.

ahhhhhh!

It was a pretty productive day. Lots of laundry is fresh and clean and put away. I got a chance to make some progress on my socks -- I'm ready to turn the heels. And I was able to begin culling through some things in our home office to donate to Duncan's school. Office supplies that seemed like a good thing at the time, but have gone unused. The school will be able to use them.

The home office is one that we've used for our business since we moved in here twelve years ago. Art fixed himself up a place in one of the basement rooms a few months back -- computer work benches and all the gizmos he needs for the business (it looks like the console of the USS Enterprise down there. I think it actually glows in the dark.) -- and moved some of his stuff down there. And said the home office would make a great knitting studio for me. And he'd be moved out of it by December. And it will make a great space for my knitting/book stuff if I can ever get the rest of his stuff evicted. Today was the first attempt at that.

In that room is a large cedar closet the former owners built and used for storing winter clothing and I think some furs. We had floor to ceiling shelves built into it when we decided to turn that former guest room into an office, and so once I can get them cleared of the things that are in there, it'll make great yarn storage. I'm excited at the prospect.

So, tomorrow is the day the housecleaner comes. After a year, I still have mixed feelings about it. Love, love, love the clean house at the end of the day. Guilt, guilt, guilt over not doing it myself. Note to self: get over it. And on Friday, a nice lunch planned with some friends while the girls visit Grandma for a bit. I'm looking forward to that.

I also got a chance today to do a little online yarn shopping, amid all the other stuff. I picked up some things from The Loopy Ewe. Some Claudia Handpainted, some Schaefer Anne, and some Louet. I've never knit with any of those three, or even seen them in person, so I'm eager to get my hands on them. And, I ordered a few patterns from Cookie A's site. What a pleasure to be able to order them, download them, and get that instant gratification. I really enjoy knitting Cookie's patterns. She's a gifted sock designer. I've done her Monkey socks, the Baudelaires, and the pattern she did for one of the Socks That Rock monthly club installments last year.

I can't even imagine being able to design socks like hers.

And on that thought . . . back to the peace and quiet at the end of the day. Cheers!

Heroes . . .

Did you catch the season finale of Heroes on NBC last night? What a phenomenal way to end the season. I thought it was a great blend of resolving the immediate issue of the explosion while leaving so many open possibilities for future season episodes. My thoughts about this turn to questions that are just tickling my brain with anticipation for next fall's new episode.

1. Molly mentioned a person who she didn't know how to find. She said he wasn't like the bogeyman, but that he could see her. Who is this person?
2. Could that person be Charles, who could see Peter when he went back to re-visit his first day on the job with him and saw his mother speaking with Charles?
3. Charles spoke of the importance of love, and of course in the end we see it was Nathan and Peter's love for each other that brought about the solution to the explosion issue. Does Charles know something about Peter's background and history that we don't know yet and which explains more about the Peter/Sylar issue?
4. Such as, my favorite pet theory, that Peter and Sylar are fraternal twins separated at birth, and epitomize good and evil in the world?
5. Notice how Charles told Peter as he was wheeling him into the apartment, "Call me Charles"? and how Mr. Bennet told him toward the end of the show, "Call me Noah"?
6. Is there a spiritual/biblical analogy to be drawn by the Noah reference, as in Noah Bennet is the modern day Noah who brings the heroes through worldwide destruction in order to cleanse the world of evil and start fresh?
7. And what is up with Mama Petrelli? What an evil old crone she's turning out to be . . . or is she?
8. Is Sylar really well and truly dead? What was with all the stuff flashing in his eyes as he expired?
9. And what about the explosion in the sky? Peter can regenerate. Nathan can fly. Could Nathan have take Peter up far enough, then flown away to a safe distance before the explosion? I believe we'll be seeing them again. Do you?
10. And last but not least . . . Hiro in 1600's Japan, the one army gathered to one side, the lone samurai on the other, the solar eclipse . . . are we about to learn that his father, Mr. Nakamura, is the ancient samurai Kensei?

What a lot to ponder, huh?

So, I didn't get a whole lot of knitting done yesterday. I did a bit more on the shawl, maybe another pattern repeat or two, and did a solitary round on my socks. Maybe today will be a better knitting day.

Duncan has only 9 more days of school, and then summer vacation begins. That brings a whole new dynamic back into the household. The girls are accustomed to having things go their way and according to their schedule, and they have gotten to like it that way. With Duncan home all day, I'm curious to see what that does to their little routine.

Speaking of the girls, Emma has discovered the ability to poop for M&Ms. What a breakthrough! Two of those tiny little M&M minis is sufficient motivation for her to "go big stinky" in the potty. Hallelujah, since two year old poop just isn't cute any more!

It's another pretty day here, with sunshine and clear skies and temperatures that will probably be in the 70s. That's a warm day in northern Michigan. Summer is that few days in mid-July when the temperature may reach into the 90s. Other than that, it's pretty much like this. Of course, we have been known to need the gas logs running on July 4th before. You just never know.

I noticed this morning that sonny-boy is out of clean socks, so I see a load of laundry in my future, probably several loads of laundry. Abby just zinged through here clutching some Bob the Builder goggles, with Emma hot on her tail screaming, "Mine! Mine!" Yet another opportunity in the never ending instruction that if you want something, "Ask her politely to give it to you."

Where is that Hero with the power to impart peace and calm when you need him?

And so it begins . . .

both my day and my blog. I'm an old woman with young children and the start of this day pretty well sums that up. It's Boniva day. Got to protect my aging bones. And then there's potty training the girls -- our two 2 year olds -- Abby and Emma. Well, Abby is going to be 3 in a couple of weeks. Emma won't turn 3 until November.

Boniva and potty training. The parentheses around the rest of my day today.

I'm not sure what the day, or this blog will bring. My life has been unpredictable in its entirety so far. I'm going to do some knitting. I'm going to eat breakfast as soon as my "wait an hour after Boniva" sentence is up. I'm going to pick up our son Duncan at kindergarten this afternoon. Oooh, the Schwan's guy comes today . . . time to stock up the freezer.

So for knitting, I have a couple of things going right now, and a few more things I really need to be doing for Crystal Palace Yarns. I cast on some socks for myself. I love knitting socks. I love wearing handknit socks. After the first pair I made for myself a bit less than two years ago, I started designing my own. This particular pair is based on the Italian Chain Stitch from one of Barbara Walker's books. The shawl is the Candle Flame Shawl that I'm knitting from my sock yarn remnants. I love my sock yarns so much I can't bear to part with even the remnants, and so I decided to knit a shawl for myself using up what I've got from the many pair I've done. I'll probably have enough to make more than one project from these pretty little odds and ends.

OK, time's up and off for breakfast.