Rose Is a Rose

Clothes for a cutie pie

2012-02-23T15:18:00.001-08:00

Just look at that face! This is my 6-month old niece, Violet. She has the (mis)fortune of having a craft-crazy aunt, and there's nothing like a baby to motivate you to make something. If one can't knit, then one sews: I've made Violet two quilts, and now she's getting some clothes as well.

This dress is the same pattern as my daughter's, but in a much smaller size and with an added waistband. I sewed the band directly on the main fabric, but the stretch stitch on my machine doesn't make a very nice topstitch (and is almost impossible to rip out!), so a better plan would have been to cut the main fabric and sew the band in with the seams on the wrong side.

Sewing with knit fabric, I still have trouble making the hem neat on the underside, but at least it looks OK on the right side. I found the interlock fabric at JoAnn's. Pickings for knit fabric are pretty slim compared to all the cute quilting prints out there, but between JoAnn's and scouring the internet, I've found a few nice designs.

I used leftover Moda knit fabric for a summer top with a heart applique:

And finally some button-down pajamas--I decided to branch out and learn how to set in a collar, sleeves, and make buttonholes all at once! Learning and practicing these skills on a tiny size was handy, in retrospect. I used the patterns for Kai's shirt and the Huck Finn pants from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing book (note the Huck Finn pants pattern seems to have the pieces mislabeled; I read this in the Flickr group), modifying a little to get what I guesstimate to be a 12-18 month size. Luckily pajamas don't need an exact fit! And the buttonholes went a lot smoother than I thought they would. The fabric is Far Far Away from Heather Ross and is a dream to work with. It's a linen/cotton blend and becomes nice and drapey after washing. I think I'll have to make myself some pj's with this fabric.

And lastly, some sewing for me:

I finished this Kindle cover a couple weeks ago and just got around to taking pictures. The pattern is this one from Clotilde.

Sewing up a storm

2012-02-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

Most of my crafting time has gone into sewing lately. After making bags I decided I should try other more complicated sewing projects, like clothes for instance. Also, I still get a lot of wrist and shoulder pain from knitting or crocheting, so I've kind of given up on making yarny FO's for a while, and I have to settle for knitting mostly swatches for designs.

Anyhow, I found some Moda knit fabric at the local quilt shop on clearance, so I decided to give knit clothing a try (sometimes being a newbie makes one brave, if one is not aware of the potential dangers). My daughter loves dresses but only knit ones (and I dislike ironing clothing), so that was where I started.

I used Penny, a simple knits pattern by Patty Young. I added contrast trim to the sleeves as well as the neck, and a pocket too (so it wouldn't look like a nightgown, according to my daughter). My sewing machine has a stretch stitch and a finishing stitch for edges (yes, I am serger-less), and the seaming went OK for the most part. I found the hem to be tricky, but at least knit fabric is forgiving at times, and no one will see the underside of my rather awful hem job.

The harrowing hemming experience did not turn me off from sewing with knits, so today I actually finished some matching leggings in the orange print, which I didn't bother to photograph. (note to self: don't spend too much time making leggings. They are rather boring and it's simpler to buy several pairs in solid colors for matching.)

I do plan on buying a twin needle soon, so hopefully I will make better looking hems. This and lots of useful tips for sewing with knits are gathered here at Made by Rae.

Last week I continued my Amy Butler bag kick with the Teardrop Bag from her book, Style Stitches. I used Midwest Modern fabric for the body and some Michael Miller gray print for the handles.

The lining is from Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line (such a gorgeous collection! I am planning at least one more bag with Echo fabric).

I love the look of this bag, but unfortunately it doesn't hold a lot. I am thinking of remaking one with gussets at the lower half, so I can cram more stuff into it.

Scrappy Goodness

2012-02-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

I finished a quilt this week! Every time I get to the assembly and binding part, I wonder why I torture myself making unwieldy quilts. But after it's all done I know why!

This is a scrappy quilt that I am joining to Rachel Hauser's Scrap Attack! quilt-along. I started it last November, but after the piecing was done I, um, procrastinated on the assembly and binding for a while.

I love the yellow background. Yellow seems to be one of my favorite colors to put in quilts.

The final size is roughly 43 x 64 inches, so it's a smallish throw. I think this baby will brighten our living room considerably!

Bag Love

2012-02-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

In the last week and a half I have gotten into bag making. I confess I am somewhat of a bag fiend (OK, maybe more than somewhat. I do own quite a few bags in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but who's counting?). I usually carry high quality leather bags, but I finally decided to try to make some with fabric. I had a copy of Anna Maria Horner's book, Seams to Me, from the library and decided to make the Taxi Tote. It turned out pretty well. I used two prints from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection and a vintage button I found on etsy some time ago.

Even though I used heavy-weight interfacing (Pellon Decor Bond), the bag doesn't hold its shape that well once it has stuff in it. It turns more into a slouchy hobo that looks kind of sloppy because the cut proportions make it more of an east-west (wider) bag. I suppose it's not possible for fabric bags to be very structured, so next time I will consider the overall shape of a bag more carefully before making it. I tried putting in a fake bottom made of fabric-covered plastic canvas, but the body still slouches and loses the nice, sleek shape that it has in the book picture (they must have used a special purse insert to make it hang from the model so nicely!). But it still makes a nice bag for casual outings with the kids--it's easy to throw stuff in and it holds a fair amount.

Here you can see the lining and inside pocket:

After finishing this relatively simple bag (although not simple at the time that I made it!), I had enough gumption to buy Amy Butler's book, Style Stitches, and make the Cosmo bag shown on the cover. I got the book from Amazon in one day, and being impatient to start, grabbed whatever fabric I had stash in the appropriate yardage (it needs over one yard each for the exterior, contrast fabric, and lining cuts). The fabric I used is from Robert Kaufmann's Imperial Fusions line and its beauty is hard to capture on camera; it has little gold threads in it that add shine and depth to the color. Originally I had intended to make fabric shades from it, but right now making bags trumps home decor.

So I finished the bag several days ago, then had to put it away for a bit before sewing on the button last night. This is one involved project! After 7-8 hours of intense cutting and sewing I kind of didn't want to look at it for a while. But now I love it again.
It has a lot of nifty details:

This is one gigantic bag. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to use it for, although I sized the pockets with knitting in mind. One side has a pocket big enough to hold a pattern or magazine; the other side has several smaller pockets for needles and such.
I found the button at a local quilting shop.

Linked to crazymomquilts Finish It Up Friday.

A new shawl collection: Archi-Textural

2012-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

Last week I released Lattice on Ravelry, a new textured shawl pattern. Lattice features an all-over sculptural diamond pattern with a knot stitch band border. It is worked in worsted weight yarn and has 2 sizes written, although like most of my top-down shawls, this one is very customizable. Extra rows can be added to either the diamond or border sections.

This gorgeous sample was knit by CatReading and used 2 skeins of The Sanguine Gryphon Codex (unfortunately discontinued at this point, but rumored to be on the list of potential yarns to be carried by the new Cephalopod Yarns). Other fitting single-ply yarns would be madelinetosh merino or dk merino, and I especially like this stitch pattern in the Fibre Company Terra, used to make my swatch.

Lattice is the first of my new shawl collection, Archi-Textural, a set of 4 patterns for textured shawls to be released between January and May of this year. You can buy the entire collection here on Ravelry, and updates will be sent out every time a new pattern is added.

A bit late

2012-01-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

How late is too late to talk about gifts you made for the holidays? Well, don't answer that because I probably passed too late already. I don't have any other electronic record of sewing projects besides this blog (as far as I know, there is no Sewery or Quiltery site), so I am going to post these gifts even though it is, ahem, a bit late.

I made a very easy flannel throw for my MIL using 1.5 yd panels. It is basically the same construction as the flannel baby quilt for my niece. Although, this time I cut the double fold flannel binding extra wide (2.75 inches), to make it easier to manipulate all those flannel layers, plus batting. Why not use plain cotton or voile binding, you might ask. Well I didn't preshrink, and I didn't want to run the risk of uneven shrinking with different types of fabrics. I have been burned by that before.
The fabric is Amy Butler Love (the roses) and Valorie Wells Bliss (the birds)

I also made some gifts for my children's teachers: an owl inspired by Rachel Hauser's, and some zip pouches using Joel Dewberry's Aviary (don't you just love, love, love the birds! I want a yard in every color!).

OK, now I can really put the holidays behind me and move on.

Finishing the Plucky Knitter Series

2012-01-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

My first released pattern for 2012 is the last of the Plucky Knitter Series. Barbara W. is now available on Ravelry. This is a cozy top-down triangle with lots of texture, inspired by the wonderful myriad stitch patterns in Barbara Walker's Treasuries of Knitting Patterns.

Sample worked in Primo Worsted, color Emerald City, by wovenhand

The pattern pdf has 2 sizes depending on the yarn you use--The Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted makes a "medium" size (about 52-54" wingspan), while the aran weight Plucky Knitter Rustic yarn makes the "large" (about 60" wingspan). Both sizes use 600 yards of either yarn. You can also make a custom size by adding more repeats in whatever yarn you choose.

Sample worked in Primo Worsted, color Chinos, by sabinaknits

Sarah, The Plucky Knitter, is having a rolling update this Friday in her etsy shop. Included in her update will be pre-orders of 3-skein sets of lovely Plucky yarn to make this shawl. Find more details in her Ravelry group. She is even open to color requests made in the "Update Chatter" thread!

Coziness for Winter

2011-12-09T06:28:00.000-08:00

We had our first real dusting of snow last night; everything is covered with about 1/2 inch of downy, sugary white. It's very picturesque; too bad it lasts for the next 3-4 months. (I do appreciate winter, just not when seems to stretch on forever, as it often does here.)

One thing I love about cold weather is working on coziness. Now it's finally time for fluffy wool single-ply yarns and flannel fabrics. I've been swatching for some new patterns I hope to put out early next year. The first swatch is in Terra (alpaca, wool, silk) from The Fibre Company, in Black Walnut.

This is my first time working with this yarn, and it's simply dreamy in my fingers. Very warm, though, so I imagine a garment or shawl made from Terra would be mostly for the dead of winter.

Next is a swatch of madelinetosh Merino in Isadora, a lovely deep rose pink. The yarn is a little thinner than Terra and 100% merino; it's wonderful for cold weather knits (case in point--the Unique Melody wrap sample, knit in the same yarn).

These yarns are super for textured knits, so stay tuned for some very cozy, very woolly shawl patterns to come.

I've also been doing some cozy sewing. My sister was in town for a week after my mother passed away, and she needed some warmer baby blankets for her 4-month old daughter. I dug up some from the attic but also couldn't resist whipping up a quick flannel quilt.

I used Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi and Folksy Flannels. One yard each of two different prints, with binding from a third. No piecing made the blanket super simple. After debating on how thick I wanted it, I decided to put batting inside to make it extra warm, and did straight line quilting in a contrasting plum color. The flannel binding was a little hard to sew on because it was so thick, so next time I will cut it wider (this was a single-fold binding from 2-inch wide strips) or use a thinner fabric (although I suppose that would require pre-shrinking, if the fabrics are not all the same type).

Note to self: not everyone is into these giant modern floral print fabrics, as we quilt-enthusiasts are. My sister admitted she thought the yellow print was kind of loud and eccentric (that's the one I liked better!). Good thing there are two different sides.

Yet still thankful

2011-11-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

I lost my mom to metastatic cancer on November 18. Her funeral was yesterday.
It has been a bitter Thanksgiving this year, but I still have things to be thankful about. I am thankful I was able to travel with my kids to see her right before she passed away. I am thankful I could be there at her side at the end. I am thankful she is no longer suffering and is with God. I am thankful for my loving family that is drawn closer at this time, and there is no bickering among us. I am thankful that she was loved by many and that several hundred people came to pay their last respects. I am thankful that the funeral was an appropriate tribute to the kind, generous, and caring person that she was.

I am thankful I have a crafting room in which to cocoon myself this coming week, because I really need it.

A Super Easy Baby Quilt and a Pattern Sale

2011-11-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Last month I made a super easy baby quilt for a friend's first baby. I gave it to her recently at her shower, so I can reveal the quilt now (please excuse the wrinkles; I don't know why the pics make it look so wrinkly, but I was in a hurry to take pics before I had to wrap it):

The construction of the quilt is based off of Joelle Hoverson's baby quilt in her book, Last Minute Patchwork Gifts. I used Birch Fabrics Storyboek from PurlSoho. It is organic cotton and rather expensive, but I couldn't resist the cuteness of the whales (I was, however, able to resist titling this post "A Whale of a Quilt", nyuk nyuk). I bought 1/2 yd of the gray and blue whale prints, and 1/4 yd of the dotted print.

The blue piece I left whole, then I cut the other pieces from selvage to selvage and reassembled them for an asymmetrical mod look (the gray was cut into 7- and 11-inch pieces; the dots into 3- and 6-inch pieces). I used one dots piece for the back, combined with some gray Kona cotton and a sliver of yellow Kona I had leftover from another project. The quilt was put together with right sides together then flipped, so there is no binding. The size ended up about 42" square.

For the quilting part, I used a satin stitch placed over some of the whales' spouts. It's not that visible on the front, but it makes a neat staggered pattern on the back.

I love the overall look--funky and modern and cute all at the same time, and this cotton is incredibly soft. And I really like yellow with gray these days. Not bad for a few slices of 1.25 yards of cute fabric. It was hard to give this one away!

*******

On another note, Thanksgiving is coming up. Thanksgiving is my most favoritest holiday of the year. Yummy food and good times. No pressures with gift-giving, no intended emphasis on blatant materialism (that is, if you are like me and you try to ignore the chaos and inanity of Black Friday). And the reminder to think about everything we have to be thankful for: food on the table, clothes on our backs, the love and joy of family and friends.

I'm celebrating with a holiday sale in my Ravelry shop: use code "stuffing" to get 20% any pattern or ebook (ends Nov. 30). Stuffing is my favorite Thanksgiving side!

And lastly but not least, if you missed The Plucky Knitter's update on Sunday, there will be another chance to buy the Norah G. kit pattern with yarn. Sarah had some trouble with her new shop--too many eager yarnies crashed her site as soon as the update started! Things are more in order now and she will be offering the kit again with other yarns in a soon-to-be-announced update. Watch The Plucky Knitter Group on Ravelry, or follow Sarah on facebook for details.

Continuing the Plucky Knitter Series

2011-11-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

Remember this scarf pattern, which I called "Elizabeth Z."? That pattern was the first of 3 in an accessory series I am designing in collaboration with Sarah, The Plucky Knitter. The next pattern in the series is now ready! Presenting "Norah G.":

Sarah has been working feverishly on her own nifty shop site, and it's set to go live with its first full update at 8 pm EST tomorrow, Sunday Nov. 13. Norah G. will be for sale in kit form. The kit will contain a hard copy of the pattern and 2 skeins of luscious Plucky Primo Worsted (a sturdy blend of merino, cashmere, and nylon). For now, this pattern is exclusive to the Plucky Knitter shop (it will be available for general sale on Ravelry after several months).

Sarah will be offering her kits in 8-10 of her gorgeous, vibrant colors, so don't miss this update! The pattern has instructions for a cowl or infinity scarf, worked in a fun and easy textured lace stitch.

Below is a sampling of Plucky Knitter yarns, and don't forget to join her group on Ravelry to get the latest news and pictures of new and available colorways (check out the Update Chatter Thread, where Sarah often posts preview pics).

Friday FO's

2011-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for their kind notes and comments this week. I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers.

I've been sewing a lot, as a way to escape from brooding. I finished a couple small projects from the book, One Yard Wonders, which is a great and fun book; I highly recommend it for beginners like me.

Yesterday I finished this organizer tray from the book. It's made with a tricky origami approach. There's actually not much sewing involved. It's mostly cutting, measuring and marking, then folding interfacing and fabric precisely, which was a good exercise for me. Add a few straight seams and a few more folds and tucks, then voila! A multi-compartment box appears.

I used a remnant of Amy Butler fabric that was serendipitously just the right minimum size (a little over 30"), and I think it turned out pretty well. I do love pumpkin shades, and this print is so eye-catching.

Today I finished the Flyaway Jacket for my sister's 2-month-old baby using Hello Kitty flannel from JoAnn's. Making the jacket actually went faster than the organizer, since there is only one major piece to cut, and I even made my own binding with some red Moda fabric I had.

This was my first foray into garments, and it was quite fun. I think I'll be making a lot more of these. It's just so cute and fast! I was nervous about sewing the binding around the curves and neck, but I used a lot of pins and a couple small binder clips (these are great for holding binding on, something I learned from binding quilts) and it went OK.

Call me weird, but I actually like making my own binding. I cut 2" strips and use one of those little double-fold tapemakers from Clover. It's a quick and simple process, and any unevenness in my joining seams is hidden inside the folds. Making my own binding makes me feel like a semi-accomplished sewist/quilter--yes I can actually do this! Ha.

Linked to finish it up Friday at crazymomquilts

Life: Saying Goodbye

2011-10-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

Last week my mother was discharged from the hospital to home hospice care. She has had metastatic carcinoid tumor for almost 4 years, and now is the time there is nothing more to be done. Her doctor advised for her to be at home and for the family to come together to be with her for her remaining weeks.

I flew out to see her and stayed for 5 days. I brought her quilt with me. I had washed it several days before, and the back shrank several inches more than the front, making the edges curl under dramatically and causing me a lot of consternation. Right before I found out I should leave, I decided to cut lengthwise slits in the back to relieve the tension and then sew patches over the slits. Since I had given up on the straight line quilting, the back is tacked on only in a few places, so a couple well-placed slits would let the back lie flat. This would avoid taking the binding and layers apart, and the plan ended up being the only practical solution in a short amount of time. Fortunately, it worked. I took fabric and supplies with me and patched the quilt at her house, in time to give it to her the second or third day I was there. I think she likes it, and it is the most colorful object in her room. She sleeps most of the time now and I am not sure how aware she is of her circumstances, but at least she can see the quilt when she wakes up and know that I made it for her.

I couldn't predict how I would take the traveling, physically, but though I've been very tired since returning, I do not think I will have a major fatigue crash like I did after our 3-day trip in March (crash = being laid up for days or weeks).

I have a lot of feeling but not many thoughts I want to record here. In the end, I do not have too much to say aloud. I am losing my mom, and it hurts. We were close, although not in a best-friend, share-your-thoughts kind of way. She has always loved me and tried her best to take care of me in the ways she knew how. Thank you, Mom. I will miss you.

A Quilt for My Mother, to Celebrate Color

2011-10-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished a throw-sized quilt for my mother. She has a chronic debilitating illness and has been feeling especially poor lately; I hope this colorful quilt will cheer her up.

This is my entry for the Celebrate Color event, hosted by Rachel from Stitched in Color. I found Rachel's blog only recently via a forum post on Ravelry and have really been enjoying the quilting and sewing inspiration.

Being still new to quilting, I planned a simple log cabin quilt with 5" charms and 2.5" strips pieced into 12.5" blocks. I love log cabining because the strips can be cut as you go. Lighter blue is one of my mom's favorite colors, so I built the colors of the quilt around that. I knew I wanted yellow or gold to go with blue, and plum or purple as well. I used the blues and warm colors from Kate Spain's Fandango collection, and I found a nice collection of yellows in a jelly roll of Moda's Lily and Will (there is also a bit of orange from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection thrown in). The result is a cheerful mix of several fall colors, with a main contrast of turquoise/aquas and yellow (with brown bits), and accents of plum, red, and orange adding interest. The binding is a tonal stripe fabric in Plum from Moda and I think it makes a nice frame for the quilt. The backing is made of several half-yards of solid cotton in greens and blues.

The quilt was constructed with a "quilt as you go" (QAYG) method. I cut 13" squares of batting (great way to use up leftovers) and pieced each log cabin block directly onto the batting. I then sewed these squares together before attaching the backing.

Since the actual quilting part of making quilts is still quite a challenge for me, I was hoping the QAYG approach would save me from the frustration I had experienced so far, because with QAYG only a few seams are required to attach the backing. My ability to machine quilt is limited because manipulating the fabric is hard on my weak arms, and thus far I have resorted to tying, satin stitching bars, or simple straight line quilting. I thought a few straight lines along the batting seams would work for this quilt, but I ended up with a lot of dragging fabric and puckering mess, even with a walking foot. After reading the comments to this post from crazymomquilts, I realized "simple straight line quilting" is not so simple, especially on top of the bulky batting seams of this quilt (I had done SLQ before with a reqular quilt and it seemed OK). After ripping out a number of long straight seams, my backing was starting to appear slightly shredded, so I bailed on the SLQ and made inconspicous bar tacks instead. (Note to self: a solid color backing really shows any mistakes or unevenness you make in quilting).

Overall, despite the various frustrations with backing and binding and the uneven seams evident on closer inspection, I am really happy with the quilt, which is my first "complicated" one. I'm already planning my next two (or three or four) quilts. I told my husband that making quilts is like having a baby: it's really fun and exciting at first but then it can be quite challenging and even painful along the way. But once you gaze on the finished product, you want to do it all over again.

Alternate crafting, Part II--Sewing and Quilting

2011-10-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in this post, recently I've taken up other types of crafting besides working with yarn, as I still find the repetitive motion of knitting, crocheting, or weaving to be quite hard on my arm muscles. Even the needlepointing had its limits (the repetitive motion thing again). Enter sewing, which conveniently can be done with a machine. I started out by buying a relatively inexpensive and small crafting/mending machine from JoAnn's. I hadn't used a sewing machine since junior high school, and I was pretty nervous at first. Initially I made a few pouches and bags, including this monk's bag (this is a wip pic):

The main fabric is an owl corduroy print from JoAnn's, and the teal is a bit I found in the remnant bin (when first starting out, the remnant bin is a great place to find fabric safe for a project that might turn out totally screwed up). I used this tutorial from the Purl Bee blog, which is an amazing sewing resource, especially for total newbies like me! It was pretty awesome to be finishing projects, as sewing goes so fast.

Of course I had to get into quilting next. I got a lot of books from the library and browsed various blogs. I was ready to graduate from the remnant bin and trolled Etsy for fabric, settling on fat quarters of Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection in the Citrine palette and some Kona cotton in Charcoal to make my VERY FIRST quilt:

The pattern is modified from City View from the Connecting Threads website. I love this quilt! You can see quite a few imperfections, but I thought it was pretty good for a self-taught beginner. While working on this quilt, I busted out a vintage Singer Touch N Sew machine from the attic. The machine is from the 1970's and was what my mother-in-law used when my husband was growing up. She gifted the Singer to me after getting a new one about five years ago. Wow, the difference between the vintage Singer and the newer crafting/mending machine (which is also a Singer) is like night and day! The Touch N Sew is a real workhorse machine; it stitches smoothly and sturdily, and I think it purrs like a luxury car (I might even be addicted to its sound).

Of course, one can't stop at one quilt. Last month I also made a stacked coins quilt for my sister's new baby, using rainbow charms I found on Etsy, paired with Kona cotton:

The Touch N Sew has several embroidery stitches on it, including a cute duck which I thought would be great for a baby quilt. I used the ducks for the quilting part, playing around with different colored threads. In this picture, you can see a yellow duck on the left, a lime one on the right, and a set of purple ducks at the bottom:

So I'm ready to expand my blog into a general crafting blog. Knitting, crocheting, weaving, needlepoint, sewing, and quilting--bring it on!!

I'm also happy to report I've made pretty decent strides in gaining health over the last couple months. In August I started going back to my regular office, a true milestone indeed. I now go in to work several days a week for a couple hours at a time, which is my limit at this point, but it's only going to get better.

Malabrigo Stockpile Promotion in my Ravelry Store

2011-09-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

The Malabrigo Junkies on Ravelry are celebrating Malabrigo Stockpile in October, a month-long event for knitting gifts with Malabrigo. I am joining the festivities by offering 15% off everything in my Ravelry shop, including ebooks, with code “malstockpile”. The code works from now through Oct. 15. Now is the time to stockpile patterns and gifts!

More info about Mal Stockpile here. See all the Mal Stockpile sales and pitches in this thread.

From the Mal Junkies board:

"What is Stockpile?

Stockpile is the second big event on the Junkies calendar! In October, we focus on stockpiling handmade holiday gifts -- and yes, gifts for yourself totally count. After all, who is more Mal-worthy than you? There are some fun contests and ways to participate and enjoy spending time with Malabrigo this month."

Malabrigo makes so many yummy yarns which will work well with my patterns.

Cocoon Me Cowl and Shawlette (above) was written specifically for Mal worsted.

Mal worsted would also be great for Unique Melody (scarf version above), Facets Hat, Looking Glass Hat, and Flourish. Have fun browsing the shop and stockpiling your patterns!

New Pattern: Strands of Pearls

2011-09-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have a new shawl/cowl combo pattern available on Ravelry: Strands of Pearls.

This is a combo pattern with instructions for both a cowl/infinity scarf and for a shawl (3 sizes). Written instructions are used.

Description:
Contrasting stripes and slipped stitches provide visual and textural interest in these pieces. Work a cowl/infinity scarf or a top-down, narrow crescent shawl. Using vibrant or muted colors dramatically changes the mood of the finished piece. Samples are shown in heavy fingering/sport weight yarn, but any weight yarn may be used (adjust yardage accordingly). Skill level: Intermediate.

The Pearl Stripe stitch is fun to work and jazzes up the basic garter stitch stripe.

You can have lots of fun playing with the colors here. These samples use two colors, but you can easily add a third color for the stripes or border.

The mauve shawl use Twisted Fiber Arts Playful in Weimaraner for the main color and Squoosh Fiberarts MCN Fingering in Mocha Kiss for the contrast.
The blue cowl used two different vibrant colors of Squoosh Glow--Depth and Crystal.

My designs with beads, now available at Earthfaire

2011-08-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled that Ellen of Earthfaire found my patterns recently and asked to offer some in her shop, which specializes in bead creations. Of course, I agreed. At present she is selling hard copies of Into the Woods and Sugared Violets, and if you purchase yarn and pattern from Earthfaire, you will also receive enough beads to go with your project, for free.

Into the Woods was already written with beads included, and for her store I wrote a special addendum for Sugared Violets with instructions for adding beads to the lace section. The beaded Sugared Violets is modeled after this version made by moutons on Ravelry:

Soon there will be complete kits using my patterns at Earthfaire, so keep watching the site or sign up for the newsletter here.

An interview and a giveaway

2011-08-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

I had my first knitting interview last week! Kate from A Playful Day decided to interview me for her show, and the podcast aired today (click on the triangle button on her blog to start the podcast). In addition to hearing Kate's very cute accent, you can listen to her talk about wearing her Sugared Violets at Knit Nation, me talk about being a fiber addict since the age of 7, a few things that inspire me, as well as some thought-provoking discussion about the tumultuous riots which recently shook London, Kate's hometown.

I am also giving away 2 copies of the Be Mine Collection via A Playful Day--visit Kate's blog for details.

You can also catch a glimpse of the lovely Kate wearing her Sugared Violets (knit in a fantastic shade of greenish blue-gray) at Knit Nation in this video from Franklin Habit.

(Sort of) New Pattern: Sunflower Shawlette

2011-08-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Somehow I managed to forget to blog about my latest pattern, Sunflower Shawlette, which has been available on Ravelry for several weeks now.

This is another crescent shawlette with the same shaping as Crocus Shawl and And So Are You. The crescent shawls seem popular, don't they? Personally I love designing with the curving lines. The pattern was made in collaboration with Dee from Saffron Dyeworks, a wonderful dyer with an incredible eye for both richly saturated and layered hues. Sunflower was knit with Saffron Dyeworks' Mini Mica, a luscious 50/50 silk/merino blend, in a lovely tawny gold named Amber Stone. I think the color and lace floral mesh together produce an elegant vintage look.

The pattern has 2 different sizes, using 440 or 625 yds of fingering or sport-weight yarn. It can also be purchased together with Crocus Shawlette at a reduced price, in the e-booklet Silver and Gold. The two shawls make a great pair, don't they?

Alternate crafting: Part I

2011-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have been having a great summer. For one thing, we installed central air this year, so the heat is bearable. And since I've been doing better, I've been able to take my kids on short outings as long as there is not a lot of walking involved. We've played in the sprinkler, gone swimming (well, not me, but it's fun to watch them), to the library, and to small stores nearby. We rode a scenic train and went to the Rainforest attraction at the zoo (I had to sit in a wheelchair for that one but it was still fun). We've played with Sculpey baking clay, built extensive toy train layouts, and sewed pillows. I'm having such a fun time compared to this time last year, when I was basically confined to the couch for most of the summer.

July was definitely a lazy, mostly non-knitting month for me, with not too much designing either, although I do have a couple patterns being tested right now. As I mentioned in my last post, since I've been driving more, I am still not able to knit much because of arm weakness. I can crochet a little, but only a row or two at a time, which actually isn't much fun. I have an Ashford knitter's loom for weaving, but I am unable to do the shuttle and beater motions for a decent period of time. Although I have become more mobile, I still fatigue very easily and therefore continue to spend most of my time at home. Having been a yarn freak since the age of 7, not being able to knit or crochet entire projects while having to spend a lot of time at home has been incredibly frustrating. So I decided recently to find other crafts that I can actually do.

At the beginning of July I wandered into a nearby needlepoint store, Wool and Willow. I had never been in this wonderful store before, but of course the fiber enthusiast in me instantly bonded to the skeins of thread lining the walls. I bought a canvas and some silk thread, went home, and discovered two things that day: 1) needlepoint can be pricey--a small, 6x6 hand-painted canvas and thread costs as much as knitting a sweater out of hand-dyed yarn; but even more amazing--2) yes!! I can do needlepoint! Not for an hour at a time, but at least enough to get that state of crafter's zen when one reaches a steady stitching rhythm. I used to cross-stitch in college, so fortunately starting needlepoint was not very hard.

Of course then I had to read and explore about needlepoint. I learned a lot from library books and also found all kinds of stunning needlepoint canvases online; I especially like these Klimt pillows and the selection at Purl Soho. I don't know if I could stick to the use of a single stitch though (which is why I quit doing cross-stitch). My first stamped canvas is a sampler of sorts, and the stitch variety has been really fun. Here it is in progress:

The design is by Barbara Bergsten, and on close-up you can see the lovely texture from the different kinds of stitches, which keep the work from being monotonous (they also make it go faster, since the textured stitchs usually cover multiple holes at a time). My daughter has claimed this piece, and I think I will have it finished into a bag for her once the stitching is done.

After being excited with needlepoint for a bit, I had a semi-brilliant idea: this could be a way to work again with yarn and also use up some of my abundant stash. (This idea was only semi-brilliant because while needlepoint would use up yarn, I'd only need about 30 yards of a color for a typical project.) I bought some blank canvas to use with fingering weight yarn, and recklessly opened a few whole Sundara sock yarn skeins, colors I've been dying to work with. I figured it was better to use a bit of it than not use it at all, as I think it will be a good half-year before I'll be able to knit a real project instead of just swatches. I found some yarn scraps as well and started this:

The pattern is "Autumn Square" by Laura Perin, and is available for free from Rainbow Gallery. I really like geometric designs, and here again the stitch variety really keeps things interesting. I am using a 10-point canvas and several colors of Sundara sock (the wonderful variegated brown and the blues) and silk lace (the pinky-brown). The final size will be about 7 x 7 inches. I'm thinking this will be a framed wall-hanging or the top of one of these nifty boxes.

Once I realized I could hold and use a tapestry needle, I began to get other ideas. Sewing, anyone? There's even more new crafting to tell about, but it will have to wait for another day.

My name in print

2011-06-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

The preview for the Knitscene Fall 2011 was recently released, so I can finally tell you about my hat pattern that is inside: Speer Cap, my first pattern published in a magazine! Does this mean I'm famous now? haha (I should admit I do not know what "Speer" refers to. The editors renamed the cap after the sample was made.)

(Images are property of Interweave)

The orange sample is made with one skein of Quince and Co. Osprey, a soft and squishy aran-weight wool--perfect for fall. The cap works up quickly in the round on larger needles and the wickerwork pattern, which uses left and right twist stitches (1 x 1 crossed stitches), keeps things interesting. For more information about the hat pattern, click here.

I have been a big fan of Knitscene since it first came out several years ago. I love the fresh and stylish, yet often simple, designs, and I'm excited to be in their ranks now!

In recovery news, I've continued to do better and better. I can cook a little now and drive to pick up my kids almost everyday. I've been out regularly to friends' houses and church activities in the last month. And I have made 2 additional trips to the grocery store since this post! Who knew going to the grocery store could be such a big deal? (Unless, of course, you're a royal princess wearing a shawl.)

Sadly I still cannot craft very much, as I found I could either knit or drive, and frankly I'd rather drive. I am still thinking up new designs, although ironically my design efforts have slowed down since I've been feeling better, since I am no longer limited to sitting at my computer all day! At present I am still reveling in the thrill of being able to more normal things again, like baking a blueberry pie last week (it turned out pretty well, in case you were wondering). I won't stop designing, but I won't be cranking out the patterns like lightning, either. I am very appreciative of everyone here and on Ravelry for all the notes and well-wishes concerning my health over the last year. I am very grateful to be part of this online community!

One more Kat

2011-06-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

I just had to share some beautiful pictures from wovenhand, who finished up her CopyKat shawl sample that I asked her to knit, the Diagonal Rib Version worked in Quince and Co. Chickadee in Marsh.

Isn't is gorgeous? I think I might like this stitch version best. I also think this sample is the most like the original, especially the color.

There is a KCAL for any version of HRH's shawl here on Ravelry, with some very generous prizes, including Sundara yarn.

I have hired wovenhand (Jennifer) to do most of my sample photography lately. Her work is beautiful, and she would love to service her photography skills for other designers. Contact her on Ravelry for details.

New pattern: Crocus Shawlette

2011-06-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

I have a new shawl pattern available on Ravelry: Crocus Shawlette. This is a top-down narrow crescent worked at a looser gauge to be light and airy. Designed in collaboration with Mira from Baah! yarns (right now Baah! is available only at select LYSs in southern CA), but any fingering weight sock yarn will work with this pattern.

Mira dyes all the Baah! yarns and she used a beautiful silver gray for her shawl sample.

The pattern contains 4 sizes and uses written instructions.

*******************

In other news, I've been continuing to feel better and better, and 3 days ago I took myself grocery shopping! Yes, GROCERY SHOPPING. (If you wonder why this is a big deal, read this post.) I drove myself to Whole Foods, got a cart, and walked slowly up and down a couple aisles. Got some salad fixins', jumbo cherries, and lovely healthy snacks (no champagne, but the yummy food was celebration enough). I have not been grocery shopping myself for over a year.

It's great to be back in the land of the living.

One of each, please

2011-06-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

TEN.

I repeat: TEN.

That's how many different colors of Primo fingering will be offered for the first installment of The Plucky Accessories club, which includes 2 skeins of yarn and the pattern for my Elizabeth Z. scarf. All for $62, including shipping to ANYWHERE.

I don't know if I've ever seen that many colors of Primo fingering offered and available at a single given moment! It is truly a rare cosmic event, so make sure you don't miss it, as quantities are limited. Sign-ups go live tomorrow morning at 9am EST--a link will be provided from Sarah's blog. Check the blog now for more details and pictures of the colorways. My favorites are Bohemian Blue, Barely Birch, and Bourbon Barrel (why do all my favorites start with "b"???).

(A picture of the Faded Grandeur colorway is not shown at present, but can be found here, if you scroll to the bottom.)

The Kats are out of the bag

2011-05-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

(In case you were wondering, this should be the last post with a lame Kat pun title.)

The final version of CopyKat Shawls is now available, and I think it's just swell. There are 3 different stitch patterns to choose from, and the test knitters did a fantastic job.

This lovely green one was knit with the Parallelogram Check stitch in madelinetosh pashmina, color Boxwood, by my trusty knitting machine, er, I mean friend, haramis. Photos by wovenhand.

And this beautiful complex brown shawl used the Crossed Stitch option, knit in The Woolen Rabbit Opulence, a decadent sport-weight merino/silk blend. The shawl was stitched and photographed by sabinaknits. I actually think her version is more beautiful than the original royal shawl!

The third stitch pattern is the Diagonal Rib, which actually looks interesting on both sides. This swatch was knit by wovenhand with Quince and Co. Chickadee in Marsh.

With several choices, you might have to make more than one!

The Glorious Month of May

2011-05-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally turning. Even though there is a lot of rain here in NE Ohio, at least it's warmer (although I did have to pull out my wool coat again a few days ago). The dogwoods and cherry trees are in bloom, and our peony has shot up out of the ground. The peony amazes me every year: it grows from cut stubble to a 4-foot high, fragrantly blossoming bush in 2 months.

And I've been feeling better. I finally got over the trip we took at the end of March and have had a steady improvement since. I am still pretty limited overall but at least I can do laundry again and go up 5-6 steps at a time.

It's been a relatively busy month, with the Madelinetosh May shawl KAL, which is in full swing, and the CopyKat Shawl pattern rush. I have a couple other patterns being finished up, including one for an upcoming Plucky Knitters club.

If you haven't tried The Plucky Knitter's yarn yet, you are missing out. Granted, it is pretty difficult to score some of Sarah's lovely yarn. Every month she has several updates on etsy, and you have to be lightning fast. Thankfully, there are alternatives to the adrenaline-pumping update rush. You can troll through the destash listings on Ravelry, or you can join one of several clubs offered by Sarah throughout the year. One of the ones coming soon will be an accessories club featuring several pieces that I designed. The first pattern of the accessories club is a lace scarf, Elizabeth Z., worked in the round then cut open and made with super soft Plucky Primo, a merino/cashmere/nylon blend. (All the pieces are named after "plucky" knitters, fitting for the yarn with which they are made.) The pink sample above was knit by wovenhand, and the one below by Thao713.

Sarah will be announcing club sign-ups soon. Watch her blog or the Plucky Knitter Ravelry group for details!

Third time's a charm

2011-05-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

Update on the CopyKat design in progress--version 3 is now available for download on Ravelry. There was a stitch missing at the outer edges of the charts in earlier versions. The error did not affect the RS of the crossed stitch charts, but the parallelogram charts were off at the edges. If the pattern is already in your Rav library, there will be an update tab to click underneath it.

I am swatching one of the pattern stitches now, so no decent picture yet. If anyone has started and managed to make progress despite the charting error, please post pics on Ravelry.

This is turning into a mini design-a-long, which I think is fun, if one doesn't mind a bit of frogging. (Although if you start with version 3, I don't anticipate much frogging.)

Who's the CopyKat now?

2011-05-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

OK, it's me.

In the past week, there's been so much excitement about Kate Middleton's shawl, that I wondered if I could come up with something similar, and how fast. I kind of took it as a personal challenge.

So I sat down yesterday, leafed through my stitch dictionaries, considered a bit, then charted and wrote as if someone had a knitting needle pressed to my throat. Voila--my preliminary pattern is here. You can read more details on the pattern page.

I couldn't decide between two different stitch patterns so I included them both. One is a modified parallelogram check; the other uses crossed (twist) stitches for a more subtle texture. Since I still have trouble with my arms and it takes me 1-2 weeks just to knit a swatch, I don't have any pictures to show. It's like a mystery pattern, I guess.

I have recruited sample knitters and the pattern is still being tested, but I realized there are so many people that want to experiment with this shawl NOW. So I am hoping the Ravelry community can help me test this one--it is free for a week or so until I finalize the pattern. You can post feedback about the pattern in this thread in the RosyPosy Knitters group on Ravelry.

Copy me, Kate?

2011-05-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

(Image copyright The Daily Mail)

I saw several threads on Ravelry today discussing the new Duchess' shawl, which she wore grocery shopping. I'm not generally into royals but as a knitter, you gotta love her style and her fashion statement on behalf of shawl-lovers everywhere.

Her lovely shawl was even compared to my design, And So Are You, although I think her shawl is less of a crescent and more triangular.

I must say that I am quite flattered by Kate's identification with my style. I would very much like to admit that the mysterious knitter in a big furry hat who made repeated trips to her residence last month was me--but alas, it was not.

Editor's Note: I have since designed a textured triangular shawl inspired by Kate's. You can buy the pattern here on Ravelry.

Madelinetosh May is coming!

2011-04-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

It's official! There will be a KAL for my shawl designs during Madelinetosh May, a month-long celebration of the yummy yarns of Madelinetosh.

You can get 20% off anything in my Ravelry store starting now, through May 9, with code "madmay2011". Shop some shawl patterns, then join us in the Madelinetosh Ravelry group to knit along. I'll be hosting the KAL; the official thread will start in May so that everyone can cast on together. And of course, there will be prizes! Rules will be posted in the group during the coming week.

It's really hard to pick, but I think my favorite Madelinetosh yarns are Tosh DK, Pashmina, Tosh Sport, Tosh Merino, Eyre, and Eyre Light (to name a few). My favorite places to buy Tosh are Eat.Sleep.Knit, Happy Knits, The Loopy Ewe, Little Knits, and WEBS. And of course there's the ever-changing etsy shop, with non-retail bases like Sport, Chunky, the 80/10/10 blends, and Eyre Light.

Several of my designs feature Madelinetosh, including my first two shawl designs, Flourish and Seasons. The Flourish sample used Tosh Vintage in Duchess, and the Seasons used Pashmina in Rose.

The Unique Melody wrap shown here was made using Tosh Merino in Isadora. Unique Melody is a really fun pattern that works well with any yarn--it is worked on the bias so the width and length are easily customized. You start knitting one flame motif in the corner, then add motifs to get the width you want. After you reach your desired length, you decrease motifs to finish. There are great examples of scarves, wraps, and even a cowl in the Unique Melody project gallery.

New pattern: Forgotten Garden Shawl

2011-04-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Presenting the lovely Forgotten Garden Shawl, now available for purchase here on Ravelry, or if you don't mind a little wait, soon to be available free with La Douce yarn purchase from Biscotte & Cie (you can contact Louise on Ravelry for details). La Douce is a yummy, squishy heavy fingering MCN that reminds me of The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!.

This very large, very red La Douce sample was knit by haramis, reportedly while she listened to Jane Austen audiobooks. Note: I would not recommend that you try this at home unless you are 1) an experienced knitter and 2) somewhat familiar with the writing style of Jane Austen. I personally am not the world's biggest Jane Austen fan, but it's mainly because I can't seem to wrap my head around her language.

And, because I just love looking at this stitch pattern, below is a photo from missdaisy of her shawl knit from Skinny Bugga! in Cuban Cockroach.

Life: Sometimes things just get to me

2011-04-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

If you've never had or known anyone who has had chronic fatigue syndrome (or a debilitating chronic illness), it will be hard to understand what "things" I mean. I personally would never have understood the magnitude of weakness one can experience. Before I came down with CFS I certainly knew what "exhausted" was: I have been on call in a hospital, I have birthed 2 children while holding a full-time job. But "exhausted" is nothing compared to this. And CFS is a wastebasket diagnosis, a label which means "we don't know what you have." To be completely incapacitated without obvious or treatable physical cause is in itself frustrating, not to mention having to constantly explain to healthy friends and co-workers that

you literally can't do anything, when outwardly nothing appears wrong.

Imagine that you can't:

1) Go up the stairs without stopping at every 2nd or 3rd one.

2) Walk across your house without pausing every couple yards to rest for a second.

3) Drive for more than 15 minutes without your arms starting to hurt.

4) Go more than 4 hours without a nap.

5) Be on the computer for more than 1-2 hours without your fingers hurting.

6) Knit more than 50 stitches at a time, and that's on a good day.

This is my life right now and has been for some time. Some weeks are better than others: when I can do 4-5 stairs at a time, I'm having a good week. When I can do laundry, I want to break out some champagne.

Before my cancer last year, I thought my CFS was annoying as hell. At that time I was at least able to go into my office, although only for 2-4 hours a day. Now, after chemotherapy destroyed any last remaining drops of energy in me, I wouldn't even be able to walk from the parking garage to my office. "Now" is 7 months after the last chemo was stopped (stopped early and abruptly because I became too weak to tolerate any more).

Most of the time I am accepting--peaceful and even happy with where I am. Since I had to shut down most of my former job, I have a lot less stress. My children and husband are healthy and happy and lovely. There is no sign of the cancer. We have no lack of food or material things. Complete strangers love my knitting patterns, even.

But, sometimes--things just get to me, and it's hard not to rant.

Like this week. A couple weeks ago we went to a cabin for a few days, our first family vacation in over a year. We had a very nice, relaxing time until we came back. The driving/traveling was a bit much for me I suppose, and my body betrayed me once again and threw a fit, what I call a fatigue crash. I've been feeling extra poorly for the last 12 days, on account of a 3-day trip.

The only perk to having CFS is that, unlike most chronic conditions, it is supposed to go away. I'm hoping that this time next year, I'll at least be able to go grocery shopping. Maybe I'll buy some champagne there, to celebrate.

Another preview, this one for me

2011-04-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a preview of a new shawl pattern which will be released in 1-2 weeks.

This sample was made out of madelinetosh Pashmina in Violin and was knit for me by TwirlGirlFibers on Ravelry. The beautiful lace pattern, called "Chatelaine", is somewhat complicated but not difficult to work, technique-wise. If you like a little challenge, this one's for you. Note that I would not recommend knitting this while watching TV.

The final pattern will feature a more brightly colored version knit using Biscotte & Cie La Douce, kindly provided by Louise from Biscotte & Cie. She will be offering the pattern free with purchase of La Douce, a soft squishy fingering merino/cashmere/nylon that she hand-dyes in a variety of vibrant colors. The pattern will also be available for purchase on Ravelry.

Preview of new design series!

2011-04-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

Last summer I submitted a couple design ideas for a new series of knitting pattern books from Cooperative Press, and to my surprise, both were accepted! The "Fresh Series" will be a set of about 10 books, each containing a different category of knitting patterns. I have a design (still secret) in the "Home" book, and one in the "Hats" book. Preview photos of the series were recently posted on Facebook here.

And below is the preview of my hat design! (Image used with permission.) I'm hoping the final photos in the book will show the stitch pattern a little better, but I can let you know it has a simple spiraling lace stitch. These samples were made from Fiberphile Super Squish Worsted (the browny-purple one) and Pigeonroof Studios Bacchus (the teal one).

Shannon Okey, aka knitgrrl, is the brilliant driving force behind Cooperative Press, whose recent publications include Silk Road Socks and What Would Madame Defarge Knit?. She could use some cash right now to speed up things for publication of the series as well as other books in her pipeline. If you go to this page on kickstarter you can find out more about her fund drive, donate to the campaign, and get PRIZES too! I greatly admire Shannon's gumption in starting her own publishing company. She wants to showcase indie designers and give fair royalties. How awesome is that??

Out Came a Beautiful Butterfly

2011-03-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

I love Eric Carle, and so do my kids. I must have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar at least 100 times by now, whose last line I semi-quoted in the title of this post. And who doesn't love caterpillars and butterflies? So I am tickled to release the Cocoon Me pattern, a set of textured accessories (cowl and shawlette) using the cocoon stitch that I swatched in my last post.

This cocoon variant is from Martha Waterman's shawl book, and is a little different from the one in B. Walker's 2nd treasury. It is made with yo's for the increases and therefore results in a slightly more open fabric. (Incidentally, the back of Ms. Waterman's book also has a shawl pattern using this stitch, which I noticed after I started planning mine and which was useful for sorting out the stitches, as the charted instructions for the stitch are not as clear. You can see her patten here.)

These pieces were all knit in Malabrigo worsted, for the design contest. Mal worsted is a great choice for this stitch and makes an extra fuzzy, snuggly FO. Other great choices would be all the yummy singles I mentioned in my last post: tosh merino, Plucky MAS, Sundara ASM, and SG Codex.

These were a lot of fun to design, and the pattern “metamorphosed” into a group effort. I started with the shawlette, then CatReading suggested adding a cowl (isn't her eternity scarf, pictured, fabulous??), and haramis unvented the p5tog (see her notes on Ravelry) so that her hand wouldn’t fall off while she test-knit the cowl. I also had great suggestions from wovenhand and nddphoto, who tested and photographed the shawlette.

Swatching and plotting

2011-03-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in this post, there is a Malabrigo design contest in the Mal Junkies group this month as part of Malabrigo March Madness. I have written a design and it is being tested now. The above picture shows my swatch, as a sneak peek. I have been interested in textured stitches lately, and this is a very three dimensional, very cool variant of the cocoon stitch. I have seen some enticing wip pictures from my testers have in the last few days, and I am looking forward to releasing the design on Ravelry in about one week. You can follow the results of the contest in the Junkies group.

I have also been plotting and hatching with some new yarn from Squoosh Fiberarts. My affinity toward all things Squoosh is evident in my previous designs (Falling Water Shawl/Hat, Violets Are Blue, And So Are You) , and this new base from Squoosh only furthers my affection. It is called Glow and is a sport-weight single ply blend of merino and silk. It is soft yet slightly rustic to the touch and reminds me of Madelinetosh eyre light, another tightly-twisted single that blends merino, silk, and alpaca. Glow is not as drapey as eyre light, given the difference in fiber content, a difference which I like.

These two colors (Depth and Ochre) of Glow are lovely together, and I am considering how to make them into a gorgeous two-color shawl.

I have always had a weakness for single ply yarn, despite its tendency to pill more easily than plied yarn. Years ago, when I began to be able to afford higher quality (i.e. non-acrylic) yarn, one of my first loves was Lamb's Pride Brown Sheep, a squishy single ply of wool and mohair. When my yarn budget became bigger, I fell in love with Manos Del Urugay and Malabrigo, of course (who hasn't?). And even now in my stash I have at least a few skeins each of Madelinetosh eyre, eyre light, merino, merino DK, and merino light. Now you can add Glow to the list. Call me a single ply junkie. I suppose I should make the list of treasured singles in my stash complete and include The Plucky Knitter Merino Alpaca Silk, Sundara Aran Silky Merino, and The Sanguine Gryphon Codex!

Finis!

2011-03-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some amazing knitters, yesterday I was able to release the fifth and last shawl of the Be Mine Collection ahead of schedule! These gorgeous samples of Sugared Violets were knit and photographed by ittybitty and haramis. The first is made from Fibre Co. Canopy Fingering in River Dolphin. I've never tried Fibre Co. yarns, but they are high on my list! Every single one looks lovely, and the Canopy Fingering is no exception. I really love the subtle coloring that is dyed onto their line of yarns, although I've only seen them on my monitor. The colors must be truly stunning in real life.

The second shawl was knit using Yarn Chef Minestrone, a very soft 75/25 merino/nylon blend. The delicate shades in this colorway, called "Afternoon Tea", are beautiful and very fitting for this design.

The inspiration for Sugared Violets came from a dear knitting friend. She loved the border of Violets Are Blue and the shape of Sugar Is Sweet, which gave me the idea of adding a fifth shawl to the collection that was some kind of combination of the two. Although it incorporates elements from the other shawls, I think the final version became its own individual piece. By the way, I have never actually eaten sugared violets, but I hope to someday. They look delicious.

The collection is now finished, and I hope everyone has as much fun knitting the shawls as I had designing them. I'm almost a little sad to close the collection, as I keep having ideas for shawls that would fit the theme, but 5 is plenty for this book (plus I already went one line beyond the Be Mine ditty). I do have other exciting designs in the works for this year, so stay tuned!

Going Green

2011-03-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

More pretty pictures! This is the large sample of And So Are You, knit by strangequark/Becky from Ravelry and photographed by loupea/Brigette. Brigette also dyed the yarn--it is Hermosa Fiber Co. MCN Fingering in Pesto, a brilliant spring green. This green almost glows in the dark, it's so intense.

The fifth and final shawl of the collection is currently being tested and will be added to the ebook at the end of March. I hope everyone is having as much fun knitting the patterns as I had designing them!

Pink and Pinker

2011-03-06T06:20:00.001-08:00

For those of you who have wondered what the two-color version of Sugar Is Sweet looks like, I have some lovely pictures. This medium-sized version was knit for me by wanabelle100 and photographed by CatReading. It used about 325 yds of madelintosh Pashmina in Posy (the darker pink) and 175 yds of Pashmina in Rose (making this a true RosyPosy shawl. Sorry, couldn't resist).

I will admit that I wanted to add one more band of shells in Posy (darker pink) at the bottom, but I only had one skein of this color to work with. The final rows of the shawl really eat up yarn! I'm looking forward to seeing how other Ravelers work with the potential color changes for this pattern.

The final versions of the last 2 Be Mine shawls are still being edited, and I hope to release them by the end of this coming week.

The fifth and bonus shawl is coming along nicely. I hope you all enjoy that one too!

Malabrigo March Special

2011-02-28T06:36:00.001-08:00

The Malabrigo Junkies group on Ravelry has some exciting things planned for Malabrigo March, a celebration of Malabrigo yarns. There are KAL's with prizes and even a design contest (I am planning on submitting something). In addition, vendors are welcome to give special discounts. It sounds like a lot of fun, so I decided to play by offering 15% off everything in my Ravelry store (ebooks included) from March 1 (12:00 am EST) to March 15 (11:59 pm EST) with code "malmarch". You can see my original post, with suggested projects for Malabrigo yarn, here.

I am plotting a design using Malabrigo Worsted in Red Mahogany. Yum!

An Executive Decision

2011-02-25T06:03:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday this project appeared on Ravelry: "wildflower shawl" by wovenhand, knit with Squoosh Fiberarts Rapture in Ochre (this amazing yarn was kindly provided by Erica at Squoosh).

It was followed shortly by this project: "sweet pea" by thao713, knit in The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Acmon Blue.

And then there were detailed photos added of this one: "Slush" by sabinaknits, knit in The Plucky Knitter Primo in Barely Birch.

The response was immediate and enthusiastic--the testers each received multiple requests for more information about the patterns. Well, you all guessed it--these are the next two patterns of the Be Mine Collection! The shell-edged shawl is Sugar Is Sweet, and the gold shawl is And So Are You. I am so thrilled with the lovely knits from these ladies and all the responses! This prompted me yesterday to make an executive decision to release preliminary versions of each pattern. I'm still waiting for photos on some samples, which will be added to final versions. Also I will add more accurate measurements at that time. The 3rd shawl, Sugar Is Sweet, has been knit in a two-color version, so stay tuned for those pictures! Also, there will be a 5th "bonus" shawl added to the collection in about a month.

Thanks again for the enthusiasm--it is both gratifying and inspiring to create something that my fellow knitters love! Hope you all enjoy the knits.

Finally an FO

2011-02-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Remember the Fair Isle Dropout sweater for my son from this post? After picking it up again last summer, by the end of November I had finished the body, one sleeve (and sewed it in), and 3 inches of the second sleeve, before my arms gave out on me and I had to put my needles down for a long while.

Then last month I realized that at my current rate of knitting, it would take me about 6 weeks to finish the second sleeve and collar (molasses runs faster than I knit now--seriously.), and this is probably the last season it would fit my son. So I called on a generous Ravelry friend, zachmansgrammy, and sent her the pieces and yarn. She finished the last sleeve and collar and I got back the parts in about a week. I am able to seam still, so I sewed in the last sleeve a week ago and stuck it on my son that same morning!

It still fit!! Yahoo!! The modeling picture below is pre-blocking. I blocked it the next day, and it even fit a little better with about 3/4 inch added in length. You can be sure he'll be wearing this a lot this season, because I don't think it will fit him in the fall. The pattern is Little Majolica from IK F06, heavily modified, because I finally admitted that all-over Fair Isle sweater just isn't for me. I actually really like my mods, to be honest. The yarn is MCN sport from The Plucky Knitter, and I think the colors are smashing, especially the stripes on the arms.

A pair of hat patterns

2011-02-09T06:01:00.001-08:00

In the midst of designing shawls, I did manage to write up a couple hat patterns, which were posted on Ravelry recently.

The Galaxy Hat (Ravelry pattern page here) uses Dream In Color Starry, a thicker fingering weight wool with flecks of silver that add a unique dimension to the knitted fabric. The shiny bits inspired the use of the "Exploded Ribbing" stitch, which reminded me of celestial orbits. I loved these particular brilliant jewel tones of Dream In Color; the hats shown here used Blue Lagoon and Green Lantern.

There always seems to be room for more knitting patterns for guys--patterns that aren't fussy but keep a knitter's interest. With this in mind, I designed Twofer Hats (pattern page here), a pair of easy colorwork hats that use slipped stitches instead of stranding, so only one color is worked per row. The pattern contains two different choices for the crown: a 4-point square and an 8-point swirl. The hats were inspired by lovely hand-dyed primary colors that I had in my stash: Squoosh MCN worsted in Adama (the navy color) and Hermosa Fiber Co. Paprika and Olive Oil (yes, the same Paprika used in Roses Are Red). I can't get enough of the vibrant hues of these two dyers, and I wish I had more space in the house! It would be interesting to see a videotape of myself when I'm browsing these websites. I'm sure my mouth is hanging slightly open and my eyes look dazed. I wouldn't be surprised if my right forefinger has a twitch, itching to press the Add To Cart buttons. As it is, at present there is yarn is almost every room of my small house, so I am really trying to work on getting the stash down this year. (Wish me luck.)

Violets are blue (and violet!)

2011-02-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

And here is Violets Are Blue in full! Click here to view the pattern page on Ravelry. As mentioned, the larger, blue version is Schaefer Anne, and of course I had to have a violet version, made in Squoosh Merino Cashmere Sock, color "Hazy Violets"--perfect! If the floral mesh border looks familiar, it's because it is the same Fleurette pattern that I posted about for Think Spring! socks.

I am actually done with lace flowers for now, and the look changes in exciting ways for the last two shawls of the Be Mine Collection. "Sugar is Sweet" is next and will be coming in about 3 weeks. Sugar is a textured shawl with a garter stitch body and a more crescent shape. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results from different sample knitters.

The lovely photos of Violets are courtesy of my generous knitting friend Emily, who just opened her own etsy shop. I promptly bought two of these for my kids:

Monster chunks, designed by dangercrafts. How can you not love that face??

A tease for Violets

2011-02-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

The pictures are in, and the layout is almost finished for the next shawl of the Be Mine Collection, "Violets Are Blue"!

I thought I'd be a tease and share a sneak peek with you. The lovely blue is the Schaefer Anne in Bluebell pictured in this post. The yarn is so soft and light, perfect for the lace flowers galore in this shawl. It will be released by Feb. 7 and I'll have a special Valentine's Day sale for the Be Mine Collection starting then too! (How could I not??)

I found a very cute hat on Ravelry last week, thanks to Ariane's blog. I don't know when I'll be able to knit it, but the design and details are just lovely--Tears of Bronze hat by Elle Che. (I'd post a picture but I can't get it to center correctly).

And one more for spring

2011-01-26T05:18:00.000-08:00

While I was on my I-Love-Lace-Flowers kick earlier this month, I combed my stitch dictionaries for inspiration. I found a pretty lace mesh that I have seen called either "Fleurette" or "Tortoiseshell" stitch (I guess you could use it if you needed something either flora- or fauna-inspired). Without giving too much away, the Fleurette stitch--obviously I fell into the flora camp--makes an appearance in the second shawl of the Be Mine collection, and I thought it pretty enough to use again as the center panel in some spring-themed socks, shown above.

The Think Spring! Socks were recently released on Ravelry and can be purchased here. These lovely samples were knit by CatReading and missdaisy on Ravelry. I love the colors that they chose. I had asked them to pick spring colors from their stashes, and they came up with such beautiful yarns. The pink is Tart from Have You Any Wool, and the light teal is Riverview Drive from The Plucky Knitter.

You may (or may not) have been wondering why I haven't shown any of my own FO's lately. Simple answer: I don't have any, because I still can't really knit! This weird weak arm thing I developed in December still plagues me. I saw a neurologist recently who found nothing neurologically wrong and agrees with my belief that it is extreme aggravation of my CFS from the chemotherapy last year. Ah well, at least it is improving, albeit very slowly. On good days I can knit a row or two, but if I overdo it then I cannot pick up sticks for a few days after, so I am trying to be careful. So, I am really very thankful for all my wonderful Ravelry knitting friends who enjoy helping me produce my designs. Thank you all so much!!

The Be Mine Collection is here!!

2011-01-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

I’m pleased to announce the first shawl of the Be Mine Collection: Roses Are Red. This lovely sample is courtesy of Brigette of Hermosa Fiber Company. Click here to see more pretty pictures! This red is called "Paprika" and I think it's just gorgeous; you can see more of Brigette's beautiful yarn at her etsy shop (and there is some Skinny Sock in Paprika there now!).

The Be Mine Collection eBook is available for purchase on Ravelry. Updates will be sent every 3-4 weeks as each new shawl is released. There are 4 shawlettes total.

The individual pattern for Roses Are Red can be purchased here.

And yes, you guessed it--"Violets Are Blue" is the name of the second shawl, and it will be released in about 3 weeks.

Happy knitting!

An early spring bouquet and a sale

2011-01-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

Even if you don't wear it much (like me), there's just something about bright red! This is a preview of the first shawl of my forthcoming, floral-inspired shawlette collection that I posted about last week. This sample was knit by the lovely Thao713 on Ravelry; you can see more of her pretty pictures here. The yarn is The Plucky Knitter Primo.

This pattern should be up on Ravelry in the next 1-2 weeks, along with the beginning of the ebook and more information about it. The ebook will contain 4 shawlette patterns at a reduced price and will be available for purchase as soon as the first pattern is available. Purchasers of the e-book will receive updates as each subsequent pattern is added, approximately every 2-4 weeks. Each pattern will also be available for sale individually.

I'm pretty excited about this collection! The first two shawls have lace floral motifs, and the second two make use of textured stitches. The shapes vary from triangle to rounded (crescent-like), as well as a narrow crescent shawlette. The focus is on simplicity of aesthetic and construction, although you might find a new stitch or two to learn along the way.

Also, since I've been positively freezing the last few weeks, I decided it's time for a Keep Warm Sale in my Ravelry store: 15% off everything, no coupon necessary and no limit. Starting tomorrow, Jan. 18, and ending Jan. 25 at midnight EST. Hope you keep warm with your knitting!

Thinking of Spring

2011-01-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

Lovely spring-colored yarns: Schaefer Anne in Bluebell, Squoosh MCN fingering in Hazy Violets, Squoosh Rapture in Ochre.

It's 20 degrees (F) here and has been for a while. Sometimes I wonder why I still live in a place where winter lasts from November to about mid-April. We usually put the portable heaters away about 3 weeks before we consider installing the window AC units (we live in a 110-year old house). What I would consider spring-like weather can be a very short phase.

I'm kind of longing for spring already, knowing that it won't really be here for at least 3 more months (we always get a tease at the end of March. It's only a tease of a couple 50- or 60-degree days, then it's back to gray clouds and the 40s for week.) Thinking of spring has affected my designing, and I've been obsessed with lace floral motifs lately. What speaks spring in knitter's language as much as a lacy floral shawl?

So, I'm actively writing a mini-collection of shawlettes that are inspired by spring. Think spring colors (above) and floral motifs (some lace, some textured), with a focus on simplicity of knitting. Of course there will be some pink and bright red mixed in too. The first shawl should be released on Ravelry around the beginning of February. Stay tuned!

More Diamonds

2010-12-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

I'm still not able to knit due to weak arms. Arrgh. I'm hoping after a couple more weeks, I can pick up my sticks again!
Meanwhile, to help me with my fiber urges, I've been busy with designs. I've got 3 design wip's and plans for at least 2 more in the immediate future. I also just got a box of gorgeousness from Dream In Color, so that is helping to fuel my creative impulses.

The latest design released is Deco Diamonds Socks, pictured above. This is a fun, easy lace sock with intertwining diamonds on the front and back and smaller diamonds on the sides. I wrote this pattern for the Fiberphile Design Contest. Ravelers can vote over the next 3-4 weeks for their favorite design using Fiberphile yarn. The winner receives a sweater's worth of custom-dyed yarn! Not that I need more yarn, but sure, maybe I could squeeze another bag in my house. Actually for me it's more about the challenge than the prize. Bring it on!

New Pattern: Facets Hat

2010-12-09T05:49:00.001-08:00

Introducing the Facets Hat, a unisex cap with a neat textured diamond stitch--a hat that will keep your knitting interest for the boys/men in your life who want plain-ish accessories. The samples were worked in a cushy MCN blend, Luxe Worsted from Have You Any Wool.

Available on Ravelry as a single pattern or combined in an ebook with Looking Glass Hats and Cowl.

How to Make a Knitter Crazy

2010-11-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year. We stayed home this year and hubby made a marvelous turkey with trimmings, with only minimal supervision from me.

I freely admit that this blog has been pretty quiet lately, mainly because I crafted too much a few weeks ago and kind of killed my upper arms. My CFS gives me muscle weakness, especially after "overuse" (in this case, probably crafting and/or driving for too long of a single stretch). I've had to rest my arms as much as possible, which is a very sad thing for a crafter. In addition to a severe restriction on knitting and crocheting (= crazy), I've had to limit typing as well.

I do have some progress shots: one sock! With a horse even, since DD is very much into horses these days. The MC is Bugga! in Acmon Blue and the CC is Sundara FMC in a nice chocolately brown with purpley bits ("Recipes For Living"--what a great name for a yummy color). As this was my first sock in about 7 years, I was off on how tight the fabric should be (these are actually knit on size 5's!). But I think they will work anyway, as she'll probably outgrow them in a year or two.Unfortunately I do not know when the second will be finished, as I'm on a knitting ban for at least another week.

I also finished one sleeve on the Fairisle Dropout Sweater; pics to come later. Yes, it takes me 2 weeks to make one 10-inch sleeve now, given my unwilling arms. Sad.

What does a Knitter do when she can't use her arms much? Here are a few non-alcoholic, non-narcotic activities that I've resorted to:

1) Make bread with the bread machine that I haven't used in 5 years.

2) Order a Kindle and read lots of books, arms-free.

3) Watch 30 episodes of "The Office" in rapid succession (thank you, Insta-Netflix!). It would've have been past seasons of 30Rock, but I've watched all those already, at least twice.

4) Order needle felting supplies from KnitPicks, so I don't go completely crazy from Crafting Ban. I figured needle felting must be gentler on the arms. I got a nifty book, "Wool Pets", needle, and block. After I placed the order I realized I forgot to buy wool! Doh! The book is gorgeous, but after leafing through it, I know that needle felting can't replace my knitting needles or a crochet hook. Sigh.

5) At the point of severe yarn withdrawal, I generated a bunch of ideas for knitting designs. So I'm writing several patterns and I found a few generous knitterly friends through whom I am knitting vicariously. I've got them busy with socks and hats, and I hope at least 2 patterns will be put out this month. So stay tuned!

Knitting: Fairisle Drop-out

2010-11-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

Question: Why do cute little preschoolers have to grow so fast?

Or maybe I should rephrase: Who is dumb enough to start a complicated fairisle sweater for a preschooler, and then take a year to finish it?

What started out in Dec. 09 happily as this:

. . .ended up hibernating for a good 6 months and has now become this. I finished the body today, joined the shoulders with a 3-needle BO, and started one sleeve.

In the beginning, I modified the very pretty sweater to be knit in the round until the armholes; it's Little Majolica by Kristin Nicholas (IK F06--one of my favorite issues) and is written to have the beautiful tiling all over, including the sleeves. After almost one repeat of the chart, I got bored and not-so-happy with stranding (no fault of the pattern at all, just my knitting ADD) and put the project away. Several months ago I pulled it out and realized that if it was going to fit my 3 year old son, it might be only for one season. I wasn't going to slog through the rest of the sweater (including several sections of fairisle worked flat, which I think is a total pain in the behind) if he was only going to wear it for 5 months of his life. So I opted for a Swiss dot pattern for the rest of the body, to speed things up and make the chest a tad wider with a looser gauge, and I think now the sleeves will be striped. It should still look very nice because of the initial design and the pretty colors of The Plucky Knitter MCN Sport.

Note to self: if working fairisle back and forth, do NOT make Swiss dots fall on odd-numbered rows! During the flat portions I've had to carry the yellow yarn along aimlessly on purl rows so that it ends up back on the right side of the knitting. DUH. This is why the sleeves are going to have stripes instead of dots, as they are going to be worked flat.

PS: This is one of the original pictures from IK F06. My FO will kind of look like this one. Kind of.

Life: Recovery milestones!

2010-11-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

The picture shows birthday party carnage.

I am happy to say that in the last six days I was able to:

1) Make it through a 2-hour birthday party for my 7 year old DD. Our smallish house was full with a dozen children, 8 or so adults, and 1 horse pinata (which we had on the porch, to the amusement of the neighbors. How often do you see a group of 3 to 7 year olds whamming on a stuffed horse with an aluminum bat?). Fortunately my MIL and DH did most of the prep and all the cleaning--bless them!

2) Eat dinner out at a restaurant--first time since July.

3) Stomach highly caloric food at said restaurant, Melt, an establishment centered around nothing less than the venerable grilled cheese sandwich. My order had two fried eggs, 6 strands of bacon, and several slices of gouda cheese inside 2 large slices of generously buttered, very thickly cut white bread. Hubby's sandwich boasted bratwurst and sauerkraut as companions for the cheese (and did I mention generously buttered bread?). No one had room for the fried Twinkies dessert on the menu.

4) Drop off and pick up DD from school, on the same day. I stayed in the car each time, but I was glad to be able to walk to the car in the garage, get in, and drive. Twice. In the same day. (First time I've driven since. . .July).

Hooray!

Knitting: The Conversion

2010-10-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

A spectre is haunting my work table (which is actually a corner of our multi-purpose dining table). The spectre of Sock Knitting.

Sock knitting?? For years I have asked, why would I use my limited and precious knitting time (and now energy) to make something on tiny needles, which most people don't see and which (*gasp*) will wear out? I know there are dedicated legions of sock knitters out there, with their myriad of answers. I asked a similar question about shawls about one year ago (ever see random people on the street wearing shawls??), was told by a fellow Raveler to just make one, and since then have knit 7 shawls and designed at least 4. So probably the best answer for me is: make a pair and you'll see. The autumn chilliness definitely helps, and last week, driven by the coldness of our uninsulated floors, I had an urge to clothe my children in wool socks.

I am actually not a sock virgin. In the last 15 years I have tried knitting socks at least 4 times, and I think I've finished two socks. From two different pairs. Yes, I am aware that when knitting socks, the first two you finish are supposed to match. However, my first sock, intended to be part of a gift pair for a friend's toddler, was also my first attempt at stranded knitting (already you sense the extreme danger here), and ended up so tight in circumference that no ambulatory human being could have put her foot in it, and it was too long for a preemie. I opted to make the toddler a duck hat instead, which turned out beautifully.

My second attempt at sock knitting involved 3 balls of a vibrantly hued sport-weight mohair/wool blend. One ball each of bright purple, navy, and fuschia, for my first project using needles smaller than a size 6. The decade was the nineties, so why this particular choice of yarn in these interesting colors? Two words: clearance yarn (already you can sense the extreme danger here). I made it through one and a half garishly striped (and somehow oversized) socks before conveniently forgetting about the project in a bag left in the back of a closet.

Now it's 2010. Lovely hand-dyed yarn abounds in every sock weight and fiber blend imaginable, and of course I am not immune to their siren calls. After spending a good year on shawls, it's time to try something different. I am re-initiating myself into the cult of the Sock Knitter and I think I might stay a while this time. My dreams are already filled with Cookie A designs and textured stitch patterns that will fit on a sock.

This week I started a sock for my daughter using one of Ann Budd's Basic Sock recipes in her book "Getting Started Knitting Socks", a great book which I like to think of as Sock Knitting for Dummies and Former Sock Failures. I intend to finish a full pair this time, with SG Bugga! in Acmon Blue. She's into horses now, so I am going to duplicate stitch a horse on each one using this pattern. The mindless stockinette is great right now, and the smallness of it makes me think I get a lot done each day. Awesome sauce!

Life: Random Good Things

2010-10-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am crafty and I like to cook and bake, but no, I'm not Martha Stewart (aside from our looks, no one would ever confuse us given the state of my house). But I do appreciate Good Things, and all the more after my life became overrun by the crazies. By Good Things I mean anything in life to enjoy, from the most trite (such as what I will mention today) to the most profound (such as my wonderful husband and lovely children). Once in a while I'd like to point some of these things out, to remind myself that there are all manner of things to appreciate in life, no matter how crazy or freaky it becomes.

Today's Random Good Thing is an example of the smaller, but finer pleasures in life: snobby chocolate. I freely admit to being a snob of a few things: yarn, tea, handbags (? go figure), shoes, body products (lotion, shampoo, etc.), hotels, and chocolate. OK, that's more than a few things, but it's not a ton. The past few weeks I've been enjoying some chocolates from Leonidas that I got on sale a few weeks ago (given their prices, "sale" is more comparable to getting discounted shipping, but I'll take it). Leonidas is on my list of favorited chocolates. It's not the absolute best in the world, but it's pretty darn good (and they ship right to my front door--very important since I cannot drive yet). Since I'm not really a chocolate connoisseur, I have no idea what the best chocolate in the world is, although I'm sure it's a matter of personal taste. Anyhow, they had these Disney pralines that I just had to try, and I got some Napolitains as well. How cute is this box with the mouse pralines? The taste was excellent, although a tad too sweet for me personally, and the serving size is a bit big. I don't think I will order them again, but I am glad I tried them (and so is my daughter).

The Napolitains are like a beautiful assortment of mini chocolate bars, and I love the milk chocolate one with biscuit bits. Kind of a weird choice, I know. At this point, I will confess I'm not a big fan assorted chocolate creams. If I do get a box, no matter the brand, it has to have a map or chocolate guide. Otherwise the fear of the unknown gooey cream paralyzes me. I end up cutting them in half to avoid being surprised by a shot of gag-inducing, overly sweet strawberry or butter cream. I do love coconut cream and caramels, but the risk of getting the other kinds is too great to buy an entire box of assorted. If I want to philosophize, my fear of unknown chocolate centers is a reflection of a more significant fear of the unknown in life, but let's not get too deep here. (I will say in passing, though, that the events of the past year have definitely made me face this fear of life surprises and the uncontrollable, and even conquer it somewhat. That is absolutely a Good Thing!!).

Anybody know a good salted caramel company that delivers?

Life: Some not-so-happy things

2010-10-19T05:56:00.001-07:00

If you only want to read about knitting, you can skip this post. I really want to write about my mother.

It's a sad fact that my mother and I had cancer at the same time. I am now free of my tumor, but my mom still has widespread, metastatic carcinoid tumor, which was diagnosed in 2008.

It's another sad fact that although her cancer is slow-growing, we do not know how many years she has left, and I have been too weak to visit her in CA for almost 2 years now, while she has been too weak herself to travel until recently. I am glad she was able to come here this past summer for a couple weeks, and I am hoping that our family will be able to go to CA in December. My 3 year-old son doesn't really know her, and I hope that can be changed.

The last month was the first time her doctor noted a steep, although not terribly dramatic, loss in her weight. Since her diet and activity level have not changed, this is somewhat worrisome to me. She was recently started on a novel experimental therapeutic drug, and it is too soon to tell if it is working. I suppose it is also too soon for me to start overly worrying.

My mom became terribly ill in early 2008, with mental symptoms that were ultimately found to be a result of widespread, recurrent carcinoid (the initial tumor was removed in 2002). The cancer cells were secreting a hormone (ACTH) that gave her severe Cushing's disease, a systemic condition caused by excessive cortisol. A rare syndrome of a rare tumor. It was months before we and her doctors figured out what was really going on. By then the excess cortisol had completely ravaged her body, and she was physically and mentally very weak. When she finally stabilized after adrenalectomy and numerous drugs, my father took her back to CA and found an oncologist who specialized in carcinoid tumor. By then, after 6 months of being consumed with her course and care, I was totally exhausted in mind, body, and spirit. I think that may be why I went on to develop CFS in late 2008. When your parents become the ones cared for, that is when you realize you are definitely grown up. Whether you wanted to be or not.

Now that I am recovering from cancer treatment myself and slowly regaining energy, my mind turns from my own health to other things, including her. At least I know she has had a full life, albeit one full of hardships, but at the present time she has no lack. She knows God, and I believe she is peaceful in heart. That is enough, and there isn't much more I can ask for her, except perhaps for her to be able to see her children and grandchildren more in the near future.

Knitting: It's hat season!

2010-10-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

I was on a shawl-designing kick for a while, and now I'm interested in hats. Who doesn't love a quick, practical project??

I wanted to turn my attention from lace for a bit. At present I am not a big cable knitter (I find myself always searching for the cable needle, although I do intend to practice cabling without one). Paging through my Barbara Walker treasuries, I found a number of interesting textured patterns using twist stitches that would look great on a hat. There is no standard nomenclature that I know of, but twist stitches are different from twisted stitches (where stitches are worked tbl). The stitch patterns that I was interested in use the Right Twist (RT) and Left Twist (LT), which are the equivalent of crossing one stitch with a cable needle, although a cable needle is not necessary (yay, no extra needle to lose). I learned a lot about RT and LT while thinking about twist stitch patterns, especially from this article in Ravelry (there are at least 6 different ways to make a twist--who knew??).

I just sent one hat design idea to a magazine, and the other became this set of hats. The yellow, worsted version was worked in The Plucky Knitter superwash worsted merino in Honey Wilkes (love! One of the best golds/honeys around, I think). The brilliant blue, chunky one was worked in madelinetosh Tosh DK in Baltic, held double. The pattern will go up on Ravelry in a couple weeks and will also include a cowl version.

(Do not ask me why the photos will not center because I do not know. Someday I will figure out the subtleties of Blogger. But for now it does look kind of artistic, I suppose.)

Knitting: Pretty Pictures!

2010-10-13T11:51:00.001-07:00

The talented CatReading posted photos of her Falling Water on Ravelry, and they are gorgeous as always. Hers is knit in Squoosh Silky DK, Cape Blanco. The pattern should be out in 2-3 weeks, once a couple more samples (including that of yours truly) are finished.

Sneek peak: Falling Water

2010-10-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to say that I'm starting to feel better again. Last week was pretty hard because of a particularly bad fatigue crash. (Life observation: having body aches everyday for over a week can really dampen one's spirits.) I still can't move around that well, but when I'm sitting I feel pretty normal.

In the last few days I found myself really missing my work. I'm usually a physician in an academic medical center when I am not receiving breast cancer treatment or crashing from chronic fatigue syndrome. I think that now the cancer treatment is [finally!!] over, that part of my brain that was occupied by the cancer bit (a pretty large part) is now free to think and wonder about other things, and I actually am starting to get a little bored. In the last 9 months, I don't know if I've actually missed work so much as majorly stressed out about not being there. I realized there is a difference. Now I find myself almost fervently wishing I could stare through a microscope and see what's on that slide. I guess this is a good sign that my life is no longer completely overshadowed by the cancer spectre!

It doesn't help that my upper arms are still weak from my latest fatigue crash, so I can't knit very much. I've been trying though: working very s-l-o-w-l-y on a new shawl pattern, Falling Water, in Saffron Dyeworks Mica in Cocoa Berry, a wonderful pinky-brown (I'm terrible at photographing dark colors. It's most unfortunate for my predilection for purple and brown.) To give my muscles more rest, I tried to go on a complete knitting ban and discovered that it is almost impossible, unless I shove all my wip's up in the attic. Since it's difficult for me now to actually go up to the attic, I guess that won't happen.

2010-06-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

This is what I posted on Rav this morning:

I found out last week that I need not only a re-excision (the first tumor excision did not have entirely clean margins), but more chemotherapy as well. More surgery is not a big deal to me at this point, but more chemotherapy just downright stinks. I was told the choice is still up to me, because the first regimen alone is standard therapy, but the doctors want to give me more because my tumor looks aggressive.
I thought about it for a couple days, and I can’t refuse the recommendation (made by several doctors in conference), no matter how awful the course. I know I would regret it later, especially if the tumor came back.

Urgh. I don’t remember signing up for the long haul. This will make my treatment stretch, at minimum, 9-10 months. But then again, nobody ever said life was fair. This is when I make myself think about people with worse disease. If I had metastatic tumor, I suppose I’d be wishing I was where I am now.

It still stinks, though.

2010-06-04T08:45:00.001-07:00

On Wed., June 2, I had surgery to remove the remaining tumor and everything went well; still waiting to hear the final pathology report. Not to belittle anything, but surgery seems a piece of cake after chemotherapy (my chemo experience was really hell). In fact, many small things that used to bother me (e.g. hubby coming home late for dinner) don't really bother me that much anymore, now that I realize there are graver things to be upset about. I hope I can keep this attitude the rest of my life, as I am not normally a mellow person.

In the beginning

2010-04-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

My life now fits blogging. I don't know how long this will last, but since it fits now, I'll give it a try.

Is it ill-form to start one's blog by quoting Wikipedia? I was thinking about what to name this and I found this on Wikipedia today: The sentence "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem Sacred Emily . . . In that poem, the first "Rose" is the name of a person. Stein later used variations on the sentence in other writings, and "A rose is a rose is a rose" is probably her most famous quote, often interpreted as meaning "things are what they are," a statement of the law of identity, "A is A". In Stein's view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.

I thought it was very fitting to explain my blog name. "Rose is. . .a Rose." "Things are. . . what they are." And that is what this blog is about I guess.

*****

"Things are. . . what they are." This has never been a truer statement in my life. Today is day 11 after cycle 3 of my adriamycin/cytoxan regimen for Stage II breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinmoa. T2N0M0. Those are my cancer code. Tumor size between 2 and 5 cm. No nodal involvement. No metastases. That means things could be much worse. They could also be much better. One conclusion: things are what they are. I can react in any which way, but in the end, everything is just that. What it is. Next conclusion: I might as well be happy with what I have.

This is the attitude I try to have now. I am used to being cynical. Right now I try to take the middle ground, with a positive edge. I have had many reactions since my diagnosis made on Feb. 5, 2010: anger, fear, frustration, weariness, hopelessness, sarcasm, despair, hopefulness, a kind of desparate joy in being alive. In the end, life goes on. Moods of despair cannot last, else I would shoot myself (more realistically, down a bottle of Tylenol). Extreme hopefulness cannot either, because it's unrealistic. In the end, I have to accept what is happening, all the physical and mental suffering and the uncertain future, whether I want to or not. So I figure I might as well try to be happy and thankful at the same time.