4 August 2010 · 9 Comments
Waiting is hard. We all know that. I’ve just never been sure of is if it’s harder to be waiting to get something or waiting to share something. Patience isn’t my strong suit in any case. The lead up to long-awaited events has too often found me hopping up and down like a psychotic kangaroo chanting either “give-me-a-hint!” or “I-have-a-seeee-cret!” It’s not pretty I tell you.
So, you can imagine how twitchy I’ve been having to keep book stuff quiet. Do you realize that it’s been almost five months since I knew I was going to do this? There have been a few changes in the details, and a few bumps along the way, but for the last five months I’ve know I’m doing this specific book. And I’ve kept my mouth more or less shut. This is an unheard of level of discretion. And now, it’s at an end. I can blab at will. So here goes.
My book will be called Silk Road Socks and will contain 14 sock patterns inspired by oriental rugs. It is being published by Cooperative Press (run by the inimitable Shannon Okey, AKA Knitgrrl) and is coming out in Spring 2011. There will be a website just for the book up sometime in the next little while, but I finally got the go ahead to spill the beans, and I couldn’t wait till the new site was done!
3 August 2010 · No Comments
Last, but definitely not least, this is the lovely Nate Sock Yarn by Briar Rose Fibers in the color 110 (such a romantic name). It’s a slightly rustic fiber with just a tiny bit of variation in thickness from one spot to the next.
I’ve worked with Briar Rose before. I first heard about it on Brenda Dayne’s marvelous Cast On podcast. I sought it out at last year’s Great Lakes Fiber Festival. I bought three and immediately turned one into Propitiate for The Boy. I just cast on with the second a few days ago for an (as of yet) secret project. It’s lovely to work with, and just gets better with washing.
So that more or less sums up the book yarns (there may be a tiny last minute addition, but this stuff will all be there for sure). Now that all that’s taken care of, I’m free to let you all know the theme of the book. And I shall. Very soon. Just not today.
2 August 2010 · 2 Comments
Just a quick update. Back in May, I mentioned that the pattern for Scatterling was up over at Knitcircus. Their 3 month term over there is up (the new fall issue should be out any day), so now they’re available here. They’re a nice versatile (unisex and stretchy) sock written in 2 sizes. Perhaps they’d be a good start to your <whisper>Christmas knitting</whisper>?
Also, thanks to everyone who voted in the SKA poll. I’m going to be the designer for October. That’s a bit before the book comes out, but I’m going to see if I can’t come up with a way to do a quick sneak peek of at least one of the patterns. I have a feeling I can sort something fun out!
31 July 2010 · 2 Comments
This lovely temptation is Classic Merino Superwash Sport by Knitting Notions in the color Dark Rose. My camera decided to lie the day I took this picture. The yarn is actually a bit darker and, well, rosier, in person – more pink and less red.
Knitting Notions shows at several of the fiber events in my area, and I’ve been lucky enough to see all of Catherine’s yarns in person. Her booth is unmistakable and irresistible. She does a really beautiful job of displaying all her yarn to its best advantage. If you’re going to any of her upcoming events, you should be sure to stop by.
I already had a small stash of her yarn when I started the book (this one was among them), and knew I wanted to use it if I could. Catherine was marvelous, as expected, and even indulged my fit of shameful indecisiveness. I know you’ll love this, it’s worth seeking out!
30 July 2010 · No Comments
The last night was bittersweet. After dinner we had a combination Q & A session and a little show and tell. We learned about thigh spinning as an alternative method of depilation, we saw some truly breathtaking projects, and we made grand plans to keep in touch. We laughed and hugged and one or two people may have cried just a bit, for we knew it was almost time to go home. Stephanie put it best when she explained “if we stay here…we’ll die. You can’t do this forever.” And she’s right of course (she usually is). We couldn’t do it forever, but it was marvelous while it lasted.
29 July 2010 · 6 Comments
These are wicked good fun. Let me explain. I believe I may have mentioned my feelings about colorwork. I just don’t do it. I don’t get it. I don’t (generally) like it. I don’t know how to do it well. It eludes me.
But I do occasionally go ‘ooooooh, pretty colors…I want pretty colors’ (admit it, most knitters are swayed by pretty colors). So this seems like the perfect compromise.
These are part of the gradiance collection by The Unique Sheep. The gradiance collection is sets of different yarns in colors that shade subtly (or not so subtly) into one another. They come in groups of 4 or 6 colors and are available in all of The Unique Sheep’s base yarns. There are examples of lovely socks and shawls over on the page for them. It seems like the perfect way to get some of the fun of different colors while not actually having to master the technical challenges of the more traditional approach.
I got myself a set back at Sock Summit (I obviously need to stop buying yarn and start using the yarn I already have) and knew right away I wanted to use it for the book. Two more yarns to go, and then I’ll finally tell you what the book is all about!
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