2 September 2011 · 1 Comment
The winner of Laura Nelkin’s lovely Adorn pattern collection is Sandra. I’ll send an email with directions shortly Sandra!
I’ve got lots of knitterly thing to tell you guys, but both Levon and I seem to have some sort of lingering crud. We’re on the mend, but I think a bit of a late afternoon nap (perhaps followed by a slightly lazy weekend) would do us both good. I’ll pop back in with a proper post soon. Until then, it’s kittens and naps and maybe a little Buffy the Vampire Slayer for me.
30 August 2011 · 35 Comments
So, as promised, I’d like you to meet someone who really knows her way around the bead shop. May I introduce the lovely Laura Nelkin?
I got to know Laura when she was design director for Schaefer Yarn. She got in touch with me when I was very new at this pattern thing and asked if I’d like to do a design for Schaefer. This was an incredibly generous thing to do. I was a complete newbie and was totally making it up as I went along. Her encouragement was a tremendous help.
Laura has recently made the switch to being an independent knitwear designer, and she’s doing some amazing things. Her latest project is a video class on lace shawls that looks like great fun. Even more impressive (at lest to me, as I sit here surrounded by hundreds of beads and a few false starts) is her way with beads.
She’s done lots of individual beaded patterns in the past (Ennoble more or less makes me weak in the knees), but now she’s done something even more fun. She’s put together a whole collection of knitted jewelry and other accessories (most of it with beads). She’s releasing one pattern a month, plus a few surprise patterns here and there. The first pattern came out back in May, and new patterns are being added every month.
The pattern collection is called Adorn, and it is absolutely marvelous. The patterns are lovely, and the instructions are clear enough that even a bead novice like me isn’t intimidated. If you’re already a bead expert or if you’ve only been considering taking up beading (and really, if you like yarn shops, there is a good chance you’ll like bead shops…they hit a lot of the same ‘oooooh, pretty colors’ buttons in my brain), you’ll want to add this to your collection.
I’ve got a copy to give away to one lucky reader. If you’d like it to be you, just leave me a comment below and tell me what you like to do with beads (even if it’s just admire them from a distance). I’ll pick a winner on Friday. Do be sure to use a real email address so I can get in touch if you win (and don’t worry, I won’t do anything with any of the addresses except contact the winner).
14 June 2011 · 6 Comments
As promised, the winner for the Barking Dog Yarns/Foliate giveaway is Sue of Alderwood Quilts. It looks like Sue already knows all about Barking Dog Yarns and will be adding a skein of Galaxy in the color California to her stash. I’ll be in touch to sort everything out.
And because I feel bad that not everyone can win, I set up a little promo for everyone else. If you buy Foliate, you can have any of my other patterns for free. Just put both Foliate and any other pattern in your ravelry cart, click on the use a coupon code button and type BDY Foliate. Click apply, and the price will magically adjust itself. You can see a list of all my patterns in one place right over here (remember to use the add to cart option, not the buy now option). This will run for the next week or so.
And in totally non-knitting related news, I’m still utterly taken with porch kitten. He needs a name. Well, I’m not quite sure if he’s a he or a she. We’ve not yet progressed to that point in the relationship. I’m toying with Simon, Oliver, or Cadwell at the moment, but none of them have quite stuck. Of course he still won’t let me get close enough to touch him, but he will sit at my feet so long as I keep up a steady stream of treats. Anyone got any tips on how to make him a bit less skittish?
9 June 2011 · 80 Comments
Because Suzan, evil genius behind Barking Dog Yarns, is awesome, I have a skein of Galaxy to give away. Actually, it’s even better than that. Instead of having an actual physical skein of yarn in my hands to send away (always a bit of a wrench I tell you), I have permission to send you over to the site, tell you to find your very favorite color (in any of the bases), and Suzan will dye it up in Galaxy for you.
I am, frankly, jealous. Someone is in for a treat. I can’t say enough good things about this yarn. It’s an 8 ply sport weight in 100% merino with about 275 yards per skein. More importantly, there’s something about how it’s spun that makes it sproingy and lively and a treat to work with. This is where I wish I knew more about various yarn constructions so I could describe it accurately and in a way that makes me sound clever. Instead, I’m stuck saying that the 8 plies are divided into 4 pairs. Each of those 4 pairs is all twisted up (looking sort of like lacewieght), and then all 4 are twisted up together to give a delightfully dense and round yarn. Terrible description I know, but a mighty fine yarn.
One skein is more than enough to make the Foliate set (the pattern for which I’ll also send along to the winner), a hat, a little scarf, or a host of other projects. If you want a chance to play with it yourself, head over to Barking Dog Yarns and find your favorite color (this will likely be the only hard part). Come back here and leave a comment (being sure to use a real email address). I’ll pick a winner on Tuesday and put you in touch with Suzan to set up your prize!
28 February 2011 · No Comments
The marvelous Wendy Johnson (the mastermind behind Toe Up Socks for Every Body and Socks from the Toe Up) has a copy of Silk Road Socks to give away. Of course this makes me feel a fluttery in my tummy because Wendy is a real and proper designer (this apparently means ‘designer I would be all nervous about meeting and whose books I’ve bought in actual stores’). But, because I love you all and want to take over your knitting needles, I’m stomping on my nerves and letting you know about the drawing. Head over and leave a comment if you still need a copy!
9 February 2011 · 2 Comments
Thanks to everyone who entered. It seems that you guys are as taken with Dream in Colors marvelous work as I am. I’m happy to announce that Ariel and Andrea were the lucky commenters (as chosen by random.org). I’ve sent off emails asking for their mailing addresses and will mail out the yarn as soon as I hear back (which is good, as I might fall too deeply in love with it if I keep it around any longer…sending yarn away is hard).
Meanwhile, in actual knitting news, anyone remember these guys? The sock I cast on in Nova Scotia? Back in, oh, um, September? Yeah. I’d kinda forgotten about them too. Well, not really forgotten. I knew they were there, but I’d allowed them to slide into the pile of stuff lurking in the back of my mind. The stuff about which I feel a bit guilty…just not guilty enough to actually do anything. Don’t look at me like that, you have that pile too.
But, Monday morning, I had a dentist appointment (just a cleaning, part of my ongoing quest to successfully imitate a responsible adult). I went to grab some waiting room knitting, and I had nothing. No hats, no mitts, no cowls, not even a sock. I do have a second sock that I need to cast on, but it’s a finicky thing to set up and the dentist’s waiting room wasn’t the place to do it. Then I found these guys. I’d more or less forgotten how much I like them. I’ll likely finish the first one tonight.
Of course then I have to remember what I did, write it down, and make a second one. But this is still progress.
5 February 2011 · 53 Comments
So the plan had been to put this pattern up on Monday. But it’s ready now, and I don’t really do patience if I can help it. Also, there might just possibly be something else going on on Monday that I’ll want to squee about. So I’m putting it out now. Handy thing, making your own schedule.
These are, of course, the magical, sanity-saving, purple hats. One is for me, and one has made its way into the post to head off to my mom. The first of these was cast on within hours of getting my hands on the new Everlasting 12 ply dk by Dream in Color. I remain unreasonably smitten with it. It’s more or less perfect, and it’s the first time I’ve seen one of the ‘zillions of tiny plies’ style yarns in a heavier weight. I’ve already gotten scads more for another project and will be casting on soon.
And now, because the people at Dream in Color are awesome, I can share this new obsession treat with you. I’ve got two skeins of Everlasting 12 ply dk in the color Amethyst to give away. You can easily make both of these hats from one skein of yarn (I made 2 big hats from one skein and had about 30 yards leftover).
If you want to give it a try yourself, go take a look at the Everlasting colors, pick your favorite (or favorites, I’ve not been able to narrow it down much really), and leave me a comment telling me which ones you like best. Remember, I’ve got Amethyst, the one used in the hat to give away, I’m just shamelessly polling you to find out what colors you like (and to pad out my next shopping list). Do be sure to use your real email address (no one but me will see it, and I won’t use it for anything other than to notify the winner). I’ll keep comments open until Tuesday evening, and announce winners on Wednesday.
In the meantime, if your own sanity needs a little restoration, you can find the pattern here.
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