Well then, that will do nicely.  I mean I still need to go out and give it a proper photo shoot, but I'm really rather pleased with the hat itself. It's off with testers, and assuming no one gets hit by a meteor or felled by the plague or otherwise messed about with, the pattern should be out next week. Now, the trick is to make sure I actually wear this and don't somehow imbue it with all the various fretting I was doing while I knit it (someone tell me that's not just me, I can't be the only [...]

The yarn gods have smiled upon me. I ordered both of these online, having not seen either in person before, and just sort of hoped that the pink would match up well enough.  And it does, it really really does. And then, in an even more unlikely reach for glory, I ordered this gray in the hope that it would match with the yellow already in the stash.  And behold, it totally totally does. Now, this was all fairly safe, because the chances that I wouldn't love the yarns (even if they didn't pair up as I hoped) was basically [...]

And, just like that, it's done. Where by done you take me to mean the knitting bits are done. There are still ends to be woven in and blocking to be done. But for folks asking, yes, it will be a pattern.  And yes, it will be out quite soon (because apparently I'm not the only one who needs the distraction of some mellow knitting right now). Do the mailing list thing if you want me to hear from me when it's out (likely later this month, you know, assuming there are no exciting catastrophes around these parts).  You have [...]

It should be boring.  It really should. And perhaps to some, it would be.  But for me, right now, it's just what I need. The whole thing where the speckles are pooling up together on one side, leaving the other side fairly speckle free, is really about all the excitement I can handle right now. And that's totally ok.

This went really well last time, so let's do it again...⁠ ⁠ On the last pattern (the wee little eggs), I made a handful of copies of the pattern available to folks who could really use a new pattern, but the Exciting Global Catastrophe had messed with their household finances in such a way that it just wasn't in the budget. And I said if anyone had a little extra room in their budget and wanted to donate a few copies, we could make that happen.⁠ ⁠ And the response was overwhelming. Everyone was delightful. Lots of people donated. Lots [...]

Do you remember back in early February when I started these?  Early February, which was (I checked) a mere 8 weeks ago? Not the 8 months it feels like?  Yeah.  I know.  Me neither.  But I'm pretty sure it happened.  And since the tiny sprocket for whom the hats were intended has made his debut, it seems only fair to bring out the pattern (even if things are super weird right now). The pattern is Exigencies, it's up on ravelry, and you can take ten percent off with the code DISTRACT ME for the next few days. Now, let's get [...]

Look, if you are one of those people who are using this time to write your novel or finally get your kitchen perfectly organized or step up your workout routine?  Cool. I'm delighted for you.  I want you to be happy and safe, and I wish you all the best. But if you are one of those people who are mostly just trying to hold it together more or less one minute at a time, well I'm right there with you.  This is your occasional reminder that you're cool too. It is 100% ok if things feel too weird to [...]

You're absolutely ruining my reputation.  The story we've all agreed upon is that I am mean and sarcastic and totally bereft of feelings.  And something happened yesterday that just totally blew my cover. Yesterday I brought out the pattern for Cracked. I felt a little weird bringing out a pattern when things are like, well, this, but everyone assured me it was fine. But I wanted to do something a little different because things are so hard for so many people right now.  So I set up a code to let a few folks who really needed a lift but [...]

So, I'm going to be very direct. Putting out a pattern for a knitting pattern (and a frivolous pattern at that) right now feels weird.  But I talked with some people myself, and I've seen other conversations happening online, and the consensus seems to be that folks understand.  Folks understand that this is how some of us pay our bills (and want us to keep doing that).  Folks understand that some people could really use a distraction right now (and a new pattern can be a great distraction).  And folks understand wanting to do things that feel normal (and for [...]