Armored
I told you there would be some lacy business coming up, and you know I'm not the type to lead you astray (temptation, yes; astray, no)! I suppose the pattern on this one may be a tiny bit too small scale to truly scratch the lace itch, but the result totally feels lacy to me. Elle, sample knitter extraordinaire, said it reminds her of chain mail, which I totally get. I sort of love the idea of a little wisp of knitting (and this is a silk/yak blend by Bijou Basin...wispy is exactly the word for it) as armor against [...]
Proof
Do you know anyone who writes books? If so, there's likely to come a day when a package arrives from their printer. When the package comes, it's best to just stand quietly by and let them have a moment with it. They're fairly heavily invested in the stuff in that package, it's best not to get between them and it. I know it looks like a stack of giant, rumpled sheets of paper and may not seem all that fascinating. But folded up inside there are Real Live Pages From The Book. I promise it's a big deal. You get [...]
Increase Decrease (review & giveaway)
So that secret suspicion you had? That feeling that maybe TNNA was an awful lot like a birthday party with lots of goody bags for everyone to take home? Yeah, there's actually some truth to that! One of the things that came home with me was a stack of lovely books to review and give away. And today we're starting with Judith Durant's marvelous Increase Decrease: 99 Step-by-Step Methods. The short version of the review is 'oh my woolly goodness, if you like to experiment with your knitting instead of just following instructions, go get this right now.' I have [...]
Keep It Up
Last week was a bit of a rollercoaster. It started when I learned that someone was selling scans of one of my books on Etsy. I asked Etsy to take the listing down, and they did. Then I asked them to take down the seller's shop (everything in it was clearly stolen). They didn't, despite fervent claims that they take copyright issues seriously. So I told you about it and asked you to help me persuade Etsy to fix it. And you did! The seller's shop was empty come morning. Alas, the story doesn't end there. The very next day [...]
Sock Mountain
Let's get back to basics for a moment, shall we? How about some knitting. I distinctly recall a point when this blog was pretty much all knitting all the time, and I think we could perhaps do with a bit more of that, yes? So, look, a sock in progress! You'll note I've piled the sock in progress atop his completed fellow and the ball of yarn, perhaps in an attempt to show him how nice it is to be all big and tall and sock like. I'm hoping it will encourage him to get with the program. But, on the [...]
Disappointing
Update: Holy Wowza we did it! When I got up this morning, I saw that the site had zero listings. Thank you all! Update, Part Two: Sigh, I found another scummy seller listing my book. This time, I figured I'd write a little guide on what to do if it happens to you or a creator you care about. Are you up for a little rant about intellectual property rights? Because I have a tale to tell, and I could use a little help. On Monday evening, the lovely Julie very kindly sent me a tweet telling me someone on [...]
Xanthophyll (plus giveaway)
Remember how I'm not supposed to have favorites? Because I'm supposed to love all my patterns equally? Well that works about as well with patterns as with ice cream. They're all good, but some of them are especially good. And Xanthophyll are totally some of my favorites! I'm so glad to be bringing them back out. These were the first skinny yarn socks I knit for The Boy (before he happened to mention that he sort of liked thick socks best, thus increasing the overall number of knit socks in his future rather dramatically). The original ones still turn up [...]
Psst
Xanthophyll (a favorite both because they're awfully pretty socks and because any word that starts with an x gets automatic bonus points) is coming back out next Tuesday. These were reknit in a beautiful yarn from Vice, and I couldn't be more thrilled with them. Mailing list folks get a coupon when they come out, and there will be a giveaway here too (because it's a moral duty to share yarn that pretty)!
Scales
Yes yes. There will be lacy curls in the sequel. I promise. There are a few on the needles right this minute. But this? This is not one of those. This is all dense and waffle-y and textured. And I'm quite hopelessly taken with it! The yarn (Wistful by Briar Rose) totally helps, too.
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