I get the best mail

I've been busily working along on Curls 3.  I've got a giant bucket full of finished pieces just waiting to be blocked and photographed (once the snow is melted and the leg gets a tiny bit better...taking photos is surprisingly physical, and doing it on a slightly wobbly leg is harder than I would have expected).  And once they're done, it's off for edits and then to the printer. But before that happens, I can totally show them off a bit, even in their unblocked state. That's made with Miss Babs Sojurn in their German Waterways color.  And it is [...]

March 9, 2018|

They get to decide

When I was in college I took a history of religions class.  On the very first day, the professor declared (repeatedly and emphatically) that we would absolutely positively not under any circumstances be offering our own opinions on whether one group or another were 'really' any particular religion.  The official class position was "if they said they were, then as far as the class is concerned, they were.  They get to decide." It seemed reasonable to me then.  It has proven to be a pretty good way to handle a whole host of other identity issues in the intervening years.  [...]

June 26, 2017|

Suitably Matched

Way back when I was a brand new knitter (think 'had to look up how to purl because it seemed sort of tricky' level of new), I read a pattern that said something like 'cast on 24 stitches with appropriate yarn and suitably matched needles.'  And somehow I got it into my head that 'suitably matched' meant 'needles that look pretty with your yarn.'  I'll just let you imagine how well that worked out.  It's a wonder I ever got the hang of this. But that incident has left me with a tendency to grin every time my needles happen [...]

June 19, 2017|

Good Mail (once again!)

So when I told you the yarn for Curls 3 was going to be awesome, I really did mean it!  I don't think I've ever assembled quite such a colorful bunch, but I'm totally loving it! Here we've got Tibetan Dream by Bijou Spun in Lilac Ombre (this is the yarn I showed you when we talked about how to get the kinks out of caked yarn...take a look at this and compare it to the pictures in that post to see what a difference it makes). And this is Silky Victoraia by Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Sugar Plum [...]

June 5, 2017|

I get all the best mail

So there's this thing where I have an idea, then I talk to some of my very favorite yarn makers, then they send me yarn, then I play with it.  I believe technically it's called 'my job,' but really it feels like way too much fun to be a job. Two of the latest yarns to arrive (they're for next year's book) are from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The first is Yaksi Fingering in Poupon (tell me I'm not the only one to be amused by yak...that's just nifty). And the next is Socks that Rock Mediumweight in A Hazy [...]

May 26, 2016|

Lithic (plus giveaway)

While normally I like to be all curmudgeonly and pretty much only work by myself, every once in a while someone comes along who can talk me into playing nicely with others.  Lithic is the result of one of those collaborations. You see, a few years ago, the good folks at Blue Moon Fiber Arts asked if I'd like to do a sock for their Rockin' Sock Club.  I allowed as how that could be fun, yarn went winging its way across the land, and a sock was born.  It came out as their July 2013 installment (under the name [...]

March 1, 2016|

Hazy

Every now and then I find a yarn that knows a special magic trick.  It somehow manages to be more than one color at once.  I don't mean more than one color over the length of the yarn (that's easy enough).  I mean more than one color at any given spot in the yarn.  Sort of like this. (This is surprisingly hard to show, so you can click to see a bigger version of the picture if you want to peer at it a bit more closely.)  See how it all seems to have a base color (whether that's purple [...]

February 4, 2016|

Playing Favorites

I'm in the middle of the best part of book making.  The part where I've chatted with some of my very favorite people in the yarn industry, they've graciously agreed to let me experiment with their beautiful yarns, they've mailed them to me, and I get to play with them.  This tray of yarn is sitting on my desk right now. These will be the socks for the book after next, and I love each and every one of them.  Starting at the top left, there's Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Buckingham Fountain, and right under it is Mrs. Crosby [...]

July 14, 2014|

Book Yarn, Part IV

KCC3 is debuting soon (next month!) and I want to take a bit of time during the lead up to show off all the delightful yarns I’ve used in the book.  So without further ado, yarn. These lovely bits of goodness are from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  Have I mentioned how one of the coolest things about doing these books is getting to use yarns I love?  So it should come as no surprise that Blue Moon has found its way onto my needles before.  There were the socks and shawl in the first KCC book, some socks in my [...]

May 28, 2014|
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