Foliage

Gone are the days of the thought that yarn must be 100% wool (or very close to it) to felt. The B-4 Bag pattern that I designed originally for Karaoke yarn (50 % wool, 50% soy silk) is shown here in another wool blend. This one is Berroco Foliage. Only 53% wool, and 47% acrylic, would you think it would felt this nicely? It's beautiful!

What I really love about the way this yarn felts is that the acrylic spun along with the wool is all one color, and the wool is what changes color. When felted, the wool shrinks around the acrylic, causing the acrylic to pop out in a beautiful pebbly texture. The wool colors intensify because the acrylic has basically been separated from it in the felting process. It doesn't show as well in this colorway as some of the other colors. We have swatches in the shop, before and after felting, that really shows off the felting properties of this yarn.

I'm not saying that all wool blends will felt this well, but don't be turned off by something you want to try. Swatch and see what happens! You could be pleasantly surprised, as I was, when I was told "Oh, that yarn won't felt....." WRONG!

Another Bloom Shawl

My first 2 "Bloom" shawls were done in Noro Blossom, both of them in color #5 (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE...but then...if you know me, you know that!)The first one I gave to my mom for her birthday because she fell in love with it, and I promptly knit up another one for me! But, Blossom #5 has very bright, spring-like colors, and I wanted to do something for fall.

I also wanted to play around with other yarns and see what kind of results I would get.

So here is another shawl, this one done in Noro Silk Garden (color #204 in case you 'need' to have it!)This shawl turned out to be just a bit smaller than the one done in Blossom, but not so much as to be too small. Just right. I decided to add fringe to this one instead of the crocheted edge...once again to show some options. I will hang this in the shop with my other one to show the different looks you can achieve by using different yarns or finishing touches. This one took 3 skeins for the shawl and almost another full one for the fringe...so 4 total if you want the fringe.

I would also like to try one in Trendsetter Dune for a little glitz.

Tagged!

Jane tagged me for a meme. I think this is interesting.

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five some other people to do the same.


Here's mine:

Speaking of socks...last night I turned the heel on both socks, one at a time, but both of them still on the same needle.

That was the first pair of socks I did 2 at a time doing Magic Loop, but they were cuff down and I had quite a time with them. Obviously before I found Queen Kahuna and her better "magical" ways of knitting socks....
The next bit of that post says:

Then, believe me when I tell you I have NO IDEA what I did next to get the gussets going and the socks back on the needle the way they were supposed to be. My plan was to take notes on how I did it, but I got so screwed up (and frustrated!) that I just did whatever it took to get myself untangled. I ended up having to enlist the help of 3 double point needles to rearrange the stitches back in the right order, but finally I did it, and around and around I started going again.

That post was from the week before Halloween last year. When I was going through my archives I realized that it was one year ago this week that I taught my first knitting class. Wow...what a whirlwind year it's been!

I tag
Miri
Kim
Lynn
Jen
Karrie

LynnH

I met Lynn several months ago when I was on a road trip to Threadbear with my Thursday night knitting group. I had been reading her blog for quite a while, always in awe of her creativity, and how many things she has going on at all times in her life. And she doesn't just 'dabble' in all these areas, she masters them! When I met Lynn she was sitting at a table at Threadbear, knitting a pair of socks, if I recall. Even if I'm wrong, it would be a good guess, because this is one of Lynn's many areas of expertise. She knits socks. Lots of socks. Take her "sock tour" and see just some of the socks she has knit over the past several years. Lynn also designs sock patterns. She teaches sock classes.....I think she loves socks! (Lynn teaches LOTS of classes, not just socks, and not just at Threadbear. She teaches at 5 yarn stores in the Lansing area, as well as doing workshops in other far-reaching areas)

Ok, so we've covered socks....read on!

Lynn dyes yarn and roving.

She creates beautiful palettes to knit and spin and felt with....check them out! But wait, there's more...there's so much more!

Lynn loves fiber, but her creativity isn't limited to just this medium. Lynn is a very talented polymer clay artist as well. She makes some incredible, one-of-a-kind buttons which were just recently featured in a trunk show (along with her beautiful ArtYarns) at Threadbear. She can take a kazoo and turn them into a museum piece! I mean really, who would have thought to cover a kazoo in beautiful polymer clay? Check them out. You'll love them!

Besides flying high from her recent trunk show, Lynn is also basking in the glow of being the current featured 'interviewee' on Knitcast.

You'll want to listen to Lynn and get to know her better.

Then there's Lynn's music career, which she shares with her husband. Her talents just go on and on, don't they? Lynn has just about a gazillion careers all at once.

What a way to live a COLORJOYful life!

New Knitty is up!

The Fall Issue of Knitty is up now.... Lots of great designs!
and my Bloom shawl pattern is there. WOO HOO!
Thanks to everyone at Knitty!

Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments, K?

ps..I am humbled beyond words by all the wonderful support I have gotten from family, fellow knitters, and especially knit-bloggers, who have featured me and my patterns in their posts today. Thank you all....I appreciate your friendship (and advertising!) more than I can say! You're all the best!

Hugs,
Trish

New Bag Pattern for Sale

But first, let's take care of some important business.

Susan and Margene have got a great idea. Visit their blogs to see what they are up to. Donate to the Red Cross (you can use the button at the top of my sidebar) then email them to let them know how much you donated and they'll add it to the total donated by knitters. Then you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of many great items that generous knitters have donated. So maybe you can donate a prize too? I'm deciding what I can give to the prize pile.

Drumroll......................

It's ready! The B-4 Bag pattern is now for sale! I will be donating a portion of each sale to the Red Cross on top of what Mike and I have donated.

This bag is knit in the lovely self-striping Karaoke yarn* by South West Trading Company (or any other felting yarn of your choice), this bag features:

Bobbles!
Bumps!
Beads!
Buttons!
(thus the name B-4)

Click on the button on the sidebar to see other versions of this bag (knit in different yarns) and the paypal button to order.

Thanks!

*PS...I just went to SWTC's website and saw there was a link on the left sidebar that says "Free Knitting Needles". If you click on that it will lead you to a coupon that you can use to get a free set of size 7 bamboo needles when you send in the UPCs or ball bands from 6 skeins of Karaoke. They are promoting the new Karaoke yarn. Cool beans!

I'm sure I don't have my ball bands anymore from making my 2 test purses from Karaoke, but thought I'd send the info along...you just need to knit 2 of these bags (one for you, and one for someone you love... Christmas IS coming, you know......) to get a free set of needles.

is good!

Back from the Beach

Good Golly it was hard for the beach sox and I to tear ourselves away from the beach this morning and get on that plane home! We had such a wonderful time. Though the forecast before we left was for rain every day, not a drop fell upon us the whole time...it was awesome.

Though.... HOT! & HUMID! (both of which I hate when I'm home in Michigan but will gladly tolerate when I am within earshot of the crashing waves.

When we got to Myrtle Beach and went to the Alamo counter for our "midsized" car, we were told they were out of midsize and would we mind a brand new mini-van with leather seats, DVD player, etc. Heck no! Bring it on....

That was our first upgrade of the day. We called the hotel to see if we could check in early, since it was still more than 4 hours until the normal check-in time of 3 pm. After some checking, the guy came back on the phone and said, yes, they had a room available, and we could come now. We got there and were told they were upgrading us to a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom CONDO! For goodness sake, we were only paying just over $100 a night and that included a huge breakfast buffet every morning! We were geeked!

This place was awesome...a HUGE kitchen complete with dishwasher (and laundry!) tons of counterspace and cupboard space and every small appliance you could possibly need (along with the obvious large appliances too!) The dining/living room was extremely spacious with a huge glass wall to the balcony. We had an awesome view of the ocean which was just yards away over a small dune. The master suite was huge with a king bed, the other bedroom had 2 double beds and was very nice for the kids not to have to sleep together in one bed. We had 3 tvs and all the comforts of home. Wow....

I was knitting away on my socks at the pool(s) and was getting some very strange looks....never saw another person knitting the whole time I was gone, but was glad to bring home a 2/3 completed pair of socks that will always remind me of this trip.

While there I took a trip down to Pawley's Island to find a couple of yarn shops down there. Of course I went on Monday and one shop was closed Mondays. Drats...remind me to let my fingers do the walking next time....The other "shop"(Elegant Stitches) was actually in a home. Rosemarie Smith is the lady's name and she was very sweet. Gave me great directions to get there though I was afraid to try it, I did find her ok. She actually teaches classes and has an area of her upstairs set up as a shop. Not a huge selection, obviously, but some very nice yarns.

The next day I drove north to Knitting Up a Storm and had a nice long chat with Terri who was working there that day. Only one other customer came in while I was there so we had a lot of time (well over an hour) to talk yarn, and about the classes I am teaching, tales of working in a yarn store, etc. They had all their Jo Sharp yarns at 50% off. She said Jo Sharp is being bought out by another company, and while the yarn will stay the same, it will have a new label so they are clearning out what they had. I bought a full bag of Silk Road DK Tweed (Wool/Silk/Cashmere blend) for a mere $4.25 each! YOWSA! I bought a really cute shrug pattern to use this yummy yarn. I wish I knew what else I would make, or who would want me to buy some at this price, but I just didn't know if I should buy more of this yarn, or any of the many other Jo Sharp yarns they had in stock.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time...it went by WAY too fast, but it's good to be back home.

I just feel so awful for the people who were affected in such horrific ways by the hurricane and its aftermath. I pray that someone will take care of those people SOON. I understand that the magnitude of the situation is unimaginable, but it sure seems like things are happening in slow motion. If I feel that way I can only imagine what those poor people are feeling and thinking. I am praying for them and thankful that no one that I know was affected by this tragedy. If you have friends or family members who have suffered, I hold them in my prayers. It makes you feel guilty to have a wonderful vacation and come home to a house intact, all the while knowing that so many are suffering so horribly. I feel the same way I did after 9/11. For so many days I felt paralyzed. Like I had no right to go about my daily "normal" life. It wasn't fair to have normalcy when so many had died or had their normal lives ripped away from them forever. I guess to overcome this feeling we have to do whatever we can to help those less fortunate. If you can send money, do so. If your situation doesn't allow it, send prayer. Reach out in random acts of kindness so we can remember that there is good in this world, and focus on that rather than the idiots who are shooting at people who are trying to help them, looting hospitals, and acting like animals.

On a happier note....the new issue of Knitty should be up soon....Look for my pattern "Bloom"....let me know what you think! And hopefully by tonight I will have a preview posted here of my new felted bag pattern too.

Safe travels to everyone this holiday weekend.

I'm back, but leaving again

And then leaving AGAIN!

This next week is going to be a BLAST! Tomorrow morning I am leaving for an abbreviated version of our late summer Girls' Weekend at the Lake. Everyone else will get a full version, but I can only stay until early Saturday afternoon.

We'll have our usual fun. We'll eat too much,
Drink too much play LOTS of poker and just be downright silly. It's going to be hard to tear myself away after only being there little more than 24 hours. But I really want to go even though it's for a short time.

I'll drive back home and finish getting myself and the family ready for our early morning flight on Sunday. We are jetting off to the beach for one last hurrah before school starts.


We fly into Myrtle Beach on Sunday morning. We'll be staying at the Caravelle Resort. This is where we stayed the one and only other time we were in Myrtle Beach. We got a "School Daze" special so decided to splurge for the oceanfront executive suite. Why the heck not?

Jake was just a little tyke when we were there before...he doesn't even remember it. But I remember ....he LOVED chasing the waves. I wonder if he'll still love it as much. Kaitlyn, on the other hand, remembers it quite well, and says Myrtle Beach is her favorite place on earth. One of the reasons we chose to go back there. Instead of camping. Which is what Mike wanted to do. Hello? Camping? NOT a vacation, especially for the mom. No. Camping is WORK. I want to PLAY! And rest, and relax....
like this or this or this

So while I'm at the coast, I will mosey on down to Pawley's Island and check out the 2 yarn stores there( Island Knits and Elegant Stitch), and there is one that I found in Myrtle Beach too (Knitting up a Storm). Does anyone know of any others in the vicinity that I can visit if we happen to get rain (which it looks like we are going to...according to the forecast, but then...what do they know?) I'm hoping for sun, really I am, but I wouldn't mind a couple hours of rain to give me a guilt-free excuse to go yarn shopping!


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The garden is still exploding, though some things have slowed down. I am no longer picking 6 zucchini a day, or a dozen cucumbers, or 2 dozen pickles. However, the tomatoes are now going bonkers and no matter how many I pick there are still hundreds left out there for the wildlife to chew on. I have given away (this is NOT an exaggeration....) HUNDREDS of pounds of produce from my garden this year, not to mention using a LOT myself. Besides having friends, family or coworkers to pawn it off on, we ended up taking about 8 grocery bags full to the local food pantry (and still, the next day, every flat surface in my kitchen was covered in produce)

I have made enough pickles to last all winter long, even though I've taken countless jars to every family function we've been to all summer. I have made enough zucchini muffins, brownies, cookies, stir fries to make me not care if I ever see another zucchini (until next summer) My freezer is filling up with tomato soup (ask me in February how good it tastes, and if I remember how much I complained about the exploding garden). I've made lots of salsa, and have convinced my brain that the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are candy, since there is a bottomless bowl of them on the counter. No matter how many I eat, there is just as many in the bowl. (Jake picks them when I'm not looking) I mean, when you can go out to your garden with a Tupperware "That's a Bowl" bowl and almost fill it, just with cherry tomatoes, you've got a good crop! The Snow White cherry tomatoes are yummy too....I don't have quite as many of those as the Sun Gold.

I feel like I am taking a vacation from my garden, if nothing else. It sure has monopolized a lot of my time this summer. I wonder what it will look like when I get home.....

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On the knitting front:
I finished knitting another version of my new felted bag pattern, and will hopefully get the pattern to the printer shortly after getting home from vacation. I also knit another moebius scarf for the shop. This one is done in stripes of black Bamboo and black/tan/brown Fur Real, both by South West Trading Company. It's very cute. I have several students signed up for the moebius class already. Classes start after Labor Day. We've had kind of a hiatus from classes, due to lack of interest, over the summer, but things are picking up again!

I am debating what I want to take with me to knit while gone. I have been itching to start another pair of socks, and since that is a portable project, I'm sure that will be one thing I take. I have also fallen in love with several of the lace projects that Jane has knit recently so may take along some skinny yarn and skinny needles and try to create something lovely.

When I get back I'm going to cut the sleeves off my denim jacket and knit some new ones. Here's Diane's jacket (we both got denim jackets at thrift stores when I visited her at Easter...she got her project done WAY before me...isn't it cute?)

Anyway, I won't be around for a while...I don't even think I'll be taking the laptop with me, so unless I can squeeze in another post on Saturday evening, I'll say adios for now!

Miss me? Well, here's the story....

Several weeks ago I went to post an entry and found I couldn't gain access to my blogger account. After about 10 days of emails back and forth with no results, Miri told me that when she went to my blog she noticed that my posts now said they were written by "Jake". WELL! That was my AHA! moment. My little 8 year old sweetie hacked my blogger account! That was last Thursday that we figured this out, and I have still been trying since then to get it all straightened out. All this time I was fuming at blogger when he had gone in and tried to create an account, but my account was signed on, so when he typed his info, it changed everything here. So....I thought I'd pop on real quick to let you know why I haven't posted in a while.

Believe me, I've had a lot to say and it's been very frustrating to not be able to post! Finally today I got a link to reset my password, etc, so I am in the process of getting everything back to where it was before. I will write a real post later tonight.

(heavy sigh of relief to have the blog back under my control!)

Take me (and my knitting) out to the ball game....

Wow, isn't this a cool idea??? I would have liked to have been sitting among the knitters at that ball game. What a fun experience, I'm sure!

This 'N That

On the knitting front:
The new felted bag pattern I am working on has been knit and felted, and has told me what revisions need to be made. Starting it over tomorrow when I get more yarn. It's pretty cute!

It is knit with the new Karaoke yarn from South West Trading Company. It's 50% wool and 50% soy silk. It's great to knit with, and felts up nicely. Gives off a fair amount of fuzz in the process, but produces a nice felted fabric. It's a bit on the soft side, like Noro Kureyon, so I wouldn't use it for something that is going to get a lot of wear and tear, but for a small bag I think it will work out just fine.

Of course the pattern can be knit with 100% wool also. I need to knit up a sample in wool so I can see what the difference in size/shape might be. Look for the pattern soon on my sidebar.


I thought my favorite yarn was Noro Blossom, but now I'm thinking alpaca is neck and neck with the Blossom....I knit with alpaca for the first time when I did a moebious scarf from Cat Bordhi's A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting. I picked up the book at Threadbear when I was there and finally decided it was time to do more than drool over the awesome projects in this book. I taught myself the moebious cast on (first time, thanks to great instructions and photos...thanks Cat!) and found that yes, it is truly magical. The first hour or so I just kept commenting to myself "This is SOOO cool!" If you haven't yet experienced the magical moebious knitting, you really should do so. It's mind bending!

Anyway, the alpaca moebious is lovely...needs blocking before a photo, and will be the store sample. I will be teaching the moebious cast on in a class in the fall.
I think Mike will be getting a lovely moebious scarf for ice fishing this winter. I love how it can cover your neck and head with no ends flapping around.



Nature News:
The fountain that Mike gave me for Mother's Day is now home to a bunch of tadpoles. I am surprised that a frog could get in my fountain to lay eggs, but I guess she did. I won't be turning it on any time soon....don't want to send the little swimmers for a ride through the pump!

My garden is going positively bonkers. The zucchini is growing on average of 6" overnight. We are on a twice-daily picking schedule so as to not grow any baseball bat (or bigger) zucchinis. I have been making pickles every single day. Between Sunday morning and Monday afternoon I made 12 qts. 38 pickles were picked in that time. Sunday we picked our first cucumber. Yesterday? 10 more. I am giving produce away by the bagful. I gave 2 bags to the lady who delivered my flowers yesterday, another bag to my SIL when she picked up her kids an hour later, and another bag to Jake's friend's mom this morning. It's craziness! From 4 plants each! Heaven help me when the hundreds of tomatoes that are weighing down the vines start ripening ALL AT ONCE! (I did overplant the tomatoes....but how can you turn down 30 heirloom tomato plants in lots of different varieties, for free? You can't. You put them in the ground and are happy for whatever delicious, delightful tasty treats are bestowed upon you.) The extra hot/humid weather this summer is really doing wonders for these plants, I tell you. The corn that is growing in the farmer's field behind our house is bigger than I've EVER seen it grow.

Off to watch Big Brother.....I really like Kaysar...can't wait to see how his nominations affect the house. And I really liked Eric, for the first show. After that, more and more I thought he was a jerk with WAY too much testosterone shooting through his veins. WHOA! Take it easy, guy!

TTFN!

Exciting news!

Tonight I got the email I've been hoping for....the pattern I submitted for Knitty's fall issue has been accepted! WOO HOO! I am having a hard time believing it....I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, but on the other hand I thought it had a good chance of at least catching Amy's eye, if nothing else. I suppose it's not written in stone yet, but the email said:
"You're in! Congratulations!" so I'm taking that as a YES!

I'm not giving away any details ahead of time, but look for "Bloom" in the next issue of Knitty. (OMG!)

UPDATE: My loving, thoughtful hubby had a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to me today. When I told him the news last night, I didn't think he "got" how much this meant to me, but he must've been down-playing it so the flowers today would be more of a surprise. What a sweetie....