my life in stitches

butter

finally, an FO! i love, love, love this scarf! the yarn is a 70% cashmere, 30% silk blend that i bought at School Products a few years ago. i used a mistake stitch rib and because it was looking a bit raggedy along the edges, i worked a couple of rows of single stitch crochet around the sides. this butter color is a huge departure from my usual palette, but sometimes you need to change things up. this scarf is so soft. it feels like you're wearing a string of kittens around your neck. err.. that would be live, warm, and cuddly kittens.

new pattern for sale : : jolie laide scarf

Beauty lies in imperfection and randomness...

jolie laide is elegant and easy to knit. it is almost impossible to screw this up!

WARNING: This pattern may cause considerable anxiety for knitters who are really into symmetry and order.

specs:

skill level: super easy
finished measurements: approximately 68" x 7"
materials: 360 yds of heavy worsted mohair
price: $2.95

PDF file will be sent by email within 24 hours of receipt of payment.

i made this...

for my friend, susan, in vermont. i don't knit a lot of scarves. mainly, because i find them boring to knit. and, like socks, i'm not interested in following a pattern that is so complicated that i could have knit a whole garment in the time that it takes me to knit it. hence, the few scarves that i've knit have been very simple. whenever i knit a gift for someone i want it to be really exquisite. finding the combo of yarn & design that would be both exquisite and simple to knit was not easy. after about 10 days of driving myself bananas trying to make a decision, i settled upon a freeform openwork pattern knit with some leftover Lorna's Laces Heaven in Pewter. i've been calling her Jolie Laide because for the first few rows or so i thought it was hideous. after, i made the decision to be a bit more free with the pattern her beauty began to emerge. i think the finished product is really elegant. i hope that susan thinks so, too.

and while the pattern was mostly freeform, i did write it down. i'll be putting some new patterns up for sale in september, so maybe Jolie Laide will make an appearance then.

all the cool kids are doing it

buying a Bejeweled pattern (which donates money to deliver Dulaan goodies to Mongolia), knitting it up, and spreading good will! here's Dana's lovely Bejeweled-in-progress.

Tamara bought the pattern and wrote:

Thank you for making it so easy and enjoyable to do a little bit of good. I may make the scarf and donate it to another cause, to continue the efforts.

even if you're not going to knit this scarf right now, you should buy the pattern because your $2.25 is a $3.50 donation to the Mongolia Project at F.I.R.E. what's $2.25? i'm pretty sure it won't even buy you a double tall skinny mocha latte!

if you have a blog, please post about this and help to raise money to keep sending all the Dulaan goodies to Mongolia! thus far 33 sold, 267 to go!!

buy a scarf pattern, keep a child warm!

as you know, through December 31st, i'm donating $1.75 (pretty much all the profits - the patterns sells for $2.25, paypal charges between .37 to .39 cents per pattern) from the Bejeweled Scarf patterns, to F.I.R.E so that they can deliver all your yummy handknits to children in Mongolia. i've got great news! Anichini, the world's foremost luxury linens and textiles company, has offered to match the donations raised from the sale of my Bejeweled Scarf pattern. what that means is that for every pattern you purchase at $2.25, The Mongolia Project at F.I.R.E. will receive $3.50!!! please, post it to your blogs and tell all your knitting friends! my goal is to sell at least 300 patterns. with Anichini's matching donation that would be $1050 raised to keep kids warm. we can do this! only 280 more to go!

Bejeweled Scarf - because sometimes all it takes is a little scarf to make you feel really fancy!

this has been an amazing year for me, including the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. the absolute low point was this past spring when i had to have a very expensive surgery. as i was recovering and completely drowning in medical bills my dog, ashby, had to have emergency knee surgery. it was a disaster. i was completely broke. my mom was helping me with my medical bills, but i had no idea how i would pay for ashby's $1200 surgery. i had absolutely no place else to turn to, so i asked the knitting community to buy patterns and to donate money to ashby's surgery fund. thanks to the amazingly generous donations and sales that we received ashby was able to have his surgery and he has had a full recovery! i cannot thank you enough for supporting us through a really difficult time.

since then, i've been wanting to do something to say thanks. i can think of no better time than Thanksgiving to begin to pay it forward. i'm sure that by now every knitter reading this post knows about The Dulaan Project or has knitted lovely and warm scarves, hats, sweaters, and mittens to be sent to Mongolia to keep kids warm. i've been wanting to knit for Dulaan too, but with all the book knitting i just haven't had time. so, in lieu of knitting, i present the Bejeweled Scarf pattern. this is a pattern for the scarf that i am wearing in my Yarnplay author photo. through December 31st i will donate a major chunk of the profits ($1.75 per pattern) to the Mongolia Project at F.I.R.E., the non-profit organization that delivers all of the Dulaan goodies to Mongolia. it costs them $40,000 a year to ship to Mongolia, so they need lots of help! this super easy scarf is a fun project. buy it and knit it for yourself or gift it to a friend or relative. buy the pattern and send it to a secret pal or stash it away for later.

** update ** Anichini, the world's foremost luxury linens and textiles company, will match my donation to F.I.R.E. that means that for each pattern sold The Mongolia Project gets $3.50! **

 

 

Specs:

Finished Measurements: Approximately 6.75” x 72”

Materials
270 yds of aran or worsted weight yarn
Size 8-9 needles

Gauge: 19 sts / 4 inches over pattern.
Price: $2.75

PDF file will be sent by email within 24 hours of receipt of payment.

 

 

 

ashby sez, 'buy a pattern and help keep some mongolian kids warm and cozy like me!'

it smells like autumn

and all i have to show for my autumn wardrobe is this cashmere / silk scarf that i'm hoping to finish before a trip to san francisco at the end of october. i'm definitely missing a few key pieces. boots - am i the only one who has noticed that last year's $500 boot is now $800? and that last year's $800 boot is now $1300? wtf? how many pints of blood is that? i like to buy myself one really good pair of boots every couple of years, but at these elevated prices i may have to go through both my yarn stash and my closet to see what i might be able to get a few bucks for on Ebay before i can make such a hefty investment. it's insane! i could use a good skirt, but what shape? i'll have to put a little time into researching what shapes and lengths are hot right now. a sexy ruffled blouse would be good. jeans are a wardrobe staple. i'd guess that i probably wear jeans 335 days out of 365. i have a couple of pairs of super skinny. that style has been in for quite a while now. how much longer can that trend last? as always, i'm itching for a new pair but i'll need to wait and see what's next before i part with my plastic. as for sweaters, i am absolutely, positively going to knit a sweater with that grey cashmere that's been langouring in my stash forever. i'd also like to knit a Poppy in blues or greens. what are you purchasing / knitting / lusting after for autumn?

butter and all things bourdain

i have a few precious moments left before i embark upon a big new project (details to come in the weeks ahead). rather than jump into something time-consuming and complicated, i opted for simple and straightforward. the lovely yarn you see here is an 8-ply, 80% cashmere, 20% silk blend that i bought at School Products two years ago. for a while now, i've been jonesing for a super long and luscious scarf. this is it! i'm knitting it in a broken rib. normally, i would put a couple of garter stitches on the edges to keep it from rolling, but sometimes that can make a scarf look really stiff. i like the more organic, flowing look that i'm getting here. curls, bumps, and all! i expect that this yarn will really bloom once it has been blocked. it is so-o-o soft. it's like butter.

in knit tv news, i am so thrilled that Benji won 'So, You Think You Can Dance'. that kid is so talented, a real joy to watch. he would be great on Broadway!

as for 'Rockstar Supernova', i'm really feeling Ryan these days. i am stunned at how talented he's turned out to be. it's going to get really interesting from here on in.

i could slap Laura on 'Project Runway'. she's just annoying. it was hilarious to watch her mother's reaction when she found out that Laura is pregnant with her 6th kid! Uli was robbed on this last challenge. seriously. Vincent? Vincent? come on. he should have been sent packing ages ago. i have my hopes set on Michael.

oh and there's that other reality tv show that i won't confess to watching... just know that i am really unhappy about the departure of last person who left the show. definitely the most cunning and entertaining to watch.

oh. and of course i watched Anthony Bourdain in Beirut.

are you watching anything new and interesting?

one of my reader/ friends, who is aware of my passion for All Things Bourdain managed to get the man in question to autograph a photo for me. imagine my delight when i opened my mail and found a photo of him signed, 'To Shobhana...' eat your hearts out, people...

presenting the pink scarf

i am pretty pleased with the outcome, though the cashmere didn't fluff up as nicely as thought it would. hmm... don't recall what the cashmere content was on this yarn, probably 30% or so. it will work well with a denim jacket or a black turtleneck.

fo and a half

i finished the pink scarf last night while watching "Kill Bill, Volume2". it had been stalled for some time because i couldn't decide between short and sweet or long and lovely. i opted for short and sweet. i have a skein+ left over. not sure what to do. maybe i can find a matching pink yarn and mix the two for a hat. i thought about adding tassels on the end, but decided that it reminded me too much of those things that priests sometimes wear over their robes. (yes. i was an altar girl in a long forgotten catholic universe, far, far, away...) i'll weave in the ends and block it today. the cashmere should bloom quite nicely after blocking! i am so happy to have completed something! now i can start something new!

i really want to knit Wings from the current issue of Rowan. unfortunately, i can't seem to come up with the right color combination. pale pink and chocolate? pale blue and chocolate? aqua and yellow? green and yellow? it's so hard! also, i think it best if i make it a reward for finishing Tom Tom (remember her?). i don't need to have 2 labor intensive intarsia projects on needles! just one more sleeve (plus massive finishing!) to complete it...

speaking of completing. i finished the first half of Freda. i really should cast on for the 2nd half before i lose my steam. those little curlicue bits at the start of it are a total pain in the ass to knit. it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. after that, it's a breeze. i should just suffer through it and get it over with.

a special shout out to marie in Wales. thank you for the tea!

in other news... beginning in January, i will be teaching 2 knitting classes at Hill Country Weavers, sunday afternoons from 1-3 PM and monday evenings from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. i am so excited to be teaching again! come out and get your knit on!

no words, just photographs

new project

it feels so good to start a new project! this is the scarf that i'm knitting from the silk/cashmere yarn i bought at School Products. i'm going for short and fat with tapered ends. this yarn should bloom fairly well after blocking. i'm imagining a very fat and slightly fluffy (well, not fluffy like angora fluffy) scarf that ties around my neck like a big collar with the tapered ends in the front. it would be a good look with a denim jacket.

no rabbit in the hat

this project is like a magic trick gone wrong! the yarn is a super yummy, hand dyed, fingering/lace weight cashmere. the color is gorgeous! it has been lingering in my stash for way too long. before you cry neglect, listen to my sad tale. i've been trying to come up with a scarf pattern for over a year and a half! the problems are the very same things that make this yarn such a treasure - the weight, the colors, and it's nubbly boucle-ness. ergo, all patterns are rendered invisible. and, yes, i've tried lacy, open patterns, but with these colors it looks way too busy for me! this is, oh, pattern number 5 or 6, a diagonal rib. and, invisible or not, it is destined to remain a diagonal rib!

FO & works in progress

i started this alpaca sweater (peruvian tweed by galler) for my friend, paul, about a year ago. i am so glad that it's finished and i can send it off to him! this yarn is difficult to photograph, so the color isn't great. however,it is very luscious and cozy

here's a scarf i've justed started working on for myself. the yarn is elaine by cheryl schaefer.

i just finished the body of the striped sweater (debbie bliss merino dk).