Eclectic

I have a bit of an eclectic post this weekend, as life has been decidedly... crazy! The boyfriend and I visited his folks again for a combined Mother's Day and Father's Day, and this involved a trip to another fabulous Cape Cod restaurant. Unfortunately, I've completely forgotten the name already!  It was kind of a whirlwind drive down and back...

I love the thought of living on the ocean all year long, in a little grey-shingled cottage with green vines around the entryway... sheep in the backyard, walks on the beach across the street, salt roses lining the flagstone walk.... that's really how they live!



The restaurant had a beautiful entryway too, with stained glass windows:



and inside, artist's renditions of the local waterways covered the walls:



I think we all ordered their special lobster roll, which was served hot, tossed in melted butter on a croissant that had been sliced and grilled with butter on the inside. Calories to spare! For dessert we all shared one piece of 3-layer Limoncello cake.

My week was also full of arrivals. I got my Ravelry Celebration Contest Winner bags, my shirt, cup, and cards of the Bird-Pulling-Yarn design, and a bag of the hilarious Party Animals!



The last thing I want to share is that a new edition of Interweave's specialty magazine Knit Wear is coming out shortly and I wanted to do a little review so folks didn't miss it. The premiere edition was so stunning to me that I want to share the love!



This magazine is described on the cover as "simple handknits for the thoughtful knitter" and by this, they don't mean simple to knit. But the lines and styles have that simple elegance:





The blue sweater above is knit with Quince Yarns Osprey chunky weight yarn so it would knit up fairly quickly, which is a plus.

This magazine was planned by Editor Eunny Jang, and she describes it as being all about authentic luxury -  which to me means clean lines, good-quality yarns, and classic long-lasting style. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newest edition and I need to start planning some actual projects!

And on a last note, my Camp Loopy Herbivore is coming along and I'm just about to join the second skein. The pattern doesn't call for 400 yards, that's one of the requirements of Camp Loopy's first project, but it does make it more shawl-less scarf and that works for me!

Sensitive Man Socks

I just entered my pattern for the Sensitive Man Socks into my pattern store on Ravelry! Thanks to Lynne for encouraging me to finally write up my notes. :)

Thom's afghan

Have you made a square for Grandpa Rav? Thom fell from a ladder (to avoid falling on someone else) and was very badly hurt. If you search for the Thom's Afghan group on Ravelry, you'll find the group blanket that's being made for him, to cheer him during this long recovery period and several surgeries. The organizers need 100 more squares to complete the blanket, so if you care to knit or crochet one, sign in and sign on!



My square is crocheted, with a heart made from Garnstudio Fabel sock yarn appliqued to a simple square made from Sublime Superwash Extra Fine Merino. It was quick and easy. The colours of this blanket are blues and greys, with just a touch of other colours.... It's looking good already! You can see all the other squares made so far by clicking on the 'projects' tab in the Thom's Afghan forum.

I have a holiday today, and that means knitting on the Plimoth Plantation stockings. I bought some new Addi Turbo needles for this project, because the Shetland worsted is very 'sticky' and needs some slick needles for fast knitting. Background to the knitting? I have a choice of marathons on TV: ANTM, Project Runway, and Firefly! Tea, turbos, and TV. That's a real holiday!

Valentines!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!



This little crocheted heart, made from Perle Cotton size 5 and a C hook, is from a Drops pattern at the very end of their Fall 2007 collection! It is a very quick creation, although it does take some concentration to make sure the stitches stay even and neat.

I made these hearts for the Valentine Card Swap on Ravelry and sent 10 out into the world....well, 11, because one extra one went in a card to a special friend on the west coast.

A huge Valentine gift came from my friend Nad in Germany!!



The chocolate lasted about 10 minutes - honestly - I devoured it!! (YUM) That Mozart makes good candy! hee hee... But you see that card? That pretty spring-like card? It's embedded with flower seeds! You plant them and they grow! How cool is that? I can't wait to see what they're like when they come up. I'm ready for flowers - we're still buried in several feet of snow here... (we had another storm yesterday).

The very best present of all....my socks!! Nad made me a pair of beautiful socks called Sophia's Rose Garden, and they do look like roses don't they?



I was very impressed by their style and the perfect knitting. See how she matched up the stripes of the yarn on the cuffs? Do you know how hard that is to do???? She's a miracle!

Nad is a great designer. She designed a pair of snake venom socks that you can find in her projects on Ravelry (find her via her blog, to the left) that are a marvel of the design matching the yarn. And I think she's repeated that perfect match with these rosey socks for me! As you can see, I love them. And they have been on my feet every minute since I opened the box.



And the yarn!! See the pretty yarn in spring colours!!

These skeins make me think of spring violets and delicate snowdrops. I'm going to use them for a lily-of-the-valley sock pattern I think, to empahsize thier blossom-like feeling. And she so thoughfully included some pretty - and incredibly soft - slipper yarn (a little thicker than sock yarn) in Valentine colours for my sister. I can't wait to make those. I have another Drops pattern pcked out already for that! It's wonderful to have a friend in another country who shares the local yarns with you - things I would never even know about without her generosity. Thank you Nad!

So, this day is starting out lovely, as Valentine's Day should! I hope you all have a happy day and get a chance to do something loving for a friend or your family or a loved one...

golden oldies

I got my package from Plimoth Plantation for the re-enactment knitting! A beautiful mellow cornsilk colour shetland wool from Harrisville yarns. Because this is the closest, according to their research, to the type of yarn used then, and the colours made from natural dyes...



When I imagine the stockings all finished and on some unknown person, I picture Tom Bombadill:

Old Tom Bombadill
was a merry fellow
Bright blue his jacket was
and his boots were yellow

The pattern is for long - perhaps over the knee - stockings with a clock on the ankle. They are the most awesome stockings ever! And I plan to do then perfect justice so that all the re-enacters say "I want to wear Sophia's stockings!!" hee hee

I promise to keep you updated with periodic photographs.

In fact, this has been quite an eventful week for the needle and hook! I'm making an afghan square for Thom, Ravelry's grandpa and Casey's dad. Thom fell from a ladder and was quite badly injured. We all wanted to do something to show him that we care, so we're each making a square and several folks are putting them together into a big warm full-of-Ravelry-love blanket! The squares have to be 4" by 4" and be in the blue/grey range... My square is crocheted and is looking good....I think its a surprise, so I won't show it just yet.

I got my contract/agreement and information form from Knit on the Net today! I'm going to be a knitter/crocheter for thier book, A Stitch in Time, which is being updated and re-knit! I'm so excited. Being a sample maker is the perfect outlet for my obsession with vintage patterns! I literally cannot wait to get my assignments! No pictures allowed, folks, but I'll keep you posted about the book progress as we go along. It should be brilliant!

And last but not least, Ravelry sent me the best of gifts for winning in the Bobby's! I got two shot glasses - one says "frogged" and one says "ripped", A big project bag with the Ravery logo and green straps, pins with snappy sayings, a big Bob decal, and the bestest enameled Ravelry pins of Bob, and of the Ravelry ball-of-yarn logo...And...a frame-able award certificate! {{{sigh}}} Colour me happy. Is that too 80's an expression? Somehow it makes me think of Three's Company on the oldie's channel... anyway, it made my day...(erm, that's even worse! wasn't that saying from some Western movie?)...uh. It's fierce. really really fierce. And that's the truth!

I mean Bob!

I won a "Bobby" on Ravelry!! Hooray!

This is so exciting. The last time I won a contest was back in 8th grade when I won the State Latin Exam. I got a book called All Roads Lead to Rome, which I'm sorry to say I never read and is now probably on the shelves of some remote second-hand bookshop...

This award is just so much more cool. I'm not one of the prominent or popular people in the Ravelry community, just a semi-quiet participant who likes a laugh here and there... I responded to Yarnvista's, another Raveler's, funny post with my own take on the resident Ravelry dog, Bob. She nominated me for the award. At least 230 people thought it was funny...(at least thats the number who had voted when I checked yesterday afternoon) I confess, I laughed too when I wrote it. Is that bad?

Bob is so cute. He's definitely a Good Dog, deserving of bones...
Here's Bob --->

How I feel about Ravelry

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