Thursday, August 23, 2007

I Owe You One

I know I've been rather scant with my blog postings of late and I owe you a good, long post. I'll rectify that today with updates on a variety of things.

Before I dive in and risk losing the attention of those of you with no time or inclination to wade through a long post, I want to give you all a heads-up to be on the lookout for a sale coming in my shop very soon. I've been working on some new colorways for my Alpaca/Wool and Mohair/Wool blends that I'll be adding to my shop in September and so it's a good time to clear out some of the remaining stock on the colorways that have been around for some time. There will also be a few Superwash Merino Sock Yarn colorways moving to the backburner that will also be on sale.


I don't have a firm date for the sale just yet, but I hope to have everything ready to go for that early next week. I'll post here when the dates are firm and will also send an update to my mailing list subscribers. If you haven't already asked to be added to that list, just send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to add you.


On the personal front, my husband and I are driving hard to the hoop with our purchase of a new home. Our needs are pretty unique and so we're thrilled to have found a place that should work well for us. Neither I nor my husband are the sort to procrastinate. Since we saw the house one week ago, we've visited a second time to be sure, put in an offer, negotiated the offer details and come to an agreement, got the loan firmed and approved and rate locked in, and had the home inspection completed. As I said, we're driving hard to the hoop!

All of this has consumed much of our time this week and will continue to do so, but that doesn't mean that there's no time for knitting and dyeing! As I mentioned, I'm working on new Alpaca/Wool and Mohair/Wool colorways. The first month's shipment of the Seven Deadly Sins Sock Yarn Club also went out this week and I'm way ahead of the game with next month's shipment and half of the month after that already completed.

Between all of this, I've also managed to squeeze in a bit of knitting time. I'm almost done with the body section of the zippered jacket/sweater that I'm knitting from the 2004/05 issue of Vogue Knitting. Just a few more rows on the back section and I'm ready to move on to the sleeves.





It wasn't until I took the photo above (bad photo, I know) that I realized I made a stupid mistake. You can hardly notice it in person but the photo picked up what looks like a line across the center back, moving horizontally across the back at the point where the armhole shaping begins. I inspected the piece and am fairly certain what I did to cause this. When I split off to do the front sections and back separately, I did the first side section correctly, but when I returned to do the other side and center back I began with a right side row instead of a row side wrong, thereby missing one purl row. So dumb. Tsk tsk.

As of now, I'm not really inclined to fix this. It really isn't very noticeable in person and I can't bear the thought of frogging back to the armholes. I may view this differently later though, so I think I'll motor on for now and finish up the last few rows of the back. I can then move on to the sleeves and when those are done, I can view the body with a fresh eye and decide whether I want to correct it.

I even tried to get a closeup photo of the problem area, but in closeup you can't even see the problem. Here's a closeup I showed you previously so that you can see the pretty stitch pattern much better than in the photo posted above.




Another loose end I left with all of you was my order of two new knitting books all the way back in June (or was it even May?). Both books were backordered for an eternity, but at long last I received the first one a couple of weeks ago.




I already have one of the Barbara Walker Treasury books, but I like this one even better. It's the first of her four-book "Treasury" series and is more of a traditional stitch dictionary style of book than the other one I have. It's chock-full of wonderful stitch patterns. Like most dictionaries, there are many that I already have in other dictionaries, but there are quite a few that don't look familiar to me.

I also love the way the cable stitch section is handled. In many cases, there are two stitch patterns shown together, creating something more like a cabled panel. It's very helpful to be able to see how some of these patterns work together, while also having the pattern instructions themselves written out as two separate sets of instructions making it easy to mix and match. Yep, this book's a winner. If you're in need of a good stitch dictionary, I highly recommend it. The only drawback is that it's in black and white, but of course, that helps keep the price within reason. Here's a link to the book on Amazon, although you may want to shop around for a possible better price and perhaps a shorter wait than I experienced with this order through Amazon!

Finally, I want to quickly mention that I know some of you are anxiously awaiting the addition to my shop of the tri-color slip stitch sock pattern and kits.



I haven't forgotten this! Everything's just about ready to go on that. I just need to find some quiet time to finish formatting the final pattern.

I think you are now all officially up-to-date on what's going on here in the land of Fearless Fibers. Thank you all again for your kind comments and e-mails about my house-buying venture! It surprised me how many of you sent me e-mails or put a note about it in your orders from my shop. There were so many of you that I didn't even know were readers of my blog! Come on out from behind the curtain and post a comment now and then so I know you're out there :)

Everyone have a wonderful day!

11 comments:

Ambermoggie, a fragrant soul said...

Wow Deb you have been busy and I'm so pleased about the house for you:)
BTW on your etsy it says US orders only? As you know I'm in UK can I order?

~Tonia~ said...

You have been one busy woman. And to throw knitting in there too. How do you find the time.?

You can safely say that when there is something that you want you sure go out and get it. I am glad that everything is coming together with the house.

Cindy, aka Maxfun said...

Congrats on the house! How exciting for you!! :)

I love the Walker Treasury books. I've been getting them one at a time as I can. Have you seen the Walker Treasury Project blog? Folks knit swatches, take color pictures, and post them. It helps to see things in color rather than just the b&w pics in the books. http://thewalkertreasury.wordpress.com/

Can't wait to get the mail today and see if my sock club package arrives! :)

Anonymous said...

House buying. Very exciting!
I did not comment about it before (may be a little bitterness there since I cannot afford a house yet). But, yay for you!

I am slowly plugging away at some socks using your sock yarn. I have an ambitious goal of finishing them in a couple weeks. Shall let you know and share photos when they are finished!

Anonymous said...

Don't frog the sweater. When I looked at the picture I thought it was a design element.
I'm so impressed with your progress on the house. Would you bop down here and help me deal with a few things I've been procrastinating on?

Glyn said...

I recently bought the Treasury set myself! I'd been looking for ages and had it on my wishlist. I figured I'd pace myself and get one at a time because they were never on sale or discounted. The lowest prices I could find were $30 (for two of them - the normal retail price), and $28.50 for the other two (a big discount of 5%!) Amazon is where I found the best prices (above), but that only amounted to a total discount of $3 for all 4 books. Then I went to Schoolhouse Press' website, and found that they were the same (retail, obviously) price individually, but if you bought the full 4-book set, you get a 10% discount. Ok, now I realize that wasn't a big deal, but it was a good excuse to just get them all at once. =)

Anonymous said...

Frog the sweater. It only has to go back to the armholes, and if you don't fix that line, you'll see it every time you wear it. It's such a pretty stitch pattern, too! I'm a big believer in "life's too short to . . .", but in this case, why not spend another week or so on the project?

It's great that you're closing in so quickly on the closing. Definitely I'll be checking out the sale.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Deb--

You are one busy woman. Congratulations on the house--when you find the one that is right for you, you have to act!

Got my sock club package today. Wow!
Just gorgeous. Can't wait to dive in--I have some patterns I want to try and the yarns will be perfect.

Thanks,
Kathleen

DragonsChest said...

Goodness woman! You knit like the wind - or are your days longer than 24 hours? LOL

~Suzy

debbie said...

wow! i received my "gluttony" & "wrath" yarn today - two very gorgeous skeins of yarn! i'm busy going through my patterns to find one to go with "gluttony," that one will be for me!

Anonymous said...

Isn't Barbara Walker wonderful? Go to www.thewalkertreasury.wordpress.com

The stitches are alive and in color!