Socks for a Monday

For today's Monday customer project, Kirsten's wonderful socks made with FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn are in the spotlight. She used reinforcement thread on the heels and toes, which not only provides a sturdy sock that should hold up well over time but also adds a nice little design touch. I love this photo too! The feet look so comfy and happy in these cheerful socks. Great job, Kirsten!



I also want to remind all of you about the Knitspot contest drawing on February 3rd. If you haven't entered yet, be sure to get your entries in soon! There are several yarn and knitting prizes to be won, including some FF yarn in the mix. One of the prizes is a skein of FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn paired together with a copy of the just-released pattern by the brilliant Anne of Knitspot for these amazing "Smokin' Socks."



Everyone have a great week!

Yarn Photos + Nonsense

It’s been a while since I’ve posted pictures of new colorways for you, so I thought I’d do a bit of that today. I also have a bit of nonsense to share with you that might give you a giggle. First the yarn …

You may recall that I recently added a Worsted Weight Classic Merino Wool Yarn to my FF line. I began with three colorways but have since added a couple of new ones. Here’s one that I particularly like, called Clear Sailing. The first batch was snapped up right away, but there’s more listed in my Etsy shop now.



I’ve also recently added more Sportweight Cashmere to the shop. For a while, I was dyeing the sportweight cashmere mostly by special request, but I managed to find some time to build a bit of stock and so there are now a number of colorways in stock. Most of them are the same colorways you’ll find on my Laceweight Cashmere. Here’s Exotic Wood in the Sportweight:




One more yarn photo for you: Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Kildare. This is one of my earliest colorways on Superwash Sock Yarn that I put on the backburner for a while since I sold so much of it that I thought everyone had probably had enough of it already. I whipped up a small batch of it recently, thinking that it might be fun for St. Patrick’s Day socks and it’s been snapped up pretty quickly, but I still have a skein or two available at the time of this posting.



Alright. Enough yarn for today. Now on to the nonsense! This has absolutely nothing to do with yarn or knitting, but since I think of all of you as my own little knit club, I’ll just chit chat for a moment. During my visit with my family last week, my mother told a story that made me giggle so I thought I’d share it with you to give you a smile on this Saturday evening.

The story my mother told was from when she was around six years old. In Sunday school, they were learning about sins and reviewing what they were. When they got to adultery, the Sunday school teacher looked uncomfortable and said something about how that was very bad and we don't talk about it in public. My mother thought about it and decided that it must mean farting in public (pardon my blunt language, but that’s the word my usually rather genteel 84-year-old mother used). Needless to say, her priest must have been very surprised indeed when little six-year-old Ruthie confessed the next week to committing adultery. I know that what one confesses to her priest should not be shared, but I would venture a guess that the priest had a good laugh with his fellow members of the cloth about that one!

Have a great weekend!

Back To Work!

I've been back from vacation a few days now and am working to get myself back up to speed. It's amazing with a small business how just a few days away can create such a backlog of things to do. My apologies to all of you for my rather scant blog postings of late, but as I'm sure you can imagine, dyeing comes first on my list of catch-up activities!

My vacation involved a trip to Pennsylvania to visit my family. My sister, her husband, their five children, and my mother live together in Pennsylvania. For me, the trip was rather exhausting despite the fact that all we really did was hang around their house, play cards and games, eat too much good food, and laugh riotously at just about anything and everything. Just being around the five children always enervates me. At this moment in time, they are all teenagers. Yep. That's right. Five of them, ranging in age from 13 to 19. Just being in proximity to all that youthful energy is enough to exhaust me!

I did manage to knit a bit during the trip, on the plane and during a few rare, quiet moments at the house. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera with me and so I can't even manage a bit of knitting content for you by providing a picture. I followed Katy's lead in knitting the Reversible Scarf from the Yarn Harlot (posted in my Monday customer projects a couple of weeks ago) and I made one for my mother. A straightforward project that required little attention was just the ticket for knitting on the plane. The scarf turned out very nicely, but you'll have to trust me on that since it is now in my mother's possession and I have no picture to share.

I also finally gave my sister the cashmere scarf/wrap that I made ages and ages ago. Some of you who have been visiting here for many months may remember it:





I'm pleased to say that it was a big hit! My sister ooooh'ed and aaaaaah'ed appropriately, but I knew for certain that she truly liked it when she brought it to work with her the next day to show to her work friends. My sister's a fair-skinned redhead and so the green color is lovely on her.

The highlight of my trip was when my oldest niece suddenly - with no prompting from me or her mom, I swear! - expressed an interest in learning to knit. The two younger nieces then chimed in to say that it sounded like fun and they'd like to learn too. I had actually thought of bringing extra needles and yarn with me on the trip in case I could rope them into learning to knit, but I decided against it since it seemed unlikely that they would suddenly take an interest in knitting and I thought I would regret carrying the extra baggage for no reason. Now I know better and will be sure to plan that for the next trip.

That's all the news that's fit to print today. Again, my apologies for my negligence in blogging these last couple of weeks. I promise to do better going forward and thank you all so much for not forgetting all about me while I was gone!

Monday Customer Projects

For today's customer project feature I have two fantastic new machine-knit scarves by the prolific Sandy.

Here is Sandy's "Elephant Sampler Scarf" knit primarily with Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in a wide variety of colorways, along with a bit of other yarns from other sellers. How's this for over-the-top fabulous?!



And here are a couple of closeups showing some of the pattern details. WOW!

Next is another Fair Isle patterned scarf by Sandy in FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Nearly Black, Stormy Gray, Vapor, Golden Mustard and Brick House.



And a closeup of the gorgeous detail:



I am just amazed at how beautiful these scarves are. They just get better and better!

Keep the photos coming everyone. And don't forget the Orphan Skein Sale in my shop today. Many of the orphans have already found good homes this morning but there are still quite a few available.

Great day to all!

ORPHAN SKEIN SALE TODAY AND TOMORROW!

I'm back from vacation now and wanted to remind everyone that I'm having an Orphan Skein Sale in my Etsy shop today and tomorrow. All of the orphan skeins are now listed. The first few have sold already, so be sure to pop over and check them out before they're all gone!

I'll also be posting my usual Monday customer projects here on my blog later this morning, but wanted to take a quick minute to give you a quick reminder about the sale.

Happy Bargain Hunting!

Two Great Projects Plus More on the Sale!

For today's Monday customer projects, I have two terrific ones to share with you. First, here's Micki's Pomatomus socks in Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Brick House colorway.



I've seen so many pairs of Pomatomus socks and have to admit that I was never blown away by the pattern. The socks I've seen from this pattern in the past were all made with handpainted/variegated yarns. They were certainly very nice socks, but it wasn't until I saw Micki's rendition that I really picked up on the lovely, swirling details of the pattern. You can find more details and pictures on Micki's blog, but I can't resist sharing one more of her photos that really captures the lovely detail. Great job, Micki! You may have swayed me to finally knit my own Pomatomus.



Next up is Katy's scarf in FF Alpaca/Wool DK Yarn in the Bountiful colorway. This scarf is the Yarn Harlot's Reversible Scarf Pattern. When I knit with handpainted yarn, I often change the pattern by a few stitches as needed to avoid pooling and patterning, but in this case, the patterning really works well. Isn't it lovely?!



I like this scarf so much that I think perhaps I'll start one myself this week, while I'm on a long plane ride. That brings me to the next topic of today's post ...

I'm taking a brief vacation from Wednesday through Sunday this week. During that time, all items in my Etsy shop will disappear. The items will reappear on Monday morning. As a reward to all of you for your patience while I'm gone, there will also be quite a number of Orphan Skeins on sale on Monday morning. There will even be some orphan triplets and perhaps even quadruplets! The sale will be two days only. Items will be listed Monday morning January 22nd (sometime around 8:00 a.m. Pacific) and any unsold orphans will be removed Tuesday evening.

I'm off to gather up the orphans now in preparation for next week Monday's sale!

Great week to all!

Good Things Coming!

I have two good pieces of news to share with you today. First, there's the blogiversary contest over at Knitspot. Anne, the design and knitting genius behind Knitspot, is approaching the first anniversary of her wonderful blog. To make the anniversary even more momentous, her blogiversary is also her birthday!

To celebrate, Anne is having a drawing with several yarn and goodie prizes. You can enter through February 2nd. Among the prizes are a couple of Fearless Fibers goodies paired with Anne's wonderful patterns. Pop on over to Knitspot and check it out!

The second good thing to share is that I'm planning my second ever Orphan Skein Sale. It's my chance to clear out odds and ends and make room on my shelves, and it's your chance to pick up some great bargains. My tentative date for the orphan skein sale is Monday January 22nd. Once I have plans firmed up, I'll share more information.

That's all the news that's fit to print for today. More soon!

A Bit of Progress

As usual, I haven't spent nearly as much time as I would like knitting, but I do have some progress to share with you at last!

Here is a photo of the shawl I'm working on. This is the Faux Russian Stole from Meg Swansen's book, A Gathering of Lace. I'm using my Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn. You won't find this colorway in my shop, since it's a one-of-a-kind that I dyed for myself.



Although I don't feel as though I've spent much time on the shawl lately, I've somehow managed to come pretty close to the halfway point. The yarn is a heavier weight than called for in the pattern and I also used smaller needles, so I'll be curious to see how it looks when blocked. That is, if I ever get there!

In other news, I've got a new pair of socks on the sticks. I'm using a leftover skein of superwash merino sportweight yarn that I suppose is from another project that I've long since forgotten. I kept the cuff short, as I'm not at all certain that I have enough yarn to finish the pair.

You can't really see the pattern in this photo, but it's the best picture I could get on this gloomy day. The pattern is a little odd anyway. It's a speckled/broken rib of sorts, that up close looks like a rib peppered with mistakes, sprinkled with a knit where a purl should be, a purl where a knit should be. From a distance the pattern becomes visible though and looks a little like a mock cable. It's definitely not something I'm in love with by any stretch of the imagination, but I like the way it looks enough to proceed. These are just socks for me, so they don't need to be a work of art.



I also managed to finish the knitting of the "Thingamajig" that I mentioned in a prior post. It needs some serious blocking and a bit of finish work to be complete. I'm still not sure whether it's going to work out or not, but I'll know as soon as I get around to blocking it. I'll report back on that soon.

It feels good to have made at least some progress on my current projects. I'd love to start another sweater soon, but with so little time for knitting I want to be sure it's a project that I really, really want to do before I begin. We shall see.

Everyone have a wonderful week! And please keep those finished project photos coming to me!

A Bit of Lace

For this Monday's customer projects, I have a bit of lace to share with you. First, here is Kathleen's lovely shawl, made with Fearless Fibers Sportweight Cashmere in the Endless Night colorway. The pattern is Susan Lawrence's Forest Canopy. Kathleen says that the shawl "flew off the needles and the colorway was extraordinary." Well, I can certainly say that the results are extraordinary! How lovely!



Here's a closeup of the stitch detail.



Next up is Sandy's shawl, from the same pattern as the shawl above. How's that for coincidence? I misposted the source pattern earlier, as you'll see in Sandy's comments submitted. (THANK YOU for the correction!). And yes, this is the same Sandy who's been making all of those gorgeous projects on her knitting machine that you've seen in past Monday postings. As you can see from this hand knit shawl, Sandy's knitting talents extend beyond machine knitting. She knit this shawl with Fearless Fibers Classic Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Sunday Brunch colorway. Isn't it delicious?



And a closeup for the lovely detail:



These project photos are just what I needed to get me motivated to move on the lace shawl I've been working on. I must admit that I haven't worked on it nearly as much as I would like, but I have made some progress and will share a photo with you later this week.

Please keep your photos coming! Just e-mail them to me and I'll put them in the spotlight in a future Monday blog post. Thanks!

Vogue Shmogue

I can remember how excited I used to get when my copy of Vogue Knitting arrived in the mail each season. It would remain in its protective plastic wrapping until I had a clear space of time to sit and give it the attention it deserved. I'd make a fresh pot of coffee and sit curled up in a favorite chair, with no television or other distractions. The patterns at the back of the magazine were usually the first place I'd look, although occassionally I would start from the beginning and slowly make my way through every page of the magazine, savoring the anticipation of the patterns - the real "meat" of the magazine - to come.

For several years, I stopped my subscription to Vogue Knitting. I'm not sure why. Perhaps just laziness with the renewal process. Perhaps I let my subscription go at some point when I was moving from state to state every few years. My subscription began again two years ago when my sweet hubby got me a two-year subscription as one of a shower of a knitting-related gifts for Christmas. Oh joy! Oh happy day!

But alas, the excitement of Vogue quickly waned. Maybe I've just become hopelessly unhip? Or perhaps my standards for knitting patterns were not quite so high several years ago? Whatever the case, I know that now I will likely not renew my subscription.

If you have a copy of the latest VK Winter 2006/07 edition, follow along with me and tell me if I'm just nuts. If you don't have a copy, sit back, close your eyes and imagine this. (Wait. No. Don't close your eyes. You can't read this and close your eyes, now can you?)

The patterns begin with three that might be classified as "romantic." I classify them as pointless. There's a lacey sweater that's gossamer all over, but looks pulled and strained at the bodice, even on a model's figure. Topping off this light, lacey look is a bulky turtleneck. Huh? Then there's a shrug with a cable pattern that's mildly interesting, but the shrug itself looks bulky and uncomfortable.

Skipping a few pages to page 72, we come to a sweater with big sloppy cable and bobbles everywhere. The neckline is shapeless and unfinished looking with bobbles spotted along the edges. The bobble madness continues with a chain of them down each sleeve. The cables are interspersed with bobbles as well. I think perhaps it would look more appropriate if the model herself had a giant bobblehead!

The skirt on page 74 is so bizarre and so incredibly ridiculous that I can't even find the words. Forget the pattern. Just make a bunch of irregularly shaped sample squares with various stitches and then do your best to patch them together into something that you can loosely call a skirt. That will do just as well as this pattern, in my opinion.

Then there's page 75 with a short cardigan in Fair Isle. The Fair Isle pattern is pretty, although I personally don't care much for the colors chosen. But the sweater itself is a bit of a mess. It looks pulled and ill-fitting. It's held closed at one point only, low in the sweater, and if you look for more than a second or two you will quickly see that the closure is placed about an inch off from one side to the other. You know the look. The way a sweater skews if you miss a button. How could they not correct this before going to press?

Then there's a hat on page 76 that looks as if one would have to hold one's head perfectly still to avoid having the thing just pop right off. Is it that ill-fitting or is this some new style that I'm unaware of? The pinhead nature of the hat is only accentuated by the big pompom on top. The hat on the following page is no better. Yes, we all like a quick-knit from time to time. But a hat knit with #15 needles at a gauge of 2 stitches per inch? Not only that, but the hideous thing folds into a cuff around the bottom, meaning it's double-thick. It's so chunky and bulky that I'll bet if I wore one, it would double the circumference of my head!

Oh my. I don't think I can go on. It's just too painful. Was VK always this way and I never noticed? I can't remember ever actually knitting any of the patterns from VK, but I do recall finding several in each issue that I planned to knit at some point. Now I'm lucky if I can find one that I might be willing to knit if someone held a gun to my head.

I suppose I should have seen it coming. Does anyone recall an issue a couple of years ago with a long coat of some sort made with chunky novelty yarns? It was so ugly I can't imagine many would have read the pattern but if you did you would have found that the instructions for attaching the furry trim along the edges directed that one glue it on. Yes, you read right. GLUE the edging on.

Oh my. Sad times indeed. I fear my VK days are truly over now. I can bear no more.

Sockin’ in the New Year!

For today’s customer project photos, I have a lovely spread of socks to share with all of you. All of these socks were made using Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn.

Jersey Shore Deb made these darling socks for her daughter. The colorway is Sky and Clouds. Deb’s daughter wanted a simple sock and Deb obliged with a toe-up stockinet sock with a picot edge. This was her first pair of toe-up socks and what a lovely job she did! You can read more about Jersey Shore Deb’s knitting adventures on her blog.



Next we have Cherie’s “Eagle Flight” socks in in the Brick House colorway. She knit these fantastic socks as part of a Yahoo Sock Group (“Justsocks”) Knitalong. The pattern can be found here. Fabulous work, Cherie! The socks are smashing!

Next we have Molly’s socks in the Thoroughbred colorway. Molly reports that these are now her favorite socks, the first ones she wears after a wash every single time. Now that’s music to my ears! And no wonder they’re her faves. They look perfect in every way: great fit, perfect knit, and in one of Molly’s favorite colors. Who could ask for more?



Finally, we have a pair of socks knit by Bettina in the Smoke colorway. Unfortunately, the picture is a little dark and doesn’t do justice to the knitting by Bettina, but there’s also a closeup below with more exposure that gives you a better view of the details. The pattern is the Gentleman’s Socks with lozenge pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Great job, Bettina!

Thank you all for continuing to share your pictures! Keep ‘em coming!!

Finally, I want to wish all of you and yours the very best of all things in the coming year. Happy New Year!

Drumroll Please!

Before I give you the exciting news that warrants the drumroll, let me first take a moment to answer Nicole's question posed in her Comments a few posts ago. Nicole asked: "In the photo of all the yarn in the ziplock bags, what is the gorgeous yarn in the top left corner? The orange one? Yowsa!" The yarn is my Sportweight Superwash Merino Wool in October. You may be familiar with the October colorway on Fearless Fibers Mohair/Wool. Note that the colors are quite different on superwash merino. I probably should have named them differently to avoid confusion.



And now, on to the "Drumroll Please" news!!

For some time now I've been yearning to add a full worsted weight classic merino wool yarn to my line. The only other worsted weight I carry is Mohair/Wool and I really wanted to fill the gap with a nice merino. This turned out to be more difficult than it sounds. I know that I can never be all things to all yarnies and so I've taken a very specific approach to the items I carry. The theme is simple: top quality, traditional/staple fibers in a beautiful array of colors at prices that are a value to the customer. Not so difficult right? I should be able to easily add a worsted weight merino.

Well, it turned out to be a bit of chore. I sampled quite a lot of worsted weight merinos and what I found were that those that met my quality criteria were overpriced and those that were within the price range that I could live with (on YOUR behalf, of course!) did not meet my quality standards. I fretted. I shook my head a bit. I looked at another. And another. And another. I fretted some more and sighed mournfully from time to time.

Just when I had pretty much given up hope, a miracle fell from the sky into my lap! I am so excited to announce that I now have a lovely, soft, quality classic merino in a worsted weight. I cannot describe to you how much I love this yarn. It knits up at around four stitches an inch on US#9's and I can just imagine how lovely it will be for sweaters, scarves, hats ... you name it! AND .... the price is right! The yarn comes in 4-ounce skeins of approximately 140 yards each and my price to you will be $14.50 per skein. Although 140 yards sounds relatively small, remember that this is a full worsted weight and so it goes a long way. That 140 yards is a quarter pound of yarn. Of course, I haven't yet knit a sweater with it, but I approximate that six skeins will make a classic fit women's size medium sweater.

Since I have no way of knowing how this yarn will go over with customers, I'm starting small with just five colorways. Three are ready now and listed in my Etsy shop just this morning! Two more colorways are drying in my workshop and will be added in a few days. Without further ado, here are the three already listed.

First, there's Butterscotch Twist. If this colorway looks familiar to you, that's because it is the same colorway that I'm using for the "thingamajig" that I'm making and posted about previously. The thingamjig is with Alpaca/Wool, but the colorway is available only on the new Worsted Weight Classic Merino.



Next is By the Hearth. There's nothing fire-like about this colorway, but looking at it gives me that warm, comforting feeling that I get when perched on the hearth in front of a fire on a cold winter's night.



And finally, there's Lavender Romance. I'm really itching to make a sweater with this one. I love the gentle lavender tones, tinged with bluish and greenish grays. The colorway has a romantic feel without going to far and reaching the realm of the sappy or vapid.



I'd love to hear your thoughts about the new yarn and colorways, and I look forward to sharing the other two with you soon.

Next up in the additions to my line will be a new laceweight. Right now the only laceweight I carry is cashmere. Although you just can't beat cashmere, I would like to add another true laceweight to the line. It will likely be a classic merino, but I'm also considering perhaps going with an alpaca. If you're a fan of laceweights, don't get too excited yet. It's going to be a while before I'll be adding this to my line, but it will be coming in the future. I'll keep you posted!

Everyone have a smashing day!

Well, it is Monday after all ...

Despite the fact that today is Christmas and most of you have other things on your plates taking precedence over knitting and yarn, it is still Monday and that means customer project photos!

First, I have this lovely sock by Lynne. The pattern is "Country Girl Socks" from Heartstrings Fiber Arts Jackie E-S Sock Collections. Lynne used Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Citrus colorway. The photo is not as true to the color as Lynne would have liked, but regardless of the accuracy of the color in the photo there's no question that the sock is just smashing! Great pattern and great knitting job by Lynne!



Next we have a lace scarf that Debbie recently completed. According to Debbie, she isn't an experienced lace knitter, but you'd never know it by looking at her work! This is the "Feather and Fan" scarf (also available in "shawl" version in the pattern) by Anne of Knitspot. You can also visit Debbie's blog for lots of other knitting and yarn fun!

Debbie was kind enough to provide photos both pre-blocking and post-blocking, which is always a kick to see with lace. The transformation of lace knitting from it's unblocked to blocked state is nothing short of magical!

Here is Debbie's scarf before blocking.



She used Fearless Fibers Sportweight Cashmere in the Midnight Rendezvous colorway for this scarf. As you'll see in this photo of the finished scarf after blocking, you don't have to use a traditional laceweight yarn to get fabulous results with lace knitting!



And finally, here's a closeup to show off that lovely lace detail. Kudos to Debbie for a terrific job!



Thank you again to all of you who have shared your photos and please do keep them coming! I've caught up with the backlog of photos now and am all clear for new ones this coming Monday.

Before I sign off for today, I want to wish all of you a wonderful, peaceful and joyous holiday!

Sneak Preview

A couple of posts ago, Katinka asked whether she had spyed a couple of new colorways in my Etsy shop recently. The answer is Yes! I recently created two new colorways on Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn. Only two skeins of each of the new colorways were available for sale, as I thought I'd test the waters before investing too much time and energy. The new colorways sold right away and I also received a few special requests for more and so it's official -- there will be more of these new colorways available soon!

I'm going to share a sneak preview with you here today, but be forewarned that these two new colorways are not yet relisted in my store. I'll have more available in a week or two and will be sure to let you all know when they're listed, but for now I thought you might enjoy a sneak preview.

The first is called Chocolate Pink Cherry. This colorway is in response to a number of requests I've received for a pink and brown sock yarn. It took me a while to come up with this one, since I really wanted a "rainbow-dyed" colorway rather than a handpainted colorway. The handpainted colorways have regular repeats of colors and so they pattern, pool and stripe in a variety of ways depending on the pattern and the hand of the knitter. I do adore handpainted yarns, but for the pink and brown scheme I thought a rainbow-dye would be intriguing. Rainbow dyes are entirely random and result in a mosaic of color when knit or crocheted. I had in mind that the pink and brown would have more subtlety and elegance in a rainbow-dye, but that was no easy task! With colors as disparate as pink and brown it took a bit of creativity to come up with a blend that showed off the colors and variety nicely but still blended harmoniously.

The result is Chocolate Pink Cherry! Unfortunately, it's not the most photogenic of colorways, but trust me when I tell you that it's really very pretty indeed. When I have a new batch completed I'll do my best to get a better photo, but for now this one will have to do.



The second new colorway is a handpaint called Exuberant ... and exbuerant it is! If you haven't noticed yet, I have a penchant for oranges, rusts, umber, tangerine, and every other variation of orange imaginable. I particularly like this colorway because it combines two themes that aren't often seen together -- brilliant eye-popping color and warm tones.



As always, keep your eyes open for more colorways coming soon. I just can't stop myself from adding new ones all the time. It's just too much fun!

See Deb Knit. Knit, Deb, Knit!

I sometimes feel as though I don't knit at all these days. It can be torturous at times to be surrounded by so much yarn and to have no time to knit. My fingers itch to sink into the yarn all around me!

NO! Don't look, I tell myself. Keep your eyes away from the walls. You know the walls are lined with shelves full of yarn everywhere you look.



Keep your eyes down. Look at the floor as you walk through this area! Oops ... that won't work either!

Just squint your eyes and get out of the room! Oops, what was that you glimpsed out of the corner of your eye?

Quick. Escape. Duck into the dining room for a moment before you succumb to the desire to knit instead of finishing the dye run you had planned this afternoon!

But no. The dining room just weakens my resolve as I see all the neat little packages waiting to go to their new homes in the morning. It doesn't matter that I can't see inside the packages. I know what's in them!



Then I remind myself that even though it sometimes feels as though I have no time for knitting, I do indeed find the time somehow. I even have some knitting progress photos to share today!

First, here's the shawl I started a couple of weeks ago.



I finished the first repeat of the 96-row pattern and now have it committed to memory and can move forward quickly from here.

Gotcha! Kidding, of course. I most certainly have not committed it to memory, nor will I ever. The center motif pattern is 81 stitches by 96 rows. It's not a difficult pattern at all, but keeping my place on the chart is a bit challenging. I know I make it more difficult on myself by using the tiny chart in the book rather than getting a copy enlarged, and also by sitting in an armchair with the pattern book resting on the arm and watching television while I knit.

I had a hard time getting a good photo for you, but here's another shot where you can see a little more of the pattern detail.



I also started a new project. This one is knit with my Fearless Fibers DK Alpaca/Wool Yarn. The colorway is not part of my line, but you'll hear more about that in a future post (teaser). The colors are not accurate in this photo, but the weather is gloomy today and there's no hope for a natural light photo, so this will have to do.



(And yes, those are the tips of my feet appropriately clad in handknit socks that you see at the bottom of the photo.)

What is this going to be, you ask? Haha! I'm not telling you! Actually, I can't really tell you since I'm not sure what one would call it. It's going to be a thingamajig. That's the best I can do.

Hmmmm ... All this talk of knitting ... I think I'll go sit in my favorite armchair and click the sticks for a while.

Fabulous Fair Isle!

For today's Monday customer project photos, I have another group of fabulous Fair Isle scarves that Sandy created with her magical knitting machine! These are made with Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn.

First, we have these darling rabbits on a background of the Mermaid colorway. I just love these rabbits so much that when I received the picture, I couldn't stop opening the photo to take one more look!



Next, there are Watermelon fish swimming across a sea in Shades of Teal. Aren't they just a hoot?! Love them!



Finally, Sandy whipped up these two floral creations. The flowers on the left are made with Sunburst with leaves of Kildare and Lime Kiwi. The background shades from the Bouquet colorway to the Sky and Clouds colorway. The flowers in the photo on the right are made with Gentle Peach with Lime Kiwi leaves and a Sublime background. Wow!


As if these gorgeous scarves aren't enough, Sandy is now beginning to work on lace knitting. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what she comes up with! Beautiful work, Sandy! And thank you so much for sharing the photos.

Everyone else ... keep the photos coming! It doesn't matter whether you're knitting your very first scarf or a complex and intricate lace design. I love to see them all!

The Unanswerable Questions

How can I have what must be 100 sets of needles yet never have the size/length required for the project I have in mind?

How can I lose needles so frequently? Do they escape, like socks from a dryer? When I set my knitting bag down do they slowly make their way out of the bag, creeping along inch-worm style? Where do they go? Are they living a happy life, wild and carefree?

How can I – after a couple of decades of knitting – still get twenty stitches into the first row of a new project with a longtail cast-on before realizing that I’m knitting with the tail end of the yarn?

Why do I still periodically finish the cuff and leg of a sock and begin short row heel shaping before knitting the heel flap?

Why do I knit sweaters for my husband even though I know he wears T-shirts year round and is usually still too warm?

Why do I repeatedly insist on straying from a pattern I love only to follow a well-worn path to knitting despair?

Why is no amount of yarn ever enough?

Hmmm ………..

An Eyeful of Lace

For today's Monday customer project feature I have not one but FOUR lace projects to share with you. I didn't plan for this to be a lace feature day, but apparently the knitters' collective conscious was at work and I was the happy recipient of a lovely group of project photos with a lace theme.

From Theresa, we have the Swallowtail Shawl designed by Evelyn A. Clark, published in Interweave Knits Fall 2006 issue. Theresa used Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Sock Yarn in Marrakesh. Isn't is just lovely?! This is one of the projects that inspired me to get started on my own lace shawl using my Superwash Sock Yarn. Well done, Theresa! To learn more about this project and share in lots more knitting fun, take a little side trip over to visit Theresa's blog.



Next we have another wonderful crocheted shoulder wrap shawl by the prolific Elisa. This one is made with Fearless Fibers DK Alpaca/Wool in Pumpkin Spice. She completed this lovely shawl in what seemed like the blink of an eye! It felt as though I shipped her yarn to her, had a cup of coffee, and found the photo of the completed project waiting in my inbox. Wow! It certainly doesn't look like a quick crochet! For all the fun details and lots more crochet goodness, take a gander at Elisa's blog.



Next up is Micki's mini Clapotis shawl from Knitty made with Fearless Fibers DK Alpaca/Wool in Navajo. Micki has lots more great photos on her blog, so click on over for a peek! I'm amazed at how many folks have told me they've made the Clapotis shawl from one of my Fearless Fibers Yarns. I guess this is a popular pattern and if Micki's fabulous finished product is any measure, I can certainly see why!




Finally, I can't resist a bit of a rerun to close the day's cavalcade of lace. I previously featured Anne of Knitspot's Obstacles shawl in Fearless Fibers sportweight cashmere (Sedona colorway). When I last featured this project it was yet to be blocked. Now that it's completely done, I couldn't resist giving you another look, as it's just too good not to see again! Anne also now has the pattern for this shawl added to her catalogue and available for purchase.



How's that for an eyeful of lace?! Fantastic work by all! Thank you so much for sharing your projects. It's an amazing kick for me to see these. A friend recently asked me whether I miss my old corporate job at all, particularly the satisfaction of the accolades that came with it. The answer was simple: No way! Seeing the amazing things all of you are creating with my yarns brings me more satisfaction and joy than any corporate kudos ever could. I am eternally thankful to all of you for sharing your work with me. Keep those pictures coming!

Now everyone go have a great day!