M I Nutz?

I finished the tank top for Blue Moon Fiber Arts yesterday! Actually, it was finished a few weeks ago, it was the pattern that wasn't finished till yesterday. Always my least favorite thing about designing - writing up the pattern. This time, instead of just taking notes, I actually wrote the pattern out as I worked, so it was really very easy (relatively speaking) to actually write the pattern.

Wish I could share a photo but I want Blue Moon to be the ones to reveal it, since it is theirs, so I will just show you this little tease.


Then, to celebrate, I went to Target and shopped! Going through the check-out line, I realized I had forgotten my 10% off discount card. I had spent over an hour going through EVERY isle, and rather than put things back, I just paid full price! (ouch)

My favorite purchase was this handbag! $17!!! Such a deal, even without the discount coupon.


And thanks to Crazy Aunt Purl, Figaro is now the proud owner of a Kitty Krinkle Kave! I filled it with catnip and after standing at the opening for a good 15 minutes to make sure it wasn't a trap to get her to the vet, Figaro went in and spent the rest of the day in stoned out kitty bliss.

Eden calls it the Kitty Krack House. I will spare you the picture. There are enough knitting blogs with adorable cat pictures already.

Then, my nutty shopomania really kicked in as I drove to A Mano, my favorite LYS! I really needed just one ball of Kidsilk Haze to complete this shawl from Victorian Knitting Today. They say you need 3 balls, but they lie - it is definitely 4! Although A Mano had the same color, it was not the same dyelot, and although I could see the difference, I bought it anyway, and although I knew I would not be happy with the contrast, I went ahead and knit with it anyway.


I am going to stop now and see if perhaps Knitter's Studio has one more ball in the same dyelot. I am not too optimistic, as I purchased this yarn quite a few months ago, but we will see. they don't open till 11AM, so there is just enough time to complete this posting.

And here is the nutty part. A Mano was FILLED with new yarn. I mean, it was all over the floor and the table and every flat surface of the store as they were marking the prices and reorganizing the shelves.

Something overcame my senses MUST. BUY. YARN. took over.

Someday, I will be strong enough to override this brain glitch I have. The yarn starts telling me what it must become and I can only agree. Get out the plastic. I know I am not alone. I know many, many people make a living because of this yarn thing so many of us have. My darling doesn't mind. I think he finds it amusing and plays along with my obsession, saying it is important to keep my creativity fueled.

I fell in love with these adorable little ebony sock needles from Lantern Moon. Maybe it was the little silk bag they came in. I completely forgot that I already bought a set of these in the same size and that one broke the minute I started knitting with it.


And some new sock yarn to go with it. If all I did was knit socks from now until I turn 93, I don't think I would run out of sock yarn. But the creative possibilities! And the yummy colors!

And then I fell for this beautiful Rio de la Plata Kettle Dyed wool from Uruguay. Forget that anything I make from it will be too expensive to sell and too warm to wear in Los Angeles. I bought 5 balls. And 3 of the Kid Seta. The color looked so yummy with the Rio.

And later that evening, I decided I should really have the other 5 balls of the Rio. Remembering what happened with the green Kidsilk, I don't want to be caught short in 2009 when I finally use this yarn.

I made a little game with myself. If I remember A Mano's number by heart and if they are still there at 7:30 PM, it means I should buy the rest of the bag.

Their number is 310-397-7170. I still know it by heart. They were having Knit Night. I was already out, picking up Eden and his buddy from the Promenade. Just by changing my route, I had to drive by their store on the way home.

And that is why I have 10 skeins in the photo!

And the little spool of ribbon just begged to come along with the rest!

3 Days' Work

For the last 3 days, I have been packaging bead paks for the Beaded Garden Party Scarf pattern. It is a long and strenuous activity that involves a lot of reorganizing of my workroom to get to the supplies. When I do it, I think about how little profit there is in it, and yet, how pricey the pattern is. When a strand of beads explodes as I am separating a bundle, I am SURE there is not enough profit in it and wonder why I persist.

This is a finished Beaded Garden Party Scarf. You can buy it here.

I decided to sell the pattern with beads because for someone without a big stash of beads, it would be very much more expensive (and time-consuming) to gather up the right color combinations and novelty beads.

This is a picture of the contents of one pak.
The colors in the paks coordinate with the basic seed bead color, with a little tonal variation. Whenever possible, I use AB (aurora borealis) or irridescent or luster beads. They are always more beautiful to me.

When choosing the yarn for the scarf, I like there to be a slight contrast between the beads and the yarn color, so the beads really stand out. The pink and red scarf pictured above has red beads, which blend in with the yarn.

This one has more contrast and the beads really stand out better.

A funny thing about this scarf. I have had not one, but TWO of them stolen. One from a yarn store I loaned it to and the other, from my Knitter's Night Out meeting.

What do you think that means?

Contest Winners!

Wow! I am so pleased that so many people visited my blog and liked the camisole. I wish I could send everyone a magazine!

The two winners are Deb in Massachusetts and Maggie Burkell in Chesterfield, VA. I used a Random Number Generator to pick the winners. I left a comment in Deb's blog, but Maggie has a private blog so this is the only way I know to contact her.

Both ladies, please send me your addresses and I will get the magazines right out to you.

Creative Knitting Magazine

The new issue of Creative Knitting Magazine with my Flower Camisole is now out! They are calling it Sublime Camisole and here is the picture!

This was the original camisole, done in Twisted Sister's Voodoo.
This was my own photo, taken before sending in the finished piece, which I should be getting back, now that the magazine has been published. The yarn they sent me was Fantasy Naturale, by Plymouth. I love the way the colors worked into an 'x' in the center, but the hand was a little stiff for my taste, especially compared to the Voodoo.

Leave me a comment and I will put your name in a drawing for one of 2 extra copies I have of this magazine. The drawing will be Sunday night and I'll pick up the postage!

Repeat Post

This is an abbreviated repeat of a very long and linked post I wrote yesterday that somehow just...disappeared.

I don't know what happened, but my little rainbow wheel started spinning and never stopped and I had to force my computer to shut down. When I rebooted, my post, which no kidding, took me an hour and a half to create, had vanished, all except the title.

It was traumatic and I have moved on. But here are a couple of things I have been working on.


This is the Melon Shawl from the cover of Victorian Knitting Today, a book which makes me want to stop everything and just knit the entire book from cover to cover, in the same exact yarns. Like I could stay focused that long!

I am using the same yarn as the book, Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Jelly, but it doesn't look so great in my photo. Also, it's not blocked yet. In real life, Reese says the color reminds him of some horrid carpeting in a hotel in Hawaii where we stayed about 25 years ago that gave us both serious rug burns! Well, I'll be sure not to wave this shawl in front of him if I have amorous plans!



This is Kitri, an amazing sock pattern by Tsarina. The turquoise yarn at the top is a provisional cast on. When you finish the sock, you pick up the stitches at the top of the cuff and knit on a little black beaded lace cuff. The pattern is about 29 pages, with charts and photos, and came with yarn and also the black yarn was pre-strung with the beads! All this for only $32! How do you do this, Tsarina?

I received a complaint that my Flower Sock was too expensive. I replied that I think other designers undervalue their work. But anyway, the Flower Sock and the Adult Pansy are finally up on my website and I think that's about all the info that was in my lost post, except I wrote it much more charmingly yesterday.