I am Vintage

Out of sheer boredom, I did an ebay search under my name and was amazed when these 2 belts came up!!
As stated:
VINTAGE 80'S fabric Designer belt with lace, pearls, and stones, made by the designer to the Hollywood stars "Ellene WARREN." This gorgeous, sexy, ultra feminine pink fabric belt is 6 1/2" wide at the peak in front, tapering gradually to 2" in the back where it ties with a white satin buckle (buckle shows some yellowing due to age) . This elegant ladies' accessory is made in delicate white lace, embellished with small faux pearls, both embroidered and hanging, red and topaz colored stones, lined in rich pink satin fabric, and fits waist sizes of 22" to 24". Its ORIGINAL COST WAS $295.00. It was part of an extensive belt collection, so it was used only once or twice and is therefore in near perfect condition!!! You're going to love it! Good luck Bidding!

And the other one: VINTAGE 80'S fabric Designer belt with lace, pearls, and stones, made by the designer to the Hollywood stars "Ellene WARREN." This gorgeous, sexy, ultra feminine belt is 6 1/2" wide at the peak in front, tapering gradually to 2" in the back where it ties with a white satin buckle . This elegant ladies' accessory is made in delicate white lace, embellished with small faux pearls, both embroidered and hanging, red and topaz colored stones, lined in rich red satin fabric, and fits waist sizes of 22" to 24". Its ORIGINAL COST WAS $295.00. It was part of an extensive belt collection, so it was used only once or twice and is therefore in near perfect condition!!! You're going to love it! Good luck Bidding!

I am not sure who originally bought these belts, as I had several customers who collected them. It might have been Sheila E, or a private collector named Bari. They were listed at $79 each.

What a trip! I am vintage collectable!

Lemonade

Well, working that scarf did inspire me to make something new. I made a pillow using some yarns I bought from Stitches donated bin. It was very simple and a little cuter than the scarf (but not stranded color blends - I'll leave that to CES) I will probably submit it to a mag first, and if not accepted, publish the pattern myself. I am constantly torn between getting published elsewhere and accumulating a body of self-published work.

Back of Pillow in Progress

My new website is getting there. I'm putting in all the stuff for my patterns first, then it will go live. I'll add the wearables later.

All I really want to do is knit. Everything else is a distraction.
There are several frustrating things in my life I can't do anything about and the knitting is like therapy. The other stuff - writing patterns and the website, present their own frustrations (four day process just to get a Thawte secure certificate, another few days before that to get the Paypal account changed to be able to accept credit cards on my site instead of sending people over to Paypal)

Now I am becoming incredibly frustrated trying to put my items onto the shopping pages. I understand how to get the pictures and text in, but the product variations (like color choices) are making me nuts.

Knitting holds its own frustrations, but they are acceptable and manageable to me. When they become unmanageable, I just start something new. That's why I have 47 WIPS.

I'm trying to make the pattern writing process less frustrating by taking better notes as I work. What that means is I now have a notebook with better notes. I still hate to stop knitting to write up the patterns. I enjoy taking the pictures and posting them here, though, even if I only have 4 readers. Hello, my friends. You keep me going.

Coincidental Centipede

Sometimes the coolest coincidences occur. I just answered a phone call, even though I didn't recognize the name on my caller id. It was a woman named Mary Ellen Hopkins
who found an old Stitches From the Heart flier from when I was teaching there. She was interested in knowing if I had the pattern for the Centipede Scarf class available for purchase.

I had completely forgotten about that pattern. It was a derivative of a scarf from that scarf book that is in a box.

We talked a lot about publishing and the difference in contracts between books and fabrics.

I felt like I had met someone from my 'karass'. I'm sending her the pattern and hope to hear back from her about whether she likes it. She hadn't seen a picture, just liked the description.

Disappointing Knitting

Remember the beautiful Candace Eisner Strick color-blended scarf I started last week? This is how it looked on Friday. I decided I would finish it over the weekend.
First I discovered that the progression of the colors changed after a while. You start out changing one of the 3 strands every row, but towards the middle, some combinations stay the same for 2 rows. No problem. There was plenty of extra yarn, so I adjusted my blending on the last 2 of the 8 colors. I wish she had put a note about that on the pattern, but it is typical of me that I think I understand a pattern and merrily knit away, missing something crucial and have to rip back when things aren't turning out right and I finally read the rest of the pattern. Sometimes I don't even read a pattern, just look at the chart and take off.

I finished the knitting and transferred the stitches to accomodate the 3 needle bind off that would form a seam down the center of the scarf.

Here is the first end of the scarf:



Here is the middle section of the scarf. You can see the place where the new strands are joined and I was pretty sure I would not be able to weave them in to my critical satisfaction.



And here is the other end of the scarf. Notice I haven't finished the bind off. Do you see why? It didn't say in the pattern: Join, being careful not to twist. In fact, the pattern forgot to mention joining at all. I just assumed that was what you were supposed to do since every other row was purl and the result was garter stitch.

Of course, I checked carefully to make sure the cast on was not twisted before I joined. I checked VERY CAREFULLY. But apparently, not carefully enough.


And as anyone who has ever created an unintentional mobius hat, sweater or anything knows, THERE IS NO WAY TO SAVE THIS!!! The first mobius scarf was probably the designer's way of saving her knitting!

I examined everything very carefully. I thought and thought. And then I frogged and frogged.

And here is my CES scarf now:



I will probably never remake it. But if I did, this is what I would change:
1) I would not knit it circularly. I would knit it in the same manner, but with a seam instead of circular. Since the strand changes are going to show anyway, no matter how careful you are, they would have to be camouflaged in the arrangement around the neck, anyway, so why go through the torture of purling? Not to mention not seeing the twist till the WHOLE THING IS DONE!!!
2) I would make it much longer. Instead of 300 stitches in length, I would probably do 400. This scarf ended up about 40" long - not enough to do an interesting knotted arrangement around the neck.

But finally, as much as I loved the yarn, the colors and the mitered corners, when finished, it was just a...disappointment. Flimsy, not drapey, and kinda... I don't know... insubstantial.

On behalf of CES, I must say that I saw her at a Stitches event and she was wearing one of her blended color vests and it was GORGEOUS!!! I think she is fabulously talented and I don't want to imply that anyone interested in purchasing her kits would be as disappointed as I am. I was just having a disappointing knitting weekend.

So I got out my current socks and finished them. I had made maybe 2 other single socks from the same yarn and frogged them, before I finally settled on the Jaywalker pattern again. I am especially happy that they both match perfectly. This yarn has such long color changes that if they weren't perfectly matched, I wouldn't have liked them. Yes, yes, there is a little brown spot on the toe of one. That's okay, I am not that nutz.



Am I the only one who makes and remakes and remakes the same yarn? It's not like I don't have a box of sock yarn the size of Detroit. I just hate to waste any of it. So this was a ball of Opal in beautiful Southwestern colors. This time, the pattern worked just as written, in the small size. I have come to the conclusion that my STR yarn was a bit thicker than fingering weight, and that's why I couldn't get gauge on the size 1 needles. (BTW, the recepient of the STR yarn, Barry, was very satisfyingly thrilled with them. His grandmother, it turns out, was a great knitter and used to make him many socks and hand knitted gifts and even taught him to knit! We are going to get together and refresh his knitting skills)

And finally, I put in some more time on my Lifetime Achievement Project, a Koigu Kimono. I actually finished the left front and started one side of the back. Then I realized I had done ANOTHER STUPID THING. I made the sleeve on the left front the longer length for the larger size, according to the chart! Accustomed as I am to making these stupid mistakes that cost me hours, days, and weeks of time, I almost began to frog, but decided to hold it up and see if maybe I like it long. I do! The smaller size has a shorter sleeve, like 3/4 length. I actually like the full length better, so now it's just a matter of adding some more modules to the right front and then finishing up the 2 back sections (maybe another year?) I only work on this project when the 6 or 10 other projects I have going have all stalled. It looks so exciting, though, I might just keep on with it, in between working on my new website and the patterns for the Alamitos Trunk Show.




Actually, one of the new patterns is four ipod covers, one of which is modular, and that's why I brought out the kimono. The sample is in some of the same yarns. The sample also came out too big and flimsy and I am now reknitting it on smaller needles. Grrr...



So... that was my weekend. Lots of time spent knitting with very little to show for it. Sometimes that's the way the ball (of yarn) bounces!

Will post photos of the finished ipod covers when completed.

Procrastination

Procrastination and knitting go well together. I can be productive as I procrastinate. I am avoiding what I should be doing but look! I am making socks! (or a scarf or whatever) Other ways I procrastinate are by shopping - sometimes I spend an hour examining everything at Target, more often I shop on the web. I also procrastinate by reading people's blogs and by writing in my own.

Cleaning and sorting the workroom are great ways to procrastinate. Very productive. I very rarely procrastinate by just wasting time.

So today, I am feeling guilty about not doing what I need to do (preparing photos for my new website) so I am posting in my blog! The very thing I was putting off by starting a new scarf earlier in the week! Re: the scarf. It is a fabulous one by Candace Eisner Strick, called Merging Colors Incredible Rectangular Mitered Scarf.

I am using the colorway called Capecod. There are 8 different shades of blues and greens. The yarn is fine, laceweight merino wool, so soft you would swear it's cashmere. You use 3 strands at a time, changing one strand to the next color each round. The only thing I don't like about it is that since it is knit in the round, starting with the outside edge, you need to purl every other row in order to get garter stitch.

FO Report
I finished the Lotus Shawl!!! I finished it in time to meet the submission deadline for the Vogue Crocheted Shawls on the Go Book, but due to computer error, was unable to e-mail the submission till the day after the deadline. I have decided to publish the pattern myself, anyway. Here it is, all complete:


It just so happened that my garage wall is the same color as the tiny flowers between the motifs! Yes, coming home is a cheerful experience when you have coral walls in your garage!

And the thing I am the most excited about is that my new website is almost ready to go live. I've been working with a great web-designer and together we have come up with a new design that I feel represents me better than the little knitting fairies I have currently. She is just finishing up the shopping cart and what I am supposed to be doing right now is formatting all the photos.

I'll let you know when the website is ready for visitors!

What I Knit and Crocheted on My Summer Vacation

This is a crocheted shawl pattern from Karabella (#309). I went into A Mano one day and Annette was working on this pattern. I fell in love with the photo and bought her only copy (sorry). I've been looking all over online to find a place to point anyone who falls as hard as I did, but to no avail. Maybe Annette could order more if you ask her.
The yarn I used is from Elann, called Peruvian Baby Silk. It is made of 15 crocheted hexagons that are then sewn together and the ruffle is crocheted last. I still have a few rows to go on the ruffle, and haven't blocked the ruffle yet. It took about 18 balls, but at $2.50/ball, it was quite a good value. I've been working on it mostly while waiting at vocal therapy for Reese three times a week.

Here is a close up of the pattern. If you look carefully, you can see the seams where the motifs join.


Last week at Lake Arrowhead, I only brought 2 projects. This one, a pair of Jaywalker socks by Grumperina from magknits, is for a dear friend who shall remain nameless because he might read the blog and I want him to be surprised. The yarn is from A Mano by Socks That Rock in a colorway called Smoky Topaz that isn't on their website.

Now here is what drives me nuts about Socks That Rock yarn:
This is how far you get with one ($20) skein. I know I could have made the cuffs, heels and toes from something else and maybe it would have stretched enough to complete one pair with one skein, but I thought it would detract from the beautiful pattern. so I'm going back to A Mano today and hoping they have another skein. They had quite a few when I bought this and the popular colors are the bright ones, so I feel pretty confident.

Now about that pattern: I would have finished these socks (if I'd had enough yarn) but I had to frog the first one TWICE after knitting halfway down the leg each time. First I started with the larger size. WAAYY tooo Large. Would have fit a bear. The smaller size was also too large. So I had to devise my own adjustment, casting on only 68 sts and it was very easy to adjust the pattern. I am not a loose knitter! These are size 1 needles! I didn't want to come down to zero because I only had these size 1's with me! I didn't want to wait till I got home and the only yarn store in the area didn't have 0's. As an aside, it was a cute yarn store, called "The Yarn Store", in Skyforest, about 10 minutes from where we were staying, but I was strong and refrained from purchasing.

I worked on another project while I was there but I am not ready to share the photos yet. I will drop a few hints, though. It is from Koigu, it is crocheted, it has beads, it is modular, and I will publish the pattern myself if it doesn't get accepted by the place where I will be submitting it. Here is a little photo tease:



And a final note. Please leave a comment if you are reading this blog, because I feel terribly guilty about taking time away from my work and if no one is out there being entertained, then what am I doing this for?

Sexy Knitter's Club KAL Finished

My Tempting 2 Sweater for the Sexy Knitter's Club KAL was completed last weekend. This is what it was supposed to look like:
I planned to do flowers around the neckline instead of a band but ended up not doing the flowers because I didn't have enough yarn so I just did a simple scallop. Instead of k2tog, k1 for the last row, I took the live sts and did sc, sc dec around the neckline, then *ch5, skip 3sc, sc, rep from * around. Next row: [sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc] in each ch-5 sp; join and end off.

Another Version of Seraphina

I was inspired by Ellen Bloom to make the Seraphina Shawl . She brought one into Stitches From the Heart that she had made from Mexican Wave. "Hey, I have some Mexican Wave," I thought, and made this. Of course, I changed it by sewing the sides together and adding some dichroic glass buttons I had purchased at The Fiber Fest, turning it into a shrug, which I think actually looks better on me than on Dolly.

Photo Session Tuesday

On Tuesday, I had the sense of coming full circle and emerging on a new plane. I had a photo session with my old friend, Harry Langdon
The last time we worked together was probably the end of 1987, so it's been nearly 20 years! Harry was one of my 'guardian angels' in my past life as 'Designer to the Stars'. Here is the story of how I met Harry:

I had a store on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, before it had gone completely gay and was an interesting collage of unique boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants and hip businesses. Within one block of my store was a popular health food restaurant called Lost on Larabee, Larabee Sound Studios, a hard core alkie bar called Duke's, Mr. Franks (women's boutique), the Santa Palm Car Wash, the famous Orange Julius stand, and me, at first called Palace Museum and then changed to my name. My next door neighbor was Fred Slatten's Shoes (the most far out platform shoes worn by everyone from Elton John to Cher to Saudia Arabian Princesses)

I had a wonderful time creating every fashion fantasy that came into my imagination, and the wilder I got, the more successful I became. Every day was like a huge present, waiting to be opened. You never knew who might walk through my door - Prince, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac! Someday I will write a memoir of those years.

But to get back to How I Met Harry:
I was often asked to loan clothes to photographers who loved the color and drama of my wild and sexy creations. Several times a month, I would be asked to look through their books, but I never wanted to loan my clothes, knowing that people shopped in my store to find something unique they had never seen anywhere else, and I didn't want my designs to become over exposed.
One day a soft-spoken, extremely gentle man came in my store and, after looking around, asked to meet me. My assistant brought him to my workroom in the back and he introduced himself to me, complimenting me on my creativity and saying something like, "My name is Harry Langdon. I'm a photographer, and sometimes the women I shoot bring in such boring clothes. Maybe you'd be interested in loaning me some clothes sometimes. I work with other designers like that, and then I give them some pictures in return. It might really be helpful to your business."
I explained to him why I didn't loan clothes and he was really nice and understanding. I'd heard the same thing so many times, I thought, and pictures of my clothes don't pay the rent. He bought a blouse for a "girl's birthday who probably wasn't going to be getting many presents".

The very next day, Harry called me. "I have an actress coming in tomorrow for a reshoot. She didn't like the pictures I took of her last week, but she brought such boring clothes. I was just thinking that your clothes might bring out a different side of her."







That actress was Raquel Welch and this is one of the photos Harry gave me in return for me loaning him a rack full of clothes.

And that was how our relationship, which spanned about 12 years, got started. Thanks to the genius and generosity of Harry Langdon, I met and dressed many of his celebrated clients and accumulated a beautiful portfolio that helps preserve wonderful memories.
I'll let you know as soon as my new website is ready, so you can see what Harry shot for me on Tuesday.

Sock Wizard Beta Test

For the past 3 days I've been participating in a beta test for Sock Wizard for the Mac. It is awesome to have a sock pattern generator I don't have to use via Virtual PC. Kudos to Carole Wulster for venturing into Mac territory. And to all the dedicated Mac users who volunteered to help!
This is a tiny pair of socks I made as part of the test. I used some Opal I had left over in my stash.
When it's released, it will be available here.

Naomi's Art

My friend, Naomi, brought over her newly framed collection of Hamsa drawings. We brainstormed for a while about how she can market them.

This is Naomi.

Eden and Naomi, about 15 minutes before he had me cut off all his hair. He lost about 5 pounds in 10 minutes.

My favorite Hamsa. The photos don't show the beautiful gold handmade paper and the way it glows through the metallic inks.

Another Birthday For the Yarnartist

Would you believe 39?
We had a nice dinner on Sunday night with the local part of my family.

This arrived yesterday from Reese.

Back view.

Beaded Garden Party Scarf Knit Along

Mary at the Knitting Zone is sponsoring a knit along with my Beaded Garden Party
Scarf pattern! It starts the 24th and I'm excited to see how many people are going to be working on this together. You can read about it on her website and also you can purchase the pattern and supplies from her.












Here are the yarn and beads I chose. I have a page on my website that explains how to prepare for the project by stringing the beads onto the yarn here.


I will try posting photos of my progress on the scarf.

Workroom Cleanup

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It doesn't look like much, but it took 7 hours and I went through Every Single Box! (note: they are 2 deep)
I filled the car with donations for Stitches From the Heart and put some things down in the storage room in the garage.
I know it will look the same as it did before in just a few days. I am dealing with less than 100 square feet here. It's funny that the room that I spend most of my time in is the smallest room in the house! But the skylights are wonderful and almost everything is in arm's reach, and I am very happy here.

Pimpin' Pooch Has Left the Building!!

I finally finished my design for the upcoming book, Pampered Pooches. The pattern could be explained verbally in about 2 minutes, but writing it took an excruciating number of days and the math and verbiage almost made my brain explode! Finally I approached it from a different angle and got it all out in 20 minutes.
Someone asked why designers sometimes just suggest changing needle sizes for different size garments. It doesn't always work, but if it does, it saves the designer's brain much wear and tear. (wouldn't have worked on this one)

Fruit Hats

The Yarn Harlot put out a call for baby fruit hats for a friend who is doing work to educate low income women about the advantages of breastfeeding. Read about it on her blog on July 3.
So I spent the entire 4th of July making these little hats from scraps of yarn in my stash, and got them in the mail on the 5th. I used a pattern I found here.