It's Official

This post is only 5 days late. Forgive me, it's been busy here!
Anyway...... I am officially listed as a teacher for the Sock Summit!! And here is the comprehensive list of bio's.
I am honored, humbled, and shocked to be on a list with these amazing people! I'm not published yet, much less have my own book or line of knitwear (unless the LotR club counts.....;D). I'm really not quite sure how I got there. It's amazing. I am so looking forward to being in the same room with these people- I'm just going to soak it all in, and learn as much as possible!

It gives me shivers....

To see my designs knit by other people! Today I had a treat- seeing someone else's blog post about one of my designs! I've been designing for a few years now, but only very recently for the public. Most of my designs have been knit for family, and the patterns are not reproducible b/c I design "on the knit". But in the last year or two, I've started really getting into knitwear design. (Much thanks in that quarter to TheUniqueSheep, who has given me the opportunity to design for them!! That's the only reason my name has been getting out into the knitting world so far.)

Anyway, it was really cool (overused word, but can't think of a better right now...) to read someone else's opinion about one of my designs, and see what she's done with it. I love it. I am so excited to see more!!
Another reason I love Ravelry. I'm also getting to watch sock club members work up the other LotR designs- oooh, I'm getting shivers!!

At Last!

If you are in the Lord of the Rings Sock Club by The Unique Sheep- STOP. Don't go any farther unless you have already recieved your first shipment!! (Unless of course you don't care if the surprise is spoiled...)






This is the first release of the 2009 Lord of the Rings Sock Club.
I introduce to you:

HOBBITON

"Inspired by the home of Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam; this sock is a fun knit. As Bilbo said: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your front door. You step on the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Well, in Hobbiton, the roads are all connected to hobbit holes. On this sock, there are cabled “hobbit holes” connected by roads of reverse st st. See where the road will take you…."


When I designed this sock, I wanted to give a feel for the home of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. It had to be in a bright cheery green- as growing things are so important to hobbits. (the color is more accurate in the 1st picture).
The hobbit holes had to be represented somehow, as well as the hobbit's busy social life. Hence, roads and hobbit holes!
Even the heel flap was very carefully considered. It represents the hobbit's gardens- the neat, cultivated rows and texture.
Of course this had to be the first sock of the club- after all, it's the first place you enter when you open the book.....Welcome to Hobbiton.

Argyle Skater Sweater

Well, here at last is a design I have been wanting to do for a couple of years! Originally, I wasn't going to show it to you b/c I wanted to submit it to Knitty- but I decided that with everything else I am doing right now I do not want to take the time to resize this pattern 4 more times for a magazine. So, here it is. I'm offering the pattern for sale for $3.oo. It is a one size only- 41" chest.
The length is customizable, as it is a seamless top-down knit. B/c of the intarsia, and the number of strands of yarn that it gets going simultaneously, I would say this is a knit for an experienced knitter. But if you are fearless, and want to learn some new techniques, this is a great sweater for it.




The saddle shoulder sleeves extend down to fingerless mitts- perfect for a skater ;-)








The detailing on this sweater is fun, and makes the knitting go quickly.








This version is extra long, but you wouldn't have to make it that long.
The ribbing on the bottom has extra cabling detail. Very fun!






I am so stoked that I have finally made a sweater long enough for my tall husband!
Now back to socks....

Coincidence

Something completely crazy happened to me yesterday.
I don't believe in coincidences. Here's another example of why:

I took the kids to Goodwill yesterday to look for picture frames for some photos that need them. We were looking around, and I kept moving this painting to see more frames. Then I actually looked at the painting. And did a double take. And a triple take.
See, my Grandmother painted later in her life. She actually did a lot of paintings. I have 5 of them in my house. And this particular painting on the shelf at Goodwill looked amazingly similar to one of mine.....
See:

This is the Goodwill painting

This is mine:

Then I took a closer look at the signature:

This is the signature on mine:


And this is one of her earliest paintings- the signature is different.

I, my mom, and Joel are totally convinced that this painting that I found at Goodwill is one of my Grandmother's. She sold a lot of paintings at a restaurant in Cascade Locks. Somehow, one of them wound up at a Goodwill in Portland.

Now, honestly, what are the chances that I would go into that Goodwill (there's a lot of choices in Portland!), at that time, and go to look at picture frames (I could have been on the other side of the store and never seen it!)? Really!!? Coincidence?

I don't think so....

ETA: Yes, I bought it! It's in my livingroom. I couldn't leave it there!

Lord of the Rings Sock pattern

There is another Lord of the Rings inspired sock pattern available before the LotR sock club kicks off.



This is the Bombadil Sock:

This design was inspired by Tom Bombadil from the Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. He was a great character, but was not included in the movie (probably for the sake of length!). Anyway, according to Tom’s song: “Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.” Tom’s wife, Goldberry, the River’s Daughter first appears in the book dressed in green. Hence the colorway of this yarn! I love the way the colors wind around the sock like Tom’s paths; and if you look closely at small sections of the ribbing on this sock, you may see Tom’s hopping footprints as he leads the hobbits to safety.


Tom was one of my favorite characters in the book, and although he couldn't be in the movies, I couldn't leave him out of the club!

This pattern, and the yarn used to make it is available for purchase here.

Here we go again!

It's a new year! I can't believe we're halfway through January already.
It's turning out to be an odd year in knitting for me. Usually by this time I'm at least halfway through the first Christmas present of the year. Not this time! So far this year, I have knit a scarf for Joel, and socks for me. Finally, a pair of socks for me!! I've been making socks for other people for 2 or 3 years now; I wanted to find out why they like them so much! I begin to understand. If you don't have a pair of handknit socks, I can't explain it to you. Sorry.

Now I'm working on a sweater for Joel. I hope to have it done in time for his birthday. This is a design that's been burning around my head for over a year, so I am very excited to finally be putting it into reality. Unfortunately, b/c it is an original design, I won't be able to show any pictures of it--- I want to submit it when it's complete.

I'm also working on the last pair of Panda Cotton socks for my MIL. These I'm designing "on the knit". I'll try to take good notes, but they may not be reproducible- in which case pictures will appear....

As well as all this, I'm still designing socks for The Unique Sheep- and I now have 2 more designs in the works. I'm beginning to think that Christmas knits for the family won't happen this year b/c of all the designing!! I know it's early to be thinking of Christmas gifts, but when you knit them all- you have to think of it way in advance, or you won't get any sleep the last 2 months before!!

Oh yes, and I will be teaching a class at the Sock Summit 2009 in August! So I will be knitting samples for that as well! Yeah, Christmas gifts may be sparse this year......