Hi, Knitters,
One quick and fun announcement, my publisher has made all of my books available for the Kindle and iBook! This is incredibly exciting. Right now all of my books are on sale for around $2.99 and less. I hope you take advantage of this incredible opportunity. Even if you own the hard copies of the books, to be able to own them digitally is a big deal, perfect for portability and easy access anytime (travel and yarn shopping included). All of the book content is now available at the tips of your fingers instantly. I love that this has happened. I'll talk more about the eBook editions later.
Now for today's topic at hand:
My house is full of fiber, yarn and knitting this fall. To quote the song, this girl is on fire! It's that time of year.
Paula Emons-Fuessle introduced the Magic Cake Ruffle Shawl this week and she told me I was the first one to purchase her new pattern. Yesterday, in my post-event-fog of a Monday, I slowly selected my leftover fingering weight yarn and wound it in a gigantic cake of all in one ruffle shawl yarn. It was fun, mindless and somewhat soothing. I hand-selected yarns that are my favorites for many different reasons.
One yarn is Opal sock yarn from socks I knit for my sister-in-law a couple of years ago. These were some of my all-time favorite socks and although I loved giving them away, I have longed for a pair for myself ever since. I put in my beloved Kristin Nicholas Garden Effects yarn and my adored remnants from three gorgeous skeins of Cakewalk Yarns. I threw in some old Kaffe Fassett Regia from a pair of socks I made for TC many years ago. Last but not least, I tossed in some Noro Kureyon Sock. I still love and wear these socks all of the time. I will modify as I knit, pulling out colors and maybe even adding more. I plan to let the shawl pull me in and take me for a knitting ride. No plan is set but this is a memory shawl for sure, a trip down memory lane.
The yarn bowl above was a gift from a beloved Itty-Bitty Knits group member on Ravelry. The ceramic artist's shop is here.
Magic Ruffle Shawl by Paula Emons-Fuessle
The Knitting Pipeline ~ (Paula's podcast) Please listen to episode 150 to learn more about the shawl! All of your questions will be answered in the podcast episode or in the written pattern.
I highly recommend this project. You will love it! This project and the Patchwork Socks are wonderful and useful ways to use up and find beauty in your leftover sock yarn.
Friends in Fiber Falkland Pumpkin Patch is now on the wheel. This fiber shop on Etsy is amazing, has great service and wonderful products. The owner wrote me a personal note to thank me for the many visits to her shop after my mention of the Falkland Number 6 fiber from her shop. She has it available now if you are interested. This is some beautiful roving.
Gorgeous. Fun. Autumnal.
Double Marl technique ~ my favorite way to spin!
Here are some progress shots from the Peerie Flooers hat by the talented and interesting Kate Davies.
What a fun and motivating knit so far.
My love of colorwork is stronger than ever. I use stitch markers to mark the repeats. This helps me go a lot faster. I don't ever have to stop to see where I am once I start the round, it is instantly memorized. I am in love with this hat. The fabric is light and woolly and so beautiful. I am excited to get to the top decreases. I am making the medium size to make sure it covers my ears for the bitter cold winter ahead. I have one more repeat to go before the last chart for the top.
Sheep Heid is next and then Snawheid after that and you better believe I am making that gigantic pom-pom for the top of Snawheid. I love Kate Davies' work.
best, susie
p.s. If you are reading this as an email subscriber, please hop over to my actual blog (click here for susanbanderson.blogspot.com) and take a look at the fresh new layout. The photos are bigger and brighter and I have a new header. I am loving the new look. The sock yarn in the header is 15 Colour Rainbow by Fab Funky Fibres on Etsy.