Thursday, May 28, 2015

May Madness


Hi, Knitters,
The phrase is usually March Madness and is in reference to basketball but around here it has been more like May Madness. I think most families experience the same things no matter the ages of the kids. The school year is ending which means final sporting events, parents' nights, banquets, field trips, forms to read and sign (usually accompanied with checks), year-end concerts, organizing summer activities, and high school final exams are upon us. Many of us have college kids moving back into the house which means stuff upon stuff coming into the house. And then there is usually a bit of lag time in between school ending and summer jobs starting so there is a lot of hanging out and eating going on. 

It's just a lot of everything. Most all of it is fun and happy and exciting right along with being a lot. I hope if you are having May Madness at your house you are able to catch your breath and enjoy it a bit.

For today's business at hand, I have a tiny bit of knitting to share with you. I have turned the heel and finished the gusset on my Regia Arne & Carlos sock. This is the first of the pair and it has been slow going because I haven't been working on it much. I do love it so far. 

The rib is 12 rounds, k2, p2. The cuff is 6-inches long. The pattern is my free one called, How I Make My Socks. The needles are from Signature (6-inch length dpns in US size 1/2.25mm). The wooden sock blockers (these are my absolute favorite) are from The Loopy Ewe. The Arne & Carlos Regia sock yarn is a bit difficult to get. I found a few skeins here and a few skeins here.

There is a casual Arne & Carlos sock knitalong on Instagram. Use #acregiakal to tag your photos if you are interested in joining in or seeing more photos of socks being knit out of this yarn line. It's inspiring to see all of the Arne & Carlos socks and the twists people put on them and just how others knit their socks in general. 


Also this week I have been putting a serious editing dent in the first pass of my next book. Editing is tedious work and requires focus and concentration. These are two things that don't come easily when you have May Madness going on in your house. 

Let's just say I have had to close a few doors here and there to keep noise and commotion at bay. 


Today, May 28th, 2015, is the final day of the Yowza Weigh It Shawl 1-4 sale. I reduced the price for all four shawl patterns to $4.00 for one week, and tomorrow they will return to the regular price of $5.00. 


I want to thank you all so much for the support for the release of the Yowza Weigh It 4 shawl. The response has been fantastic. I really appreciate how you all make things so much fun around here. I am very grateful.

I heard from the people at Miss Babs that Yowza yarn sales have been through the roof, especially for the Perfectly Wreckless colorway (as seen in the shawl in the photo above). You only need one skein, needles and a kitchen scale to make the shawl. It's all garter stitch and there is no counting or keeping track involved.

It's good all around. Thank you, again. 

I have to share an inspired version of the Yowza Weigh It Shawl 4 with permission from pamelajd on Ravelry. 

photo from pamelajd on rav

Pam made her Yowza Weigh It 4 with two DK Twist Gradient Sets from Madelinetosh. I love this use of two gradient sets in the pink and silver bell gradient colorways. You know how you get these beautiful gradient sets and then you have no idea what to do with them so they just sit on the shelf.

Well, here you go!

photo from pamelajd on rav

I want to make one of these for myself just like Pam's version. It is so beautiful. I love the way both of the striping colors are gradient in the shawl. It is just stunning. I love it!

The ribbed edging instructions are available in the Yowza 4 pattern as an alternate edging to the applied garter edging in the shawl I am wearing. 

Okay, back to my pencil, post-it notes and pages. I hope you are having a good week and that you have a great weekend ahead. 

I'll be back soon with more.
xo ~ susan

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Yowza Weigh It Shawl 4 is Now Available!


Hi, Knitters,
The winner of the YOTH Yarns giveaway is..... elvensknits on Ravelry or Sharon Keller!

Congratulations to Sharon! I have contacted both Sharon and Veronika of YOTH Yarns to let them know and to coordinate the details of the prize. Thank you to everyone for the fantastic response. We had over 800 entries to win which is very exciting.

Now for some more fun news. I have finished the fourth shawl in my Yowza Weigh It Shawl series. That's right Yowza Weight It Shawl 4 is here!

The idea behind this continued study of shawl shapes is that you cast on using 8 ounces of a light worsted weight yarn (like the Miss Babs Yowza which is 560 yards) and you never count a single stitch! You keep track of what to do by weighing your yarn only one time while working on the shawl for the Yowza 4! 

The shape is an asymmetrical elongated triangle for the Yowza Weigh It Shawl 4. The entire shawl is worked in garter stitch including the applied edge. There is not a single purl stitch to be found. This shawl is incredibly simple with a 2 row repeat. You instantly have it memorized. 

All of the Yowza Weigh It Shawls 1-4 are based on the use of one skein of the very popular Yowza from Miss Babs. Other yarns could be substituted and would work fine. All of the shawls are incredibly simple, mostly all garter stitch, and they provide an excellent exploration of a variety of popular shawl shapes in a very easy to understand way.




Yowza Weigh It Shawl 4


Finished Measurements (after blocking): 78-inch wingspan, 16.5-inch depth

Yarn: Miss Babs Yowza (100% Superwash Merino Wool; 8 oz./560 yards), 1 skein.
The sample is knit in the Perfectly Wreckless colorway.

Weight of the finished shawl: 7 3/8 oz.

Needles: US size 8/5mm circular needles, 32-inch or size to obtain gauge

Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch

Materials:
Yarn needle to weave in ends
A detachable stitch marker
Kitchen scale that weighs in ounces and grams

Abbreviations:
k  knit
kfb  knit in the front and back of the same stitch to increase 1 stitch
k2tog  knit 2 stitches together to decrease 1 stitch
st(s)  stitch(es)
RS  right side
WS  wrong side

Pattern Notes:
The shawl is knit from side to side on the bias with a slow increase of stitches on one side. When a key amount of yarn is reached an applied garter stitch edging is added to finish the shawl. There is a continuous ribbed edging option in the pattern for those not interested in an applied edge detail.

In celebration for the Yowza 4 pattern release I have a discounted sale price for all 4 Yowza Weigh It Shawls. I have changed the price for all 4 Yowza Weigh It Shawls to $1.00 off the regular price of $5.00. 

The discount sale price of $4.00 is good from today, Thursday, May 21 through next Thursday, May 28th! After May 28th the price will go back to $5.00. 


Here are some photos of the shawl for you to enjoy. Note that no filters or any type of alteration has been used on the following photos and yes, the yarn is that brilliant on its own!









Thanks for stopping by! Have a great long holiday weekend if you are in the U.S. 

xo ~ susan

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Episode 14 ~ Knitting Talk & a YOTH Yarns Giveaway!




Hi Knitters,
I have a new podcast episode for you today. I am sharing some of my favorite new and new-ish video podcasts, new to me yarns, a finished shawl design, a sock in progress, and a huge giveaway for YOTH Yarns!

Click here to watch the my podcast on YouTube! 

Links:
Video Podcast recommendations:
Junk Yarn Podcast
A Homespun House Podcast
Little Bobbins Knits Podcast
Little Bobbins Etsy Shop
A Wee Bit Knitty
Sara Wright ~ LoveSockWool Podcast and Etsy Shop
Manda Rine's Podcast
Buckaloo View Podcast
Round the Twist
Disascraftwork
Stitched in Sweden

Vibes & Scribes Donegal Tweed
Cakewalk Yarns
Must Stash Yarns

Paula of the Knitting Pipeline
The Summer of Paula Episode
Hyla Brook Shawl

Curious Handmade ~ Knitting Pipeline Retreat Special podcast

Sun Valley Fibers
SSK Retreat ~ July 2015 in Nashville
The Knit Girllls Podcast

photo from YothYarns.com

Above is a photo of the Gradient Yoth Yarns sets that are displayed so beautifully on dowels. These sets were the hot item at the last Vogue Knitting Live in Pasadena.



Yoth Yarns Website

Yoth Yarns Designs on Ravelry

Yoth Yarns Giveaway ~ 
A sweater's worth of Big Sister! That's 6 skeins, 231 yards per skein in DK weight. Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend. You will work out the colorway with Veronika! I think you will love this luxurious yarn. Thank you to Veronika for the generous prize.

To enter to win please leave a comment on this blog post. Please only leave one comment and include your Ravelry username or an email address. Please be patient for your comment to appear, there is a delay before it will show up on the blog comments. Only click on publish one time.

Good luck! Thanks for watching. I'll be back soon with a randomly selected winner.
xo ~ susan

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

April Travel Review & Kit Winners Announced






Hi, Knitters,
Well, today is the day. Anne Vally of Little Skein upped the ante due to the ENORMOUS response to the giveaway. She decided to offer 2 of the Big Woods Luxe Kits as prizes. I have randomly selected 2 winners from the 1,077 entries, each will win a Big Woods Luxe Kit from Little Skein.

The winners are.... lindarumsey and sewmanygirls (both rav usernames)! 


Congratulations to the winners. I have given your names to Anne Vally of Little Skein and she will be contacting you via Ravelry pm to gather your preferences and mailing addresses to send your kits. Thank you for the overwhelming response.

Click here for the Little Skein Etsy Shop!

Anne asked me to pass on some further kit information to you. There are still some of the Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering Big Woods Kits available in the red- Mr. Edwards and green- Big Woods colorways! The golden Half Pint colorway is sold out. Also, be sure to note that Anne provides many different kit combinations so there is something for almost any price range, you can pick and choose.

collage photo provided by Little Skein

I wanted to thank Anne for sending me my shawl sample back to keep and wear and for including some of the lovely kit items as gifts in the package. One of the available kit items she sent, which is my favorite by far, is the photo collection by Joy Prouty. I follow and love Joy Prouty on Instagram along with tens of thousands of others. I am framing these Little House photos, signed by Joy, and will be hanging them in my home studio. They are joyful, peaceful and perfect. The photos are from Joy's personal collection and include original photographs of her visit with her family to the Ingalls' Homesteads in Walnut Grove, Minnesota and DeSmet, South Dakota. 

Read all about this beautiful Little House photo collection right here! You can purchase only one photo or all of them.

Click here for the Little Skein pop-up shop!

Thanks to Anne for the giveaway and for the fun opportunity.

Now that May is here and I am home for awhile (or at least until SSK in Nashville this July), I wanted to share some photos of my April travels to Maryland, California, and Minnesota.

And with that off we go!
Than

Fun and successful Pasadena students are making their adorable 3 Wee Sheep. Some of the students got really far along during class which is always fun to see. Note (top left) the Yowza Weigh It Shawl in Miss Babs Yowza in the Funny Papers colorway, and the lovely Esther in her Quaker Ridge Shawlette (top right). Esther won the Arne & Carlos Regia yarn from my blog giveaway.


I loved the artsy stenciled walkways of Pasadena. What a pretty area.


Minnesota is where I got to meet lots of my Itty-Bitty Knits group members! And Twinset Ellen (center top row) of the Twinset Designs Podcast! And I was excited to hear Amy Herzog speak (top left photo) at the opening dinner for Yarnover. She was a wonderful and vibrant and informative speaker. Very impressive. I met a couple more Itty-Bitty Knits group members Carla and Robin (bottom left) at Yarnover.

My buddy Rae Lynne (bottom right) was at StevenBe's on Sunday. I have known her for a few years now through our Ravelry group. She gave me a couple of very sweet gifts from her Etsy Shop Chase Art. Thank you Rae Lynne!

I taught at both Yarnover and at StevenBe's in Minneapolis on the same weekend.


In Minnesota I also got to spend time with my son. Let's just say we ate A LOT! Many restaurants were visited in a couple of short days. It was fun because he stayed with me at the hotel on Saturday night. I loved that time we had together. He is the second of my four children so as you can imagine we have never had a lot of one-on-one time together. It was wonderful.

I purchased the Irish yarn called Hedgehog Fibres in the Teacup colorway at StevenBe's. It is so pretty that I immediately wound it and cast on a shawl... more to come on that. I finished a pair of Arne & Carlos socks and started a very casual Instagram knitalong for any Arne & Carlos Regia socks with the hashtag #acregiakal if you are interested in joining in.

In summary, in April I taught on both U.S. coasts and in the middle. I taught Fair Isle Mitts and Fair Isle Hat workshops, 3 Wee Sheep classes, Mary, Millie & Morgan and Ben & Buddy Quince & Co. Doll Workshops, Build a Toy Workshops, Opal Sock Yarn Bunny and Mini-Sock Yarn Bunny classes, Little Dragon classes, Fox in a Vest classes, lectured at Vogue Knitting Live and spoke on a panel discussion.....  And I survived and had fun to boot!

Oh! And.....

I am quietly finishing up my next book with my publisher, Artisan Books. There is lots of editing and deadlines going on there as well. I am super excited about this new book and I hope you will be, too.

Psssst..... my new book is already up for pre-order on Amazon if you are interested in taking a peek!



And lastly, in Maryland Greg of the Knitting Daddy blog shared his new pattern samples with me. 

The hat pattern is called, Scrappy Sock Yarn Preemie Hats. The hats are adorable! 

All of the proceeds from this pattern go directly to the Family Support Network of Central Carolina.  You can read all about it on the project page right here! Plus, there is a discount code for the month of May for $1 off: BLUEBERRY

What a great way to use up sock yarn leftovers. 

I'll be back soon with more. Until then, be well and knit on.
xo ~  susan