Lots of TNNA Stuff

Hi Knitters,
I am home and let me just say it is a messy one! Well, there were lots of adventures over the past days and I want to fill you all in a bit. First things first, you can't bring cameras onto the floor of the convention at tnna. I guess this is due to new products being introduced and maintaining some control by the companies. So although I don't have lots of pictures from the event I have some good stories to share and a few pictures of some of the goodies I collected. Pictured above are two mini-pears I took from the hotel breakfast buffet to bring home for my girls. Aren't they cute? They are less than 2-inches high, very petite. My girls were thrilled and loved eating them. That's an easy gift, right?

I flew into LAX around noon on Thursday and grabbed a taxi to my hotel in Long Beach. I really had no idea how long this ride would be and was pleasantly surprised to find out is was only about 20-30 minutes. I had to kill several hours because my room wasn't ready yet. The man at the front desk said my room was vacant but it would take 3 hours before it was cleaned. He even called for a rush job on the cleaning and I was hopeful it would be ready sooner. Nope, no luck, 3 hours. I checked my bags and took off walking. I found the convention center and as I walked around I started seeing a ton of women wearing knitted garments. It was a strange feeling being surrounded by knitters out on the street. I felt I was entering a whole new world, full of knitters, full of yarn and full of sweaters of every sort imaginable. Heaven.

I finally got into my room and by that time Regan Clancy of Workman had called to check in with me as she was in charge of the dinner that night with the Royal book distributors. I was so excited to go to dinner that night with a bunch of fun people and knitters. A few you will recognize like Kristin Nicholas, Judith Durant and newcomer, Melissa Morgan-Oakes. Regan picked me up and we walked over to Tequila Jack's. Everyone was pretty tired out from the travels, especially the knitters I mentioned before because they all flew from the East Coast. I sat especially close to Judith and Melissa, who are both lovely and fun. Judith is very interesting and has great stories and a long industrious career in the knitting world. She worked for Interweave Knits for awhile and she has done many beading books along with the popular 101 One Skein Wonder books, very impressive. I think she has about 3 or 4 more books currently in the works right now. How does she do it and remain so fun and calm? Melissa, who is a teacher for Webs, just released Two At a Time Socks. I paged through this and it looks fantastic. If you are interested in this technique you should definitely check this one out. I think it is great that she has taught this technique so many times because this helps for writing a technique book.
Kristin came in a little later and we were already seated so I really only briefly said hello that night. Not to despair, I knew I was dining with her again the next night. You know my admiration for her. Above is some specially selected hot sauce I got for my brother at a small shop called, Hot Licks. He enjoys a painful hot sauce and I just envision him sweating and gasping as he tries these selections out. What a thoughtful sister I am.

Later that night my beloved, and somewhat famous, Workman publicist, Jaime Harder made her way to Long Beach. She called in the morning and we quickly grabbed breakfast and headed straight over to the convention. I was so glad to have a buddy at this enormous show. I know the Workman people would have included me but Jaime is a friend and she is just good fun to be around. We got right in there and started going through the aisles. I loved all of the products but much more so I loved spotting the famous knitters. Really, it was almost too much.

I stood only a couple of feet away from Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably. Kaffe is taller than I thought. He looks just like his pictures. He is one of my knitting heroes from over 20 years ago. I also love his mosaic book, it is fabulous. That was fun for me. I tried to tell Jaime what a moment that was for me but it is hard to explain.

We walked by Soho Publishing (Vogue Knitting) and met Nicky Epstein. She now has her own book imprint and has a new scarf book coming out. I told her I had just met Tanis Gray and Faith Hale when I was in New York and she quickly took us over to meet Adina Klein (editor in chief of Vogue Knitting) and Carla Scott (executive editor of Vogue Knitting). They were very friendly and Adina commented how she has been knitting for a special baby in her life lately. If you have the latest Vogue Knitting be sure to look at Tanis' latest design (number 12 on page 77), it is a cashmere hat and scarf set in off-white. It is to die for. I looked up the yarn she used and the set would cost well over $200 but there is always substitution and a dream...

I met Luisa Harding at her signing. I introduced myself, she had no idea who I was but I didn't expect her to. She was very sweet and English looking and she was dressed just like her new book. I have long admired Luisa's designs for Rowan and on her own, she is a talent.

I met Mags Kandis very briefly as she was waiting for her signing. She was signing her newest book for Interweave Knits, Folk Style. She was so fantastic looking, so well traveled and stylish. She wore brown cowboy boots and textured tights and carried a bag from some far off travels she told us about (can't remember where exactly). She was friendly and wonderful and just how you'd hope.
We ran by the Koigu booth and the wonderful man working there, I believe he was the husband, gave us handfuls of these little skeins of Koigu. He wore this great sushi printed shirt and was super friendly and funny. Later that night Jaime and I ran into him and his wife on the elevator, he still in the sushi, she wearing a full-out mitered square koigu sweater, so cool.

I made sure I stopped by the knitting at knoon booth. Chris is a great designer and she has a new line of knitted dinosaur toys that are so fun. She came to see me in Grand Rapids and she made an impression on me. I ran into Craig Rosenfeld the proprietor of loop in Philadelphia. He is always fun to talk to. He was taking a break from his knitting class with Brandon Mably. It was great to see him again. As we were running down the stairs, I introduced myself to Melissa Leapman. I have many of her books and love them.

Kristin Spurkland walked by after teaching a class on top down hats. She had a signing in the Unicorn booth on Sunday for her new book. My friend Alison Barlow from The Wool Cabin in Salt Lake City was in her class and came out with a great start to a hat. Alison's book is coming out in paperback soon, that's exciting.

Jaime and I stopped by the Skacel booth to admire the addi turbos and we were given a free pair of the new lace needles. They have a gold plated needle with an extra-long point and a red cord. Mine are size three and they are excellent. While we were there we talked to a woman named Joanne. She told us about a huge yarn festival in Seattle in July and we talked to Rob who is in charge of the whole thing. If I can swing it, I may just go and teach there. I would love to go to the northwest, it would be fantastic. Joanne gave us a boatload of shops to visit. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

My tag, above, has the ravelry dog, Bob, pin. I was hoping to get one but the only way to get a bob pin was to meet the inventors of ravelry, Casey and Jess. Jaime and I finally tracked them down in the lobby of the convention. They are superstars and everyone wanted to meet them. How can we thank them enough for creating such a fantastic resource for knitters. They were kind and gracious.

Are you wondering what type of yarn you are? The Potter Books booth had the cutest quiz you could take to find out. I am an angora and Jaime is a mohair. I can't remember what either of those are exactly but it was all good things. It was a cute idea and everyone loved the pins. My favorite was the odd ball pin. I sometimes feel like an odd ball but I am kind of glad I am not officially odd.

We met the Soak inventor and her mother. This product is on fire. She has gotten coverage in every major magazine and she is now having guest soak fragrances. See the green sample? That's Amy Butler's signature fragrance of Soak. I can't wait to try out these samples. The notebook is a gift from Jaime. It is filled with funny patterned paper and I love it, everything from beans and rice holding hands to a tomato pin cushion and pins.

We did see Joelle and Jennifer Hoverson, from purl and Last Minute Knitted Gifts, picking out books at the Unicorn books booth. I wanted to say hi but they were so entranced in the books that I didn't want to interrupt. I was happy to just see them from afar, they are so wonderfully creative.

Diane, I tried spinning! This was the wheel I tried and I was really into it. However the sad news is that I wasn't very good at it and the wheel wasn't pulling the yarn onto the spool so the woman had to keep fixing it. But I really liked it and I think I could do it with a little practice. I kept looking for the Ashford booth but I never found it. Anyway, I was encouraged. This is something I would like to pursue a bit in the future.

Okay, Clara Parkes signed at the Unicorn booth. She is a delight and I was dying to meet her. Her new book is incredibly well-received, just as you'd imagine, and I am so glad to have a signed copy. This book is a solid investment as it is crammed with information about yarn. Plus there are about 40 terrific patterns included. This book must have been an enormous undertaking and I am glad for Clara that knitters everywhere are enjoying it.

I met the author of Mr. Funky's Super Crochet Wonderful, Narumi Ogawa, and let me tell you, she is as adorable as her creations. North Light Books handed out the cutest buttons to go along with their books and I collected a few.

My sweet friend, Betz White, was represented at tnna. Her new book, Warm Fuzzies, shows off her talents to the fullest. This is not a knitting book but more of a fulled sweater and sewing book. If that interests you please check this one out. There are the ever popular cupcake pin cushions in the book but there is so much more to Betz than cupcakes. She is a phenomena! There are all sorts of patterns in the book from kids clothes, home accessories and adult accessories. She did an excellent job with this book and I am glad I got a cupcake pin. I didn't get the book at tnna, that's my own copy.

We stopped by the O-Wool booth to say hi. I am using O-Wool Balance in my newest book and I plan on using more from their line for more projects. This is great yarn and the people are super nice.

Friday night we went out to dinner with the Unicorn Books group. This is the booth where I had my signing. What a great, hard working group of people. The Unicorn booth always had a buzz about it through the entire weekend. I was impressed by how knowledgeable th staff was about the books and it showed in the reaction they were receiving. I enjoyed them very much. At this dinner I sat next to Kristin Nicholas, she's a joy. Kristin made sure to come over and say hello since we didn't really get to chat the night before and then I got to sit right by her. She is just how you'd think she'd be, comfy and warm and smart and really funny. She's a gem. I loved hearing about her farm and sheep and her yarn adventures. This was a highlight of the trip for me. The next day she took me under her wing a bit and introduced me to the fine people at Westminster Fibers, the distributor of her yarn, Julia.

The other fun knitter at the table besides Melissa Morgan-Oakes and Judith Durant was Debbie Stoller, whom I've never met before. She had great stories and it was fun to meet her. Her new book is doing well and Debbie's been touring up a storm so be sure to check out her schedule if you are interested in meeting her in person.

Be Sweet was there with their full line of yarn and bags. You've got to check these out, they are all simply wonderful. Jaime got that black bag with the white spots.

The yarn, the yarn, the yarn...it was fabulous. I loved the Shibui yarn people and they gave out balls of yarn and chocolates. The Potter booth gave out hand balm in cute tins. And my favorite was the Blue Sky Alpaca booth. I could use their yarns for every project I ever make it is so delicious. They gave out that crocheted bracelet which I wore all day on Saturday. This company is located in Minneapolis and the owner's parents live right down the street from me in Madison. I love that. I plan on using lots of blue sky in my next book and I got to check out all of their newest stuff, so fun.

Oh yeah, and then I had my signing at the Unicorn booth. Jaime snuck my camera out to get a few sneaky shots. It was great and I can never get over how fun it is to meet all of these knitters. Their enthusiasm touches me to no end. I will never tire of hearing about a baby or grandchild because there is nothing better than that. So keep the stories coming. We quickly went through all of the books and all was wonderful. Thank you to Unicorn for inviting me, I appreciate it.

I sure hope Brenda reads this blog because she was my favorite visitor of the event. She was an Itty-Bitty fan and she made me feel so good. Thank you so much Brenda for coming to see me. I loved meeting you.

Look at the basket in the picture. I just want to point out that Jaime, who I wish I had a picture of at this event, knitted all of those Itty-Bitty Nursery projects for a give-away for shop owners who ordered five or more copies of the book. They were entered in a raffle and I chose a shop out of Mississippi out of a bag for the win. She knitted the cupcake set, chickens, pacifier clips and the grumpy bear, all to give. I thought this was wonderful. All of the Workman people are the best, Regan and Kim, you are fantastic and I am glad to have spent time with you both.

Jaime and I ended our journey with a dinner with two of my all-time faves, Suzette and Alison, the owners of The Wool Cabin in SLC. These two women made me laugh so hard and that felt so good, you have no idea. You are fun and silly and two of the absolute best around. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to dine with us. I cherish the fact that I know you. And hi Kristi! I miss you!

One last thing, to Teruko, my new friend, thank you for driving to Long Beach. Your work is beyond beautiful and your daughter is spectacular. You inspire me. Thank you and let's keep in touch. There will be a next time, soon I hope!

If you are still here with me, and I am barely here, then I thank you for reading. I started this in the afternoon and now it is time for my kids (and me) to go to bed.

I missed you, knitters.

best, susie

p.s. Congratulations to Renee on her beautiful baby boy, William Tyler! He is a beauty.

California Bound

Hi Knitters,
Well, it has come quickly. Tomorrow I am on my way to Long Beach for TNNA. This is my first time at this event. I have heard and read so much about it from other knitters and on blogs. It will be fun to see it for myself. I just want to soak in as much as possible. I will bring my trusty camera and I will try not to get my usual blurry travel shots but I can't promise.


I do have fun dinner plans with some very interesting knitters who you all know as well. That should be fun. I am lucky that my wonderful publicist, Jaime, is tagging along with me for the weekend and I love that. It will be great to have a friendly face by my side, plus she knits. What are the odds?


I will be at the Unicorn Books booth for a signing on Saturday at 3:30. Come on by to say hello if you get a chance. Just before me at the same booth is Wenlan Chia aka Twinkle, Louisa Harding, Clara Parkes and Mags Kandis to name a few. The booth is #2053.



I have to pack and most importantly I have to decide what knitting to bring along. I am leaning toward socks only, so small and easy. I have downloaded a couple of new audiobooks onto my ipod for the plane. Sometimes I download a book I have already read and liked. Then I can listen but if I zone out I still know what is going on. Smart thinking for a tired knitter, right? I think that may be a little weird but oh well it's true. You know the other thing is that for audiobooks, even if you love the book, you are at the mercy of the reader. The part that gets rough for me at times is when the reader tries to talk in different voices for the characters. It is especially awful when it is a woman reader trying to talk like a man. It doesn't always work well and when I find that I am cringing while listening it's over. I have learned to take a preview listen before I buy but it doesn't always help. If I enjoy what I hear I'll pass on the titles to you.

Have a good rest of the week.
best, susie
p.s. That's my Yarntini collection from last fall. It just looked so yummy and bright I thought I'd share it again. I am down to only 3 skeins left.

Rainbow Part Deux

Hi Knitters,
Now the rainbows are rolling in around me. Memories and past projects are coming to mind as I thoroughly think about my rainbow connection. Oh and my new scarf is the king of all rainbows. If you don't enjoy lots of photos look away. This project deserves many, many photos as there may not be a better scarf out there. Okay, maybe the clapotis but that's it. When I looked the clapotis pattern up I guess it is considered a wrap not a scarf, but still.

I first saw this on Brooklyn Tweed's beautiful knitting blog. I used his free guidelines. This design has been floating all over the knitting internet for some time. It is Noro Silk Garden, k1, p1 rib, US size 7 needles. I made mine about 5 inches wide and 72-inches long. Knitting this was so enjoyable, calming, interesting, plain old fun. The only reason for the pleasant experience is the yarn.

You alternate two different colorways of the silk garden, every two rows. The striped effect comes naturally, without any effort. I was always waiting to see what combination would come next.

Now I had a lot of small ends of silk garden from past projects so I used those up first. Then when those ran out I bought 4 skeins and just broke in to the last two. Basically I have almost two full skeins left. I was thinking a hat (not to wear with the scarf, that would be way too much) using the striping effect would be pretty cool. I will let you know what I come up with. Noro is good, good for my rainbow needs. Excellent scarf, you should try this one!

I know some of these photos didn't come out the best. It is a foggy slush fest around here. The fog and rain have closed in upon us and that's exactly how my camera worked today, kind of fuzzy. My husband and I went out walking yesterday and it seemed like we were walking in a dream.

Anyway, I have had my eye out for rainbow inspired knitted things and I have a few more to add. Remember this? I posted about my tubey a long while ago. I claimed at that point I was going to rip it out because of the poor fit. Well, as you can see, I haven't done that yet. A very funny coincidence occurred when I checked out Betz's blog this morning. See? Unbeknownst to me, Betz made a reference to my tubey experience right at the same time I had my tubey in my hands. I have not worn this sweater once. I said in the old post that I wore it once but I don't remember wearing it. Did I make that up or block it out? Lovin' the rainbow in middle but I will probably still rip this out eventually.

Here is my Noro Kureyon rainbow sweater. The yarn is too good for words andthis is one of the best sweaters ever as far as design goes. Simple rib with a turtleneck is always my favorite. (It is funny to look back at those old posts, I don't think anyone was reading, not a soul!)

My rainbow chevron scarf I made out of Koigu Kersti. I love this scarf and it was a fun knit.

This goofy rainbow sweater I made so long ago. Julia Robert's special! Now for a non-knitted rainbow, this zipper belongs to a "new" purse at my house. I have a crazy story about this purse but I am not sure how it is going to end up yet so I will wait to share it. I have never seen a zipper like this one before, pretty cute.

And last but not least, my beloved elefante is a rainbow to behold. The free pattern for elefante is on my sidebar if you are interested. On ravelry you can look up elefante in the pattern section and find 84 completed elefante photos and there are 543 elefantes in people's queues. That is fun. This project started as a complete whim. You never know what kind of rainbow will catch on.

Hope your day is going well.

best, susie

Rainbow Connection

Hi Knitters,
Do you have something in your life that pulls you in? I do, colors. Recently I have been sorting through boxes of stored items and memorabilia from my childhood and teen years and I have been surprised by some of the things I have found. One common thread that I guess I collected, although I have no conscious thought of collecting, is the rainbow. I loved rainbows growing up. Doesn't that kind of make sense now? I guess I forgot about my rainbow love, it totally left my mind.

Being a child of the 60's and 70's I had access to plenty of rainbows, free to be you and me all the way. I had rainbow hats, shirts, suspenders (oh yeah I did, Gallagher!), stickers, room decorations and more. I even painted a rainbow going across the cork bulletin board I had hanging in my bedroom, still have that, too. I found a decoration that hung from a hook on my ceiling that my dad bought me that was a needlepoint rainbow with ribbons hanging down with beads on the ends. It is so funny. I had a rainbow decal on my bedroom window that is still there.

The hat above was my favorite ski hat from the mid-70's. What a fantastic hat, I love everything about it. This is going to be my next design inspiration for sure. Look at the way the rainbow stripes are raised ridges, I know just the technique for that. I wore this everywhere, everyday for years and look at the great condition it is still in. And that pom-pom is on fire! Too good for words. Oh my goodness, the more I write about the rainbow hat, the more I can't stand how good and perfect it is. Look out, I have no control, it's a comin'. I am thoroughly obsessed again.
Now that I look with an awareness of my rainbow love, I see that I have a pure and simple attraction to colorful stripey patterns of all sorts. Trekking XXL rainbow socks? You bet. In fact, I must admit that these are my most favorite socks I have ever knit. I wear and wash them constantly. They are thin so I can wear them comfortably under shoes. They are the perfect length and the smooth stockinette stitch...also perfect. Rainbow perfection. Sing it with me, Kermit.

One last example of recent rainbow love is the Gap sweater I bought my daughter for Christmas. Guess what, she doesn't love it. I made her try it on yesterday and she put on a sad face while I rolled up the sleeves. I think this sweater is adorable, comfy, great, great colors and she is not thrilled. I rarely buy sweaters, almost never, but it was $29 and I couldn't resist. Oh well, maybe it will grow on her. If it was big enough I would wear it. I need to knit her a new sweater as she has outgrown all of her handknit creations at this point. I know she would love a sweater I made her. Lesson learned.

On another note about shopping, I hardly ever shop and I maybe head into the mall near my house once or twice a year and then it is only for a certain item, never to wander. I feel so weird and out of place in a shopping mall. I don't know what it is. I look at the other shoppers and all of the stores and the loud music and bright lights and I just don't get it. Even at the Gap I feel like I don't belong there. I need to just make my own rainbows I guess, not shop for them.

A couple exciting things happened yesterday. Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood posted the interview I did for her Craftsanity podcast. It is such a fun, short interview, about 25 minutes. Her 2 and 3-year-old daughters were with us at the Grand Rapids public library. The 3-year-old, Abby, chattered and chirped through the entire interview and I loved every minute of it! Her 2-year-old, Amelia, slept peacefully in the stroller as we talked. The sound isn't the best, but it is a fun talk. I truly enjoy Jennifer and she is the perfect example of a young working mother pursuing her dreams. She is the real deal.

The other thing is that I was interviewed for an associated press article along with Debbie Stoller. Here is the link for the short article if you are interested. It may show up in your local paper at some point down the road.

That's all for now, knitters. I am going to enjoy this last Friday and weekend with my kids off from school. I always feel sad when they head back to school and I am left with a quiet house. That means I have no excuse not to get work done.

Rainbow love to all.

best, susie

One for All Hat

Hi Knitters,
I am excited to offer you the pattern for the One for All Hat! I chose the name due to the fact that this hat fits me, my 14-year-old son and my 8 and 11-year-old daughters. You could make it in one color and leave off the pom-poms for a simple man's hat or stripe or color block and add pom-poms for a more feminine version. This is a very quick and fun knit, perfect for a first-time cable project. There is an optional lining knit right into the hat.
Yarn: Rowan Cocoon for the hat; RYC Cashsoft for the lining which is optional
Needles: US size 10 sixteen-inch circular needles and a set of 4 double-pointed needles or size needed to obtain gauge.
Gauge: 4 stitches per inch

Click on the buy now button below to order. I will send the pattern in pdf file form to you via email.
Have fun!
best, susie

Waiting Room

Hi Knitters,
I have the pattern for this new hat all set to go. I just need my son to set it up for me. He is in a basketball tournament this weekend so time is scarce. Waiting, waiting for a spare moment. My daughter is waiting to get her hands permanently on this hat and I keep telling her not until I have the pattern all finished. More waiting.

I started this scarf so long ago. It is a crocheted ripple stitch I found here. The yarn is some super old Jo Sharp wool. I think it is beautiful but to be honest I got really tired of working on it. Yesterday I was trying to clean out my studio a bit and I decided to no longer work on the ripple scarf. For awhile I toyed with making it into some sort of bag which could have worked.

As I was folding the scarf into different shapes I decided to take the easy route. I crocheted the ends together to make a neck warmer. This is a good solution when you want to try a scarf pattern out but you quickly grow tired of working on it. I should see if I have any other half-finished scarves around. I bet I do! I have a couple of manufactured neck warmers I wear all of the time while I am out walking and running. It will be fun to have a handmade one.

Now there is something exciting going on in the Itty-Bitty Knits group on ravelry. Teresa, the woman who started the group and is the moderator, is organizing a fantastic charity knit-a-long (kal) that is being run through the Itty-Bitty Knits group. I think baby and preemie hats are the knitting of choice for the kal. If I understand it correctly, each month there is a different host. The host of the charity kal gets to choose where the knitted hats get sent for that month. There are hospitals, shelters and many other organizations being suggested so far. If you are at all interested please check this one out. I love the way it is being run and it will help a lot of different geographical areas and different needs. It is being called the Charity Knit-a-Long.

Teresa is doing a great job of organizing everything. She has gotten a super response so far and she also pulled together a lot of information on the ravelry group page concerning sizing and so forth. I think some of the knitters are using the patterns in the Itty-Bitty books but they are open to any style of knitting as well. I hope I got all of that right. Let me know if not!

I'll be back with my pattern soon, fingers crossed.

Have a safe and warm Saturday. It is my husband's birthday today! I just bought a big ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for tonight. See how exciting my life is? It's too much.

best, susie

New Hat Pattern!

Hi Knitters,
I love this new hat I just took off my needles. It is wonderful to wear and warm and the yarn is beautiful. I tried the new Rowan Cocoon which is a wool/mohair blend. I will write up the pattern, hopefully tomorrow and make it available for purchase. This is a quick, quick knit on US size 10 needles.

The sweet treat is that I threw in some RYC Cashsoft to add a punch of color on top and extra warmth on the inside. I knitted a quick liner right onto the hat with this super soft luscious yarn. Rowan yarn rarely lets you down. I simply love this new hat. My girls are already fighting over it.

You know when you have a little lipstick on your teeth and you wish someone would have told you? Well, that's the case here (look close), too funny. You can't expect your 16-year-old son to help you out with something like that, right? I will have a better picture for the pattern I promise. That makes me laugh.

The hat also fits my daughters who are 8 and 11 years-old and I think it could be an attractive man hat as well minus the poms, versatile all the way.

Anyway, stay tuned if you are interested. I hope to get this up quickly. I have to come up with a name, too.

Take care, knitters.

best, susie

Pom Tree Demonstration

Hi Knitters,
Today I am adding pom-poms on my scarf and we made a video while I did it. My son has been gone so much with school and sports that we haven't had much time to shoot these video tutorials. I am glad we got one done today. The Pom Tree is a great invention and you can order your own here. This link is on my sidebar as well.

Pom-poms are really a hot trend again. I am seeing them everywhere and really big poms too! It is very fun. The scarf I am adding pom-poms to is a Teva Durham design I knitted awhile ago from here. I used a double strand of Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Wool. It is a lovely scarf.

Enjoy!
best, susie

Joy

Hi Knitters,
Sing along: I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

Down in my heart, down in my heart!

I finished and although it doesn't look just like the picture it is good enough for me. I used the advice of many emails and a few comments and put it all together to get this. Thank you crocheters, I appreciate your direction. Pretty cute and joyful, no?

About 3-4 years ago my daughter wrote me a mother's day card and it said, "Everyday your body feels joy." That may have been the best thing I have ever read. I was so happy she felt that way about me, what a good thing to feel.

I dug this kit out of my studio today, another Japanese kit I ordered quite awhile ago from here. It is made from thread basically. I don't have a small enough crochet hook so I will have to get one today. The ball looks like my crocheted cherry so I will just use that pattern. I think it is a darling little coin purse. The chart in the instructions doesn't look so confusing this time around. It is a rectangle folded in half.

I heard from so many fans of Sunny's Laboratory. I even got an email from Sunny herself. She is very sweet and interesting. It turns out Sunny moved to L.A. from Japan a few years ago where she knits, she mosaics (her house, I mean the outside of her house, fantastic!), she blogs and she mothers. What a nice new connection, I love it. Even if you don't read Japanese her pictures are fun to look at.

Pure joy!

Ahhh, wonderful Saturday. Feel some joy in your body today.

best, susie

Question, Question on Make, Make

Hi Knitters,
Today I should be saying, "Hi Crocheters." I have a question for any crochet experts out there. I am having a difficult time understanding the translated English instructions for the crochet part of this kit. It is a Japanese kit.

I have the bottom assembled and I get the gist of the crochet roof of the house but let me give you an example of the written instruction. I love to crochet but I have never come across instructions like these before.

You start with a ring for the top point of the roof and and you have 4 single crochets in the ring. The whole roof is single crochet. So it goes like this:

Row 1: 4

Row 2: 6+2

Row 3: 8+2

Row 4: 10+2

...and so on. There is also a diagram provided with lots of x's and rounds in a tiny circle. It is confusing to me. I understand you are increasing in each row but is there a logic to it or do you just throw in 2 extra stitches as you go? I am thinking that's what you do.

If you get a quick moment, let me know what you think. I was considering making up my own knitted roof, that would be the easy way out. It is turning out pretty cute, I really like the house so far. I think I will stick with the single crocheted roof and not knit it.

Crocheters to the rescue! (please?)

best, susie

*Look at this. I wonder what it says...

Collector's Items

Hi Knitters,
Well, today I want to share some of the wonderful finds I collected this fall on my travels. I first saw this beautiful bag in a Vogue Knitting feature on fun new items. The magazine had a much larger version in the photo but it was in the same colorway. I fell in love with it immediately. It is made by a company called Be Sweet. The bags are made in Africa through a coop. I got my bag here. Jackie special ordered it for me and it took about 6 weeks to come in, well worth the wait.

It is a heavy fabric so I am glad I ordered the smaller version. It is like that punch needlework but with chunkier fabric. It is sweetly lined in a green check fabric and has an inside pocket. I have tucked a couple balls of Rowan's new Cocoon yarn in here to carry with me. I am designing a new women's hat with this. Hopefully I will finish that up soon and will have a new pattern available for you.

Finally I photographed the beautiful yarn Dani dyed in honor of Itty-Bitty Nursery, it matches the cover. She calls it Itty Nursery and she over-dyed pink with a blue to create all of the lavender/blue goodness. I love it and can't wait to knit up a quick pair of socks with this soft, squishy yarn. Please check out her shop where she has fantastic yarns. Every colorway is unique and wonderful. Plus Dani is as nice in person as she is talented in knitting and dying, this is a good place to lend support. She has good, positive energy.

Here is my other skein of Sunshine Yarns that is called Fiesta. This yarn was inspired by Dani's friend Alison who knitted the Manos Cotton Stria hat in itty-bitty hats. Dani liked the colors so much she made a colorway out of it. Dani also told me that Kate Gilbert bought a skein of this at a yarn festival this fall. That's kind of fun to know.

At Purl I bought a few small items. I bought this beautiful, warm pink Koigu for starts. What a great color, mm-mm-good. The other item is the Turbo Needlegauge by Skacel. This is my second one of these. I use this handy tool so often, probably several times a week. I have needles flying everywhere around here so I am constantly trying to figure out what is what. I use a lot of dpns and they have a way of straying. There is also a 2-inch ruler on the top of it. Handy, handy!

Check out this sweet kit I picked up at Purl as well. It is a crochet kit by Make Make. It is a tiny purse with a zipper in the back. I love it. This is a Japanese kit and when I bought it the shop person had to dig around in the back for the English directions. I can't wait to make make this one!

In Michigan I went to the this great new-ish shop called City Knitting. The owner, Lorilee Beltman, is adorable and friendly. This is a shop that is warm and welcoming, more like a hang out atmosphere. Lorilee generously gave me this hot selling t-shirt designed by her shop. Look closely and you will see the clever design. Great shirt, great shop! You can order these online I think or give them a call.

That's all for today!

best, susie

p.s. I am so excited to see that a group for Itty-Bitty has been started on ravelry. I just joined myself a couple of days ago and this morning I wrote my first ever reply to a discussion forum, pretty exciting for me (I'm a simple girl). The group's name is Itty-Bitty Knits and the members are so nice! Thank you.

Appletini for Two (feet that is)

Hi Knitters,
I finished these up yesterday. Aren't they good? The yarn is from my all-time favorite indie dyer, Jessie, of yarntini fame. If you haven't tried her yarn you are missing out. It is fabulous in so many ways.

The yarn quality is squishy and good. The colors are clear and crisp and beautifully planned out. I always love stripes. I never, ever tire of a good stripe pattern. Every time I got to the pink stripe, it made me happy. Simple pleasures rule.

I started these socks while I was on tour so they carry many, many good memories. I knitted on US size 2 dpns and cast on 64 stitches and worked in k3, p1 rib for the cuff and the top of the foot. I use the most basic sock pattern that is permanently seared into my brain. The one with the heel flap and basic toe decrease. You can find this pattern in lots of places. The book, Getting Started Knitting Socks, by the fantastic Ann Budd, is an excellent book for all sock knitters, not just beginners. This basic sock pattern is in here. Another great sock knitting book that has a ton to offer all levels of sock knitters and edited by Ann Budd (she is my hero!) is Interweave Knits Favorite Socks.

My model was getting ready for school and I made her stop to put on the finished socks. There is something about 8-year-old legs and feet that are so much cuter than 43-year-old legs and feet, not hard to figure. Now she wants them for herself but they are going to someone special so neither of us will get them. That's okay because I still have a few skeins left from my yarntini acquisition this past fall so I'll make her a pair for herself! That appletini colorway is going to be hard to beat.

By the way, I am working on a really fun project right now for Parents magazine and it doesn't involve knitting. Can you believe that? The project does involve my other favorite topic, children. I'll fill you in with more details later. It is pretty darn fun and a little strange to be working on a project without knitting. Parents is a great magazine, I have loved it for years so I am happy to be working for them.

Have a wonderful Friday.

best, susie

p.s. If you are looking for the Alan Dart gnome pattern be sure to look at the comments from the last post to get a link for that. Thanks to Lisa in Colorado for sending that along. Trish also sent this link for the gnome pattern in the Bumper Book. Thanks to Trish. Try these out if you are searching. I didn't check if these are the same links. Thanks for helping out. You readers are the best, so generous.

Blizzard Shmizzard

Hi Knitters,
Madison is in the grips of yet another blizzard today with a layer of ice already coating the roads. Every school district in southern Wisconsin is closed, including all Madison private schools but guess what lucky kids have school today? That's right, mine. My sad kids trudged through the blizzard to school today because the Madison public schools are open for business. I know people think Wisconsin is all farms but truthfully we are city people. Madison schools rarely shut down due to snow because they are city schools where most of the kids live in the neighborhood where the schools are located. If not they ride the bus a short distance. I was really wishing for a snow day with my kids. I am worse than they are.

The snowbank outside my front door is probably 3-4 feet at this point. This is the kind of snow I grew up with, mountains of snow.

I just pulled out my Alan Dart Yuletide Gnome from Simply Knitting's Bumper Book of Patterns. I have had a lot of people write me to ask where to get this book and I am sorry to say I have no idea. I kind of forgot about him. He looks at home out there.

I started this Noro Silk Garden striping scarf last night. I love it. What is it about that striping yarn that always gets me? There are tons of these scarves out in blogland right now. I am following brooklyn tweed's free pattern. Fun, fun. (Hey Renee, we make at least two of the Scott's Bakery gingerbread houses every year! It is the best kit ever.)

I finished these up yesterday. What a quick, fun project. These will be wrapped and under the tree for a certain someone.

Here is one more fun holiday tip for you. I am a nut for seasonal children's literature. More than a dozen years ago I was at a friend's house and she had a decorative sleigh that she filled with Christmas books. I loved this idea and began my own tradition for the seasons. I bought this antique box right after I first got married and with every season change I pull out collections of seasonal books and put them in this box. Even my older kids love this tradition. My winter collection of books has gotten so large over the years that I fill a few boxes around the house. I do this for winter/Christmas, fall/Halloween, spring/easter, and summer. It keeps the kids loving the books because it is like they are new again every year.

The lovely Stacie sent me this link for a mini-mitten pattern. This one is good because it gives instruction for different gauges of yarn. Thank you!

I hope you are all safe and warm on this Tuesday.

best, susie

Right on Target

Hi Knitters,
I woke up this morning and quickly knitted a Target Wave Mitten from Nora Gaughan's beautiful book Knitting Nature. I used Cascade 220 and knitted on US size 5 and 7 needles. I made the largest size and it fits my 8 year old perfectly.

This is how I feel about Target Wave Mittens! On to mitten number 2...

best, susie

p.s. Did you notice that the Utopia Hat, which is an adult size pattern, fits both of my daughter's who are 8 and 11 years old? Most adult size hat patterns will fit most children's heads. It's a good thing to know! You don't always need a pattern for a child size hat for even pretty young children. This opens up a ton of patterns that will work for kids. Most kids have adult size heads.

p.p.s. I added the badge for Knitting Friends on my sidebar. It is fun to see what is happening out there in knitting blogland. I get such a kick when my blog makes the list! This site gets you to read all kinds of blogs that you normally wouldn't visit. When you click on the badge it takes you to the top 15 blogs of the day but make sure you visit the community page (click on community at the top of the page) to see the top 100 blogs of the day. Knitting Friends is a great new resource for knitters! I know I have mentioned this before but I think it is worth another mention.