Jellies and Knit Lamb Swap Package

Hi Knitters,
Let's end the week with a happy and knitterly post. I joined in a swap on my Itty-Bitty Knits group on ravelry. Mel, one of the lovely moderators and the queen of organizing swaps has an alphabetical theme going on this year. We are at JKL in the alphabet so the swap was titled, Jellies and a Knit Lamb. That was basically the requirement for the swap. Mel posted all of my various lamb patterns that swappers could choose from and then add any sort of jelly beans, gummies, or jelly-related candy to the package.

What I love about these swaps is the creativity that emerges in the packages. The package I received is incredibly creative and detailed. My partner is pattytrish (rav id) or Patricia, who lives in Kansas. She is a very active, fun, upbeat and supportive member of Itty-Bitty Knits and we are all lucky to have her around. Patricia wrote me a card and told me the theme for this package is color and I could certainly see that!

Just look at what she put together for me.....

I think this is the cutest and most colorful version of one of my sheep patterns ever! I just love it. The way Patricia used the bright variegated yarn for the fleece and then contrasted that with the stripey neutral yarn for the face and feet.... genius. This sheep made my day a million times over. I keep showing it to everyone and the reaction is the same every time, "CUTE!"

I'll save it forever and it is going in a special spot in my studio. Thank you so much for your beautiful work, Patricia.

Patricia also had time to knit up a pair of Fallberry Mitts in one of my favorite yarns.

The pattern is from Knitty so it is a free one. I think I might have to make another pair to have around here because there are many hands wanting to wear this pair by pattytrish. We love them.

Patricia knit two adorable sheep washcloths/dishcloths. She also sent me a gorgeous braid of fiber. You can find the free patterns for these washcloths, by bee30 - rav id or Ber, by clicking right here.

This one will be next on my wheel. I love Falkland Wool and the colors are wonderful and soothing. The dyer is Ella Marie Fibers on Etsy. What a great shop. I am excited to get this braid going.

Patricia's granddaughter, Gabby, knit up another rainbow dishcloth for me. She wrote me a sweet card explaining that the washcloth isn't exactly a square. Gabby, I couldn't love it more! Who needs a square? Squares are overrated. I will use and love your handknit goodness. Your knitting is beautiful and thank you for sharing it with me.

Can you believe this box of goodies? It never ends. Included is a Ravelry project bag, jelly beans and jelly babies, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, a sheep shawl pin (love!), "S" hankies, a knitty notepad and pen, a sheep calendar for 2013 (love this, I am a wall calendar kind of girl), and a couple of Kansas postcards.

This is all so much fun.

But it doesn't stop there. Patricia made a project bag with colorful sheep on the outside and a sunny golden floral fabric on the inside. I love the polka dot ribbon drawstring, it matches the knit sheep's bow.

Inside this sweet handstitched bag there was a treasury of goodies.

This little bag included, sheep buttons, embroidery floss, sheep earrings, two sets of fantastic sheep stitch markers (yay! I love these and I was just going to order more stitch markers.), a sheep stamp and ink pad, and a lovely card from Patricia.

Wow! That is one impressive and detailed swap package. I can't believe the effort and thoughtfulness that went into this.

Thank you, Patricia. xoxoxo to you.

The package I sent to my partner just arrived. My partner is in Canada and I can't wait to hear if she likes it. Fingers are crossed.

Have a great weekend everyone. I hope you get to spend some time knitting.
best, susie

A Week Goes By

Hi Knitters,
First off, I want to quickly remind everyone that the Vogue Knitting Live Chicago, Oct. 26th-28th, 2012, classes are now open for general registration! I am only there one day, Sunday the 28th, and will be teaching two classes. I hope you can come!

Click here for Vogue Knitting Live Chicago class information!

A lot happens in a week or even a day sometimes. Here are some of the happenings around here over the past week....

I plopped a small ball of bulky weight handspun, my first handspun yarn ever, in my Julia Knowles yarn bowl (photo above).

Click here for the yarn bowl information.

I quickly knit up a sweet little homespun toy for a swap on my Itty-Bitty Knits group.

The pattern is called, Lamb from Scratch, and it is a charming, simple, fast and fun knit. Any bulky weight yarn will work great. I have seen this knit up in all sorts of yarns.

Click here for the Lamb from Scratch pattern information.

I got my swap partner's gifts and goodies all boxed up and shipped off in time. I hope she gets it soon.

Yesterday, I received my swap package in the mail. It is incredible and I am going to share this piece by piece with you later. What an amazing effort by my partner. More on this one soon when I get photos.

Our neighborhood pool had an adult social and silent auction fundraiser last weekend. I helped run the silent auction that night but found time to bid on a dozen homemade cupcake cookies baked and decorated by a neighbor of mine. Aren't they cute? They were gone in a flash soon after I brought them home. She is talented!

After finishing the Thin Ice Shawl, I had so much of the handspun yarn left over that I cast on a pair of socks to use up the rest. It is working up quite densely on US size 1 dpns which is good because it is a 2-ply yarn and might not be strong enough for durable socks. I know they might wear out quickly but making the fabric dense will hopefully help a little with longevity.

Sock pattern? Click here for How I Make My Socks.

The handspun yarn cake is spinning smoothly off of my Sun Valley Fibers Yarn Buddy. This is a beautiful handcrafted tool that I love using. I purchased mine at the Knit Circus Retreat last spring.

Click here to find out more about the Sun Valley Yarn Buddy.

During this past week I also finished up a bunch of projects for the upcoming holiday issue of Knit Simple. I got the finished knit samples shipped off to New York and finished writing up the patterns, which was no small feat with the amount of activity going on in my house. It's great fun to design for magazines but it is always a challenge to get all of the work done and on time.

After sending off the finished patterns, I quickly hand-stitched elastic sequin strips on five black swim suits for TC's water ballet routine group. That took forever! I sent them up with TC for practice, her instructor is none other than Miss Molly. The sequins all stayed on except for one girl. The silver sequins popped off on one side so I have to tack down again and allow for more stretch. It is tricky that stretchy fabric and sequin sewing.

Mostly, I have been doing a lot of book page editing. Reading, writing, checking math, checking photos, all that good stuff that needs to be done when creating a book.

It is going to be a really fun, playful book. I am pretty excited about it. It's not out until next spring 2013.

I even snuck in a couple hours of knitting and chatting time with my friend, Jaala Spiro. We treated ourselves to black cherry smoothies to boot. It was a good time. I'm so glad Jaala lives close by and that I've gotten to know her better over the last year. She's a gem.

Click here for Jaala's wonderful website, newsletter, tutorial source, and podcast!

While together that night, I started Jaala's Bridge Over Troubled Water Shawlette. By the time I got to the start of the first lace section they were closing down the joint but it was a good spot to stop knitting anyway.

Last but not least, last week my son made an extensive robot costume complete with silver spray paint, boxes, aluminum tubing (which they taped up to cover up his arms later), lightbulbs, a calculator, and a megaphone which made his voice sound robot-like. He coaches swim team at our neighborhood pool and showed up at practice as Robo-Coach. He coaches 9 and 10 year old swimmers and they absolutely loved it. He would shake hands with the kids using the tongs to grasp their hands. It was pretty funny. Another day he hosted a formal dance party with punch served in a punch bowl on the basketball court for his group after practice. Then yesterday he bought them donuts. He loves those kids and I love seeing the extra effort he puts in to make it fun and memorable for them.

Now this huge robot costume is sitting in my small basement along with my college son's stuff and all of our stuff.... oooph, it's not good down there. What are you going to do? It's all in the name of fun.

Well, I'm off to edit pages and pages of book material and to write tutorial copy to go along with the fantastic tutorial photographs from not too long ago.

I hope you are all doing well! Don't forget to enter the Cakewalk Yarns Cherry Blossom giveaway on Veronika's Yarn on the House blog. There aren't that many entries and she has 3 skeins to give away. Don't miss your chance and go enter! Click here for the giveaway!

What are you all up to this week? I'd love to hear.
best, susie

Yarn on the House Interview and Loop!

Hi Knitters,
I have so much to announce today. I'll get right to it in order:

1. I did a fun video interview with Ve of Yarn on the House. Click here to watch.

2. Don't miss that Ve has 3 (!) skeins of Cakewalk Yarns Cherry Blossom sock yarn to giveaway to go along with my interview. You have to answer an easy, easy question in the comments on her post to enter to win the yarn. The question is in Part 3 of the interview. The entire interview is only a little over 20 minutes long total but is divided in three parts. Please go enter!

Also, check out all of the fun links Ve put together under our interview on her blog. We talked about a lot in such a short time. It is really fun.

Click here to watch the video on the Yarn on the House site.

3. The winner of the Themyscira Dyeabolical Yarn giveaway is..... sewsable (rav id)! Congratulations, Rachelle!

4. Rachel, of Dyeabolical Yarns, was thrilled with the response on the giveaway, over 700 entries, so she generously threw in a second skein of her yarn, colorway to be determined. The winner of a second skein of Dyeabolical is..... muttiruth (rav id)! Congratulations, Ruth!

Thanks to everyone for entering the giveaway. I will host another one very soon so stay tuned.

Now, on with the regular post. That beautiful shawl in the photo above is one that I just finished last week and I just love it.

I spun up this beautiful Bullseye Bump of merino wool fiber from Loop on Etsy. This colorway is aptly called, Mediterranean Sun. You can see Steph's signature center pull bump. She creates one of a kind bumps of all sorts of fiber. It is pretty amazing.

 Loop's Bullseye Bumps are fluffy and interesting and plain old entertaining to spin.

It all came out to become this gorgeous hank of yarn. It is Navajo plied, 440 yards of a sport weight in a merino wool. I wasn't quite sure what to make with it but then after I knit up the Little Shells Shawl and loved the pattern, I saw another shawl from this pair of designers, Holly and Ella Knits. It is the Summer Flies Shawlette. I thought I would give this one a whirl with my new Loop handspun.

Click here for the Little Shells free pattern.

Click here for the Summer Flies Shawlette free pattern.

Click here for the Loop Etsy shop.

I loved everything about knitting up this Summer Flies Shawlette. The handspun yarn just flew off my needles. The pattern is wonderfully written and clear. Each section is more fun than the last which keeps it fast-paced and fun. I loved the picot bind off at the end, even if it is a little tedious, the result is well worth it. I highly recommend this pattern.

Here is the shawlette blocking. There is a ruffle so I ran the wire through the start of the ruffle, right before the increase row. That way I wouldn't pull the ruffle out of the ruffle. It worked well. After blocking, the shawl is so light and airy.

I am not sure the colors are for me with my olive skin tone but I asked my blonde sister if she could wear these colors and she said yes. I was going to give it to her right away as she tried it on but she said maybe for Christmas or something. She already knows about it so that's not fun. I may give it to her soon. I am enjoying looking at it for now anyway before it goes away.

On a quick and funny note, I wanted the picot bind off to be in the blue color. In order to do this I wound a bit of the color you see right before the blue off of the yarn cake and started in with the blue for the bind off. Of course I ran out right before the end of the bind off row as you can see above. It is easy to underestimate how much yarn it takes to do a picot bind off and a ruffle for that matter. I had over 400 stitches on the needles at that point.

I debated what to do but in the end I just joined in the tiny ball I had wound off to get to the blue color and finished off the row. It looks fine and for some reason it isn't all that noticeable. I never mind little things like this when they happen. It is kind of fun to find the solutions.

That's why knitting is so great, you are always forced to think.

Okay, I'll be back soon with more.
best, susie

Dyeabolical Yarn for You!

Edited to add on July 17th, 2012: The giveaway is now over and the winner has been selected. No further entries are being taken. Thanks to those who entered and there will be another giveaway soon.

(photo from Rachel of Dyeabolical Yarns)
Hi Knitters,
I have an opportunity for you to win this whopping hank (440 yards) of Dyeabolical Super Ego Yarn in the Themyscira colorway! I am so in love with this colorway that I unknowingly bought both the yarn and the roving from Rachel of Dyeabolical Yarns in her booth at the Kentucky Fiber Festival in 2011. There is something about this colorway that absolutely glows. It is so saturated and rich. I think it is difficult to capture the glow of this skein in a photo.

I recently worked both my skein of Themyscira in Sporty and spun my 4oz. roving. Rachel saw my shawl on the blog and contacted me to see if I would like to give away a hank in the same colorway, Themyscira, in her Super Ego base. I jumped at the chance! I would love for one of you to have this yarn.

Here is what you have the opportunity to win:

1 hank of Themyscira (photo above) in the Super Ego base (100% superwash wool,  440 yards/150 grams). Technically this yarn is a sport weight but it can be used as a heavy fingering to a light worsted weight. It has range. The generous hank has huge yardage so one skein could make a pair of socks or a good sized shawl.

In case you are wondering what Themyscira means, it is Wonder Woman's secret paradise island, which I love. Isn't that fun?

To refresh your memory, here is the Little Shells Shawlette I just finished in the Dyeabolical  Themyscira.

It is a sweet little shawlette with great pops of color.  I can't wait until it cools down so I can wear it. 

Now this I haven't shared yet. I recently spun up a bouncy, soft, squishy bulky weight yarn in the Themyscira colorway in Falkland Wool. It is gorgeous and I can't keep my hands off of it. I got 150 yards of squooshy, yummy double-marled yarn. I will share a little more information and my plans for this one later. You can see the rich colors pouring out of this yarn.

Here are the links for today:
Dyeabolical Yarns
Little Shells Shawlette (free pattern)

To win the gigantic skein of squooshy, yummy Themyscira in the Super Ego base, please leave one comment on this blog post. Please leave your rav id or email address so I can easily get in touch if you win. I will be back soon to randomly select a winner. This is a great chance to try some fantastic yarn from a talented independent dyer!

Thank you, Rachel, for your generosity.

Good luck and let the comments begin. Good weekend to you all.
best, susie

Thin Ice Shawl by LaLa

Hi Knitters,
Yesterday, in the early morning, I wore my freshly blocked Thin Ice Shawl, designed by LaLa's Knits or Laura Linneman, around my house until it became too warm. I took these quick photos with the Instagram app on my iPhone. You can follow me on Instagram under susanbanderson if you'd like (although I can't seem to find how to link that right now). I have been using Instagram more and more to quickly document things throughout the day and then putting the photos up on my Twitter account.

Click here to see the evolution of the handspun yarn by Dyeabolical.

Click here for the fantastic Thin Ice Shawl pattern by Laura Linneman. 

Click here for the terrific Dyeabolical yarns and fibers website. 

Click here for more on Laura Linneman of The Knit Girllls podcast.

There really is nothing better than taking out the pins and wires from a newly blocked shawl and wrapping it right around your neck to wear. Oh, the joy.....

This shawl is so pretty and sweet. I love everything about it. The Thin Ice Shawl pattern is wonderfully written, so clear and easy. I highly recommend it. It is a row by row knit, which I am finding is really fun. It is simple but interesting at the same time and for some reason this type of row by row pattern goes incredibly fast.

I made my shawl much smaller than the one in the pattern. You can easily adjust the size, no problem at all. I knit this on US size 6 and 7, 32-inch circular needles as suggested in the pattern.

I have so much of the handspun leftover that I might even get a pair of socks out of it, too. That idea makes me really happy, I might even cast on later today. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Wednesday, Knitters!
best, susie

Patchwork Wrap-Up & Video Product Review

Hi Knitters,

I have a fun video product review and prize winners for you today from the Patchwork Sockalong. Even if you didn't participate in the knitalong, the video is a good review of many of my favorite products. The video is how I announced the winners of the Patchwork Sockalong that just finished up on the Itty-Bitty Knits Ravelry group, which is my group if you'd like join us. I will be hosting another knitalong soon over there. We had so much fun and produced almost 100 pairs of brand new Patchwork socks.

The prizes are incredibly exciting and generous. I contacted some of my most favorite companies, designers, independent yarn/fiber sellers and Etsy shop owners and everyone said yes. I couldn't believe it. Please go and visit their sites and shops (click on the links below) and tell them I sent you their way. Thank you a million times over to everyone who donated.

Here is the list and links of prizes and winners by ravelry id:
Vesper Mini-Skein Kit of sock yarn! Winner - lizardknits
Cakewalk Yarns, 1 skein of sock yarn! Winner - pinkdaisy
Kristin Nicholas' Garden Effects Regia sock yarn, 2 balls! Winner - plashus
Knitpurlgurl, Abi Grasso, 1 skein of Rainbow and Clouds striping sock yarn! Winner - iluvalpacas
Sewbendy Bag! Winner - vanillamilkshake
Sun Valley Yarn, 1 skein each for 4 winners! Winners - armida21, melissabear, Kally, savannahgal
Sunshine Yarns, 1 skein of sock yarn! Winner - pattytrish
Signature Needle Arts, 1 set of 4, US size 1, double-pointed needles! Winner - JennFM

In the video I repeatedly said sunvalleyyarns.com instead of sunvalleyfibers.com, so please take note of this correction. Jeanette, the owner, donated 4 prizes!

I was so appreciative of Signature Needle Arts for donating the set of their exquisite dpns as they rarely donate prizes. I thank them for sharing so generously. These needles are beyond beautiful and luxurious.

Click here to see the finished pairs of Patchwork Socks!

Here are a few randomly selected photos of some of the finished pairs (photos are from ravelry project posts and owners are identified underneath):

 sewsable (rav id)

 cehermanator (rav id)

 melissabear (rav id)

 aimeed (rav id)

 pattytrish (rav id)

 saucyjill (rav id)

 eelopez (rav id)

 pinkdaisy (rav id)

 MsGonzie (rav id)

 renee-ellen (rav id)

 Johnston4Kids (rav id)

 JConklin (rav id)

 twistedinstitches (rav id)

cpeezers (rav id)

Aren't those all fantastic socks? To see all of the finished Patchwork socks, click here.

What a great start to the week. I'll be back soon with more.
best, susie

Sweetest 16

Hi Knitters,
I hope you are doing well this busy week of July. We have been having record breaking heat, in the hundreds, and very, very humid. It is a little tough outside but we are making the best of it. Yesterday we had our annual 4th of July gathering at my sister's house on the lake here in Madison. It is a summer highlight for our families. On top of that celebration we always tack on Peachy's birthday which is on July 5th.

Everyone enjoyed some time down by the lake after we ate a delicious dinner. It was sweltering and still in the 90's even as the sun went down. That's my boy on the left and his buddy, who is actually Miss Molly's brother, on the right. They have known each other for years now.

This is my sister's house from the pier. It is so beautiful and old. I love the terraces and the tiny old cement stairway to her yard. That's her pink shed at the top there, too.

There were parties to the right and to the left of us when we were down on the pier. It is city living where the neighbors are very close.

Our kids had so much fun on a raft and the water level is so low from lack of rain that the kids could stand way out in the water.

Well, here she is, Peachy surrounded by love and her family. We love Peachy so much and she is a funny, fun,  hard working, earnest and determined girl. She keeps us laughing and has been such a total joy to watch through the years. Peachy is 16 today and it is all true when people say it goes fast. Sadly, it does. She has been an easy, fun and interesting child to raise. Peachy has taught me so much. I couldn't dream of a better daughter. I'm so proud of her.

Happy Birthday, my Peachy!

Now for a little knitting content. Yesterday I decided to call it quits on the knitting of my Thin Ice Shawl by the lovely Laura Linneman of The Knit Girllls. I love this pattern so much. I just decided it was big enough for me at this point and so I modified a couple sections to make them shorter and then bound off. The actual shawl in the pattern is gigantic and lovely but the size I stopped at is the perfect for me. The pattern is well-written and easy to follow. I love Laura's patterns so much. She is an excellent pattern writer.

Click here for the Thin Ice pattern on Ravelry!

Click here to see the next shawl I'm making designed by Laura!

Oh, and then this one, too!

Thin Ice has turned out beautifully. It is so light and airy and lacy. I love the way I can wrap it around my neck or wear it around my shoulders. I will share more photos later. The shape of this shawl is conical while you are knitting it. It looks like it won't ever block out to a straight edge across the top but miraculously it does. That was fun to see and do.

The yarn is my handspun from some Dyeabolical roving I got in.... you guessed it, Kentucky! Where else have I ever shopped? Oh, and I just remembered that I was with Laura Linneman in Kentucky when I bought this fiber. That makes it an even better pairing.

Okay, I'll be back with more tomorrow.
best, susie