FO: Laura

Pattern: Laura, by Joan McGowan Michael/White Lies Designs
Yarns: Kit purchased from White Lies Designs; but substituted the MC for Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Superwash; added another silk-mohair blend from stash to carry along with the silk-mohair provided in the kit.
Needles: US 7 & 8, Knitpicks' Harmony interchangeable circulars
Notes and additional photos are available on my Ravelry projects page.

FO: Rasta Cowl

Pattern: Rasta Cowl by Nell Ziroli for Knitch
Yarn: Malabrigo Rasta in Arco Iris (1 skein)
Needles: US15 Denise Circulars

Road tested, literally, this baby this morning. I bike to work and it is very very cold in San Francisco now. I, however, was super-warm from about the collarbone on up. Easy pattern, lightning-quick knit. Perfect for winter-gifting, or for yourself.

FO: Artfibers Lengthwise Scarf

Kit from Artfibers includes a sampling of several yarns and instructions for knit or crochet versions of the scarf. It was a great buy at $25 and I was able to revisit favorite yarns and try ones that were new to me.

I ordinarily go for pinks and purples, for which there were several kits available. For some reason, the way these yarns sat next to each other in their little bag really appealed to me, so I ended up with some non-me colors, and I love the result. It is good to knit outside the box sometimes.

This was a fun and very fast knit. I got'er done in two days. If you still have a gift to do for the holidays....

Modifications: I used a long-tail cast-on with two of the yarns provided (as in Cheryl Oberle's Knitted Ruana, if you happen to have a copy of Folk Shawls). If you tend to bind off tightly, I would use a much stretchier bind-off. Even using much larger needles, my bind off was too tight. But as I loathe unpicking bind-offs, I have decided that the swirly effect is very arty.

SF's Festive Atmosphere

FO: Ishbel

For my MLB post-season knitting (GO GIANTS, ahem) I made:

Pattern: Ishbel
Needle: US5 Lantern Moon "Destiny" Circulars
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Firebird

A fun, easy and fast knit. I love how the colorway knitted up. Excellent therapy for the nervous baseball watcher (I get crazy nervous on critical pitches; the Beard nearly gave me a heart attack every game).

Back in Business

Just a short note to say that I am back in business! My previous employer had a prohibition on personal blogging, which is happily no longer an issue.

And my grand-reopening news is to report on my first visit to Artfibers since their San Francisco store closed. In case you did not know, they are back in the city, at 266 Sutter Street, 3rd Floor. The space is fantastic; very open, with lots of wonderful light. The yarn is arranged in pull-out bins as before, each set topped with delicious swatches to inspire you. I bought two cones of Ming in black for a sweater for my lovely mother in law, and a lengthwise scarf kit for myself. It contains several different yarns, so it is a fabulous way to sample yarns you may not have tried before.

They have a number of new (to me anyway) yarns; if I hadn't had my heart set on Ming for the sweater, I would have had a very hard time choosing. Both Safa (chunky cotton) and Lingo (sportweight linen) will be on my list for spring/summer knitting. And I don't think I will be able to resist the thoroughly swoon-worthy Yaqui for a cozy winter wrap of some kind.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to head up there RIGHT NOW and buy some yarn!

Alas, none of my most recent FOs involve knitting. I recently became obsessed with needlepoint and have been doing loads of that, and got back into cross-stitch, which may have been the first fiberish craft I ever learned.

You can make a ladybug of your very own, by heading up to Needlepoint Inc. (conveniently close to Artfibers!!). The canvas is 13 mesh, and I used Silk and Ivory for most of it, plus Treasure braid for the eyes, antennae and accents. The cross-stitch piece is Greek Island by Michael Powell from CrossStitcher issue no. 224 (a thoroughly excellent British magazine).




Happy Stitching (of all kinds!) to all!