|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday, September 22, 2007
I swear some sort of planet retrograde is going on around here, as life seems to be a “Comedy of Errors” these days. Suffice to say that I’ve only been working on brainless knitting to avoid catastrophe in that department. For those of you who have been having trouble posting orders from my secure order page (receiving an “Internal Server Error” message), my webhosting company is supposedly looking into it and correcting it, since they caused it…let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the regular, non-secure email order form IS working…you can email the order without credit card information via this method and then just call me, toll-free, at 1-866-690-WOOL to complete the order (or just call in your order and skip the email altogether). I’m open Tues-Sat, 10 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. Knitting. A few rounds on self-striping socks in Online’s Beach sock yarn (check out my May 18th blog entry for the shadecard…nice stuff to work with!); a few rounds each night on a Cabin Fever top-down poncho for a little girl whose birthday is coming up in a few weeks; a few rounds on a Gena fingerless mitt in Ecoknit (the left one to match the right one in the pattern photo); and more inches on the cutest little Garnstudio Alpaca baby cardi (very fun knitting sweaters sideways): 
See my August 23rd blog entry for this shadecard. And in between, loads of canning: tomatoes, nectarines, pears, salsa, you name it. The fire has been lit a few times, now, as nights are chilling right off, and the crackling blaze is a definite lure to a cozy chair and knitting needles. Must. Get. Canning. Finished. Hopefully the bulk of it will be finished off in the next week or so, and I’ll have lots more time to devote to the next leaflet in the Woollen Earth pattern collection. By the way, JA33 CONSTANTINOPLE Adult Unisex Socks and Gloves is fully ready for purchase; just send a note or give me a call! |
|
|
||
|
Saturday, September 15, 2007 Well, this is definitely going to prove that I am human, but I have discovered that I made a severe goof in the yardage estimation for my leaflet JA31 Wink Felted Elf Slippers. I weighed everything fine, but when I made my yardage calculations, I had it in my mind that 100 g of Lett Lopi had 100 metres, when 50 g of Lett Lopi has 100 metres. The subsequent outcome isn’t QUITE as dire as a doubling of yardage, but it gets close. I have posted the newly (and correctly) calculated yardages required for each color on my Corrections page…please head there and correct your pattern accordingly. I have also adjusted the kit prices to reflect the increasing yardage required for some of the sizes. I really, really apologize, guys. Please email or call me if you have any questions. Glad I got it corrected when I did! (Thanks Kathy, in CA!!) Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Finally finished, and just in time for the season, a brand-spankin’ new Woollen Earth leaflet! 
JA33 CONSTANTINOPLE Adult Unisex Socks and Gloves is written for a DK weight yarn, and includes 4 sizes of socks and 2 sizes of gloves. Not a difficult knit, yet definitely not boring, either, this pattern makes perfect fall and winter accessories for all adults of all ages! I test knit the pattern in Diamond’s Fine Merino Superwash DK, which is nice and soft and easy-care, and also nicely shows off the centre geometric motif. You’ll need a couple to three skeins, depending on the size (large socks take the most yardage). Try using a different fibre or other color-variations for your own unique interpretation! The pattern is just in the final printing stages; I expect to have all the photos on and it physically ready by the end of the week, but you can pre-order now! All of the Woollen Earth line of leaflets are $5.99 CDN each. Here’s the superwash shadecard, if you’re interested in using it for the pattern: DIAMOND FINE MERINO SUPERWASH WOOL 100% Fine Merino Superwash Wool Tension: 22 sts = 4” on 4.0 mm needles 125 metres / 50 grams $5.99 CDN / skein
Of course, any DK yarn will do; if you’re interested in what I have for alternate fibres, just give me a call or send me a note! Remember, you can always call toll-free at 1-866-690-WOOL. Oh, some of you may have been wondering where in the world is the pattern for the Felted Hooded (crocheted) Vest from my last post! I’m not sure what happened, but all links to Interweave Crochet seem to have reverted to their Spring 2007 issue. Not to worry, the Fall issue is due out on the newsstands Sept. 18, so the new free patterns for Fall (including my vest) should be up by then at the latest. (Fingers crossed.) Friday, September 7, 2007 The preview for the Fall 2007 Interweave Crochet magazine is up. My Felted Crocheted Vest is available as a FREE PATTERN in PDF format, so head on over and get yourself a copy! The yarn I used for the prototype was Wink Felted Elf Slipper and I have great stock right now, so order away! 
Here’s a photo of it on my lovely dress form, waaaay too late at night: 
As you can see, the fit is much snugger on the form than on the model above...make yours for the amount of ease you like! The colors aren’t true in my photo…too little real light exposure. (Did I mention it was waaaay too late at night? The night before it had to be in the mail? Thought I might have.) This was a fun project to do. Word of advice: keep an eye on your felting so that you don’t go too far. I actually felted this one about an inch smaller all around than I had planned…five minutes too long in the wash. Everything else is just ticking along here. It’s getting crispier outside and the leaves are starting to turn. I hope to be taking photos this weekend for one of my leaflets, and if so, it shouldn’t be much longer after that that it will be available. Other than that, it’s been salsa, frozen green beans and peas, dried apple chips, mixed vegetable pickles, and you name it…applesauce will be the next big job. Kind of labour-intensive, but oh-so-appreciated by the entire household. I also hope to seam a little crocheted dress this weekend and put a few more rows on my little Garnstudio Alpaca (store demo) baby jacket. If I promise to show pictures next week, will I be forced to keep my word??? Worth a try! Saturday, September 1, 2007 Is it really the end of August already? It sure doesn’t seem like we’ve had any summer to be ending! No beach time, no camping, little sunbaking…I’m not sure I’m ready to face thoughts of snow in a couple of months! I’m just finishing my youngest daughter’s summer dress…nice timing, eh? All the pieces are done and blocked…but I’m avoiding the seaming. Well, really, the seaming is kind of low on my priority list with millions of vegetables around me needing to be preserved up in one form or another for the chilly months. I hope I’ll get a chance to work on it this weekend, but I’m not promising… My hubby and I celebrated our TENTH wedding anniversary last week…my, my, my how time flies when you’re having fun! In and along and around this event I’ve been knitting and calculating away on the two leaflets that are in simultaneous production. One of them is HALF done…it features two garments, so one of them is all test knit and written, while I just need to finish up the second one. (And take pictures, and print, etc.) Not sure exactly when it’ll be out. Let’s cross our fingers and say a week or two! The other one is a slower-going knitting process, and although I’m doing well on the actual calculations, it will be a little while until the prototypes are ready for photography (partly also due to the fact that I’m waiting for another color to do the alternate colorway knitting). Of course life keeps “getting in the way” with canning, learning, and other living…and there are a couple of design submission deadlines I’m trying to see if I want to meet. My ad in Interweave Knits for my Wink Felted Elf Slipper seems to be going over fairly well…lots of packaging of leaflets and and kits has been going on. Should be a lot of folks, both big and little, sporting elf shoes on Christmas morning! By the way, I did manage to get organized enough to figure out a shadecard, etc. for the Misti Alpaca Laceweight, and my fabulous webguy Alan has posted it up on my yarn page. Have a look! Hopefully I’ll have the two newest Garnstudio yarns up soon, too…but for now the shadecards are just right below this post. Have a great Long Weekend! |
||||
|
THE WOOLLEN EARTH, PO Box 2530, Vanderhoof BC V0J 3A0 Canada Phone: (250) 690-7777 1-866-690-9665(WOOL) Email: |
