Tuesday, November 30, 2010

"x" is for

..."xciting!" ok, i am stretching it here.

i was asked by a dear friend to design some socks to promote autism awareness. autism affects one in 110 children. The symbol for autism is a puzzle piece which is featured on the heel flap. the mosaic pattern on the leg, hopefully, gives a puzzle "flavor" to the socks.


a piece of the puzzle foot rav

heel designed by meagheen ryan

a piece of the puzzle heel rav

mosaic pattern would be fun in a solid and variegate colored yarn

a piece of the puzzle swatch

the pattern for this cute mini sock is included in the download.

"murphy stands up for autism"
designed by meagheen ryan

Murphy Stands up to Autism 1

"a piece of the puzzle" is available for purchase at meagheen's etsy shop for $6. all proceeds from the sale will go the the hollyrod foundation which provides support to children with autism and their family.

thanks to angie kachelmeier for knitting "a piece of the puzzle" and to sally knotwell for knitting "murphy stands up for autism."


Thursday, November 4, 2010

vee three

vee three is now ready for sale at a special introductory price of $4.50 until november 12th. after that date, the price will be $5.50

vee three 4

Knit cuff down with a hybrid heel (mini heel flap/gusset paired with a short row heel). The cables morph into matching lace on the instep with all ending in a “v” before the toe.

Sock shown was knit with Pagewood Farms Denali 4 (dk weight) in JF's Folly.


Friday, October 22, 2010

"w" is for

...WALL of mochi (mini, plus, chunky, and otherwise!)

YES! i got to visit the infamous wall of mochi yesterday! i finally took a ride on bart out to richmond to meet up with susan for lunch and a visit to the straw into gold (crystal palace yarns) warehouse!

cathy campbell (who refused to be photographed. i don't know why. she is a cutie!) is out here to make up rep kits with the new yarns that are coming out. it's a very labor intensive process but the results are wonderful.

here is the table with all the new sausalito* colors.

cpy 1

the yarn is cut into long lengths. then cathy pulls out about 5 or 6 pieces showing the different variations of the colorway and loops them around a cardboard strip. these are then mounted onto a black background labeled with the colorway names. i forgot to take a picture of the final product but the presentation is wonderful.

the warehouse is huge

cpy wh

the yarn, needles, and other accessories are housed in this room.

walls of mochi

cpy wall of mochi 2

cpy wall of mochi 1

i did tell lorent (susan's son) that laura and i both fantasize about stuffing our mattresses with mochi. it's so soft! and to be suspicious if i leave the building looking pregnant. LOL!

susan and me with sausalito in hands

cpy susan me


(she told me to grab a couple for the photo and totally laughed when i picked up my favorite colorway which will be called mediterrean-similar to neptune)

and i couldn't resist taking a picture with the gorgeous entrelac scarf that debi (corirallen on rav) knit as a sample for susan. the yarn is mochi plus, bodega bay. of course, i checked out the workmanship on the backside. i'm bad that way. =)

cpy scarf 2

it was a wonderful visit. it was fun to finally meet susan and cathy in person. the internet is an interesting place in that we all "chat" with people and get to know them online, while rarely ever meeting them in the flesh.

and yes, susan sent me home with a very generous "goodie bag" filled with yarn and needles. and no, it was not all mini mochi! LOL! i think my favorite is the sausalito in half moon bay (similar to bogeda bay). she just got in some sample skeins. squeeeeeeeeeee....

* sausalito is two-ply, but the two strands will match as much as possible so the yarn will knit in long gradual color changes (not tweedy), just like the mini mochi. the colorways are similar to the mini mochi but will have different names. it's amazing how changing the number of plies changes the look of the colors. it's going to be perfect for socks!

Monday, August 23, 2010

"v" is for

...vanished! LOL! yes, it appears that it's been many months since i've posted.

the last 4 weeks have been very busy design-wise for me. i had a pattern accepted for the iron knitter 2 competition which starts sept 1. had to get a sample sock knitted up and the pattern written. rav group for ik is here.

THEN i was totally tickled to be asked to be a mystery sock (mock) designer for sock knitters anonymous. THEN i got the yarn (i was all excited because this was the first time all year that i have gotten the yarn for the sotm kit more than 1 month ahead of the deadline for the pattern) to design the october sotm kit for theknitter.com which i wanted finished and written up by sept 1. THEN i was asked if i would design the september mock!

3 stealth projects, 2 with definite deadlines BEFORE sept 1! nothing like stress designing! LOL!

but yes, "v" is for victory. my iron knitter pattern has been sent in. (there is still time to sign up for the competiton if you're interested! there are yarny prizes!) my sept mock clues for ska are written up! and i am working on the sock for theknitter.com!

and my hubby is working on his second scarf! yes, he is still knitting. and he has decided that he needs to learn another stitch besides KNIT! purling lessons coming soon. this may be worse than 3 sock designs in one month!

now comes the hard part....waiting for september 1!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

"u" is for

....UNbelievable! thank you for all the comments. so many of you "LOVE" my bling! **blink, blink** LOL! i'm so bad!!!

anyway, i guess you are back to see who won the 50 socks/50 states cd/book. using the random number generator (although i am more of a draw a name out of the hat person), the winning number is..............................................


"the answer to the universe and everything" + 1

43



christineT

congrats! i will be contacting you by email to get your address.

if any of you are interested in purchasing this nice collection of patterns, you can contact drlaura (aka the publisher) here. $24.95 + s/h for 57 patterns! she will ship internationally too.

HELP FOR HAITI: i am donating $2 from each pattern purchased between january 18th - january 31st through my rav store to doctors without borders. as of now, the total is over $120. my patterns are listed on the sidebar. thank you for your support.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

"t" is for

...treat!

i have a copy of the cd/book, 50 socks/50 states, to give away to one lucky commenter. just leave me a comment on this post by wednesday, january 20th.

of course, it wouldn't hurt to tell me that "bling" is your mostest favoritest sock of the entire collection! **wink, wink** =D

we are having a kal for the sock cd/book over on the rav group, 50 socks book, . come join us! the designers will be around to help with questions and problems.

and for extra chances to win, go visit siriusknitting. she is giving away one cd/30 entrants. her deadline to enter is january 24th!

ps. don't forget to leave me a way to contact you, should you be the winner.

Monday, January 11, 2010

"s" is for

...shawlette! i've finally named my "nonameyet" shawlette and have the pattern up for sale on rav.

"in the land of oz"
where 'roos and peacocks reign supreme




introductory price of $4.50 until january 15, 2010.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

"r" is for

REALLY BIG NEWS! "bling! bling!" is available!


the 50 socks/50 states cd/book has finally been released and can be purchased directly from the publisher here and should soon be available in your lys (if they carry crystal palace yarn). there are 58 sock patterns crammed onto this one little cd!

dr laura is holding a drawing for a copy or two of the cd so head on over there and leave a comment. winner will be drawn on january 24th.

i also have an extra copy for a drawing, so come on back soon after i figure out how i want to "torture" you. :)

we are having a kal for the socks in the cd/book over on rav. currently voting on which socks to knit first. of course, there will be prizes. check it out if you are interested.

and there is a 12 months/12 projects/12 balls of yarn kal on the carefree blog. i joined but i don't expect to last very long. i am so easily distracted. LOL!

ps. yes, i know i skipped "q"! and i realize that i have been a very bad blogger...but you should see my stack of scarves and shawlettes!!!!!!!!!!!!