Category: design

  • good-bye 23, hello 24!

    It’s my birthday today (August 1) and I’m saying good-bye to 23 – it was a very weird, up and down kind of year. Hello, 24 – I hope you’re a good year.

    And, well, it’s starting off with a bang! It’s been awhile in the making (not that long in publishing terms, I think) and even when it came out for pre-order on Amazon I didn’t say anything. But hey, it’s my birthday, what better day to announce that…

    I wrote a book!

    surprise!

    Teach Yourself Visually Sock Knitting (Amazon.com link) comes out in September! (Here’s a link for my fellow Canucks.)(And one for the Brits.)

    (But if you wait a little bit and order it from lettuce knit, I’ll sign it for you!)

    I’m freaked out, people. But assomeone gently reminded me the other night, it’s too late now to worry about it!

    So all I can say is, I hope there are still knitters out there who want to learn how to knit socks, need a new sock reference, want some new sock patterns (there are a dozen of ’em), or, y’know, just want to buy my book!

    My first book. Freaky.

  • box bag, berries and bobbins

    Man, I don’t know where my crafting focus has gone these days. Well, I guess I actually DO know, I’m just impatient to get back on track with all my various projects! I’ve been a little all over the place with all my various crafts (sewing, cooking, gardening, spinning, and you know, the knitting) that I haven’t been able to focus well on any particular one, really.

    I’ve got all sorts of fabric that’s come into the house…

    fabrics

    (knits on the left from Wazoodle, organic cotton and some cotton print on the right from Tonic Living.)

    I’ve been picking cherries from the sour cherry tree in my yard, although I haven’t done anything with them yet – I’m thinking pie:

    sour cherry

    A little bit of knitting, just plugging away on the pink Thermal. I’ve got a very new little cousin that I want to knit stuff for too, but I just haven’t managed to get started yet!

    little thermals

    I’m feeling very scattered and unfocused. I’ve decided that this summer I’m going to try to take it easy on myself, although I know I might have some projects coming up that will make that difficult! I’ll be working in the store a lot more over the summer, between megan taking time off to have her baby, and denny going away on a couple fun trips. But one thing seems to be helping me focus? The Tour de Fleece.

    tour de fleece, july 11

    When I started spinning today I was feeling a bit defeated by the enormous bag of fibre before me, with only one and a half bobbins spun – but I sat at the wheel for a few hours this afternoon, and have managed to up the count to three full bobbins and a bit of a fourth. I’ve got a couple movies recorded on the DVR, and I’m staying in all this weekend, so spinning here I come! I want to spin all the singles before I ply, but since I don’t have quite so many bobbins, I’ll need to wind them off on the ball winder as I go.

    One more thing that I think will help me focus a bit? My new project bag – a super cute box bag by rachel m.! We hung out today and she was lovely enough to gift me one. I think I might start a new pair of socks just to keep them in here.

    box bag, outside!

    One more summer plan – more blogging. I’m working on it, really I am!

  • baby thermal, and one last correction

    pink thermal yoke

    Last week I started into yet another version of Thermal, following the little blue one I posted a photo of a few entries ago – that one’s sized for a baby, this one, for a kid (about 4 years). I’m reworking the pattern to self-publish it sized from newborn right up to a kids’ size 12. Instead of being knit in the round from the bottom up with set-in sleeves, this one’s a top down raglan – easy to knit, and easy to size!

    Still knit in fingering weight – this time I’m using Nature’s Palette. It’s coming along quickly despite the small needles – I just started this one about a week or so ago. And it’s really fun – I really do love this waffle stitch pattern! Easy, but good visual impact.

    pink thermal, into the body

    And, well, there’s one more little correction to the B-Side pattern – the last correction that I made was mirrored again in the next row, so that is now a bit off. I’ve decided not to email out the corrected pattern automatically to everyone this time, because my email doesn’t like the volume! It’s a really easy fix, though, and of course I’ll email it to anyone that asks.

    The row following the cable set-up row should read:

    “Next Row [WS]: Purl to marker, slip marker, work Row 3 of Ensign’s Braid Cable over next 24 sts, slip marker, purl to end.”

    The BSide3.pdf version of the file says to purl a certain number of stitches which should have been changed when I changed the cable set-up row – but basically you’re just purling across and working the panel in pattern. Pretty simple fix, and some knitters might not even have looked at the number of stitches to purl to the marker!

    Again, though, if you want a new copy of the pattern, just email me at cosmicpluto@cosmicpluto.com. I’ve also posted the errata on the B-Side Ravelry page.