Lorna's Laces

KnitScene Spring 2012

2012-01-16T11:35:00.003-06:00

Back at the yoga studio since the first of the year?

Tilli's Toeless Socks would be just the thing. Designed by Ozumi Ouchi from Lorna's Laces Solemate yarn they use just one skein of Solemate. They're shown here in in 1211 The "L".

The issue just went live so you can check out all the wonderful designs here. Or just pick up a copy at your LYS.

The Post I Started to Write

2012-01-11T13:22:00.011-06:00

I started out writing this post earlier in the week and got sidetracked by my love of books. I originally wanted to talk to you about what an honor and privilege it is for Lorna's Laces to be included in books.

Books like this:

Which is a revision of this:

Folk Socks is one of a handful of iconic knitting books. When Nancy Bush called me in the summer of 2010 to tell me she was revising it and wanted to use our yarn, I was pretty speechless. First of all, Nancy Bush was calling. If all she wanted was to say "hello", I would have walked on air. But she wanted to use our yarn to replace some yarns in the original patterns that are no longer available. That was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled up into one.

Originally published in 1994, this is a go-to book for sock knitters all over the world. It starts out with the history of socks. First ones made from woven fabric and then the evolution of the knitted sock. She gives us a tour of the traditions in Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and other parts of Europe. There's a great discussion of guilds.

Then she gets into the how-to part of the book. I really liked the pattern/chapter for The Basic Sock because she shows several variations for heels and toes. I tend to get in a rut and use the same heel all the time so this was a nice nudge to explore other possibilities.

The balance of the book is patterns. There are two that use Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. We did special colors just for this book. The first is St. Peter Port Stripes.

It has a Balbriggan Heel and a Wide Toe. The word Balbriggan makes me smile. It is knit from Charcoal, Natural and Folk Socks Black.

The second sock is Flammegarn. It's named for yarn dyed by rush or twine around the yarn before it's placed in a dye bath. We did it a little differently, but I think Folk Socks Red turn out pretty nicely.

This book is a real treasure. It's the kind of book that you can go back to over and over not only for great patterns but because the text teaches us all the wonderful history and gives us a connection to all the knitters that came before and will come after us.

A Different Side

2012-01-10T12:26:00.004-06:00

While a fair amount of how I define myself these days comes from yarn and knitting, there's a piece of my life that's always revolved around books and reading. I have fond memories of going to the bookmobile over summer vacation and checking out as many books as they'd let me, devouring them and waiting anxiously for its next visit. I can still lose the day as readily in a bookstore as a yarn store.

I'm a little quirky about my reading. I always read the last page of a book first. Even if it's only one word. I don't know why. I do know it isn't because I want to find out what happens early. And as crazy as it might sound, it rarely ruins the ending for me. I do it pretty regularly with magazines too. So often the last page is something self contained and fun.

I also read the acknowledgment page and sometimes the notes. I've even been known to take a peek at the copyright page to see when the work was published or what printing it's in.

I like the way books smell. I used to work in college textbook publishing and my job was to try and talk professors into using my company's book for their classes. Some of them had incredible libraries and I got to see some remarkable volumes over the years. It raised a few eyebrows when I'd sniff at the books when I opened them. I guess I still do that with wool.

As far as I'm concerned the jury is still out about e-readers. I have an iPad and have read a few books that way but I'm pretty ambivalent about it. All things being equal, my vote would probably still come down on the side of the printed volume.

I can categorically say that I prefer a printed magazine to a virtual one. I like their size and turning the pages. I still cut things out and put them in folders, even in the era of Pinterest. I'm pretty new to the Pinterest and am loving it, but I still like a magazine.

I start and finish every day reading. I can't fall asleep without reading at least a few pages and I like easing my way into the day in the same fashion.

Well, that wasn't the post I set out to write today. I was going to do a book review and got sidetracked along the way. I'll tell you more about it next time.

Koyo

2011-12-26T13:57:00.000-06:00

Our good friend Amy Swenson has just released a new shawl pattern, Koyo.

The design was originally part of her Year of Lace series back in 2010. She'd planned it for a Fall release, but we all know how things go sometimes. We're happy to see it any time.

Here's what Amy says about it:

Autumn is, without question, my favorite season here in Ontario. The landscape is painted brilliantly in shades of pine, flame orange, and maple red. And even a simple drive in the country has me gasping a little from all the beauty.

Koyo, the Japanese word for “autumn leaves” is inspired in part by my new home here in Ontario, and in part by my first trip to Japan in late November 2000. So late in the year, I was shocked and surprised that the maples around Kyoto were in full, peak, color. I spent a day climbing to the top of one of the temple complexes that overlook the modern city, marveling at the reds and oranges, and golds.

Among the things I love about this design: the delicate top border, the gentle deconstruction of leaves into an organic ripple, and the inset details at the points and corners.

I also love the size. At 70″ x 34″ after blocking, it’s just big enough without overwhelming the wearer.

Lovely.

Sportmate It Is!

2011-12-22T15:44:00.005-06:00

Thanks to everyone who took part in our little game to name our new yarn.

In an overwhelming landslide, Solemate's new sibling will be called Sportmate. We thought it was pretty clever and so did everyone else. Of the three choices, it got over 55% of the vote!

I have to say that I might like this yarn even better than the sock weight. It's really squishy and bouncy and just begs for a squeeze. Our winner, Rudi, will be getting a sweater's worth!

I'm going to be casting on the Rule of Three Shawl from Interweave Knit's Accessories in it tonight.

The pattern calls for a fingering weight yarn so Solemate would work but I want fuller and lusher so I'm going to bump it up to Sportmate. Since it's a shawl, it'll still fit.

I'm not going to be able to show it to you for awhile. I'm using one of our new colors and we're keeping them under wraps until January.

The Half Moon Vest

2011-12-21T15:51:00.005-06:00

I don't know whether I've told you that Lorna's Laces dyes yarn for Bijou Basin Ranch. Carl and Eileen are two of the nicest people I know. (Except for the part where Carl talks about himself in the third person. That's a sure sign of the crazy.)

Here's another great after the holidays ME project that's you'll find in the Winter 2011 issue of Interweave Crochet. Dora Ohrenstein's Half-Moon Vest uses 4-6 skeins of Lhasa Wilderness in Hunter. There's something vaguely '60s era hippie going on here that I'm really liking.

Dora is going to be spending a little time with us in our booth next month at TNNA. I'm really looking forward to seeing her.

Winter Interweave Crochet

2011-12-13T16:29:00.007-06:00

My mother says that December 26th has always been her favorite day of the year. I can understand that. She's a worrier by nature and making sure six kids were happy with their Christmas experience is no small feat so she was glad when it was behind her for another year.

I thought of her when I found out that the new issue of Interweave Crochet will be hitting newsstands on December 29th. Perfect timing for us all to get back to our "me" projects. The holiday gifts will be a thing of the past so we can take a deep breath and make something for ourselves. We deserve it.

This issue has two project that use Lorna's Laces yarn. The first is The Aslan Shrug by Brenda K. B. Anderson. Depending on the size, it's just 2 or 3 skeins of Shepherd Bulky.

Lorna Miser designed the colorway Aslan way back in 1996. She named it after her cat by way of c.s. lewis. Aslan is a central character in a series of books known as The Chronicles of Narnia.

The other project is Patsy Harbor's Red Twig Knee Socks. These are crocheted using Shepherd Sock in Butterscotch and Cranberry.

I haven't had a chance to look terribly closely at the magazine but there are several pairs of socks that are really lovely. I'm intrigued by the crocheted socks. Fun stuff.

The last thing I'm going to call out is a sweater by and old friend, Judith Swartz. Judy was the first editor of Interweave Crochet. Back in the day, she worked at my LYS too. It's not in our yarn but it's still darn cute.

We're Expecting!

2011-12-09T09:19:00.007-06:00

We all loved Solemate so much that we decided it deserved a sibling. The ultrasounds have been done and we know many things about this bundle of joy.

1) Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 grams)

2) Length: 9720 inches. (270 yards)

3) Composition: 70% superwash merino and 30% Outlast viscose.

4) Gauge: 6 sts/inch

5) Bathing Instructions: Cool water.

6) Color: All of them.

They told us we can't take it home until we give it a name. Would you please help?

Just like the last time, this will be a two step process. Here are the details.

Send your entry to contest AT lornaslaces DOT net with the subject line reading "New Yarn Name". We'll narrow the choices down to our three favorites by December 15th. Then we'll email a ballot with the top three to our newsletter subcribers on December 16th and let you vote for the winner. If you don't get our newsletter, you can sign up here. Voting will close at 12 noon central time on December 21st.

In case of multiple entries for the same name, we'll use a number generator to pick the ultimate winner.

You're probably wondering about the prize, aren't you? How about enough yarn to make a nice sweater sized project. The winner can pick the pattern and let us know how much they'll need and we'll send the yarn along.

Please keep in mind that we're not Publisher's Clearinghouse. Contests and giveaways aren't what we do every day. I'm trying to make things as simple and fair as I can. You could probably find a loophole to exploit, but let's try and play nice and just let this all unfold for what it is...fun, fun, fun!

Trousseau Shawl

2011-11-30T12:41:00.002-06:00

I made it through a month of posting every weekday. Whew! The rules for NaBloPoMo said we had to post every single day, but I went ahead and took the weekends off. I'm living on the edge. Ha!

I don't think I like posting every day. Two times a week feels a little better somehow. It takes away some pressure, but more importantly, it gives me time to think about things and hopefully create a post that is interesting to you. It seems like the past month has been lots of photos and not much thoughtful content. I'd like it to be a happy medium. A knitter can't live on yarn porn (and puppies) alone.

The latest issue of Interweave Knits Accessories will be hitting the newsstands next week. December 6th I think. Included is a shawl that our good friend Miriam Felton designed called Trousseau.

Pretty gorgeous, don't you agree?

Amanda, the office manager here, wore this shawl at her wedding. She's a little unconventional and wore a green gown. Her big day is featured in the magazine.

Amanda, Ysolda and Miriam. Knitterati* at its finest.

Most of us will get married in a traditional white dress, but I like the idea of having an accessory that pops. Whether it's the flowers or a shawl or colored shoes peeking out from under them hem, why not get a little flirty with it?

*Amended to add: Annie Modesitt designed the dress. How could I have been so forgetful!?

**The shawl is knit in 4ns Blackberry Helen's Lace. Where is my brain today?

Knit Simple Winter 2011/2012

2011-11-29T11:54:00.006-06:00

This is the Textured Triangle Shawl designed by Linda Voss Plummer. It's knit in Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb and shown here in 48 Purple Iris.

It's featured in Knit Simple Winter 2011 which arrived on my doorstep yesterday. The other thing that caught my eye was this:

It's a vinyl wall decal from a Lewa's Designs. Now I just have to figure out what color to buy.

Cranberry by a Nose!

2011-11-28T13:16:00.004-06:00

The votes are all counted and cranberry sauce edged out gravy--122 to 104. I know that doesn't add up to the total number of votes, but there were a few people who didn't like either and others that weren't willing to choose.

I learned a few things from this contest. First, people absolutely prefer that gravy be home made. By their mother if at all possible. But cranberry sauce can come out of the can. Folks are mighty fond of those little ridges.

Me? I'm a big fan of Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish. It's pink and full of horseradish. I love me some horseradish. That said, we have still have leftover relish at home and the gravy is long gone.

Another thing I noticed was how often people said they only had gravy/cranberry sauce at the holidays. I grew up in a house where my mom made gravy regularly. It didn't really matter what kind of meat was on the table, there was almost always gravy to go with the mashed potatoes. I wonder if something has changed or if my house was different?

I'll bet you're wondering who won our giveaway. One kit will go to Li'l Mz Knitz Alot. The other to numbsmom. Please drop us a line at yarn@lornaslaces.net with your mailing address and we'll get your kits on their way.

Now, you'll have to go on over to Soak Wash's blog to see which pie won!

Post Thanksgiving Cute

2011-11-25T11:00:00.003-06:00

It's the day after Thanksgiving. I'm still full. Turn off the computer. Go do something fun. Play with a puppy. Kiss your loved ones. Knit.

Brickhouse Winners

2011-11-24T16:45:00.000-06:00

The door has closed on our Brickhouse contest! Here are the winners.

Grand Prize:

Megan Stevie Wonder: Sign, Sealed Delivered

Runners Up:

Jen, Muppets From Space: Brickhouse

Knitterly Designs Train: Soul Sister

Kacy KC and the Sunshine Band: Get Down Tonight

RachelR Otis Redding: These Arms of Mine

ChristiD. The Commodores: Easy

If we don't have it already, please send contact info to yarn@lornaslaces.net so we can set you up with your prizes.

Cranberry Sauce or Gravy?

2011-11-23T11:00:00.002-06:00

Remember when we told you we were doing these cute kits with Soak Wash? Oh...I guess I forgot to post about it here. Well, better late than never....We're doing these cute kits with Soak Wash.

They include one skein of Solemate, our newest yarn, along with Heel, foot cream worthy of hand knit socks. As a little something special, we also tucked a mini-Soak in there for you.

The idea is to give your loved ones a fabulous grab-n-go for all their gift giving needs. All you need to do is put it on your wish list. We want to make it easy for them, right? Ahem.

They've been shipping to yarn stores everywhere using our fancy, high tech packing material.

They come in four colors/scents combinations. Beverly with Peppermint, Purple Club with Scentless, Zombie BBQ with Cucumber and Lincoln Park Zoo with Spearmint.

We even got Pamela Wynne, designer of February Lady, to help us put them together.

In the spirit of the season, Soak Wash and Lorna's Laces thought we'd do a little giveaway. Each of us will be giving away two kits. In the comments here, let us know whether you prefer cranberry sauce or gravy? Then head on over to the Soakworthy blog and check out the sweet things they have for you there.

We'll leave the contest open until midnight EST on Sunday and announce the winners here on Monday.

If you aren't one of our lucky winners, you can buy one for yourself or a loved one at your LYS or www.soakwash.com.

Knit and Style

2011-11-22T09:40:00.004-06:00

Knit 'n Style's February (!) issue hits the newsstands today. We're so excited to see Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted and Grace featured in Sandi Prosser's Getting Ready for Spring.

Sandi is one of those people that would be easy to hate. She's tall, thin and extremely stylish. Did I mention beautiful? Yeah, she's beautiful too. You know the type.

But, then she starts talking and you realize you love her. She's smart, funny and clever as the dickens. And pretty darn talented when it comes to design. What a package.

She stopped by our booth at TNNA last January and we started scheming about a fun knit for the dog days of winter. She's Canadian, so she knows all about the dog days of winter.

All I knew for sure was that I LOVED the Hullabaloo and Island Blue together and wanted a fair-isle that had a stained glass effect. The main "inspiration" came from the bead I found for the closure. Yes, it is actually a bead, but the color and shape just seemed to work. That led to using i-cords for the ties!
I really wanted that sweater that would add "life" to winter (we get pretty dreary up here)!

I like the way the classic motifs feel ubur modern when they're worked in bright, fresh colors. This sweater would look completely different in Chocolate and Natural or Charcoal and Red Rover.

More Puffin'

2011-11-21T11:00:00.003-06:00

You're probably sick of me talking about the Hexipuff thing, but I couldn't resist sharing this photo that Michelle (CraftyCupcake on Rav)put up.

Dance Party Fridays

2011-11-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

Remember the Commodores circa 1977? How about Lionel Richie when he was more famous than his daughter? There was a dance song called Brick House that was all the rage. It's still the rage around here. We have a ritual we like to call "Dance Party Fridays". We turn up the music and get a head start on the weekend.

Laura Nelkin is also a fan of Brick House. She likes is so well that she created a pattern named after it.

Brick House is based on an easily memorized brick eyelet pattern. Started at the bottom, you have a chance to learn the pattern over a few stitches, increasing on each side as go you. As you get the hang of the pattern, it starts getting wider and kind of addictive.

Knit in Lorna's Laces Solemate, it's shown here in 18 Watercolor and 711 Grant Park but the color combinations are endless.

Anyway, we need your help updating our Friday playlist so we decided to do a joint giveaway that is a bit more fun that usual... Ready?

Grand Prize: Two Skeins of Solemate, 1 Brickhouse Pattern, AND The Best of the Commodores

Runner ups: Five lucky winners will receive a Brickhouse Pattern.

(6 winners TOTAL)

Leave a comment BOTH here and on Laura's blog with favorite song that has SOLE...bonus points if you include a link to the youtube video (and a way to get in touch with you!)

Let's get this party started! I'm already chair dancing and toe tapping.

(We'll leave the contest open until 12 noon EST on Tuesday November 22nd and then the random number generator will work its magic.)

Summerlace Socks

2011-11-17T11:00:00.000-06:00

Don't let the name fool you, these socks would be delightful for all but the coldest, wettest days. They'd also be killer if they were a little longer and peeking out over the top of a pair of boots.

The designer, Kim Haesmeyer, told me this about them:

This four row eyelet pattern is super easy and I tell you, you will have these socks off the needles in no time. I know we rarely say "socks" and "speedy" in the same sentence when the yarn is a true sock weight, but these will truly fly. Perfect gift socks for those you have been trying to squeeze in a hand knitted pair but, frankly, life keeps getting in the way.

Aqua is the official color name of this spunky blue that made me happy the whole time I knit these socks.

Knitting for holiday gifts? These could be the perfect thing.

Planned Pooling

2011-11-16T11:00:00.001-06:00

Statnerd from Ravelry has been keeping me up to date with her planned pooling projects. There's a whole group, Pooled Knits, devoted to it and oh my, this stuff is just magnificent!

One of her most recent projects is this ruffled scarf.

That's our colorway Zombie BBQ in Shepherd Worsted. Here's what she says about it on Rav:

NomNom! Zombie BBQ! PLanned pooling with short row side ruffles. 54 st. 12x2 ruffles.

planning 3 skeins - 2/3rds of one used so far.

Approx. width, 16 in.

This project uses the same approach as my Prism Pooling 3 scarf. With Zombie, I found that I needed 78 stitches in garter on size 9’s to get the argyle effect I wanted. I wanted fairly wide ruffles so decided to make them 12 stitches wide. Because each ruffle row will have two rows of knitting, I need to alot 24 stitches to each ruffle leaving 30 stiches in the middle section. So, you cast on 12 + 30 + 12 or 54 stitches. At the end of each row you turn, knit back 12 stitches, turn again, knit to the end, turn and then knit across the row. Expand the schema drawing on this project to full size to see how the 78 stitches are used up. 30 in the middle and 24 on each end knit in two rows.

Here's another one of her projects. This one is in Seaside and Edgewater.

The last one I'm going to show you today is in Tuscany.

I like this group. They are combining left and right brain stuff and making spectacularly pretty projects.

Small Balls

2011-11-15T11:00:00.004-06:00

It just occurred to me that the mini-balls that we just shipped to The Loopy Ewe...

...are completely different than the ones we sent a couple of weeks ago.

So you might want to order another set.

There are so many great projects out there that call for small amounts of many different colors of sock yarn. The Beekeeper's Quilt comes right to mind. Or the Sock Yarn Blanket. Then there's The Babette Blanket. If I knew someone who was expecting, I'd be all over the Zig and Zag Sock Yarn Pram Blanket.

I'm really tempted to start one for myself but it's so hard to choose. Are you working on one of these? Or something different?

Horse Bombing

2011-11-14T13:38:00.009-06:00

While I was visiting Billings, MT this fall, Julia and the gang from Wild Purls took me yarn bombing. Here I am making nice with a horse we'd just finished deorating.

And don't you think the person who found their bike smiled from ear to ear?

The folks at the police station had a sense of humor.

The ones at the baseball field were not so amused...They took down our work within twelve hours.

The entire operation was very undercover. No one knows exactly who was involved.

Holiday Lights Tam

2011-11-11T11:00:00.007-06:00

Tams continue to be all the rage around here. I see them everywhere.

This one was designed by Catherine Shields using our Honor yarn in 57ns Patina. It's in the Winter Issue of Interweave Knits that will be on newsstands on November 29th. You'll have plenty of time to get a few done in time for the holidays!

And, there are beads! If you embiggen the photo, you'll be able to see the beads a little better. For a yarn like Honor, you'd use size 6º seed beads. These are similar in color to the yarn or maybe even clear, but you could really go nuts with bead color on a hat like this. Fun!

Remember Tito?

2011-11-10T13:22:00.002-06:00

I introduced Tito a couple of months ago as the newest member of the crew here at Lorna's Laces.

Among his many talents, Tito crochets. He learned the craft when he was in college. There was a big group of theater majors that were looking for something to do while they were backstage. (Besides eat chips!) One of the women knew how to crochet and taught rest of the gang.

This scarf is made from our thick n thin, Revelation. It took two skeins.

Both Tito and the scarf are pretty cute, dontcha you think?

These days Tito does a few projects every year. A couple of scarves here, a washcloth or two there. Working here has gotten his hooks flying again.

Medusa

2011-11-09T12:47:00.004-06:00

My Medusa is finally finished! I'm kinda loving it!

It took forever mostly because the circular needle I was using kept coming apart and I had to rip back to my lifeline. About 60 zillion times. And most of them on the last repeat. Finally my husband looked at me and said "You know, you could glue that together so that won't keep happening". Well, sure. If you want to do it the easy way.

This was a fun little knit. It comes in two verions, one is all lace and the other has a big expanse of stockinette. I went with the all lace version. I've been on the road quite a bit over the past couple of months and it was a nice companion in all the airports and hotel rooms I've been frequenting.

I particularly like the zigzag pattern. The harder angles appeal to me for some reason. I think it's a nice contrast with the decidedly pink of the Lincoln Park Zoo colorway here.

Just Because It's Cute

2011-11-07T12:51:00.000-06:00

I was sick today. So you're getting a nice stock photo. It has nothing to do with yarn, but it made me smile.

Pigtails

2011-11-04T19:13:00.003-05:00

Found a great piece of art when I was in LA at Vogue Knitting Live. Now it's framed and ready to hang.

I was lucky enough to find the perfect vintage frame at the shop around the corner. I think it's perfect.

The photographer is Rich Perry. Beautiful work.

Where should I hang it?

Yarn Marches on Washington

2011-11-03T11:00:00.003-05:00

OK, not exactly. But one of the yarn community is on her way to the White House today.

Laura Zander of Jimmy Beans Wool has been invited to Washington D.C. as a guest of the White House Business Council. Can you imagine?

Tomorrow, she'll be part of a day-long program for attendees to interact with administration officials on a range of issues, including the American Jobs Act, innovation, infrastructure, access to capital, and ways in which the federal government can set the table to encourage job creation. Dr. Rebecca Blank, the acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce, will open the event with a top line economic update, followed by roundtable discussions involving all participants. The forum is the culmination of over two years of Business Forward and White House Business Council roundtables in communities all over the nation.

Laura was selected as one of a group of successful businesses asked to come to the White House and offer non-partisan input on how to help other small businesses flourish and grow in the current economy. “Being invited to the White House is incredibly flattering. Not only does the invitation serve as recognition of the hard work that we’ve put into our business, but also serves to highlight the importance of our industry.

Kudos to Laura! How wonderful to think that a member of our community will be right there!

K is for Knee Socks

2011-11-02T12:31:00.003-05:00

Barb Brown, the queen of knee socks, created these for an A-Z article in this year's Vogue Knitting Holiday issue. It will be on newsstands on November 6th.

When I asked her to tell me a little about the design, here's what she had to say:

Vogue was looking for patterns that would be fairly quick and easy; knee highs in a lace pattern. I had this stitch tucked away in my "ideas" file. I put in a purl st. to give a bit of texture (I'm sure the stitch in this form is in a book somewhere... this is why I love EZ's word "unvented") I didn't put it on the foot as the texture might not be comfortable inside a shoe. I added the eyelets at the top for a feminine touch, and also if they were knit as a gift. It's hard to get a custom fit when knitting without the leg to try it on, so this would allow a garter to be threaded through.. Icord, ribbon, etc. The heels are done in a reverse of the heel stitch, as i like the subtle texture.

I should also mention how much I like the yarn! It shows great stitch definition, the back pattern was done as eyelets on stocking stitch... in some yarns this would not have shown up at all, but the Lorna's Lace yarn gives exactly the subtle effect I was aiming for.

They're knit using two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in 56ns Fjord but you could do them in Solemate too. I have no idea where they got the shoes, but I want a pair.

NaBloPoMo

2011-11-01T14:14:00.004-05:00

Your probably wondering what in the world that title is all about? It's National Blog Posting Month. Yep, that's right, I've committed to a blog post a day for the month of November. We'll see how it goes.

The nice folks over at BlogHer are providing us with a prompt every day to get the juices flowing. I'll probably do a mix of their ideas and my own. Since this project is something of a spur of the moment decision, today I'll use theirs.

What is your favourite part about writing?

My favorite part about writing this blog is the sense of satisfaction I get when I've done it well. I'm always a little sad when I don't get any responses to it. I realize that sometimes responses are on FB or Twitter, but I always like to see replies here. Somehow that validates the psot. I guess that makes me a little narcissistic doesn't it?

I think I need to keep in mind that sometimes a response doesn't need to be a post to the replies. If I make someone happy with a beautiful photo or encourage them to tackle a new project, then that's what important.

Interweave Crochet Accessories

2011-10-28T11:46:00.004-05:00

Hot off of the interwebs, Interweave Crochet Accessories goes live today. It features a new pattern by the lovely Linda Permann, author of Little Crochet.

This shawl is called Jeanne Lois Bandit and is shown here in 608 Ashburn. Ashburn has turned into one of my all time favorite colorways. I have a Rock Island in it too and it makes lovely lace.

Here's what Linda had to say about it.

The Jeannie Lois Bandit was born out of my wish to design a shawl pattern that was simple to work but still elegant and fun to wear--something that wouldn't intimidate crocheters who are new to lace weight yarn. Working with Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace was a pleasure--this yarn is soft and floaty--like all good shawl yarn should be. It really came to life after blocking. I'd like to crochet another one in a tonal solid to really show off the diamond lace edging, and since the pattern is easy to memorize, I just might! The best part of this shawl is that it takes less than 500 yards of lace weight yarn as written, so one skein of Helen's lace is enough to hook up two--one to gift, and one to keep!

One for you and one for a friend. I couldn't have said it better myself!

**Edited to add a couple more photos. The original was cute but the yarn bombing kinda took focus away from them main attraction!

Before and After

2011-10-20T09:33:00.000-05:00

I decided to go through a bunch of old magazine and books last weekend and ran across the Rowan book that I picked my very first project from.

It's called Fisherman Sweater and was designed by Kim Hargreaves. It's from the Fox Tweed book and would have come out somewhere around 1990.

The before photo is styled just the tiniest bit better isn't it?

Anybody else have before and after pix of their first project? Bonus points for any that use Lorna's Laces!

Cat's Anemone Hat

2011-10-19T11:04:00.006-05:00

I'm lucky enough to spend time in places where people like Cat Bordhi hang out. That way I can shamelessly beg her to use Lorna's Laces yarn in one of her designs. Well, that shameless begging just paid off in the form of her Anemone Hat.

Is it going to get any cuter than that? I mean really?

But as hard as it might be, I want you to put the cute aside and take a look at all the fun you're going to have knitting it. First of all, there's the moebius brim. Cat is the bomb when it comes to the mobius. This pattern includes updated instructions too!

Not only do you get to do the moebius, you get to learn how to how to make the tendrils. Cat credits Annie Modesitt with teaching her how to make tendrils. That's a whole lot of knitting smarts all wrapped up in one pattern.

As if all that isn't enough, this is a one skein project. Yep folks, you heard it here first, you can make your Anemone with just one skein of Shepherd Worsted. (You'll need an extra skein for the adult sizes if you want extra tendrils.) Cat says "Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted is an absolutely perfect choice: Soft as butter against the skin, and when washed and dried, as bouncy as you could possibly hope for. I rarely declare that a particular yarn is the very best for something; in this case it is." Blush.

She does include a bit of a warning though:

If you wear an Anemone Hat, you will have to get used to being stopped by strangers who are smiling at you and want to tell you how much they like your hat. In the Pacific Northwest, I wear my hats fall through spring, and they inspire ten times as many comments as anything else I have ever designed. An Anemone Hat can provide all these things for you: cozy warmth, beauty, a non-prescription anti-depressant, and a good-hair day.

I think it's worth the risk!

When the cats away...

2011-10-12T10:33:00.005-05:00

the mice will play as they say!

Hey folks, Amanda here! Beth is out of town for the next few days attending a TNNA board meeting down in New Orleans. Don't worry I made her promise to eat beignets on my behalf. I noticed she mentioned on Twitter that she was planning to cast on the Swan Lace Sock. Swan Lace is a lovely lace sock designed by Ms. Judy Sumner. Judy was a fantastic designer and wonderful lady who passed away a few weeks ago. In Judy's honor (and in the interest of sneaking around behind Beth's back) I have decided to give you all a FREE download of the pattern.

One condition though! You have to upload your projects on Ravelry so I can see all the pretties!

xo
Amanda

Holiday Knit Simple

2011-10-06T15:57:00.003-05:00

Oh my, I just got my issue of Knit Simple Holiday. We're talking about Holiday already?! My brain is still firmly stuck somewhere in the middle of July.

This darling raglan jacket by Amy Polcyn is worked from the top down and is sized up to a 56" bust! It is knit in Lorna's Laces' Shepherd Worsted in 701 Purple Club.

Did you know that purple is Lorna Miser's favorite color? She wears it every single day. She created this color one afternoon when her kids got off the school bus and wanted something to do. She was busy trying to finish up some work and needed something to distract them. She started calling them the "Purple Club" and it stuck!

Cutaway Coat

2011-09-29T12:26:00.005-05:00

A new Interweave publication is hitting news stands on October 4. It's called knit.wear and the idea is simple knits for the thoughtful knitter. Visually simple, not necessarily beginner knitting. This sounds like it's right up my ally.

The cardigan shown here is The Cutaway Coat. It was designed by my friend Sandi Rosner and photographed by Joe Hancock. (I often forget to credit the photographer and that's not right.) It's knit using two of Lorna's Laces' mohair yarns, Grace and Glory. It's shown here in the colorway Dusk.

I dropped Sandi a line and asked her about the coat. This is what she told me:

For me, this piece was all about the fabric. I knew the mohair would deliver warmth without weight. What surprised me was the play of light across the surface. The loops of Grace reflect the light in a shimmery way, and the halo of Glory diffuses the reflection. It's like looking at pearls through a veil of chiffon.

My original swatch used Grace in Robot Overlord and Glory in Poppy, which added the element of color excitement. Working the two yarns in the same colorway, as Interweave chose to do, produced a more subtle yet equally beautiful result.

Oh, and it's incredibly soft and snuggly, too!

Signed and Numbered

2011-09-22T11:00:00.002-05:00

I'm on the way to Vogue Knitting Live today. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about teaching and getting to meet lots of knitters! I love the excitement and energy that comes along with big knitting shows. Afterwards, I always find myself back at the studio chomping at the bit with new ideas.

We like doing special things for events. This time we decided to join forces with the Knit Culture crew to create a very special color, VK Live 2011. There are only 100 skeins of Shepherd Sock available, each is signed and numbered. Fun don't you think? I've never signed anything like that before.

I'm feeling very glam. Except for the fact that I have dye underneath my fingernails.

Cornice Socks

2011-09-20T11:15:00.000-05:00

In early June, I got a call from Lesley over at Wool and Company in St. Charles IL. Lesley and her husband Neal are very clever and always full of great ideas. This time was no different...Lesley had an idea to do a special color and sock for Sock Summit 11.

We thought it would be fun to have her come by the studio and play in the color with Mt. Hood in her mind's eye. The idea of the grey majesty of snowcapped the snow capped mountain dotted with majestic firs under the Oregon sky was our starting point.

We fiddled around a little and then a little more and came up with Hoodwinked. I thought it was a witty name for a pretty color.

As icing on the cake, their faithful sidekick Gretl came up with Cornice, a great sock pattern to go the yarn.

Here's what Gretl says about the name: A cornice is an overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain or even a house roof. It is formed by the wind blowing snow over the edge. This stitch pattern come from Omas Strichgeheimnisse reminds us of the cornices on Mount Hood and other mountains.

I like the synergy.

Book Report: Knitted Lace

2011-09-15T14:14:00.005-05:00

Here's the second installment of my posts about Interweave's new series of "best of" books. This one is Knitted Lace. Anne Merrow is the editor.

I really like this book. Alot. There's a little something here for everyone. As expected, there are lots of shawls and scarves. I always think of them as being the foundation of the lace knitting world. But you'll also find socks and sweaters, tanks and skirts.

One of the things I found interesting was the simplicity of patterns. What I mean is that they were short, many only two pages. One page was for written instructions and the other for charts. Clean, simple and neat. But the results are ooh la la!

Interspersed between the designs are sections called Lace Lessons. One is a primer, another talks about bind offs and the last is about shaping garments. While I wouldn't classify this book as an exhaustive discussion, it has great technical content.

There is one Lorna's Laces project in the book, Susan Pierce Lawrence's Fountain Pen Shawl.

It's knitted from Helen's Lace and shown here in 9ns Pewter.

This might be my next project but I need to get Medusa off the needles first. I had such a nice time with Rock Island that I'm itching to get another full blown Helen's Lace project going. This one has the luxury of having the WS rows being all purl. It's nice to get a little rest between the lace rows.

Are you knitting lace right now? Tell me about it.

Another Sneak Peak

2011-09-12T14:01:00.005-05:00

I just got my copy of Interweave Gifts and noticed Temperance Blackthorne's Plethora Scarf. It's a beauty. And it has beads! I'm beginning to wonder about beading. (What's the world coming to? Me doing lace AND beads!)

The colorway here is Monet's Garden. It's part of the Impressionist Series that's available exclusively at Yarn Market.

The Impressionist Collection is really a fun project. Alex over at Yarn Market sent us photos of several of his favorite paintings from the revolutionary Parisian artists of the 19th century. The collection are our interpretations of these famous images.

Book Report: The Best of Interweave Crochet

2011-09-09T10:10:00.001-05:00

Recently, I've been getting copies of a new "Best of" series from Interweave. The first one I'd like to tell you about is the crochet book, edited by Marcy Smith.

I recognize patterns going all the way back to when Crochet was a special interest publication and not a regular part of the Interweave lineup. I see things from Judy Swartz's days at the helm. Kim Werker's too.

The patterns run the gamut from pretty traditional granny square blankets to sophisticated takes on Icelandic classics. There are a powerhouse of names here too, Lily Chin, Kathy Merrick, Kristin Ohmdahl and Robyn Chachula to name just a few.

Interspersed between the 23 designs are sections called Beyond the Basics. These are deeper discussions of techniques that will raise your level of expertise. A couple of examples of essays from these sections are The Adjustable Ring and Symbolcraft.

There are two projects in this book that feature Lorna's Laces. The first is a really versatile scarf designed by Kathy Merrick called Boteh.

It's made with a single skein of our Shepherd Sock in 15ns Chino. Our new Solemate would work beautifully too!

The other project in this collection is Valentina Devine's Boho Block Cardigan.

This granny square sweater seems timeless to me. A little hippy-dippy, a little boho and somehow fresh all at the same time. It's made from our Helen's Lace held double. It's shown in three colors (from top to bottom) 102 Motherlode, 6ns Douglas Fir and 708 Camouflage. Holding a multi color yarn together mixes up the color resulting in a rich marled effect.

I thought it would be fun to see what colors the crew here would put together for themselves.

I'll go first: I'm an orange girl and am feeling autumnal, so I'm going to go with 118 Woodlawn, Chagrin and 509 Satsuma.

I was a little surprised by Merrilee's choice. Her wardrobe tends towards vibrant, fun colors but today she went for a very neutral palette. 15ns Chino, Echo and 36ns Chocolate.

Bette Boo went bright and fun. 509 Satsuma, 1ns Pink Blossom and 630 Bittersweet.

No surprise that Amanda's pick included greens. And I know from very reliable sources that Ashburn is one of her all-time favorite Lorna's Laces colors. 711 Grant Park, Grand Street Ink and 608 Ashburn.

Last up is Mento. He went with more of a spring feel. Pretty and bright. This sweater is also available in a children's version and this would work nicely there.

This is a compilation volume and the patterns were published over the years in the magazine so you might already own them all. In that case, I'm not sure I'd spend the money. But for the mere mortals among us who aren't that organized I would recommend this book. I like having things all in one place. And I like books. And these are the favorites. I think Marcy picked very well.

That Little Yarn Thing

2011-09-07T11:44:00.006-05:00

Something happened over the weekend that I've been chewing on for the past few days. As much as we laughed about it at the time, it probably shouldn't be bugging me as much as it does. But since it keeps popping into my head I'm going to share it with you and see what you think.

We were at a party on Saturday and Michael ran into an old friend from the advertising world and they talked shop for awhile. Keep in mind that both of these people run one person agencies. What people in their industry call freelancers. The question "how's business?" came up. They discussed ups and downs and talked about who'd they'd seen recently and what agency had won or lost this client or that. After a few minutes, his friend asked, "Is your wife still doing that little yarn thing?".

(Gratuitous picture of husband hard at "work".)

"...still doing that little yarn thing?" Huh? This is someone that's known my husband for fifteen years. He and I aren't great friends but we've seen each other around over the years. Now I recognize that the world of yarn is very small and that not everyone is as tuned in as I'd like them to be, but "that yarn thing" struck me as odd. And the addition of "little" got under my skin.

Maybe I should be flattered that he remembered that I work in yarn in the first place. After all, it's not a very common profession. I've become accustomed to the confused looks I get when I tell someone I own a yarn company. And I've learned enough over time to omit the "hand-dyed" part, that just complicates things.

Certainly I was amused, but somehow the question felt condescending, even sexist. It made me feel that working in yarn isn't a legitimate way to make a living. That it's really just a hobby. Sure, Lorna's Laces is a small, artisan business, but it's no less a business than advertising or manufacturing nuts and bolts.

Am I being too thin skinned? Or reading more into it than I should? What do you think?

Yarn Brain

2011-09-06T11:46:00.001-05:00

You've all heard of "baby brain"? Well, I have "yarn brain". I woke up in the middle of the night last night. At 2:04 to be exact. The first thing that occurred to me is that 204 is Daffodil.

Then it took forever to fall back asleep. I need to think about getting into a new line of work.

Fall Interweave Crochet

2011-09-02T11:46:00.001-05:00

The online edition goes live today. This clever little design, Leaf Scaruffle, would make a great gift..for you or someone else on your list.

Anne Lecrivain's design is shown here in our Shepherd Sock in 102 Mineshaft. Find the pattern in the Fall issue of Interweave Crochet. It's online now and will be available at the newsstand on September 20.

September came to Chicago with 90 degree days. Sigh. This photo gives me hope that summer is behind us and I can look forward to a gorgeous fall full of apple picking and brunch with friends.

Medusa

2011-09-01T12:12:00.007-05:00

I just finished up the first of my Spring Forward socks. I've got the second one cast on and am busily working on the cuff. For the first time in a long time, I find myself a victim of second sock syndrome. I'm just itching to have another project on the needles.

I think I'm going to join the KAL at Wild Purls and do a Medusa. This cute little shawl is designed by Amanda Muscha, a young designer in Billings, MT. She did two versions. One is all lace.

The other has a stockinette center.

I'm leaning towards the full lace version.

OMG, if you'd asked me two years ago if the phrase "I'm leaning towards the full lace version" would have ever come out of my mouth, I would have laughed out loud. I guess this dog is learning new tricks.

I haven't cast on yet, but I think I'm going to use Lincoln Park Zoo.

Would you like to join us?

Interweave Gifts!

2011-08-23T11:46:00.000-05:00

Interweave's annual Gifts Issue went live today! The paper issue will be on newsstands on September 6.

This is the Kanga Hood Cowl designed by Amy Duncan. It uses our Shepherd Worsted in 74 Motherlode. It looks so cozy. I'm about ready for a nice cool day.

·

Talk at the Guild

2011-08-19T11:46:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago I got a note from Katy from the Windy City Knitting Guild asking me if I would be willing to speak at their monthly meeting.

Absolutely!

Public speaking has always made me a little nervous. Sure, I do tours of the studio but that's on my turf and I've done enough of them to be pretty comfortable. This was at a guild meeting with lots more people and new topics. I was pretty sure many of the members had been to the studio so I couldn't recycle all of my tired jokes.

I emailed back and forth with Katy a little for suggestions of what people might be interested in hearing about. She had some great ideas. I put together an outline and went to work building a presentation.

Then Tuesday arrived and I started to panic. Every insecurity came bubbling to the surface. What if they don't like me? What if they aren't interested in what I have to say? It's August for goodness sake, everyone is on vacation or wants to hang out on their back porch. Why would anyone want to come tonight?

I got the answer to that last question when I walked through the door. Chocolate, chips and red velvet cupcakes.

The guild is full of nice people that I don't see often enough. I got to chat with lots of familiar faces and meet some new friends. We even had a celebrity! That beautiful blonde is Julie Turjoman of Brave New Knits fame. I had dinner with her the next day.

I brought a few bits and bobs to show folks. One of which was the sample skeins we created for Jimmy Bean's Wool Limited Edition September color along with the photo they sent for us to use as inspiration. Hmm, I wonder which one they'll choose?

**Edited to add: That is a glass of water. It is NOT vodka. Honest.

Welcome Tito!

2011-08-17T11:03:00.001-05:00

Give a big warm yarn welcome to the newest member of the crew, Tito. If he answers the phone the next time you call, tell him I sent you.

We have an especially nice crew right now. There is lots of laughter and every once in a while a spontaneous dance party busts out. (Don't tell the boss.)

*Edited to add: Tito wanted you all to know he is single. Apparently we need to change our name to Lorna's Laces Yarn and Matchmaking Services.

Solemate Testimonials

2011-08-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

I don't like to brag too often on these pages, but I got a couple of unsolicited emails recently about our new Solemate yarn that I just had to share. We don't bring out new yarns very often and with the decision comes lots of insecurity and worry. Getting notes like this makes it all worthwhile.

Just thought I'd let you know that several people from my sock club came up to me at Sock Summit and told me that the Outlast really does work. They were wearing their socks in summer and not sweating nearly as much! I hope it's doing well for you. There is a growing group of converts out there who swear by it now.

And

On a totally different topic, I have to tell you that I just finished a pair of socks made from your Solemate yarn. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the yarn! It is honestly the best yarn I have ever made socks with. I made short ones as I want to run with them, but yesterday I went biking with them first, and had no troubles! Totally washed and dried them and they look absolutely PERFECT!

We're dyeing it as fast as we can...So fast actually that we're running out and are going to have a couple of weeks lag before we get the new shipment. Please be patient with us. We're dancing as fast as we can.

Summer Dinner

2011-08-12T09:42:00.003-05:00

Last night I took all the foods that make me think of summer and put them all into a single meal. With only one or two exceptions, everything came from either our CSA box or from the tiny little container garden on our porch. I didn't take any any pictures, but many of you asked about recipes when a tweeted about it so here it is.

Corn Relish: This was just off the cuff. I baked four ears of corn in the husk at about 400 degrees for around 15 minutes. When they were cool enough to handle, I cut the kernels off the ears. You don't even really need to cook the corn. It would work fine raw. Then I added about a half of a red onion, very finely chopped. And a red pepper, very finely chopped. We had a sweet jalepeno, so I tossed that in too. Sqeeze of lime, salt and pepper and maybe a dash a cayenne. Yummy.

Cucumber and Dill salad. Again, this is just off the cuff. Sliced cucumbers, chopped garlic, greek yogurt and chopped dill. Salt and pepper to taste and you are off to the races.

Watermelon/avocado salad.

1 small red onion thinly sliced
2 T red wine vinegar
2 ripe avocados
1 lime
1/4 large watermelon (about 6 pounds)
Juice of 1 orange
1 c chopped cilatro
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine the onion and vinegar and let marinate for several hours or overnight.

Slice the watermelon into 1 inch chunks.

Peel seed and cut the avocado into 1/2 inch pieces. Toss with the lime juice.

Drain onion and toss together with all the other ingredients. Be sure add toss gently or the avocado gets a little mushed up. Also, this is a dish to assemble just before serving for the prettiest presentation.

Tomato Pie This recipe came straight from the most recent issue of Bon Appetit. I substituted basil for dill. I had fresh basil and had already used dill with the cucumbers. I found the dough was too wet. I probably added an additional 1/2 of flour so I could work with it. After that adjustment it was delicious. Seriously decadent. Small tweaks: Next time, I would not add the sugar and salt the filling to taste. I think 3/4 t of salt was a bit much.

Sweet Corn Gelato. Another Bon Appeitit recipe. It was a little to sweet for my taste. I might have also kept help some of the corn kernels back to add in after processing for texture.

All in all it was a great meal and my bookclub enjoyed it thoroughly. If you try and of it, let me know what you think!

Indie vs Corporate

2011-08-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago I took part in my first Craft Social. Craft Social is monthly crafty chat cohosted by Barbara Forbes-Lyons (@penguintrax) and Diane Gilleland (@sisterdiane). Each month they host an online social via Twitter. Crafters, artists and creative types can share current projects, talk about the process of art and craft, and meet new people!

The March chat was about branding. The fast and furious conversation provided me with lots of food for thought. Part of it included some back and forth about indie vs. corporate and I found myself feeling a little ~~defensive~~ adrift. Lorna's Laces is a corporation, but I don't think we're "corporate". We're six people who come to work every day to make pretty string, not some behemoth mindlessly churning out yarn.

The idea of what is indie or corporate got under my skin enough that I started this blog post the very next day. Yes, that was back in March. Life continued on. There was dyeing to be done and stock markets to ignore. But every so often it would come to mind.

Then this morning Bette came into work livid because she's just learned that one of the big hand-dyed yarn companies has an Etsy store. "How is that possible" she asked, "That goes against everything I think of when I think of Etsy."

We got to talking. Who should be on Etsy? Is it only for indie folks? What exactly does it mean to be condsidered indie? We started talking about criteria. We came up with more questions than anything else.

Is it only for one person operations? Then you couldn't have a creative collaboration like Ann and Kay at Mason Dixon. To take it to the extreme...can you pay your kid to go to the post office for you and still be indie? Technically that would mean you have an employee.

What about the idea of using outside help? Can someone who is indie hire someone else to help them with advertising? Build their website? Or does it make more sense for the artist to focus on their creative work and leave the other stuff to professionals?

Does size matter? Is it about income? If it is, what is the threshold?

Could organizational scheme be part of the picture? As I mentioned, Lorna's Laces is a corporation, but we could just as easily be organized as an LLC or a sole proprietorship. That's just bookkeeping. Does it matter in terms of perception of the nature of a business?

What about distribution channels? Is selling wholesale different than selling retail? Some companies started out selling retail and then moved to wholesale. Some have done the reverse. Others maintain a presence in both.

Does it matter where the work is done? Is working from home different than renting space? But then you have to consider where someone lives. If an artist lives somewhere with a basement or lots of property and outbuildings, they could build a pretty big company from home. On the other hand, a city dweller might need to find outside space for even a modest business.

As we continued to talk, the discussion shifted a little. Has the reach of the internet changed the fundamental nature of how we look at business and of the people and organizations behind them?

Are small independent companies better? Or is there comfort in the reliability of a big name? Are we willing to pay more because we know the person (in real life or virtual life) who made it or harvested it?

The last thing I'm going to put out there is the question of whether or not we need to talk about some new definitions. Should we think about a new moniker for a company that might fall outside the realm of indie but isn't really corporate? Craft? Small-batch? Artisan?

Whew, there are so many questions and I'm not sure what the answers are. I'd love to hear what you think. Let's start a conversation.

What Yarn Does When It is Bored

2011-08-09T11:14:00.007-05:00

*This was supposed to post in June. Apparently, Blogger is smarter than I am. It is still pretty cute and worth clicking through to.

One evening a couple of months ago, we were kinda bored and tried to figure out what yarn would do if it were bored. We came up with this.

Enjoy!

Splash!

2011-08-03T16:45:00.007-05:00

Not long ago, we got an email from Nikol Lohr of the Harveyville Project asking us for some yarn for a swimsuit coverup. At the risk of sounding like the slow, plodding knitter that I am, my first thought was "how will she ever have it done before fall sets in?"

Well, smack my hands and wash my mouth out with soap. Not only is it finished, it is spectacular! This is Splash. It's published in the online magazine, Craft.

It's knit using the old shale lace pattern in our Pearl in Fiddlehead. The pattern is nicely written and illustrated with lots of details about how to do the bind-off and how to weave in ends. I'm more than a little impressed with it.

Another sweet touch is that Nikol showed the pattern on two different sized models so that we can all envision ourselves in the dress.

Did I say dress? Yes! It's also shown with a little slip underneath which would take this from beachwear to everywhere! Genius.

POPOS

2011-07-28T11:26:00.009-05:00

I recently returned from vacation in California. It was an honest to goodness vacation without work and the quasi-work that we all find ourselves doing these days. I went places that my cell phone wouldn't work and my ipod couldn't connect. It was dreamy.

The trip started with a visit with friends in San Francisco. Just before we left, I learned about an organization called City Guides . They do free walking tours in SF. We checked out the schedule and decided on one called City Scapes and Public Places.

The tour was really interesting. It turns out that the city has a law that says in order for a building to add more square footage, the owner has to create a certain amount of publicly available space. They are called Privately Owned Public Open Spaces or POPOS.

We probably saw a dozen of them during the course of the afternoon. Some of them are rooftop gardens.

Others are sculptures.

One was even a little redwood forest right in the heart of the city.

What a spectacular idea! More cities should follow San Francisco's lead. Can you imagine how different the world would look if every time a 10 story building was transformed into a 40 story building, a park was created?

We Have a Winner

2011-07-14T15:49:00.003-05:00

It's been a nutty week around here. There was a big thunderstorm on Monday morning and it wiped out power to close to 900,000 homes and businesses in the Chicago area. Lorna's Laces was one of the ones that got hit. We were out of power for two days.

We treated Monday like a snow day and took advantage of the pretty summer weather, but by Tuesday it was just inconvenient. From what I've heard there are some folks that are still without electricity. Whew, that's a long time.

So, the winner of our VK Live contest from last week is Bonney. Please get in touch at yarn@lornaslaces.net. We'll set you right up.

VK Live Giveaway

2011-07-06T11:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to day three of our VK Live blogtour. That's right, I'm going out on the road to teach at VK Live in September!

I'm pretty excited about the prospect of getting dye all over a classroom. Anybody wanna make crazy with me? I mean really, how often will you get a chance to sling dye and get dirty with someone else doing all the clean-up work?

As an added bonus, you'll walk away from the day with a skein of Lorna's Laces yarn that you dyed yourself. That's a one-of-a-kind like no other!

The nice folks at Vogue have offered to give away a free class at the event. Enter to win by commenting on this post by July 9th and we'll pick via the random number generator. And just for fun, I'll bring a skein of our new Solemate yarn and hand deliver it to the lucky winner at VK Live.

Check out the rest of the touristas too!

4 July-- Go Knit in Your Hat Carol Sulkowski
5 July -- Knitgrrl Shannon Okey
6 July -- Lorna's Laces Moi
7 July -- Knittyblog Amy Singer
8 July -- Indigirl Amy Swenson
9 July -- Bricoleur Knits Cirilia Rose

Voila!

2011-07-05T13:57:00.005-05:00

Rock Island is finally off my needles and firmly established as an FO! This project took a little longer than I'd imagined it would. But given that it was my first project using lace weight yarn, I'm pleased as punch.

One of the more complicated features of this pattern is that it is true lace or knitted lace. That means every row is lace stitches. If you get a little breather and have every other row be plain knit or purl, that is called lace knitting.(I'm pretty sure I got this distinction right. Feel free to correct me.) I feel even more accomplished because this was knitted lace.

This shawl is already wrapped up and waiting to go to its new home. Brenda works across the hall from Lorna's Laces and one afternoon a couple of months ago, she came over and saw Jared's picture of Rock Island open on my computer. She was so enchanted by it that she said she wanted to learn to knit and that this was where she wanted to start. It broke my heart to have to tell her no. But this isn't the project for a newbie.

She's been helping me muddle through a few things in Quickbooks lately. I think she'll be happy with her "payment".

Gifts without Purchase

2011-06-30T14:53:00.003-05:00

Gift with Purchase. I'm pretty sure that phrase is the bane of every parent of a teenage girl.

Cosmetics companies love to bribe impressionable young women with free perfume and make up when they buy one of their products. The victims of this ruse are instantly identifiable by the overwhelming odor of Eau de Whatever and the ample application of the perennially popular 8th Grade Blue eye shadow. I can still remember the look of horror on my father's face when I emerged from the bathroom the day after my annual GWP super sized box of makeup was opened.

Today's post is just a little heads up about a quickie blog tour that a few of the teachers at VK Live are putting together next week. There will be gifts. No purchase required. Join us.

4 July-- Go Knit in Your Hat Carol Sulkowski
5 July -- Knitgrrl Shannon Okey
6 July -- Lorna's Laces Moi
7 July -- Knittyblog Amy Singer
8 July -- Indigirl Amy Swenson
9 July -- Bricoleur Knits Cirilia Rose

It's a boy!

2011-06-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

We have a new crew member these days, Mento.

He's one of many we've stolen away from a big coffee company over the years.(Right now we have two.) Be sure and introduce yourself to him when he answers the phone. He'll be glad to know you!

Chicago Tour Part 3

2011-06-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Time to continue on with our tour of Chicago landmarks and new yarn colors.

We find ourselves in Grant Park. Grant Park is a often referred to as Chicago's Front Yard. It's a big urban park right downtown. It's named after President Ulysses S. Grant.

We grabbed onto the idea of fresh and green for Grant Park.

The socks are Everyone Wants Sox from HeartStrings Fiber Arts. The shawl below is Brick House from Laura Nelkin. It's knit in a combination of Grant Park and Watercolor. The colors really sing together.

Let's jump on the Outer Drive and head north. The Outer Drive is a nickname for Lake Shore Drive. It's a north-south freeway that runs parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Chicago.

Here's The Outer Drive in Judy Sumner's Oh So Beautiful Socks.

And again in Miriam Felton's Furrows Shawl.

The last stop on our tour is The Magnificent Mile. The Mag Mile is best known as one of the city's most prestigious residential and commercial thoroughfares.

Robyn Chacula of Crochet by Faye created the Patte Cardigan using Magnificent Mile. This may have been my favorite color/design combo of the season. This sophisticated yellow fits perfectly with the great crochet.

Hope you enjoyed our little tour. We're always delighted to show off our city and give you a little peek behind what we're doing around here.

Fall Knit Simple Cover

2011-06-27T12:46:00.002-05:00

We're on the cover of Knit Simple's Fall Issue! Between this and the Early Fall VK cover, we're just beside ourselves around here.

This sweet little beanie is designed by Faith Hale and takes just a single skein of our Shepherd Bulky. I know it's a little hard to think about hats right now, but they do make good portable projects for summertime knitting.

Keep an eye on your mailboxes folks...it will hit news stands on July 12th but subcribers should see theirs a couple of weeks earlier than that.

Teach Yourself Visually Circular Knitting

2011-06-23T10:57:00.005-05:00

Melissa Morgan-Oakes is one of my heroes. She chucked a cushy life working as a charge nurse at a nursing home and moved out to the country to raise chickens and bees and write books. I have a dream that I'll do that one day too. But then the city girl in me kicks up a fuss and says that I'm gonna die with concrete under my feet. Who knows? Maybe one day...

Melissa's latest book is Circular Knitting. It's part of the Teach Yourself Visually Series that Wiley publishes. The idea behind the series is to use minimal text and maximum illustrations to get the point across. While I'm no expert on pedagogical theory, I think knitters as a whole are a visual lot so this makes sense to me.

This book is pretty much soup to nuts. It starts out with a discussion of the pros and cons of circular knitting along with recommendations for needles, yarns and tools that might come in handy. It then goes on to talk about different methods and special techniques of circular knitting. All the while, there are lots of pictures, diagrams and drawings to help you visualize the process.

The middle section of the book is projects. Again, she walks you through from starter projects like potholders and mitts all the way through scary things like steeks. (Eeks!) Each pattern has a nifty little section called "Plan Your Project" where Melissa holds your hand through the process of picking things like your circular knitting technique, yarn, size, stitch pattern etc.

Melissa finishes up with a brief stitch dictionary designed to serve as a springboard to allow you to take the projects in the book and customize them to your own tastes. All in all, this is a great introduction to a way of knitting that is becoming more and more popular all the time.

Lorna's Laces is featured in one of the intermediate projects, Basic Socks, Kids to Adults. The instructions are clear and concise and provide a template to make any size socks in several gauges. This is a feature that will keep me picking up this book again and again.

And this sweet little baby set, Infant's Cardigan, Hat and Booties, is in the advanced project section of the book.

It's knit from our Honor yarn in the Calumet colorway. Seems like a fun project for a lucky baby!

Speaking of lucky...would you like a copy for yourself? I have a signed copy right here on my desk waiting for a good home. Leave a comment here until 5PM CDT on Friday, June 24th and we'll pick a winner with the ever-so-popular random number generator.

Tour of Chicago 2

2011-06-12T14:49:00.001-05:00

We had a long discussion around here about whether it was The "El" or The "L". Most of us thought it should be "El" for "elevated" but we decided to let the CTA have the last word and they shot us down.

Amy Christoffers over at Savory Knitting made this for us. I'm a big fan of this type of design. Simple lines that let the yarn do the work.

It's knit in Solemate and the stripes are created by doubling the yarn. That Amy, she's clever.

Navy Pier is the next colorway of the day. A few years ago I was at the Ferris Wheel and they stopped it because they were shooting an episode of ER. I was THAT close to George Clooney. Seriously folks, THAT close.

These socks are a Lorena Haldeman design. She calls them Baba Yaga. That's the Slavic form of the Wicked Witch. The pattern naming game is sure creative isn't it?

There are four more landmarks on our little tour. We still have to go to Grant Park and check out The Bean. After that we can take a trip up the Outer Drive and maybe do some shopping on the Magnificent Mile.

Tour of Chicago Part 1

2011-06-10T11:54:00.000-05:00

It's time to start showing off our new colors. This season we decided to use iconic Chicago landmarks as names. In the past, we've used streets and neighborhoods, but Caitlin came up the the landmark idea and we ran with it.

We have nine new colors for you. That seems like a lot to show in one shot, so I'm going to break it up over the course of a few posts.

First up is Buckingham Fountain. The fountain was a gift to the city from a woman named Kate Buckingham in honor of her brother Clarence. It was dedicated in 1927.

Glenna C created the Highness sock in Buckingham Fountain. The soft colors work so nicely with the pattern. Pretty, yes?

It's knit in our new Solemate sock yarn. Solemate is a blend of 55% superwash merino, 15% nylon and 30% Outlast, a fiber that interacts with your body's microclimate to moderate temperature from being too hot or too cold.

Our next inspiration is Lincoln Park Zoo. It was founded in 1868, which makes it one of the oldest zoos in the U.S. I live just a few blocks away and I love having a free zoo so close.

The colorway doesn't really have a ton to do with a zoo, but according to Pantone, this Honeysuckle color is the color of the year. We had to jump on the bandwagon.

When we saw what Jeannie Cartmel did with it, we figured all was good.

Here is Not Connected.

And Technical.

Last up for today is The Skyway. While the Skyway is technically a 7.8 mile portion of the toll road that stretches from Illinois to Indiana, I think most of us think of it as the 1/2 mile steel truss bridge that spans the Calumet River.

Amy Swenson from Indigirl designed the Asking for Roses Shawl in Shepherd Sport.

It took just two skeins.

A Bit About Naming Colors

2011-06-02T12:15:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I posted on Facebook or Twitter asking you what you'd like to hear about from me on these pages. One of the things that I learned was that you were interested in some of our processes like color development and naming.

Naming colors is probably my second favorite thing to do around here. (Creating colors is hands-down number one.) It's also something we put a fair amount of thought into.

Let me start with a bit of history about the names of Lorna's Laces colorways. Back in the day, Lorna Miser looked to her surroundings for inspiration. She lived in an old mining town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. So we have Motherlode.

And Mineshaft.

There was a town nearby called Somerset.

Which isn't far from Tahoe.

When we moved Lorna's Laces from California to Chicago, we thought her original scheme was pretty darn good. It gave us a framework to work in while still allowing us to stretch our wings a little bit and make it our own.

At the time, I lived on a street called Bittersweet.

Lorna's Laces is in a neighborhood called Ravenswood.

At some point, we noticed that all the neighborhoods and streets we were picking were from the north side of the city so we traveled down south and Ashburn was born.

Pilsen too.

We're not only about the local though. Sometimes it's all about a vacation. Lorna and her husband took a trip to Washington D.C. and Georgetown was the result.

Another story I like is about Black Watch. Lorna had always dreamed of taking her family on a long trip to Scotland. Selling the business gave her the ability to do it. While she was away I got to thinking about her trip. We were both embarking on new phases in our lives and I wanted to do something to mark it. Black Watch plaid is such an iconic Scottish image that I decided it made sense.

Then we went through a bit of a fantasy phase. Most of these names came out of fits and giggles over lunches. We had Unicorn Parades.

And of course Zombie BBQ.

We're heading back to our local/neighborhood roots this season but with a bit of a twist. This time we're doing landmarks. The "L", The Bean, Buckingham Fountain and Lincoln Park Zoo are amongst the names. I'll posting more on each of them once they get properly launched at TNNA.

There's a story for most every name. Which would you like to hear about?

Yarnbombing?

2011-06-01T12:33:00.008-05:00

I saw this on a light pole on the way to work this morning.

Does it qualify as yarnbombing?

Vogue Early Fall

2011-05-19T16:08:00.004-05:00

We're on the cover! Oh my!

Word on the street is that capes are going to be the "it" thing this fall. This one is a super easy knit and takes only 2 or 3 skeins of Shepherd Worsted. There's even a contest to win the yarn to make your own.

The preview of the whole issue can be found here.

The Bride Wore Green

2011-05-10T12:05:00.008-05:00

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Amanda get married on Saturday night.

The bride wore green.

Her dress was designed and stitched by Annie Modesitt. The shawl was designed my Miriam Felton of Mimknits and knitted by Nathania Apple from Purlescence. What a lucky girl!

Daniella at Knitique knit socks on her antique sock machine for the groom and all the groomsmen.

We had a fantastic time. It was at the Swedish American Museum in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. There was good beer, BBQ and macaroni and cheese that might have been almost as tasty as mine.

Derek and Amanda are off galavanting in Hawaii. Here's to the beginning of a long and happy life together.

MDS&W

2011-05-05T15:29:00.006-05:00

Once again, I find myself in Chicago on the weekend of Maryland Sheep and Wool. This year, it's for a good reason, Amanda is getting married!

For those of you who are lucky enough to be going, you should stop by the Bijou Basin Ranch booth. They're over in Barn 4.

You might be wondering why Lorna's Laces is pointing you towards the Bijou Basin booth. Well, it's because we dyed up a very limited amount of their Tibetan Dream Sock Yarn. 85% yak and 15% nylon. Who wouldn't like a pair of those socks?

From the top, the colors are Tannhauser, Tristan, Lohengrin, Parsifal and Siegfried. The day Carl sent over the names, I'd just gotten an email from a friend telling me about the production of Lohengrin they'd seen over the weekend. I might not have known what it was otherwise. Now I am more well versed on the big German operas.

They only have a few skeins of each of the colors so you'd better hurry if you want some.

On a more personal note, Michael and snuck away for a quick trip to NY last weekend. With Amanda heading out for a two week honeymoon tomorrow and market right around the corner, I knew it was now or never.

We saw the Van Cleef and Arpels exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a little concerned that Michael might get bored, but there was enough technical detail that he had fun too.

The other big thing we did was see Good People with Frances McDormand. I'd give it a big thumbs up. It's only running for a couple more days, so you'd have to see it this weekend.

Oh and I can't forget...We ran into the taping of the new Spiderman movie. We didn't see anyone famous, but it was neat to see facade of the Oscorp building.

First KAL Evening

2011-05-04T11:27:00.007-05:00

We had our first Rock Island KAL here at Lorna's Laces last night.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and instead of sitting out on the roof enjoying a spring evening, we had to move the festivities indoors so we didn't freeze our backsides off. No matter, we had a really nice time.

It was an intimate group of four and in retrospect, I think that was good.* I'm a neophyte lace knitter and I needed to concentrate. If there had been a bigger crowd, my hostess instinct would have probably kicked in and I wouldn't have gotten anything done.

As it was, I only completed two repeats because I had to rip back to my lifeline twice. The pattern really isn't that hard, I was distracted by the conversation and pizza. I'm not complaining, there's nothing wrong with those kinds of distractions!

Three of us are using Helen's Lace and one is using Shepherd Sock. We've all picked the Grand Street Ink color and we're all working on size 6 needles. Not a single one of us swatched...we're all using 6's because they were easy to find on start day. The universal reason for not swatching was because it was a shawl and fit wasn't critical. I think it's interesting that we all shared the same logic along with needle size and color. We're expecting some additional knitters next week and it'll be fun to see their choices.

The top one is the Shepherd Sock version. It's going to make a big shawl. It'll be nice and cozy too. The other three are all Helen's Lace. I think it interesting that the bottom one is so much looser. I wonder if that has more to do with knitter or because it's being knit on metal needles rather than bamboo.

I do know that I need pointier needles. The bamboo ones I have are too blunt. Time for a trip to the LYS!

*Edited to add: I meant that the small group was good for the first evening. I'm looking forward to as many people who want to join us. The more the merrier!

Interweave Knits Summer 2011

2011-04-29T09:50:00.000-05:00

Interweave Knits Summer 2011 goes live today! The Bistro Lace Shawl by Daniela Nii features our Lion and Lamb in 509 Satsuma, 76 Aslan and 105 Glenwood.

Once again, I'm struck by the crossover in look and feel that is developing between knit and crochet projects. We're seeing it in our magazines as well as the fashion runways. Very interesting!

This shawl got me thinking of all the wonderful color combinations that you could pick for this project. If you are a purple girl, Lorna's Purple Mustang, Calumet and Blackberry would be marvy. Or what about Ysolda Red, Red Rover and Pilsen? Maybe Ashburn, Devon and Chocolate? Harvest, Gold Hill and Tuscany? The possibilities are endless.

What are your ideas?

And the winner is....

2011-04-27T12:42:00.002-05:00

I have to send out a big, giant THANK YOU to everyone who joined us in our little game. In case you don't remember, we blogged about a new yarn and a contest a couple of weeks ago.

We got hundreds of suggestions for the name of our new yarn. I have to tell you, we had so much fun going through them all. We sat around and talked about them over lunch. We discussed pros and cons. There were some pretty "lively" conversations.

One of the big factors we took into consideration was whether there was another yarn on the market with the same or similar name. That took quite a few great suggestions out of the running but we figured we didn't need to create confusion.

We ultimately narrowed things down to three and then did a survey through our newsletter.

Even though it wasn't one of the top three that made the cut for voting, we have to give an Honorable Mention to Menopause. We decided we couldn't use it but we're still giggling.

The second runner up was Goldilocks. There were several variations on that theme, but we liked this one best.

There was a whole category of what we ended up calling science-y suggestions. We narrowed it down to Astroknit. It ended up being our first runner up.

The winner of the contest got over 60% of your votes. I'd call that a landslide! The name, Solemate, came from Jill K. Jill, if you can email us at yarnATlornaslacesDOTnet, we'll can set you up with your prize!

Little Crochet

2011-04-13T10:00:00.005-05:00

A new book came across my desk the other day, Little Crochet by Linda Permann. Over the past few months, more and more crochet is hitting my radar. Are you noticing it too or am I just crazy?

The first chapter is all about the basics. She discusses hooks, gauge, yarn substitution, how to read a pattern, symbols etc. It all made sense, even to this old fart of a knitter.

This book has some really cute patterns. I have kind of an oddball litmus test when it comes to kid's patterns...I always put my thumb over the kid/baby's face to make sure I'm not being won over by a pretty face. Virtually everything here made the cut.

The Sock It To Me Sweater Vest is a-dor-a-ble.

It's worked in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. MC is Franklin's Panopticon and CC is Chocolate.

The other pattern that I fell hard for is Stripe the Giraffe.

Seriously, could it get any cuter than this?

Speaking of tiny giraffes:

You know Linda was way ahead of them here.

What's in a Name?

2011-04-11T10:00:00.003-05:00

Once again, we find ourselves with a brand new yarn that is hopelessly, helplessly nameless. You named Honor last year, can I ask you to put on your thinking caps for us again?

"Yarn X" is a 55% superwash merino, 15% nylon and 30% Outlast viscose sock yarn. It has a nice tight twist just like Shepherd Sock, but it's three ply instead of four.

You're probably wondering "what is this Outlast she speaks of?" That's a fair question. Outlast is this crazy fiber that interacts with your body's microclimate to moderate temperature from being too hot or too cold. It was used by NASA. Ferrari uses it for their race car seats.

We spent a lot of time deciding whether we wanted to go ahead with this yarn or not. At market in January 2010, we gave out about a dozen skeins to a bunch of different designers. They kept coming back to me and asking me when we were releasing it. I hemmed, I hawed. They poked, they prodded. I said let's do it! We're bringing it to market in June along with nine or ten new colors.

The photo you see is dyed in a really pretty color, but we'll be dyeing it in all of our colors, so don't let the one shown here influence you.

Here are the details. Send your entry to contest AT lornaslaces DOT net with the subject line reading "New Sock Yarn Name". We'll narrow the choices down to our three favorites by April 17th. Then we'll email a ballot with the top three to our newsletter subcribers on April 18 and let you vote for the winner. If you don't get our newsletter, you can sign up here. Voting will close at 5:00PM central time on April 22.

In case of multiple entries for the same name, we'll use a number generator to pick the ultimate winner.

You're probably wondering about the prize, aren't you? How about 12 skeins of the new yarn? My theory is that would be enough for the lucky winner to make a pair of socks every month for a year. (If you aren't a sock knitter, don't despair. We'll come up with something else to make your heart sing.)

Please keep in mind that we're not Publisher's Clearinghouse. Contests and giveaways aren't what we do every day. I'm trying to make things as simple and fair as I can. You could probably find a loophole to exploit, but let's try and play nice and just let this all unfold for what it is...fun, fun, fun!

Grand Street Ink and Rock Island

2011-04-06T10:00:00.002-05:00

It's here, it's here! I'd like to introduce Grand Street Ink, the latest in our Color Commentary Series. It's a really rich, wine-y brown-y purple-y beauty.

This time around we partnered with the charming and talented Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. In addition to working with us on the color, he was nice enough to design a stunner of a shawl, Rock Island. When I saw the picture, it literally took my breath away.

I'll let him tell you about it personally.

It seems like Spring has been battling its way onto the scene in fits and starts for weeks. Despite a few bizarre instances of April snow recently, the warmer air seems to finally be sticking. It’s a perfect time to think about some serious lace knitting, and today’s pattern fits the bill nicely.

The Rock Island Shawl is a piece that I designed for a special collaborative project. Last year, the nice folks at Lorna’s Laces invited me to be a part of their ongoing Color Commentary Series, in which designers are given free reign to develop a new colorway for LL yarns.

At the time, I had a very specific deep black-violet on the brain and wanted to pursue that. The original color inspiration came from some wonderful graffiti that I saw on Grand Street in Brooklyn that used heavy swaths of rich indigo and black. We worked back-and-forth for weeks and finally ended up with the finished colorway (shown above), which I’m thrilled with. I’ve named the color Grand Street Ink, after its original inspiration, and it is now available in their wide range of yarns.

I chose to design for the color with Helen’s Lace, a fine laceweight 50/50 wool-silk blend. The silk took the dye beautifully and the finished fabric of the shawl is almost veil-like.

The piece contrasts simple garter stitch with intricate Shetland lace motifs which are worked on both RS and WS rows, also over Garter Stitch. As a result, the shawl is completely reversible – both sides look the same. The triangle is worked backwards from standard construction, beginning first with the knitted edging. After the lace edging is worked, stitches are picked up from a yarn-over-selvedge along the straight edge and the main portion of the triangle is worked directly from those stitches. This means the most labor-intensive elements of the shawl are completed first, and pattern rows get smaller as you go, which is always a nice psychological bonus.

I think the design would look wonderful in fingering weight yarn as well… I may have started one already.

The Rock Island pattern is available through Brooklyn Tweed or Ravelry. Brooklyn Tweed’s “Grand Street Ink” colorway is available at your LYS.

Mesh Cardigan

2011-04-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Spring/Summer issue of Knit Simple hits newsstands today. This darling warm-weather cardigan by Cheryl Murray is right there on page 37.

It's knit from our bamboo/silk blend Pearl in 49ns Periwinkle and is sized from Small to 3X. With the nice open stitch, this is going to work up quickly and provide some (almost) instant grafification.

Twist Collective

2011-04-04T10:00:00.002-05:00

The new issue of Twist Collective went live on Friday. There are a ton of cute things in it and once again the articles were thoughtful and entertaining. Sandi Rosner did an enlightening piece about gauge. While I'm religious about doing them, I'm afraid I fall into the "gauge swatches are a necessary evil" camp. One of these days I'll learn to embrace them. I think Sandi nudged me along.

There is darling feature called "Paper Dolls" where they showed off several garments on paper dolls rather than live models. It was a fun idea. Mithril, by Anne Berk is one of those. Here are some of Jane Heller's photographs, they really make the sweater shine.

It's knit in our Honor, a 70% baby alpaca/30% silk blend and shown in #41ns China Blue.

Knitting and Crochet Time

2011-04-03T10:00:00.002-05:00

Today's Topic: Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

I do most of my knitting while I'm watching TV in the evenings. It's a way for me to unwind after my day and spend time with my husband. I don't have as much knitting time in my life as I'd like, but that's the reality of things right now.

I've also noticed that the converse it also true. About the only time I watch TV is when I'm knitting. I've never been a big fan of reality shows and I've kind of had my fill of watching other people cook or decorate. There are a few of the cop/lawyer shows that I still like, but some of those creep me out too much. I guess the knitting splits my focus and lets the boring shows be less boring and the too intense programs be less intense.

The other time I invariably knit is when I'm traveling. If we're on a road trip, I make my husband drive and I ride shotgun with the needles. And I can't imagine going to the airport without some sort of project. Like most knitters, picking a travel project is an integral part of planning a vacation.

I had a group come through the studio a week or so ago for a tour and I mentioned the possibility of a real life KAL. It got very positive response. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. For many year BLL (before Lorna's Laces) I went to a weekly knitting group. Maybe it's time to bring that back into my life.

Something to Aspire To

2011-04-02T15:28:00.001-05:00

Today's Topic: Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do.

I had desperately hoped that I'd be able to show you all my Next Big Step today. Alas, the weather gods have conspired and the photoshoot was delayed. But if I can believe the secrets being whispered into my ear, next week will provide my opportunity.

I will tell you (yet again) that it is lace. It is beautiful, take-your-breath away lace. There will be a knit-a-long. It will be in color you have never before seen.

I live with at least some fear that I will not be up to the rigors of this project. That the lace will conquer me and I will find myself curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth and whimpering whilst it rears its mighty head of magic and laughs out loud at my insufficient skills.

But no, that can't happen. After all, what is knitting but two stitches, knit and purl? I will command their destiny.

And now for something completely different

2011-04-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

Today's Topic: This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.
There are no rules of a topic to blog about but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog..

Where Are They Now?

2011-03-31T10:00:00.001-05:00

Today's Topic: Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.
There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.

This is a good reminder for me to bring you all up to speed on a post I made back in January. It was about the first sweater I ever knit. It's the one that started life as cream, then moved onto being a dusky rose and was looking for a new lease on life. I asked for suggestions about where to go with it.

Even after your input, it wasn't really telling what color it wanted to be next so I decided to let fate have her way with it. I started the day dyeing Calumet, a mutlticolor with deep chocolate brown and a couple of purples in it. I took the leftover dyes from all the component colors, threw them in a big pot, crossed my fingers and added the sweater. An hour later, voila.

I'm not quite sure what to call this color. In real life it looks almost black. Or brown. Or maybe eggplant. Blownplant? This picture makes it look a little blotchy and it's not really. It dyed up nicely.

I'm happy with the result, but if I had it all to do over again, I think I would have gone a little more of a mid-range color. Because this is so dark I'll never be able to dye it again. There's just no where else to go with it.

This sweater has been with me for so long and I've had fun reinventing every so often. It makes me just a little bit sad that in all likelihood, this is it's final iteration.

Spring is on the way and this is a sweater for the deepest days of winter. It will get put away tonight and be waiting patiently to keep me warm when its time comes next year.

TIdy mind, tidy stitches.

2011-03-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today's Topic: How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

I'm actually pretty tidy when it comes to yarn. I tend to only have a couple of projects going at any one time. I'm not much of a stash builder if the truth be known. I guess technically, Lorna's Laces is my stash and that would be considered pretty huge, but even pre-LL, I wasn't a big stasher.

See? That's ALL the yarn in my entire apartment.

I have a theory about why I've never been a stash builder. The LYS was always a centerpiece in my social life. Before LL, I worked from home as a rep selling college textbooks. I didn't have the every day interactions with colleagues at the office. I was also single, so I didn't have a spouse who came home every night to give me someone to talk to. I craved human interaction.

I created reasons to go yarn shopping and hang our with my yarnie buddies. "Oh, I broke a dpn, I need to go get more." "These stitch markers won't possibly work for this project, they clash." "I am going to collect every size of a particular brand needle and today is the day I am going to buy the 6's. I can go back tomorrow for the 7's." Each task gave me an ~~excuse~~ reason to go to the shop. If I had a huge stash, I wouldn't have been able to justify the trip.

I like the way my little scheme worked out. My frequent visits to the yarn shops helped me develop friendships that I wouldn't have had under other circumstances. I took classes, I learned techniques. I found a lifelong love of yarn that compelled me to take a risk with Lorna's Laces and it's been a dream come true.

Mayville Sweater

2011-03-29T13:00:00.001-05:00

Summer Knitscene 2011 is up! As usual, they've done a stellar job.

*ETA The choice of the color in the Tale of Two Yarns post was completely serendipitous to this post. But it's fun to see how the color knits up, isn't it?

I'm really loving the Mayville Cardigan by Sarah Fama, Rav name Caryatid. I'm always drawn to a v-neck and I love knitting this kind of texture. This will be a nice lightweight sweater to have around on cool evenings or over air-conditioned offices. I can see myself tossing it in my bag on my way out the door to a concert at Millennium Park.

It's made from our Shepherd Sport and shown here in 310 Catalpa. It's a fresh color, a little sassy, but not too bright. I think it was my favorite of the bunch when we brought it out.

Skill + 1UP

2011-03-29T10:00:00.002-05:00

Today's Topic: Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Last year, I made a bunch of sock weight triangle shawls. I guess I think of them as being a gentle introduction to lace. Sure, I've always been able to incorporate a YO here and there, but I'd never been what I think of as a lace knitter. I used to make a joke "I have plenty of challenges in my life, my knitting doesn't need to be one of them". While I still think that's true, I'm becoming more and more fascinated with lace. I've become better at reading the stitches and figuring out what's going on on my needles.

One of the things I learned out about lace knitting was how addictive it is. I found myself getting up even earlier than usual so I could knit a row before work. Or maybe to fix a mistake I'd make the night before when I was tired. Instead of getting frustrated, I was enchanted by the process. I had never thought of myself as a process knitter before and here I was all full of the process. Crazy.

It's been fun to find this new side of my knitting personality. I wonder if most people think of themselves as being either process or product knitters. Or do most think they fall somewhere in between depending on the project?

Rereading that last paragraph, I guess I've been both. When I was a new knitter, I was all about the product. I just wanted to finish whatever project was on my needles and move on to the next. Then I went through a phase where I was was more of a blend. I'd have one no brainer TV project and another more complicated piece going at the same time. I'd rush through the TV project and take my time on the other. In recent years, the pendulum has swung back towards being a product knitter. Because time is scarce, I've done more small projects. I'm quite sure that's because I could finish them quickly. I find it very gratifying to cast off and chalk another one off my list.

(For those of you who read this blog, you know I've been threatening to start of full scale lace weight yarn project for months. I've finally picked one and I'm going to jump in with both feet and a KAL. It's just a tad too early to share all the details, but I'll have more info in a few days.)

A Tale of Two Yarns

2011-03-28T10:00:00.002-05:00

I decided to take part in the second annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. That means that along with lots of other members of the knitting and crochet community, I'm committing to posting every day for a week about a predetermined topic related to fiber arts. It's going to be fun to see what everyone has to say.

Today's Topicc: Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

This is a tough topic for me. I can count on one hand the number of yarns I've worked with in the last eight years that aren't Lorna's Laces. I'm not sure whether that makes me biased or just uninformed about what's out in the world. Probably a little of both. So I've decided to talk about two yarns from a dyeing perspective rather than a knitting perspective.

The first yarn(s) I'll talk about is our Shepherd line. There are four yarns here and I could pick just one, but from a dyeing POV, they are just different weights of the same yarn so I'll lump them all together.

The Shepherds are superwash merino and are a dream to dye. First of all, wool likes dye. They are fast friends and like to hang out together. Next, making a yarn superwash lowers its pH. That lower pH lets the yarn drink up the dye. The combination of the two is like ladies night at the local VFW...every goes home happy.

On the other end of the spectrum in the land of Lorna's Laces is Pearl. Pearl is a silk/bamboo blend and truly a luxurious yarn. But, it's not as friendly as the Shepherd yarns. For one thing, since bamboo comes from a plant (cellulose) rather than an animal (protein), we have to treat this yarn differently than all the other yarns here at Lorna's Laces. It marches to a different drummer and insists upon "me" time.

In addition to the differences in processing, Pearl doesn't like to accept dye the same way. While I wouldn't necessarily say she's a teetotaler, she drinks dye slowly and doesn't absorb it as readily. Her temperance provides some differences. The colors are more subtle, less vibrant. There's also a little sheen to the yarn which is nice.

So two yarns that are very different. I'd say I like them both, but for different reasons and different applications. The Shepherd yarns are soft as can be and easy care. They are appropriate for a really wide range of applications. Pearl is denser and is going to make a weightier garment. I think of small projects, some open work or maybe something with negative ease.

The quick snap above shows Pearl at the top and Shepherd Worsted at the bottom. They are both dyed in 310 Catalpa.

Royal Wedding

2011-03-25T14:54:00.005-05:00

With the fiber world abuzz about Fiona Goble's Knit Your Own Royal Wedding and the rest of the world abuzz about Catherine and William's big day, we just couldn't resist the idea of creating a colorway to celebrate with them.

We talked for a long time about which way to go with it. Traditional wedding whites, creams, golds? Or do we riff off that incredible sapphire? We decided to go with the latter. We even gave the yarn a little tiara and a pair of earrings.

We wanted to get it out in the world in plenty of time for you to have it in hand while you watch the ceremony. I'm not quite sure what the perfect Royal Wedding project is though. Any ideas?

**ETA I jumped the gun on this post. The colorway won't be available until April 1. Sorry....

Knitting Wrapsody

2011-03-21T10:00:00.007-05:00

Most of the time when I take part in a blog tour, it's so I can shamelessly promote Lorna's Laces yarns. But sometimes I get intrigued enough by something in a book that I want to talk about it even if our yarn isn't featured. Kristin Omdahl's newest tome, Knitting Wrapsody is like that.

Kristin made her name as a crochet designer, but the fact of the matter is that she's a fabulous knit designer as well. While Knitting Wrapsody is a book of knitting patterns, many of the designs have a distinctly crochet vibe.

Take for example Summit:

This is made from Bijou Basin Ranch's Bliss, a 50/50 blend of yak and cormo wool. I've dyed a bit of this yarn and it's really nice.

Another garment that caught my eye is Leilani.

Again, there's a crochet feel to it and the six flower motifs along with the two side triangles would make for an interesting knit.

The last thing I'm going to share is I Do Diamonds.

I like the combination of the angles of the diamonds with the curves on the inside of the those diamonds. And the yarn, Buffalo Gold's Lux, couldn't be any finer. What's not to like about bison, cashmere, silk and tencel? Plus, you can make this shawl with just one skein, and I'm sure you're worth the splurge.

And, I just happen to have a signed copy right here on my desk. Reply to this post for a chance to win! Contest closes at 5:00PM CDT on Wednesday March 23.

The Loopy Ewe Shuffle

2011-03-18T10:26:00.020-05:00

We were lucky enough to provide The Loopy Ewe with yarn for their Club Loopy this year!

There were a couple of things that are special about it. First, it's a one-of-a-kind color called The Loopy Ewe Shuffle. Beautiful teals and blues with a pop of rich red. It started out with inspiration from Sheri. She and Amanda had a long talk about what she was looking for. Then Amanda took Sheri's words and translated them into color. I think she done good, don't you?

Club Loopy gives you two patterns with each shipment which I think is a great idea. This one has a shawl from Wendy Johnson and a cowl /mitt set from Debbie O'Neill. We wanted to make sure you'd have enough yarn for either project, so we had our Honor put up in special 350 yarn hanks instead of the usual 275 yards.

The last bit of the package is this great tote. It's from a company called Baggu and it's got a quote on it taken from the walls of the shop.

I'll leave you today with one last bit of yarn p0rn.

Oh...and you can get it here.

Free to a Good Home

2011-03-16T15:59:00.008-05:00

Yesterday on Twitter and Facebook, I posted a picture of a skein of yarn that had gotten tangled beyond belief. Part of the reason I decided to share it was that because we've all been there. A perfectly reasonable skein of yarn gets its knickers all bunched up and decides to become the skein of ill repute. Yesterday's version of disgraceful woolliness was Bullfrogs and Butterflies in 25ns Mint.

I'm pretty sure that my skein of yarn was in cahoots with Stefanie Japel's yarn, because she'd posted something earlier in the week about yarn getting tangled up when the washing machine bag came undone.

Then earlier today, Jennie the Potter mentioned that she was sorting bubble wrap. She's on her way to Madison, WI for their big annual event this weekend and was packing up her wares. So, I got to thinking.... Skeins generally come to us tied in three different places and we remove two of the ties so what you get looks neat and tidy. We end up with piles of those ties.

I don't think there's a single one of us who doesn't have at least one pillow stuffed with yarn bits and bobs. I routinely use it as packing material instead of bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is whether someone else can use it? I don't know that it would be reliable enough for something like Jennie's pots. Would it be practical to ship it for someone else to use as packaging material? Does anyone have any ideas? We'd be happy to start collecting it for someone and it's free to a good home.

Miss Abby

2011-03-07T15:56:00.004-06:00

It's funny how things change. There was a time when we had as many dogs come to the studio as humans every day. I brought Hank and Pearl. David brought Oliver and Sydney. Ruby and Fozzie accompanied Eric. There were Diana and Seth, Stella and Sam.

Then David moved to Atlanta, Ruby left to take another job. The inevitable march of time had its way, first with Hank and then with Pearl.

On a personal level, the loss of Pearl last June marked the first time since I was a teenager that I've been without a pet. I had a cat all the way through college and when I got my first "real" job, I felt grown up enough handle the responsibilities that go along with a dog. Max, a Shar-Pei, joined my life.

My husband and I decided to take some time off from the routine of 6 a.m. walks and lint rollers. We make noises about a glamorous month-long european holiday and discuss the allure of turning every weekend into a three or four day affair. Now that we don't have a dog, we can do so much more. We'll live a free wheelin' life with not a care in world.

Or not.

The fact is that life has continued on. The glam vacation hasn't happened and neither one of us has been chosen as the lead in a biopic of some famous movie star.

While we haven't brought home a pup, we have filled the opening in the studio dog department. Abby is a new staffer at Lorna's Laces. She's Megan's cattle dog mix and settled in beautifully on her first day.

Getting to scratch and ear and rub a belly every day is really nice. We're thrilled to have a studio dog again. Thanks Megan!

Wendy and Pretty String

2011-02-24T13:18:00.004-06:00

We did these cute "I Make Pretty String" t-shirts awhile back. I mailed one to Wendy Johnson of WendyKnits fame and she was nice enough to take a quick snap and send it over.

She looks pretty great in it don't you think?

Spring 2011

2011-02-23T10:37:00.002-06:00

Alrighty then. This is the second go-round of this blog post. The first one disappeared in an unfortunate delete incident. I may have gotten a little distracted by Fleetwood Mac Rumors. Anna put it on a few minutes ago and it brings back more than a few memories. Some of those memories make me blush.

Let's get back to the here and now rather than 1977 shall we?

We started shipping the Lorna's Laces Spring 2011 colors in the past couple of weeks. If they haven't arrived at your LYS yet, you should be seeing them shortly. We did five, four multi's and one nearly solid.

As with the past couple of season, we've been leaning towards whimsy with the names. This series derived from a facebook post I made lamenting the underutilization of the word "shenanigans". I was flooded with words along the same vein and we decided to embrace it.

Shenanigans, the namesake for the collection.

We all fell in love with this color the instant it came out of the dyepots. We were worried that it might feel a little autumnal, but we decided to go ahead with it because we liked it so well. Besides, it just screamed Shenanigans to us.

Next up is Tomfoolery.

This is our bright for the season. Magenta, rich orange and golden yellow make for nothing but fun.

Monkeyshines is and elegant neutral.

This colorway developed from a email I got from an LYS owner. One of her clients had mentioned that golds and greys were all the rage in home decor. She sent along a few pictures and it really got my creative juices going. I developed several variations on this theme and it was hard to narrow it down to this one. It's fun to do this sort of collaboration. As they say, two heads are better than one!

The last of the four multi's in Hullabaloo.

It's actually a little more muted than this photo represents it. I think it's a perfect gender neutral color. There's touch of aqua in it, but not enough so it tips to reading "boy color". Besides kids stuff, Hullabaloo seems like a perfect match for blondes although now that I'm writing this, I can picture it being wonderful for folks with darker coloring as well.

Last is our nearly-solid, Kerfuffle.

It's a deep, rich grey with a little purpley/blue/stormy skies thing going on in the background. I've got this one on needles making Anna Bell's Favorite Cardigan from Modern Knits Vintage Style.

knit.sock.love

2011-02-17T11:46:00.003-06:00

I took some time on Sunday to read Cookie A's latest, Knit.Sock.Love

This book is absolutely stunning. Stunning I tell you. Laura Kicey did the photography and she did a stunning job. Did I mention it was stunning?

It's a collection of 19 patterns. Some of them are old favorites like Monkey and Hedera while others are brand spanking new. She's broken the patterns down into three sections, Columns, Tessellations and Diagonals. Within each section, the patterns are presented in increasing levels of complexity. It's all very organized which makes me very happy.

The Columns section are variations on vertical design elements. Repeating elements are stacked on top of one another. Cables immediately come to mind. So do some simple lace patterns. Columnar patterns make it easy to keep track of where you are by checking your current work with the work below.

This is Stalagmite. It's shown here in our Shepherd Sock color 22ns Turquoise.

The next segment is Tessellations. (Please tell me I'm not the only person who'd never heard that word before.) A Tessellation is an arrangement of shapes on a surface the leaves no gaps between them. Mosaic tiles are a good example. The world famous Monkey Sock is probably one of the best known examples in the knitting arena.

This section includes Clandestine. Lorna's Laces worked closely with Cookie in the creation of a special color for this sock, Cookie's Deep Dark Secret. The marriage worked quite well, don't you think?

The final section is Diagonals. Cookie describes diagonals as patterns that travel off the grid. She's embracing the idea of adventure and pushing boundaries. How cool is it that a sock can do that for us? I think my favorite of these socks is Sake. (Named after sake sashimi rather than the rice wine.)

The patterns are available as singles or you can go ahead and buy the book. I always prefer to own a book. It keeps things nice and tidy for me.

Would you like a copy for yourself? I have a signed one right here. Reply to this post by Friday, February 18th at 5PM central time and me know which pattern you want to knit and we'll let the random number generator pick a winner. We may even throw in a skein of yarn to enable you even more. (I've only put up three pictures, you should really take a look at them all here. There are so many nice ones. Rhombus and Stricken. Cusp and Wedge. BFF and Marilinda.)

We all need a little sock p0rn in our lives. Especially when it's this stunning.

**Also, you all should know that the book was written before we changed our put-up. Now it's 100g and 435 yarns so you'll only need one skein of Lorna's Laces for a pair of most socks.

Eight is Great

2011-02-10T10:05:00.003-06:00

Things I am grateful for:

1) Wine. Red or white. Pink in the summer. I'm not that discriminating.

2) Chocolate. The darker the better.

3) Coffee. With enough cream to make it a beautiful shade of milky brown.

4) The Lorna's Laces crew. Who bring their best and brightest every day. And aren't too fussy when I don't.

5) Knitters. Who always seem to have sunny, yellow dispositions.

6) Lorna Miser. The goddess of all things purple, who entrusted me to continue her creative vision.

7) My darling husband. Who looks best in a green shirt.

8) Eight years of making pretty string. In all of the colors.

My life is good.

Loopy Legends

2011-02-08T10:38:00.011-06:00

A couple of months ago, Sheri from The Loopy Ewe contacted me about a special project. You see, over there at The Loopy Ewe, they have a select group of customers called Loopy Legends and Sheri asked us to dye up colors in their honor.

While we do custom colors for shops regularly. Most of the time the LYS owner has a pretty good idea of what they want for a custom color. We often start from their logo or shop colors. Sometimes we do team colors. Or they send in a photo for us to use as a starting point. Then we send them several samples and they pick the one they like.

This was a memorable request because we were basically let loose and told to go nuts! We were given very loose direction, “Here are the colors that go in this colorway – we’ll look forward to getting these in your interpretation of it.” They didn't want samples...we just got to play in the dyepots! I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it was.

There were twenty four colors in all. I'll give you a peek at three but you should really go take a look at them all for yourself on the Loopy Legends page.

This is MomSue's Yellowstone Sunset.

Linda's Antique Treasures

Amy's Double Play

I can't decide which one is my favorite. I'm leaning a bit towards Ronni's Jewel Box. Or maybe Debbie's Autumn Joy. There's always Wendy's Ferns and Toadstools....Help me pick! Which do you like best?

Winners!

2011-02-07T10:10:00.003-06:00

We have our winners!

Our Packer winner is theindigomuse. She can expect to be hearing from both Yarns by Design and Signature Needle Arts to get her prizes.

The Steeler winner is kjgonn. We don't have any contact info for her/him but as soon as we hear, we'll get the prizes out.

Thnaks to everyone who played along with our silly game. It made my Super Bowl experience even more fun that it would have been anyway.

Signature Needles Wants to Play Too!

2011-02-01T12:39:00.004-06:00

I just got a call from the nice folks over at Signature Needle Arts. They want a piece of the Super Bowl action too!

They are generously upping the kitty in our little Packer/Steeler contest and have offered to give away one pair of straight needles to each of our lucky winners. In keeping with the theme, they have gold needles (sized 1 and 6) and green needles (3 and 8). Or you can pick another color if you'd like.

Click on the contest link and let us know who you are rooting for.

A Fresh Look

2011-01-31T13:19:00.013-06:00

We fiddled around with our booth at TNNA this season. We'd been doing the same old thing for awhile and decided that it was time to freshen things up a bit. The biggest thing we did was add some mannequins. We've had them in the past, but never more than one full sized one and a couple that sit on the tabletop.

Mannequins can be difficult. When you have several, you have to manage all of those personalities. Sometimes they just can't seem to get along. Jealousy is often the problem. They are constantly vying for attention.

Sometimes mannequins seem a little creepy. Maybe it's because they have finials instead of heads. Or if they have heads, they don't usually make eye contact which can be off putting. Don't even get me started on that hair.

Still, mannequins show off sweaters nicely. Sweaters just look better with some shape. And we had some pretty sweet sweaters to show off.

So, we took a few elements from booths we done in the past and mixed things up.

On the right is Val Love of Dovetail Design's Featherweight Cardigan. It's knit in our Helen's Lace in a new colorway, Monkeyshines. On the left is Amy Swenson's Watershed. It's shown here in Cranberry Lion and Lamb. (You can see these two mannequins weren't talking to each other. Cold shoulder city!)

This group was at least making an attempt to be cordial. On the left is Ann Weaver's Gabriella shown in our new Shenanigans colorway. The yarn is Pearl. The center model is another Amy Swenson delight called Ravinia. It's done in our newest nearly solid, Kerfuffle. Last up is Heartstrings FiberArts Eyelet Rib Sweater knit in Shepherd Sport and shown in Tomfoolery.

We had lots of fun putting the booth together. Naming the colors was fun too. We'll be shipping new colors in earnest this week. I'll put together a post with a better rundown of the colors in the few days.

Packers or Steelers?

2011-01-26T15:18:00.008-06:00

At this time last week, I had high hopes for the Chicago Bears and a Superbowl appearance. Even though Jay Cutler, our starting quarterback, left the game with an injury, they came very close to a last minute victory. Hats off to Da Bears!

Now it's time to turn our attention to the big game. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers will be taking the field on February 6th. Can you think of two teams with more rabid fans?

We've dyed up a couple of special colors. One the left is Go Packers! And on the right is Pittsburgh Pride. I'm not sure two fans would really cozy up like that.

You can get Go Packers! at Yarns by Design in Neenah, WI. The Pittsburgh Pride is at Natural Stitches in Pittsburgh.

We'd like to give away one skein of Shepherd Sock to a fan of each team. Leave a comment letting us know whether you'll be rooting for the Packers or Steelers and we'll pick a winner from each side using a random number generator on the day after the game.

**Edited to add:

I just got a call from the nice folks over at Signature Needle Arts. They want a piece of the Super Bowl action too!

They are generously upping the kitty in our little Packer/Steeler contest and have offered to give away one pair of straight needles to each of our lucky winners. In keeping with the theme, they have gold needles (sized 1 and 6) and green needles (3 and 8). Or you can pick another color if you'd like.

Something Old Something New

2011-01-21T09:03:00.008-06:00

The first thing I ever knit was a sweater. I was taking an introductory class at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS and they let us pick anything we wanted. Instead of the usual potholder or scarf sort of thing, I decided I wanted to jump right in with both feet.

I chose a pattern by Rowan from one of their very early books, #6 I think. For the yarn I decided on Brown Sheep's Lamb Pride Bulky in Cream. Then I got busy. At the time I was a rep for a college textbook company and it was summer, so I didn't have to work much. I spent hours and hours every day becoming quite addicted to the knitting.

By the time the class was over, I had knit that sweater and had moved onto another. I still have my first sweater. I pull it out every year when the weather gets really really cold. It's a little out of date, it's boxy with drop sleeves, but I love it anyway.

As I mentioned, that sweater started out life as color number M10 Cream. Somewhere along the line I spilled something down the front of it and I decided to dye it. At that point in time, the only dye I'd ever heard of was Rit. So I marched down to the grocery store and picked up some of their Red. I wanted it to be really dark, so I doubled the recipe.

This salmon pink wasn't quite what I thought I was going to get from double strength red, but I've loved it this way for a long time.

I think it's time to reinvent this sweater. But I'm not quite sure what color it wants to be next. I could certainly do that dark red. I'm more adept at dyeing these days. (Go figure.) Or maybe purple? Brown? There are so many choices.

Help me out folks! What color should my first sweater be next?

How About a Little Java?

2011-01-17T16:23:00.004-06:00

My re-entry into the world after TNNA has been a little rocky. I stayed on Long Beach for a couple of extra days to attend the board meeting and by the time I got home the evil bug that's been going around took me out. I'm glad to be back at 'em today.

Cailyn Meyer's Java Socks in the new issue of knitty.com were just the thing to perk me up this morning. (Yeah, I know the pun is bad.) Cailyn said that her favorite part of the socks are the patterned gusset. I like that too, but I have to say I might be partial to the toe decreases. They are done more in the middle and look pretty swell with the cables. They're knit in our Shepherd Sock, color 36ns Chocolate.