Koyo

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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?

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

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'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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