Things I Dream Of

1) I dream of taking a bath. I'm one of those people who takes a bath instead of a shower every day. At least I was until we started the rehab work on our bathrooms and laundry room. The workers are doing a great job, but it is a big project and it's taking longer than I would like. The bathtub is in the room, but Houston, we still have a problem.

2) Being warm. The heat at Lorna's Laces has been out since Monday. Brrr....  I'm warm enough if I wear my coat all day, but I'd like to take it off. And the gloves making typing hard.

3) World Peace. (I know that's a t-ball one, but it needs to be included.)

4) A loooong vacation. I think everyone should try and get more than a week away from work. I've only had one of those in the past 10 years. I'd love to figure out a month away, but that's just a pipe dream. BTW, visiting family isn't a vacation. It's a trip, but not a vacation.

5) My 18 year old body. The funny thing is that I wasn't happy with it then either. Some things never change, do they? Maybe I should come to terms with my biology.

6) An extra hour or so in the day. I'm not going to be greedy, I don't need an extra day in the week or anything. I just want an extra hour to hang out with the people I love in the evening and knit.

7) My mom before dementia. The woman who did such a great job of  raising me has been gone for some time. I don't like the new one nearly as well. But I love her just as much. Maybe more.

8) A winning Lotto ticket. I'd like to be rich but not famous. I want to be able to move around the planet without being recognized. In my private jet. Or on my yacht.

9) Coming back in my next life as a dog. A dog with a life like this one.

10) Adding one new true friend to my life every year. We're all moving so fast through this life, staring at screens. Let's not forgot that people are what makes us all rich. (Yacht excepted.)

Vindicated!!

I was lucky enough to spend last weekend teaching at VKLive. It's a super event from beginning to end.

I open my class with a little talk about how we create colors at Lorna's Laces. I think people are kind of surprised that we're not all about color theory and the color wheel. We work more organically than that around here.

I discuss paying attention to the world around us. After all, we are surrounded by color. Think about the row after row of towels you see at the department store. (photo Wilson's Dept. Store)

Instead of just picking up the green towels you need for your bathroom, have you ever stopped to think about how they play off one another? Look at the jumble of colors, there's no rhyme or reason here, but they all look wonderful. Not a single one of them is asking if it's OK to sit next to their complementary color or across from their secondary friend. They all coexist in a delightfully chaotic fashion. 

What about the walk you took last weekend? It's been a beautiful fall and I bet there were a couple of houses with pots full of mums on the porch. (photo kdhamptons.com)

Again, all the colors are living together happily. They aren't fighting or bickering. So what's up with all the rules we hear about? I've always thought they were kinda stupid. Something thought up by some scholar somewhere to suck all the fun out of something pretty. And fun. 

Lo and behold, when I got home on Sunday evening, my weekly Houzz.com update was in the mailbox. I opened it up and towards the bottom was an article by Becky Dietrich about breaking the rules in decorating. Most of what she talked about was color. There was some discussion of texture as well, but mostly color. 

Let me quote just a little bit of it:

Wait a minute; what about the rules of the color wheel? I gotta be honest: Primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors make my head swim. Talk about taking all the fun out of decorating! 

Tamar Schechner

Here's the deal: The color wheel was developed in the 18th century by painters, for painters. It was never meant to apply to using color in our homes.

Design heresy? Yes. But consider this: Studied rooms, where the palette was chosen nose-to-color-wheel, almost always feel ... studied. Rooms like the one shown here take a much freer, more organic approach, using color the way we see it in nature. Just look at the bit of the flower arrangement we can see. Revel in that natural approach to color!

We never worry whether the bright lime green of new needles on an evergreen tree works with the darker gray-green of the older foliage. We never declare it anathema because a warm color is mixed with a cool one. If you want a rule for how to work with color, simply take notes from nature.

Elizabeth Gordon

One more word about the color wheel before I crawl off this particular high horse. Look at the comfy chocolate color of this nursery's walls. Isn't it yummy? But did you know that brown does not even appear on the color wheel? Enough said.

Yes, 'nuff said. 

Lace Knitting: Basics and Beyond

Hi friends! Amanda here.

There are two sides to every coin as they say. In this case the coin is covered in a gorgeous combinations of YOs and K2togs.

I love lace. I mean really LOVE it! My favorite knit piece is my Rock Island Shawl made with Helen's Lace in Ashburn. I know, I know, a high contrast multi in a complicated lace pattern? It really does work I promise. I get compliments every time I wear it out. Generally this is followed with big eyes and "Did you make it?!". "No, I did not." is always my response. It is sad to admit but I did not make it. A wonderful knitter named "sleep2dreamher" on Ravelry made it for me.

That, my friends, is the other side of the coin. I am very very bad at lace. I try and I try and I just can't make it work...even the simplest patterns. I have to admit I am a stockinette sock kind of girl. I have lace fears. Shameful lace fears.

Enter stage left, Eunny Jang.

You guys know Eunny Jang right? Blogger, turned editor of Interweave Knits, turned now instructor at Craftsy. She is also a really amazing cook but that is sort of unrelated I guess. For those who don't know Craftsy you should really check it out. You can take classes on ANYTHING! Knitting and crochet of course but also sewing, baking, cooking, photography, fine arts, jewelry making, spinning, weaving...even cake decorating. All from the comfort of your own laptop, desktop or tablet. It is pretty cool.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Lace.

Eunny recently launched an amazing 9 lesson lace tutorial. This puppy covers it all. From casting on to binding off and all the chart reading and stitches in between. She even cover things like how to find and fix mistakes and how to insert lace patterns into other designs. And for the tiny bit of dork in all of us there is even a bit on the actual structure of the stitches of lace. Eunny is leaving no lace covered stone unturned here and doing it all using our gorgeous yarns of course.

So far over 500 students have enrolled in that class and with this link you can too. Heck you will even receive 25% off! Personally I think overcoming my lace fears is worth $29.99.

And we're finished...get it...finished. ;-)

The Doctor is Turning 50!!

Having you been looking for a gift for your favorite Time Lord fan? Or are your a companion yourself?  I mean c'mon, Doctor Who is turning fifty this month!

In case you aren't in the know, the whole thing is actually pretty cool. The anniversary of the first episode of Doctor Who is coming up on November 23rd. It's on a Saturday this year, just like it was way back then. Serendipitous, don't you think? They are airing it in the UK and the US on the same day. (Clever!)  They're also going to simulcast the program in 3-D to theatres in selected cities. Our Bettie tried to get tickets but they sold out in less than twenty minutes! She might have been a little grumpy about it. (OK, alot of grumpy.)

Anyway, we got together with the lovely and talented Kate Atherleyhttp://kateatherley.com/ (you might know her as Wisehilda) to create two patterns, Time & Space Knee Socks and Time & Space Scarf. These lovelies are loosely inspired by the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.

Here are the details.

Socks.  Toe-up knee socks.

The pattern is worked toe-up, and written for DPNs, Magic Loop and 2 circulars, as you prefer. Four sizes, finished foot circumferences 7 to 8.5 inches, fitting teens to XL women's.  A variation for calf-length socks is included, too.

Six colors, in rather fetching stripes.  The kit of Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock contains special half skeins of the Shepherd Sock yarn - enough to make a pair of knee socks, or a two pairs of mid-calf socks, one pair for you, one pair for your companion. We're shipping them to your LYS in time for you to have it for the big event. Just give them a call. 

If you've got a Ravelry account, and just want the pattern it's available here. 

And a Scarf.

Nice and long. With tassels, naturally.

Patterns uses about 90yds of each of six colors from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky. A kit is available from your favorite Lorna's retailers contains special sized skeins, just enough to make the scarf.

If you've got a Ravelry account and just want the pattern available, it's available here.

Or a Shawl. 

If your lifestyle requires a more ladylike or subtle homage to your favourite traveller, perhaps the Bigger on the Inside Shawl? Free pattern on Knitty. The pattern uses our Solemate in the colorway Bigger on the Inside. Again, your LYS can set you up. 

It's good to be well-dressed and warm if you're going on a journey. One of these should be just what you need.

Yarn is Magic

From time to time, we get a note from a customer that makes all of us stop dead in our tracks. This was one of them. Please pass the tissues.

Dear Lorna's Laces, 

My friend finds herself in the same scary situation we did a few  years ago… Her son is coming 8 weeks early with complications and they're just not ready yet. I knew how much she wanted to knit her son a Wool Leaves, so I hightailed it to my LYS, Fibre Space, and bought 3 hanks of Shepherd Worsted in Fjord. One 16-hour car ride this past weekend later and a lot of knitting time and I have a blocked blanket, ready for today's emergency c-section.

Knitting with that yarn was a joy. I don't know how I forgot how soft and wonderful it is. I thought of you guys doing your thing at Lorna's Laces, my friend's scary situation, flashbacks from our month at the NICU and hoping we'd all make it out of there alive and put so much of myself emotionally into this blanket. The yarn choice was PERFECT (she wanted a "soft, washable, gray blue") and I can't wait until they can bring him home wrapped up in it.

Please give every awesome person at Lorna's Laces a hug from me. It was the perfect yarn for the perfect project. A very emotional knit.

Hope you are all well!

Downton

If you know me at all, you know that I am woefully uniformed when it comes to pop culture. I'm so bad that I haven't watched a single episode of Breaking Bad. Or Downton Abbey. I hear they are both all the rage.

I wish I could say I spend my time reading lofty novels or volunteering at the local animal shelter, but that's just not true. I spend too much of my TV time watching other people cook and decorate their homes. Every once in awhile I get fancy and rent a romantic comedy from Netflix. Oh yeah, we live large. 

The other day I saw a copy of Interweave's Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits.  It's styled in a very retro fashion, but there are a ton of patterns that are really current if you wear them with today's sensibility. Just think about this dress over a pair of leggings or skinny jeans with boots. (This isn't our yarn, but you could easily substitute Shepherd Sock or Solemate.)

This little short sleeved top would be all that and a bag of chips if you slipped it on over a tank and added tights and a chunky heel.

This men's sweater is our yarn. It's combo of Shepherd Worsted and Pearl. It's called the Footman's Vest. You can't take the model home, but I think it'd be swell on a casual office day.

Amanda's husband Derek almost always wears a bow tie to work on Fridays. He'd look dreamy in this. 

The Davenport Collection

Awhile back, our good friend Laura Chau came to us with the idea of doing a collection of patterns in Lorna's Laces yarns. We said "Yes, please!!"  (There were more exclamation points around here, but they'd take up too much space in this newsletter.)

We knew they be good, but these beat our expectations! It's a sweet little collection. Two pullovers, a cardi, a shawl and an infinity scarf. It kinda hits all the bases. The patterns are available through Ravelry and if you buy three or more, you get a 25% discount.

So, without further ado, the Davenport Collection.

First up is Borden, the infinity scarf. This is knit from two skeins of Shepherd Worsted. It's shown here in 23ns Berry. The unusual lace pattern look different and beautiful on both sides.

Next is Elston, a seamless raglan worked from the bottom up. The lace panel in the back gives it a bit of a swing.  That lace is repeated along the front bands. It's knit in our Sportmate and is shown here in 59ns Dobson.

This cozy v-neck seamless sweater is worked in Haymarket, Lorna's Laces latest yarn. It's a single ply Bluefaced Leicester.Sizes for Henwick run from 30"-76" so there's a fit there for all of us!

 

Snuggle up with Lansdowne  for the long winter ahead. This beauty is also knit from Haymarket. It has Latvian braid trim and slip stitch shaping. The color combos are endless! And again, Laura provides a full range of sizing.

You can knit Terauley from just one skein of Shepherd Sock. Here it is in 7ns Cedar.

I haven't quite decided whether Terauley or Lansdowne should be up next for me. I've still got the Rhinebeck sweater to get finished before we head to NY next week. Yikes!

I'm trying to figure out the theme behind the names. Let's make that into a little contest. Reply with your answer until midnight on October 10th. I'll use the random number generator to pick the winner of a skein of yarn to make Terauley on Friday.