A Done Deal!

Happy snow day! School has been cancelled in my little town just north of NYC, and I got to stay home! Isn't that nice? I finished the sample for one of my upcoming workshops and share a few pictures with you. Everyone, from teenagers to older adults, has loved them. As a matter of fact, I needed to pry them off a few hands thus far. The fact that they are cashmere might be contributing...

I used Jade Sapphire 2-ply Mongolian Cashmere in the Burnished Gold color, along with 08 Mill Hill beads in Old Gold metallic. With one 55 gram skein of yarn and 6 grams (one pack) of beads, there was enough to make the mitts 1.5 inches longer at the cuff then I did. With another pack of beads, you can go a few inches longer still.

I used a set of five US 0 double-pointed needles and a US 13 crochet hook to add the beads. The pattern comes with loads of variations. The mitts you see here have a real thumb gusset and fit very well. They have cables, lace work and beads. You can choose to make them longer at the cuff end. You can choose to omit the beads. There is an alternate chart that omits the cables. You can omit the thumb gusset and make long arm-warmers to peak out from your sleeves. You can make some pulse warmers with the smallest amount of special yarn.

The darling Godzilla was a gift from my dearest friend Janet and was something she had since she was a child. It has a "made in Japan" stamped on the bottom and looks like porcelain to me. I just love him. If you're in the area and want to make these mitts with me, sign up for the workshop! It is called "Burnished Gold Gauntlets."

Thanks to everyone for participating in my recent set of polls. I appreciate your suggestions. The Valentine's Day project is gestating! I'll be back with a material list for that soon. Until then, knit on!

Moving Forward!

Here is a preview of the Gauntlets I am working on for my up-coming workshop. Totally delicious yarn with nice beads. A bit of lace and a few cables...I am enjoying myself. Here are the socks I was working on over the weekend. More delicious yarn and I think the sock came out well too. This will be back...

The poll for our Valentine's Day project suggestions has closed and here are the result:

33 people wanted a lace sock design

37 people wanted lace mitts

89 people wanted a beaded lace scarf

101 people wanted a larger shawl project

I think everyone else just didn't care that much!

The numbers speak for themselves, so I am pondering. Time is the ultimate challenge, but I will design for a shawl. We might end up working on a scarf as a "swatch" for that shawl, but let's go forward thinking shawl, shall we? I put a new poll up to see what shawl concept the most people are interested in. If you select other, plan to leave a comment with what that means, or your vote will be without meaning to me! I am collecting materials and making charts. I make no promises to anyone, but I will consider all suggestions. Keep in mind that I never knit with any needles above a US 4 or 5 and sock weight yarn is about the heaviest I will likely enjoy using. More than that I can't yet predict. Vote on!

Workshop Announcements!

I will be doing a few workshops in February and March, and I thought I would share the information with all of you. If you go to the Knitting Nation website and click on the link for the Winter 2009 class schedule, you can scroll down to Workshops and see what there is to see. Under each of my workshops, there is a link to a PDF file with a flier. Check those out for details!

On Sunday February 8th, 2009, we are doing a Center Start Workshop, exploring different techniques to start a knit lace piece at the center. We will use the Little Flower doily pattern as our workshop project, and try different cast-ons. Everyone will leave with the confidence to finish the doily.
On Sunday March 8th, 2009, we will be doing a project based workshop called Burnish Gold Gauntlets. Techniques will include basic lace concepts and knitting lace on double-pointed needles. Adding beads to your lace will be an optional technique. The project is a pair of gorgeous lace mitts and picture are coming soon! This will be a fun class for beginners and experienced lace knitters alike.

The last workshop that is currently scheduled is a basic drop spinning workshop. Saturday February 22nd, 2009, BadKitten and I will be teaching Drop Spinning and if you want to learn how to spin or want to learn how to spin finer yarn, you will have a great time with us. See details on the flier (you have to scroll further down the workshop list to find the link.) We will supply all the materials for this workshop, so if you have always wanted to try spinning but never had an opportunity, this is it! Kids 13 and older with a serious interest in fiber-arts are welcome. Below is a selection of spindle-spun silk threads for embroidery, along with the spindle and fiber they were spun with. The scissors sheath is embroidered with similar hand-spun threads.

Aside with learning to use a top-whorl drop spindle, several types of spindles will be demonstrated and various yarns and projects will be available for inspection. We will discuss yarn structure and look critically at what yarn qualities work best in which projects. This promises to be an enjoyable afternoon.

On other topics:
Don't forget to cast your vote for our Valentine's Day project. As of right now, it is looking like a shawl. If that remains the case, as soon as this poll comes down I will be putting another up asking for you input on shawl shapes. If you have an opinion, please make it count!

I have another post coming soon which is very exciting to me. I have two new designs debuting at TNNA TODAY! I will post pictures and details of those projects tomorrow. Until then, keep knitting!

Workshop Alert!

I will be speaking at The Westchester Knitting Guild meeting, on September 22nd, 2008 at 7pm. The guild meets at the Chappaqua library. If you are interested and you're not a member, you can come as a guest and maybe join while you're there! I will be discussing lace traditions across both time (a few centuries) and space (a few countries.) I will bring charts to share. You can knit while I chat. The small pink and white sampler below is what we'll use, so bring needles and smooth, skinny yarn. I will also be teaching a lace workshop at Knitting Nation, in Nyack, New York, in October. This workshop will use a set of my special charts to explore a variety of lace techniques. The picture below and the pink and green swatches above will be part of the plan. Read more about it at the Knitting Nation website. I'll post a reminder and more details in October, but consider holding a spot for yourself now if you are interested. The workshop is two Sunday afternoons, but you can join for either or both Sundays, and you can choose to work on my special swatches or one of two projects you can knit using the same charts.
I have some other crazy stuff to share, but I deleted the pictures by accident so it will have to wait...until then, knit on!

Lace Workshop?

I will be teaching a workshop at Knitting Nation, in Nyack, New York, this coming Saturday afternoon. I will be covering four different double decreases, as they relate to lace knitting. We will use a spanking-new lace scarf pattern that I call "The Wallflower Scarf." It uses a few optional beads. I will post pictures of the scarf after the workshop. If you are intrigued, call Knitting Nation and save yourself a spot at the table. If you like my patterns, you will not be disappointed...

Slave to the Gypsy Queen...Halloween Eve

Halloween Eve is upon me, and the Gypsy Queen had a lovely time scoring candy. I don't sew much these days, but once a year she puts me through my paces. I did pretty well this time, if I do say so myself! I haven't gotten much knitting done this week, but I'll be back...

Here is a swatch for my Sampler Workshop, using very fine 2-ply Shetland yarn. I think I like it, but the yarn is so crisp I am not sure how to best use it. It makes a pretty swatch!

Sampler Workshop!

I am giving a workshop in Sampler Knitting for the Westchester Knitting Guild and there are a few spots still available. It will be on November 17th, from 11am-5pm, in Valhalla, New York. You do not need to be a guild member to join us. I will be covering several lace knitting techniques, including a temporary cast-on, directional decreases, a nice edging and corner miters for the edging. During the workshop we will knit a large swatch using all the above techniques. The handout will include the full chart-set for my Blue Ribbon Sampler, which was pictured in the most recent Vogue Knitting and has not even been release for sale yet! If you are interested, contact Olive McNeil (opm888@aol.com) for full details and to reserve a space.

Moving right along...what is on my needles?

Right now, I am all about samplers. I have a pattern (really more like a home study) based on a sampler that I designed, which I am hoping to have ready for distribution in the near future. I am re-knitting it in a finer gauge and tweaking the charts and instructions. I have already put together a workshop based on the sampler, which covers several useful lace knitting techniques. I will post pictures of my progress later this week. Here is the original sampler I designed.

I have found some really nice Internet resources for those of you interested in samplers:

Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_keywords=knit+sampler

Some excellent knit sampler photographs. Outstanding...

Needle Arts Bookshop:

http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/attic/amlaces1.html

A nice sampler photograph

The Textile Museum:

http://www.textilemuseum.org/PDFs/Worldwidetextilecollections.pdf

A PDF file of textile collections all over the place

Island Wool Garden website:

http://members.shaw.ca/wool-garden/studio/studio.html

http://members.shaw.ca/wool-garden/studio/simple_sampler.html

The virtual studio of Catherine M. Thomson, a brilliant lace knitter. The second link is a pattern for a small sampler from Ms. Thomson's website.

A Yahoogroup based on sampler knitting:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KnitalongSamplerM/

The moonrise website: is owned by Sandy Terp, who is a terrific lace knitter, designer and teacher. She has a kit for an old sampler pattern. You get a copy of the old pattern (in longhand) and Sandy's own lace notation or "shorthand" for the patterns. I am strictly a chart woman, but some people really like this lace "shorthand." You can get just the pattern, or the pattern with a generous supply of yarn.

http://members.tripod.com/moonriselaceknitting/kits.htm

Take a look at my Flickr pages, at the following link, to see some lovely sampler knitting based on the Susanna Lewis book.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/badcatdesigns/sets/72157600682308580/

I am also sharing a list of some of my favorite books related to sampler knitting. These are certainly not the only books with good fuel for the sampler fire, but they are the ones I though were most pertinent:

There is a lovely lace sampler in Victorian Knitting Today. I have not knit it, but I have drooled on the pages.

The Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns, by the wonderful Barbara Walker, is all about samplers. Some are lace and some are not. A wealth of good information.

This is the Holy Grail of lace knitting, mostly because it is so hard to get. Based on a sampler from the Brooklyn Museum that Susanna Lewis charted, you can reproduce that sampler, errors and all, with this book. A good read.

These three books are a wonderful resource for samplers in both lace and other stitches. The charts are excellent. The text is in German.

There are also wonderful books for lace stitches and for edgings, if you want to design your own samplers. Maybe we will go there in the near future. In the mean time, knit on!

Something on the side!

I am teaching a Lace Sampler workshop for three Thursday evenings this month at Knitting Nation, in Nyack New York. We had our first session this past week and I thought I would share our progress. We worked on doing a temporary cast-on and went on to reading lace charts. I had a very good time. Just hanging out at such a great yarn shop for three hours is fun, and this included that, plus excellent company and intense knitting! Just look at the deep concentration and determination! Just look at the lovely yarns!

This is Jane, who is one of the owners of Knitting Nation. She joined us for the workshop and I think it was the first time she had relaxed and just knit in weeks!

I'll post more about my new design progress later this weekend. Until then, knit on!

Workshop Notice

I will be teaching a Lace Sampler Workshop, based on my Blue Ribbon Sampler pattern, in August at Knitting Nation (Nyack, New York.) The design uses 13 different lace patterns and an optional edging. For details, take a look at the Knitting Nation website:
http://www.knittingnation.com/
and go to the Sampler Workshop link.

Half-way through the week...