tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91061835276105134572024-03-16T10:52:28.975-08:00Alaskan Purl Designsknitting.adventures.in.the.49th.stateAllisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-53944913071039707182012-06-04T12:00:00.000-08:002012-06-04T12:00:00.953-08:00Knitscene Accessories 2012: Sea Legs Scarf<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I was lucky enough to have TWO designs published in Knitscene Accessories 2012. Yesterday I talked about the Doe River Mittens and today I get to debut the <a href="http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/92874.aspx">Sea Legs Scarf</a> (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sea-legs-scarf">Rav it</a>).<br /><br />I've had this scarf in mind for a very long time and I'm so very glad it found a home in this issue. It fit right in with their Fisherman's theme and the yarn and color were absolutely perfect for this design.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5t5IBujE4hKpYNunxDFJrt1935cUDq9vKSPyDOAh-_VTw0FVXSSvlmTzL1Odgj4CRnCiglcX_IxbaiVfv-g7-OgAIaCWGnlGlgMUQHB6CnTMZUKKpRZPtkdd88ChBjNJmEPgZ8MN48J47/s1600/Haas%2520scarf%25202.jpg-550x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5t5IBujE4hKpYNunxDFJrt1935cUDq9vKSPyDOAh-_VTw0FVXSSvlmTzL1Odgj4CRnCiglcX_IxbaiVfv-g7-OgAIaCWGnlGlgMUQHB6CnTMZUKKpRZPtkdd88ChBjNJmEPgZ8MN48J47/s640/Haas%2520scarf%25202.jpg-550x0.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Knitscene</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's intended to be extra long to wrap around your neck multiple times and still have some length to drape down your body. Think of it as a nice alpaca hug.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here's a little snippet from my original submission that explains how the cables move through the scarf:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B17CtbvMuRTlHMf3SQw8F7dm5rrFs6G9-fSgIFff6pSDrAvH6v-VY2r_w2z39Z02RZ_dM__NUzq5gJp4HsXi2fe8T7sZwJIxsqUj7pqP1Z5TrcNvljMkc5C4J2u11_UIv_Hiri_g0GYf/s1600/Knitscene+Accessories+2012+Submission+-+Traveling+Cables+Scarf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B17CtbvMuRTlHMf3SQw8F7dm5rrFs6G9-fSgIFff6pSDrAvH6v-VY2r_w2z39Z02RZ_dM__NUzq5gJp4HsXi2fe8T7sZwJIxsqUj7pqP1Z5TrcNvljMkc5C4J2u11_UIv_Hiri_g0GYf/s640/Knitscene+Accessories+2012+Submission+-+Traveling+Cables+Scarf.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The design is fully charted and it’s such a wonderfully simple pattern that will hold your interest but is classically comfortable at the same time.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-g1t0Chk-YibLvLWxHxKBF9Iy-qQjQ1Qkomi_VzfUzWPUtQuzwKCimUXV0ulSEHhK4hlQKjOuuby4f4aDxRxB0pxLMaYE_XGyPtMn39AI-24qm-2rWHy7JEDzJBw-ZdQGfDFXVzZi2M9A/s1600/Haas%252520scarf.jpg-550x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-g1t0Chk-YibLvLWxHxKBF9Iy-qQjQ1Qkomi_VzfUzWPUtQuzwKCimUXV0ulSEHhK4hlQKjOuuby4f4aDxRxB0pxLMaYE_XGyPtMn39AI-24qm-2rWHy7JEDzJBw-ZdQGfDFXVzZi2M9A/s640/Haas%252520scarf.jpg-550x0.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Knitscene</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>The knitty gritty:</b></span></span></div>
</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Size 8" wide and 92" long <br />Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Melange (100% baby alpaca; 110 yd [100 m]/50 g): <br />• #809 toasted almond, 8 skeins <br />Gauge: 34 sts and 30 rows = 4" in chart patt <br />Tools:<br />• Size 5 (3.75 mm) needles <br />• Cable needle (cn) <br />• Yarn needle</span><br /><br /><b></b>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com104448-486 8th Ave, Skagway, AK 99840, USA59.4583333 -135.313888959.2002043 -135.94560289999998 59.716462299999996 -134.6821749tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-59071574856992371242012-06-03T12:05:00.000-08:002012-06-03T12:06:52.614-08:00Knitscene Accessories 2012: Doe River Mittens<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I'm learning to love the long cycles of print publications. There's so much time between when you complete the sample and when the design finally makes its debut into the world that you kind of forget that it even existed...and then you get to fall in love with it all over again once it's released!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">That's definitely the case with the <a href="http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/92917.aspx" target="_blank">Doe River Mittens</a> (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/doe-river-mittens" target="_blank">Rav it</a>). Knit in the buttery soft Knit Picks Andean Treasure, these mittens combine twisted stitches, ribbing, cables, bobbles, and reverse stockinette in a smart and sophisticated mitten.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NVra2iDQ6YNewL4HviW5k9ifuJj9U2U-CjDNnH8x7ZoiB1g73eWKRVc598REpkNl4qOQnP7yiiGLIAJZblstBAIQnQ4x5r0kBmZ14a19GEY_SkrVrlzZbHEJH_Gm9TULOE8ZiIZcrVjv/s1600/Haas%2520mittens%25202.jpg-550x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NVra2iDQ6YNewL4HviW5k9ifuJj9U2U-CjDNnH8x7ZoiB1g73eWKRVc598REpkNl4qOQnP7yiiGLIAJZblstBAIQnQ4x5r0kBmZ14a19GEY_SkrVrlzZbHEJH_Gm9TULOE8ZiIZcrVjv/s640/Haas%2520mittens%25202.jpg-550x0.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Knitscene</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Knit from the top down using circular needles & Magic Loop, the tip of the mitten starts out with twisted stitch rib and then moves into an offset cable and bobble detail for the body of the mitten and then moves back into twisted rib for the cuff. A faceted bead is sewn into the center of each 4-bobble cluster for a fancy touch.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj4GJxcqbyydySgMCopXrWimp5b4ECu4XUULunaWiuzO6zWDh4Re0st59JvherhTZWE3YkGP4aZnmNXD6JR3_-6YUi0Z3MiR_dsR83clia4F4iTO-nYqierDQ4sr89g9GQGdfIH2SIX3S/s1600/haas%2520mittens%25201.jpg-550x0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj4GJxcqbyydySgMCopXrWimp5b4ECu4XUULunaWiuzO6zWDh4Re0st59JvherhTZWE3YkGP4aZnmNXD6JR3_-6YUi0Z3MiR_dsR83clia4F4iTO-nYqierDQ4sr89g9GQGdfIH2SIX3S/s640/haas%2520mittens%25201.jpg-550x0.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Knitscene</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The palm of the mitten is all worked in twisted rib, with the thumbs finished off in reverse stockinette.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The knitty gritty:</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Size:</strong> 8½" hand circumference and 9" tall<br /><strong>Yarn:</strong> Knit Picks Andean Treasure (100% baby alpaca; 110 yd [101 m]/50 g): fog heather, 2 balls<br /><strong>Gauge:</strong> 34 sts and 31 rnds = 4" in k1tbl, p1 rib<br /><strong>Tools:</strong><br />• Size 3 (3.25 mm) needles (see Notes)<br />• Markers (m)<br />• Cable needle (cn)<br />• Yarn needle<br />• Waste yarn<br />• Six 4 mm clear or light silver faceted beads<br />• Bead needle<br />• Thread</span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com60Skagway, AK, USA59.4583333 -135.313888959.2001403 -135.94560289999998 59.7165263 -134.6821749tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-85813371227320987712012-06-02T23:16:00.002-08:002012-06-02T23:27:39.081-08:00Keeping your cool when spotting a knitting celebrityFor the most part, nothing knitterly happens in my town. And if it does, I know about it. So, it was quite unexpected last week when I happened to bump into a knitting celebrity all the way up here in seemingly-middle-of-nowhere Alaska.<br />
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Picture this: I'm sitting at my desk last Thursday completely exhausted from working 15 hour days and I'm barely able to keep my eyes open. My coworkers' voices blaring from my handheld radio kept me company as I half listened to the train being loaded at the rear of the Depot. All of a sudden I hear over the radio, "Ticket office to Stationmaster: Will you please make an announcement for an Anne Kuo. We have her passport at the ticket window. It was found in the parking lot."<br />
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Hmmm...Anne Kuo....Anne Kuo....<i>Anne Kuo</i>....My sleepy mind was ticking through its contents as quickly as it could and then it dawned on me why this name sounded familiar. Now fully awake, I got up from my desk and walked down the hallway to the ticket office to investigate, just as the stationmaster was making the announcement for the holder of the lost passport. I mean, it really couldn't be who I thought it was, could it?<br />
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I'm standing there in the ticket office looking out at a lobby full of people when I see a woman recognize her name being called over the loud speaker. Holy crow, it's <a href="http://www.craftydiversions.com/" target="_blank">Anne Kuo Lukito, of Crafty Diversions</a> fame! I recognized her right away from the many online photos of herself modeling her amazing designs.<br />
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I snatched the passport out of the hand of my staff member and headed out the door, not wanting to miss the opportunity to say hello. I was so excited that I found that I was having to force myself to swallow the goofy grin I had on my face so that I could avoid looking like I had just escaped from the looney bin. I was also having a hard time breathing just like the first time I met Harrison Ford. <i>I never said I was going to be cool about this.</i><br />
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As I handed the passport to her, I asked Anne what I already knew: "Are you THE Anne Kuo, aka Crafty Diversions?"<br />
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Of course, she said she was and I told her that I was also a knitter/designer. She asked me my name and I told her Allison Haas, but I blog/design under the name Alaskan Purl. She said she had heard of my name (be still my heart) and then we exchanged pleasantries and she was on her way to board the train.<br />
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And thus began my morning of completely geeking out over the fact that I had just met Anne Kuo Lukito in the WPYR Depot lobby. My coworkers were probably sick of hearing about it by the time the day was over. But I couldn't help bragging. Nothing like this ever happens to me.<br />
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About five minutes after I talked to her, I felt my pocket vibrate and so I pulled out my phone to find a nice little shout out from Anne on Twitter!<br />
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How cool is that?!</div>
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I think what most struck me about my chance encounter was just how random it was. I mean, of all the thousands of people in town that day, it was Anne whose passport somehow slipped out of her grasp as she walked through the Depot parking lot. Then a kind person found it and turned it into our ticket office. And then I happened to hear the radio call, out of the many dozens that happen throughout the morning, when I'm actually quite bad about having it turned up loud enough for me to hear anything at all. And then I was the one who got to deliver the lost passport to her.</div>
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I guess the universe just knew that I needed a pick-me-up. Who knew that a lost passport could bring so much joy? Well done, universe. Well done.</div>
<br />Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-80759626664745176692012-06-02T21:03:00.001-08:002012-06-02T21:32:48.219-08:00Twist Collective Spring: Asti<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWW8YGyE6wifIJLROzp8EJDijxvaEG4L-Llmhqf6IC8wUSG130RWHSQcqFJdMKjTrzr3KTxSR5Jw9QpavPYGWKALz6vy-j8J0uvgSMJUFpuGJIwAMKS1DElUneD9kALnD-nVABolMmJ9Y/s1600/asti_z_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWW8YGyE6wifIJLROzp8EJDijxvaEG4L-Llmhqf6IC8wUSG130RWHSQcqFJdMKjTrzr3KTxSR5Jw9QpavPYGWKALz6vy-j8J0uvgSMJUFpuGJIwAMKS1DElUneD9kALnD-nVABolMmJ9Y/s640/asti_z_500_medium2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
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I can't believe it's been nearly two months since <a href="http://www.alaskanpurl.com/2012/04/asti.html">Asti </a>was released in the <a href="http://www.twistcollective.com/2012/spring/magazinepage_053.php" target="_blank">Spring Twist Collective</a> and I haven't given it a proper post. Things have been more than a little out of balance and I sadly have not had time to pick up my needles in many many weeks. Working 15 hour days leaves room for little else.<br />
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But enough complaining! On to the good stuff...<br />
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Worked from the toe up, Asti incorporates many <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large;">elements of spring</span></i> in the design. The simple rib in the toe leads to cables snaking up the foot, just like <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">roots</span> </i></span>of a <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large;">plant</span></i>. Then moving up the ankle, the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><i>roots</i></span> grow into <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large;">stems</span></i> that move off to the edges of the ankle and <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large;">bloom</span></i> into bobbles arranged as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>flowers</i></span>.</span> Meanwhile, the remainder of the front of the sock is finished off on a background of <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">seed</span> </span></i>stitch.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnr2WfyR3gFCyBF12qynkB66upbMtY3TxMGsY0Lx9PhW77189Z53fml8ZCg9up8_uzYPVOjI43Fys8SeiJioLH05vLj1F7sNEeoVBjC4iuVit0ubtAPdStpCdf5upa03t2oYCxMywYlcLE/s1600/asti_a_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnr2WfyR3gFCyBF12qynkB66upbMtY3TxMGsY0Lx9PhW77189Z53fml8ZCg9up8_uzYPVOjI43Fys8SeiJioLH05vLj1F7sNEeoVBjC4iuVit0ubtAPdStpCdf5upa03t2oYCxMywYlcLE/s640/asti_a_500_medium2.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A lovely mirror image</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntNwlo2VNqMCuIK1YOiTFInE78YQRzNRNyZN942MN6FHCcWe-4egtu9QRsERsXkebWM-oQN7q7xDIaBlrXMC4C6eJ5c5NT_c5ICQp7FGOxjSmiayfuS3UObU_QVKIsW-Gw-TBj4ZScAal/s1600/asti_b_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntNwlo2VNqMCuIK1YOiTFInE78YQRzNRNyZN942MN6FHCcWe-4egtu9QRsERsXkebWM-oQN7q7xDIaBlrXMC4C6eJ5c5NT_c5ICQp7FGOxjSmiayfuS3UObU_QVKIsW-Gw-TBj4ZScAal/s640/asti_b_500_medium2.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A perfect side view </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFSNrx9U2E36y8nCPcvvCHQ0NEq8ecHxRRLdG6kH2wTdnw-M5NRzgwrhLJA0IzvImO42Mcf7WbUAKeJsn0bo6vvkpWPJR-0taNxAtA8oGvXwBo4C5C1XgHU1h97qwJ1NlPippjM4Qa6gl/s1600/asti_c_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFSNrx9U2E36y8nCPcvvCHQ0NEq8ecHxRRLdG6kH2wTdnw-M5NRzgwrhLJA0IzvImO42Mcf7WbUAKeJsn0bo6vvkpWPJR-0taNxAtA8oGvXwBo4C5C1XgHU1h97qwJ1NlPippjM4Qa6gl/s640/asti_c_500_medium2.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A close-up of the bobble bloom detail...add a bead in the middle for a fancy alternative!</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3Bj0tupV56-Z3ulB1kiXfgZk3hXV-2zlZNgagfSvCzaZ0yNRhgRKgQlcozhcWnAvx1ssQceg21zV49t4m1OmrN0wrLF8QLwAYLUEAXkbDmuiS4JRCyBG-aVB7dicAB4gL0QwxBiEK9L_/s1600/asti_d_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3Bj0tupV56-Z3ulB1kiXfgZk3hXV-2zlZNgagfSvCzaZ0yNRhgRKgQlcozhcWnAvx1ssQceg21zV49t4m1OmrN0wrLF8QLwAYLUEAXkbDmuiS4JRCyBG-aVB7dicAB4gL0QwxBiEK9L_/s640/asti_d_500_medium2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The back view - A simple 2x2 rib to play against the ornate front</span></i></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>The knitty gritty:</b></span><br />
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<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Finished measurements:</span>Foot circumference: 7 ½ (8)" / 19<br />(20.5) cm, unstretched<br />Leg length: 6" / 15 cm to top of heel<br />Shown in size 7 ½" / 19 cm</span></div>
<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Yarn:</span><br />2 (3) skeins O-Wool Classic 2-ply<br />(198 yds / 181 m per 1 ¾ oz / 50 g skein; 100% Certified Organic Merino) in #2113 Robin’s Egg</span></div>
<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Needles & Notions:</span><br />Size 1 US / 2.25 mm circular needle, 32" / 80 cm long</span></div>
<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cable needle, stitch markers, tapestry needle</span></div>
<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Gauge:</span><br />34 sts and 56 rnds = 4" / 10 cm in<br />Stockinette stitch</span></div>
<div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Construction Notes:</span> Socks worked from the toe up with a gusset-and-flap heels. The stitch patterns are mirrored on the two socks. Stitch patterns are presented in both Charts and row-by-row instructions.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/index.php/component/content/article/95-spring-summer-2012-patterns/1095-asti-by-allison-haas" target="_blank">Click here</a></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> to purchase via Twist Collective's site...happy knitting!</span></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com45448-486 8th Ave, Skagway, AK 99840, USA59.4583333 -135.313888959.2002043 -135.94560289999998 59.716462299999996 -134.6821749tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-21228261092832938322012-04-30T10:00:00.000-08:002012-04-30T10:00:04.443-08:00AstiSo, I'm so behind the times that I've neglected to mention my new design out in the Spring Twist Collective a couple weeks ago. <a href="http://www.twistcollective.com/2012/spring/magazinepage_053.php">Asti</a> is a sock design that incorporates many elements of spring....seed stitch, root-like cables, and blossoms! (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/asti">Rav it here.</a>)<br />
<br />
I'll be back soon to give it a proper blog post! But until then, feel free to go give it some love on Ravelry. ;) Let's see if we can make it the most favorited sock design in this edition!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNUIcZZwMc-jAHHwPDJHNt3ajJk70Gz9KHTQ5MZVAFY3bc4gKLsM39gx_9bXr-gZ3xvJx12TcKgeJOBPJVxiPX3F_p9wDmpv08-RLgZ-PJqfldbgoAGtlpD047JtrAJ5B_nLqYzFXqMEU/s1600/asti_z_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNUIcZZwMc-jAHHwPDJHNt3ajJk70Gz9KHTQ5MZVAFY3bc4gKLsM39gx_9bXr-gZ3xvJx12TcKgeJOBPJVxiPX3F_p9wDmpv08-RLgZ-PJqfldbgoAGtlpD047JtrAJ5B_nLqYzFXqMEU/s640/asti_z_500_medium2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Twist Collective</td></tr>
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<br />Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-39894715935098655292012-04-29T21:40:00.001-08:002012-04-29T21:40:19.557-08:00Unraveling AffectionYes, I know. It's been a while.<br />
<br />
You see, about two months ago I got a promotion at work, which I am super excited about. With any new job, one would expect a steep learning curve during the transition period. However, my situation has been complicated by the fact that I, with a seemingly sane and clear mind, said that I would perform both my old job and my new job for the next 7 months, so as to have as minimal impact as possible on our summer operations. <br />
<br />
While all that seems like a valiant thing to do in support of my employer, it's made a complete disaster of my personal life. Working 12-14 hour days has taken its toll on me and the evidence is obvious with one look in my house. Piles of dishes, dirty laundry, rotten food in the fridge. Just one day off since March 1 and I spent that day sleeping.<br />
<br />
So, needless to say, knitting has also been sadly moved to the back burner. I can't even carry a conversation when I get home from work, let alone read a chart or write up a pattern. Luckily I have no upcoming deadlines and I made the very wise decision this winter/spring to not submit to any upcoming publications so that I could work on my own designs at my own pace.<br />
<br />
But when Maya at <a href="http://www.springtreeroad.com/">Springtree Road</a> put up an update a while back, I snapped up some of her gorgeous sock yarns in a very pale dusty lavender, dark charcoal grey, and a bright deep fuchsia with a <a href="http://www.rainknitwear.com/index.php/patterns/shawls-hats/color-affection">Color Affection shawl</a> in mind. I figured, hey, it's all garter stitch. Exactly what I need for a "me" project, since I haven't had any just-for-fun knitting in a really long time. What could possibly be easier than that? <br />
<br />
Turns out a lot of things. Even garter stitch is a little too much for my fried brain right now. I've had to start this effing thing over 4 times now. This most recent time I actually thought that I had finally gotten it right. All my stitch counts were correct after each row and things seemed to be progressing swimmingly. I was envisioning myself wearing my new shawl maybe by the 4th of July....er, possibly Halloween...hmmmm, definitely by Christmas. <br />
<br />
But something kept nagging at me all along that my edges were way too tight. But I kept ignoring that little itch in my brain until I realized that, yes, the edges were way too tight and I couldn't in good conscience let myself continue this way and feel good about it.<br />
<br />
But instead of ripping it out immediately like I usually do, I carried it around in my bag for a few days, thinking that maybe I just needed to let it rest. Because we all know there's nothing worse than that feeling you get after you frog something and then you realize that you really didn't need to after all. Am I right?<br />
<br />
Somehow, I guess I was hoping that the knitting gods would cure my knitting of its terminal disease.<br />
<br />
But this afternoon I realized that the handwriting was on the wall and I just needed to pull the plug. So, even though I was in the office and should have been doing the bazillion things on my to do list, I pulled the sickly project out of my bag and put it out of its misery.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuGmxTqrINQ3WmFvaEul0_KU9l4zMOPySSv_qmWiCSH3aVKGKM8Lozfv5GCs7rnU5T51mQ1e_5n81I8PwitTcHJ3xs_8VV2U7uDQKymaE65mrIvwle7QlDLjwxkr2KS3M1Yb5uJqKKtaK/s1600/photo-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="471" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuGmxTqrINQ3WmFvaEul0_KU9l4zMOPySSv_qmWiCSH3aVKGKM8Lozfv5GCs7rnU5T51mQ1e_5n81I8PwitTcHJ3xs_8VV2U7uDQKymaE65mrIvwle7QlDLjwxkr2KS3M1Yb5uJqKKtaK/s640/photo-21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And afterwards, I felt so much better. Who knew that a fresh start would feel so good?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgQAL0oRhyJgXD0jg21vSXOu_l3CETvmVgcsnS5jrh-jyFO1_Mk4RQEL_Q4_uPglj5yEunQZvQpr7jygoOE85Wqlz9wCUIFG9tEtSKmxM8qv460DRe0styzQFXR9YZYA9n6jV8l0GWiQy/s1600/photo-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgQAL0oRhyJgXD0jg21vSXOu_l3CETvmVgcsnS5jrh-jyFO1_Mk4RQEL_Q4_uPglj5yEunQZvQpr7jygoOE85Wqlz9wCUIFG9tEtSKmxM8qv460DRe0styzQFXR9YZYA9n6jV8l0GWiQy/s640/photo-19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Casting on again tonight for the fifth time. Going to try keep the edges super loose. At least I know I'm not the only one with this problem. The <a href="http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/">Yarn Harlot</a> had to frog her Color Affection for this very same reason. I'm in very good company indeed.Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-11416025370159155862012-02-11T19:36:00.002-09:002012-02-11T22:03:33.241-09:00Jayne Cobb HatLast summer I got an email from Liz, who works for another tour company in town. She was organizing the annual silent auction for the local chapter of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.alaskatia.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">ATIA, the Alaska Travel Industry Association</span></a> </span>and wanted to know if I wanted to donate something to the silent auction, namely to design a hat for the highest bidder. Being in the stressful middle of the summer, my knee-jerk reaction was, "Hell no!", but Liz admitted that it was a wholly selfish request she had made of me since she wanted a new hat and would make sure to be the highest bidder. <br />
<br />
This development presented me with a much more palatable proposition. You see, in my eyes, Liz is pretty stylish and the thought of designing a hat for her seemed really attractive. My mind was already swirling with ideas and I was excited to also eventually turn this into another design that I could release to the masses. <br />
<br />
So, I agreed to do it and then immediately put it out of my mind. Then came the day after the auction and my curiosity was getting the best of me so I inquired how much my design-a-hat donation had gone for....I can't actually remember how much (I think $80?), but what immediately caught my attention was that the highest bidder was....someone named Adam. Say what?!<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how it happened that Liz was not the highest bidder, but I now had to design a hat for someone I didn't know...and was a little worried about it. I mean, what if they made outrageous demands of me and made me knit them a really long stocking cap that would take forever (lord knows, I didn't have the time for <i>that</i>) or a really complicated whoosie-whatsie style that I didn't know anything about? My mind was again swirling, but not in a good way.<br />
<br />
So, I got a call from Adam not long after to discuss the hat. He told me he wanted the hat from the tv show Firefly, which I had never heard of. He told me I would recognize it if I saw it and that I should <a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=jayne+cobb+hat&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Google "Jayne Cobb Hat"</span></a>. That did absolutely nothing to clarify, but I now knew the task at hand. Pretty easy-peasy Stockinette in the round....even in my stupefied burned-out-from-the-summer state, I felt like I could crank this out pretty quickly.<br />
<br />
But...I had to find just the right yarn and then just the right colors, which proved to much harder than I thought. I scoured Rav and found about a bajillion versions of this hat, which helped immensely in finding the right combination. I settled on Lamb's Pride Bulky and put in my order.<br />
<br />
The yarn arrived just before my trip home to Ohio in October, so I was able to work a few rounds before I left. And then I figured I would wait until I returned to finish it, which I estimated would take no longer than a weekend. But then November arrived...and then December...and then January, and still the hat sat there unfinished. I got a call from Adam in late January asking if I was almost finished and I felt so sheepish (why, yes, pun intended) when I told him that it was still not done. <br />
<br />
I'm not sure what is taking me so long...oh wait, yes I do. The yarn and needles are killing my hands, the colors are not my favorite, and that Stockinette in the round that sounded to wonderful during the summer was now boring me to pieces. Add all those things together and you've got the recipe for months of procrastination.<br />
<br />
So, cue Saturday February 11, 2012. Today is the day I have decided that the WIPs that have been weighing on my brain have <i>got</i> to be finished so that I can move on to other things. Especially WIPs that only have a small amount left to do, like this hat.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEialL8YRpZt8jjfKcYbE9ugJAzgshAeMV5B-W_8NTFNEY1EZ6ZSv0sNEPt4Cnpv_mdvhfxiF9yfclaY36on4rWo7EI29fVixeA_tgRf4aezNqkx9h7bAgQXKmQSxaFtzG4H7ZQQBiuQpErX/s1600/Firefly" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEialL8YRpZt8jjfKcYbE9ugJAzgshAeMV5B-W_8NTFNEY1EZ6ZSv0sNEPt4Cnpv_mdvhfxiF9yfclaY36on4rWo7EI29fVixeA_tgRf4aezNqkx9h7bAgQXKmQSxaFtzG4H7ZQQBiuQpErX/s640/Firefly" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm almost finished with the crown decreases and should have the earflaps and pompom finished tomorrow. And I can call this biotch finished! Yeah!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Up next on my WIPs-who-will-be-finished-or-else list is the <a href="http://www.alaskanpurl.com/2011/04/1000-stitches.html">Pineapple Lace</a> piece that really should have been finished a year ago. I'm completely embarrassed that it's still not finished. But not for long! It's going <i>down</i>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But first....earflaps.</div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-46999708014156921972011-11-21T19:24:00.001-09:002011-11-21T21:28:05.861-09:00Stitch and Bitch, Skagway style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">For awhile now I've wondered what it would be like to have a knitting community in my immediate vicinity. For so long I've been a solitary knitter and I prefer that, for the most part. Knitting is intensely personal for me: a time to really be still with my thoughts while I mull over every topic under the sun, from what I'm going to eat for dinner to what my life's purpose is (deep, I know).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I've grown in my craft for the most part by myself, with no one around to tell me that I'm doing something wrong, or that I'm doing something right. I kind of vaguely knew that there were others here in Skagway who knit, but it was never anyone who I felt like I would or could hang out with. So my stitch and bitch nights consisted of me, myself and I. And I really started to wonder what it would be like to not have to bitch to myself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">So, to solve my problem of having no one to stitch and bitch with, I've been casually pushing my friends to learn how to knit. A couple weeks ago, a lady in town offered a beginning knitting class and I oh-so-discreetly texted my friend Sarah and told her about it. <a href="http://www.alaskanpurl.com/2009/02/scarf-for-sarah.html">Sarah has been on the receiving end of some of my handiwork</a>, so I knew she was at least semi-interested in knittery things. I was so excited when she decided to go!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">She learned the basics in the class and then came shopping in my stash last week for a suitable yarn for her first project (she chose a gorgeous blue alpaca blend yarn, by the way...a girl after my own heart). We then had our first stitch and bitch the following night at a local bar. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7PONdKiS1ovl18j0zYeB6wE7tLy71pqGUIqy705U6SjMcQ0vc5IWoOI7urlWhjhU4STdclfoQ3CAcg256OZ4rnIXPs_3vPobukov4sPJa2gMXWctok25uXInx3iu_gtMA6mp2YuG6MzP/s1600/photo2.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7PONdKiS1ovl18j0zYeB6wE7tLy71pqGUIqy705U6SjMcQ0vc5IWoOI7urlWhjhU4STdclfoQ3CAcg256OZ4rnIXPs_3vPobukov4sPJa2gMXWctok25uXInx3iu_gtMA6mp2YuG6MzP/s640/photo2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">We numbered only three but I'm encouraged that we'll have another very soon and hopefully our numbers will grow. It was surprisingly nice to knit in the presence of others...and I felt only a little bit self-conscious (mostly because of the curious looks we were getting from fellow barflies), but I'm hoping that will wear off in time. And I'm hoping that I can encourage even more of my friends to pick up sticks! Yeah!</div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-31467731419399869152011-11-19T13:08:00.000-09:002011-11-19T13:08:00.064-09:00Winter IK 2011 PreviewBe still my knitting heart. <br />
<br />
I have been obsessively going to Interweave's website to see when the Winter IK preview photos would be uploaded.<br />
<br />
I guess maybe I haven't checked in a day or so, but this morning I went to see if anything new had been put up and....it has! <br />
<br />
My Offset Cable Mittens are included in this issue...my very first print publication!<br />
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Here's are some links you should follow right now!<br />
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<a href="http://www.interweaveknits.com/preview/winter-knits-2011.asp#pan-am-jacket">Winter IK 2011 Projects Preview</a><br />
<a href="http://www.interweaveknits.com/galleries/bonus/Winter-2011/offset-cable-mittens.asp">Offset Cable Mittens - Extra Photos </a><br />
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I'll give these mittens a proper post soon, but I just had to shout this from the rooftops as soon as I could. You understand, right? Right.Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-73604461683213658252011-11-15T21:17:00.001-09:002011-11-15T21:19:08.990-09:00Twist Collective Winter - Swansea...New Design!<div style="text-align: left;">Okay, so the <a href="http://twistcollective.com/2011/winter/magazinepage_01.php">Winter 2011 edition of Twist Collective</a> has been out a little over 24 hours now and I'm still not coming down from the high I got from leafing through the virtual pages. What an amazing collection! A couple of my favorites are <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yukimi">Yukimi by Maureen Hefti</a> and <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bellevue">Bellevue by Robin Melanson</a>. But my jaw literally dropped when I saw <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/voluta">Voluta by Rachel Erin</a>. One word: Stunning. But you really can't go wrong with <i>any</i> of the designs in this edition. I might choose to knit them <i>all</i> if I had the chance! You definitely have to appreciate the amazing talent that goes into creating these unique gems.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Considering the caliber of talent in this issue, I'm so honored and excited to have a design included! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://twistcollective.com/2011/winter/magazinepage_057.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Meet Swansea:</span></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjpXlvLHEsF3NiOTGLDX07o6nTdyoF9DVQNtR2ktsEViJOQ0EHQjcr7_OcU0XzMMdVXjRuobBbMMEWNdB4DdGx9RuUCRPgcXmWjj70aCkTtW3SP6nNqx9Z7eM07XiP3OS2XBkFkbJ1Ici/s1600/swansea_z_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjpXlvLHEsF3NiOTGLDX07o6nTdyoF9DVQNtR2ktsEViJOQ0EHQjcr7_OcU0XzMMdVXjRuobBbMMEWNdB4DdGx9RuUCRPgcXmWjj70aCkTtW3SP6nNqx9Z7eM07XiP3OS2XBkFkbJ1Ici/s640/swansea_z_500_medium2.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Swansea is a hat/mitten combo that combines twisted stitches and nupps, two of my hugest obsessions right now. I liked the idea of the twisted stitch rib coming from different directions and then interlacing, ending in a cute little bobbly nupp...here's my original vision in the submission swatch, knit in KP Wool of the Andes.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg184Ol5sTESbGVEHqsH2XNMOjYmecO2lJ8XljusfgGzClH7JSLhG5VOr7_3AlF-l_Mmw_k-mvrDPT_Ohtf05XXpV0qFe2T8y4hv5Kq9vkw2Fs6vMYuMpMHCSnWfPOK1jIsByqevfvgpJVz/s1600/mitten1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg184Ol5sTESbGVEHqsH2XNMOjYmecO2lJ8XljusfgGzClH7JSLhG5VOr7_3AlF-l_Mmw_k-mvrDPT_Ohtf05XXpV0qFe2T8y4hv5Kq9vkw2Fs6vMYuMpMHCSnWfPOK1jIsByqevfvgpJVz/s320/mitten1.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Taking that idea and adding in some <a href="http://quinceandco.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2&zenid=e8873ecfb3f873e28907112233800b71"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Quince & Co Lark</span></a> in a vibrant green and you get the finished product below! While the stitch pattern covers the back of the hand, the palm and thumb are worked in the simple but lovely reverse stockinette.</span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoaZifde_mz7FMkt820Qi-RdMxvtdz1weDZAAfSdNxwgtbrWITa37KdjGji5f_8NGf1FNU6d6GC8u1qdXDZreSPwF80KnSgt8uc_gg3SObDj1k7MpsNjsfrEBUBLtErY7h3QWbrwq3OTF/s1600/w11_swansea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoaZifde_mz7FMkt820Qi-RdMxvtdz1weDZAAfSdNxwgtbrWITa37KdjGji5f_8NGf1FNU6d6GC8u1qdXDZreSPwF80KnSgt8uc_gg3SObDj1k7MpsNjsfrEBUBLtErY7h3QWbrwq3OTF/s640/w11_swansea.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"> Now, my original submission was just for mittens, but Kate asked me if I could come up with a complementary hat. An idea had been already bouncing around in my brain, so I naturally said I would and the resulting topper turned out just as I had pictured.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23zJgYXL2sVRAG3sES3WqHr753at0Li7YcYrlsJF4ULIByYwdGEemqeefYWxT8kSnLDdhej3TqfvSIFR9DTteegWppMjRLqttq8EiGlEfcKrEhhwEA3n7iJ6zur2S-FmY0pyENfzNjlBZ/s1600/swansea_b_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23zJgYXL2sVRAG3sES3WqHr753at0Li7YcYrlsJF4ULIByYwdGEemqeefYWxT8kSnLDdhej3TqfvSIFR9DTteegWppMjRLqttq8EiGlEfcKrEhhwEA3n7iJ6zur2S-FmY0pyENfzNjlBZ/s640/swansea_b_500_medium2.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Although I had envisioned these designs knit up in a heathered yarn (when DON'T I envision something in a heather?!), I thought the solid effect turned out great and was a perfect fit for their <a href="http://twistcollective.com/2011/winter/magazinepage_050.php">Bright Spots feature</a>. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBITmCJ9SIyhykuV8VKidSjopGni7_t_6Zx_Zzj7Bpo7A1kuWHVhZ1DoR9ccEBEsjJW-2TcrDPRyBeb3gICPEkpM8-0S6QQUgw9zGif0TMbqjdI_7cCWwHYxvGWi0yZALD0M_9JuTlj3L4/s1600/w221_swansea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBITmCJ9SIyhykuV8VKidSjopGni7_t_6Zx_Zzj7Bpo7A1kuWHVhZ1DoR9ccEBEsjJW-2TcrDPRyBeb3gICPEkpM8-0S6QQUgw9zGif0TMbqjdI_7cCWwHYxvGWi0yZALD0M_9JuTlj3L4/s640/w221_swansea.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Photo by Jamie Dixon...Courtesy of Twist Collective</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Let's get down to details, shall we?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span></div><div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Finished measurements:</span><br />
<i>Mittens: </i><br />
Mitten circumference: 7 ¾ (8 ½)" / 19.5 (21.5) cm<br />
Length: 9 ½ (10 ½)" / 24 (26.5) cm<br />
Shown in size 7 ¾" / 19.5 cm<br />
<br />
<i>Hat: </i><br />
Head circumference: 18 ½ (19 ¾, 21, 22 ¼)" / 47 (50, 53.5, 56.5) cm<br />
Hat height: 8 (8 ½, 9, 9 ½)" / 20.5 (21.5, 23, 24) cm<br />
Shown in size 18 ½" / 47 cm<br />
Intended to be worn with 2" / 5 cm of negative ease.</span></div><div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Yarn:</span><br />
3 skeins Quince & Co. Lark (134 yds / 123 m per 1 ¾ oz / 50 g hank; 100% American Wool ) in Parsley<br />
Two skeins of yarn will make either the hat or the pair of mittens.</span></div><div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Needles & Notions:</span><br />
Size 5 US / 3.75 mm needles in style preferred for small circumference knitting in the round and 16" / 40 cm circular needle.</span></div><div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Two stitch markers, tapestry needle, waste yarn</span></div><div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Gauge:</span><br />
26 sts and 34 rows = 4" / 10 cm in p3, k1 tbl ribbing in the round<br />
24 sts and 34 rows = 4" / 10 cm in Stockinette stitch in the round</span></div><div mce_style="font-size: small; font-family: Trebuchet MS,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em;" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Construction Notes:</span> The mittens are worked from cuff to tip, and the hat is worked from the bottom up. The twisted rib and bobble patterns are presented in both charts and row-by-row instructions.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">To purchase Swansea, please <a href="http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/index.php/component/content/article/93-winter-2011-patterns/1033-allison-haas"><i>follow this link to the Twist Collective website</i></a>. Thanks very much for your interest!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-25450472447549700672011-10-30T09:50:00.001-08:002011-10-30T09:52:38.866-08:00Alluvia of a different color<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCGqeaYG5wqRSDTJNB6RifXE6BHEboA2XKT2-ksQ_ITHKVaienHCVoUgHNnFwCIEsZ-7pAC7axUATGBGZ0EWkO7taRoc7xLBugjUkdHIwbqvfln-RKh_Bj0B2uZl0dhRziO87eweiwYv-/s1600/DSC_0598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCGqeaYG5wqRSDTJNB6RifXE6BHEboA2XKT2-ksQ_ITHKVaienHCVoUgHNnFwCIEsZ-7pAC7axUATGBGZ0EWkO7taRoc7xLBugjUkdHIwbqvfln-RKh_Bj0B2uZl0dhRziO87eweiwYv-/s640/DSC_0598.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alluvia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><i>Alluvia</i></span></a> was released last year, I really had no idea how it would do. It had been rejected from a couple print publications but it finally found a home in the Knit Picks IDP. Once released, it earned its advance back pretty quickly and sales were fairly brisk. And then it was included in a Knit Picks email newsletter as the featured pattern and...well...things just completely exploded after that.</div><br />
I've been so encouraged by the response to this design and it's been so fun to see new projects pop up on Ravelry and on other blogs. I especially love seeing what color combinations people come up with. I'm a color whore when it comes to knitting so some of the color selections that people have used have really made my heart squeal.<br />
<br />
There have been a couple of the bags completed in the last few days that have really caught my attention... check out <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.talithakuomi.com/blog/?p=3749"><i>this Alluvia bag that Talitha Kuomi created</i></a></span>. Isn't it so effing lovely?! She used KP Wool of the Andes as the original pattern calls for, but instead of having each ruffle be a different color, she just striped the yarn any which way she wanted as she worked through the ruffles and I positively love the effect. She also didn't felt it and instead of i-cord she added a really cool belt as the strap, all of which contributed to a really unique Alluvia. Love it!<br />
<br />
As I was browsing through Rav this morning, I also saw <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/pansylane/alluvia-2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><i>this Alluvia from pansylane</i></span></a>. How cool is that? She used KP Palette instead of Wool of the Andes and the result is a perfectly beautiful and lighter weight Alluvia. I love how she styled her FO pictures as well.<br />
<br />
Hmmm....I might have to order some Palette today and try that out for myself. But <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Palette_Yarn__D5420132.html"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Palette comes in so many lovely colors</span></i></a>, I wouldn't even know where to begin. And let's be honest...I have more than enough on my knitting plate right now.<br />
<br />
Have you created an Alluvia that hasn't been posted on Ravelry yet? If so, head on over there right now<i> - HURRY! - </i> and upload some photos...I'd love to see them!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-29982304003202551472011-08-07T21:13:00.000-08:002011-08-07T21:13:26.986-08:00A stitch for your thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I've got nothing truly knitting-related to post today and yet I felt compelled to say something. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All weekend I've felt like I was ready to snap. I've not been sleeping well, which makes me super cranky. I'm in ultra-crunch time for two different deadlines coming up on the same day and I won't be sleeping anytime soon until both samples are finished. I've been knitting so much for the deadlines that my hands are aching. And to top it off, work is still super stressful at this point in the year and I'm still working 70+ hours/week, when generally this is the time I can let my guard down a bit and relax and actually enjoy a weekend. I'm stuck in the tunnel with no light in sight.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So, yeah. I'll admit I was feeling a bit sorry for myself today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And then I heard the news that the father of a former roommate, good friend, & fellow knitter had passed away this morning after a very short battle with a previously undiagnosed cancer. And everything snapped into perspective. Yes, the knitting deadlines and my day job are important to me, but nothing about them is life and death. Needless to say, I'm feeling a little humbled.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So, if you've got a few stitches to spare tonight, knit a few for a fellow knitter who could use some good thoughts as she grieves over the loss of her father. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As for me, I'm going to be sending some stitches, love, and positive thoughts across the miles to her too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And I'll also be daydreaming of the fall when things are less stressful and I can play around with this gorgeous fiber from Blue Moon that came in the mail not long ago. Those colors are enough to even bring a smile to my cranky face. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6T_6EX2ulM4aJO4pDNf5dWNpkRthTfO4bSbmmYf9PHOWoN3VcPB_9nncta1kPptIxLkJIpwsZO-AWj37imv5urne3Y0HBcjYkhojKB8jeAGhC0KhqKBsZ-jekl78zq_Cs9u8KZ9xTMd4F/s1600/DSC_0226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6T_6EX2ulM4aJO4pDNf5dWNpkRthTfO4bSbmmYf9PHOWoN3VcPB_9nncta1kPptIxLkJIpwsZO-AWj37imv5urne3Y0HBcjYkhojKB8jeAGhC0KhqKBsZ-jekl78zq_Cs9u8KZ9xTMd4F/s640/DSC_0226.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-82061632566103037472011-08-01T19:30:00.000-08:002011-08-01T19:30:10.313-08:00Twist Collective Fall 2011 - FootsieThe <a href="http://twistcollective.com/2011/fall/magazinepage_01.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Twist Collective Fall 2011</span></a> issue went live last night....and I am so in love with absolutely every pattern in this issue. There are 38 designs (!) and a pattern by yours truly just happens to be one of them!<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Meet Footsie.</i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Lj5H2jkwNaajyPFgsTtS6HntRVA1yEYhDWM_xeGKpnI0DJjU7MbqannGX7V0GZtHXNP8qaaFd2P7MyyTH9eyeagp8zHdxRsoaXEXL6bNYVFlv18w0_Z_Dus7z5lDFsSf4izJqQ3bSmej/s1600/footsie_z_500_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Lj5H2jkwNaajyPFgsTtS6HntRVA1yEYhDWM_xeGKpnI0DJjU7MbqannGX7V0GZtHXNP8qaaFd2P7MyyTH9eyeagp8zHdxRsoaXEXL6bNYVFlv18w0_Z_Dus7z5lDFsSf4izJqQ3bSmej/s640/footsie_z_500_medium2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Twist Collective</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/footsie">Footsie</a> is a his-and-hers sock pattern that was worked up in two different yarns from the amazing and gorgeous Sweet Georgia Yarns. The men's version (on the left above) was worked in <a href="http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/products/bfl-sock">BFL Sock</a> in the Cypress colorway and the women's version (on the right) was knit up in <a href="http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/collections/dyed-to-order/products/cashluxe-fine">CashLuxe Fine</a> in Botanical. Meandering twisted stitches surround a simple central cable panel that is mirrored on the opposite sock. The central cable is repeated on the heel and up the back of the sock, with twisted rib on either side.<br />
<br />
I had to knit up both of these pairs of socks in just about two and a half weeks back in April. Now that might be a piece of cake to some of you, but I'm a fairly slow knitter (well, more than anything, I'm a <i>distracted</i> knitter) so I literally spent every waking moment during those couple of weeks knitting these socks. I probably got about 3 hours of sleep each night because I knew I had to use up every spare moment to get them finished by the deadline. <br />
<br />
And use up every spare moment I did...I finished knitting both pairs the morning that I absolutely had to get them in the mail in order for them to arrive on time via 2nd Day Air. I almost didn't have time to block them, but I wanted them to look their best, so I quickly dunked them in some hot water and then used the triple-threat method to dry them: a combination of ironing, tumbling in the dryer and my hairdryer. I was still trying to dry them 10 minutes before I had to be at the post office...it was a real nail biter but I pulled it off!<br />
<br />
Both yarns were amazing to work with, but CashLuxe Fine has captured a special place in my heart. In fact, last night when I couldn't sleep because of the excitement, I did a little retail therapy and purchased some of my very own in the Raspberry, Orchid, and Black Plum colorways! I'm thinking some stripey socks are in my future.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Pattern Details:</b></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Design</b>: </span><a href="http://twistcollective.com/2011/fall/magazinepage_025.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Footsie</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (</span><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/footsie"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Rav link</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Yarn</b>: </span><a href="http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sweet Georgia Yarns</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> in </span><a href="http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/products/cashluxe-fine"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">CashLuxe Fine</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Botanical</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">) and </span><a href="http://shop.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/products/bfl-sock"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">BFL Sock</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Cypress</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Construction</b>: Worked from the toe up; The twisted stitch and cable panel is both charted and written row-by-row.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Sizes</b>: <i>Foot Circumference: </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">7 ¼ (8, 8 ¾, 9 ½)" / 18.5 (20.5, 22, 24) cm, (unstretched)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Gauge</b>: 36 sts and 52 rows = 4" / 10 cm in Stockinette in the round</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Needles</b>: Size 1 (2.25 mm) circular, or size needed to obtain gauge.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You can purchase this design directly on Twist Collective's website by clicking <a href="http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/index.php/component/content/article/90-fall-2011-patterns/925-footsie-by-allison-haas"><i><b>here</b></i></a>.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>P.S. Can you feel fall in the air? I can!</i></span></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-44265388036966741972011-07-19T22:03:00.002-08:002011-07-19T22:07:55.413-08:00Editing...or what I should have been doing on Sunday afternoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've been under a deadline the last couple of days...and not the fun kind. To clarify, the fun kind would be where I get to play with yarn and knit up a sample. No, this is the kind of deadline I dread: editing the written pattern for publication.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now, people who know me in my everyday life know that I have the attention span of a squirrel on crack. It's rare that I can focus on one thing for longer than a few minutes. In my day job, this is a great trait, as for most of the day I have to be in several places at once, or at least my mind does. But in my knitting life, this (self-diagnosed) ADD can be a real problem.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You see, just when I need to buckle down and edit 12 pages of charts and line-by-line instructions (gah, the horror!), I decide I want to organize my sock drawer. I mean, I can't possibly move on with my day until all my socks have found their mates, right? Right. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's also a struggle for me to edit because my computer has to be nearby, which means that I will inevitably wander off onto the internet and get distracted by anything and everything in my path. And I do have a few good ol' tried and true sites that can always eat up half my day if I let them. Let's take a look at my distracted afternoon, shall we?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, I always start out with a little iTunes to keep me focused. <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I will neither confirm nor deny that I purchased the Dirty Dancing soundtrack to rock out to while I proofread. And, no, it did not help me have the time of my life.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1EdfVjaDwbPcptpBmCGG_8sZjioaLtxtH1j6Z853ItzSa2Nozm0tR_fnl0eAiwJcIpAtNkxJMqTTPCNAID0nT4_4HzC-rci4BlWVV8aOPYJ5wfyrjaaCTs7xiPrYXSuCiCyhz4LNkvEq/s1600/photo-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1EdfVjaDwbPcptpBmCGG_8sZjioaLtxtH1j6Z853ItzSa2Nozm0tR_fnl0eAiwJcIpAtNkxJMqTTPCNAID0nT4_4HzC-rci4BlWVV8aOPYJ5wfyrjaaCTs7xiPrYXSuCiCyhz4LNkvEq/s640/photo-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Then of course I have to check the news (I use the term extremely loosely), because I can't go another minute without learning what Tori Spelling considers her best kept motherhood secret (nannies and lots of money) or what Angelina's kids eat for a snack (apparently crickets). Oh, look, I also acquired a cup of tea along the way.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHkcyOnFzS0xaRy0dd7Ro6gPK5hu5s-yBbQ7kYX43VjYFhq5gpydfIE949_POp6OCtpJhIvUbNLm342LzFAdr5PfLPcvEExEg2zz_tSSf3pissFOuHEDw1kQzlW8cDSIPL5oa76UCRNLz/s1600/pic4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHkcyOnFzS0xaRy0dd7Ro6gPK5hu5s-yBbQ7kYX43VjYFhq5gpydfIE949_POp6OCtpJhIvUbNLm342LzFAdr5PfLPcvEExEg2zz_tSSf3pissFOuHEDw1kQzlW8cDSIPL5oa76UCRNLz/s640/pic4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And then, to counteract all the brain cells I lost by consuming the drivel on UsWeekly, I take in a little NPR. But only for about two minutes before I get really depressed at the state of the world and move on.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFX76aZht7ASy-595PFgz_Iz9PiFeYZf4t_7ANPjgx2fjdFsVP3ja7nUT-0rZrMAvjjV2xVE7tQTMlTvxitQ-94rTqmKGH5N4R6eD5ML_70P-bvFIRBkNfrcOW5JPORtl4EtoJp6hZywn/s1600/pic5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFX76aZht7ASy-595PFgz_Iz9PiFeYZf4t_7ANPjgx2fjdFsVP3ja7nUT-0rZrMAvjjV2xVE7tQTMlTvxitQ-94rTqmKGH5N4R6eD5ML_70P-bvFIRBkNfrcOW5JPORtl4EtoJp6hZywn/s640/pic5.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Then, because all of the yarn in my stash will never be enough, I head over to ogle the deliciousness on my favorite yarn sites, starting with <a href="http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/newmoon/">Blue Moon Fiber Arts</a>. <i>Pictured here is my new favorite BMFA colorway, <a href="http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/newmoon/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19_20_587">LL Cool Sock</a>. I've already acquired two skeins of it and then also 1 skein of each of the solid colors that comprise the multi-colorway. Someday, when I have the time to devote, I WILL make the most colorful pair of kneesocks you've ever seen. Someday...</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdTGH6dKDcbhsvaFENM7e2jV-taYw4h52b0oynh8o_Lqs5eGoSaSAaKURJGbcjdUevN3yAsmq3n2WOKJ3hRVRu32uf4l-hdAF-61tvULrAkQgKEUWnsduIHQw_3T7k1bcN5UHwZ8fru2i/s1600/pic6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdTGH6dKDcbhsvaFENM7e2jV-taYw4h52b0oynh8o_Lqs5eGoSaSAaKURJGbcjdUevN3yAsmq3n2WOKJ3hRVRu32uf4l-hdAF-61tvULrAkQgKEUWnsduIHQw_3T7k1bcN5UHwZ8fru2i/s640/pic6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And then - surprise, surprise - I am drawn to <a href="http://tanisfiberarts.com/colour.html">Tanis Fiber Arts</a> like a moth to a flame. I am so completely in love/obsessed with her colorways. I could buy one of each...and if I'm not careful, one of these nights of insomnia I just might be driven to that act of <s>insanity</s> pure genius. I just love how she organizes her colorways. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyoJaR6ZHtCXWBgaRb-aU5SG1ZUleZ8S0Gnp4ql965Pz8_9Pf3-HJqKxqJtS3lYZiaUhNX0wIkgFPSgROcuwvNDwfLLvFEWQM9AvsZIld4GonjzgrGtpYWVP6IkYLpXLvpAHesxGqiM_cN/s1600/pic7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyoJaR6ZHtCXWBgaRb-aU5SG1ZUleZ8S0Gnp4ql965Pz8_9Pf3-HJqKxqJtS3lYZiaUhNX0wIkgFPSgROcuwvNDwfLLvFEWQM9AvsZIld4GonjzgrGtpYWVP6IkYLpXLvpAHesxGqiM_cN/s640/pic7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh look, I'm checking my work email. Something I do about a gazillion times a day, even when I'm not in my office. Check out that clean inbox! That's the result of years of hard work in cultivating an obsessive email ritual where I have to respond to/file/or categorize an email within the first 10 seconds of it reaching my inbox. Don't ask me why I do it...I really have no idea. I'm in therapy for it though.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFtPHRM0dHq8yBY3kgEgq8_JIxeGG7RSaOvnKh_vpefRCl6hwx2svoS7-k8R7ngB2kKf_ezby_oF-vYroFNA7VSf3Jt2H_pCXdCGR6lWEa_-HsHpghceF41nwlumMgWjXslRGJQchTKpL/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFtPHRM0dHq8yBY3kgEgq8_JIxeGG7RSaOvnKh_vpefRCl6hwx2svoS7-k8R7ngB2kKf_ezby_oF-vYroFNA7VSf3Jt2H_pCXdCGR6lWEa_-HsHpghceF41nwlumMgWjXslRGJQchTKpL/s640/photo1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Hmmm....I wonder what's going on on Ravelry....Am I the only one who compulsively checks out what their friends have favorited? I find the best stuff that way. What can I say? My friends have great taste!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5JeFf7i_qtFavlknV49t-xuqujff7CRxSNWwzZhTWZzlnHmaj0QDObgL7evASJKz6JVGcwme6r0xtD-VExEpFR7w1GWmeYJygSlYZQc1OtlnhOFH6fdX3s917KLq-G4zIrxYjw_eWQis/s1600/pic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5JeFf7i_qtFavlknV49t-xuqujff7CRxSNWwzZhTWZzlnHmaj0QDObgL7evASJKz6JVGcwme6r0xtD-VExEpFR7w1GWmeYJygSlYZQc1OtlnhOFH6fdX3s917KLq-G4zIrxYjw_eWQis/s640/pic3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh, yes, back to editing...sigh. Yeah yeah yeah. I know, it's <i>got</i> to be done.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRt8vLdYA4CKNAK6JZEWE1KhZBQPFU20kGbHtoa8x-TEHur0HoeBZ3FGFCCX2Y6Z3nyzp7LVN_7bXEnavZWEkotOEguZgQ90nkWuvklwDpuR5qIGKSrV0PGBs73ucVleP-nqYIHKQbuew/s1600/pic8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRt8vLdYA4CKNAK6JZEWE1KhZBQPFU20kGbHtoa8x-TEHur0HoeBZ3FGFCCX2Y6Z3nyzp7LVN_7bXEnavZWEkotOEguZgQ90nkWuvklwDpuR5qIGKSrV0PGBs73ucVleP-nqYIHKQbuew/s640/pic8.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So, there you have it. That was my minimally productive Sunday afternoon. What about you? What are your favorite sites to visit to pass the time? Do tell!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>By the way, I DID get all of my editing done, thank you very much. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-27486371146452128772011-05-04T20:48:00.000-08:002011-05-04T20:48:21.518-08:00New Pattern in Knitcircus Summer! And a GIVEAWAY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16AaIziAREFFV1Es-zVFeCJjZtHaDQGwdLk5dngZulheUULPvTCHabcyjDVIyratMZnF8uq5Cd8SmNc6QYCDSqTfIi8PPnZNgIaqsXLn98D6T_UuqJuPlT3uUWLMQNN_KQSw-j17H_LFP/s640/coverSU2011+%25284%2529.jpg" width="496" /></div><br />
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div>The new <a href="http://www.knitcircus.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79;">Summer 2011 edition of Knitcircus</span></a> went live today and I'm SO excited to have a design featured in it!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Meet </span><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/litha"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Litha</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZF0d_KZXNZNJA3EuFpHNb_X-WTYPtP3e76Cu0a9B7vNF7VduMmtEB1IMhv6GUaMrHqLpefCSc33cS3SB3liqe8yjoMq0BJAYz9ziykA9rSn7oL9fVhPtwyhQMC7-_XR9p9ogfIKCoq5z/s1600/litha+hat+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZF0d_KZXNZNJA3EuFpHNb_X-WTYPtP3e76Cu0a9B7vNF7VduMmtEB1IMhv6GUaMrHqLpefCSc33cS3SB3liqe8yjoMq0BJAYz9ziykA9rSn7oL9fVhPtwyhQMC7-_XR9p9ogfIKCoq5z/s400/litha+hat+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16AaIziAREFFV1Es-zVFeCJjZtHaDQGwdLk5dngZulheUULPvTCHabcyjDVIyratMZnF8uq5Cd8SmNc6QYCDSqTfIi8PPnZNgIaqsXLn98D6T_UuqJuPlT3uUWLMQNN_KQSw-j17H_LFP/s1600/coverSU2011+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBa02Lm9VNb8TjgQn7fjzkFAFdE6-txtHlfmMS478Db9v8pq2ZxubGTPXBYt53jdhT6eRsoAXcAv7mXyH2Vijrf98Bsu1ZOCJ5sMHhfYLY7Mg5EJPEpQDRkrw6pHg9iJ9kQhUmlCQ7s7N/s1600/litha+hat+2-1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBa02Lm9VNb8TjgQn7fjzkFAFdE6-txtHlfmMS478Db9v8pq2ZxubGTPXBYt53jdhT6eRsoAXcAv7mXyH2Vijrf98Bsu1ZOCJ5sMHhfYLY7Mg5EJPEpQDRkrw6pHg9iJ9kQhUmlCQ7s7N/s400/litha+hat+2-1-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Litha is a midsummer festival centered around the summer solstice that celebrates the warmth, abundance, and light of the long summer days. Named for this festival, this slightly slouchy hat is worked from brim to crown.The simple eyelet lace and twisted stitch cable repeat lends a breezy and casual air to any summer wardrobe. The yarn used for this piece provides excellent stitch definition and shows off an amazing shade of blue, the exact color of the summer sky.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a last minute opportunity to be apart of this issue and I’m so glad I was able to do it. This was a hat I had whipped up for myself and planned to eventually self-publish but it turns out the universe had other plans for it! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Pattern Details:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span></span><br />
<div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;"><div class="source"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/knitcircus-magazine-issue-14-summer-2011" style="color: black;">Knitcircus Magazine, Issue #14, Summer 2011</a></div></div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Craft</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">Knitting</div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Category</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;"><div class="category"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/popular/hat" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><span>Headwear</span> → <span>Hat</span></a></div></div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Published</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">May 2011</div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Yarns suggested</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/sun-valley-fibers-merino-worsted" style="color: black;">Sun Valley Fibers Merino Worsted</a></div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Yarn weight</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">Worsted / 10 ply (9 wpi) <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/litha#" style="color: black;"><img height="16" src="http://style3.ravelrycache.com/images/silk-help-2.png" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; cursor: move; display: inline; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; vertical-align: top;" title="Information on yarn weights" width="16" /></a></div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Gauge</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">20 stitches and 27 rows = 4 inches in Pattern stitch (Eyelet and twisted st cable)</div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Needle size</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">US 7 - 4.5 mm</div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Yardage</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">200 - 300 yards (183 - 274 m)</div></div><div class="field" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: both; min-height: 1.4em; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-top: 3px;"><label style="color: #666666; float: left; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; padding-right: 5px; width: 125px;">Sizes available</label><div class="value" style="margin-left: 130px;">Women's Medium (20-22" head circumference) and Women's Large (22-24" head circumference)</div></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">And now for the giveaway details:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leave a comment on this post before midnight Alaska Time on Sunday May 8 and be entered into a drawing to win some awesome Knitcircus prizes!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be 2 winners....The first person drawn will win a year-long subscription to Knitcircus Magazine and the second person drawn will win a Summer 2011 Pattern Collection!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please make sure you leave a way to contact you in the event that you are the lucky winner. I'll notify the winners on Monday and the link to the subscription and pattern collection will come directly from Knitcircus.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Happy Knitting, everyone!</span></span></span></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com60tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-90416340758754946822011-05-01T19:31:00.000-08:002011-05-01T19:31:22.689-08:00Knitcircus Summer 2011 - Sneak Peek!Hey! Remember me? No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth....it's just been a very stressful last few weeks working under an intense knitting deadline for an upcoming fall publication. And I have literally dropped everything to get it done and that is why you have not heard a peep from me in almost a month! But the deadline has passed, everything got accomplished (barely!), and I'm taking a bit of a knitting break for a few days to give my hands a rest.<br />
<br />
BUT....I do have some very exciting news! The Summer 2011 edition of Knitcircus will be going live on May 4th and I have a design featured in the magazine!<br />
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Here is a sneak peek of my design:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBPktWCMrkFXZF1Zrvmd6lswrErVz8UCoNWsyjADqjCFRCwhMW5F-_JBiYP-yVYDaZb9e9eO_QJ_XluZFtggeD5ZZtIrpIi_wnJGSQub1WE-fiVe3Kyno3xWV7sKoMnrPfhzRPudRR-8Mv/s1600/litha+hat+teaser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBPktWCMrkFXZF1Zrvmd6lswrErVz8UCoNWsyjADqjCFRCwhMW5F-_JBiYP-yVYDaZb9e9eO_QJ_XluZFtggeD5ZZtIrpIi_wnJGSQub1WE-fiVe3Kyno3xWV7sKoMnrPfhzRPudRR-8Mv/s320/litha+hat+teaser.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Stay tuned on Wednesday May 4th for a Knitcircus giveaway!</span></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-75004133007678419722011-04-03T21:20:00.000-08:002011-04-03T21:20:48.582-08:001,000 stitchesSo, lately I've been feeling really really overwhelmed and unfocused. This is a normal feeling for this time of year, as things are getting more and more crazy at work as the tourist season draws ever closer. However, things are compounded this year because I feel like I've bitten off way more than I can chew in my knitting world.<br />
<br />
But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The deadlines I'm working on are for really exciting things (that I can't share with you just yet!) and I wouldn't trade my involvement with them for anything. So, this huge pressure I'm feeling right now will turn into pride and satisfaction at some point in the future, but right now it's about ready to make my head explode. I've got one design down and one more to go before I can relax a little bit...for at least a week or two anyway. ;)<br />
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It's just funny that the tables have turned and I'm now looking forward to going to my day job tomorrow as a respite from the knitting stress, when usually it's the other way around.<br />
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In the meantime, this is what it looks like on the couch beside me after a weekend of sitting in my knitting nook and knitting my little heart out. (I'm too lazy to get my camera so all you get are iphone pics tonight.)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2Cbh1BWPppYt6Ohgvnn1IvKZZpWb2JtYK7vfEog5h2wL9qkHE1lcbfMNOPM0oP4h1m6WjghJ_rB3mQuOXKulIraxYwtO9rwV8LXzp4IRkCn9rNEbiVox_taYQ7UPF_tsE08TrMg5378E/s1600/My+HipstaPrint+0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2Cbh1BWPppYt6Ohgvnn1IvKZZpWb2JtYK7vfEog5h2wL9qkHE1lcbfMNOPM0oP4h1m6WjghJ_rB3mQuOXKulIraxYwtO9rwV8LXzp4IRkCn9rNEbiVox_taYQ7UPF_tsE08TrMg5378E/s400/My+HipstaPrint+0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Empty snack bags, needles, DVDs, cell phone, yarn, pineapple lace book...these are the necessities of any good knitting weekend...<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">I've been trying to put in a little time on my pineapple lace project for the W's. This is also weighing heavily on my brain right now, as I feel waaaaay behind on it and I should have been finished with it by now! It's self-imposed stress, as there was never a deadline on this, but I really wanted to have it finished before the season starts, otherwise it would just get lost in the summer craziness. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I think what was keeping me from working on it was the fact that I was at the stage where I would be picking up stitches all around the body and beginning to work the pineapple lace border. This is what I've been looking forward to all along, when I would finally get to do something besides yo, k2tog, not to mention no more purling. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is the massive mound of lacy stitches sitting on its familiar perch on my laptop. And a movie to keep me company...(I heart Jason Segel.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtm7lyp2LqngXQs48XD7NRQTa6g3NBWl1UxzNknkZ0NCa4yFOdioqu7z21LgPeahS5AKQPI3sjYQpUF79iwA4sCU7TJgpnqQWzD6MLZ0vICmUkcyr8z1aLtSast17wfIfKx8zM2eb9eaU5/s1600/My+HipstaPrint+0-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtm7lyp2LqngXQs48XD7NRQTa6g3NBWl1UxzNknkZ0NCa4yFOdioqu7z21LgPeahS5AKQPI3sjYQpUF79iwA4sCU7TJgpnqQWzD6MLZ0vICmUkcyr8z1aLtSast17wfIfKx8zM2eb9eaU5/s400/My+HipstaPrint+0-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Initially I thought it would be smooth sailing once I got to the border and that the body of the piece would be the bulk of the knitting work. I think somewhere in the back of my brain I must have known the horror that awaited, which is why it took me over a week to make myself do it. But I knew that it had to be done, so I sat down this afternoon to begin the pickup process. Three hours later - yes, three hours! - I finally had all the stitches picked up and evenly distributed on the circs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And after it was all said and done, there were 1,000 stitches on my needles. Yikes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I then went to look at the pineapple border instructions....33 rounds total. Any wind I had in my sails was completely gone at that point. That's 33,000 stitches that I have to go until I can bind off. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Oooof. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It will be worth it in the end, right? Right.</div></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-85067054237587400682011-03-14T12:00:00.000-08:002011-03-14T12:00:02.031-08:00Pineapple Progress<div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Even with all the spinning hysteria going on around here, I am still making progress on my Pineapple Lace project for the W’s. I am a little over halfway through the body of the work and thought I would have more finished by now, but I got a bit sidetracked last week with a couple of submission deadlines. I’m back on track now and hope to be to the pineapple lace border by this coming weekend!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWEXx89Vh9vYH1jWHdOmGqdrapboOF68Kx5z4977SHuQIo9QbSQm0c3uQbvd8TkeZsOn8OUkiJdz4yJbM2viPo91sVOOnArPHeUviW7-qdUTySXVEPsTKAKckWGKYuZVHtJe2tEOhyphenhyphenLWR/s1600/DSC_0143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWEXx89Vh9vYH1jWHdOmGqdrapboOF68Kx5z4977SHuQIo9QbSQm0c3uQbvd8TkeZsOn8OUkiJdz4yJbM2viPo91sVOOnArPHeUviW7-qdUTySXVEPsTKAKckWGKYuZVHtJe2tEOhyphenhyphenLWR/s400/DSC_0143.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;">In other news, I ate another 1/4 pound of the salted caramels yesterday. <b>What the hell is wrong with me?</b> Since Saturday, that’s a half pound total of butter, sugar, & heavy whipping cream all widening my ass as I type. Ugh.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But I also started a new workout program today, which I’m hoping will kick start some weight loss. I’ve been doing cardio 4-6 days a week since late December, but haven’t seen the scales move much. I’m feeling much better and much stronger (which is always good), but I’d really like to shed some of the lbs that keep hanging around. </span></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px 'American Typewriter'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So, I’ll continue to keep you all updated with the progress on both the pineapple lace knitting AND weight loss fronts! Just have to stay away from those damn caramels.</span></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-51408478387533665132011-03-10T18:56:00.003-09:002011-03-10T19:29:49.410-09:00New Design - Pennington Mittens!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxz9jDeIRiPw0nf84VRu6jKpZ1vgquduYW6MhRzOjo9iRPPcUsfK15JzGAZvjELbyxB55sUvvAJvCyWQsqfomDkdO0EsFP8Aysn0ugCbP4V5remjzUTq_Bu6FmIWl9lFA1xy63aFpnQXI/s1600/DSC_1515-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxz9jDeIRiPw0nf84VRu6jKpZ1vgquduYW6MhRzOjo9iRPPcUsfK15JzGAZvjELbyxB55sUvvAJvCyWQsqfomDkdO0EsFP8Aysn0ugCbP4V5remjzUTq_Bu6FmIWl9lFA1xy63aFpnQXI/s400/DSC_1515-1.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that this pattern finally gets to be out in the open! I have had this design pretty much finished since October, but for some reason I just could not seem to find it in me to finish it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGS5FhgHzkywAFZb4kTBwb1sQprvIC0EPOhWKZnV41F7tX1BoYfQkB9U7quY2CDr_9LuUTRTDiMOpWkh7Nhz8DxAOgrZAnM_q2LgGFTH2BxG5EP8ibOzg0RgnAGKGBhZMmHY1X6V-wnuC/s1600/DSC_1508-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGS5FhgHzkywAFZb4kTBwb1sQprvIC0EPOhWKZnV41F7tX1BoYfQkB9U7quY2CDr_9LuUTRTDiMOpWkh7Nhz8DxAOgrZAnM_q2LgGFTH2BxG5EP8ibOzg0RgnAGKGBhZMmHY1X6V-wnuC/s400/DSC_1508-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Perhaps my reluctance to get it out there had something to do with the long road I took to finally fall in love with the finished product. I knit and reknit the sample 3 times before I came to love the final version on the 4th try.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWklA7dJ7JKLBzG75caso_Nue1OucaOVsVrziKkNPlbM6LUfFiQXzWSXcvO7jRFOQ6XXbaXJMBJPL_Ml5fy-8JvLWQ3G6uUm03Yopp8lN8ZVw7Ktm3LRzTYwolwgmQl9xarvex3ealIyZ/s1600/DSC_1510-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWklA7dJ7JKLBzG75caso_Nue1OucaOVsVrziKkNPlbM6LUfFiQXzWSXcvO7jRFOQ6XXbaXJMBJPL_Ml5fy-8JvLWQ3G6uUm03Yopp8lN8ZVw7Ktm3LRzTYwolwgmQl9xarvex3ealIyZ/s400/DSC_1510-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">And now I can't get enough of them!</span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMexDWWcY8vvCilmbZki25zQk5Wm51jqsSx7G2-l4A4eVQlmz4mSH0w2iwqHLuowcGQRh5LX4erl_GHvhyaHGvKNS4pmROQaihSNKXSw_qHCHDgnbANDHYFczR4neIsjjgt2YJ2HT-76qa/s1600/DSC_1512-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMexDWWcY8vvCilmbZki25zQk5Wm51jqsSx7G2-l4A4eVQlmz4mSH0w2iwqHLuowcGQRh5LX4erl_GHvhyaHGvKNS4pmROQaihSNKXSw_qHCHDgnbANDHYFczR4neIsjjgt2YJ2HT-76qa/s400/DSC_1512-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I only wish I had knit the sample in my size, because the small/medium version will definitely not fit my giant hands. :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGp5k5MpqW8G17my0vnWXKd6QP7sWKV07HCmYQxpUG_KW2cRuxj9CGeP05RPpaCQJW9QSxMm4HPv15y4mDxhyXdt5CZekdhg_cWtSiKBYubBy0s6-D67ASTdBAd780nkxG580Cn7R1Bo8/s1600/DSC_1518-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGp5k5MpqW8G17my0vnWXKd6QP7sWKV07HCmYQxpUG_KW2cRuxj9CGeP05RPpaCQJW9QSxMm4HPv15y4mDxhyXdt5CZekdhg_cWtSiKBYubBy0s6-D67ASTdBAd780nkxG580Cn7R1Bo8/s400/DSC_1518-1.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Details</u>:</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pattern</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pennington Mittens </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Pennington_Mittens___D10921220.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">KP IDP</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">) (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pennington-mittens"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ravelry link</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Suggested Yarn</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">:</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Knit Picks Stroll or Stroll Tonal; </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1 hank (both sizes) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Shown in Stroll Tonal Golden Glow</span></i></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal 'American Typewriter'; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Suggested Needles:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">US Size 1 (2.25 mm) circular (32” or long enough for Magic Loop), or size necessary to obtain gauge. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pattern was written for Magic Loop. However, dpns may be substituted if you prefer.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 11px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sizes:</span></b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 11px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Women’s Adult Small/Med: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4.25” in Width x 9” in Length from tip to cuff</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 11px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Women’s Adult Large/XL:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4.75” in Width by 10” in Length from tip to cuff</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gauge:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">9.5 stitches and 15.5 rows = 1” in Stockinette in the round</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Techniques Used</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cables, Increasing, Toe-Up Construction, Judy’s Magic Cast-On, Bobbles, Magic Loop Method</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 11px/normal 'American Typewriter'; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Notions</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tapestry needle, stitch markers (optional)</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11.1111px;">Special thanks as always to my beautiful friend, Trish, for being my model! And also to <a href="http://www.sunsetcat.com/">Stephannie Tallent</a> for being THE best tech editor ever. This pattern would never have seen the light of day without you. </span><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/purchase/alaskanpurl-designs/60499"><img border="0" src="http://www.ravelry.com/images/shopping/buy-now.gif" /></a></span><br />
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</div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-79793733493151347062011-02-22T06:11:00.000-09:002011-02-22T06:11:30.019-09:00Pineapple Lace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Back in December, two local residents, Mr. & Mrs. W, contacted me about commissioning me to knit a piece of lace that would decorate the top of a new-to-them antique sideboard. Now, what the heck is a sideboard, you ask? Well, before they sent me pictures, I had no idea what it was either. But I quickly learned that it's a very large piece of furniture and this particular sideboard in the W's home is incredibly ornate and very, very old.</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJ9rZA7xr1l0KXksxxOnbvjrIVOt1GX92dz_cspN3usS_7zd1kr5izdmv1EcrspLlx6tRrnXR0TEA7sYXaL994i0XKyADEf3Wgpnh_lccslIkcs0EMV4idFTjuQB0YGI99Hl_zOfALnTr/s1600/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJ9rZA7xr1l0KXksxxOnbvjrIVOt1GX92dz_cspN3usS_7zd1kr5izdmv1EcrspLlx6tRrnXR0TEA7sYXaL994i0XKyADEf3Wgpnh_lccslIkcs0EMV4idFTjuQB0YGI99Hl_zOfALnTr/s400/image001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. W</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDdQvuUvMmtLe45ZJ_NuO-Wb6QdF869pnfWPbpX_2866kr4UnXBECbv1LR_wPyjU5YOhsrOd-rDzbZN7WLMl47qe8uebRtFuOnjEzE9uoreivOVvi_b7caUGd0MkmwKrJ_16e2OxC6tjS/s1600/image002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDdQvuUvMmtLe45ZJ_NuO-Wb6QdF869pnfWPbpX_2866kr4UnXBECbv1LR_wPyjU5YOhsrOd-rDzbZN7WLMl47qe8uebRtFuOnjEzE9uoreivOVvi_b7caUGd0MkmwKrJ_16e2OxC6tjS/s400/image002.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. W</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Mr. & Mrs. W are huge supporters of the local arts, so I was really flattered that they thought of me when it came to finding someone to create the piece of lace that they envisioned. And then as soon as I got over the flattery, I became nearly paralyzed with doubt that I could make something that would be good enough to reside in their home. You see, their house is adorned with so many amazing pieces of art from local artists as well as artists from elsewhere in Alaska, and I was afraid that my lace just wouldn't measure up.<br />
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But I quickly snapped out of it, grew some confidence, and reasoned that if they didn't think that I could do it then they wouldn't have asked. And then I immediately set out to find the perfect yarn to work with for this piece.<br />
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After much perusing of all my favorite online yarn haunts, I finally settled on something that was already in my stash (perfect, right?)....Knit Picks Bare sock yarn. Mrs. W had told me that she wanted something white or off-white, so it was perfect. And with the added nylon in the yarn, I felt that this would help make the piece more durable.<br />
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After settling on the yarn, I grabbed my many stitch dictionaries and settled in for a fun-filled afternoon of looking over the lace sections of the different reference guides and deciding on which stitch patterns to include in the work. This was my absolute favorite part of the project to date. (I'm assuming that ultimately my favorite part of the project will be unpinning the finished work after blocking, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse at this point!)<br />
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I made a few swatches so that I would have something to show Mrs. W when I met with her to go over what she liked and, more importantly, what she didn't like. Mrs. W's family is from Hawaii and she had told me that she liked pineapple shapes, so I had this helpful clue to guide me in the right direction. I ended up purchasing a pineapple lace book on ebay and this handy guide lead me to what will be the border of the work (shown here in its unblocked glory):<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuC6zsZV84R7T7STtAGOvn24r4NwXZx_gP7R6mZOU87aPEke0POE3SUfsxQlTVUxbN0TKKmDPpiQ3yvyawMAvpy7k4h5gSXvikGe7hT_xUZuamM1I4a2wl-bj1FVW9qWICyPNKer1k4Ax/s1600/DSC_1566-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuC6zsZV84R7T7STtAGOvn24r4NwXZx_gP7R6mZOU87aPEke0POE3SUfsxQlTVUxbN0TKKmDPpiQ3yvyawMAvpy7k4h5gSXvikGe7hT_xUZuamM1I4a2wl-bj1FVW9qWICyPNKer1k4Ax/s400/DSC_1566-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The swatches below were whipped up to show her some possible stitches that could make up the body of the piece. In addition, I came up with a few different sketches and was ready to include multiple panels of lace and make it super duper fancy. But, in the end, Mrs. W chose the simple eyelet lace in the lower right corner, with the reasoning that the sideboard is already so ornate that the lace should be simple and understated. I couldn't agree more!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZ85TP3LIdAgrzPPJ3MdlfHxhAyBaQsXq6zRBDMwRDJy3Xus_h_x80EvxW6v3-sMmUqTE7RrGV9ZLYcPsLIhU0BR2pYMOQXj_ANR2FZs5Yr2-2U3SIN3p_zRlO1zEr0kmqlBhqkLhOOn9/s1600/DSC_1555-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZ85TP3LIdAgrzPPJ3MdlfHxhAyBaQsXq6zRBDMwRDJy3Xus_h_x80EvxW6v3-sMmUqTE7RrGV9ZLYcPsLIhU0BR2pYMOQXj_ANR2FZs5Yr2-2U3SIN3p_zRlO1zEr0kmqlBhqkLhOOn9/s400/DSC_1555-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Basically, the piece is going to be one long rectangle of the eyelet lace and then I'll pick up stitches all around and work the pineapple lace border in the round and finish it off with a crocheted bind off and edging. I'm excited!<br />
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I've cast on for it and am slogging my way through the eyelet lace. The good thing about this is that it's mindless knitting (yo, k2tog...easy as pie!), and I can always go for that.<br />
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Stay tuned for some updates on the sideboard lace over the next few weeks. I've already gotten a bit of a late start on it, but my aim is to be finished with the body in the next couple weeks. I've set a goal of 3 inches a day...let's see if I can stick to it!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-77486579940740491152010-08-04T10:20:00.002-08:002010-08-04T10:21:10.066-08:00Forget-Me-Not Hat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYSaWu9mJWqmRs64srYoc0MmURovZ83ZIxnu_OAr4SmCPc4LrrfbU3QJVETHDM4RW_ilStFbZiIlzaUIAFGws8Avg9x80N-O4A8itQER5jT33WarEXyYzUeNNBGvI2B25i9f3W73yH8gr/s1600/DSC_0655-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYSaWu9mJWqmRs64srYoc0MmURovZ83ZIxnu_OAr4SmCPc4LrrfbU3QJVETHDM4RW_ilStFbZiIlzaUIAFGws8Avg9x80N-O4A8itQER5jT33WarEXyYzUeNNBGvI2B25i9f3W73yH8gr/s640/DSC_0655-1.jpg" width="459" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Back in April when the opportunity arose to create a design for a new Knit Picks yarn, I jumped at the chance without a second thought. Never mind that I was on the brink of tourist season and I would barely have a chance to think of anything other than trains in the upcoming months, let alone pull something creative and worthwhile from my brain. It was a great opportunity, so I snapped it up immediately!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The new yarn that I would have the chance to work with is <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfyarns/yarn_display.cfm?ID=5420109">Capra</a>, KP's new merino/cashmere blend that is oh-so-buttery soft. At the time, there had been an idea in my head that I quickly jotted down on paper and sent off to the wonderful KP Stacey for evaluation. After I got the go ahead, I spent the next couple months swatching with similar yarns and sketching, waiting on the Capra to arrive on my doorstep.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the best possible scenario, I would have had about a month to knit up the sample and work out the kinks in the pattern, once I received the yarn. Hmmm...now <i>that's</i> the key phrase there: <em>once I received the yarn</em>. While KP sent out the two lovely skeins of <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfyarns/yarn_display.cfm?ID=5420109">Capra</a> on June 22 and the yarn was scanned into my local post office on June 25 (thanks, delivery confirmation!), our wonderful post office apparently didn't think that I needed to have that package put into my box until July 6th! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, I had just two weeks to do everything, which can be fairly standard in the design world, but in the middle of summer when I'm working insane hours keeping tourists happy, this was not the ideal situation.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But being apart of the <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfyarns/yarn_display.cfm?ID=5420109">Capra yarn</a> launch was totally worth it! This yarn is amazing...it is so soft and wonderful to work with. And the great thing is, it gets softer as it's knitted up and even softer (can you believe it?!) after blocking. I chose the color Sea Spray to work with and it's a beautiful icy light teal blue. I can't wait to order some more of this stuff!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Back to the design...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Building on the concept of the </span><a href="http://www.alaskanpurl.com/2010/05/mayflowers-sock.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mayflowers sock</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, I decided to continue with the cables-in-bloom theme and create a hat in the same vein.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And the <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Forget-Me-Not_Hat__D10465220.html">Forget-Me-Not hat</a> was born!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Worked from the bottom up, this hat shows off the wonderful cables that radiate from the crown and blossom into flowers as the cables move down the cap. Since this is a pic heavy post, I'm going to let the photos do the talking!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknMUoK2tEA1Zh8YUK8Dc2ak7XzFMOuM9g8CB-8Oi7rJm2SlYWMpaeKAYPpfge0mNvDPHwV9bfxq8wa94N0J4NUuazFHhwlKDiELVblWVCiSbBNrWILgWKB__1aesNdMv8Aa0j01_yyuF0/s1600/DSC_0680-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknMUoK2tEA1Zh8YUK8Dc2ak7XzFMOuM9g8CB-8Oi7rJm2SlYWMpaeKAYPpfge0mNvDPHwV9bfxq8wa94N0J4NUuazFHhwlKDiELVblWVCiSbBNrWILgWKB__1aesNdMv8Aa0j01_yyuF0/s640/DSC_0680-1.jpg" width="443" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknMUoK2tEA1Zh8YUK8Dc2ak7XzFMOuM9g8CB-8Oi7rJm2SlYWMpaeKAYPpfge0mNvDPHwV9bfxq8wa94N0J4NUuazFHhwlKDiELVblWVCiSbBNrWILgWKB__1aesNdMv8Aa0j01_yyuF0/s1600/DSC_0680-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknMUoK2tEA1Zh8YUK8Dc2ak7XzFMOuM9g8CB-8Oi7rJm2SlYWMpaeKAYPpfge0mNvDPHwV9bfxq8wa94N0J4NUuazFHhwlKDiELVblWVCiSbBNrWILgWKB__1aesNdMv8Aa0j01_yyuF0/s1600/DSC_0680-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiSV3wXKaCqFEWYUxqqmWj9v569mbayIbFbytj990La4cFAsbWyJd3-GNg34v_hfdEWdMG3XGs99gdU8Jwcy0-XVe15-_wWPNnVnRmJ4Ij5GAWQ94fxMnA2fUmqqvhjqqkxCeMy6tqGad/s1600/DSC_0637-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiSV3wXKaCqFEWYUxqqmWj9v569mbayIbFbytj990La4cFAsbWyJd3-GNg34v_hfdEWdMG3XGs99gdU8Jwcy0-XVe15-_wWPNnVnRmJ4Ij5GAWQ94fxMnA2fUmqqvhjqqkxCeMy6tqGad/s640/DSC_0637-1.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiSV3wXKaCqFEWYUxqqmWj9v569mbayIbFbytj990La4cFAsbWyJd3-GNg34v_hfdEWdMG3XGs99gdU8Jwcy0-XVe15-_wWPNnVnRmJ4Ij5GAWQ94fxMnA2fUmqqvhjqqkxCeMy6tqGad/s1600/DSC_0637-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NZYsQkVP1zxgq1pIbGw4dU9hzyjFvpMbnRViwZ5yg8kq8Ag-5qZiivmq_RRIPGIqSuGJSNWABZ4FoK7d5QGx6_h1JO8jh_05ORtg6BwAUfLEsGzxVwHFzbo-JUO8hiuVf3twFwCi_7pe/s1600/DSC_0682-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NZYsQkVP1zxgq1pIbGw4dU9hzyjFvpMbnRViwZ5yg8kq8Ag-5qZiivmq_RRIPGIqSuGJSNWABZ4FoK7d5QGx6_h1JO8jh_05ORtg6BwAUfLEsGzxVwHFzbo-JUO8hiuVf3twFwCi_7pe/s640/DSC_0682-1.jpg" width="426" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3HEiQVZ5PG-hRHoLHyCz5cMOOpaTVwWH9d9HobmcK5POLfSpAEz9dn_gGXFfH7RGDkEkZtJqawHc0nepdCNrAFFiGTHOELL3GxySt40jthCO-ysnLToVz4-y-6EPkAQIYIZSzjmlRobf/s1600/DSC_0678-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3HEiQVZ5PG-hRHoLHyCz5cMOOpaTVwWH9d9HobmcK5POLfSpAEz9dn_gGXFfH7RGDkEkZtJqawHc0nepdCNrAFFiGTHOELL3GxySt40jthCO-ysnLToVz4-y-6EPkAQIYIZSzjmlRobf/s640/DSC_0678-1.jpg" width="428" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjML8Yv7TZ_NNsHv1Sz85dMiF5iy4kueGUosa0JAsw0X9k4ZEwO3A128KPkoZHbstxaJsM6gfTsFK0SwwuiqS0F3W4xb5VZI28gCfxf8lR-kvU4GyDX9Do20OQ7KLrp5SyqxjAmTgMoMPmH/s1600/DSC_0660-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjML8Yv7TZ_NNsHv1Sz85dMiF5iy4kueGUosa0JAsw0X9k4ZEwO3A128KPkoZHbstxaJsM6gfTsFK0SwwuiqS0F3W4xb5VZI28gCfxf8lR-kvU4GyDX9Do20OQ7KLrp5SyqxjAmTgMoMPmH/s640/DSC_0660-1.jpg" width="426" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0bD3FZvdJGIiQbYF3fgxMi6OxrKXgh8ZISbucdXXsnCOPCSVkSZ0dTPRUnwwyvMOPfiWjWLqKBoyv7X2ElD6ulyKBSKQsAI2S1QiFN8mwbNo_-qhUi9ZAtCUInVp7aiOgSwuF5Pkpg4D/s1600/DSC_0658-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0bD3FZvdJGIiQbYF3fgxMi6OxrKXgh8ZISbucdXXsnCOPCSVkSZ0dTPRUnwwyvMOPfiWjWLqKBoyv7X2ElD6ulyKBSKQsAI2S1QiFN8mwbNo_-qhUi9ZAtCUInVp7aiOgSwuF5Pkpg4D/s640/DSC_0658-2.jpg" width="450" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCB4SiVhVebmkvsHV9wkAIB7vkofPErxukgDtzOQ5P-W73OKgIGv1PjY9rw2Bt78ZhsWpZdC5fN9mm7fn8AwRR78qHJhD-zkD_Wh16g_Ap11zdxCIlVv58Auiaz6Foa5t72I2lXhxBEdx/s1600/DSC_0658-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCB4SiVhVebmkvsHV9wkAIB7vkofPErxukgDtzOQ5P-W73OKgIGv1PjY9rw2Bt78ZhsWpZdC5fN9mm7fn8AwRR78qHJhD-zkD_Wh16g_Ap11zdxCIlVv58Auiaz6Foa5t72I2lXhxBEdx/s640/DSC_0658-1.jpg" width="426" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Capra yarn has a very slight halo, which makes the hat all the more comfy and beautiful. I seriously can't wait to get my hands on more of this stuff and make a Forget-Me-Not hat in my own size!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Pattern Details:</span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Name</b>: Forget-Me-Not Hat {</span></span><a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Forget-Me-Not_Hat__D10465220.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">KP link</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">}{</span><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/forget-me-not-7"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Rav link</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">} by Allison Haas</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Yarn:</b> </span></span><a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfyarns/yarn_display.cfm?ID=5420109"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Knit Picks Capra</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> (2 skeins)</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Needles:</b> Size 5 circular or dpns</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Sizes available:</b> Women's Adult S(M,L)</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Techniques Used:</b> Cables, Decreasing, Bottom-Up Construction, Knit flowers</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Notions:</b> Tapestry needle, cable needle, 4 stitch markers, 12 size 6 seed beads</span></span></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/purchase/alaskanpurl-designs/41772"><img border="0" src="http://www.ravelry.com/images/shopping/buy-now.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">Special thanks to my model, Trish...isn't she lovely?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3HEiQVZ5PG-hRHoLHyCz5cMOOpaTVwWH9d9HobmcK5POLfSpAEz9dn_gGXFfH7RGDkEkZtJqawHc0nepdCNrAFFiGTHOELL3GxySt40jthCO-ysnLToVz4-y-6EPkAQIYIZSzjmlRobf/s1600/DSC_0678-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSsgcY2nGjRZemogqprX6Hduhm0CC3SKv-8vIzbdiQ7QnPNlR9_gYVw6HOhpo8WrmxhQWr_oZUPQ-ig9S5ZiT5yMeMoc6awdk4a-fn18ukrO_3Zqj5OdoxNZFWiMMQWHicwfJ35JLWPKS/s1600/DSC_0685-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSsgcY2nGjRZemogqprX6Hduhm0CC3SKv-8vIzbdiQ7QnPNlR9_gYVw6HOhpo8WrmxhQWr_oZUPQ-ig9S5ZiT5yMeMoc6awdk4a-fn18ukrO_3Zqj5OdoxNZFWiMMQWHicwfJ35JLWPKS/s320/DSC_0685-1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-77327218197033695552010-07-30T21:21:00.001-08:002010-07-30T21:23:19.317-08:00And we have a winner...After completely spacing the fact that I had to draw the <a href="http://www.alaskanpurl.com/2010/07/alluvia-giveaway.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b>Alluvia giveaway</b></span></a> winner tonight (hey, it's been a long week!), we now have a very lucky winner!<br />
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There were 41 entrants (after weeding out a couple duplicate comments) and so I asked Jeff to pick a number between 1 and 41. He chose 11. For some reason I didn't like that number (he was a little hurt that I didn't like his choice), so I decided to consult the <a href="http://www.random.org/"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Random Number Generator</span></b></a> for a second opinion. <br />
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And wouldn't you know it? It gave me 11 as well. So, apparently, the 11th commenter was just destined to win!<br />
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The winner of the Alluvia giveaway is none other than Gail Litter (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/GLitter-knitter"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b>GLitter-knitter</b></span></a> on Rav)!<br />
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Gail is my old roommate and married to one of my oldest childhood friends. We used to knit together and obsessively watch all three seasons of Arrested Development over and over (and over) back in my early knitting days (she can attest to how far I've come!) How I miss knitting together during the long, dark winters!<br />
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I swear this wasn't rigged...apparently since both Jeff and the RNG both picked 11, it was just meant to be!<br />
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So, Gail, you better start picking your fave flavors of <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Wool_of_the_Andes_Worsted_Yarn__D5420103.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b>Wool of the Andes</b></span></a>! I'll ship them right to you, just in time for some Colorado fall knitting! Email me at <a href="mailto:allison@alaskanpurl.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><b>allison@alaskanpurl.com</b></span></a> with your choices...better yet, you should call me....we need to catch up!<br />
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Thanks to all for entering! I've got some exciting things that I'll be able to share very soon in the next few weeks. And I might even have another giveaway or two to celebrate! Stay tuned....Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-55040103487567427752010-07-25T22:53:00.010-08:002010-07-30T20:53:05.309-08:00An Alluvia Giveaway!Lately my mind has been turning to thoughts of fall...mostly because it feels like fall has already come to Southeast Alaska! We had a very warm May, which served as our "summer", and then there was termination dust (aka SNOW) on the peaks by mid-June. Ever since, it's been rainy, cold, gray, and very very windy.<br />
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</div><div>I am absolutely giddy about this! I'm watching the fireweed blooms slowly travel up the stalk, meaning they are moving closer and closer to the time when they will turn to cotton and summer will soon be forgotten, as the saying goes.<br />
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</div><div>I just love living in a cold weather climate, mostly because it means that I get to work with wool year round without getting sweaty and itchy!</div><div><br />
</div><div>So, to celebrate this wonderful fall weather in July, I've decided to do another giveaway. The real fall will be here before we know it, and wouldn't you like to have a great fall accessory ready to use when it gets here?!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBZlW0kPf9Hf0qTAvF_c_SYeZXHdYWpMLiwwIgjGKt8WNEvm-bbqEgiH7ZyJjMKjLrZ09jgOgIyNlLT5AFx8kwocE9QDIJngWR2Adv71qez05wSaCUabNTixoU1U1i9t75djo7IcgZyJz/s1600/DSC_0598-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBZlW0kPf9Hf0qTAvF_c_SYeZXHdYWpMLiwwIgjGKt8WNEvm-bbqEgiH7ZyJjMKjLrZ09jgOgIyNlLT5AFx8kwocE9QDIJngWR2Adv71qez05wSaCUabNTixoU1U1i9t75djo7IcgZyJz/s640/DSC_0598-1.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Here are the giveaway details:</span><br />
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<b>1. What am I giving away?</b><br />
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A copy of the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alluvia">Alluvia Felted Tote pattern</a> and 8 skeins of <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Wool_of_the_Andes_Worsted_Yarn__D5420103.html">Wool of the Andes Worsted</a> in the colors of your choice! You could go with muted tones or vibrant shades...the possibilities are endless!<br />
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<b>2.</b> <b>How can you enter?</b></div><div><br />
</div><div>Just leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite shade of Wool of the Andes is!</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>3. </b> <b>Is there a deadline to enter?</b></div><div><br />
</div><div>Yep, you must leave a comment <b>by Friday July 30 at 8 PM Alaska Time</b>. I'll use the random number generator to choose the lucky winner and will announce it soon after that!</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>4.</b> <b>Can I enter more than once?</b></div><div><br />
</div><div>Yes, if you'd like a second chance to enter, just blog about my giveaway on your blog and then leave a comment letting me know that you did so!<br />
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******************************************************************</div><div>Good luck, everyone! Looking forward to hearing your favorite shade of WotA...mine's a tie between Firecracker Heather and Tidepool Heather!</div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-84135519839881194662010-07-16T00:15:00.003-08:002010-07-16T19:52:44.509-08:00Alluvia<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you ever have a project or design that lurks around for what seems like forever? And then just when you think you will never finish it, somewhere in the depths you find the strength to power through and just get it done? Well, then you know how I feel about </span><a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfpatterns/pattern_display.cfm?ID=10435220"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alluvia</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. (</span><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alluvia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rav it</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKuRWFGBkJ8L_31qoE8I1QPnyuvDFMR2eVHjMHGX_rbyHQYLsqjD4u1GK5TFzCFqfe4DIdBpM9EO0hXxpcwPCuw8ftVVR9QOB1tLaTf4mN5U-mbbWq1vVyLzUucY8mYCvNSPiTZichHuF/s1600/DSC_0598-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKuRWFGBkJ8L_31qoE8I1QPnyuvDFMR2eVHjMHGX_rbyHQYLsqjD4u1GK5TFzCFqfe4DIdBpM9EO0hXxpcwPCuw8ftVVR9QOB1tLaTf4mN5U-mbbWq1vVyLzUucY8mYCvNSPiTZichHuF/s640/DSC_0598-1.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I began this bag about a year and a half ago. It was my first ever design submission and, with hindsight being 20/20, I can see now why it was not at first accepted to any publications. The colors I initially used were all wrong (I went stash diving and worked up the oddest color combinations of Cascade 220 <em>ever</em>) and the submission itself...well, let's just say a five year old could have done a better job.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with that first rejection came a fresh perspective on the design and over the next few months, a better (and actually a little bigger) version took shape and morphed into the beautiful pattern I present to you today!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was so excited for this design to be apart of the Knit Picks IDP, because it meant that I could choose any shades of Wool of the Andes that I wanted! But, it turns out, I got shy about choosing the colors (too much pressure!), so Stacey at KP (who is so wonderful, by the way) picked them out for me. And she couldn't have done a better job!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She thought working from the bottom to the top and going from darkest to lightest would be a cool concept and I say I have to agree.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglx5IxYFjHiBtasOcTHWI5HlNmdcB-a3MmLhk8eG337NJrcx9KXhtVc4ocX_l7Z8GL71mF2n48UhhWyLakDDAKeLCbn_df-WMEBL9miSLtkUAPYQ5NG3PDJA001I9QqQuMeHCWjPbGHjcn/s1600/DSC_0408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglx5IxYFjHiBtasOcTHWI5HlNmdcB-a3MmLhk8eG337NJrcx9KXhtVc4ocX_l7Z8GL71mF2n48UhhWyLakDDAKeLCbn_df-WMEBL9miSLtkUAPYQ5NG3PDJA001I9QqQuMeHCWjPbGHjcn/s400/DSC_0408.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She sent along the black and then the various shades of purple for me to use. But I thought it needed something extra, so I threw in the red from my own stash, just for fun!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Named for the interesting ridges that form in the sand at the mouths of glaciers, the Alluvia Felted Tote is the perfect accessory for fall! </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0fOwdi_4yRH97gUFQx9JVCMA9ndrJLZeO_K4JUMSxX5_2dIvELywhwtORqTPHx4_vJFH0adM7bHmFDxZIanSMt2lS6NGtHk0ni_VXym-a2ZZ-ctUs63F-9UMKG8OV_oph6eH9NO_ZhBx/s1600/DSC_0575-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0fOwdi_4yRH97gUFQx9JVCMA9ndrJLZeO_K4JUMSxX5_2dIvELywhwtORqTPHx4_vJFH0adM7bHmFDxZIanSMt2lS6NGtHk0ni_VXym-a2ZZ-ctUs63F-9UMKG8OV_oph6eH9NO_ZhBx/s400/DSC_0575-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{Shown here unfelted...don't you love the colors?!}</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worked in the round from the bottom up, this tote utilizes an exaggerated pleat stitch that forms the folds of material that become the felted ruffles. With so many shades of Wool of the Andes Worsted from which to choose, the possibilities are endless to create a colorful and unique accessory!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Details:</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pattern:</b> Alluvia Felted Tote (<a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/cfpatterns/pattern_display.cfm?ID=10435220">Knit Picks link</a>, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alluvia">Rav link</a>)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b>Suggested Yarn:</b> Wool of the Andes Worsted (Shown in (from the bottom up) Coal, Cobblestone Heather, Black Cherry Heather, Claret Heather, Amethyst Heather, Lullaby, and Iris Heather)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b>Needles:</b> 32" size 8 circulars and size 8 dpns</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b>Techniques Used:</b> Working in the round; Magic Loop; i-cord, decreasing, felting</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">I'm so glad that this design is finally available! I've loved watching the transition it has undergone and I'm actually glad that the first version of it was rejected....it would never have morphed into the unique piece it is today!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">Please do not hesitate to ask if you'd like to know more details about this pattern. Happy knitting, everyone!</span></span>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9106183527610513457.post-67714951642436816482010-05-15T23:28:00.001-08:002010-05-16T07:06:40.651-08:00Mayflowers SockOkay, so I've finally gotten my act together and finalized the pattern for <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mayflowers">Mayflowers</a>, my sock design entry in the <a href="http://exercisebeforeknitting.com/socks-revived/">Socks Revived Design Contest</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB22_c1RcjIYDZJgul5HbRxhZsfbuuck5MN-wB-78WJP1tQFZE0HHyUBuLZUM8VuMTz7PsF742bsle9VkQD7O-qA0_2itC579GG4grL7-sVcGLeWVfZCjd9kEaFe2Y1sCgheirN4OfVvU9/s1600/DSC_0466-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB22_c1RcjIYDZJgul5HbRxhZsfbuuck5MN-wB-78WJP1tQFZE0HHyUBuLZUM8VuMTz7PsF742bsle9VkQD7O-qA0_2itC579GG4grL7-sVcGLeWVfZCjd9kEaFe2Y1sCgheirN4OfVvU9/s400/DSC_0466-1.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;"><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/purchase/alaskanpurl-designs/36490"><img border="0" src="http://www.ravelry.com/images/shopping/buy-now.gif" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Ravelry link to purchase)</div><br />
The idea of cables breaking out of their routine and blossoming into flowers has been in my mind for awhile now. And I'm so grateful for the process of moving the concept from my mind to the page to a living and breathing creation. It was truly challenging but, in the end, it turned out way better than I ever could have expected.<br />
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Here are some more shots of the work...makes you want to grab your size 1's and get to knitting, doesn't it? Such a cozy sock knit in the Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine...the Pea Soup Mix is to die for! Such lovely shades of green wrapped up in a single skein. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0veNQzgJEeqa6aNkqOs-POyePGhoCoAd71LQzMmjFjnUsMCYkJA1N6y8K7WJvFCTqVqpYcAOgSAvWH7_nAofpJ7LRq0rWtCNVsGeaxrYQr8WKbmj6w9pOqowxdn-XYWJJU6zE-emc2Mi/s1600/DSC_0473-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0veNQzgJEeqa6aNkqOs-POyePGhoCoAd71LQzMmjFjnUsMCYkJA1N6y8K7WJvFCTqVqpYcAOgSAvWH7_nAofpJ7LRq0rWtCNVsGeaxrYQr8WKbmj6w9pOqowxdn-XYWJJU6zE-emc2Mi/s400/DSC_0473-1.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYjqsf6R77S80NwLrTbv-zF7-L57eUXFE9F0viA0tRTM46Vvl_ZjG_J6QQd52w_Uqopfo9_k4R48l20jkLnZqpt-DpN81hwpNIyKMuUHWIqaUgxo1iWN8rPi1jgUcxmqmXvrjPa39mRo2/s1600/DSC_0480-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYjqsf6R77S80NwLrTbv-zF7-L57eUXFE9F0viA0tRTM46Vvl_ZjG_J6QQd52w_Uqopfo9_k4R48l20jkLnZqpt-DpN81hwpNIyKMuUHWIqaUgxo1iWN8rPi1jgUcxmqmXvrjPa39mRo2/s400/DSC_0480-1.jpg" width="273" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN4hFg2fpDIBCftf4JNBata8fmlXkMBAmVfSi_FHOvzbj-gKXHEzDhoEImaZ_Q406eenuBCQw134mIcTXIFBtaTy0VoMu6XJ_8qWPNjWgUg1vFgJFpdELguDFyxSRblWbH6U3tPXGSHxVe/s1600/DSC_0485-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN4hFg2fpDIBCftf4JNBata8fmlXkMBAmVfSi_FHOvzbj-gKXHEzDhoEImaZ_Q406eenuBCQw134mIcTXIFBtaTy0VoMu6XJ_8qWPNjWgUg1vFgJFpdELguDFyxSRblWbH6U3tPXGSHxVe/s400/DSC_0485-1.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I hope you'll love knitting Mayflowers as much as I've enjoyed creating it!</div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02890614245647547151noreply@blogger.com53