Flourishing Fields Update

Last summer I got a new camera, and posted about how much better it is than my old camera. I’ve slowly been using it to take improved, updated photos of some of my patterns, while I also update the format of my old patterns to be more consistent.  It has been very slow going because I’m only doing it in my very limited spare time between current designs and the day job.  I channeled by typical springtime craving for all things green, and have completed my update of Flourishing Fields!

Flourishing Fields, by Christina Loman

If you are a previous buyer, you’ve received an updated copy already, free of charge, via Ravelry or an email sent by Ravelry. Whether you are a previous buyer or not, know that the content of this pattern has not changed. These are still fairly simple cuff-down socks with the exact same cables as before. All that has changed is the format, plus a few new photos. Enjoy!

Warm Weather Knitting

Wow, I am impressed at how enthusiastic you guys were about yesterday’s contest! I will have to do another scavenger hunt in the future! I was a little worried there wouldn’t be much response since many people stop knitting as the weather warms, and my sales typically dip then too. Clearly I am not the only one who continues to knit voraciously in spring and summer! What do you like to knit this time of year? For me…

1. Shawls

 

Ironically, I don’t really wear shawls that much. I LOVE to knit them though. They’re lighter and more delicate than say, a cabled sweater, so they’re great for knitting when it’s warm out. If you’re a shawl-wearer, they’re also immediately wearable in the springtime. For me, unless I’m knitting for a special event (like the upcoming new design for a friend’s wedding), I tend to wind up giving my shawls to a friend or relative. They’re one of the only things I knit that are more about process than product.

2. Tank Tops

For a while I was seriously skeptical about knitted summer shirts. Something about knitwear and summer just seemed mutually exclusive. Then I discovered linen. From there it progressed to cotton, silk, bamboo…there’s just no stopping me! Sleeveless tops knit up fast, even with thin, light-weight yarns. They don’t weigh much or make you sweat as they sit in your lap mid-project. AND…instant wearability! While central air-conditioning does allow me to knit long-sleeved pullovers and blankets in the summer, there’s nothing quite like the reward of putting on a piece fresh from the blocking board.

3. Socks

 

No, I’m not going to wear these right away. In fact, I try to wear as little on my feet as possible, for as much of the year as possible. However, the cold weather will return eventually, and it’s always nice to have a fresh new pile of socks waiting for me when that happens. Socks are fast, light, and easy to stuff in a purse or carry-on when I’m traveling (as I tend to in the summer). Again, they’re small and not going to make me sweaty while I knit them.

I’ve also very recently discovered a serious affection for summery cardigans, thanks to a phenomenon I call the Summer Deep Freeze. Sometimes American businesses are just a little too enthusiastic about air conditioning for my taste. My school seems to be especially guilty of this, so look for a lot of new cardigans to come from me!

P.S. If you can’t tell from the photos, yes, the seasons do influence my color cravings. Spring means greeeeeeeeeen!

Leonardtown

I know it’s only been a couple weeks since I released Misty Morning, but I am too excited by the return of Spring to hold off on this one! So, I am very happy to introduce Leonardtown!

Leonardtown, by Christina Loman

The rectangular lace shawl is absolutely perfect for this time of year, when it can be so sunny and gorgeous out you can’t even think of staying inside, but there’s still just enough chill in the air that bare shoulders just won’t work.

A bit of cozy merino is just what the doctor (Mother Nature?) called for. The size of the repeat on the Vine Lace may look intimidating at first, but it’s actually quite memorizable and surprisingly intuitive. It becomes almost meditative after a while. I’m sure it’ll impress the idle viewer though!

The simple garter edging and picot cast-on and bind-off also add interest and stability to the shawl. No monotony here! So be sure to check out Leonardtown, and join in the fun! I’ve chosen to knit the sample in green because, well, Spring. In my mind, there is no greater color than green this time of year. What color will you choose?

Signs of Spring

It’s still definitely winter, and in fact there’s ice in the forecast for tomorrow and snow for Friday, but I’m beginning to see signs of the coming Spring, and I’m getting excited.

When we were out photographing a sample the other day, we startled a flock of robins. Robins are always my surest sign that the snow and deep freezes are done, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen them come home this early before. It’s a little unnerving, actually.

 

Pic by Carine06 via Wiki Commons

It’s also planting time, for things I’m starting from seed. So I set up my little indoor garden over the weekend, and while there’s nothing to see yet I’m still very excited. Outside, some of the trees are starting to get little red buds and the crocuses are getting leafy too.

Nothing to see here…yet.

Then, there’s my intense craving for green. Admittedly, green is my favorite color so I always crave it a bit, but this time of year it gets out of control. All I want to wear is green, all I want to knit is green, and absolutely nothing is as exciting to me as discovering a new bit of green outside. It doesn’t help that I can’t photograph the sample currently in test knitting until it gets greener outside. I’m so impatient!

Messy Bag Disaster

So I put a nice, tidy lace WIP into my knitting bag, and pulled it back out looking like this:

Not my favorite moment of the day. I don’t normally have issues with things getting mangled in their bags. I put them in nicely and don’t abuse the bags, so generally things come out pretty much like they went in. Occasionally an especially slippery dpn will pull out of a sock, but that’s something I can plan for. This one surprised me. So I put it down, had a little chocolate, and then set about “reading” the lace to see what I could salvage. Have I mentioned that this project is pretty much cursed and I’ve restarted twice already? Not to mention it seems to be a personal favorite of the cat, so there’s been some serious reknitting there too.

See that circled bit there? That’s where a 4th AND 5th purl stitch unraveled all the way into nothingness. Oh yay. Unlike April Showers, dropped stitches are not the look I’m going for here.

I managed to get that put back together fairly respectably (see arrow) thanks to judicious use of my trusty crochet hook. Then it was time to attack the next issue – that looooooong loop of yarn that is 2 more purl stitches dropped into nothingness, plus 3 more stitches dropped down 1 row and another that unraveled 2 rows just for fun. There was another monstrosity like that towards the end of the row.

All in all it took about twice as long to fix that little half row as it would to knit a full row, but I did NOT do any serious ripping. I’m going to consider that a victory.

Messy Life

I had a pretty impressive “Messy” post in the works, but the truth is I’ve been sick and am just not up to the work involved at the moment. Which, I suppose, is its own kind of messy. I’ve been rather minimally productive all week, spending as much time ripping and re-knitting as actually creating anything. Illness is not good for my brain, or my coordination. I’m also waiting on the weather to cooperate so I can photograph a sample before sending it off to the tech editor, and cooperate it will not. Who’d have thought I’d be hoping for fog and mist? It’s really not the right time of year for it, unfortunately. Plenty of grey and rainy, but no mist.

So in the mean time, I’ve been quietly encouraging myself with a sensory feast. I’ve been spinning this lovely, saturated silk blend:

 

Plugging away at a bit of lace in a color that reminds me Spring isn’t so very far away:

 

And being utterly charmed by these stubborn little garlic shoots who do not seem to care that it’s been a good 20 degrees below the seasonal average this week, and that even the seasonal average should still be too cold for them to sprout:

 

It doesn’t hurt that this morning’s icy ugliness resulted in a “Snow” Day and so I get a surprise 3-day weekend to work on fighting this upper respiratory blech. Hope you’re holding up out there too!

Potomac

I’m very excited to announce the release of my newest pattern, Potomac!

 

Potomac is a bottom up, worsted weight sweater designed for a combination of warmth and simplicity for an active winter’s day. The recommended yarn is very warm for a DK weight, mainly because of the silk content (which also adds a pretty hint of shimmer, like the Potomac River on a sunny day).

 

The subtle color variations of a kettle-dyed yarn lend themselves particularly well to a simple pattern like this, where they won’t be overwhelmed by heavy texturing. Don’t fear the miles of tedious stockinette, however, because there are also simple cables up the front and back that provide just the right amount of interest without being complicated enough to distract from the yarn.

 

I had a lot of fun designing this sweater, and the inspirations for it are totally local. The yarn, the color, the pattern name – they’re all Home to me. Although I know most of you are not  from this area, but I hope you’ll love Potomac as much as I do!

Esmeralda

Welcome, December! What a perfect time for a new sweater! I am thrilled to introduce you to Esmeralda, my latest release on Ravelry. This super-warm pullover comes in sizes from 32-44 inches and has just a bit of openwork at the cowl, hem, and cuffs, and traveling up the sleeves.

 

The wool-alpaca blend recommended is practically the definition of warm and cozy, and the jewel-shaped lace panels add a bit of sparkle to your wardrobe during a dark, dreary part of the year. The name “Esmeralda“ comes from the sample color and the shape of the lace panels - esmeralda is Spanish for emerald. However, this sweater would look just as lovely as a rubí, amatista, topacio,  or perla. So pick a color and have some fun with it!

 

Additionally, there are princess seams (Princess? Jewels? You’re practically royalty in this!) to add femininity and help create the most flattering fit. This pullover is ideal for the intermediate knitter, but has more than enough interest to keep an advanced knitter happy as well, and plenty of opportunity for customization if you are that advanced knitter. I hope you’ll enjoy Esmeralda as much as I did!

 

Double Messy

I’ve got a two-fer for you today. First, we went out of town (just for one night!) and the cat did NOT approve. He took it out on a sweater WIP I didn’t pack.

Sigh.

He was more than willing to “help” me clean up his mess though.

So helpful.

Then, cuz it’s just been extra messy in Casa Feel Good lately, there was Urchin. I dyed up that second ball of hand-spun, and it was definitely not the same shade of green as the first. So this:

Almost half done!

Had to become this:

Take 2

So I could hide the fact that the dye lots aren’t quite the same. Luckily it’s not a very time-consuming pattern, but still – frustration. I’m beginning to suspect the gauge swatch on another project I’m knitting lied to me too, but that could be a whole other post. I love knitting I love knitting I love knitting…

 

Psst…I’d still love your opinion on this post too!

 

 

Normal

Normal is a weird concept. Like how we have a certain neighbor in the complex behind us who has a medical emergency pretty much any time the weather’s awful, without fail. So when an ambulance and a firetruck showed up to that building mid-Sandy, that was normal.

God bless those emergency workers, though.

The kids playing in the flood waters downtown within minutes of the rain ending? Also totally normal.

Photo courtesy of Tracy Woodward via the Washington Post.

Then there are the things that people try to return to normal after a major event, but don’t quite make it. For instance, we were back in school yesterday, but the kids were so wired there was probably not a speck of learning done. Or the fact that within hours crews were clearing away the tree in the through-way out of our parking lot,

Freedom!

but that giant chunk of the sidewalk the root ball took out and the sad hole in the treeline where the behemoth used to live? Definitely not quite normal.

Then there’s the stuff that’s totally not normal at all. For some involved in this storm that’s a really sad thing, but for me? It just means I got a ridiculous amount spun and dyed on Tuesday while I had no where else to go (or could go). Now what to do with this thick and thin mess?

I made this!

AND this!