They say it’s your Birthday…along with Hadley
20 May 2012 Leave a Comment
Well, not technically yet. My birthday is next Monday, the 28th. Yet, as you might possibly know, I love celebrating birthdays! I think people should just celebrate all month long. I had a friend who used to give other people presents on his birthday, and I just love that tradition. In honor of giving to others on your special day, I’m running a promotion on Ravelry, which starts today and goes through May 29th (since the 28th is Memorial Day, after all).
Purchase any one (or multiple) patterns through my shop and receive 20% off at checkout. Just enter the coupon code “34bday”. (We’ll see if you can guess how old I am now.)
Counting Sheep Studio on Ravelry
And a Very Merry Unbirthday to You!!
Somehow, I don’t think I’ve even mentioned Hadley to you. This is my most recent one, a short sleeved pullover.
For this top, I really wanted something fast, interesting, and easy to throw on and just go. I had fun playing around with different types of raglan increases on this one, from Barbara Walker’s “Knitting from the Top”. I finally decided on a [k1, yo, k1] into the 4 raglan increase points, which gives a sharp look, and just one hole instead of the usual two.
The yarn, Louisa Harding’s Merletto, is something I’ve had for a while, and I especially love how the colors look together. There are many different color combinations you could come up with, also changing around the darker/lighter colors can help you minimize or highlight things you like about your body. The linen blend yarn is perfect for warmer weather, and this is a really interesting one to knit with. A little bit rustic, a little thick/thin, then there is a beautiful sheen and nice earthy quality to it.
Don’t be intimidated by the lace patterns, they are both simple and fun. This would be a great pattern for anyone who has made a sweater or two and wants something a little more interesting.
Of course I did what happens more and more lately, and wanted to immediately make another one when I finished. I had a few balls of some other colors of the Merletto, so I whipped out a ‘Mini-Me’ version for Mia!
I need to get her modeling, but here’s her sweet tiny version.
I love this pretty lilac/seafoam color combo on her!
Need to run, but I hope you all have a great week, and don’t forget to have a small indulgence for me! Personally, I hoping to get something in the chocolate form by next week…and I’ll give you an update on all my adventures.
Dibella
04 May 2012 1 Comment
Alright people. I’ve been so excited to show you this one for what seems like forever now.
Dibella cardigan with fronts open
I found this wonderful hand dyer on Etsy last year, now she has her own website and yarn clubs to boot! Her name is Kristen (on Ravelry you can find her as k10) and she is the owner of Skein Yarns, based in New South Wales, Australia. More recently, her yarns are showing up in shops in the US, and I’m thrilled that more people will have access to her wonderful yarns. Kristen’s color sense is truly amazing, and her site is worth a look for all the beautiful eye candy. Just go take a look, I’ll wait here.
I used 2 different base yarns for this cardigan. The main color is knit out of Merino Silk Sport, a true sportweight that is the heavenly combination of 50% merino and 50% silk. Tightly twisted, there is no snagging, just happy knitting all the way.
The second yarn is actually the same fiber content, but in a laceweight, Merino Silk Lace. Love the deep rich colors on this one, the colorway is called ‘Tribal’.
This is one of those rare instances where my design actually came out pretty much exactly how I envisioned it. I won’t say it was without any difficulties or tweaking, but it really helped that I had a very clear vision for this.
The back lace panel was inspired by that gorgeous stole called Hanami, the one with those random eyelets that represent cherry blossoms. I always loved the organic nature of that and wanted to make a similar pattern.
The eyelets truly are random, and the pattern gives more of a suggestion on how to achieve this look, which is think is a whole lot of fun, as you get to change it up every other round.
If you would like more information, or to purchase this pattern, you can do so here:
Dibella at Counting Sheep Studio
Thank-you for reading this far, have a lovely weekend!
Feet Keep Moving…
02 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in designing, knitting, life, mountains
View from the Wall Street parking garage – Asheville, NC
Well, here I am again. The flowers here are in full force, as evidenced by my pollen-covered car and itchy eyes. I’m always sad that the tulips and other lovely bulb flowers don’t last longer, but I do suppose it makes you appreciate them a wee bit more.
I’m looking forward to the Asheville Herb Festival this weekend. I went last year with Mom and it was amazing! More herb varieties than I’ve seen in one place, along with lots of trees, flowers, berry bushes and other unusual plants. At the end of the summer last year, I was reluctant to cut off what was left of my herbs, and can’t wait to get them all back again! They really do make a huge difference in adding flavor to foods/salads.
In addition to the culinary herbs, last year I bought a pretty pink Mountain Laurel and a Hydrangea in that lovely blue/violet color. We’ll see what kind of goodies I can get this year.
In other good news, I got my mojo back! I’m on my third sweater pattern in the last 2 weeks, the other 2 are with my tech editor and *hopefully* will be back this week. Hooray for me! Some days are still a challenge to get time in, but I’m trying to keep thinking of the whole ‘how do you eat an elephant?’ approach. (Which of course the answer is ‘one bite at a time!’) As long as I make some type of progress I beat up on myself a lot less.
I’ve also been working on this new skirt:
Brolly Skirt in progress
I’m calling it Brolly, since I found that was a fanciful name for an umbrella (notice the pattern at the hem), and thought it was sweet.
This is knitted out of Claudia’s Hand Painted Yarns Linen, in colorway DF Green (not currently available, but she has many beautiful colors). After a long time of not understanding why on earth people want to knit with this rough stuff, I think I’ve finally gotten it. There is just something about linen that heralds in warm weather. It really does keep you cooler and I love that it gets softer when you wash and dry (!) it. An amazing fiber that I’m now a fan of.
I’m pretty much done with the lace bit on the bottom. Of course I started with Peri’s Parasol (from one of Barbara Walker’s books), I only wanted one repeat for a pretty little border. Then I started a pleating pattern, only I wanted it to zig-zag for a bit. Now I’m going to keep the top plain and boring in all stockinette while I put in my decreases. Home free!
If you need a distraction, go here and listen to these hopeful folks talk about why they want a free flock of sheep from Juniper Moon Farm. Apparently these wonderful people have done this a few times, and it’s a nice way to make someone’s dream come true!
Enjoy this day, make it special!
Lulls…and Lindenroot
18 Apr 2012 2 Comments
Well I won’t bore you with any excuses as to my absence, I’ll only say that sometimes Life (with a capital L!) gets in the way of your best intentions. Between kids, taking care of home, and feeling a bit of a lull in my knitting mojo (which really only lasted a few days) blogging has not been a priority!
I did manage to finish up my Lindenroot pattern:
Women’s slouchy beret version
Yarn: Madelinetosh dk in colorway Calligraphy
As usual, the Madelinetosh delivers! Amazing stitch definition and a pleasure to knit. This isn’t as soft and squishy as some of their other bases, but it’s a great basic that is still (in my opinion) much nicer than a standard Cascade 220.
This is the best shot I have of David’s hat at this point (he hates it, but I love his profile!)
Men’s beanie version
Yarn: SweetGeorgia Superwash Worsted in colorway Deep Olive
This was my first try with SweetGeorgia yarns, and I was surprised to see they’ve already been around for 4 years! Now, this one is a plum workhorse yarn, I imagine a sweater out of this would last many years. It really shows off the cables and I love the depth of the color.
The pattern does come with both versions, and I hope you enjoy it!
Lindenroot at Counting Sheep Studio
In other news, I’m now offering up my Innsmouth Bodice pattern on my website as well. (This was originally published with the now defunct Sanguine Gryphon. At some point in the future, this will be with Cephalopod Yarns, but I do want to still have it out there for now!)
(Note that this was never made for me, but I lack friends who are willing models!!)
Baby calls, be well all!
The Gemini Thing….
20 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
is really catching up with me lately. I don’t know if it’s the planetary alignment in the sky or what, but I feel flip-floppy like a fish out of water lately.
Here’s my horoscope for this week from Rob Brezny (Free Will Astrology):
“In the coming weeks, the activity going on inside your mind and heart will be especially intense and influential — even if you don’t explicitly express it. When you speak your thoughts and feelings out loud, they will have unusual power to change people’s minds and rearrange their moods. When you keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself, they will still leak all over everything, bending and shaping the energy field around you. That’s why I urge you to take extra care as you manage what’s going on within you. Make sure the effect you’re having is the effect you want to have.”
That’s a bit scary! I find I’ve been just second-guessing myself a lot and not trusting that anything is ‘good enough’. Ugh. The artist curse I think. I have lots of ideas that seem to get curtailled for some reason or another.
However, I’m still hopeful! I actually sat down and wrote up a list today of the designs I want to finish this year and there are 13, if I can stay on track, which is at best doubtful! (Hey, at least I’m getting to know myself.)
At least I actually finished something today. My Dibella cardi (yes, the name has changed) is blocking on the floor of my bedroom. I just love the unusual construction of this one, I think that makes it super fun in spite of the easy stitches. (Which you also might realize is unusual for me!)
Isn’t this so neat laying flat??
I’m just happy as a clam, busy and life is wonderful and full of possibility. I love Spring and it seems to have sprung!
Love Daffodils, they always make me think of my Grandma
Coming up soon are the Deunan cardi pattern that I need to work on and a surprise, here’s an OK shot:
Happy Spring All!
Pieces and Peace….
22 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
I saw this image on facebook the other day, and I could relate just a little too much!
Most of the time I feel like a Mad Professor when I design. I get the yarn, swatch like crazy, if I’m feeling smart that day I’ll wash the swatch (or I’ll be cursing not doing it later…), then actually attempt to draw a sketch and then do some calculations to start the thing. This all happens in many, many starts and stops throughout the day and night.
Then I’ll lose my calculator. Husband lovingly reminds me that if I kept it in the same place each time, I wouldn’t spend so much time looking for it. Thanks hon, twist that knife in a little deeper, whydontcha?? Then, I’ll work on a lace swatch for an hour and it looks lovely, only to discover that I’ve been using a size US 3 the whole time, not a US 2. Then I’ll just get mad and fudge my #’s to (hopefully not get burnt) and work with the size 2.
Then I’ll cast on. Of course I have to try a new cast one, (the Austrian version , which I really like a lot), because of course the old long tail is just so ‘been there, done that’, and I have to mix it up. The Austrian method is actually quite easy, it just takes 3-4 times as long because you have to keep reseting your hand, as opposed to keeping them in the same position when you do a long tail cast on.
Work through the first row, which always takes forever, especially with teeny yarn and not-so-pointy bamboo needles. Then realize I didn’t cast on enough stitches. Oh, by only about 30 or so. Crap. “Well, I guess I really wanted a lot of practice with this new (to me) cast on!” I tell the hubby. Smile and nod honey, smile and nod.
Still with me? Well I made it past the hurdle and I’m a few rounds in now. We’ll see if this will work, I think to myself. Someday I’ll be more confident, but for now, it’s all trial and error baby (and it took me 3 days to get back to this post!).
Every once in a while, something actually gets accomplished:
Sydney was nice enough to model my Lindenroot Beret for me, and I was lucky enough to quick and snap a shot where she wasn’t making a crazy face.
Top detail, I loved making these decrease cables!
This was a fun one. Simple cables that look like trees in worsted weight yarn, good stuff, and I really needed a smaller project. This started off as a new hat for David, then I decided I needed to make the ‘ladies’ version….since berets are always better, right??
Here’s the original, as you can tell we need to get our modeling shots:
Mia and I ran out today for a little consignment shop trip, since I’m always looking for cool new stuff for the house. My list is a bit long, but lucky for David I’m patient and I like to wait until I find the ‘just right’ thing. I did find a cool coffee / end table set that I really like, we’ll see.
What was NOT on the list was this little guy, but for $5 I couldn’t resist:
Woo hoo are you?? I know he’s a bit on the kitschy side, but I think I love him anyway.
Anyways, that’s all for now. I have a good friend coming in tomorrow to visit with us for a couple of weeks. Which means of course that work will slow down, but it will be nice to have somewhat of a break.
Be well all!
Love…and Westall
14 Feb 2012 6 Comments
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
– Rumi
Happy day of Love to any and all who celebrate. If you don’t have someone around to love on today, why not celebrate loving yourself?? After all, no one could love you as well.
As my friend Maria recently pointed out, we receive the most love when we give it. For her birthday, she decided to do 38 Random Acts of Kindness (one for each of her years), and what a glorious example of love and compassion she is! If you want to read something truly inspiring, take a minute and check it the link above.
Yesterday, after pulling myself out of bed from my recovery (let’s just say you don’t EVER want to get the Norovirus, even though it has a cool name!), I did manage to release my Westall Cardigan pattern. You have this one last day (today!) to go over to Ravelry and get it for 20% off. Or, you can always go to my website and find it there, that is if I can get it to work for me today . Got it!
Westall at Counting Sheep Studio
Once more, here’s the link to DyeforWool’s Etsy shop, they are really making some pretty string over there in Germany. Mostly they dye lace and sock weight yarns in rich, semi-solid colors.
It’s kind of terrible that I don’t remember just how exhaustively (or not?) I’ve talked about this sweater. I know it was a real adventure for me, and not a ‘brainless’ knit, as many of them are. The easier bits are the bottom, once you are finished with the lace, the borders, and the sleeves are fun once you get going.
As always, I look forward to seeing some different versions of what you all come up with!
Sleeve and front border detail
I just Loooove the back panel!!
So, if you are looking for a little more spice in your knitting life, maybe you’d like to give this a shot!
If you are looking for something a bit more…Zen, then you might like my newest project, for now I’m calling is Dibella.
This one is a wrap cardigan, beginning with a center back panel that is knitted from the center out. I’m using a 40″ circular for the whole thing, you could just as easily use dpns or 2 circs – whatever method works for you.
The front and sleeves have stripes, you can see the sequence here.
I’ve actually been craving some stripes for a while now, I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to do some! They are super fun and super addictive (just one more…).
There are also afterthought sleeves, a clever idea that was not my own, I saw it on the Dahlia Cardigan from IK Winter 2011 and thought it was brilliant!
Beginning of the sleeve in progress, after picking up stitches
More on this one soon, it’s pretty close to being finished. Be well friends, I’m sending you all a virtual hug!
I’ll leave you with my favorite piece of classical music, it moves me like no other. I recommend turning it up and listening with your eyes closed.
Love Me Tender Beret
09 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
is now available! On top of that, I’m doing a Ravelry promotion now through the end of Valentine’s Day (February 14th), you can take 20% off of any pattern in the shop. Just wanted to show a little love to all my wonderful customers and say “Thank-You!!”.
I do have just the beret pattern discounted on my website as well:
Love Me Tender Beret at Counting Sheep Studio
So if you are like me and have lots of various worsted weight variegated yarns in your stash, then go play with some color combos!
Now back to taking care of this little sick baby for me.
Swish!
07 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in designing, friends, knitting, life
It seems lately that each and every time I sit down to write something, I have a small, cute visitor that tells me I have other, more pressing things to do. Such as sitting on the floor while she climbs all over me, or so we can play ‘pass the bunny’ 100x. Great stuff, but not conducive to getting a whole lot of work done.
But then you get to do things like this, and life is all good.
Then I had the major computer meltdown, and was offline for the better part of 2 weeks. You would think that would mean getting tons of stuff done, but not really. I did get to hang out with some old friends, some new friends and some in between. I love living here in Asheville and am so grateful for all the wonderful connections I’ve made here over the years.
The Superbowl party yesterday went well. I didn’t get to watch a lot of the actual game, but at least all the food was good and the beer didn’t run out =;) I’m realizing that it might not have been the best time to try 3 new things, but what can I say? I love to be an adventurous cook. Making my ol’ standby chili was a good idea too, especially with the addition of that beautiful little orange habanero.
Meanwhile, I’m working really hard to get two patterns into your hands very, very shortly.
First one are the berets I decided to make with all my Malabrigo Rios leftovers:
Toddler and small versions, just need better pics – but thought this one was really sweet.
The ‘big-girl’ version
I had some issues when knitting this, the main one was the main stitch on the body (called Woven Basket) couldn’t be knitted in the round. I just could not figure out a way to make it work. My mom was the one who actually came up with the idea for a flap, and I loved it. SO, thanks Mom! I’m really happy with them now, they are fun and quick to knit, and I never got tired of seeing the pretty color combos of the Rios.
Secondly, I’m finalizing my Westall Cardigan pattern for you. Check back for this one soon!
Have a peaceful night, filled with sweet dreams and imaginings!
Resistance…and submission
14 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in life
(Note: If you’re looking for good, beefy knitting content, check back next week! This post is more on a personal note.)
That which we resist is usually the very thing that will help us the most. The more resistance you feel, the greater the need to push through that obstacle. This thought has been floating through my mind quite a bit lately.
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” Mark Twain
Lately, as I’m getting back into a yoga routine, I’m trying to go longer, and push myself more. When my body is resistant, saying ‘no, I don’t want to bend that way’, I think that is the posture I need to pursue more. Making yourself uncomfortable at times, fighting through the hard bits, is what makes us stronger, as Mark Twain pointed out so eloquently.
Instead of a resolution, I am simply committing myself this year to pushing the envelope more…in all areas of my life. Letting go of the fears that hold me back from too many dreams I have. Following my muse…perhaps someday erasing those nagging doubts and what-ifs that creep into my mind all too often.
I am a beautiful person, full of love and compassion. I have much to give in this life and I want to share of myself and not judge others. I will practice letting go and trusting my inner guidance.
