I’m thrilled to unveil my new superhero-themed stitchmarkers – the Silver Centurion, now available at Exchanging Fire!
The Silver Centurion
The Silver Centurion is an abstract take on Iron Man, with these amazing vintage stitchmarkers from Cold War era Eastern Europe creating a “mask-like” feel with their bright silver lines etched across the lucite beads. I love how they look very “grown-up” but can still feed your inner geekery!
Here I am in featured at the beginning of the Phat Fiber video for this month!
Don’t forget, if you purchase anything in my store from May 18 – June 15 you are eligible for the Phat Fiber Superbox Giveaway! To win this month’s Phat Incentive, which includes the contents of the May Video (aka The Superbox) AND A $150 Gift Certificate to one of the participating shops, you need to join the Phat Fiber group and the post what you’ve purchased in the Incentive thread.
So, I am working on a Bigger on the inside shawl, to coincide with my watching of Doctor Who. It’s actually been going swimmingly, considering my propensity to get bored with what I’m knitting and walk away from a project for years on end. A lace shawl finished in less than two months?! Inconceivable!
However, I’ve hit the first cables that make up the roofline of the Tardis and the instructions are so freaking unclear. Mainly this is because the designer doesn’t want you to knit these like regular cables, where you slide one stitch off, either to the back or front, and then come back to that stitch later. I can do that no problem. But her instructions call for keeping the stitches all on the same needle, and when I attempt that it comes out totally verkakte. This would all be made clear with a simple video somewhere, but does anyone on the internet have one? No. The best I can find use four stitches instead of two, or call it C2F instead of C2L, but a stitch dictionary I found online made it clear that these aren’t really interchangeable stitch terms, they are slightly different. Also, shouldn’t it be C4F if you are working four stitches, not 2? There is absolutely no standard for this term and so many “teachers” and “designers” online are using the terminology incorrectly I want to scream. Shoot me now. Also, I have a miserable cold so my patience is really low right now.
Ok, upon rereading the stitch dictionary I found online I discovered that the different between C2F and C2L appears to be that one version slips stitches and the other works them on the same needle, as this pattern calls for. Strangely enough, though, the term that calls for the stitches to be worked on one needle is C2F, while this pattern uses that definition for C2L. Do you see what I mean about no freaking standards? Makes me want to tear my hair out.
Thankfully, I did find an online tutorial that was a.) using two stitches for C2F, and was b.) knitting them the way that the designer for this pattern asks that they be knit, even if she’s using the wrong term according to others out there on the web. I’m sharing this video with all of you so that others don’t go through my personal torture. Now I’m going to go take another antihistamine.
UPDATE: Ok, so I tried to start the purl side of C2R and C2L and totally got confused. It was clearly way too late at night and I was too sick because I missed the directions entirely. Though the words didn’t really help at all. However, I found an obscure video about knitting 2-stitch Bavarian twists on the wrong side. At the end of the video, the teacher explains that these twists can be turned into crosses (aka C2L or C2R) by turning one knit stitch into a purl stitch. Perfect! Exactly what I was looking for. Though I did stop for a minute and think, “Wait, so ‘C’ stands for ‘cross’ not ‘cable’? Well that would have been helpful to know!” I personally followed Method A from the video and after doing it about three times along with the video I could remember it enough to do the two mock cables by myself. Just ignore her when she says to knit the first stitch – it’s always a purl stitch.
So the moral of this story? Sometimes in patterns, less is not more, more is more. After seeing those videos I could do the crosses or twists all on one needle, no problem, but not being able to understand what I was doing was very difficult at first. Since these are pretty obscure techniques, in my opinion, more explanations upfront would have made this less of a hair-tearing experience.
It finally feels like spring again. Last night a spring storm rolled through, knocking off a branch from the fully-blossoming magnolia tree. This morning I found magnolia petals trapped between the screen and the window where the wind had blown them in the midst of all that thunder and lightning. So in honor of spring, I’m adding to the Farm Fresh Series I started last year around this time.
These newest limited edition stitch markers are made using vintage mid-century beads from the Baltics. They look particularly like sky blue berries (the kind that have little drupelets on them). When I was looking at the types of berries that are related to the raspberry, I was tickled to discover the unassuming cloudberry, a mainly European species of berry that is rare but well-known in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions. Yes, the real cloudberries are actually a light to reddish orange color, but I like to think this is a “tip of the hat” to them. Enjoy my take on cloudberries.
Cloudberries
These stitch markers join my Farm Fresh collection, which includes a few of my favorite fruit-related sets.
Strawberry Fields Forever
When possible, I’ve tried to use some of my favorite classic song lyrics that relate to the farm fresh fruit in question.
Sometimes a love note isn’t written in words. Sometimes there are no words needed. When I design a set of stitch markers inspired by a favorite poem or song or even a TV show, I feel like these small, practical bits of jewelry for your needles are my love letters to the things I enjoy.
When I saw these rectangular blue beads with their very geometric mod style I immediately thought of the Tardis – “brand new and ancient and the bluest blue ever.” I knew they had to be turned into Doctor Who stitch markers. In some ways, Doctor Who is one long love story of the art of science fiction. These stitch markers are my love notes back.
Mad Man with a Box
“A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I always meant to take it back. Oh, that box, Amy, you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand-new and ancient and the bluest blue ever.”
These markers join the rest of my Doctor Who series, which currently contain:
Oswin Oswald
“Rescue me chinboy and show me the stars.”
Time and Relative Dimensions in Space
“Yes, that’s it. Names are funny. I’m the Tardis.”
I officially love Vanna White. Half of the video is about her and her cat! And she talks to her cat just like cat people do – “oh, what do you want to do now? Really? that’s what you want to do? Ok!” Yup, Vanna White has a cat and loves antiques!
I always enjoy talking to people in real life situations. As much as I love reading and writing and conversing with others online, nothing compares with the subtle hand and facial gestures we all subconsciously make and implicitly understand. That being said, I got to meet up with some fellow Ravelers this weekend at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. So, HiMyNameIsPurple, me (LadyDanio), samie1914, scf1270 and junebug2285 met up in the hotel lobby where this pretty picture below was taken. We had a quick lunch date in the middle of a busy Saturday and it was wonderful getting to know everyone in real life.
Sam (pictured in the pink top) and I (with the ginormous Mini Mania Scarf) met up first. Unbeknownst to me, she had just sent me a Rav message, and I was in the middle of reading a text from Lindsay (pictured in the purple and grey scarf), so we had a hilarious who’s-on-first conversation at the beginning! Once we figured out who we each were, everyone else arrived. We headed off to the hotel bar, which was serving a buffet.
Sam and Heather (in the blue) had just come out of the festival, so they showed off all of their goodies, which included some dynamite SpaceCadet Creations yarns and a handturned wooden nostepinne for ball winding. Lunch was tons of fun as we got to know each other. We discovered that most of us knew the same people from similar knit groups in the area and I think I have been roped into joining them for an evening!
Since Sam and Heather had already shopped and were heading out, they were so kind as to sneak their $15 handtags to Lindsay and I so that we could slip into the festival for a few minutes without having to pay. Lindsay had been there the day before, but hadn’t been able to stay because her toddler is going through the terrible twos, and so she kindly gave me a grand tour so I didn’t waste time (yes, I had the booths I wanted to see mapped out). I think we were only there for 20 minutes, but I definitely plopped down a bunch of money on yarns!
Of course I stopped by SpaceCadet to see the dyer, Stephanie, who’s a friend of mine, and stumbled into friend and fellow designer Sara Bench, aka CelticQueen, who was the Knitty Surprise design feature for their winter issue. Her pattern Love Actually (is all around) is an absolutely adorable heart-patterned cowl.
Then I headed over to Highland Alpaca, whose yarns I love so much that I began their Ravelry database listings several years ago and try to update them whenever I see them at a new show. I was running out of time but I hit Blue Heron Yarns to tell the dyer about my favorite yarn of hers, Blue Heron Silk Merino, which I have in two different colorways. I wear the Hayworth Shawlette that is made out of that ALL THE TIME. It’s my go-to scarf for both indoors and stylish wearing in light winter weather. The dyer confessed that she loves that yarn to death as well, so much so that she keeps a private stock for her own dyeing purposes! But she let it slip that if you contact her personally she’ll do a custom order for you. If you’ve been looking for some high-end silk merino sportweight that is really fab, you should get in touch with her and ask. She also sometimes dyes it on a whim, and there were some skeins she had in kits, so you may be able to get your hands on it that way.
We had wrapped up the day by 1:30 p.m. and were heading out. I think I could have sat and talked for another hour with everyone but we’d just run out of time! It was great seeing everyone and great meeting in real life. Next time I’ll be out and about will be the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this May. Maybe you’ll see me there!
I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I woke up to discover one of my products, the Snap ‘n Go Notions Case™, had been featured in a brand new knitting podcast today!
Dawn, the author of the Knit Naturally podcast, has just begun a brand new podcast called The Organized Knitter. In case you haven’t heard of Dawn before, she’s a fun-loving Texan who considers her podcasts to be sort of like sitting around on the front porch with your friends. The casts are full of her rapier wit and stories about her family and life, interlaced with knitting tips and tricks. This podcast is specifically designed for the knitter who wants to create an organized, peaceful (though not perfect) environment.
Kate, the owner and master dyer of Dragonfly Fibers, contacted me after the New Year with a last minute request. The final round of her 2012 yarn club was wrapping up and she wanted some goodies for the club members and thought of Exchanging Fire. I always enjoy being part of yarn clubs (I’ve participated in several for Woolgirl) so of course I said yes!
Well, I sent out 60 adorable packages this morning and I am so pleased with the way everything came out that I wanted to share it with all of you. I won’t show you the whole giftset, because I don’t want to give away the surprise for everyone who will be getting these in the next week or two, but I thought I would show off the best part – the stitch markers I made. Often clients give me themes that they want and I go off of that general concept as my inspiration. Sure enough, all Kate had to do was say “think marine life” and I immediately had an idea.
This is a set of stitchmarkers inspired by the magic of unwrapping a gift bit by bit. These gorgeous pearl markers are simplistic but not simple. The luxurious, semi-baroque freshwater pearls add a touch of class to your knitting, and I swear, their rich depth of color just can’t be caught on film.
“Keep the pearls in the shells / They should stay at the bottom of the sea, waiting / Hopefully one day the time will come / Pulling them from the depths of the sea floor / Casting them upon the shores. / A sunbeam will embrace them, / Penetrating warmly, lingering / In the heart of the oyster…” ― Malak’ Abd al-Aziz
Take a look at these awesome Christmas-themed stitch markers and other goodies I’ve got up in the Exchanging Fire shop:
A few of these designs are old favorites,like the one of a kind Jingle Bell Rock markers (only two left in stock!), but I’m especially proud of my newest creations. They are the Wonderful Christmas tree lights ones:
“The party’s on / The feelin’s here / That only comes / This time of year / Simply having a wonderful Christmas time…” – Paul McCartney. “Wonderful Christmas Time”
…and these gorgeous Silver and Gold ornament stitch markers:
“Silver and gold, silver and gold / Mean so much more when I see / Silver and gold decorations / On ev’ry Christmas tree…” – Vanessa Williams, “Silver & Gold”
Wow! Author and knitter Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, otherwise known as The Yarn Harlot, just featured my stitch markers on her blog! The stitch markers talked about were my Secret of the Chromastone markers, which have color changing capabilities when you hold them – just like mood rings from the ’70s. They were listed as part of the Yarn Harlot’s Gifts for Knittters 2012 list, and I’m tickled pink by the shout out.
So, I am working on a 
