You take care now, y'hear?

This time of year, my household does a lot of hibernation.  It's a busy time for those who celebrate Xmas, but for us, it's much quieter.  A time to play at home and focus on each other as it gets cold.  It's really cold this week, which apparently will have some very cold windchills...-36, last I heard.

The Jewish Independent in Vancouver ran my article last week called:
You take care now, y'hear?

(Just in case you need some reading from a friendly voice over here.)

In other news:
Sadie the dog has gotten so used to having someone with her that when we leave her at all, she breaks out of all the childproof gates and has gotten into some messes.  Last week, she ate all the high end dog training treats (like eating your way through a steakhouse, frankly) and got into our kitchen trash.  Although we compost and clean most everything that goes into the bin, she still managed to stain the front hall somehow with the trash.  I've already washed it three times.  It's hard to be a dog around here...?!

Happier 'making' news: I have finished a huge undertaking, a wool jumper I made, with a lining, based loosely on the 100 acts of sewing dress no.1.  I lengthened the dress, put in the lining, skipped the bias tape, and it took a while to do.  I'm looking forward to wearing it this week during our cold snap, though!

We've also done some weaving at home.  It was a good weekend to sit near Mommy and the fireplace and hang out.  (This kid has big plans to make things for his teachers.)  The handknit sweater modeled by this kid is Freestyle Super,  with a colour scheme he helped to design.

Finally, since someone has recently asked me...is there a way to buy my Yarn Spinner collection of patterns and stories,  Three Ply ---without buying it through Amazon?  Answer? Absolutely!

Support Ravelry, a small business (and me, as Amazon takes a big cut) by purchasing it through Ravelry right here.

Stay warm and safe!  Hope you're having a great December!

Since we last spoke...

I've been busy over here, making things.  The knitting's gone slowly but the sewing has been, for the most part, very positive.  I've had a success--I made this second jumper from the 100 acts of sewing dress no. 1 pattern, and it has already been worn quite a bit!  (It just requires woolly tights, a long sleeve shirt and a sweater as it is brisk outside these days.)

I then made a set of linen/cotton dish cloths and this too went very quickly!

Filled with confidence over the success of my efforts, I dove into making my first pair of pants...with a pattern.  They are 100 acts of sewing pants no.1.  I lengthened them, I lined up the pinstripes from this wool/blend suiting from Economy Textile.  I finished the pants completely, and then put them on.  Sewing fail!  The fabric does not drape.  The pants look sort of like I instantly gained 40 lbs.  I will either be taking these in or washing them to see if I can get them drape or....something.  Somebody may get a new pair of handmade pants?

Ahh, well.  The bigger picture is easy to see.  I am learning many new skills at once.  I'm also happy that it goes quicker than when I try out a new knitting design.  I sometimes spend months on a project that never becomes a fully realized design or goes on sale for knitters.  That's ok. It happens.  Part of making (and learning) is also failing and trying again.  Very important life lesson--sadly true no matter what we're working on.

In other big news, Three Ply: 3 Stories + Patterns, has been written up in the latest Vogue Knitting Magazine!  I am pleased as punch about it and my household was so excited to see the big article.  This ebook is also available from Ravelry as a pdf or you can just download individual stories and patterns from Ravelry or Lovecrafts.com.

Also, I received a lovely note inviting me to try out a gorgeous handmade ceramic bowl from yarncanada.ca.   When I checked them out, I discovered that they were done by Madeline Coomey, an artist from BC who does beautiful work.  However, alas and alack, my household is too chaotic with dogs and kids to keep a ceramic yarn bowl in one piece...and I do most of my knitting on the run these days.  If you do use yarn bowls though?  This one is a good one! Please check out the link!

Last, but not least...
Today, a column appeared online and was published --on my sewing journey...From the beginning again. 

A book, an article and flowers, too

  I am excited to say that Three Ply is now live and available for sale on Amazon! 

An article has also gone live on the Jewish Independent's website:
Managing Theft and Loss

The good news, if you read that article, is that we have since gotten the second planter back.  It was taken by someone who is the "gardener" for a rental property a block away.  He put it firmly into the flower bed at a neighbour's house.  When we managed to talk to the neighbour, she gave it back to us right away.  We're still puzzled as to how someone decided to take it in the first place, but at least it's home (and inside our fenced yard) now.

Three Ply...on Amazon!

A while back, I published an eBook on Ravelry called Three Ply.  It's a sweet combo for summer: three smaller knitting patterns, plus short stories that link up with all three.  The patterns are also all for sale separately: The Hole Inside Mitts, Riverbend Garden Hat, and Knitting for Mother Earth Cowl.  However, I didn't really have the time or wherewithal to launch the eBook more widely...until I read, recently, that some designers were selling their work on Amazon.

Summer's both crazy busy with activities and also?  A little bit quiet at work some days.  So, I went to Amazon to try it out, and suddenly....Three Ply was available for pre-order!

I'm excited!  The launch date is Friday, July 19th. If you order now, it will show up on your Kindle then, just in time for summer weekend reading.  I hope you're sitting outside in the shade with a tall cool drink....knitting away...and maybe, just maybe, reading your new copy of Three Ply.

American Thanksgiving- a sale

Pumpkin colored Spire Smock from Knit Green-- available on Sale at Ravelry

As an American living in Canada (and a permanent resident here), today, Thursday, is just a regular day.  I mean, I know it's American Thanksgiving--happy Thanksgiving!  However, for us, we had Thanksgiving and a holiday in October....it was awesome, thanks, and we are having an ordinary work day.

Well, ordinary besides having a sale.

Until the end of November, I'm offering 30% off all my patterns for sale on Ravelry.  This includes my eBook, Three Ply.  If you were wanting to send a knitter a gift, you might want to consider a Yarn Spinner Story+Pattern.  However, for a real deal, you'd buy Three Ply, because if you purchase it at this discount....all the patterns are 50% off.

There's a coupon code: Thanksgiving

Please, Enjoy!  Use it!  :)

A funny story or two about this odd North American holiday disconnect.

Recently, an American relative asked my professor husband what he would be doing on Thanksgiving, meaning ....Thursday.  He explained that he would be at work, likely at his desk or in his laboratory.  "But," the relative replied, sounding confused, "you always call me then!"

"Yes," says the absent minded professor.  "I use the phone on my desk."

(Did you laugh?!  Understated humor, indeed....)

Second story:
I visited with an American friend this morning who has lived in Canada for a long time.  Probably she moved here when I was in grade school, or something like that.  She had tea and apple crumble ready, and we 'celebrated' the day for a couple of hours by getting together.  She told me her husband felt desperately deprived without his "All-American" pumpkin pie, but she was offering him a heart-healthy apple crumble.

I explained that nobody in our family is in love with pumpkin, but that apple desserts were definitely a thing with us.

At the end of the visit, she handed me a treat to take home, and it was a pumpkin bread.  We laughed.  I traded her one pumpkin bread for most of the apple crumble.  I bet her husband will enjoy it!   We sure will eat the crumble for dessert....

Kid and Adult sized Basketweave Hat--on Sale on Ravelry

See?  Not so ordinary a day after all.  Homebaked dessert on a weeknight!?  Wow.

Say Hi or Happy Thursday in the comments, ok? :) Joanne

a drive-by post

It's been a busy time, complete with a a bunch of vaccines (dog and kid), some stitches being removed (from Harry the dog, he had surgery last week, he's fine) and a kid's nasty ear infection.  I've been rushing around from the vet to the pediatrician's office today.  I am beat!

However, here are a couple new articles, one on the CBC online about the province's recent cosmetic pesticide ban...(no secret, I'm in favor of the ban...)

Local food, dandelions, and harvesting the lawn

Another article came out last week, about finding different avenues to prayer.  I actually called it "Davening with the angels," but it's the same article here, under a different name:  (davening means praying in Yiddish)

Finding holiness in different ways

Finally, in celebration of 3 different family birthdays this month, our upcoming 17th wedding anniversary, and the release of my new eBook-- Three Ply--, all my other Ravelry patterns are on sale until June 28th.  They are all 20% off with this coupon code:
June2015sale

OK, that's the news from here!  I'm off to go make tempting breakfast foods for a kid whose ears hurt a lot...and he feels nauseous and hates the taste of the new antibiotic so much that he is yelling "THROW IT IN THE GARBAGE CAN, MOMMY!"  at the top of his lungs.  Gotta admire the volume he achieves, I guess...

Makes writing about dandelions, or better yet, being outdoors admiring them, very appealing about now.  :)

New Pattern and new eBook!

Here's a portion of what's been going on behind the scenes here!  This announcement will hopefully be going out as a press release today...and these have already been (quietly) launched on Ravelry, too!

Introducing a new Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern --Riverbend Garden Hat. The new Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern series allows readers who knit (or knitters who read) two pleasures at once: downloadable short fiction on Ravelry, accompanied by a pattern that stands on its own. This is a sweet combination for thinking knitters, particularly ones using a tablet or smartphone.

An adult learns his mother’s biggest secret.

Riverbend Garden: A Love Story, features a middle-aged man as he rediscovers the familiar is not what it seems. A mid-20^th century teacher, a loving mother, serious gardener and knitter, Dickie’s mom lived an unremarkable, but lonely life. Yet, she has time for one last story; of a dappled river bend garden, an empty marriage, a widowhood, and a student whose love transforms all boundaries.

This story pairs with a hat to fit everyone, from a small child to a grown man. It’s a fast project; knit with super bulky or a doubled worsted yarn. Make an extra to keep others warm; Dickie’s mama would want you to pass one on.

Want more stories?

Three Ply, the first Yarn Spinner Story+ Pattern eBook, is now available for Ravelry download!  It includes three patterns, for a hat, mittens and a cowl, and three stories: Riverbend Garden, as well as The Hole Inside and Knitting for Mother Earth. All three patterns are also available individually for download on Ravelry.

The Hole Inside offers unrequited love from an independent knitter. On a business trip, she’s invited to a knitting group. Settle into a coffee, a college town, and an unsettling surprise from the past.

-Paired with a stranded mitten pattern in 7 sizes, from 2-4 years to XXL

Knitting for Mother Earth catches a young woman on a commuter train. She alerts a fellow passenger to potential danger…and in the aftermath of attempted terrorism, builds a strong bond through knitting.

-Paired with a super bulky cowl pattern, ideal for hand dyed or handspun one-of-a-kind skeins.

If you'd like to check out this new eBook deal right away, click on that "buy now" link, below!  ($15 for three stories + patterns--a discount of more than 25% off the price of the individual patterns.)
As always, thanks for checking out my new design. :) Joanne