Deir Hart

True confessions, I was also knitting yet another hat during this cold snap. This time of year, I get bored of the every day woollies. I wrote a design to go along with it...and the tech editor approved it today.  It's now live and ready to knit!

Introducing:
Deir Hart

This fuzzy warm super bulky knit is perfect for your dear heart (The deir hart spelling is from an old Scottish ballad I read about recently) and ....it's on sale so you can knit a fast one in time for Valentine's Day!

This hat is 40% off!!  Download the pattern now and use the coupon code:
Valentine

until midnight, February 14th, (ends midnight, Central Time, US & Canada) and the pattern only costs $3US.

I used a fun combination of some alpaca and lett-lopi yarn in my stash to do the sample, but if you'd like to buy some super-bulky yarn and the pattern all at once, head on over to Loveknitting.com to find the pattern with yarn suggestions there, too. This design comes in three sizes, and will fit everybody from your preschooler to your biggest lumberjack!  Just change the yarn colors so they don't mix up their hats on the way out the door in the morning...

Enjoy--and stay warm!

the spirit of the thing

I have a habit of attempting to publish a pattern around Valentine's Day.  Some years, this works out.  Other years, well, something gets in the way, and what was intended to be a Valentine's Day release (or before Valentine's...) doesn't work out.  Some years I run a big sale.  Sometimes nothing happens at all.  I am working ahead this time, because, well, it turns out that when everyone has been sick, you cannot predict what things will look like a day or two away.  I've been trying to rest a lot, but in the meanwhile, things still seem to be happening online, with or without me--patterns and articles I wrote a long time ago are finding their way in the world, without my help, and that is heartening.

 Last year, I published the Thump Thump Mittens, (Be still my heart). Another year, I did the Hole Inside Mitts, which is really more a story about heartbreak...but relevant to Valentine's.  Long ago, I designed the Heart's Ease Socks, while pondering things that cause heart ache.  Distal was first published long before Valentine's, but I knit the red version out of handspun for myself...and it became my go to shawl/scarf for this cold time of year.

A long (long) time ago, I came up with the Turkish Lace Camisole, but I'd have to say that unless I'm wearing the dark green linen version of these, as a layer, it doesn't get much use these days...and definitely not over a bathing suit :)  The post-twin figure doesn't lend itself to this item, but surely someone out there needs something fetching for a cruise or mid-winter trip to somewhere warm....?

This is a circuitous way of saying that I've got a new pattern coming, and I'm working on it.  If I feel up to it, it might be published by Valentine's Day...?! Or not.

In the meanwhile, I'm showing you lots of happy red items to knit,(Just look away from all that winter weather if it gets you down and knit--it is cheering!) and all these patterns are also available on Loveknitting.com, which is selling a lot of patterns these days...complete with the yarn to make them.

I got my own little present today--The Jewish Independent, a Vancouver publication, posted an article that I wrote that I'm especially fond of.  It combines two of my great loves: Talmud and working with wool (knitting/spinning, etc.).  It's called In the spirit of Jewish law.

Stay warm!  Knit (and wear) wool!

PS: This weekend, we've got a project--I'm lining up little boys with lots of Valentines this year for their school classmates!  It will be the first time they can write their names on every card.  Very exciting. :)

Thump Thump Mitts

Happy Valentine's Day!!

The new Thump Thump Mittens are now available on Ravelry!  (and will be available on Love Knitting in a day or two...)

On Ravelry, this pattern is 50% off until the end of Valentine's Day.  It expires Feb. 14th at midnight (CT, US & Canada). No coupon necessary.

This is for that excited 'thump thump' when you start a new project!

Also, textured in the way that I imagine the striations of the heart muscle...and just in time for a mid-winter treat, too!

 My grandmother and mother taught me the back side of my work should be just as tidy as the front...and here's a snowy mitt photo to prove it. :)

These are knit with two skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter.  Any aran or worsted weight wool will be great, but this yarn was a very nice treat!

Cause now I write about hockey...

It's a little known fact that when I was 12, I broke my leg (for the second time) playing hockey.  It was a pick-up game at a schoolyard rink in Ottawa.  We were visiting family friends and they took us to an outdoor rink for fun.  It had been warm; the ice was mushy and too soft.  I was stupid and although I had a pair of hockey skates, I'd worn my figure skates...but you know, I was from Virginia.  What did I know?  The pick at the front caught in a little bubble of soft ice and I went down.  My only solace was that I'd assisted on a goal in the process...and if you have to break your leg in junior high, it was maybe a cool way to do it.  (but I do not recommend it!  Note: First time?  At 18 months, I jumped out of my crib.)

Since then, I've skated a little, but only recreational figure skating and very little of that.  However, I've lived in both Buffalo and Winnipeg.  In both places, hockey is always in the news and in the air.  When I heard of the big trade this week--a couple players going to Buffalo and vice versa, I realized I had only a very small thing in common with them.  I wrote it about it...and it came out today on the CBC here:
 Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian: Are you curious about Buffalo?

For those who know me, this whole thing is peculiarly funny...especially because I wrote another piece about the positive educational benefits of play (something I actually know about, because of that grad. degree in Education) but I didn't sell that one.  No, I sell the hockey essay.  Of course. 

Also this weekend, the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper mentioned The Hole Inside Mitts: A Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern in their Books section.  Here's the link:
Author Sews Together Knitting, Short Yarn 
What I like best about it is that the columnist took the whole thing seriously...and it ran as his lede.  All in all, a very sweet couple of days--like a professional Valentine.  I feel grateful.

On the home front, we're getting a lot of juicy hugs and kisses from three year olds, who even gifted us last night with only one wake up and sleeping 45 minutes late, until 7:15 AM.  Now that was the greatest Valentine! 

Tidying up...

Some news:
First, it's occurred to me that I have been writing this blog, in one form or another, for nearly 10 years!  Whoa.  Anyway, a lot of the details on this site are out of date.  I am slowly trying to fix that.  I've just cleaned up part of the list of blogs...all of those folks are still friends/interesting people/good reads...but many of their sites have not been updated in a while.  I decided to check and see what was still live and had been updated in the last 6 months, and go with that.  I'll try to make updates a little more often now. :)

It's a slow process!

I'm also trying to keep links to my newest articles up to date, so here is my latest:
Transforming Tu B'Shvat

Other good news...if you're interested in learning to spin, there are still a few spots left in my Learn to Spin Class on February 22nd.  Cloverleaf Fibre has registration information.

There's been some wonderful interest in my new Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern, The Hole Inside Mitts!  I've been very excited to see it and am beginning work on the second story + pattern.  (Hint:  On Ravelry, you can gift a friend with a pattern.  Maybe a Story+Pattern would be a great Valentine for a friend?  ....Just sayin')

Finally, I am hopefully getting over the bad stomach bug that first the professor had, and now I have.  I remain optimistic that it is-slowly- going away.  I also hope the twins don't get it.  That would be a real drag.  So, let's stay hopeful...have a sweet week!

A Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern

I have some big news....in the last week or so, I have been slowly announcing the first in a new line of patterns.  I've been doing it here on Ravelry.  I am mentioning it here on my Ravelry group.  (Please join my group!  I'd love to have more chatty members there!)

 I have even been trying to resurrect my ancient newsletter email list, which has resulted in much gnashing of teeth and a loss of about 2 work days to the e-newsletter deities.  Note: If you are not on the newsletter, and would like to be, I hope to figure out how to put a sign-up on my blog soon.  It is not as easy as it looks!


So, here are The Hole Inside Mitts,
 my first new story+pattern.  Please check it out!

PS: There's still room in my spinning class, but it's filling up fast.  Sign up soon!
 
 The Hole Inside Mitts: A Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern

Introducing a whole new kind of knitting pattern….one that comes with a story attached! The new Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern line allows readers who knit (or knitters who read) two pleasures at once. Enjoy a piece of short fiction, accompanied by a useful pattern that stands on its own. This downloadable luxury offers a sweet combination for thinking knitters, particularly ones using a tablet or smartphone.

How knitting can help heal the hole in your heart:
The first story, The Hole Inside, gives a taste of unrequited love from an independent, travelling heroine who never forgets her knitting. While on a business trip, she encounters women who invite her to their knitting group. Settle into a coffee, a town filled with college students, and an unsettling surprise from the past that calls for some escape with needles and yarn.


This story pairs with a stranded mitten pattern in 7 sizes. Start with 2-4 years for your nearest toddler and complete right up to the unbelievably XXL hands of your Valentine, this is one flexible pattern that has you covered.

The Hole Inside: A Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern is the first in a series. Expect to see more short fiction from author Joanne Seiff soon. As well, look for the companion series: A Yarn Spinner Essay + Pattern. Joanne Seiff’s articles and essays appear on the CBC, Salon.com, and in the knitting world on Knitty.com, Interweave Knits, Spin-Off, and Vogue Knitting. Seiff feels that linking her love of writing and knitting design in this short format offers an exciting and novel horizon for fiber arts!

The Hole Inside, Yarn Spinner Story+ Pattern’s initial offering, is available now for a Valentine’s Day 2015 release for download on Ravelry, as well as through Loveknitting.com for EU knitters. (This is a treat without calories!)

squeaky

This post may be a bit quirky. I am feeling a bit wobbly--had some bad allergies/asthma earlier today. Due to the nice medicines I took, I can now breathe well. (Hurray!) However, I am feeling a bit disconnected from my toes. Off-kilter. :) Most of the day's activities were shelved so that I could sit quietly and avoid any missteps!

The first big news is only what you might expect from the daughter of an automotive engineer. When I got my big floor loom, I was thrilled by it and threw myself into weaving. What I didn't love was the horrible squeals that happened when I put my foot on the treadles to lift harnesses. I asked around, and my friends said there weren't many places to oil on a loom and --don't those metal heddles sound noisy? Well, when something squeaks that much, it turns out that there are moving parts and places to oil and yes, those heddles are noisy--but it wasn't the heddles.

I started out with sewing machine/spinning wheel oil, but I just couldn't seem to eradicate the noise. Finally, the professor came back from the hardware store with this spray lubricant guaranteed not to stain or harm wood, metal and plastic. I used that spray can stuff so much yesterday that I thought the smell alone might be dangerous in a closed up room in winter! All of a sudden...I hit it. The squeal-ly places. Silence. The squeaks were gone.

Wow. In fact, it was so quiet today that the professor didn't even realize I'd been weaving. Hurray!

In other quirky news....you may remember that back in July when we moved to Winnipeg, we drove most of the way here in one car. Our friend John drove the professor's car (and all our houseplants) up to northern Minnesota for us. He left the car at his parents' cottage, and we picked it up there. Today I got a very sweet Valentine's tale:

Our friend drove up to Minnesota, but stopped on the way to visit his relatives' farm. We'd heard a lot about this farm in the past, but we'd never seen a photo. Until today. Click here for a very sweet (and large) Valentine....I've also been wondering if it was stinky, but suspect that in this cold, it's probably not smelly. You'll understand this if you hop over to read this story. It's well worth it. Enjoy! :)

true love?

The professor always brings home flowers on Valentine's Day...even if I've told him I don't need them! On a university campus, somebody is always using holidays to have a fundraising opportunity. In this case, it's the horticulture club and their advisor is a friend of ours, and they sell roses. I'd prefer Fair Trade flowers, but as that wasn't on offer, I was happy to take whatever my poor exhausted professor brought home. He's been in charge of shepherding some visitors to his department (5 visitors in 5 weeks) so it was just good that he didn't collapse, with flowers, on his walk home.

That said, the professor's office is very overheated and the roses were sad and droopy just like he felt. I cut their stems, popped them in water with some "pep me up" sugar, and we got ready for our Friday night dinner guests.

In walks our favorite Norwegian bachelor farmer, err, make that Norwegian bachelor biologist, for dinner. (For more on this NPR listener joke, check out this great essay.) Note: our friend is really from Norwegian stock, he's a longtime bachelor, and his PhD specialty? Botany. He's not a radio show character but a real person and we enjoy his company.

Our friend is carrying an enormous box, and he pulls out of it this amazing bouquet of pink tinged roses with lavender baby's breath. "But," he adds right away, "It's NOT from me!! I didn't BUY this" He looks embarrassed just bringing it over to me. I'm puzzled, but flowers are flowers and get put out right away in the dining room. He explains:

Someone in the department received these flowers. She doesn't like roses, and apparently her boyfriend wasn't listening. He wasn't even able to order the flowers himself; his mother did it. Then, she attempted to leave the flowers in the office over the weekend and her office-mate told her they wouldn't last and she MUST take them home. Our friend, the frugal Norwegian bachelor biologist, caught her attempting to throw them into the dumpster. "Oh!!" he exclaimed. "I know someone who will enjoy those!!" We all suspect the boyfriend in this story isn't going to make it long term. That said, if you're at a university, this sort of dating drama is par for the course. No sense wasting the flowers, after all, it's not their fault!

So, here I am, a person who loves getting flowers in season, flowers grown in my yard--locally picked flowers-- with not one but two dozen hothouse roses. Wow. (This is when you say, "don't look a gift rose in the mouth..." or something like that.)

Meanwhile, Sally the dog has discovered a new love. The storms knocked hackberry limbs into our yard. With those limbs come berries (about the shade of that link) and Sally loves them. She is grazing on them constantly. We're worried that maybe they are not just old, but fermented...she's behaving strangely, but we love her anyhow. Any insights into hackberries? Let us know!

Yet, in discussing the merits of true love...and not just on Valentine's Day, I think it's not really about the roses or even the hackberries. Yesterday night, the professor and I were making dinner--Asian salad rolls--and we ran out of a key ingredient...the rice skin wrappers. The professor walked up the street to our local ethnic grocery, and he came back with what we needed and a great surprise.

The grocery has changed ownership, and they now have a much wider display of merchandise, including a lot of Middle Eastern food. In order to prove this new discovery was true, the professor bought me turnip pickles. We both like this treat; usually I have to make them myself. This just saved me hours of pickle making time, and that is a real sign of love these days...I've been so busy with work!

Plus, it's dyed with beet juice, so it's pinkish red. Just right for Valentine's Day. You never can tell what will be the sweetest treat. Sometimes it's actually pretty sour and salty!

Dear blog readers: Quirky Valentine's Stories? Stories of love gone awry? Drop a comment below and let us know why!