Springing ahead

I know that technically, the first day of spring in these parts falls in March, but for me, May is when spring really seems to begin. Our neighborhood is full of gorgeous blooming flowers:  we've got yer clematis, we've got yer snowball viburnum, we've got yer lilacs....Right now we've even got a few roses about to bloom.

Spring's a good time for freshening things up, and in the next couple of weeks/months you may notice some style changes here at the blog and the BBF website. I'm giving my web presence a badly-needed update.  With the help of a wonderful graphic designer, I'll be playing around with the look of the blog, as part of a bigger effort to create a more professional and integrated website.  When it's all done, you'll find a single website that includes the blog, my on-line shop, and information about my other knitting-related endeavors (like teaching and booksigning dates, a gallery of finished patterns, and so on). I'm hoping to have the new website in place by the time Sock Yarn Studio is released this fall.

Things should stay relatively quiet here until later in June. Sock Yarn Studio is being printed or sent to the printer or on a slow boat back from the printer or on a slow boat to the printer; regardless, there's not much to do now until the book is finished and here later this year. In the meantime, spring means lots of school events, recitals, and concerts. It's also the time of year when I tend to pick up some design projects that will come out later on in the year, so there's lots and lots of knitting going on, too.

And when I need a break from knitting, there's always the fabric.....

 like these triangles, made using the excellent tutorial found on one of my favorite quilting blogs, Film in the Fridge, with Flea Market Fancy fabric from my favorite fabric shop, Spool.

I'm back

As George Constanza might say, "I'm back, baby, I'm back!" If you'd told me a few weeks ago that by Labor Day, I would have experienced an earthquake, been evacuated due to a hurricane, lost power for the better part of a week, and had our local Chili's burn down, I don't think I would have believed you. Yet all of those things did happen, and while I'm swamped with overdue work, I'm glad that we have finally weathered all the literal and metaphorical storms. The kids went back to school yesterday and we're starting to get back into a routine. Our family and our house are doing fine, for which we are very grateful.

One exciting thing that happened in the last week was seeing some preview photographs of two projects that I knit a very long time ago (nearly a year ago) for Interweave Knits -- Holiday edition. Behold the Watercolor Beret, knit in a self-striping sock yarn



and the Overshot Mittens (I didn't name them, so I am not sure what the name means, although I think it's a weaving term maybe?).


These are very special because they are knit in St-Denis Nordique, one of my all-time favorite yarns. Think of all the fun you could have selecting your own two colors to make these:



like Magenta with Bottle Green, or Elephant with Blue Eggshell or Spicy Rose with Silver. The full palette is here (now with online ordering for Nordique yarns!).

The next few weeks are going to be insane here, as I try to finish up various deadlines, including a number of book projects, shepherding other people's projects to completion, and finishing the manuscript. I probably won't be posting as often until October...Don't give up on me, though, peeps!

Just added.....

some lovely half-silk, half-Falkland British merino sock yarn to the BBF website.

Decadence

Dulcet

Blue Nile

Each skein is 435 yds/100g, and most colorways had 2 dyed-together skeins uploaded at the same time for larger projects.

Autumn Ridge

Copper Rose

There's also some Heavenly laceweight from my last update, and some bamboo-blend sock yarn still in stock, too.

Plus through midnight Friday, August 19, I will ship all orders free. (If your order is under $25 of merchandise, I'll send first-class mail, over $25 will go Priority Mail. I'll refund shipping when I process your order.)

Have fun!

More impressions from Maryland Sheep & Wool

It's a Go-Knit-In-Your-Hat tradition to collect snapshots from Maryland Sheep & Wool and to present them in a kind of montage. So here are some photos from this year's festival.

I love the ice cream cone on top of one of the vendor stands in the midway. What could be better than a giant fake cone beckoning you to eat ice cream?

Mid-chew

One barn was set up with a "Parade of Breeds," over 30 breeds of sheep in one place

Can't have a sheep show without a shearing demonstration

Jersey Wooly bunneh babies -- so cute you could die

Spinning demonstration

Several vendors had wonderful baskets like these

Wool for applique

Antique wheels & other spinning equipment at this booth

Love the "Hooked on Ewe" rugs



From the winner's tent, this was a life-sized sheep

Tiny sweater from the winner's tent

Lots of cool weaving projects were on display

Some gorgeous examples of stranded knitting

I love the woman d'un certain age who was rocking this skirt

See you next year!

An interesting development

Quince & Co., and for those of you on Facebook, here. A new yarn company with top-notch pattern support... and a drool-worthy yarn called "Puffin" described this way:

We love this plump and chunky single-ply. It's soft and rustic with a misty, matte finish—almost as if the strand had been lightly felted. Can you tell from the photo? Knit Puffin on size 11 needles and you have pliable, warm fabric that would make a great pair of mittens for the dead of winter....

A little birdie told me that Pam Allen is involved in this venture, and since I'm a huge Pam Allen fan, you can bet that I will keep you posted on this. . .The company is set to launch in the next few weeks.

p.s. Happy birthday, Véronik!!!

Quiet here

Not much to say here (for a change!) so here are some purty photos from our yard:

Snowball Viburnum

Peony

Clematis

Crochet fans, rejoice!

I ushered the kids off to school yesterday, and after doing the happy dance on the way home from the bus stop, sat down with a nice cup of coffee to peruse this:


a preview copy of Kathy Merrick's beautiful new book, Crochet in Color: Techniques and Designs for Playing with Color, which will be released by Interweave Press any day now.

It is spectacular.

So today, as a special back-to-school treat, I will present a very special Blossom sneak preview. Let's start with the purpose of the book, the "mission statement," if you will:

I have seen many [crochet] projects that are fascinating and take much technical skill, but even those of us who consider ourselves 'arty' or fashionable may be hard-pressed to wear the finished pieces outside the house. There are also many projects that are practical and usable but not very challenging or exciting to make. My hope is that you will find this book a helpful resources that merges the best of both worlds.

Wearability, fun and challenging to make, and lots of color? Those are lofty goals, but Merrick proves up to the challenge.

Warm Colors Striped Blanket

She begins with a brief introduction and some exercises for working color, then jumps right into the projects. You'll find 17 projects, organized into four categories: One Or Two Colors, Stripes, Color Blocks, and Color Adventures. I doubt I'll be accused of exaggeration when I say that each project is more gorgeous than the last, and all of them are marvelous.

Firefly Cardigan

Chapter 1 features designs done in only a single or two colors of yarn, including an adorable pleated hat; a button-up cardigan, shown above (I like the way the back pleats help give the sweater waist shaping); a bobbly scarf; and the spectacular Granada Shawl. That Grenada Shawl may in and of itself entice me to take the hook back up and practice my crochet, because it is beautiful.

Granada Shawl

Stripes, Chapter 2, features the Tropical Stripe Wrap (a beautiful use of Koigu), a striped blanket (mmm-Malabrigo), and the fetching Butterfly Turtleneck.

Butterfly Turtleneck

Color Blocks features the very charming chain lace scarf (again, a gorgeous blend of various multicolors of Koigu), a block-motif coat, and another stunning wrap called "Autumn Sun" (done in one of my favorites, Trekking XXL sock yarn). But perhaps my favorite in the book is the Urchins and Limpets Blanket, a creative use of texture and muted color.

Urchins and Limpets Blanket

This, dear readers, is cutting edge crochet, the kind of design that is truly innovative and gorgeous.

Splashy Flowers Scarf

Last, you'll find Color Adventures, beginning with the Clover Hat, a pillow with a swirled colorwork design, a tuffet made with wedges of color; a floral-motif scarf (made in Noro Silk Garden), the Circles Table topper (interesting use of perle cotton thread)

Circles Table Topper

and the "Tiny Motif Sweater," a charming short-sleeved number.

The book includes four pages of colorwork techniques, four more pages of finishing techniques and an illustrated glossary of stitches.

Chain Lace Big Fat Scarf

As you'd expect from an Interweave Press book, you've got full color, lots of photos, nice charts, inset boxes with additional tips, a layout that cleverly uses a colorblock motif, all for a MSRP of $22.95 (pre-order for $15.61 by clicking here). The book is paperback and approximately 128 pages.

I don't know from crochet, but I do know what I like, and I like -- make that "love" -- this book. It's full of color, creativity and style, using beautiful yarns and featuring wearable-yet-unconventional projects. So two rousing thumbs-up for a beautiful book and a valuable contribution to crochet design. Well done, my friend; well done.

Show and tell

I have some pretty amazing customers, so today I'm going to do a little show and tell on their behalf. My good customer Angela has to be the most faithful knitter to ever join a sock club. I swear, a week after I've mailed out her sock club's shipment, she posts a photo of an absolutely gorgeous finished pair of socks made in the yarn. The most recent sock yarn I sent to Angela was in the form of sock flats -- in her case, rainbow-striped ones. Here are her finished socks:



Aren't they gorgeous? She doesn't have a blog, though, so you can kvell in the comments.

Another longtime customer, Aubrey, has her own website where she sells soaps, lip and body balm, and other goodies -- all handmade. Look what came the other day:


These soaps smell heavenly, and I also got some peppermint lip balm and some other goodies. Aubrey's website is called, appropriately enough, Goodies Unlimited, so if you're looking to treat yourself or for a nice gift to send someone, I highly recommend checking it out.

Last post I mentioned that I had been enticed by the sweet-talking Craig of Loop to bring home some of the new Spud & Chloe yarns that I first saw at TNNA. In a remarkable feat of self-control, I limited myself to one skein of "Outer," in the color "Sequoia," so I could swatch and play with it:



but my self-control didn't last, as I snapped up some Fine fingering weight to make the Trifecta Scarf:



Over at Spool, I couldn't resist these hilarious retro-robotic prints, with rayguns (!) and gears (although I prefer to think of them as "shprockets"):



The lighting in the photo is bit off, but they are very bright and fun. I got some other fabric from Westminster Fibers but since it's for a gift for someone, I won't post those yet.

And rounding out this post full of pretty things, behold the Concord grape:


In our last fruit- and vegetable-picking session, we decided to try the Concord grapes, which were amazingly beautiful. The kids were fascinated by the way that we had to go under curtains of vines and then found clusters looking so perfect that they seemed fake. I made a grape pie, but not having made one in years (20 years?) it was a bit tart.

I am off to the beach for week two so posting will be intermittent, and if you're trying to reach me via email, I will be checking in frequently but may be too relaxed too respond 'til I get back....