Tikvah means Hope!

Tikvah Shawl

Here she is, Tikvah Shawl! A charming shawlette knit top down in three triangles with a knitted-on border. Drapey, elegant, and very very pretty. Plus, she's not very difficult to knit. Thanks to Barbara, my test-knitter, for all her hard work.

Here's the best part of this project: all profits will go to the Minnesota chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Why NAMI? The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with mental illness and their families. NAMI Minnesota offers education, support and advocacy, and vigorously promotes the development of community mental health programs and services, improved access to services, increased opportunities for recovery, reduced stigma and discrimination, and increased public understanding of mental illness. There are NAMI branches all over the country, and the work they do is amazing.

"Tikvah" means "hope", and my hope is that you will buy the pattern and enjoy knitting it. And then I shall donate my profits which are about 80% of the cost of the pattern, to this most-worthwhile organization. And I'll keep you posted on how we are doing with it.

Daisymum - Sure, I'd be glad to help you. The pattern looks far more difficult than it is. The nice thing about it is that all the triangles are alike except for the 2 garter stitched edges at the beginning and end. My test knitter is not very experienced with lace, and she did just fine all on her own. I was pretty impressed with her!

The Yarnarian loves pastel linens.

Nature Walk to Cape Cod Bay

After all my saturated dyeing this spring, and after a week of nature at my favorite place, Cape Cod, I suddenly decided that pastels were the way to go. I saw a group of pastel linens in a thrift shop, and fell in love with them. So here are my results: all variegated pastels, but soft enough so that patterns will show up very well in them. Plus, they all kind of live with each other, except for Sunset Linen. (That one fed my need for orange-based tones, and now I think I've run my orange course. I hope; enough is enough.)

So here they are, all in Penny Yarn, 75/25 SW merino/nylon with approx 450 yards. Very soft, very sturdy, and with great drape if you knit with larger needles for a shawl. $20 each plus shipping. These all are truly one-of-a-kind; I can't reproduce them. Each one is composed of at least 3-4 hues, and that is multiplied by where the dyes overlapped.

You can email me directly or wait until the Etsy moment.

fritzL234@yahoo.com

Blush Linen: Bought!




Grass Linen:



Lavender Linen: Bought!




Ocean Linen:




Rose Linen:




Sea Glass Linen: Bought!




Soft Linen: Bought!




Water Linen: Bought!




And the orange one, Sunset Linen:




Already grabbed! Blush, Lavender,Sea Glass, Soft and Water

The Yarnarian has an announcement!

Summertime Sock Club

Ta da! Look what's coming:

YarnYenta and I are so happy to present the Summertime 2010 Sock Club!

Theme: Summer, naturally.

2 months: July and August. probably mid-month

Yarn: both are “luxury” yarns, and they are gorgeous! Karen mcn (superwash merino/cashmere/nylon) and Gina (superwash merino/silk)

Patterns: by the inimitable YarnYenta, of course! Yarn by PennyRose Yarns (aka, The Yarnarian)

Shipping: First Class Priority - US, Canada, across the Pond and anywhere else

Cost: $66.00 for US and Canada.
$70.00 for overseas - costs more to ship.

Where to buy: available right now on Etsy: http://fritzl.etsy.com

Or message ruth on Ravelry with your Paypal account number, and I'll invoice you.

Questions: Ask here or on Ravelry.

Is that not exciting? A little bit of luxury for the summer.

Oh, and the picture is Nantucket Sound via my camera. I miss Cape Cod a lot, and want to go back right away. sigh.

Homage to Hundertwasser

Here are the yarns that I told you about yesterday. One of them didn't make the cut (Hommage a Van Gogh) because the skein was such a mess that I wound it up in a ball and then decided to keep it for me. tee hee.

Memory of a Painting:





The Blob Grows in the Flower Pot:




Downtownlane:




Imagine Tomorrow's World:




Green Town:




Eventually they will all land in my Etsy shop. In the meantime, if there is one you want, you can email me directly:

fritzL234@yahoo.com

Downtownlane is grabbed.

The Yarnarian asks: Do you know what is coming tomorrow?

Can you guess? Ahem. Penny sock yarn dyed with inspiration from Hundertwasser. I had such a grand time doing these. They're bright and pretty and such fun. I'll give you some links to check while you're waiting for the yarn pics.

Green Town
Imagine Tomorrow's World
Downtownlane
Hommage a Van Gogh
The Blob Grows in the Flower Pot
Memory of a Painting

That should keep you busy.

The Yarnarian is Still Hooked!

Crazed Hooker Hooks Again!

This crazy crochet moment seems to be lasting a lot longer than a moment. It's consuming my little brain, and not much knitting is getting done.

Look what I picked up on Saturday at Kinokuniya (wonderful Japanese bookstore):




These all have the stitches charted out, no written instruction, which is just as well since I don't read Japanese. I'm learning how to read these, and it's really easier than full written instructions. I can do back and forth now, and next is figuring out how to do motifs.

Here's a book with both knitting and crochet patterns. It's gorgeous.



Crochet projects: These are my current madness. Yep, I have 2 lap blankies in process, but I'm just showing you the scarves.




And one lone shawl (not counting the lace one in progress):



I have no plans on writing this up as I'm inventing as I knit, and for once I really just want to knit it, not keep track of what I'm doing.

Ria - I went to the one in Nyack. sometimes I go into the city, but not this time.

Vaughnde - You are so right! Crochet is wonderful. It is, however, much harder on my body and my eyes. Different muscles, plus I can knit without looking at what I'm doing unless it's cables or such. Crochet I have to constantly look. But still, those incredible fabrics that you can do in crochet!!!

itsJUSTme - You are so right. I get lost in all the directions in written-out patterns, knit as well as crochet.

The Yarnarian reveals her mystery project!

Reflection Shawl

Ta da! A few months ago, Sheri from The Loopy Ewe asked me if I were interested in designing a non-sock pattern for the May shipment of TLE's sock club. How could I possibly resist? I was jumping up and down with excitement, and had to keep it a secret, and it just about killed me to do so.

So, with much help from both the editor and test knitter, I did the pattern, sent it off along with the shawl, and then went on to other things. In time, I got back the shawl plus the spiffy pattern with great photography (not my usual less-than-professional work). Somehow I managed to forget that it was the May shipment.

The other day, I was cruising on Ravelry in my project updates when, voila!, there was my pattern. And it is now sent out to the members and I can actually show you my pictures. The pattern is only for TLE sock club members. At some time in the future, Sheri may release it for sale on The Loopy Ewe, but right now it's an exclusive. So I don't own it, but I can show you pics.

And here she is: Reflection (because the pattern reflects itself, and because of the colorway)





itsJUSTme - It's a bit of math and then it's pencil and graph paper and knitting, and erasing, and frogging, and repeating. Sometimes, what looks good as a swatch is a colossal pain in the butt to chart, and then I have to scrap that idea. Or I get this brilliant idea in my head and it turns out to be beyond awful. It's fun though, and I like doing it.

Isn't this exciting? Thanks for all your comments. I do appreciate them!