I am developing a new shawl pattern. It started with a picture in my mind that would not go away. However, it is not the kind of knitting I usually do. I’m in the middle of another learning curve.

First I went through my book resources. I glanced through several books and looked in more depth at 3. I used two computer programs plus a calculator to make the first plan.

I picked two yarns to use together. They look great together, but it turns out they are not right for this project. Normally I love high contrast, but that is for stranded/fair isle colorwork. This is a shawl, and I don’t like that much contrast here. Start over.

I am right now on my 4th knitted swatch and my 2nd printed chart. I’m getting closer.

I have learned that if I have an idea in my mind that persists over time, it will be worth the effort. My ZigBagZ were in that category. My Chippy Socks were like that. Those are at the very top of my best-selling pattern designs. Those dreams turned out to please others as well. Therefore, I must proceed.

This design has some Yarn Overs in it. These are used to make intentional, decorative holes in a knitted fabric. I am not a frilly girl, and this is usually part of lacy patterning. However, I have been experimenting with it as more of a texture rather than a girly decoration. I used Yarn Overs in the July Yarn Club kit for Rae’s, pictured here, to accentuate the vertical slip-stitch squiggle line.

In addition, I usually knit in tubes (we call that “in the round”). I do it more when I knit from others’ patterns than my own. For repeating patterns which have an odd number of stitches, this means things may count differently on the right side versus the wrong. I am totally capable of this, but it requires that I think differently.

(It also means I have to purl about half of the stitches, and I’m not fond of purling. I executed over 5,000 purls in 11 assorted colors on my knitted self-portrait project, so I know I can handle that, as well.)

This is not to say I’m complaining. I am getting to where I may be able to dive in to the “real” item soon. I had invaluable time-saving assistance from Rae Monday at Rae’s Yarn Boutique, charting out a particularly confusing part of the design.

So, what can I tell you at this point? I am swatching right now using Noro Silk Garden sockyarn and Elsabeth Lavold Silky Wool. I like the drape of these together, and the slight texture contrast. I started with high color contrast but have decided right now to try it with a combination of all cool tones, from green to turquoise, to blue, to purple.

It will take a bit of knitting to complete this, but my goal is to use less than 200gm of fingering-to-sportweight yarns. It can’t take forever!

I’m tentatively planning the second sample to use Kauni slowly-self-striping yarn with a solid, probably Harrisville sportweight two ply, both 100% wool. This one will not have the drape of the silk blend, but will have a lofty warmth.

Or those are the plans at the current time. You’ll hear more as I proceed.

I have been busy. Here are some photos I collected along the way.

A tiny butterfly on the flowers in my friend Ulyana’s front yard, REO Town Lansing.

An unusual mottled eggplant with “ears.” This was taken at the East Lansing Food Co-Op. There was another eggplant of the same coloring, which did not have the side bits sticking out. I did not buy either of them, but the visual surprise delighted me.

A fraternal pair of Striped Summer Socklets. These are a store sample at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan- as of Tuesday.

The yarn is Cascade Heritage, a standard wool-nylon sockyarn. It comes in many solid colors and a good selection of multicolors as well. Good quality, good price.

Several photos of a group of Habibi Dancers, performing this last Wednesday at Sparrow Hospital. I think this is my 5th year participating with my troupe in this event. It’s a Diversity Week celebration. They also have a food contest. We got to dance to the smell of some lovely Indian spices. Yum!

I am third from the right, in turquoise, hot green and a purple head wrap. This is how I look when I am in character as Eudora, the dancer.  Theatre is much fun, and dancing with girlfriends is just as fun as it gets!

You can’t see it here, but this was a cane dance. we balance the canes horizontally on our heads for part of the dance. We also swing them around, toss them back and forth, and otherwise generally have a bit o’fun with shiny sticks.

My dear friend April, being her beautiful and energetic self. Her daughter, Isabel (age six), took all of these photos for me, from the front row.

I’ve been giving Isabel my camera to use since she was about 4 years old. She has learned to take photos, zoom a bit, and take a look at the photos she has taken on the camera’s preview screen. She does a rather nice job.

I love that sometimes Isabel takes photos from her own perspective. A person several feet shorter than I am, sometimes takes photos at her eye level, which is adult hip level. When the photos are of dancers, I enjoy seeing the energy in the clothing. Clearly, these folks were moving quickly!

Love this one. Literally caught mid-hop.

Yes, the baskets are real. No, we don’t use magnets or velcro. Yes, the headwrap makes it easier (my hair is very slippery). Yes, it takes a lot of practice.

We still have hiccups at times. The baskets are wider than my shoulders. It’s easy to run into someone else’s basket. It’s SO much fun, though!!!

Thanks to Sparrow Hospital for inviting us back, yet again. Community events make me really happy. This is one of my favorite events of the year.

It is old news that I don’t like secrets. Somehow a secret feels like a middle-school problem to me. I do not feel comfortable leaving people out when others are “in” on the secret.

Kindness  is important to me, and secrets feel unkind. Since I typically self publish, this is not normally an issue in my work.

However, I am in an industry which sometimes requires such silence. When I had my Hot Waves sock design in the “Joy of Sox” book last year, I was not to release photos of the sock itself until the book was released.

I got paid to make the pattern, and you might say I got paid to keep that secret for a time. Of course, I did as I was asked, and it has worked out just fine.

This spring I designed a sock which was just released the first week of July. I designed the sock using Yarn Hollow yarn (by my friend Rita). It was specially made for the Rae’s Yarn Boutique Sock Club.

For those who follow me regularly, you know I am most happy with knitting when it involves two to four different yarns, in different colors. In this case, the yarn had many colors in one skein. I had to stretch my general approach to knitting, and find a design which was very different in approach than most of my work.

This yarn is a wonderful, super-stretchy sockyarn with cotton, bamboo and nylon. It is in some of my favorite colors… bright blue, bright turquoise, spring green and yellow. If you have ever tried to knit with a yarn which has high contrast in one skein, you may understand the challenges I faced. Many stitch patterns just disappear in all the exuberant color! (For the record, the photo below shows the colorway best, on my monitor.)

I had swatched a stitch pattern in another multicolored yarn before the “real” colorway arrived. When I got Rita’s yarn (which I liked better than the swatch), that pattern did not work. I did more swatching.

Multicolored yarns do best with slipped stitches, knitting in the row below, and garter stitch (where the yarns blend together on the surface of the yarn. In this case, I used a slipped stitch to make a vertical squiggle up the sock, with lacy holes next to the squiggles.

I am very pleased with the design. I’m also happy (in the end) that I was pushed to work with color in a way that is not my standard approach. Grown-ups need to keep growing, right? It was good for me, and the result is pleasing.

For those knitters interested in structural details, this sock has a new version of my “start with a square” toe-up method, which turns into a swirl toe. It also uses an afterthought heel, which is decreased in a swirl, as well.

You can order the sock kit for one month, through Rae’s website. For $35, you get my pattern, Rita’s yarn, a set of beautiful double-pointed needles, and a few treats in a pretty box. For some reason, the photo on her site still shows an earlier sock club design. Rae assures me that if you order now, you will get the current sock kit which is pictured here in this post.

(For the record, this yarn is so stretchy that the sock runs a little big. If you are knitting this design and have any doubt about which size to make, round down to the next smaller size.)

Thanks to Rae for inviting me to do this project. It was fun, and I learned a lot. Thanks to Rita for working out a perfect yarn and colorway. And thanks to the calendar, for getting to a point where I don’t have to keep a secret any longer!

Rae’s Yarn Boutique on the East Side of Lansing is having a special event with my ColorJoy patterns, this weekend. It’s buy 4, get 1 free…

…and if you take advantage of the 4-1 sale, you also get 20% off your yarn. (Yarn is 10% off this weekend even if you do not buy my patterns.)

It should be a fun weekend. Events like this make the shop into a bit of a reunion. The knitters who flow through make it a grand time.

This is the official notice all folks on the email list for Rae’s shop got today:

ColorJoy Event & Sale

Come pick out some great patterns & some yarn to knit them~

Friday June 25 – Sunday June 27

Lynn will be in the shop all weekend showing off all the designs she’s been working on this year! To celebrate the release of her newest patterns, Chipper Hat & Summer Striped Socklet, Lynn is offering buy 4 patterns get one 1 free!

Also we’re offering 10% off all regular price yarn this weekend & 20% off when you take advantage of Lynn’s Pattern Offer!

So come in this weekend for some great savings & to pick out some fun summer projects!

Lynn is also teaching a Nuno Felting class on Sunday. There’s still a few spots remaining in this fun class!

Actually, I will be at the shop for this event, all day Friday 11-6 and all day Sunday 11-3. I will be there to help folks pick yarn to go with any pattern, or show my samples, or perhaps just chat and say hello.

Saturday will be “catch as catch can.” Brian and I have a private musical performance to sing, out of town. I may be in the shop early in the workday on Saturday, but I do not know that for sure right now.

The sale goes on whether I am in or out of the store. It’s good from open on Friday, to close on Sunday.

Perhaps there are some patterns of mine that you have contemplated but never purchased. Now is the time to get them at a special price, and get a discount on your yarn at the same time!

I hope to see you there.

(Ravelry members, you can see a list of all my patterns, most of which will be at Rae’s this weekend, at this page: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lynn-dt-hershberger Ravelry requires a free membership to view pages on their site. If you knit or crochet and have not joined yet, I highly recommend it. The information available there is vast. Just click the link, then click Join Now and they will get you started.)

In the last 8 months a dance friend had a baby and I gained a new niece. Then in the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve had another dance friend and two knitting friends have babies.

I have been old enough to be a grandmother for a decade, easily. I think it’s just great that my friendships span ages and lifestyles so much that I can be experiencing all these newborns at the same time.

I wrote the Chipper Hat pattern when my niece appeared on the scene. I made her some Chippy Socks (a pattern I wrote several years ago). Then I wanted a hat to go with them. Great! Chipper hat, it is.

Above is a Chipper Hat knit by my friend Cynthia, for a baby shower. I don’t know the recipient. The yarn is Berroco Pure Wool, purchased at Rae’s Yarn Boutique in Lansing. The family does not know whether the impending child is male or female, and this group of colors was fun and nontraditional. I’m liking it.

I took this photo immediately after Cynthia completed the last stitch. Some yarn ends were tucked inside the hat. We decided that the little yarn ends on the tassel looked a bit like the wind was blowing, and enjoyed how they looked just this way. The ends, of course, will be worked in before gifting time.

Two young women who regularly attend the Thursday night knit-in at Rae’s shop, had babies this week. How unusual! They were not due this close together, but that’s how it goes. We are *not* in charge.

The little sweater here was knit by the mother of the baby born yesterday. Notice that the buttons are not sewn on yet. I made these buttons and she bought them at Rae’s shop. It is amazing how well they go with this yarn. Exciting!

I guess I need to start designing more for babies. For once, I have models on which to try them out.

Whew. Yesterday I finished my new pattern and got it uploaded to Ravelry. Today I just uploaded it to Patternfish (though they have to push a magic button before it will go live on their site).

I have had so much fun, knitting this in all sorts of yarns and color combinations, that there is only one pair finished in the world. It’s the pair my test kniter, Emily, knit for me (huge hugs to Emily). Here is a new and exciting view on her take on this pattern:

And just to see how it would work out, while I was at TNNA I knit this version. It uses Regia solid/Uni in fuschia for toes/stripes. The “solid” foot color is Regia Flusi Das Socken Monster (a gently-striped cool-toned sockyarn, mostly turquoise and blue with a tiny bit of hot green).

I suspect this yarn combination is either “Adore” or “Can’t Stand It” territory, but it was worth the experiment. I’ll probably make another (they are fast to knit up) so that I can have a pair to actually wear. That is, if Rae doesn’t want it for a sample at her shop. She has not seen this one finished, yet.

If you are interested in the PDF, it is $6 right now with instant download through Ravelry and Paypal. (You don’t need to be a member of either business… a credit card works.) The link that works right now is this one: Summer Striped Socklet

I expect for PatternFish fans, it probably will be available there tomorrow if Julia is on her typical efficient schedule. I can not find a link to a designer page (it seems a search feature rather than a static location) on Patternfish. However, the link to my Chippy Socks pattern is here: Chippy Socks on PatternFish. If you scroll down, there is a link at bottom right where you can click on SHOW ME MORE by this Designer. If you click “Designer” it will show you my currently active patterns on the site.

WOOHOO!!! After 2 pattern deadlines taking over my life for 3-4 weeks, I took several hours off today and called it “vacation.” It felt like one, too. I even planted some flowers.

I’m drowning in photos I want to share with you. Let’s hope I can catch up on them, now.

My impending pattern now has a name: “Summer Striped Socklet.” I have knit numerous single socklets in the last week. Here are the socklets which have been completed thus far:

The advertisement on Ravelry is scheduled to start on June 16. I am working on the text layout for the pattern at this point, and need to do a little more photography.

Oh… sockyarns used are, from left to right:

• Cascade Heritage- Wool/Nylon
• Crystal Palace Panda Soy- Bamboo/Soy/Nylon
• Yarn Hollow Squish- Merino/Bamboo/Nylon
• Cascade Heritage- Wool/Nylon
• Regia (Blue/green is Regia Flusi Das Socken Monster, Fuschia is Uni)- Wool/Nylon
• SR Kertzer On Your Toes- Bamboo (Bamboo/Nylon)

Back to the layout program… June 16 is approximately 24 hours from now.

I came home from TNNA in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday around dinnertime. Rita Pettys from Yarn Hollow was my traveling companion this year. She and I have done a bit of collaborating in the last year (including but not only during the Sock Summit last August in Portland, Oregon). We just finished with a sock design which will be released in a few weeks.

Rita had not been to TNNA before, and I encouraged her to go. She was happy to have attended.

As usual, the Lansing folks all ran into one another often during the weekend. We tried to have another of the “many shops from Lansing” dinners as we have done in several previous years. However, TNNA scheduled things differently this year (with events after 5pm) so it did not work as well as in the past.

We still ended up with a Saturday-dinner Entourage of four folks from Rae’s Yarn Boutique, Rita/Yarn Hollow, and me. Other than that lovely and more intimate meet-up, there were many knit-celebrity sightings and many, many hugs. It is such a joy to connect with my peers! TNNA is precious to me for that reason.

The weather was hot and about 100% humidity most of the time we were there. One day a thunderstorm created a power outage for a short while in some buildings. However, the first photo above was taken right outside the Convention Center on Friday, the day of the big storm. It was gorgeous and sunny right when I found Sarah Peasley outside doing a bit of knitting.

Sarah works for the XRX people often, teaching at their Stitches events all over the country. She was one of my first teachers and I continue to pass on her tips to my own students. I’m lucky to have her as a peer, and even more lucky that we live in the same area. However, we don’t see each other often.

I was honored to see that Sarah had knit a mini ZigBag for her sport bottle. I was even more honored to hear that she made several as gifts and then finally made this one for herself. She is not fond of photoshoots, but she consented to this photo of her outside the Convention Center, with her ZigBag. (Thanks, Sarah!)

Friday was much fun, with classes all day and exhibits of new products outside the exhibition hall. There were snacks, and a meet & greet with teachers (including our Rae, who taught sold-out dyeing classes for this conference). Then we had a keynote speaker and a fashion show.

The Keynote Speaker: Excellent

I have not seen anyone else mention the speaker yet on the web, when discussing TNNA. I was enthused with and energized from the presentation. (I can not seem to find her name anywhere on the web. I want to say it was Anne/Ann, but I’m grasping at straws here.)

She was from ZingTrain, a training company related to Zingerman’s delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is such a fine organization/restaurant, I am a loyal customer even though I live about an hour away. I’ve literally (when I was younger) gone to Ann Arbor just to go to dinner at Zingerman’s and then come back home to Lansing.

She Knows Fine Customer Service, by Experience

The food at the deli is extra-ordinary in all senses. The service is just incredible. People wait in line, often outdoors in bad weather, just to get in there and buy. When you are the first in line, they treat you as if you are the only person there, bringing samples of whatever you’d like to try, and answering any question you might have.

Since I have a lot of food restrictions, there are few places I can eat without taking risks with my health. At Zingerman’s they really know what is in everything, and I can eat without taking any chances. They bring me lists of ingredients whenever I ask. It’s wonderful.

I was there once in a rainstorm. We customers waited in line outside under umbrellas and newspapers, chatting while we waited. The deli sent out treats, and I think hot coffee if I remember right, for those of us waiting outside in the cold.

Back to the Speech

This is to say that when our speaker talked, I listened. Maybe others listening did not know she was really telling it without embellishment. The methods they have for customer service are truly extra special. They do make customers happy, even with a long wait and even in bad weather. Yes, even with relatively high prices. The quality service and food make for such a superior experience that I go out of my way to eat there whenever I can.

I learned much from her about good service. One of the points she made was that they use the same skills and techniques to serve one another inside the company. There are a lot of folks who work there for long streteches of time. This, in a retail food business (an industry not known for overall loyalty from employees).

Another great point was giving the employees the power to actually fix a complaint right then and there, rather than telling a customer they need someone else, or need to call back at an inconvenient time to find someone with the authority to make it right. They are to find out what went wrong, and do whatever they can to fix it, then thank the customer for letting them know they needed to make something right.

Authority to Act is Key

When employees, anywhere, can not fix something for a customer (because they lack authority or confidence) it hurts the business in a trickle-down fashion. The customer then will (definitely) tell a lot of folks about their unhappiness. If they have a good experience, they also share about it, but not in as destructive way.

I once worked for a computer training company for 6+ years. I was often the only representative of my company on location. My boss handled the authority issue well.

I was told: “If there is a problem, do whatever you can to fix it, in the best way you can figure out. Later we will discuss what you chose to do. If I would prefer you do it different the next time, we will discuss it then. Meanwhile, do your best and don’t wait for me to tell you the right move.”

This was powerful. I am confident that it increased our ability to do good customer service. I loved being told I was trusted to be a thoughtful adult, too. So many workplaces do not have the confidence to do this. It helps the customers, the employees, and the business. I am confident it helps the bottom line, as well.

I want to share more. I’m falling asleep as I type. More images tomorrow, I assure you.

Hello from Columbus, Ohio! The TNNA trade show is a great time, I’m loving it. No time to write much right now. I’ve written a little last night on my twitter account at http://twitter.com/colorjoy (follow me @colorjoy).

These photos are a quick look at the Ravelry party last night. They offered prizes, a beverage and Jeni’s Ice Cream, the pride of Columbus. It was a blast. Enjoy!

This weekend may be my favorite weekend of the year. I’m going to TNNA, a trade show for the yarn/needlework business.

I am lucky in that Lansing does have a decent handful of folks on the national designing/teaching scene. However, few do this full time as I do (unless they own a shop).

At TNNA, in Columbus, Ohio… there is a convention center full of my peers. It lightens my heart to be among my own.

Right now I’m in the predictable last-minute panic mode. I have food and yarn and computer ready to go. I have most of my clothes ready. So of course, now I’m trying to cram ten more skeins of yarn and a few more outfits in the packed stuff, while I surely will forget something that is essential.

I have me, I have yarn, foods, meds, needles, computer, a few clothes. I have funds. We have reservations for the conference and for a hotel. I guess I’m ready enough.

Oh… gratuitous picture showing off a special kid. Isabel drew this butterfly in Kindergarten. She and one of her best friends learned to ride bicycles yesterday, thanks to my friend April. I predict an incredible summer!

Lindy wrote me recently to ask about my unusual toe-up sock start. I like this method and use it in many of my patterns, although I keep changing it in small ways each time I write it into a new pattern. She saw the photos of my upcoming Summer Striped Socklet pattern and asked this:

A question: I have had some problems with awkwardness using your “rectangular” or “square” toe start to begin a toe-up sock. Any suggestions?

This was my response (edited a bit):

—–

I’ve taught a lot of people this toe. A few do struggle at the beginning. In my experience, these factors can contribute:

• Dark yarn makes it hard to see where to pick up stitches.
• Splitty yarn and pointy needles combine to frustrate things.
• Some people really benefit from reading glasses for fine work.
• It helps to have excellent lighting when picking up.

Consider trying this first with larger, smooth, light-colored yarn and switch to fingering after you have figured it out. Once you are clear what is supposed to happen, it should be easier on smaller yarn and needles.

For the record, my First-Time Toe-Up Sock pattern uses 8 stitches and 8 rows for the starting rectangle. This means some fudging to get one of those corner stitches in tight quarters.

In my recent patterns starting with this method, I’ve added a few extra rows in the starting rectangle. This means it is easier to find spots to pick up stitches, but also means there is a little gap where one could pick up one more stitch. The gap disappears after a round or two, but it is bothersome to some knitters. My new striped socklet will have this extra set of rows for wiggle-room in the pick up row.

My best hints:

• Use good, smooth yarn that is spun firmly.
• Use needles that are not super pointy.
• Sit by a window during daytime or a work light otherwise.
• Wear your best glasses (for me that means bifocals) or get some drug store magnifying reading glasses, to see the stitches better.
• If you have a version where there are the same number of rows as stitches,  in the starting rectangle/square, add two more rows to give you a little more wiggle-room.

In my experience, there is one single round that is a struggle for some people. It’s that one fiddly pick up round. See if this information will help.

For the record, I have used this method for items other than socks. The Topper-Down hat, Buttons & Beads Bowl, and ZigBagZ (mini collection, bottle or sport) all use this start method in slightly different ways.

—–

The first photo today is the Summer Striped Socklet I showed you here a handful of days back (it uses this toe). I finished one, just in time to take photos for an upcoming advertisement on Ravelry.

I wish you could feel this pink/green sock. It’s sleek but a bit springy. Bamboo and nylon: On Your Toes Bamboo by SR Kertzer Co., sock/fingering weight. I think this would make an incredible tank top or tee, as well as socks.

The second photo shows my Hot Waves sock, a pattern found in the book “The Joy of Sox.” It also uses the start-with-a-square method. What a fun pattern this is!

The final photo is a pair of socks I finished in April 2006. The pattern is my First-Time Toe-Up Socks. The yarn used was Opal fingering weight. They were the 128th pair of socks I knit. (I am up to pair 179, to date.) I still wear this pair rather regularly, they are some of my favorites.

As I’ve said before, June is the month of 2 sock designs for me. The first is designed on paper right now, and sample knitting is proceeding nicely. That one is a project where I can not show you photos.

The second one will be advertised on Ravelry as a Featured Pattern, starting on June 15. That means I need photos by June 8 so I can submit an advertisement.

I’m knitting 2 different versions of that pattern right now. The one I pictured a few days ago in pink and green, is the first. (Yes, Lindy, that is “On Your Toes Bamboo” by SR Kertzer, 75% Bamboo and 25% Nylon). It’s a great summer yarn and should be plenty comfortable underfoot.

Another I’m working on, in a darker purple and pale purple, is knit from Crystal Palace Panda Soy (60% Bamboo/ 22% Soy/ 18% nylon). Lovely sock, with a totally different texture from the first. No photos yet, though that one has a full foot knit already. It’s been my “knitting in public” sock this week.

The one shown here is a prototype version of the socklet. It was knit by wonder-knitter, Emily. We chatted, I gave her yarn, I showed her what I’d done so far on my pink/green sock, and she put together what she could. She did a great job, given that the only instructions I had written for that sock at the time were for the toe.

The yarn here is Cascade Heritage, a smooth and fine (75% wool/ 25%nylon) sockyarn. Yes, fingering weight wool yarn is good for summer socklets. It absorbs moisture very well inside the shoe, and is thin enough to not over-warm the foot much for most of the summer. Keep the cuff short as I did here, and it is quite practical.

Of course, you can guess that I like the color switch between socks. Emily and I think alike on such issues. Of course, most knitters will want matching socks, and I won’t hold it against them!!!

I have been “nose to the grindstone,” as they say, much of this long weekend. It’s the best kind of work, though! I’m designing two sock patterns. They share some structure but look vastly different… different yarns, gauge, patterning.

One required me to use “only” one yarn. I realize that I am almost uncomfortable without the ability to contrast two yarns against one another. I have stretched a bit on this project, because of that. It has been good for me.

The resulting design is receiving excellent responses from those involved. It does not hurt that the yarn is incredibly beautiful!!! The yarn inspired the final design, and I’m happy with how they work together.

This first design is still in the “secret project” phase, which is not comfy for me. It’s required, for my work. Work is a wonderful “problem,” don’t you agree? I will show you when it becomes public, which will probably be another month down the road.

The Non-Secret Sock (see photo)

The other sock I’m working up in 3 different yarn combinations. The one pictured here is a fingering-weight sockyarn by SR Kertzer which is bamboo and nylon. It is lustrous, it’s fluffy rather than stiff, it has a decent stretch to it. I have not found a non-wool sockyarn in fingering weight I’ve liked this much before.

I must confess that I really am biased with yarns. I am very fond of animal fibers. I knit primarily because I wanted bright colored socks in wool, that fit my small feet. It was all about wool, when I picked up the needles after a decade away.

Many non-wool yarns are getting nicer and nicer. However, I probably would never have discovered this yarn had Rob at Threadbear Fiberarts not given me these two skeins to work with. So far, I’m quite pleased.

The pink and green combination just screams “peonies” to me. It’s a great time of year for this combination. I’ve also got two other combinations planned or in proces (one with a test knitter). One is more bold than the sample here, and one is more subtle. Two of the three samples are knit from non-wool summer sockyarns.

Although this is my 2nd-priority project for a few more days, it will be ready for you folks sooner than the other one. My planned release date for this sock is June 15. This is one benefit to self publishing!

The details on this sock are: toe-up swirl toe, afterthought heel, and a short tennis-like rib cuff for summer. It has been my “knit in public” project while the secret project has been at home. I’ll show you more as it progresses.

My Kind of Weather!

It has been a good several days for me. It is genuinely hot here if you stand in the sun, need to do physical activity, or have a car without air conditioning. However, indoors (no A/C) or on the porch, I am in my heyday. This is MY kind of weather!

Summer Food Experiments, Rhubarb Recipe

Just as an update, I have been cooking some wonderful food including a salad tossed with cold barley grains (barley contains gluten but one could use mixed rices instead), some flavorings and fresh veggies. I made a fava bean dip that turned out great (if you have not tried fava beans, they are magnificent legumes indeed). We ate fava beans for breakfast every morning in Egypt, so I am especially fond of them since I returned from Africa.

I even made a first try at a sort of flat bread, cooked in a cast iron pan. In my dreams it was like an Indian chappati, but in the end it looked more like a very thick brown pita bread that had no hole in the middle. It was chewy and worked well to eat with the fava beans. When I refine those recipes a bit more, I will share them here with you.

I did also pick some rhubarb last week. I made a slightly-too-sweet rhubarb crisp for us. The rhubarb was so fresh, it made a soupy fruit filling rather than a sticky one, but it was a treat anyway.

Next time I’m out of white sugar, I will substitute with a smaller amount of brown sugar. It did not work when I used the specified amount. Live and learn. (Click this link for the Rhubarb Crisp recipe, scroll to the end of that long post to see it.)

Singing in Lansing

We had a great time at the East Lansing Art Fair. If anyone took photos of us singing that day, please consider passing a photo to us. For some reason I forgot to ask someone else to take photos. I did get shots of other bands, but they are not edited at this time.

Our next performance will be with Wally Pleasant on Friday, June 4, at MAC’s Bar, East Lansing. Really. No smoking, I’m liking that prospect, myself.

Knitting Progress

Now I am working on two sock designs. Both have deadlines in the next few weeks, one is due early next week. This is why I have no photos today on the blog.

It’s wonderful to be back doing socks again, though. I’ve designed two hats, a neckwarmer and a legwarmer pattern most recently. Socks are like going home.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

And I just can not stop saying how happy I am with this weather. Nobody else seems to love it as much as I do. I think I feel like a kid on her birthday – the adrenaline rush keeps repeating as I proceed with my life. I wait for this every year.

May you be comfortable wherever you live, whatever you prefer. As for me, I’m giddy with summer. Anyone else?