i really should be working . . .

Posted on Posted in projects, Uncategorized


(flower of the day, hosta)

i’ve never seen so many hosta flowers as we have this year, and so big and hardy, too. because they were always sorta straggly, i never cared for them much. but this year, i am bewitched . . . they all bend in the same direction (northeasterly) no matter where they are in the yard—don’t know if that’s a rule, or what.
swaying with each breeze in wide, fancy leaf-skirts, they are my own backyard corps de ballet.
since i can’t dance my way over hot coals, i do it vicariously through them.
can i just say? this hosta garden was the best idea we had yet for that space. i have enjoyed it with every passing week this summer.


(just needs a toe, and tomorrow’s the day)

let’s get a little news buzz out of the way: the bee shawl pattern is done; i just need to go through it with a fine-toothed comb and we need to do a photo shoot. vanessa the wonder knitter has completed her test knit and pronounces the project good to go [UPDATE: and reports to me today that she’s “lonely, and misses the bee”. how cute is that??]. you can see a photo on her blog. lilith is hard at work on hers, and that second pair of eyes is my secret weapon.

i’ll have patterns for sale here as standalone items and anne (we know. it’s confusing—she’s anne, i’m anne—it’s serendipity, we swear.) is getting kits ready, which will sell for—sit down, i know you won’t believe this—$32, with two options of colorway. contact her to pre-order.

all that ramp-up to say that we are expecting a release date earlier than predicted, hopefully next weekend (believe it or not, it sorta hinges on whether the oversized document sleeves arrive promptly. no, i’m not kidding). so keep your eyes peeled . . .

ok, i know—knitting. that’s what you want to see. and i have it.
let’s kick off with a shot that features the beautiful 100% merino sock yarn from twisted meg so i can extoll on it’s beauty and quality.

this is the longEST color repeat of the three variations she sent me. the color variations, mixings, and pixelations it are heart melting. i can stare at them for hours. and the quality of the yarn is stupendous. it knits up a treat, then rips and reknits exactly the same. i mean you can see just how beautiful the stitch definition is, how even the tension. that’s good yarn at work.

the texture is very nice—not so highly-twisted that’s it’s nubbly like koigu, but enough that it produces a firm, smooth fabric with some heft. i’m using size 2.25 mm needles, but i could easily use 2.5 or 2.75, i think if i needed a bit more room in my sock. i highly recommend this yarn for quality, and well, it doesn’t need ME to recommend it’s beauty.

here i have two socks begun, each in a different color repeat, because i couldn’t decide about the design placement. the one on the left is longER and the one on the right (which is the one i am going with for the final design) is longEST. i like the one best because it has more mottling and watercolor-effect between shades.

on one sock i have started adding the lace pattern in a little at a time and the leafy vine pattern will build up from the arch of the foot to eventually spiral up the ankle and leg.

since i really don’t know how that’s going to pan out, with the pattern twisting the sock just at that point, i started another sock where the pattern will begin just below the ankle and at the center (hence, it is just a stockinette tube for now, but still entertaining).

i want to make completely clear that my troubles with getting the design started were ALL ME, and had nothing to do with this lovely yarn atall. and mostly, i offer those design sagas for your entertainment, and to try to relate some of the inner stumblings of my (cough, cough) process.

for everyone who wanted to, but didn’t ask, this yarn (and my pattern to go with it) will be available as the october sock club kit from yarn4socks. you can get all the information about ordering it there, and i know there is a list forming. you will also be able to purchase the pattern on its own from me.

wow. i didn’t even KNOW i had that much to say about those socks. hehe.
well, and then there is this design which is still percolating (you probably would have guessed that on your own)

i absolutely HEART this yarn. it’s dicentra designs alpaca/merino sock. it’s a bit heftier and will make a cozy, warm winter sock. it feels luscious and cushy—a real treat for your toes. and with alpaca, i’m sure it will wear like iron.

teyani sent it to me to make a sock design, and i’m so afraid of not doing it justice that all i’ve done so far is make one swatch i didn’t like, and tear apart my stitch books searching for ideas (well, ok—they are already in pieces).

but then—when i wasn’t thinking about knitting at all (yeah, it happens . . .)—i remembered i had already thought up a great design for it, and somehow, when i was sick, i lost track of that thread. so tonight i’m going to tackle that one. now i’m pumped.

but now here’s something i’ve been looking forward to starting for some time, and just have not had room in my days for. i am always thrilled to work with anything from my friend deb at fearless fibers.

the orchid lace mitts have begun. i am really pumped about this project. i have had to put it off, but now that i’ve started, i’m sure it won’t take long to see something really pretty. the motifs will be the same as those in the orchid lace scarf, but on a slightly smaller scale. i’m knitting them with the same merino laceweight yarn in the same colorway, miracle (get it? its a set.).

have i mentioned that deb’s yarns are among my favorites? they are the premium-quality kind you only see when someone takes a lot of time to handpick, and test, their own products. i look to her dye palette over and over when researching yarns for a project—she has beautifully complex colorways in a wide ranges of hues. her subtlety is unsurpassed. and all of it at a price point that is purposely easy on the wallet. so check her out.

i have to pause a moment to say something important here. deb and i go back a ways—when my blog was just getting started, deb contacted me and said she knew i had something here, and that she really liked my work, and for her, my writing set knitspot apart from a lot of others. she wanted to support it by offering a yarn prize in a drawing i could hold to attract readers. i was SO touched and encouraged by her belief that i could take it to another level, and still am—she is continually supportive of all kinds of efforts at knitspot. you just can’t do this without friends like deb.

and there are so many others, too—chris, teyani, anne, all the generous people who have given prizes for drawings, advice, and supplies for designs—the little enterprise that knitspot has become is the product of a community, and one that i feel a great loyalty to, and thankfulness for.

ok, hallmark moment over (but i really meant all that!).
i have one last wonderful photo that perfectly sums up the abundance of this week (and made a liar of me to boot!)


(fairy-tale eggplant, for real)

32 thoughts on “i really should be working . . .

  1. BEE!!!hooray. now I have to decide between colourways…and that is a really good price!

  2. Holy moly! You do more in a week then I do in a year. Hope you’re feeling better. The ice cream socks are looking fabulous and of course the new shawl is beeautiful. All of blogland will be abuzz when it’s finally released and I’d wager a knit a long or two will emerge. I love knitting bloggers!

  3. Perfect timing on Bee! I have six more rows and the bind off on Moth! I’ll be done just in time! Now to figure out a yarn. Would you say that the same weight as the Knitting Notions laceweight I’m using will be good? I can’t wait!

  4. My life would be so dull without you and your knitting in it. I am very serious about that!

  5. I’ve made my pre-order request.

    I don’t know how you do it Anne. Work,teach classes and design all these patterns. Not just that there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day, but the sheer energy you output. I’m in awe and a little envious too.

  6. I know I won’t get bored for a very long time now , wanting to knit all those beauties you create ! Bee is also on the list 🙂 (on top now)
    And oh my, that twisted meg yarn has such georgeous colors !
    Could you please give us a hint if the Bee will be in lace- or fingeringweight ?

  7. i just started reading your blog on a regular basis recently, but i have to say you’ve hooked me with your reports on your design process. you do beautiful work. i also love the pictures you take of your garden!

  8. I am speechless! I am in love with this sock yarn and your emerging pattern so I could not do anything else but pre-ordered it, Thank you!
    I have a very colourful skein of Hand Maiden Sea Silk and would love to knit it in one of your patterns but can’t make up my mind which one will suit it the best, can you help?

  9. I didn’t even make it through your post before I clicked over to pre-order. I’m going out of town next week, and I really don’t want to miss out. I LOVE the bee!

  10. Wow, the colors in that sock!

    I agree with you about the beauty of the hostas. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has a whole section with nothing but hostas and it has the most calming effect on everyone I have taken to see it. See: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

  11. A) glad you are feeling better.
    B) I am in love with the blue alpaca sock yarn.
    C) baby eggplant! aw.
    D) we have baby tomatoes finally! I’m overly excited.

  12. ahh – bee still my heart – little bee shawl pattern, please come my way, ever so soon.. can’t wait!
    So much else to comment on – it’s divine. lace mitts? ! wow. take my breath away.
    Have fun playing with that alpaca merino from Dicentra. I love it. It’s what I am using to knit up morning glories shawl.. talk about divine.
    thanks for all you do – and the hallmark moment. Isn’t the fiber world amazing?!

  13. You make me tired just reading your posts.

    I have some Fearless fibers yarn in my stash. I just haven’t gotten the chance to knit with it yet, but I had to buy some so that I had it when I was ready for it. 😉

    I love reading your blog. Your designs are amazing!

  14. I love that sock yarn from twisted, btw longEST is my fav too 🙂 It’s such great colors, I too love the mottled effect. I think I can tell you’re feeling better too. Your post is just chocked full of all that is knitspot goodness!

  15. You must be feeling better! Yay! I don’t know what to rave about first. Bee is the best, just amazing. I wandered over to check out the honey colored one and it is spectacular. But those socks with the winding lace cable!!!! and the new lace ones. You make choices sooooo hard.

  16. look at all the goodness! the yarns, the great people you are working with and that baby eggplant – how wonderful – it’s so cute!

  17. Oh I’m so excited about the shawl. I think I’ll need to throw my other projects in a pile and dig into this one.

  18. I just so happened to find a single skein, enough for one lace shawl, in a perfect color and divine texture yesterday that absolutely screamed “Bee Shawl”. I bought it to put away until such time as the pattern should be ready. I am going to diligently finish some things this week to clear the way because I’ve never looked so forward to a pattern’s publication, ever.

  19. I signed up for the sock and yarn for my birthday present for ME! YAY!
    I love your stuff, and I love that yarn designers send things for you to try. I might never hear about them otherwise.

  20. It’s kind of funny that you were so afraid of not doing justice to the Dicentra Designs sock yarn (fear which couldn’t possibly be justified) all while you had already thought up something great for it. It leaves me wondering how it was when you set out the first time to think up a design for this yarn: were you as intimidated in front of it, or not? The fear level certainly has something to do with how easily great ideas would come up…

  21. So glad to hear you are back to your old self again.

    Put me in line for a copy of the Bee as well!

  22. That Twisted yarn is so pretty. I’m almost tempted to join for the month. Lovely, lovely colorway. I remember finding you last summer through Julia of Moth Heaven as she couldn’t wait to get your Wing O’ The Moth Shawl. It looks like summer is a great lace time for you. People were hankering for Wing O’ The MOth last summer and now it’s all about the bbes. I love the colorway you knitted it out of, but I adore that honey color. Ohh, I have a feeling I might spring for that kit. So pretty!

  23. Orchid lace mitts? Oh wow! Now can make a matching set! 🙂

    Waiting eagerly for the bee shawl. Vanessa says it’s a more difficult knit than the moth, and that makes me a little anxious, but I am up for a challenge. 🙂

  24. When the hosta flowers are good, they are very, very good, aren’t they? Lovely! What a lovely bunch of socks you have going….and the eggplant photo — amazing!

  25. Ahhhhh, lovely, lovely stuff! I just love looking at your designs. I love that you take the time to share your inspirations and frustrations. For us “low-budget” designers (hee hee, that title makes me feel all big and important!), it’s a real treat!

    I CAN’T BELIEVE THE BEE KITS ARE ONLY $32!!!! I’M GOING TO START NAGGING MY HUSBAND NOW . . . .

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