Scooter And Tangey

I realized that I haven't had a proper Scooter post since last August. Scooter hasn't been up to too much trouble since then. But the other day we saw his cat friend, Tangey, during walkies. Tangey (pronounced like the beginning of tangerine) hasn't been around much as of late. But whenever he sees Scooter, he runs out from wherever he is to say hi. There aren't too many cats around our neighborhood who are excited to see Scooter.

This is the only time I've ever been able to get a picture of Scooter and Tangey

Scooter loves Tangey. They sniff each other, which is rather adorable. Sometimes Tangey will roll over, which Scooter doesn't like very much. Even though Tangey doesn't use claws, he likes bopping Scooter on the nose. Scooter isn't into that.

During our visit, Scooter inevitably gets distracted and goes to sniff a nearby plant, so I pet Tangey a bit to thank him for coming over.

The Golden Fleece

On Saturday I had a delightful time at The Golden Fleece signing books and and helping people figure out what size of the Robin Hoodie would fit them the best. I almost left with no pictures until my Mum pointed out the beautiful display. Gunilla did a fabulous job. I've never seen all the Lit Knit garments displayed so well at the same time. Plus, Celestarium made an appearance.

I failed to leave without yarn. I had spotted this two weeks... and... well... it is a darn good yarn. Each skein is 600yds (540m) of single ply silk and I believe that the yarn is sourced from textile waste. The color way is Dark Sand and I'm planning to make an Hélène. Then there were beads. I think you all can see what happened next.

Has anyone else recently found a new-to-you yarn that you are excited about? I'd love to hear about it.

California Poppies Everywhere

This past weekend I went to visit my brother. On the way down south, we stopped by the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. 

This year was much better than last year. First off, it was green, and second, there were poppies.

Although there were quite a few poppies at the preserve, there were carpets of poppies outside of it. I've never seen an area that was just plain orange.

I got my jumping picture. And being the pro that I am, I remembered to tuck in my shirt on the first photo. 

This is probably the first time I've remembered to tuck in my shirt on the first photo

I also was able to get poppy sock pictures by the poppies. They came out really well, if I do say so myself. 

From Pines To Pacific

I'm pleased to announce that I've released two new patterns: Pacific Blues and Pacific Ripples. The Pacific Blues hat is knit from the brim up. It has a slipped stitch chevron pattern all over that resembles the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Ripples mitts are knit from the cuff up. They also are inspired by the Pacific Ocean. The gusset shaping is cleverly worked in with the chevron patterning.

I decided to bundle up Pacific Blues, Pacific Ripples, and Beyond The Pines all together into a collection called From Pines To Pacific. All three look good using variegated yarn. But a solid or long color repeat will look just as nice.

Happy knitting!

Poppycock? Nope, They're Poppy Socks!

Sometimes it feels like I have absolutely no upcoming designs, and sometimes the exact opposite happens. At the moment, I have four designs that are in various stages of completion. This past weekend I was able to complete a photo shoot for the hat/mitt combo. I'm hoping to have them out by next week, all going well. The Police Box Sox are being tested. And now I'm knitting like a crazy person to get a pair of California Poppy themed socks done. Why, you ask? Well, it looks like unlike last year when the Antelope Valley Poppy reserve looked like a desert, this year there are poppies. I'd been toying with the idea of poppy socks for a bit, but when I realized that not only are there poppies this year, but we will be going south at just the right time, I knew that I needed to make the socks a reality.

So far I've figured out 10 ways to not make poppy socks. In fact, yesterday, I'm pretty sure I knit an entire sock's worth of stitches. Unfortunately this did not result in a complete sock. One of those half-socks in the picture below is destined to be ripped.

I'm just hoping that all this effort is worth it. Poppies are notoriously picky about weather. So even if we get to the reserve and there are poppies, they might all be closed. Of course none of that matters if I don't manage to knit a pair of socks in time. No pain, no gain... right?

Reading Is Key In Reading The Key

It's funny what a few days can do for a knitting basket. I finished knitting up all the blue yarns and now everything is going to be bright for a bit! The green and gold are the Anzula I bought two posts ago. All going well, I hope to have another sock design knitted up before the month is through.

The red is Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin in Hertzblut that Rachael got me when she went to Germany. It's becoming a pair of Woodpile Socks. So far so good. 

Although, I did get to do a little ripping. It was a little my fault, a little not. I didn't read the pattern key, I just knitted the cables like you do. I noticed pretty quick that it didn't look like the picture. Silly me, I knit the cables opposite of what the key said. In my defense, the symbols are the opposite direction of what cable symbols typically are. That being said, I have learned that I need to read symbol keys BEFORE knitting. It'll save time in the long run.

Most of what was in my knitting basket in the last post are designs that I can't show off just yet. But I did finish the Watch Cap for me. It's out of Knitwhits Freia Handpaints Ombre Worsted in the Denim color way. I am pleased. The brim can be folded up and probably will be when I wear it, but I wanted to show off the gradient.

In case anyone was wondering, I still haven't located my other hats.