Much Ado About Beading

 Today I added the Much Ado Shawl to my pattern store, and I'm so happy it's available!  The cast-on edge is a beaded picot, which adds a glimmering detail while wearing it.  The beads I found are green at some angles, and red at others, making them appear to be either dewdrops or berries.  When I came home with them, I rummaged through my stash and found a fantastic skein of Leading Men Fiber Arts Showcase in the colorway Steve and Andy, the names of the yarn's creators, but also the names of my cousin and uncle, who are woodsmen of the most badass degree, and the color makes me think of them!

 Doug and I went to the forest preserve in Des Plaines, where he was about to play saxophone at a Romanian festival.  I stole him away from the goulash for a moment and he took pictures while I frolicked.  Or I did my best at frolicking.

 I stood still for him, too, wearing the shawl in a way that was actually practical.  It's fantastically soft, and the length means I can wrap it around my neck a few times, creating just as many layers of the beaded edge.

I hope you like this shawl!  If you do, twirl on over to Ravelry and buy it now!

Design Binge Update

Whew!  I designed and knit and designed and knit and have come up with the following pieces:
First up is Kedzie, a mock-slouchy hat that can be worn and not blown off your head during this gusty October in Chicago:

 Next up is Altgeld, a sporty beanie that works equally well for men and women.  I love the sort-of art-deco feel I got from the texture!

The last hat of the mix is the Dearborn Cloche, with a pure silk lined brim and linen-stitch "ribbon", with a tweed alpaca-silk-merino blend for the body:

 For a fun little accessory, conceived by Grace and engineered by moi, the Bomber Collar using Skacel's new Caribou yarn!  Everyone who sees and touches this can not believe that it's knit, but they never want to stop touching it, either!

 And it wouldn't be a Sarah collection if it didn't involve at least one shawl!  This is a bottom-up shawl with a beaded picot cast-on and a simple lace stitch.  Oh yes, and it is a silk-cashmere blend, so it's amazing to wear!

None of these patterns are ready for publication, but if you'd like a free printed draft with your yarn purchase, come by booth 320!

Vogue Knitting Live: Making Samples!

Yesterday my friend Grace & I went through boxes of yarn for our booth (mostly hers, but I'm helping!) and we had a great time sorting, scheming, squealing, and sighing. I fully admit that the Art Yarns evoked involuntary yelps and giggles from my lips.

Upon sorting, we had to decide which yarns to create into samples, and what we could knit up (and design!) in two weeks out of this:

Over the next two weeks I'll be posting my progress and linking to the new designs as I finish them!  Because of the time constraint, the photos will be not-too-fancy, but hopefully good enough to give you the idea of what they would look like, knit up!  Then, after VKL, I'll bribe my trusty photographer to get some real, publish-worthy photos, now that she's spoiled me with what those actually look like!

I found my camera!

See? Anyway, I recently got a great book called Hattitude by Cathy Carron and have made three hats from it so far, adjusting two of the hats to fit the kids I babysit. The one I made for myself has gotten a lot of compliments in its short lifespan. Here it is!

I'm going to ask my boss if he'll allow his kids' picture on my blog so I can show you the adorable hats and arm-warmers I made for them. I hope I can share it with you guys!

Finishing Old Projects Time!

A lot of cleaning up my stash area involved finding bags filled with old projects. Some half-finished fingerless gloves were sitting in one of those bags, so I finished them up, and made a neck-warmer with the additional thread. It's not quite a cowl--hardly--but it looks kind of fancy and elegant! It makes every shirt into a turtleneck, even when the shirt doesn't even go up to the neck!

Making a Pom-Pom, and Finished Product!

Today I finished the Jayne Cobb hat, and in the process I made a pom-pom. I thought using two CDs would make a good frame. The hole in the middle isn't quite big enough to fit as much yarn as I usually use for a pom-pom, but with enough trimming, it turned out well! These are the steps I took.

I slipped yarn through the center of two CDs held together, enough times until I couldn't anymore:

I cut the yarn along the edge of the CDs:

I separated the CDs with my thumb:

I slipped some string between the CDs and tied a double knot to hold all the strings together:

I separated the two CDs, making sure not to pull any strings from the bunch:

After much trimming, the pom-pom turned out as so:

Yay! He likes it!

Oh wait, he should be frowning, in order to look like Mr. Jayne Cobb: