It seems like I’ve been working on Lace Yarn Studio for years. Well, I actually have been working on it for about two years, when I first floated the idea of doing a sequel to Sock Yarn Studio focusing on lace weight yarns. And after many months of swatching, knitting, ripping out, writing, proofreading, and so on, Lace Yarn Studio:…
2014: A Look Back
What an eventful year 2014 was for me — and not always in a good way. I started the year off by losing two very dear, though geographically distant, friends. In late spring, my mother-in-law — that fiesty, eccentric, often difficult personality — went into the hospital with what we thought was pneumonia and never came home. Lung cancer took…
Now accepting members: Round 2 of our Yarn Club!
Earlier this year, my dear friend Brooke Nico and I brought you a very special beta version of our yarn club. We had such a good time doing it – and more importantly, our members did, too – that we’re doing it again. The Sip Sip Knit Yarn Club (Brooke came up with that name after our first round –…
No-Bull Book Review: Magpies, Homebodies & Nomads, by Cirilia Rose
I’ve had my eye on Cirilia Rose for a while — not in a creepy, stalkerish kind of way, but because from the first time I was introduced to her, I was struck by her charisma, talent and style. I always think of Cirilia as a kid, probably because I’m old enough to be her mother cool younger aunt, but…
Favorite books I read: 2014 edition
It’s the time of year when people start creating “Best of” lists. I read a lot and used to talk more about non-knitting books on my blog, until I started using Goodreads to keep track of my reading and do quick reviews. But since I love getting recommendations for good books to read, I’ll join the many other writers and…
Oldies but goodies: It’s that time again….
Since it was recently my blogiversary, I have thought about some of my favorite posts from the past nine (!) years of blogging. And this post is one of my all-time faves. It’s short but says it all and was written in early December 2006, when I heard the song “The Christmas Shoes” for the first time. Here you go:…
On the fifth day of Christmas….
When it comes to handdyeing, I am fully aware that I’m idiosyncratic. I don’t usually do set colorways but when the lovely folks at Jimmy Beans Wool asked me if I would be interested in creating a special limited-edition batch of yarn for their holiday-season promotion, I could not say no. (Laura Zander is always so much fun to hang…
No-Bull Book Review: Sock Architecture, by Lara Neel
Today’s book review is the intriguingly-titled Sock Architecture, written by Lara Neel and published by Cooperative Press. Sock Architecture is, as you might infer from the title, a sock knitting book that is very much concerned with sock structure. [Sometimes when I write a sentence like that, I have to step back and chuckle. A huge percentage of the sock-wearing…
FOs and un-FOs
It’s been a busy fall, and I have been remiss in my blogging duties. Here is a list of the things I SHOULD have blogged about this fall: 1. Charcoal’s birthday — he turned 9 years old! 2. Boris’s birthday — he turned two! 3. Stitches East — I had a fabulous time! 4. Rhinebeck — ditto! 5. the first…