Extravayarnza

Okay, I'm back, but just for a moment. In about 8 hours I'll be heading off to Drummond Island for my first annual "Knittin' in the Mitten" retreat. I just got back from Detroit where I picked up Gwen Bortner, our special guest & instructor for the weekend.
Judging from the car ride to Lansing I think this weekend should go very smoothly (1 1/2 hours alone in a car with someone you've only met once is a true trial by fire...). I've really been looking forward to this all summer & it's almost frightening that the retreat is really this weekend.
I pledge to be a good host & knit blogger and take lots of photos this weekend. I also pledge to be a good person & only post those that flatter the knitters in them. So, stop back Monday or Tuesday and you can read all about it~

Hello,

This is a message for customers of Rae's Yarn Boutique.
Yes I know our phone is out of order. I'm currently in my 6th hour of waiting on hold at various phone companies attempting to fix it.

The store is still open. Our internet is working at the moment (can't promise it will continue to work since it's DSL and comes from the phone company), but if you have any questions the best thing to do at the moment is to either stop by the shop or send us an email at info AT RaesYarnBoutique DOT com.

Thanks for understanding~
Rae

There are some points in life when you have to grow up a whole bunch all at once. I fear I've hit one of those points head on & seem unable to let go. Most of whats going on in life now is stuff that's too personal for the blog. I think that's a big part of why blogging has been so umm.. sparse... rare... nonexistent... lately. That and the fact that the big computer at home experienced SMEF (Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure, bonus points to those of you who know what this is a reference to...) and our switch to a new phone company at work was a little rocky leaving me with out internet access anywhere for a few weeks.

I've also been entrenched in the process of purchasing a building for the shop to move to this winter. The commercial loan process is a scary thing and very slow moving. I feel a little at a loss in the whole thing, but am still confident that we will emerge triumphant in the end.

Actually I need to be successful in the whole loan thing because I will be living above the shop & lets just say my current living arrangements will be no longer viable sometime in the next year.

A member of my immediate family is also getting married & moving half way across the country. I'm extremely happy for this (and no it's not me), but it's a little scary too.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg, but I hope you'll all understand my lack of blogging lately. I can't say when more regular blogging will happen again, but I'll keep doing the best I can. Currently I'm going to be aiming for once a week and we'll see how that goes. I have however been keeping up my ravelry account, so you can always see what I'm up to there. I also am hosting a group for my shop (Friends of Rae's Yarn Boutique), so if you live in the area & have managed to get a Ravelry account please join us there.

A lack of blogging however has not meant a lack of knitting. In fact when I get stressed out knitting happens in great abundance. Lets try to catch up...

Scarves
I finished up a cute little scarf that we have the kit for at the shop right now. It's a Shetland lambswool and cashmere blend & a very quick knit.
The scarf itself is ascot like & softens up a whole bunch when washed in Eucalan.

I also am working away on my Ravelry scarf exchange scarf. I had a bunch of false starts on this project and have finally found something that I know will work. The scarf is done in double knitting with Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran & will have a Diamond motif at each end. I'm a bit further than the photo (since I took these photos last week you'll hear that a bunch today).

Socks
I've finished 4 pairs of socks in the last couple of weeks. The first 2 pair though were super quick knits (each pair taking between 4 & 6 hours!).
These are knit in Nashua Snowbird and are so warm. I'll be pretty much living in these this winter. I liked how these came out so much that I wrote up the pattern & it's available free with purchase of the yarn here at the shop. Pretty much everyone on my holiday gift list will probably be getting a pair of these this winter.


I also finished a couple of pairs of fingering weight socks.
This pair is simply my basic sock pattern knit in STR waterlily.

I also finished up my test for my redesign of my Slinky sock pattern. That was my first published design and I really hated a few things I did in it. I love the new version so much more. This photo is from last week, I still need to wait for the weather to cooperate for a real photo shoot for these, and to get the pattern rewritten. (oh, and the yarn for these is JoJoLand Melody)

I'm currently just about done with the first of the "summer of love" socks from the last installment of the STR club. The new kit should arrive sometime this week, so I'm attempting to catch up a bit.

Sweaters
I also knit 2 sweaters in about 3 weeks. (like a said... a little stressed out lately = lots of knitting).
The first is a long hoodie cardigan out of Mirasol Miski.

This sweater was knit in the round with seamless set-in sleeves then steeked down the front. The baby Llama is super soft and warm. I know this sweater will get lots of wear this winter.

I also knit a Bohus like sweater (much bigger gauge than a real bohus). This is the Lite Lopi pullover from the Best of Interweave Knits.



I'm rather enamored with this sweater. It of course has been in the 70's since I finished it, but I'm really looking forward to wearing it. It fits pretty well (maybe a little oversized) and I just love the lime green hems. I also altered the colorwork a little at the top to bring it back to the reds & purple rather than more orange at the neck.

I'm also sadly overdue posting this questionnaire up for the No More Humdrum Mitten Swap. Sorry Pal!

1. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?
I learned to knit from my Grandma the one time she came to visit us. I was in 4th grade and she taught me during my brother's swimming classes.
2. Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Advanced
3. What are your favorite colors? Any you dislike?
Depending on the combination I can like almost any color. I don't like things to be too neon or electric. I prefer Fall tones, especially greens and purples.
4. Do you like Latvian type patterns? If so, what are your favorite patterns?
I do like them, but I don't know them well enough to point to any specific pattern.
5. Do you desire mittens for yourself, your "special someone else" or your child?
I totally desire mittens for myself. I did a mitten swap last winter and the mittens were awful and had to be donated to charity, I'd really like a nice pair of mittens to wear this winter though. It gets cold here!
6. What other things do you enjoy knitting?
Everything?! I can like just about every type of project, just depends on my mood. Socks are always a good bet though.
7. What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum)
bamboo circs
8. What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make?
I'm a big impulse knitter, so I don't yearn over any particular project for long, either I knit it or I forget about it I suppose. I've recently been finding my eyes wandering toward Clapotis and oddly enough knit pillow covers. Thicker socks have also been finding their way onto my needles lately.
9. What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with?
I always am drooling over sock yarn from lots of the indie dyers out there.
10. What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden? Cook?
Spin, Sew, pastel painting...
11. Besides yarn, do you collect anything?
books, I love books! I think my next obsession with books is going to be Disc World series, or maybe to finish up the Harry Potter thing (only have books 1 & 2). I will often read a novel in a night if the mood catches me right.
12. What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to?
I'm allergic to almonds. I am addicted to chocolate. Usually white or milk chocolate, but dark chocolate mint holds a dear place in my heart.

and because it's not mentioned earlier and I hope you'll take this into account. I'm severely allergic to acrylic yarn. Even 20% acrylic will make me break out in hives.

13. Do you have any kids? Pets?
No kids, but I have a kitty, Trent, and a Sheltie, Robin.
14. What is your favorite part of Winter?
Snow, the fresh fluffy white kind, not the brown slushy type we usually have.
15. What is your least favorite part of Winter?
Brown slushy snow and wet feet

First I want to say a big Thank You for all the support & love you sent my way yesterday. I really should have started blogging again sooner, I feel quite refreshed & revitalized.
I was also rather surprise (in a good way) at the number of comments requesting the yarn & pattern for the Snowbird Socks. Considering I'm in the middle of that whole loan thing & have a bank peaking into our finances I'm more than happy to fulfill those sorts of requests.
If there is anyone else who was interested in getting the materials for these socks please just send me an email at info AT Raesyarnboutique DOT com, I'll then send a paypal invoice out to you.
The yarn is 7.99 a skein (2 skeins for a pair of woman's socks) and shipping is $5.
The pattern is free with the purchase of 2 or more skeins
These are the colors I have available:

Color Numbers: 10, 30, 78, 55, 95, 01, & 69

Okay, enough shameless advertisement...

I think I may have gotten the best sock yarn ever in my mailbox today. It's the latest Rockin' Sock Club installment and included a skein of the much anticipated Raven series.
Meet Lenore~


I was even more floored when I pulled the pattern out!

The pattern is written by Stephanie, and I'm so totally going to knit it. It so perfect!
Plus it goes with my new hair do~

My camera couldn't handle the contrast between my beautiful white skin and my new gorgeous blue/black hair. The hair is very much black, but with blue base tones so it shines blue in the light. If you knew me before I opened the shop you'd know I am one sexy vixen of a Goth chic and I've been dressing very conservatively for me the last 3 years. In my dream life I'd have a wardrobe like Abby in NCIS. So, I decided it was time to go back to my roots a little and dye my hair black again. I'm not going to far as dreadlocks, corsets, and black velvet skirts again, but the hair makes me feel really good (maybe my favorite black dress will make a few appearances this winter...).

This year I've decided to join in for NaKniSweMo.
I'm not taking it quite to the extent of calculating the number of stitches in my sweater and am honestly do this more in the spirit of the knit along (although I did a rough estimate of stitches in my chosen project based on gauge and such and came up with well over 70,000 so I think I'm safe). Basically I'm knitting a sweater in November. Well, November plus one extra day. I just couldn't stop myself from starting today.

This will be my most challenging sweater so far this Fall. Both because of it's size (knee length with a large shawl collar) and because of a few fun but technically challenging details.

In keeping with the theme of the newsletter I sent out to the Rae's Yarn Boutique mailing list about how to choose a sweater pattern I think I'd like to talk a bit about why I chose this sweater to knit.

A couple of years ago I found a knee length navy blue cotton cardigan that looks just fabulous on me. Now, I've always been told that I shouldn't wear such things because of my height (thanks Clinton and Stacy), but I just love this cardigan. This Fall we got in a shop sample that's also a longer cardigan and again I tried it on and wore it around a bit and got tons of compliments.
Perhaps with the right length & the correct fit even short people can wear long sweaters? I have been keeping my eyes out for a pattern for a long cardigan for a while now. I wanted something with a very open neckline, probably a v-neck, fitted shaping in the waist, and out of a thinner yarn so it wouldn't weigh too much.

Enter the Brennan Cardigan. Worsted weight, deep v-neck with an interesting collar, and has both waist shaping and cool diagonal ribbing on the sides to help emphasize my curves. I really just love everything about this pattern! (total bonus that it's based on one of my favorite tv characters...)

Another nice thing about this pattern is that one of the sizes was for a 38" chest. I find that to be the perfect size for a sweater for me. Sometimes I'll knit a cardi at 40" but only if I intend it as a serious outer layer (i.e. wearing another sweater under it, like my Rogue Hoodie). I plan on wearing t-shirts under this sweater, so anything bigger than a 38" would have looked loose and sloppy.

I know right off the bat that I'm shortening both the length of the body and the sleeves by 2". I really want this to hit me about an inch above my knees.

As for the yarn... Well, I know from experience that as much as I love washable Merino's I wanted something lighter and sturdier for this sweater. I also wanted a multi ply rather than a single ply because I'm planning on wearing this as a layer and didn't want it to shed all over my other clothes. For a while I bounced back and forth between some fabulous Paton's Merino I had in Burgundy and Nature Wool. Nature Wool won partially because the Paton's I had was cursed (seriously has failed in over a half dozen projects) and because I was 2 balls short and the new dyelot is very different. Any ways once I swatched the Nature Wool I knew it was the right yarn for the project. It's a little thinner and a lot lighter feeling than the Merino plus the subtle variegation will be flattering in this design.

However that variegation made me make one more adjustment before casting-on. I decided to work from two balls at a time to try and make the sweater blend better. Nature Wool is kettle dyed and each skein in totally different. Although I don't think it will pool I do think changing balls will be very visible. Simply working from 2 balls (alternating every 2 rows) should blend the balls better. Plus 1 of the balls I started with was used in my gauge swatches so that should help stagger when the balls run out to help stagger the color changes even more.

I hope all that made sense!

You might not be hearing from me much this week. Camelot is in town, so I'm working at Wharton Center in the evenings as a seamstress. Plus during the shows I'm dressing one of the leads, Lancelot, luckily my actor is very calm and sweet (plus pretty easy on the eyes). This week should be pretty full, but not too stressful.