these two.

i couldn't help it. or, "a lifetime of hexipuffs"

this pattern is all the rage on ravelry.  and while i am the absolute last person in the world to follow "the rage", and frankly, haven't read a ravelry message board in quite literally two years, i do have a lot of leftover sock yarn.  and i have friends that have even more sock yarn than i do.  so, this, plus a blue moon barn sale, has come to this:

now, given that i need about 400 of these things, i think i'll be knitting hexipuffs for the rest of my life.  at least they are quick.  and they smell lovely, because in addition to natural bamboo stuffing, i've been filing them with a scoop of lavendar that i picked myself!

extra special yarny delight

thanks to darling melanie at black trillium and amazing shannon and emily at twisted, i am uber-exicted to show you my yarn!  (the link takes you to twisted's online store, and you have to choose the colorway "parna (get twisted)".  if there are any skeins in stock, it should be available under any of the three black trillium fingering weight yarns:  merilon sock (75% superwash merino wool and 25% nylon), bfl (100% superwash blue faced), and pebble sock (100% superwash merino wool)

here is a mini-photo that i stole from twisted's site:

all of my favorite-est colors rolled into one!  isn't it lovely?  it looks just like these awesome kicks i just bought:

admit it, you love them.  the yarn and the shoes. 

social media and other failures

obviously i haven't been here in quite some time.  it feels like more posts start that way than any other way?  the truth is, i'm not so good at maintaining an on-line existence at the same time as a flesh & blood existence.  i have a facebook.  i have a twitter.  i have a flickr.  pinterest.  ravelry.  hopefully i've remembered them all.  but as much as i like to read other blogs and see other peoples' pins, i'd really rather spend my time knitting and watching bad sci fi than updating my own posts. 

don't worry, this isn't going to be any sort of farewell, but more of an explanation.  in my productive life as a somewhat overly-involved member of society, i am a lawyer.  this means that i spend all day, every day in front of a computer.  except on those rare occasions when i am in court (*digression ...  let me tell you, real lawyering is not at all like tv lawyering.  we really spend the majority of time at our desks, or at meetings.  the real fun comes once in a while when you actually get to get up off your chair, walk the few blocks to the courthouse, and make shine the arguments that you've already made on paper a few times.  even more rare, and more fun, are the days you get to shuffle over to court and cross-exam a witness.  those days are few and far between*)  anyway, so, my point is simply that after spending all day, every day in front of a computer, it is quite difficult to spend my free time transferring photos, formatting posts, etc. etc. 

in any event, my plan is to start offering more free patterns, as i have several of them written and/or in the works.  so, perhaps that will make my extracurricular computer time somewhat less repetitive of my required computer time!

until next time (and who knows when that'll be),
xoxo

some favorites

i may or may not have mentioned that i have a bit of a (huge) problem with buying knitting books.  i love them.  i would fill my whole house with them if i could (well, those parts that are not already filled with yarn...).  in any event, in my sunday boredom/laziness/misadventures, i thought i'd put together a list of some of my favorite knitting books, in no particular order. i'm not sure if i'm tech-savvy enough to figure out how to update this later, but here is a start:

knitted hat party

astoria series 3: trolley ride (or knitted hat party), a photo by myriadlane on Flickr.

on the trolley in astoria, oregon.  this is from a weekend trip we took back in december.  

another dose of east and west

it has been quite a while since i wrote about it, but i am still slowly by surely knitting my way through Knitted Socks East and West, this lovely book:

my most recent pair, samurai, are quite lovely in every way and invoke very awesome imagery, if you ask me!  :)

the yarn is a cotton nylon blend (kollage yarns luscious), which is a change from my usual wool or wool/nylon socks, but they turned out comfy and lovely.  

(and no, those are not my hairy legs, they are the legs of my only-slightly-unwilling model/b-friend).  

hand-dyed headwarmer

IMG_2876, a photo by myriadlane on Flickr.

got this lovely chunky, hand-dyed yarn from one of my favorite vendors at the black sheep gathering in eugene, oregon. usually i just hoard lovely yarns such as this, worried that what i make won't live up to the yarn. but, this (ended up being slightly big) hat was just calling out to be knit. and yes, the tassles absolutely demanded to be made as well.

abundance of baby sweaters

'tis the season, i think, for lots of ladies i know to be expecting, so the time has been filled the end of last year and the beginning of this one, with lots of baby sweater projects.  this one was originally meant for a bundle of joy which ended up being a boy, so it is now packed away just in case anyone i know ever has a girl!  at this moment, i know 5 expectant mothers, and it turns out that the 4 who know are all expecting boys, so perhaps the fifth will be girl!

\

this pattern was quick quick and lovely, all though a bit full of mistakes, so tread carefully if you decide to knit it.  of course, the designer makes this perfectly clear in her pattern notes, so i shouldn't have been surprised!

personal footprints

after making personal footprints for myself, i was completely in love with this "made to fit" method of knitting socks, and decided that the b-friend needed a pair as well.  one part cat bordhi's amazing method + one part tina's fabulous yarn = perfectly fitting socks, which are worn (i think) more often than any of the other hand-knitted socks i've ever gifted:

if i was going to make a resolution...

this would be it!  i know i have been missing for quite some time, and here is my (hopefully accurate) promise to be around more, to spend more time taking pictures, posting projects, etc. etc., because indeed!  there have been lots of projects and lots of crafts successfully completed, and totally un-documented!  so, consider it resolved.  now let's see if this resolution goes better or worse than my annual "get in shape" resolution...

robin's egg

robin's egg, a photo by myriadlane on Flickr.

a teensy sweater! this pattern actually comes in this teeny tiny size to great big adult sizes. easy and lovely.

i am still here, knitting away!

handspun mittens, a photo by myriadlane on Flickr.

here is a recent project made with yarn handspun by my lovely friend sorren, and mitten pattern by my lovely friend vivian.

knit happens! black sheep!

today i had the pleasure of chatting with michelle and emily at Knit Happens about copyright and how it applies in the knitting/crafting world, check out my first foray into the podcast universe!

Knit Happens - episode 69!

in other current events, this weekend is black sheep gathering down in eugene, oregon at the lane county fairgrounds.  angela and i will be teaching a couple of awesome classes, and the weekend will be filled with sheep, fiber, spinning, knitting, and all around good times.  come and join us!

yet another baby surprise.

just finished this bsj for my friend shannon's baby shower.  we don't know whether her little bundle is a boy or a girl, so i went with orange.  i had to go overboard with the dog buttons because shannon has a dog that she absolutely loves and dotes on, so this seemed to me the perfect combination.

these are both cotton yarns, for ease of washing.  also, i am proud to say that they are both stash yarns - leftover skeins from other projects!  despite being somewhat oddly disappointed every time i am forced to reduce my stash, i think it turned out quite lovely.  i even managed to pull myself together enough to single-crochet a border around the sleeves and collar.  you can see it a bit closer in this picture:

i really can never get enough of knitting baby surprise jackets.  the buttons always put me over the edge.

kind of a big deal

i have been teaching knitting at twisted for about four years.  before that, i did some informal teaching.  i have also been certified as a knitting instructor by the craft yarn council of america.  i absolutely love to teach knitting, and it is the thing i look forward to every week.  SO, i am very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very x10 excited to tell you that i am going to be teaching at sock summit 2011!

check it out!  registration starts wednesday, may 4 at 12:00 PDT:

Sock Knitting Without Needles!  Knitting Socks on a Sock Loom

Have you tried hand-knitting socks, and struggled through the process?  Do you have joint pain that prevents you from working with small needles?  Do you just want to try something new?  Knitting socks on a sock loom is a fun alternative to traditional sock knitting.  Using an adjustable sock loom, you’ll learn basic loom-knitting skills, including all the steps needed to create a sock.  We’ll knit a top-down baby sock in class, and you’ll have the skills to knit socks of all sizes on your sock loom.  We will not be using circular looms, but rectangular adjustable sock looms.
This is a beginner class for those who have not previously knit socks on a loom.

Class Level:	Beginner
Class Skills:	General knowledge of hand knitting basics, including casting on, knitting, purling, and casting off. No prior knowledge of loom knitting required.
Cost:	$75
Class Length:	3 Hours

The (C) word.  Copyright for knitters and designers

Are you interested in learning more about the subject that seems to ignite more on-line discussions, speculations, and arguments than any other?  Whether you’re a designer wondering how to protect your pattern, a knitter wanting to know what you’re allowed to do with a pattern, or anyone else, the copyright law applies to you.  In this class, you’ll learn copyright basics in the United States, including both protections offered by the copyright law and limitations enforced by the copyright law.  This is a lecture class, with time for questions.
This class is a one hour wonder that repeats three times in each three hour block it is offered in.
Friday PM: 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

Class Level:	All Levels
Class Skills:	None.
Cost:	$25
Class Length:	1 hour wonder

tulip season

this is my favorite time of year to sit on the front porch and look at my front yard.  this is nothing fancy, but it really makes me happy to see what the tulips do every year:

black sheep!

guess what?  this year I will be teaching at the black sheep gathering in eugene, oregon!  here are the details:

june 24-27, 2011

knitted triangle lace shawl or shawlette

(with my friend and team teacher angela davis)

friday, june 24th, all day, 8:30am-4:30pm

knitting projects using small amounts of handspun

(with my friend and team teacher angela davis)

saturday, june 25th, morning, 8:30-11:30am

where oh where?

where have i been?  2 places: spain, and in my office.  the former is much lovelier and more interesting:

sevilla

also sevilla, in the plaza espana

this was kind of a crazy thing we saw when we looked up at this church in arcos de la frontera, a white hill town south of sevilla.  it made us think.

this is the puente nuevo (new bridge) in ronda, also a white hill town.  

i don't remember what town this was in, but isn't it lovely?

portland gussets

i finished these lovely socks a few weeks ago and haven't had a chance to take photos until recently. yarnissima is wonderfully talented sock designer, and the yarn is hazel knits, so pretty much an unstoppable combination.