My book is on fire

It's Finally OUT! I'm a published patternmaker!

Of course, my copy hasn't actually arrived yet...

Crochet. Because this is a crochet blog. Yes.

Look! I'm going to distract you from the sewing tangent I'm on with something I crocheted! Er, and knitted.



It's in the Etsy shop so you might have seen it already, but I crocheted the flower in a very typical Irish rose pattern...the reason it's cool is because it's made of all these bits of really cool handspun mohair and alpaca. Natural fiber just looks so REAL. Acrylic yarn has one shade and that's it-no color nuances. It took me a long time to figure this out, and lots of miserable projects, like my attempted Teva Durham Leaf Lace sweater in Lion Chunky. It was awful.

So, the Happy Hooker crochet book is coming out February 13! I hope my copy gets here really soon. I am having a creative block..I have tons of ideas, and I can't wait to get home from school every day, I attempt them and they do not work. I made a white deer today that is so fat I'm considering calling it a sheep. And that just does not satisfy me. Sheep are lovely, but I had this vision of a slender white deer with a wreath of bright flowers around her neck. I dream about this deer at night. I need to create this thing and it does not want to be created.

I hate February. Valentine's Day is next week and I am not even excited because there is no sunshine and I am depressed. Because of the lack of sunshine. So I don't feel lovey dovey. I hate February.

Etsy is Up!

myloveasdeep.etsy.com

I'm going into business!

I just opened my own Etsy shop! I've been working on a project I haven't talked about at all, wait til you see! I've been perfecting it for awhile. I had this toy deer when I was little, one of those vintage ones with the hugely disproportionate head and eyes. You know,the ones that should be really ugly but actually are so cute that they cause grown women to spew forth language usually associated with newborn human beings. My deer has long since degenerated into a pile of sawdust filling and rags, so I've been working on a pattern and producing a new generation of deer for all of you. I've decided that the purpose of the Etsy shop is not to make money (although it would be nice) but to provide a way for me to create all the pretty things I want to without having to worry about whether I can use it, have room for it, etc. I can make anything I like, and then it can go live somewhere else. I will be putting items in the store tomorrow, so go have a peek!You will die of cuteness.

myloveasdeep.etsy.com

I bet you'd say, what can make me feel this way...

My girl, my girl...

Meet my Cherry Blossom Fortune Cat! Remember when I posted the link to this pattern back in the day? I finally got around to it! I used Cascade 220 and US8 dpns. I embroidered the wee blossoms with some angora yarn. She's only half felted because I liked her shape after one cycle.

Notice the orange snow fencing in the background? It's January in upstate New York, and normally we'd be unfreezing the cows with hair dryers and digging out our cars every morning at 5 am...but here's what we've got:





I wound up some very sticky handspun mohair and angora and other sinfully delicious yarn on the front porch today. I received a box of goodies from my aunt in Colorado, who bequeathed her stash to me. How lucky am I, huh? Of course, that was before Christmas and I'm just now having the time to play with it. I haven't had one intelligent thought all vacation. I go back to school on the eighteenth and tackle Shakespeare...As my dear buddy Heather said, "Better make my hat one inch bigger than my head, in case I learn something."

This is really cool.

There's a little antique store in my parent's town, and their prices are cheap and their treasures inspire much lusting after. My mom gave me a gift certificate for Christmas, and I was down there browsing through the vintage fabric when I found this:





It's made of linen, and at first I thought it was one of those wall calendars that used to be so popular. It's actually a sort of rundown on Aran stitches and their symbolism! I think I had a hazy idea of there being some meaning behind Aran knitting, but since I haven't attempted it yet, I didn't know much. I love the idea of making a sweater and knitting significance into it. It gives me the shivers.I believe in that kind of witchery. You know that feeling you get in the pit of your heart and veins when you know something is true, at least for your own soul, superstition or not? Symbols in fiber do that to me. I just re-read A Tale of Two Cities, and damned if that Madame Defarge wasn't chilling. I now wonder exactly what her knitting code was. I may try to find that out.

It'll be so great, with waffles on my plate! Please help me with short rows!

Well, I've got the back and left front pieces of Amelie done; observe, unblocked of course.



Two pieces in one day is some awesome knitting, and far faster than I thought I was capable of on size nine needles. They look itty bitty, don't they? That's because there's a beautiful crocheted ruffled border at the end,(is that called a peplum?) which will be the best part. I am plowing through in hopes of having this done for the first day of school on the eighteenth. My roommate often tells me that my knitting is really just an offshoot of my general stuff-acquiring disease. I'm sure she's right, but at least I only have ONE maxed out credit card, since I make so much of my clothing.

However. We have hit a problem. The problem is this:

Cast on 31 stitches.
Row 1: Purl 11, wrap and turn, knit to end in opposite direction.

That's the first row of the left front, which begins a series of short rows which creates that nice scalloped look on the bottom. That's fine-I got that.

For the right front, I have to reverse all shaping. I don't know how! What will the first row look like when reversed? Does anyone out there know? Please help! In the meantime I'm knitting a sleeve, and I've posted on the White Lies discussion board, where the very nice and funny designer, Joan Mcgowan-Michael, has previously helped me out with yarn substitution for Amelie.

Quit your knitting and scratch me between the ears!



Right now!