Camberwell

Butterflies have been a source of enjoyment for me since I was a child.  I loved to see them flying around my Grandmothers rock garden in the summer time.  Many species of butterflies migrate to warmer climates in the fall.  Their flight path is incredibly long and I find it amazing that a creature so small can travel so far.  Last fall when Andy and I were fishing we got to experience seeing Monarch Butterflies on their path to Mexico. It was incredible to see the huge number of them all flying in the same direction. I've kept an eye out this fall, but so far haven't spotted any.

When I started the design for the Camberwell Collection, my inspiration was the Camberwell Beauty.

I love the brown, blue and golden color of it's wings and almost chevron like edging. The contrast between the colors is so striking.

I think I've come pretty close with the design and colors.  The yarn is Shalimar Breathless in Butterscotch, Neptune and Bark.  The cowl is long enough so that you could wrap it twice around your neck on those really chilly winter days that are right around the corner.  The mitts come in two sizes and knit up in no time.  This is a really fantastic stash busting project.  My test knitters all did stash diving to make theirs!  I have a few friends who live in colder climates who tease me about my fingerless mitts. While they may not be the ideal thing for subzero weather, they are perfect for keeping the chill out here in Virginia and work great layered over full fingered gloves on cold days.  If you work in a chilly office or live with someone who tends to be more conservative with the heat than you would like, fingerless gloves are great to wear inside as well.

The Camberwell Collection includes the cowl and mitt pattern on Ravelry for $8.50.  They can also be purchased separately in my Raverly Pattern Shop.

A HUGE thank you goes to the best group of test knitters: Beth, Margi, Tina, Sherry,  Pam, and Isabelle.  They knitted like the wind to get their projects done on time and had great feedback for me as well.  Tina blogged about the Camberwell Collection and has a pattern giveaway there.  The drawing for a copy of the Camberwell Collection is on October 11, so be sure to leave a comment on Tina's blog before then!

A couple of months ago, I had mentioned the KAL that Wendi from Indieway Yarns was hosting with my Ferry Beach and Wandering Wildflower patterns.  The KAL has wound down and it was so much fun!  I had a great time getting to know all the fun gals in the group and had a chance to knit another pair of Ferry Beach socks in Wendi's First String Sock Yarn.  My all time favorite thing from the KAL is this picture!

 

Photo by: Keith Spiro

Ferry Beach socks AT FERRY BEACH!  How cool is that?  Adrienne, aka killerb on Ravlery, and her husband Keith were on vacation and just happened to stop and take a picture of Adrienne and her socks at Ferry Beach State Park.

I won't be blogging next week because Andy and I are taking a much needed vacation.  The biggest worry is what to bring to knit on.  My current WIP is a shawl design that should be coming off the needles tonight.  I may make another Frost in Bloom.  It's a super easy to knit pattern and makes a great gift.  The holiday gift giving season is nearly here and that might put me ahead for once. 

The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits has been released and is now available on Ravelry!  Shalimar Yarns will have kit's to make The Outer Limits at the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival this weekend.  They will also be carrying the Oktoberfest, Ribbon Street Cowl and Frost in Bloom patterns along with the yarn's to make them. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by the booth.  Andy and I will be there and are really looking forward to meeting you.

 

The Outer Limits is a super fun knit and makes a great gift. Knit it in your school colors, favorite team colors or to coordinate with your winter coat. The pattern is addictive so you may find that you have knit a whole bunch of them and have your holiday knitting done ahead of time!

The pattern requires 210 yards of each color of Breathless. One skein of Breathless in each color will make two hats. You could make them identical, or reverse the colors on the second hat.

Laurie was so kind to test knit this pattern for me.  This is her adorable grand daughter who I think may have a future in modeling!

 My morning was full of surprises including an email from John Warley asking if he could write about me on his blog.  If you have a moment hop on over to his blog and check it out. I just finished his book, Bethesda's Child.  Not only is it a great read, but it has a surprise ending which I really enjoyed. I really think the blog post he wrote is to shame me into starting his socks and sending them to him.  There is nothing like calling a knitter out in public!

Oktoberfest

First, I have to say how very wonderful my husband is.  The day I wrote the Dance of Spider Lunacy post he came home, donned a hat and went on a spider hunt.  I followed him around (he is much taller than me and I figured if he went first he had more of a chance of the spider jumping on him) while he searched under the eaves on top of the pergola and through the bushes.  I knew the chance of finding the offending spider was very slim and we were just about to give up when we came across him.  He was curled up on the side of one of the beams that goes across the top of the pergola.  Let's just say that he had an untimely demise and will no longer be scaring the crap out of me building his gigantic webs of horror on our deck.  The patio is now safe and hopefully spider free!

We were happy as clams (are they really happy?) and thought we were spider free.  Then we went to Busch Gardens for Hallowscream.  We love to go through the haunted houses, they really are so much fun.  What was not as much fun was having to walk through the spider bridge of horror.  I kept wondering if the was some sort of bad karma that comes along with eradicating a spider from you patio.  As large as these were, at least they didn't move.  They were creepy non the less.

Oktoberfest is now available in my Ravelry Pattern Shop.  It's a fun and very easy knit.  The stitch pattern is easy to remember which makes it a great take a long project. 

"Cool crisp days, falling leaves, fresh apples, and heading out to our local Oktoberfest are just a few things that make Fall my favorite time of year.

The Oktoberfest Cowl is the perfect accessory to wear to while apple picking and at fall festivals like Oktoberfest.  When the sun goes down and the air cools off, wrap it twice around your neck for extra warmth.  A luxury yarn like Shalimar Breathless DK will be extra soft around your neck and feel like a cozy hug!"

Margie, Diane, Holly, Robyn, Peggy and Linda did a fantastic job test knitting.  They had wonderful feedback which I really appreciate.  Be sure to check out their Oktoberfest projects on Ravelry.

The Dance of Spider Lunacy

There is nothing I find more terrifying than a spider.  I love scary movies and can watch them by myself in the dark.  Want to go through a haunted house?  No problem, I'll go and will even go through them ahead of you if you don't like to go first.  Put a tiny eight legged monster within ten feet of me and I turn into a shrieking lunatic.  The larger the spider, the louder I scream.  So the other morning when I went outside and nearly walked into a web that was more than two feet across I completely panicked.  And when the spider that made the web scuttled onto it with it's creepy legs and bounded around in a threatening manner I nearly lost my shit had a hard time keeping it together.  I slammed the sliding door (this is possible, who knew?!) grabbed a broom and a can of wasp killer.  If it kills wasps, it should be good for other bugs, right?  The can also guaranteed to shoot from as far away as twenty feet.  Broom in my left hand and wasp killer in my right, I went onto the deck and fired away.  First lesson that should be learned, wasp killer does not work on spiders.  The second is when you spray an insect that can shoot a web out of it's behind it's not necessarily the best way to go.  I'm spraying away and the spider starts swinging back and forth on a new web from it's behind and it's getting closer and closer to me.  I spray more and more wasp spray now wishing that I had gone with my original idea of a can of hair spray and a lighter.  I am now trapped in a corner of the deck while the spider from hell is swaying closer and closer.  The can of wasp spray is nearly empty and there is a puddle of it under where the spiderweb is. When the spray runs out, the spider lands on the deck and starts creeping around.  I scream like a little girl and start beating the heck out of it with the broom.  I'm swearing and screaming and beating at something that can't be seen from a distance.  So of course one of the neighbors was outside and saw the Dance of Spider Lunacy.  Of course they saw because what I haven't mentioned was that I was also in my pajamas.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Now the spider has had an entire can of wasp spray on it and is now being beaten to death with a broom.  What is the worst possible thing that could happen and go wrong here?  Yes, that's right the spider got away.  He managed to scuttle between the deck boards and was then no where to be found.  I looked all over.  Andy looked when he came home.  We figured that the spider must have died and all would be well.  That would be the logical thing to think and obviously the best case scenario.  As luck would have it, this morning I went out to take a few pictures of The Outer Limits hat before I send one of them off to Kyle.  Not only is there a new web the size of Manhattan on the lilac bush, but now there is an even bigger one on top of the pergola.  It's so large that part of it is connected to the birch tree growing next to the pergola.  The spider was in it and I swear he was laughing at me.  I doubt they make more than one web so I think he must have invited his friends and now there is an entire colony of them living out there.  I am sure they are conspiring to attack us while we sit on the new patio in the dark.  Little do they know that tonight when Andy comes home, it's going to be our Take Back The Patio night.  I'm heading to Home Depot for some spider spray in a little while.  

 I kept feeling like they might be crawling on me or plotting revenge, but I was able to take a few pictures of The Outer Limits without being attacked by the spider. The one's on the left and right are in Breathless Blue Raspberry and Ore.  The one in the middle is Breathless Love Potion and Ore. It's a really fun pattern and one skein of each color can make two hats.  Laurie has been test knitting the pattern and should have a picture to share soon.

 

Finish Line

"There is nothing like the feeling you get when crossing a Finish Line. Whether you cross first, last, or somewhere in between it is unlike anything else and gives us a wonderful feeling of accomplishment."  

I'm so pleased to announce that Finish Line has been released and is now available in my Ravely Shop for an introductory price of $4.50 until September 14th.

After I had writers block on the name for this pattern, Andy came to the rescue with Finish Line.  It's the perfect name for this fun to knit sock.  He came up with it right after we finished the patio which was a major finish line for us to cross. It had taken me a while to come up with the original name of Walk The Line and as soon as the test knit went out another pattern was released with that name.  Lydia suggested Hold The Line, which I loved, but had also been used. 

The Finish Line socks are the perfect sock for first time sock knitters and seasoned knitters alike. This unisex pattern is quick to learn and easy to knit making it a great take a long project. The completed socks sure to please your favorite guy or girl on your knitting gift list.

Finish Line written as a cuff down sock, but can easily be modified for knitting toe up. Instructions are given for using four double pointed needles, but can be converted for using the magic loop method, two circular needles, or your preferred sock knitting method.

The Test Knitters all did a fantastic job and you can see their projects on their Ravlery project pages. Lydia, Jen, Karen, Cathy, Andi and Steph, thank you so very much for all of your help! This was Steph's very first time knitting a sock and she did a wonderful job!

Have I mentioned that the patio is finished?  I'm so excited that we can finally sit out on it and relax, I can't even tell you!

I got the idea for putting large stones around the fire pit from Tierney's blog.   She has amazing ideas and if you have a chance, be sure to take a peek at her blog.  I'm hoping to find a few more stones to add to it when we are fishing.

Last night we light the tiki torches and started a fire in the fire pit. We put our feet up and had a chance to relax and have some time together enjoying the cool evening air.  Fall will be here soon and I can't wait to be able to wear hand knits and sit by the fire with a nice cup of cocoa. 

PS The den/spare room is finished too! 

The End is in Sight!

There is nothing like having house guests coming for a long weekend to inspire us into getting things done.  Andy and I worked all day last Saturday filling in the new patio with dirt.

We are so close to being done and I think tonight will be the night.  Last night we added landscaping fabric to prevent weeds from growing and started adding the gravel.  We are estimating that two more trips to the landscape supply store for gravel should do it.

The Adirondack Chairs give a good perspective on how large the patio really is.  I think we could put up a volley ball net if we ever decided to get up out of the chairs when we are finished!

Kristi and Paul are coming down for the long weekend.  The den/spare room is just about finished, the patio hopefully will be done tonight and all that is left to do is to make the Bolonese Sauce so we have something easy to eat.  I can't wait for them to get here!

I promised a sneak peek of Oktoberfest in my last post.  Here is a quick shot that Andy took.  I haven't had a chance to run it through photoshop yet.  Ive gotten really good feedback from the test knitters and should have the pattern ready to release in a couple of weeks. 

I had a wonderful message on Facebook last week from Kyle William who is coordinating a hat pattern e-book to benefit the Living Beyond Breast Cancer organization.  The book will be sold on Ravelry and will be released later this fall.  Kyle asked me if I would be interested in designing a hat pattern for the book.  Of course I said yes and have been working on something a little unique.  It's a layered hat done in Shalimar Yarns Breathless  Black Truffle and Blue Raspberry. I thought the super soft hand of this yarn would feel nice and the two layers would be warm without being overly hot.  The pattern is going to be called "The Outer Limits".   I'll keep you posted on when the e-book is coming out.  100% of the proceeds will be going to LBBC. 

A Weekend of Peace and Tranquility

Andy and I have been so busy this summer that time had flown by.  It seems that every moment has been filled with projects around the house.  We have gotten so much done and it's a great feeling.  Between our jobs, working around the house and helping a friend move we really hadn't taken any time just for us.  We decided to take a long weekend and head to Yorktown.  After doing a little bit of searching around I found The Hornsby House Inn.

Photo from The Hornsby House Inn website

We arrived at The Hornsby House early Saturday afternoon and were given a warm welcome by David who is one of the owners.  He gave us a tour of the house which included a bit of family history and history of the area.  We stayed in the Magnolia Room which was like a bit of stepping back in time.  Decorated with a reproduction iron bed, antique sewing machine and beautiful glassware that had been in the house for several generations we felt right at home.

Photo from The Hornsby House Inn website

Our first night there we decided to partake in the wine and cheese that is served at 5:00.  I'm so glad we did!  We wound up meeting a lovely group of people who were having their class reunion from 1963.  We had a great time getting to know them.  You can read a little bit more about their reunion on John Warleys blog.  He has written a few books and after enjoying his stories in person,  I've added Bethesda's Child to my reading list.

Breakfast was fantastic both days.  Everything was made there and we had so many things to choose from!  There was fresh fruit, coffee, orange juice, cheesy grits casserole, eggs, and on Monday we had Eggs Benedict which is one of my most favorite things in the world!

Of course we made it to the Yorktown Pub at least once each day.  They have fantastic fried scallops and ice cold beer on tap.  It rained most of Sunday afternoon and we wound up staying at the Pub and enjoying the view of the York River.

We did manage to take a walk on the beach in between rain showers.  I spotted this unusual looking seaweed and thought it would be an interesting picture.  I love the reddish orange color against the paler grainy looking sand.

We had a quick photo shoot for the Oktoberfest Cowl and Walk The Line Socks.  I'll have pictures ready to post next time as this is getting a bit long.  I do have a quick progress picture of the patio which is very near completion!  We have started filling in and leveling the interior and are hoping to have it done by Labor Day.