Monday's Musing

"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer" - William S. Burroughs

I need to remind myself of this often. I've been too stressed lately! I used to do my best work on my bicycle. :) How do you relax?

I wanted to thank everyone for letting me know which famous person they would like to spend some time with. I loved the answers!

Beautiful!

Yesterday, I finally made it back to my Saturday morning knitting group after about a month of swim meets. It was so great to see everyone!

Jamie had some glass that her husband had made recently, and I was ogling one of the pendants. So she forced it upon me. Really. I didn't want to take the most gorgeous one, but she made me do it! :grin:

Isn't it lovely? I really didn't do it justice.

Thank you so much, Jamie! I haven't taken it off since you gave it to me. I love how light it is, and the way it holds the warmth of my body when it's on. I think your hubby needs to set up a shop. Etsy would work. :)

Classic

One of my secret projects is seeing the light of day! I love that I can finally share this with you; it was difficult to keep it under wraps. In the past few months, I've been lucky enough to work with Classic Elite Yarns and designer Tonia Barry on a new holiday shawl kit!

I designed a twist pin to go with Tonia's lovely asymmetrical wrap, Giselle.

The kits are now up on the Classic Elite site, and will be coming to a store near you soon! I had a great time, and enjoyed working with the folks at CEY immensely!

Mohair and Beads (+ a special!)

Well, I've bound off the shawl I was knitting and now I'm about to embark upon the beaded stockinette version! I always save the best for last. :) I've been knitting away at swim practice and I have to tell you that this shawl has been such a great lap warmer, and perfect take-along knitting. The chart is super super easy to memorize. I ended using three balls of Silken Kydd. But you'll see after I block it! Next up: brilliant purple/magenta kidsilk haze (I think it's a discontinued color, unfortunately) with some amazing beads that I found in my bead store travels.

Aren't those beads gorgeous? They're blue with a magenta core. Don't they look incredible with the yarn?

I am swooning over here!

And last but definitely not least is my special. I stopped having weekly specials for a bit, but I'm re-instituting them since they're so much fun! And I love having the little contests with them. Through Monday, November 9th (ends midnight, EST) take 15% off my nickel swirl twist pin (el_85n) when you enter TWISTY at checkout.

This is my current favorite pin. It's so easy to twist in, and so simple! Here it is in use:

And the contest? Retweet (mentioning this blog post and @RomiDesigns), blog about, comment on Facebook, or plurk about my special with appropriate link to my post here (and please let me know!), and be entered to win a pdf copy of my shawl pattern, Bluebird! I will choose a winner next Tuesday, November 10th. May the best lace knitter win!

Monday's Musing

"You can close the windows and darken your room, and you can open the windows and let light in. It is a matter of choice. Your mind is your room. Do you darken it or do you fill it with light?" - Remez Sasson

Have a great week, everyone!

Happy November!

Today, November 1, is the last day to get your signing bonus when you join my Pins & Lace Club! Sign-ups will be open until December 15, but sign up by today and get some extra holiday cheer!

Sterling balls of yarn earrings are back in stock!

Woot!

In other news, the wonderful Sharon, aka Skylark, is hosting a Queen Wil knit-along in my Ravelry Group starting today!


Come on over and join us! :D

My new shawl is progressing really well!

Yesterday, at the swim meet, I got a ton of knitting done while waiting for the boys' events. The lace pattern is super easy to memorize, so it make superb travel knitting. Can I just add that I am so thrilled to be home today?! This was the third swim meet in four weeks, and we were so hoping that #1 Son would choose not to go today. I was all in favor of putting my parental foot down, but DH wanted it to be #1 Son's decision. The Bear didn't want to go back today, so it would have been a split of kids, one parent per kid. Thankfully, though, we didn't have to get to the parental foot since #1 Son was just so tired that he wanted to stay home. So we all went out trick or treating last night in the neighborhood, and ended up at the local firehouse where our Kiwanis Club (DH is a member) puts on an annual costume party with apple bobbing and pinatas. It was so much fun watching the kids! The best part was putting on #1 Son's vampire make-up. When #1 Son went downstairs after his make-up session, DH said he was unrecognizable. The Bear dressed up as a soldier, so we were joking that his only make-up was a piece of charcoal (which it was). It was a wonderful night. :)

Hope you all enjoyed Halloween! Happy November!

At Last!

Some actual, real, genuine, bona fide knitting content! My secret projects are put away for now, and I'm working on a new design. When I need a rest, I always head for my favorite: mohair/silk lace weight yarn. Yummmmm. It fixes me right up. :)

This one is being knit from Elann.com's Silken Kydd in Raisin. It's a gorgeous deep brownish plum color and I am enjoying it thoroughly!

It's a triangle knit from the bottom tip up to the top, and when I write up the pattern, I will give measurements for 1, 2, 3 and perhaps 4 balls of yarn. So far I'm loving it! The pattern was fairly simple to memorize and it's proving to be very relaxing knitting, and great for swim practice, tv and other KIPping. It's garter stitch lace, but I think I'll also do a stockinette version.

This past weekend, I had a table at Knit-One-One in Berkeley for a craft show. I always have a great time with Síle. She's terrific! As a bonus, I got to meet Romy and Lisa and see Brooke! It was a great day.

Plus, check out this incredible silk fiber I got from Anzula.

Isn't it gorgeous?

So far, I've only been staring at it. Sooooooo yummy.