Project bag, Pink Prototype, Phat Fiber June Pattern finished. Phew!

I bought the Johnny Cupcake bag, it's now my new knitting bag. Featured with it is a Pink Prototype on ChiaoGoo Stainless Steel Size 10 32" circulars and my stitch markers http://www.etsy.com/listing/37289388/plastic-elastic-metallic-adjustable.

I will give away the secret to making these stitch markers - a barrel cord lock from

http://www.strapworks.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=cord+locks&gclid=CJWto-rD_qgCFSFl7AodFGwTXQ

and a loop of gift elastic from http://www.giftsintl.com/stretchloop.php

The Pink Prototype is my knitting doodling for the Phat Fiber Sampler Box pattern for November. I was trying to make something different, but serendipity moves in mysterious ways and I realized that this was my November pattern.

My June Phat Fiber Sampler Box pattern is ready. Many, many thanks to my fiber partner Funhouse Fibers, http://www.funhousefibers.com/shop/ :













Three yarns- Funhouse Fibers "Slither Silk" Hand painted yarn fingering weight, 437 yards, 50/50 Superwash Merino/Silk, Cascade Yarns handpaints, and 50/50 Superwash Merino/Tencel 420 yards from WC Mercantile, dyed by me. Each shawl uses one skein of fingering weight yarn, approx 420 - 430 yards:



Plymouth Yarn Mushishi 95% Wool 5% Silk, purchased from WC Mercantile. This version is larger, knit on Size 10 needles, I used every inch of the skein. It's a generous 250 grams and 491 yards. It makes a lovely prayer shawl. The tassels help to keep the shawl on the crook of the elbow.




The theme for the June Phat Fiber Sampler Box is "Science Fiction". My inspiration for the shawl was Robert A. Heinlein's novel Time Enough for Love.

The pattern is for sale on Ravelry - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dorable
for $1. The pattern includes instructions for 2 sizes. The smaller uses one skein of Funhouse Fibers yarn (or equivalent), the larger uses one skein of Plymouth Yarn Mushishi (or equivalent).

Take care and keep your yarn dry.

Online fraud, lightening strike, meeting a Rav buddy IRL and prom

The week ended on a great note:





DD's prom dress finished just as we needed to leave to meet her date for dinner. Date's mother and I said in unison "They look so cute together". They were adorable.

Waiting to drive them to prom, we stopped into a cheap food place for a bite. We saw a woman with this logo on her t shirt:

http://shop.johnnycupcakes.com/shop/Details.aspx?ProdID=375

This is a Johnny Cupcake logo. I thought it was an Eddie Izzard reference - Cake or death. Turns out the lady was the caterer for desserts for the prom. She described the spread of desserts she prepared. I texted DD to not eat dessert at the restaurant.

The prom dress almost wasn't finished in time. We had a big lightening strike on Wednesday that took out computers, modem, network cards, phone lines, our hot water air pot, several electrical outlets and made the TV look really weird. Many $$$ later, we are back to almost normal. The printer still doesn't work right and the network sometimes goes all wonky.

On Monday last, I found a lovely person had stolen my credit card to get him or herself some computer equipment from newegg.com. I informed them, the bank and the police. A fun couple of days working through that.

I'm almost finished with my June Phat Fiber Sample Box pattern. The theme is Science Fiction and I took my inspiration from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love". Here is an early prototype of the pattern:



I'm working with Miki of Funhouse Fibers http://www.funhousefibers.com/shop/ on the June pattern. She created some beautiful colorways just for the design.

I met up with Leilani, a fellow Phat Fiber Sampler Box contributor and Ravelry buddy, on Thursday. Geekery ensued as she, myself, DH and Katie of WC Mercantile compared movie quotes and talked about our favorite SF TV shows, movies, books, actors, etc. Leilani volunteered her little dog, Snip for this costume:



Yes, it is a doggie Crane Costume. Everyone had a great time with the Crane of Holding, pictures soon. Some yarn from WC Mercantile had to come home with me. That happens a lot.

Take care and keep your yarn dry.

No April Showers, but here's some flowers

Howdy from the new Dust Bowl, we're enduring 7 of the driest months on record for our part of Texas. Last summer was brutal, followed by a colder than normal winter. There was snow! Lots of trees died and now all the area around us is tinder dry. And people still flick their cigarette butts out the window.

We have a chance of rain later in the week. I hope it does not pass us by.

To make up for the lack of rain, here are some knit flowers:



Sakura inspired toe rings - great for toe separation when painting your toe nails.



Sakura flowers with shorter back loops for attaching to ponytail holders or barrettes. Put thumbtack in the back and it makes a great bulletin board decoration.





The Sakura flowers were inspired by the crochet pattern "Sakura Motif" by Yoko Johnston. Both her pattern and mine raise money for Japan Relief.

Various sports weight yarns were used for the Sakura Flowers.


Some soothing chamomile flowers:




The yarn used for the Chamomile flowers was created by Sheeps of Egyptian Cotton, sheepsegyptiancotton.etsy.com.

Both patterns are available on ravelry.com for $1 each, search under "Gari Lynn". Proceeds of the Sakura go to Japan Relief.

Thanks for looking.

Take care and keep your yarn dry.

Swirly Scrubbie

I have admired the crocheted version of the swirly dish cloth for some time. I came up with a knitted version that is worked in one piece in the round of worsted weight acrylic on size 8 16" circular needles, with the I cord hanging loop worked from the cast on & off tails. At 4 1/2", it fits nicely in the palm. Knit of 100% acrylic, it holds up well to dish duty. ( You can use cotton, linen, hemp or whatever fiber tickles your fancy. )The mesh pattern allows the Swirly scrubbie to dry quickly.

As a set, the Alabama Relief Dishcloth and Swirly Scrubbie make a great gift.

Pattern $1 on ravelry.com.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swirly-scrubbie

Take care and keep your yarn dry.

Alambama Relief fund raising pattern

The tornados in Alabama and the aftermath are heartbreaking. I designed a quick knit dishcloth pattern that I'm selling on Ravelry for $1, with the proceeds going to Alabama Relief.

Knit of light worsted to worsted weight cotton, bordered on all sides with I cord that is knit on as you work, in a 1 row lacy mesh pattern. I like cotton dishcloths that dry quickly, they seem to stay fresher longer in our lovely hot, humid Texas weather, so my preference is for dishcloths in an open, airy knit.












THE MODELS:

Red - Knit One, Crochet, Too 2^nd Time Cotton single strand for size 6 needles, doubled for size 10. Purchased at WC Mercantile, wcmercantile.com

Pink - Knit One, Crochet, Too Cotonade double stranded size 10 needles. Purchased at WC Mercantile wcmercantile.com. This yarn is discontinued, but you can find it at Webs:

http://www.yarn.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/categoryID/0E7837F8-67A3-4034-8552-6B1759C47B15/productID/40E0F373-7CC9-4743-BC7F-D584ADAF566B/?green=842337141

Lilac – Lily Sugar N Cream, double stranded

Blues – Hobby Lobby I love this cotton, double stranded

I made all of these on Saturday, having purchased 2 of the skeins at WC Mercantile's Spring Spin In where a wonderful time was had by all!

Take care and keep your yarn dry.