The Bad News: the kettle dyed versions of Stroll and Shadow are being discontinued.
The Good News: they’re being replaced with a new tonal hand dyed yarn that I find incredibly beautiful.
More Good News: Shadow Kettle Dyed Lace Yarn is on sale!

I had some Shadow Kettle Dyed in Bordeaux in my stash, and I wanted a quick knit for a flight I was taking. The free Citron shawlette pattern by Hilary Smith Callis (who also has a beautiful cardigan pattern in our Independent Designer Partnership Program) had been showing up in my Ravelry friends activity feed, so I downloaded it and got to work!

It’s a clever little pattern, and each ruched stripe is created by knitting a series of M1 increases, knitting plain for a few rows, then decreasing across the row. I like how it broke up …

I use Bloglines to organize and follow blogs that I find interesting.
No one’s life is simple which means blogs don’t always fall into neat categories. But, I think I do a pretty good job. Of course, there are the
‘Knitting Blogs“
Some of my favorites include…
Passing Down Crazy

Wendy Knits

Green Woman Comes Knocking

or Mary Scott Huff

I have another Bloglines Folder titled “Photographically Interesting“. These are blogs that are inspirational to me in terms of improving my blog photography.
Definitely Pioneer Woman

Brooklyn Tweed

Raised In Cotton

or Reclaiming the Home

Oh, and the “Food” blogs!
Bakerella

or Smitten Kitchen

Going to Bloglines is like opening up a huge mailbox! Lots of delightful letters and packages.
None of the blog samples I have …

Erica is definitely a favorite around the Knit Picks office – she was one of the first designers we contacted for the Independent Designer Partnership Program after seeing her beautiful designs on her website and on Ravelry. And not only is she an wonderful designer, she’s an incredible musician as well!! I always look forward to seeing Erica’s new designs and very pleased she’s a big part of the success of IDP.

How long have you been knitting?
I guess that depends on how technical you want to get. I taught myself how to knit shortly after I graduated highschool (in 2002), but I didn’t stick with it. Knitting went on the back burner once I started college. Since I hadn’t really immersed myself in yarn, I wasn’t addicted yet, and thus promptly forgot about it once deadlines for research papers began looming. When …

….and my color selection.

I know you are familiar with my choice of Kenai (Merino Style) as the scarf color. Particularly since I had to knit it twice due to my not paying attention to Erica’s very clear instructions in her Independent Designer pattern. But, I’ve been holding back on my selection of colors for the patch pockets.
Erica’s instructions call for you to knit the colorwork patches first and then the scarf. But, given the hustle/bustle of the holidays, I chose to enjoy the easy knitting of the scarf body. Well, even easier the second time! 🙂
My colorwork choices are Masala, Asparagus and Bare DK. I was thrilled to see that heavy rain is forecast for this weekend. I am going to have a very lazy weekend in celebration of the holidays being behind me. Whew! A fire …

To get into the Christmas spirit, everyone at the office dressed up in holiday sweaters today and brought in cookies.
Things were very festive around here.

KP was the most festive department by far. Who knew what our designers could do with LED lights and tinsel?!

The guys around here are really good sports too.

It’s fun going into meetings when everyone is smiling. You can’t wear a sweater like Marci’s without smiling.

And Kate was even fuzzier than me!

I didn’t wear a sweater, I get too hot. I might have begged for a few cookies though.
I hope you’re all having fun-filled holidays too! <

I know I have fallen off the grid for the last few days but I have two good reasons.
First, a whammy of a migraine. I have been using a lovely medication for about a year that I absolutely love!! If has made my frequent migraines non-existent. The only downside is that only determined migraines get through the medical stockade. Set off by a huge change in our local barometric pressure, this one had a great start and took full advantage of the opportunity. Ever since I was quite young I’ve anthropromorphized my migraines – just short of naming them. Anyway, this one kept me company for a couple of days. I have something to look forward to after a migraine goes away – an odd, manic frame of mind and lots of energy. You guessed it – I cleaned.
My second reason involves secrecy and is best described by relating my …