Knitting Daily, Loganberry Books and My Mountain

ETA: Stop the presses! Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus has just posted a Topsy-Turvy Inside Out blog tour post!! It's incredibly sweet and well-written. Don't miss it. Click here to read and enter to win a copy of the book! Thanks, Jaala!

Hi, Knitters,

I've had a few new things added to my schedule a little at the last minute!

One new thing is that tomorrow, September 6th, I am leaving for Cleveland, Ohio. I will be filming a segment for Knitting Daily, which is an Interweave PBS show. The show is now hosted by Vicki Howell. In my segment I am demonstrating some toy-knitting techniques using the Egg to Turtle pattern. I'll be sharing two different techniques for picking up stitches directly onto the body for seamless construction, a bit of kitchener stitch and face embroidery. The Egg to Turtle pattern will be available on the Knitting Daily website when the show airs. I am not sure of the date when the show will air. I'll keep you posted on that when I find out. 

Click here for the Knitting Daily TV website!

On Saturday, September 7th, I'll be popping over to Loganberry Books to host a Knit-In/Meet and Greet/Book Signing from 12-2pm! This event is being co-hosted by Fine Points, Inc. I will have the pattern cards for the Egg to Turtle pattern for everyone who stops by. Also, I'll have the trunk show for Topsy-Turvy Inside Out Knit Toys with me. If you are in the area, please stop by and say hi! I would love to see you there. One more thing, if you don't have time to sit and knit, please still stop by and say hello. I totally understand if you are unable to stay the entire time.

Here is the information for where I'll be:

Event: Egg to Turtle Knit-In with Book Signing/Meet and Greet

When: Setpember 7th, 2013

Time: 12-2pm

Where: Loganberry Books (Click here for the website!)

13015 Larchmere Blvd.  *  Shaker Hts., Ohio 44120  *  216.795.9800

(my son ~ the model:)

Moving on.... I designed a fun, fast, simple hat for the My Mountain hat design contest. I was contacted by Shelley Brander of Loops in Tulsa. She asked if I would want to design a hat for the contest. Shelley sent me the yarn called Lova. It is a super-bulky yarn in a natural oatmeal color or beige color with slashes of neon orange. My sons both loved the yarn. 

The contest entries have ended now. Schachenmayr sent out tons of yarn and I guess Vogue Knitting made some announcement about the My Mountain hat contest somewhere, too. The response was enormous. They have received 215 entries!

Sometime over the weekend the My Mountain group will have selected 15 designs to make the finals and then it will be open voting to select a winner. I have no idea if my hat will be selected for the finals or not. I'll let you know if my hat makes it.

You can vote for your favorite hat by liking the Facebook page for My Mountain first and then liking the hat design of your choice.

Click here for the My Mountain Facebook page!

Click here for the My Mountain website (free hat patterns here)!

The hat I designed is a chunky unisex hat that covers the ears nicely and that has an easily memorized and fun stitch pattern. The My Mountain group is aimed at the skiing crowd (who like to knit and crochet their own unique hats) but it could be for anyone really. 

I used every last inch of the two skeins of Lova I received which is about 110 yards. The pom-pom is of course optional.

Click here for the yarn information!

Anyway, the hat is fun and cute. I loved knitting it. The hat knit up so quickly on US size 11s and 13s. After the first couple of rounds you have the simple stitch pattern memorized.

Maybe you'll vote for me if I make the finals and you like my hat? I'll keep you posted. (I'm not even sure what the prizes are if you win - I'll have to see if I can find that information.)

Last, but not least, my beloved editor from Artisan Books (my publisher), Trent Duffy, drove through Madison on a cross-country road trip last weekend. I was thrilled that he was in town. He lives and works in New York and the odds of him ever getting to Madison were slim. 

He came over to my house and I made him breakfast on Monday morning. Above in the photo we are on my deck after breakfast. He threw in a couple loads of laundry while visiting - he had already been driving for a week by the time he got to my house. He was helping a friend of his move back to NYC from Boise so they were driving his car back across the country. I have never seen a car packed more efficiently. Every inch was being used. 

I know this nighttime photo is dark. We went out for dinner and stopped by the capitol building on the square for photos. It was really nice having Trent in town and I loved the time we had together. We have been working closely together on my books for the past 7 years now.  

Trent is safe and sound back in New York. He traveled for 10 days, through 14 states, and clocked in 3,580 miles! Impressive.

I'll be back after my adventures in Cleveland. I'll try to get some good photos of the action for you!

best, susie

p.s. I have a big announcement coming next week. It was supposed to be today but it got slightly postponed.... I'm really excited about it!

The Lullaby Rain Shawl by Paula Emons-Fuessle

Hi, Knitters, 

We are in the midst of moving boys back to college and then recovering from moving boys back to college. It is a bittersweet time but I keep reminding myself that I wouldn't want it any other way. All is as it should be. With the older boys leaving I am extra-appreciative of my girls still at home.

I do want to share with you another project I finished knitting a couple of months ago but only blocked a week or so ago. The project is called, Lullaby Rain, and it is designed by Paula Emons-Fuessle. Lullaby Rain is a pattern released through Quince & Co.

(photo by Carrie Bostick Hoge for Quince & Co.)

The photo above is what really got me wanting to immediately cast on when the pattern for Lullaby Rain came out. I think this is one of the best project photos ever. There is a story, a mood, a great display of the shawl, the colors are breathtaking, the wind in the hair.... soooo good. Quince & Co. and Carrie Bostick Hoge, the photographer, should be acknowledged for their wonderful combined work. 

Here are the links:

Lullaby Rain Shawl pattern information and purchasing information 

Quince & Co. Chickadee (I used the Frank's Plum colorway.)

Paula Emons-Fuessle of the Knitting Pipeline podcast

Paula Emons-Fuessle's Designer Page on Ravelry (I have knit 2 of her 5 shawl designs and want to knit the rest to have the entire Paula/Quince shawl collection - all in Quince & Co. of course!)

In the first photo above I had just finished a couple of the stitch patterns. I lengthened the first and second sections by a repeat or two. Then I finished the rest of the shawl as written. This worked out well. The next sections are lace and the rows get quite long by the end of the shawl.

The shawl has a beautiful picot edge bind-off. I don't mind doing this kind of bind-off one bit, in fact, I quite enjoy it. I love how dainty and sweet looking a picot edge looks. It is well worth the extra time it takes to do this sort of bind off in my opinion. 

Signature Needles US size 6, 32-inch circular

Right after I bound off my Lullaby Rain shawl I had to get ready to go to SSK in Nashville. Then since I got home from SSK it has been incredibly busy with the family, sports and getting ready for school. It seems like one thing after another without any sort of break (it is all fun so I'm not complaining). Needless to say it took me months before I got my shawl blocked. That seems silly but it's true.

Here is the shawl unblocked. It is very small and scrunchy looking. I have to say if you haven't knit with Quince & Co. Chickadee you really should give it a try. The yarn is a sport weight 100% wool and is tightly plied to create a springy, bouncy yarn. The end result is a yarn that shows off lace and texture to their fullest and it is truly is light as air. Chickadee feels so good in your hands and on your needles. The other good thing is that Quince & Co. yarns are very reasonably priced. I think the three skeins needed for Lullaby Rain came to a little over 20 bucks. That is a very good deal for such high quality yarn.

I finally got around to blocking out my shawl and really there isn't much that is more fun in knitting than blocking out lace. I love to block out my lace and shawls strenuously. I will stretch and stretch and stretch out that lace with my pins and wires. I really enjoy it.

While the shawl was drying I already knew it would be my new favorite. The finished shawl is so light and airy and sweet. The construction makes it sit right on my shoulders without budging at all. We had some very chilly weather a short while ago and in the mornings I was wearing the Lullaby Rain in those early hours. Now it is too darn hot and humid again to wear wool but soon, very soon. I think I will wear this one so often that I might have to make another to have on-hand. I love everything about this design, the yarn, the name, the droplets in the lace, the picot edging, the fit, the size.... just everything.

My son took this photo of the back of my shawl. Isn't it pretty? 

Thank you, dear Paula, for your clever and beautiful shawl design. Thank you to Quince & Co. for continuing to release beautifully thoughtful, wearable and fun patterns for us knitters. I have never seen such a fun new company like Quince. Quince captures everything I love about knitting and more. I am mesmerized by this company and can't recommend it to you more.

Have a good holiday weekend (if you are in the U.S.) and I hope you are able to squeeze in some knitting time.

I'll be back soon with more.

best, susie

Salty ~ A Handspun Hoodie Tale

(photo by Loop on Etsy)

Hi, Knitters,

Quite a few months back I spun up a gorgeous Loop Bullseye Bump called Salty. When you spin one of these bumps, you simply pull from the middle and the colors flow from one to the next. Salty went from light gray to lime to neon green to dark olive to olive green. This bump is such a great combination of colors. 

Click here to go to the Loop shop on Etsy! 

Read all about my experience spinning Salty by clicking here!

The singles.

The Navajo plied singles in action.

The finished yarn washed and dried!

I got 242 beautiful yards of a worsted weight. The hardest thing about finishing one of these gradient handspun skeins is figuring out what to do with it. Gradients don't work for every pattern. I let it sit for awhile and I thought about it. I have knit with my handpun a lot, shawls, socks, mittens, scarves, fingerless mitts, hats, toys, etc. I've done it all.... all but a sweater. 

Click here to see the shawl I knit with another Loop bump! It's prettier than I even remember. I gave this shawl to my sister.

Obviously, 242 yards isn't going to be enough for a sweater so I started looking for something to combine the handspun skein with. I looked through my stash and fell upon a large amount of black Cascade 220 that I've had for probably over 10 years at this point. I'm not even sure why I have this black yarn or if I bought it or if it was given to me. I realized that the black would set off every color in the gradient Loop yarn and set it off nicely.

I wound up the handspun skein and the black wool, too. Gradients always look so cool when you wind them up. I love that.

My next task was trying to find a pattern. I didn't want to make up my own so I started searching through Ravelry. I had purchased the Bonne Marie Burns Basic Chic Hoodie awhile back and I started thinking this was the perfect choice to incorporate my handspun.

Click here for the Basic Chic Hoodie pattern on Ravelry! (Don't buy it yet! You'll see why at the end.)

I love everything about this very simple, basic pattern. It gave me all of the numbers I needed to get started and since it is such a well-written and straight-forward pattern I could easily change a few things to get exactly what I wanted in my version of the hoodie.

This raglan hoodie pattern is so good and pretty (there is a lace panel option included in the pattern, too!). You could just knit straight from the pattern and get a gorgeous garment but I wanted to change a few things to make it my own. I made the smallest size.

Here is a list of the things I changed:

- worked at a slightly different gauge (smaller)

- added waist shaping

- changed the number of sts cast on under the sleeves (fewer)

- changed the sleeve decreases (did a rapid decrease right away to get rid of extra fabric under the arms and then continued on a bit differently than the pattern suggests)

- changed the length of the body and sleeves

- changed the buttonhole number 

- picked up a different number of stitches for the button bands and hood edging

- used kitchener stitch to close up the top seam of the hood to give a smoother finish (instead of 3-needle bind-off)

- added the stripes!

I love the little pockets with buttons on the ribbing at the bottom edge of the body. That is genius.

So here is the making of the Salty Hoodie!

I wanted to start with the gray stripes at the top toward my face as olive green is not a good color for me but gray is fine. I didn't have any kind of a plan for the striping so I just did the stripes however it came to me at the time.

By the way, that's my new Jennie the Potter little red bicycle mug! It even has a basket and a tree on the other side. It is a bit smaller than my original sheep mug and I like the size even better. She's my fave. Click here for Jennie's Etsy shop!

My family took a car trip out to Colorado earlier in August so this is where I got most of the body done. I added the pockets at the top of the ribbing with the buttonholes. I had ordered custom black wooden buttons at SSK from Deerfield Creations and I was excited to use as many as I could on the hoodie.

One sleeve in the bag!

Second sleeve almost finished! 

As far as the sleeves go, I had a vision of them looking like I was wearing a fitted long-sleeve black t-shirt under the stripey short sleeve cardi. Since the striping went down over the shoulder at the top of the arm I thought this could really work. If you look at the photos of the original pattern you can see that there is a much more relaxed sleeve, especially at the underarm so I made an effort to tighten this area up. I cast on fewer stitches under the arm when you separate the sleeves from the body stitches. Then as I picked up the arm stitches to work down on the sleeve I immediately got rid of more of the extra fabric by rapidly decreasing more of the underarm stitches. I learned this trick from Wendy Bernard (the queen of the top-down sweater). 

It worked perfectly!

Above I have now added the hood, finished the sleeve and have finished the button bands and hood edging. The stitch markers hanging there are letting me know where I placed the buttonholes and where the buttons should go to match up.

Unblocked but still beautiful!

As I worked down the body I decided to switch out the striping around the top of the waist so that the handspun became the focal point, not the black Cascade 220. It was a smart move. The colors show up beautifully and it is cool how the gradient nature of the handspun shines through. I used almost every last bit of the 242 yards. I just have a teeny-tiny bit of a ball of the handspun remaining.

Blocking the day away! It took forever to dry.

As the cardi was blocking I received my custom black wood-turned buttons from Deerfield Creations. I don't know what it is exactly but I am in love with these buttons! They are so perfect and smooth and just beautiful. I can't believe Lori (whom I met and ordered from at SSK -- she's adorable to boot!) made these buttons. How does she do it? That is some kind of magic. I even love the card she stitched the buttons on for presentation. I saved it. I purchased a couple of other things from her as well at SSK and I'll share with you at a later date.

Click here for Lori's Deerfield Creations Etsy shop!

As soon as my cardigan was dry I started stitching on my Deerfield Creations buttons. I couldn't wait! 

I stitched and sewed and tied off the 10 buttons like a fiend......

..... only to see this after I took this photo and posted it to Instagram. Do you see it? 

The stripes are not lining up by about 2 or 3 rows! I'm no perfectionist but this had to be fixed.

I snipped those stinkers right off and started again!

I got it right this time around. Yay! Those stripes are perfect.

Here is the final cardigan as it stands. I love the fit, the feel, the use of the handpun, the hood, the fitted body and sleeves, the little pockets with buttons, and the gorgeous hand-crafted buttons, and most of all the lined up stripes (ha!).

I highly recommend Bonne Marie Burns pattern for the Basic Chic Hoodie. You could knit it as is or use it as a spring-board for making up your own creation. This is the perfect pattern for customizing. I must have mentioned somewhere that I used this pattern because Bonne Marie contacted me and has offered you a fantastic deal on her pattern!  

It looks just as good from the back. Hooray!

Bonne Marie is offering you a 20% off discount code when purchasing her pattern over the next week!! I am letting her know that I posted this today, August 29th, 2013, and the discount will be available through next Thursday, Sept. 5th! Thank you, Bonne Marie.

The discount code is:  stripes

Click here for the link for the Basic Chic Hoodie! (You don't have to belong to Ravelry to purchase here.) Enter in the discount code at the time of purchase. I highly recommend this pattern and it is one that everyone should own!

Click here to see all of Bonne Marie Burns patterns on Ravelry! She is a wonderful designer and pattern writer and after enjoying the Basic Chic Hoodie so much I think I will be knitting more of her patterns. Thank you, Bonne Marie for the discount code for my readers and for your beautiful work. 

I hope you enjoyed this handspun hoodie tale as much as I enjoyed the making of it.

I'll be back soon with more finished projects to share.
best, susie

Winners, A Thaw Retreat, & Mel Clark!

(Sun Valley Fibers yarns photo provided by Sun Valley Fibers)

Hi, Knitters,

We need to start off the week with a few announcements. The winner of the Windy Prairie Designs notions pouch is hishandmail (rav id) Dianna! Congrats to Dianna. I think Jane of Windy Prairie has more notebook covers in the works. She released a few more over the last few days and they were snatched up immediately. Keep checking back for the Lorax bag, too.

The winners of the 4,000 Members Strong Itty-Bitty Knits Rav Group/Fiber Hooligan/Craftsy giveaway are:

Berryqueen (rav id) - Free Craftsy Class! Either Wee Ones or the Not-So-Itty-Bitty Giraffe workshops!

KittyKatz (rav id) - yarn of choice!

dayartist (rav id) - yarn of choice!

lakchi (rav id) - yarn of choice!

You may be wondering what yarn you are winning? The answer is the one and only fantastic Sun Valley Fibers (click here for the website!). I love this local to me yarn company. Jeanette, the talented dyer and all-around good person, is always incredibly generous. Jeanette and George, her husband, run a local farm along with other jobs and their dyeing company. They are busy folks.

The three winners can each pick any one skein in-stock from the Sun Valley Fibers online shop OR they can make a custom order! Can you believe how good that is? This yarn is beautiful. Thank you so, so much Sun Valley! 

One more thing about Sun Valley Fibers is that I am teaching at the upcoming retreat, the Sun Valley Fibers January Thaw Retreat 2014. The retreat is taking place in Barneveld, Wisconsin, not far from Madison, on January 23-26, 2014. It is filling up fast, it's about 2/3 full right now. It is going to be super fun. I hope you can make it and that I get to spend some time with you all as we drink hot chocolate and knit the day away.

Click here for more information on the Sun Valley Fibers January Thaw Retreat! 

On another note, thank you for the kind and wonderful response to my interview on the Fiber Hooligan podcast. I have done a lot of interviews but I have never had so many people contact me after the show came out. Thank you! I had fun talking to Benjamin on the Fiber Hooligan and it is fun to know that people have enjoyed listening.

(photo and knitting by Mel Clark of Slip, Slip, Knit)

Now onto the blog tour for Topsy-Turvy! I love Mel Clark and I am so honored that she is participating in the blog tour for my newest book, Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys. Mel is hosting a giveaway on her latest blog post about the book. She also knit up a couple of the reversible toys from the book, Egg to Penguin and Squirrel to Hedgehog! 

Click here for the Ravelry project page for the Hedgehog/Squirrel toy!

Click here for the Ravelry project page for the Egg/Penguin toy!

Mel's toys are adorable. Please hop over to her blog called, Slip, Slip, Knit.  Mel's blog has been a long-standing favorite of mine. Her blog has been forever linked on my sidebar under Favorites. Mel's writing, knitting and photography are inspiring and fun. You will love her blog, I am sure. Mel has written some of my favorite knitting books, too. Click here to see Mel's books! Plus, I think she is just a really cool person in general. Click here to see Mel's designs on Ravelry. You'll want to knit them all!

Please hop over and give Mel some love and read her review! And please enter the giveaway for my book, Topsy-Turvy, too!

Click here to jump over and see the other side of Mel's toys in the photo (super cute!!) and to enter to win a copy of my book!

Here are all of the dates for the Topsy-Turvy blog tour:

Yarn on the House just finished her blog tour review post and video! Check it out here!

August 26 - Mel @ South Seas Knitting on her blog SlipSlipKnit.com

August 30: Katie Puza @ Craftsy Craftsy.com

September 5: Jaala Spiro @KnitCircus knitcircus.com

September 10: Wendy Bernard @Knitandtonic knitandtonic.net

September 17: Paula Emons-Fuessle @ Knitting Pipeline knittingpipeline.com

September 24: Dianne McDonald @ Kysheepdreams.com

September 30: Angela Tong @ oiyiblogspot.com

All of these wonderful bloggers have been hand-selected by my publisher and me. I am thrilled this lovely group said yes to participating in the blog tour because they are all inspiring websites/knitters/bloggers/podcasters/dyers/farmers, etc.  My hope is that you will all go visit these websites and let them know you came by. 

Thank you to everyone participating in the blog tour. Please let me know when your posts are up so I can let everyone know about you all over the internets.

I'll be back soon with a few top-notch finished items! I can't wait to share them with you.

best, susie

p.s. My publisher told me that Topsy-Turvy is my best-selling book (at this time in the release) so far! That's so exciting. Thank you for the support.

Here (the blog) and There (Ravelry) Giveaways!

(Windy Prairie Designs journal covers plus my own sewing piles)

Hi, Knitters,

I had so much fun on the Fiber Hooligan show last Monday. If you didn't get the chance to listen live you can listen right here by clicking on the play button below or through iTunes (I subscribe to this show) or on the Fiber Hooligan site (click here!).

Here is the show:

Popular Knitting Internet Radio with Fiber Hooligan on BlogTalkRadio

Benjamin Levisay is a generous host to say the least. I am so impressed by him. He is gracious and kind to the core. Benjamin gave out a copy of my book, Topsy-Turvy Inside Out Knit Toys and 3 of my Craftsy classes to callers. He then surprised a caller by giving him a subscription to his lovely magazine, Knitter's. After that he offered to give me another one of my Craftsy classes to giveaway for free in my Ravelry group, Itty-Bitty Knits, because we recently reached over 4,000 members in the group. I am throwing in a few more prizes for several more winners for the Ravelry giveaway. I will be throwing in few fun yarn-y type things.

Click here for my Craftsy classes, Not So Itty-Bitty Giraffe and Wee Ones!
Click here for my Itty-Bitty Knits Group on Ravelry! Please come join us.
Click here to enter for the Craftsy class giveaway in my Ravelry group! You have to be a member of the group to enter for the giveaway since it's in honor of the group.

Please come and enter the Craftsy class and yarn-y prize giveaway on my Itty-Bitty Knits group. I'd love to see you over there. Please remember that for the Craftsy class and yarn-y prize giveaway you have to enter on the Ravelry thread, not on this blog post.

Moving on to a second giveaway opportunity for you today, I am shining a light on another Etsy shop that I heard about through the wonderful Knit Girllls video podcast (where I find out about many cool knitting products). The Etsy shop is called, Windy Prairie Designs, and the designer is a Wisconsin woman named, Jane Tanner. She lives near Madison as a matter of fact.

Click here for the Windy Prairie Designs Etsy shop! This is a shop I favorited on Etsy.

What caught my eye on the Knit Girllls podcast was Laura's composition notebook cover. I love composition notebooks and I always have a stack of them on hand. I went over to check out Jane's shop and I fell in love with all of her offerings. I promptly ordered several notebook covers for myself and one for my sister for a gift. My sister loves to write so I knew she would like this. I gave it to her for her birthday this summer and she loves it.

Above you can see the three composition book covers I own and use daily. All three notebooks are packed full of ideas and handwritten patterns and a few inspiration pictures and assignment/job notes. A couple of reasons I love the composition notebook covers are because composition books are inexpensive and you can pick them up pretty much anywhere, drug stores, Target, Walmart, JoAnn's,Walgreens, CVS, etc. When you fill up your book it is easy to replace with a new one. Plus, what's not to love about composition notebooks? My dear friend who I lost a couple of years ago was three of my kids' teacher and she used composition notebooks with them to record their thoughts and writings. I have all of those saved in a special spot and they remind me of her in the sweetest way.

The journal covers are lined with flaps for the covers. They stay in place nicely and are washable.

I also purchased the Dr. Seuss knitting fabric project bag from Jane's etsy shop. It is perfect!

Also, be sure to check out Jane's knitting patterns. They are wonderful. This shawl was just in the Top 20 Patterns on Ravelry. You can purchase Jane's patterns on Ravelry, too, click here!

There is a zipper, it is lined in a cream cotton fabric, and there is a ribbon loop on the side for carrying.

I have a sock project stored in my bag but it is big enough to hold a couple of balls of yarn and a shawl, cowl or slightly larger project. I just love it and it has been filled with projects and in use since it arrived. It is one of my favorites by far.

Click here to see all of the Windy Prairie Designs in the shop! Go look! There are so many cute things!

(photo provided by Jane Tanner of Windy Prairie Designs)

I had written Jane through Etsy to tell her how much I love her journal covers and project bag and she generously offered one of her padded pouches for a giveaway here on my blog. For this prize you enter right here by leaving a comment on this blog post!

Here is Jane's note to me:

Hi Susan-

Thanks for the opportunity to do a Windy Prairie Designs giveaway with you on your blog. I'd like to give away a large padded notions pouch in the Green Leaves pattern. 

Here's a description:

This zippered padded pouch large enough to hold several circular knitting needles and a set of double point needles for your project on the go. I especially like this bag when working on projects that require several needles like blankets or sweaters (dpns and circulars). 

This is also a great size for storing other crafting materials and notions. It could be used as a pencil case or can hold 8 markers. The pouch is 9 inches wide x 5 inches tall.

(photo provided by Jane Tanner of Windy Prairie Designs)

This fabric is adorable and fresh. This is the same fabric I ordered my sister's journal cover in and I love it. The padded pouch is a perfect addition to hold odds and ends in your project bag or by your side at home. Jane's workmanship is excellent.

Please leave one comment on this post that includes your Rav ID or email address so I can contact you if you win. Please be patient for the comment to post, I have to approve all comments and sometimes that takes a bit of time. Please don't post the same comment many times. 

Thank you so much Jane of Windy Prairie and Benjamin Levisay and Craftsy. I have lots of thanks to give today. Most of all thank you to all of YOU! I appreciate you and your generous support and for all of the Ravelry Itty-Bitty Knitters (as we call ourselves over there), I truly love and enjoy you all.

It's been a good week already.

Good luck and let the entries begin!

best, susie

The Fiber Hooligan Podcast & SSK Photos

(photo by Gale Zucker)

Hi, Knitters,

I'm popping in briefly this Sunday morning to let you know that I will be interviewed live on the Fiber Hooligan Podcast tomorrow morning. The show starts at 11am Central Time and it lasts an hour. You can have a reminder sent to you before the show starts and you can call in during the show to ask questions! The show is hosted by Benjamin Levisay of Knitter's Magazine, XRX Books, and Stitches Events fame. I am so honored to get to be a part of his podcast.

If you can't tune in live you can listen anytime at your own convenience. Benjamin already has so many great episodes and interviews in the archives. The Fiber Hooligan is one of my new favorite podcasts. I have been listening from the start and subscribe through iTunes. Since I was already a fan and follower I was thrilled to be asked to join in the show.

Here are all of the links you'll need:

Fiber Hooligan Podcast on blogtalkradio!  You can listen and call in on here. 

The phone number to call in is: (718) 664-9655

Benjamin Levisay and all of his links and groups can be found here!

The Fiber Hooligan Ravelry Group! I'm a member, come join me over on the forum.

Also, Benjamin is giving away a copy of my new book Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys AND 3 of my Craftsy Classes for free!!!! Click here and here to see my class offerings on Craftsy.

Anyway, I am looking forward to chatting about all things fiber and knitting and I hope you'll join me!

(photo by Gale Zucker)

Now, to explain these fantastic photos. While I was at SSK in July I was fortunate to get to spend some time with the fabulous photographer/teacher, Gale Zucker. Click here for Gale's photography website and blog! Gale had a fantastic post about SSK that included photos of Scarritt-Bennett and the instructors and attendees. Gale even attended my last class of the event and took some photos, which I really appreciated. She was just fun to have around in class, too.

I asked Gale if I could share her photos on my blog and she said, "Sure!" So here they are. Thank you to Gale.

The first photo is during my Fair Isle Hat class. The students learned how to do a corrugated rib, left and right-leaning Latvian Braids, how to do two-handed colorwork along with many tips and tricks in between.

The next photo above is a small version of the following photo.....

(photo by Gale Zucker)

The hands belong to fellow instructor Amy Christoffers and me. This really happened and Gale caught the moment on camera. I had just hand-wound a ball of Desert Vista Dyeworks self-striping sock yarn in the Tiki Bar colorway. As we were waiting to go to dinner at Ann Shayne's house I was telling Amy about the socks I was casting on that night, Amy wanted to get a closer look so I handed it over. 

Click here to order the Tiki Bar sock yarn. You'll love it. I got a good part of the cuff done on the sock at Ann's house so the sock will be a great memento of that night.

(photo by Gale Zucker)

These are some of my class demonstration samples. All of the yarn is Quince & Co. Lark which is the perfect wool for colorwork. I love this messy photo. There is so much work accomplished in the three-hour class and the photo reminds me of how much fun it is to teach. This may be my favorite class in my repertoire.

(photo by Gale Zucker)

During class I have always have my students gather around me to look over my shoulder while I sit at the teacher table. This is where I do technique demonstrations and in this class there are many. This Fair Isle class was an especially fun and studious group. We had a good time together.

(photo by Gale Zucker)

One of my students had this beautiful shawl made from her handspun. I asked her if I could try it on. Isn't it pretty? I don't know if you'll remember but I want to knit a shawl that I can cross in the front and then tie behind my back. This one worked perfectly like this. I think I'll end up knitting something simple like this with the garter stitch and long length.

Anyway, thank you for indulging me with these photos. These are some great memories for me and I want to have a good record of the SSK event and of the excellent knitters I got to hang out and knit with. 

Thank you to both Gale and Benjamin today!

Hopefully some of you will pop in tomorrow for The Fiber Hooligan podcast.

best, susie

p.s. Thank you for all of the How I Make Worsted Weight Socks and How I Make My Socks love. The worsted weight sock recipe climbed all the way to #4 on the Ravelry Hot Right Now Patterns. I thought that was fun and kind of funny at the same time. 

How I Make Worsted Weight Socks!

Hi, Knitters,

Are you interested in whipping up some squishy thick warm socks for the upcoming fall and winter seasons? If yes, I have the perfect recipe for your own worsted weight sock making projects.

Here are the numbers for making my version of worsted weight socks! Use the following numbers in conjunction with the How I Make My Socks pattern (click here for the original pattern and click here for the project page on Ravelry). 

Click here for the How I Make Worsted Weight Socks project page on Ravelry!

The socks are made exactly the same way as the original "How I Make My Socks" sock pattern only using different numbers. Simply plug in the numbers I have provided below to make the worsted weight version.

Yarn: Worsted weight  ~ I used 120 yards of worsted weight yarn per sock. My socks have 7-inch cuffs and fit my US 7.5 shoe size, which is about a 9.5 inch foot from the toe to the back of the heel. To be safe I recommend having between 250 to 300 yards of worsted available depending on the size and cuff length you will make.

* The yarn in the photo is Cakewalk Yarns Worsted Weight in the Brooklyn colorway. Rose's Etsy shop is now closed. I am getting lots of questions about when she is reopening. I don't know anything about it other than that she moved to a new state over the summer and had to close her shop due to the move. I don't know if or when she will reopen. Click here for the Etsy shop.

Needles: US size 4 dpns (set of 4) or size to get gauge

Gauge: 6 sts per inch in stockinette stitch

Cuff:

Use the original sock pattern and plug in these numbers:

Cast on 44 sts.

Knit rib cuff and leg to your liking. I do 12 rounds of k2, p2 rib and then continue in stockinette stitch until the cuff measures 7-inches from the cast on edge.

Heel Flap:

Work the heel flap over 22 stitches on Needle 1. Divide 11 sts on each of Needles 2 and 3. 

Work the slip 1, k1 heel flap (slip 1, purl to end on wrong side) for 24 rows. You will see 12 slipped stitches on the right side of the fabric. Work one more right side row.  End with a right side row.

Heel Turn:

Next row: purl 13, p2tog, p1, turn.

Next row: slip 1, k5, k2tog, k1, turn.

Continue as in the original pattern until all of the stitches have been worked. End with a right side row.

Gusset:

Pick up 12 sts on each side of the heel flap and working across the 22 sts on the top of the foot. Knit 7 sts from the heel onto Needle 3 and place the remaining 7 sts on Needle 1. 

Work the same as the original pattern until you have 44 sts remaining.

Foot:

Work even until the foot measures 1 1/2 inches short of your desired finished length.

Toe:

Work the toe the same as in the original pattern only decrease to 20 sts before placing the stitches on 2 dpns (remember to knit across Needle 1, to place the bottom side of the sock - 10 stitches - on Needle 3).

You will now have 10 stitches on 2 needles. Cut the yarn and use the Kitchener stitch to close the end of the toe.

Weave in your ends, slip the sock on your foot and most of all enjoy your squishy new socks!!!

I am making a lot more pairs of worsted weight socks. I have a Madtosh Vintage version and a Quince and Co. Patchwork Lark version coming up. I'll keep you posted.

Hey, before I sign off I want to let you know that a blog tour for my latest book, Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys has just begun! Please hop on over to Yarn on the House to see the cutest book review around written by my buddy Veronika. She has made the Top-Down Seamless Petticoat Dolls and she even made an adorable video of her daughter showing off the dolls. It is wonderful and Veronika is a very talented toy knitter as you will see. You can even win a copy of my book through her blog.

Click here to see Veronika's review and video and to enter the giveaway for Topsy-Turvy!

I'll be back with the complete schedule for the blog tour coming up next. There are some exciting stops scheduled along the way.

Most of all have fun with your worsted weight socks!
best, susie