Gails Yarns, Hooks & Needles

It’s nearly over, but if you are a member and haven’t heard about it, then go check the Rav homepage. Clicking on the link to the search party page will let you know if  patterns exist that you can help with. Perhaps you have a book in your library that not many people have used – your input is wished for.

I’m looking forward to whatever it is Casey has up his sleeve. Better searches, he says, but what does that mean when Casey says it? Only time will tell.

I am reminded, as I pay my June advertising invoice, of the many ways people support Ravelry.

Lots of us are supportive by making use of this wonderful resource, and by reading and following the Ravelry Community Guidelines. Lots of people serve as moderators on the forums. Many people answer questions in the help forums, or edit the yarn database. You can also give money to the site, or buy something from the store. Probably everyone has invited other people to join, or at least look at the site.

I also advertise my store on Ravelry.  Two ways anybody fibery can advertise are the Market Listing, and the Yarn Links. I sign up for both, and sometimes I sign up for a Notebook spot. It makes sense to support Ravelry while getting my store’s name [Gails' Yarns, Hooks, and Needles] seen in public.

edited to add: Another word to add here is reverie, which isn’t part of the name “Ravelry” but still fits.

Ravelry has slurped up my photos, so both the projects in the previous post have been updated, and both are finished.

There was a story written on Twitter by Myke Bartlett, now finished, and available at his website. An interesting concept, and it worked well. “The Lost Fortnight” is a part of the Salmon and Dusk series, and apparently the penultimate one, as “Bury My Past in London Fields” is billed as the “three episode conclusion to the Salmon & Dusk series.” Myke writes best under pressure – the first episode was due out a week ago! Most fans argue against ending the series, but Myke has some sort of timeline in his head, and now, finally, we must bow to the inevitable. We’ll miss Kilbey, Nero and Theo, but look forward to whatever comes next.

I am working on a pattern for a scarf or shawl (so I can compare these two lace yarns), but have no mojo at all for actually knitting such a thing. Creating a pattern is enjoyable. Using stitch patterns from several books as building blocks, I am building, and it is good. Starting with “Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls” by Martha Waterman, I progressed to Barbara Walker’s “A Treasury of Knitting Patterns” (#1), and from there to “Heirloom Knitting” by Sharon Miller. I found similar patterns in each book, so that made transition easy, but “Heirloom Knitting” has the most lace patterns. The charts have made it easier to transfer my choices into Excel. I am trying at present to knit a swatch to help me get some idea of how long and wide this thing might be. It is heavy going, I don’t know why, but could it be the psychological effect of the temperature outside being above 90° F, with the heat index above 100?

This is not store yarn, but Ravelry isn’t taking my photos for whatever reason. I think it’s only that the Code Monkey is out of town. So here we go.

I finished a lace scarf, and will be sending it off as a comfort scarf. Wonderful yarn, wonderful pattern. See Ravelry for more details.

The pattern is At Home in the Beehive, from The Buzz About Lace, a set of patterns from Queenie Sister Designs. The yarn is Ocean, from Creatively Dyed Yarns, and I’m sorry to have to admit I can’t remember if Ocean is the name of the yarn or the colorway. I’ll go with both, for now.

Now for the baby blanket, which is almost finished. I began with the Ondas pattern, by Dizzy Blonde Studios. It’s a free pattern on Ravelry, and goes from the center to the wide yellow band. Then I switched to a simple Old Shale pattern for the rest of the blanket. The bind-off is applied i-cord, and that’s the thing I never tried before.

The yarn is Vanna’s Choice Baby, colors Lamb, Duckie, Cheery Cherry, and Mint. When the blanket got big enough, I started the i-cord. One more side to go and I can see what size it really is.

I heard about this on Ravelry. World Wide Stash Sale Day is the second Saturday in July (July 10, 2010).

The general info:

Second Saturday of July

First annual WWSSDay is set for July 10, 2010.

Grab a group of friends, post stash sale announcement anywhere and everywhere, just like a yard sale. Ravelry, blogs, craigslist, fliers available to take to WWKIPD.

Go here for more info as available.