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See you at NEFF!

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NEFF stands for New England Fiber Festival!  NEFF is this weekend (Nov 1 & 2) at the Big E in Springfield, MA. It’s the first big yarn and fiber festival I ever went to, and it remains my favorite.  I like that the animal barn is the first thing you encounter — llamas and bunnies and sheep, oh my! — and I like that the booths are all organized and indoors.  There is a preponderance of small businesses, so that the floor is not dominated by big name stores or brands. There is a fleece sale (I haven’t gotten THAT brave yet) and plenty of sellers for spinners and other “tangential” crafts.

I’ll be at NEFF both days, staffing the booth for A Hundred Ravens. We’re in the back on the left as you enter the big part of the building — stop by for a visit!  We will have lots and lots of minis … including 12 sets of “Starry Night” minis — new for this festival.

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CO Monday: Emo Enough (or, frogging a lot when I’ve just begun)

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I bought two skeins of awesome DK self-striping purple-and-black yarn from White Birch at Stitches East.  My yarn looks like this on the skein …

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Knit up, it looks more like this (from the dyer’s site):

I tried three different patterns out before settling on one that made me happy.  It is an entrelac pattern (my first time doing entrelac!) with cables, because you know I can’t do it the easy way.  I’m using Knitted Scarf Butterflies (by Svetlana Gordon).  So far so good — I may make it a cowl in the end, but for now my self-striping entrelac butterflies are destined for scarf-dom.

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FO Friday: Mysteriosa

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Project: Mysteriosa

Pattern: Mysteriosa MKAL

Designer: Asa Tricosa

Available: €5.00 EUR on Ravelry  

Yarn: A Hundred Ravens Tyche in Granny Smith and a Custom Colorway

I joined this KAL with only the Granny Smith Tyche (a “Wild Child” colorway, and thus unrepeatable) in mind … meanwhile I had my sad face on after my Themisto hat purple-blue yarn lost almost all of it’s purple after just one day of sunshine. So! I asked Kate if she could please make me two skeins of purple-blue Tyche to go with my apple-green Tyche so I could make the KAL shawl.

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It wasn’t my most favorite KAL ever, but it resulted in a beautiful FO.  Many from my knitting circle completed their own, all in beautiful color combos.

Evolution KAL: Official Fiber Factor Edition

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So … last year I competed on the first (and so far, only) season of The Fiber Factor.  This year, Skacel and The Fiber Factor have been hosting a series of Knit-A-Longs (KALs) for some of the designs featured on the show.  My design for the first Challenge (“Knit Your Life”) was Evolution, a big heart-shaped shawl that begins simply and ends with a flourish of lace. Evolution is the November KAL for The Fiber Factor’s “Year of the KAL.”

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I led an informal KAL right after the pattern was published by Skacel, and I’ve heard about several knitting guilds selecting Evolution as a group KAL pattern — last time I checked, there were 90+ project pages for Evolution, including just over 40 finished shawls. Nothing thrills me more than knitters making stuff from my patterns.  It makes my heart sing!

This latest, greatest Evolution KAL will be hosted by yours truly on the Fiber Factor forum on Ravelry. I’ve re-knit the pattern in Rylie (a great sportweight yarn made of alpaca, silk, and linen), and made little videos for each week of knitting.

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Cast On: November 3rd

Cast Off: December 8th

Prizes:  provided by Skacel, awarded to three lucky randomly-selected KAL participants (see the forum post for full information).

I hope you join us for this KAL!

FO Friday: Two Hats

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Project: Peacock Themisto

Pattern: Themisto

Designer: Tori Gurbisz

Available: $5 on Ravelry  

Yarn: Glenfidditch wool in Silver and Peacock

I fell in love with a skein of blue-purple yarn at Stitches East 2013.  I looked at my handy project/yarn buying list, and chose this hat pattern … which meant I needed a second skein in a contrast color.  I made the hat, loved it … but it was taking FOREVER to dry after washing, so I put it out on the deck on a nice warm day.  Alas, the sun ruined it — almost all the purple highlights were bleached out, in a single afternoon outside.  So sad.

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Project: Trilobite

Pattern: Trilobite

Designer: Hannah Ingalls

Available: FREE on knitty.com

Yarn: Ella Rae Lace Merino Chunky in Acorn Brown

Ella Rae confuses me by using the word “Lace” in all their yarns … but I forgive them, because their chunky yarn is soooooo delicious! I love the yarn, the pattern, and the finished hat.  Thumbs up all-around.

Stitches East 2014

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I had a great time at Stitches talking to all the knitters and crocheters that visited the booth for A Hundred Ravens! I sent lots of people home with gorgeous squishy yarn.  I also took off the apron and ran away from home to do a bit of shopping myself — I came home with lovely treasures too.

I drove down to Hartford Thursday morning to help with setup.  Kate had new display stuff that needed putting together, and all the yarn had to be sorted and displayed properly.  Early on it looked like this:

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By the time Market Preview started, it looked more like this:

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We had a special display for the new Savanna-inspired colorways — the Ol Pejeta collection — and a “yarn tasting” table for customers to try out the different yarns of A Hundred Ravens.

Lucky for me, Kate had plenty of booth help on Friday, so I was able to sneak away and pick up a few things from other vendors.  Here’s everything:

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From Long Island Livestock, a skein of Alpaca blend yarn — gorgeous blues under the grey-brown.  I plan to make Starshower with it:

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From String Theory, a skein of Selku in a glowing blue-green, destined to be a Marin:

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From White Birch Fiber Arts, two skeins of self-striping merino DK, for a Summer Scarf:

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From Periwinkle Sheep, a skein of bulky-weight merino, for a quick Twill Hat:

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A bit of sumptuous cashmere-merino top from Lisa Souza:

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Last but DEFINITELY not least, a skein of Arial Evolution — 680 yards of vibrant gradient-dyed yarn, waiting impatiently to become a Sweet Dreams shawl:

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CO Monday: Phoenix Wing on Fire

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I picked up a second set of This Yarn is On Fire minis from Kate, along with two skeins of Polar Bare (just undyed yarn), because I want to make something amazing ….  Phoenix Wing!  I’ve completed the pattern through “Field 6” (of 36), but these are the little fields — it gets a lot bigger!

There is an “English” version of the pattern, but only the first page general instructions are actually translated.  The bulk of the pattern is written line-by-line using German knitting abbreviations.  The pattern includes a page of explanations, but it is like learning my knitting abbreviations all over again: Ma means CO, Ak means BO, b3vE means knit until three stitches before the end of the row, 2z is k2tog, etc.  I’m doing ok now, but it was a steep learning curve!  Not for the faint of heart.

 

FO Friday: Ginger Socks

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Socks for my mom, pair 4 of 5!

Project: Pretty Ginger Socks

Pattern: Fosco’s Pret-Pret-Pretties

Designer: Heather Ordover

Available: $6 on Ravelry  or $16.95 for the 28-pattern e-book, What Else Would Madame DeFarge Knit?

Yarn: Tosh Sock in Ginger

This was an interesting pattern to knit, with neat lace and cables. Lots going on to keep a novelty-seeking knitter like myself occupied and entertained! However, I did run into some problems with the charts (symmetry issues, which were relatively easy to spot); and, later on I had problems with the heel/gusset — I’m not sure if it was my fault or not, but I did eventually give up and just do a heel I was more familiar with. Because of this, I would recommend holding off on knitting your own Pretty Socks until the errata have been published.

See you at Stitches!

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Stitches East is in Hartford!  The booth for A Hundred Ravens is located to the right of the entrance, just past WEBS, at #400.  I’m working for Kate on Thursday and Friday — come say hi!  You already know I adore Kate’s yarns and colorways … come see for yourself! 🙂

Some Words From Kate:

Stitches East will be the debut of A Hundred Ravens’ winter color season, Ol Pejeta. These colors are inspired by the vivid, rich hues of the African savanna and the creatures who live there. In our travels we’ve seen many a beautiful and serene Savanna Sky, watched industrious ants on the deep green of a Whistling Thorn, marveled at the oranges and golds of a Savanna Sunrise, and gasped at the sudden flash of color of a vibrant, jewel-bright Lilac Breasted Roller.

Have you ever tried our yarns out? Yes, but have you tried all our yarns? If not, come to our yarn tasting table and indulge in samples of our most popular bases. Bring your needles or hooks and sit and chat and enjoy! And while you’re at it… participate in daily raffles to win great prizes.

Need I say more??