Liberation: Amelia Earhart

After several months of knitting, writing and hard work, I am pleased to announce the release the first of 6 hat knitting patterns from my Liberation Collection.

Here is Amelia Earhart:

Above: Shown in Shibui Knits Sock in Periwinkle with a flower accessory. Modeled by one of my new sample knitters, Jean.

Above: Shown with a buckle accessory. The red one is also Shibui Knits sock in Chinese Red. I’m eating a sock-shaped donut at Knit/Purl in Portland. I visited the shop when Iwent to Sock Summit. The proprietor of the LYS, Darcy, is also the same woman behind Shibui Knits! If you’re ever in Portland, I recommend visiting the shop and all the lovely ladies that work there, like the Sandy.

Right now, I am offering the Amelia Pattern for an early bird price of $5.25.  After the early bird period is over (about 1 month from now), the price will be $6. So, hurry and don’t miss out!  If you are on my mailing list, I will be sending out a newsletter within the next week or two and there will be a special code in addition to the early bird price.  Also, I have already started putting up the tutorial for this pattern.

Buy the Amelia Earhart Pattern Now at the early bird price: $5.25

The whole Liberation Collection is also available as an ebook.  Presale for this is currently available.  With the presale, you will receive the most updated file todate. Then as I release each pattern (at about a 2-4 week span), you will receive updated versions of the file via email.  And finally, when all the patterns are released, you will receive a final file with all the pages and patterns.

The Liberation ebook is also available for sale at an early bird price of $16. Regular price, after all the individual patterns in the collection are released, will be $18.

Buy the Liberation ebook Now at the early bird presale price of $16

And last but certainly not least, I really could not have finished this pattern or the collection without the help of my test knitters, sample knitter, friends who listened to me drone on about the patterns, tech editor and of course, Shibui Knits!

Also, don’t forget to queue and favorite Amelia on Ravelry. Thanks! I can’t wait to see everyone’s projects.

Asian Vacation

It’s been a little over 4 years since I’ve been anywhere near Asia.  The last time I went was 3 years ago. I went to Taiwan for my grandmother’s funeral. She unexpectedly passed about 9 months after my grandfather passed. And in-between that, my mother passed. Boy, that was a really crappy year.

A butterfly that "hatched" in my godparents' house in Beitou, north of Taipei. The cocoon was attached to one of their plants. I was lucky enough to see it (and hold it!) within 1 hour of it's metamorphosis and before they had to release it.

Anyway, thankfully, I am not going to Taiwan for something as dismal as a funeral. I’m going to attend the belated wedding reception for my godbrother (who lives in L.A.) since the majority of all his family live there. I will be meeting up with my dad and stepmom. In addition to the wedding reception and going to the mountains, I also plan to get really fat eating all my favorite Taiwanese foods, but to make up for all the excess calories, I intend to do some extra walking around the city of Taipei.  Taipei and New York are very similar in many ways: lots of walking, traffic, lots of people, good food, fun, shopping, big buildings, more traffic and more good food.

The actual cocoon of the butterfly, taken about 2 days before it's transformation into that large beauty.

The main thing I hope to avoid in Taiwan is getting stung by poisonous caterpillars. The last time I went back, I went on an excursion to Yangminshan mountain during butterfly season.  I sat down on some stone benches to eat a hot bowl of noodle soup that they sell on the mountain. Of course, being accident-prone, my knee touched a stinging and poisonous caterpiller under the table, AND I spilled the hot soup on myself. The hot soup burn was nowhere near the instantaneous and horrific pain from the sting. It hurt for over a week. The swelling lasted for about 2-3 weeks and even left a small scar for a while. (Taiwan has been called the “Kingdom of Butterflies” by entymologist and butterfly enthusiasts.)

From Taipei, the 3 of us will fly to Indonesia to meet up with my hubby and visit my in-laws.  This will be the first time my dad will visit them. I imagine that there’ll be lots of family stuff to do and not so much sight-seeing and traveling. However, I am trying to convince Mr. CD to arrange a trip for us to go to Bali for at least a day.  I have never been to Bali and do resent Mr. CD a little for it.  You see, I studied anthropology and Asian studies in college – we focused a lot on Indonesia and SE Asia, so I’ve always wanted to go. I told Mr. CD that the only reason I married him was because he’s ethnically Chinese-Indonesian, and I wanted my own personal tour guide and translator to the Indonesian Islands.  I’m still waiting for my tour.  I really want to see Bali, Borneo and Sumatra, though the latter is not that safe because they are anti-Chinese and occassional riots do break out.

We call these "lembu," also known as a wax apple though it tastes nothing like an apple. It is 50x better! If these are in season, I plan to eat a whole lotta them! They are the BEST fruit in the world and you can't buy them here at all. Like peaches and strawberries, they are hard to import/export.

I will be gone for a few weeks.  I’m just busted my butt to get lots of charting done on a project so that I can work on it on my trip.  I’ll need to bring something easy too. Perhaps I’ll get lots of charity knitting done this year. I think I will knit and donate to the same charity that I did last year.

As far as blog posting, I have already scheduled for at least 1 post while I’m gone.  If I can get decent internet access, I will try to post about my trip while I’m there.  In the meantime, I wish all my American readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Ad Help

Recently, I was lucky and quick enough to snag one of the very coveted and rare featured pattern spots on Ravelry.  I have an ad spot that will run during the last 2 weeks of November.  The irony? I won’t even really be able to enjoy and click to see my ad that much since I will be traveling overseas and will have very intermittent internet access during that period.

Anyways, unlike other Ravelry ads, I can only select ONE image to run during that 2-week period. I have until Nov. 11 to submit the final ad, but I am having a very hard time deciding which pattern and ad to feature. Friends, I need your help to narrow down my options.

Which of the following ads do you like better? Which pattern or ad design do you think is more appealing and would cause you & other knitters to ooh and ahh over if you saw it? Please help and answer in the poll below.

ETA: I changed the ads and poll a little (only #9 and #10) because apparently we cannot advertise e-book – only individual patterns.

Thanks so much for your help!

Fashion Police & Fiber Fest (part 2)

Call the Fashion Police!

In Southern California, the weather is kind of odd. We can have really warm 80-90 degree Farenheit weather during the day, but at night it can dip into the chilly 60s.  I’d like to use the excuse that I’m still not used to this weirdness because I’m originally from Houston, Texas.  However, I can’t and only have my own idiocy to blame.  I lived in the San Francisco Bay area for about 4 years and have been in SoCal for about 8 years now. That “not used to” excuse is totally unbelieveable.

Anyway, my knitting group met and sat outside on a patio this week. Knowing that it was a very likely possibility, do you think I prepared for a rapid evening cool-down? Of course not!  I only had a thin courduroy jacket on so I got really cold by about 8pm and so I dug through my car and came up with 1 glove, my orange Pfeiffer Falls and a large beach towel (a free promo my hubs got a while back). Isn’t that lovely .com embroidery fancy?

My friends thought I looked funny. So I took some self-portraits of this horrible knitting fashion faux-pas so y’all can have some laughs at my expense.

Torrance Fiber Festival, Part 2

 

I didn’t really purchase much and really wasn’t planning on purchasing. However, a lovely cone of 8/2 Tencel yarn in a lovely icy blue just kept calling my name.  And when I saw that Rebecca got Maria Erlbacher’s book, I knew that I had to go find and get one for myself.

My friend Cindi also posted some of her photos from the festival on Facebook, so I am posting those for your viewing pleasure. Thanks Cindi!!

Torrance Fiber Festival

Yesterday, Cindi, Barbara, Neesie and I carpooled to the Torrance Fiber Festival where we met up with Amanda and Lydia, and our friends from San Deigo: Michelle, Rebecca, Kelie and several of their friends who all drove up for the event.

The fiber festival is rather small, but nonetheless it’s still a fiber fest and one of the few ones locally, and it’s still fun. Lots of yarns, fleeces, roving and gadgets were appropriately fondled and petted.

(click on images to enlarge)

Photos: Top row: Denise and Cindi shopping at one of the boothes; Row 2: Barbara with her effervescent smile; Village spinnery’s booth; Row 3: I got goofy and made them pose for a self-portrait; Rebecca, Michelle, Cindi, Denise and me; Row 5: Cindi; the sock on the left had tiny tiny stitches (I’m guessing it was knit on US 00 needles or smaller.)

We didn’t stay at the festival very long, but we all walked away with some small purchases.  I got a cone of 8/2 Tencel yarn in a lovely icy blue and Maria Erlbacher’s Twisted-Stitch Knitting book. I also ran into several other fiberistas that I know from a former knit/crochet/spin group (which I  haven’t attended in about 6 months) and a couple of other people with whom I’ve crossed paths.

With our stomachs growling, we all (13 of us) went to a yummy Japanese noodle shop and had giant bowls of piping hot ramen. We all nommed and slurped our way through a large portion of our respective bowls.  There were some burnt tongues too, but it was worth it.

Photos: We got silly at our end of the table and decided to take a picture with everyone wearing one of my Liberation hats, which I brought with me because I couldn’t decide which one to wear; Rebecca and Michelle looking so cute and adorable.

Barbara and Cindi took some other pictures, which I’m hoping they’ll upload and share soon, so I can steal some of them to post. 

When Bad Things Happen to Good Knitters

We’ve all been there, right?  I know I have. Um, many times in fact. I recently did something really terrible and had a near panic attack at 2 a.m.  (I’d love to tell you about it, but I can’t because it’s related to a secret project.)

In preparation in getting Liberation out in a timely manner, I employed a few sample knitters to help me make some of the hats. So far, nearly every single one of them have turned out great, been on time and had great finishing work. (And finishing really make these hats.)

being a little goofy with the oversized Eleanor Roosevelt hat.

However, Eleanor Roosevelt has hit a snafoo.  A really good knitter had a bad day with the hat. It appears that she may have been overly agressive in the blocking and ended up over-blocking all the pieces horizontally.  The result? Gauge that is really really off and a hat that can probably fit an elephant. Okay, so I’m exaggerating about the elephant.

So, what was supposed to be a finished size of 19.5″/ 49cm ended up being a little over 24″/ 61cm! My poor sample knitter is so stressed about this and didn’t know how to fix it. (If you are reading this – don’t stress! I have confidence it’ll all work out in the end.) I’m not sure how I’m going to fix it yet either – I still need to examine everything a little closer.  I think though, I will disassemble everything, attempt to reblock to the right size and see if it’ll work that way. If not, I will have to try a new plan of attack, or ripppppppit and reknit.

Winners Roll Call & Previews

Klutzy Giveaway

Remember this contest?  I’ve already posted the winners here and also on Ravelry in this thread in the Crafty Diversions Group.  I still have not heard back from 2-3 Ravelers.  I will assume they haven’t been on Ravlery for a while (shocking, I know) and will give them 1 more week to respond. After that, I will move all the winners up to their slots and begin sending stuff out.

For those who have responded, thank you for your patience.

Preview: Liberation

I’ve talked a little about my hat collection Liberation in some previous posts and I’ve already posted some sneak previews of a couple of them… Well, the collection is almost ready!  I’m going to be doing a photo shoot this afternoon and probably at least another one later in the week.  Then shortly after I get the photos in order, I will be listing the ebook for presale very soon.  All the patterns in the ebook collection will also be available for individual purchase. And if you are on the mailing list, look out for a special offer code (hint, hint). If you are not, sign up here.

The patterns in Liberation all have a unifying theme with a shirred panel. The hats are named after women who lived in the 1920s – 1940s and made an impact in society. All of them use fingering yarn (other yarn weights would be too bulky for the shirring) and half of them are written for superwash yarn.

Left: Alice Paul; Right: Barbara G. Walker

Memories, Year 4

It’s October 24 again. I don’t know if this time of year will always be a bit lachrymose for me even 20 years from now. It’s only been four years since my mom passed (on her birthday), but at the same time it sometimes seems like it happened in a much more distant time.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

My mom, me and my sister (baldie).

I don’t know if I’ll continue to post about it every year for the life of this blog and it’s not like I think, “Oh, I must post this” either. I guess in part, due to the digital age, sometimes it’s a little easier to share and get things off my chest through a blog. Whereas in real life, though I know my friends will be there for me, I don’t necessarily want to bring it up too much and talk about it. I know that I’m okay and these are just normal feelings in the ongoing grieving process. Besides, I don’t want to give reason to bring others down if I’m not being my usual positive and chipper self.

This was my first finished scarf. My mom requested one when I started learning. It's made of really horrid yarn (sadly, the best I could find at the time!), but there weren't any LYSs near by and besides, I was so new to knitting that I really didn't know where to go.

I taught myself to knit while my mom was sick. I was stuck in allergy hell in her small 1 bedroom townhouse sleeping on the uncomfortable floor or couch and getting cabin fever.  My sister and I were taking turns flying back and forth from California to take care of her (my sis from San Francisco and me from L.A.).  I couldn’t read because of lack of sleep and stress was interfering with my ability to concentrate. I couldn’t connect to the internet (mom had one of those free dial-up services: slooooooower than molasses), she had no TV and eventually I tired of watching DVDs on my laptop. So, I went to the closest yarn shop (aka Hobby Lobby and Michael’s) and picked up a knitting book (a really bad and crappy one, btw) from a used book store.

It’s a little sad for me that I knit so much better now, have access to lots of really nice yarns, but yet am not able to knit something super lovely for my mom. (Not having been able to knit her something really nice before she passed was one of the reasons I designed Pfeiffer Falls.)

The first scarf and hat I made her was out of the softest acrylic yarn I could find at Michael’s in her area at the time. I feel a sense if “eww” and “ugh” when I see the photo and think how horried that yarn was. There really weren’t any other options as all the wools were super-scratchy, which just would not fly with her overly-sensitive chemo skin.

I think if had been a better knitter at the time, I would also have made her a shawl or capelet out of some nice superfine alpaca, optim merino, cashmere and/or silk.

Mom and Dad on their wedding day.

Well, I hope the funk passes soon. Next week is my dad’s birthday and I need to think of something to send him. My dad doesn’t say much, but I’m sure he’s a bit sad too. My parents divorced over a decade ago and he has since remarried, but I don’t think you can be married to the mother of your children for over 15 years and not think about her.  Perhaps I will bake some biscotti and send them to him.

At least I’m not allergic to Cashmere.

A baby cashmere goat

Last year, my allergies got so bad that I literally could not see, sleep or do anything properly.  Life really sucked for several months, especially with massive sinus migraines and the constant watery and itchy eyes that ended up bleeding. Yuck.

My left eye, last year. Click to see note blocks on Flickr.

At least I’m not allergic to cashmere, alpaca or wool. (Though I have sensitive skin and can only tolerate fine fibers like fine merino or superfine alpaca.)  I had a knitting swap partner who was allergic to all things goat, including cashmere! I mourned for her when I found out.

I’m gonna apologize in advance for boring you with my allergy problems, but writing about it helps me vent a little.

Anyway, as a result of all that eye-bleeding crap, I finally was able to see a specialist- the most awesome doctor  – my allergist, Dr. C.  The insurance approved my immunotherapy and with a small setback with some lazy receptionist at Dr. C’s office, I finally started my allergy shots last Thursday.

Because of Thrusday's reaction, I'm not carrying around an epi pen.

They usually start you off on some really dilute doses and the majority don’t have problems so early in the therapy. Nope, not me. Being that my body is so sensitive, I’m not at all surprised that I had a reaction.  (I still get really nasty symptoms despite preventative measures and being on the strongest Rx of allergy drugs 24/7.) The reaction didn’t really alarm me that much because I get the chest congestion, itchy throat and sinus problems at least 2-3 times a week anyways.  The reaction concerned Dr. C and the wonderful nurse M. (Maybe I should have been more concerned because normally my throat and palate do not swell.) They gave me a shot of epinephrine, some extra allergy meds and prednisone (steroid).  All those meds royally messed by my system and rendered me sleepy and lethargic for over 3 days.  The upside to that is that I actually slept 8 hours straight for 2 nights like regular people! I even napped.

I didn’t get tested for every conceivable thing (i.e. food allergens), but I did get tested for some chemicals and environmental stuff. According to my allergy testing, I’m allergic to some chemicals and basically Mother Nature (boo!):

• Dust Mites – I am most allergic to these; tested for 2 kinds.  Very very highly allergic. On a scale where anything more than 0.35 is considered an allergy, mine was 96 and 97!
• Olive Tree – this was also quite high on my allergy scale. I think it was the highest after the dust mites. We chopped down our tree, but there are still tons in the neighborhood.
• Colophony – found in wood/wood products, adhesives, polishes
• Carba Mix – multiple chemical stuff found in gloves, neoprene, shoes, goggles, even bedsheets, etc. bad stuff, I tell ya.
• Imidazolidinyl Urea – found in lotions, cosmetics, soaps and other personal care products
• Trixocortol-21-Privalate – anti-inflammatory used in many meds, including ones for eczema(which I also have)
• Bermuda Grass
• Ryegrass
• Ragweed (also tumbleweed, thistle, saltwort)
• English Plantain
• Pigweed/ Carless (also goosefoot, quinoa, purslane)
• Wing Scale
• Cats – Out of our 3, I’m most allergic to Maggie (the 23lb one) and we’re the only people sans kids who have a baby gate to prevent cats in the bedroom.


Jail visiting hours have commenced.

• Dogs
• Cockroach
• Southern Grass Mix – mix of several types of grasses
• Walnut Tree
• Chinese Elm
• Acacia Tree
• Birch Tree
• Mountain Cedar (also Ashe’s Juniper)
• Mold (mildly though, surprisingly)
• I’m sure I left some other things off.

Zucchini Spindles & Cauliflower Sheep

Have you ever what the heck to do with all those extra zucchinis in the garden? Well, here’s a solution:

How funny and creative is that? What’s next? Carrot spindle?

If you don’t spindle and want to impress you friends and guests at your dinner party, you can make some cauliflower and olive sheep!

How about a papaya or onion pig?

And I’m not quite sure how this tree frog was done, but it is certainly extra cool.