Beautiful Mirabilis-es

One of the funnest parts of knit designing is seeing how much fun everyone is having with your patterns. Check out a few of these gorgeous Mirabilis-es!

First up: Oiyi. She was one of my test-knitters back in December. She's an awesome and thorough tester, I absolutely love her work, and her photography is gorgeous! Her post shows the full evolution of the blanket, too.

Images by Oiyi - full post here

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Gold

Next, a bold red Mirabilis by Tawana - Tawana's a member of my Stitch 'n Bitch, and often brings her daughter KJ. KJ is just about the sweetest toddler ever. This was a total thrill for me - it's one of the first times I'd seen one of my designs all knit up in person, and in use as a stroller blanket, too!

Images by Tawana - full post here

Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Bold Red

And last, here's Vanessa's. Vanessa runs the online yarn shop The Fiber Fix. The Madelinetosh Worsted she used for this blanket is downright dreamy.

Images by Vanessa - Ravelry project page here. Check out her shop here.
Yarn: Madeline Tosh Worsted in Cherry

You can see more Mirabilis-es in progress here on Ravelry:


And the pattern is available here in the Molting Yeti pattern shop:

Ten Days in Doily Heaven

I'm just back from a family vacation - my extended family (including my best friend and her family) took a nine-day bus tour through Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. We spent a day meeting some distant Slovakian relatives in the wee town of Trstene Pri Hornade - distant? Well, from my generation we all have the same great, great grandma.

Here's the bunch of us tromping through the cemetery outside the church where my grandpa was baptised to see the tombstones of our wayback kinfolk. There's a jillion Yuhases on the tombstones (well, Juhases), but none of them are related to us - Yuhas is a Slovak word for shepherd (or apparently, the shepherd's helper), and there's lots of them. Mostly I picked this photo for the blog 'cause it's gorgeous - it was in the 90s but really bright and clear. The mountains in the background are the border with Hungary.

And here's my dad with his arm around his third cousin Ladislav - family resemblance? At least in the belly. And the eyebrows, too!

Brain Coral on the Daily Knitter

I woke up yesterday to find my inbox stuffed with download notices - the Brain Coral Against Breast Cancer pattern got picked up by the Daily Knitter. Hello to anyone tuning in from there! If you haven't seen it, the Daily Knitter is a site cram-packed full of all sorts of knitting goodness, and offers a free knitting pattern every day.

A special thanks as well to those of you who chose to make a donation to the Young Survival Coalition with your download - every little bit helps. Thank you again!

It Was Winter All Summer

If you haven't seen it yet, the new issue of Twist Collective has an illustrated poem by Franklin Habit a la Wallace Stevens's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"

Here's my favorite stanza, but you should go read the whole thing:

XIII

It was winter all summer
It was snowing
And it was going to snow
The knitter sat
In his favorite chair.


Nice work, Franklin!


Here in Flatbush, it's raining cats and dogs for the umpteenth day in a row. It's been raining cats and dogs forever. It feels like it's been April since April, and we're halfway through June. The sun mostly shows up as a vague blob of brightness in the grey. I've been thinking of the rainy chapters of One Hundred Years of Solitude, where it rains for five years and everything in Macondo grows mossy and perma-sodden and all the livestock gets washed away.

Blah.

Brain Coral Against Breast Cancer

Last October I rode in the Tour de Pink, a 200 mile charity bike ride from Hershey, PA to New York City benefiting the Young Survival Coalition. It was an awesome, gorgeous ride full of friendly folks - any of you bikers out there should sign up. I'm not riding this year, but I'm still supporting the cause in my own special way. I've posted a new pay-what-you-wish pattern to the shop - Brain Coral against Breast Cancer!



When your ruffles have ruffles, interesting things happen! This is one of the simplest patterns you’ll ever follow, but the results will wow your friends with higher math. The resulting shape looks kind of like brain coral, kind of like a spiral, and is totally impossible to put down.

This is a pay-what-you-wish pattern.
100% of the proceeds (any donation you make minus Paypal/Google Checkout fees) will benefit the Young Survival Coalition, the premier international organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young women and breast cancer. YSC works with survivors, caregivers and the medical, research, advocacy and legislative communities to increase the quality and quantity of life for women diagnosed with breast cancer ages 40 and under.

Skills Required:
* knit, purl, yarn-over, i-cord

Materials:
* one circ and two dpns.
* adaptable to any yarn.

My Reindeer Flies Sideways

When I was a kid, my mom taught me a version of this Girl Scout song sung to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance. It's a great little number to sing at graduations - that march needs words!

(Sung to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance):

My reindeer flies sideways, she's better than yours.
My reindeer can cha-cha; she can open up doors.
My reindeer is purple; yours is a pea green.
My reindeer's a Girl Scout; she can dig a latrine.

My reindeer wears p-jays, yours sleeps in the nude,
My reindeer has manners; your reindeer is crude.
Your reindeer uses fire starters, my reindeer uses *just one match*
Your reindeer gets chilly; mine wears a scarf and hat.

My reindeer wears a poncho; your reindeer gets wet.
My reindeer is healthy, yours goes to the vet.
My reindeer flies sideways, your reindeer flies upside down.
My reindeer is perfect. Your reindeer is *dead*

World Wide Knit in Public Day is June 13!

Join us as we knit with thousands of other knitters around the world on the same day!

World Wide Knit in Public Day
Saturday, June 13, 2009
10am - 1pm
Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza

• Learn to knit
• Book Raffles
• Charity Knitting
• The Knit Doctor
• Storytime for Children
• Spinnng Demonstrations

Bring: Your project and a smile!

Non-knitters welcome - we will teach you how.

Nowhere near Brooklyn? Find a World Wide Knit In Public Day event near you here.