Urban Chill Cowl

I hate having a cold neck. Ever since having mono when I was a senior in high school, when the temperatures dip, I feel more comfy and secure if my neck is covered. The thing is, as nice as these long, double-wrapped big scarves may be, I myself am small in stature. Big scarves engulf me, and I look like the scarf is wearing me, rather than vice versa. Enter the cowl. As all of you knitters know, cowls are big (as in, trendy!) Call them what you like: neck-warmer, cravat, cowl, "snood", whatever, they are super popular right now. I designed this Urban Chill Cowl to be the perfect blend of what my neck needs: just enough warmth, streamlined enough to be chic, and buttons along the side so that you can choose to pull it over your head, or button it up. I did this one of Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted. Sumptuous, soft wool that is subtly variegated, and it took just one skein.

Green Gable

Here is my latest addition to Renaissance Yarn's pattern library. This is Green Gable, a lovely lacy scarf done in Tilli Tomas Symphony. This yarn is so pretty, it is a mohair blend that has some shiny metallic threads and is pre-beaded!! One skein will make this scarf. You can find the pattern for free at the Renaissance Yarns website.

Mehndi adventure....

....and it worked!!! After an arduous day (seriously...) of having my friend glop on an unbelievable amount of thick henna/indigo mud, and then sitting with it for 2 1/2 hours on my head (yuck, heavy and oozy!) I finally washed it off. Completely surreal. As enormous torrents of green/brown goop sluiced down my body, splashed on the shower walls, and made a general horror, I was reminded of the scene from psycho. Two ( or was it three?) lathers of shampoo and two applications of conditioner later, I was done. I was literally afraid to look at my head. Would the hair be green? Black? Orange? Wow. Deep, natural-looking, only slightly auburn-colored brown. Lovely. Can't wait to see how it matures, but meanwhile, I've hit upon a (slightly messy) miracle to the hair-dye dilemma.

My great Henna adventure

It all started when I developed a lethal allergy to hair dye.....so begins the novella. Actually, I've been developing a horrible allergy to hair dye for quite some time, but got around it by foiling on the color. Finally, I had such a bad reaction that my dermatologist told me "no more brown hair dye....ever. Either go gray, or go blonde". Well. Not one to give up easily, after tons of research, I've decided to try a henna/indigo mix. (Check out this all-encompassing website: www.hennaforhair.com). My friend came over this morning, and spent nearly an hour and a half applying brown gook to my hair. Now I am wrapped in plastic, letting it, er, "cure". Stay tuned.

Shameless self-promotion....

I have been waiting breathlessly for news on this contest I entered.....so here it is:

Alabaster

Shew! The LYS tour is finished, and I think a good time was had by all. Sooo, now that my design for our own Renaissance Yarns was unveiled as our free one skein pattern given out on the tour, I can unveil it here. Soooo, he she is (above). You can find the pattern on Ravelry via my profile, which is knittease. It's a top-down triangular shawl made from Schafer Yarns, called "Audrey". It was an absolute dream to work with, a wool and silk blend. Handpainted, it comes in a whole array of gorgeous colors.

For my next trick, I've entered Alpaca with a Twist's shawl design contest. Shipped it today, in fact. Crossing my fingers it will get there by the deadling...

LYS tour 2010 !!!

Just a few hours more, and the 5th annual Local Yarn Store passport tour will begin. Lots of shops, including our own Renaissance Yarns, have been burning the midnight oil preparing for this event. It will prove to be 4 days of fun, travel, prizes, FR*E patterns, etc. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines....

Welcome Back!

Hello dear readers....*tap tap* is this thing on??? Looking forward to taking up blogging again! So, what's new? Well, let's summarize: both kids are in school all day now, so I'm back to work , currently at my lovely LYS, Renaissance Yarns. I'm also dabbling in designing....stay tuned as I offer up some of the lace-designs I've been working on! You can find them (and me) on Ravely as knittease. TTFN!