Free Patterns Friday

Greetings, Gentle Knitters!  Some of you may remember seeing my episode of Interweave's Knitting Daily TV, in which I demonstrated some stranded colorwork techniques on the Ebony Jewel-Wing hat and purse.  That pattern is being offered for free today, in Interweave's new e-book,

Exploring Color Knitting: 7 Free Patterns Using Intarsia, Stranded Knitting, and Fair Isle Knitting Techniques
A Free Downloadable eBook

Click HERE to get your collection.

I'm off to visit my family (and possibly some sheep) on Whidbey Island today.  Have a great weekend: Knit On!

What is it About a Suitcase?

Patchwork Illusions quilt – STACKED AND WRAPPED By Karen Combs

This is a beautiful quilt.  Absolutely no doubt about it.  And it should be; it was made by a real working fiber artist.  Karen Combs is a traveling fiber arts teacher, author and designer.  And this gorgeous work of Karen's hands and heart has been stolen.  This beautiful piece and all its sample-case brethren, along with everything Karen needs to teach a class, were taken through the broken window of her rental car when she taught in New Braunfels, Texas, this weekend.  That suitcase holds a lifetime of Karen's work, and is totally irreplaceable. 

Ask me how I know.

If you live in Texas, or anywhere else where the quilts could have ended up, please, please please, help Karen look for her lost loves.  And keep looking.  The two sweaters I got back were found by a knitter in a thrift store months later, because she never forgot what happened to me.

What a world.  I'm hoping that Karen will receive the love and kindness of her friends and students the way that I did when my samples were stolen.  The Knitters are Good.  And the Quilters are, too. 

Do your magic for dear Karen, won't you?  Send her your love, send her your righteous indignation. Send her your prayers for peace and comfort.  And if you quilt, or know somebody who does, buy a book (or two) from her, because replacing all her work is going to cost a fortune, when she's brave enough to start.  Can you imagine even the cost of a case big enough to hold a quilt collection?  Take it from me: the very best thing you can do to help is to buy books, tools and fabrics from Karen, because without her samples she's likely to lose precious teaching jobs, like I did. 

Click to go shopping at Karen's Store.

Please spread the word to keep a weather eye out for the quilts.  Close ranks around dear Karen like you did for me.  She will learn, like I have, that the power of love is greater than the agony of loss.
 

String + Color

I went over to play at a friend's house last week.  Now, taking time out to play is always a beautiful thing, and doing it with a great friend is even better.  But when the friend is Tina Newton, well, let's just say that Tina knows how to play on a whole other level from most:

"Let's go to the barn and play with dye!" she said. "Okay, if you're going to make me!" I said.  "Go pick out a yarn base."  Were more beautiful words ever spoken?  I pinched myself.  I surveyed the choices:  Socks That Rock (in three wonderful weights), Woobu (wool + bamboo), Marine Silk (seacell with wool and silk)...There is no end to the wonder in string.  I felt like I might have to lay down.  And then I clapped eyes on Silkie Socks That Rock.  It has everything:  The crazy twist of my beloved STR, plus a strand of pure Bombyx silk.  The fluff!  The bounce!  The sparkle of that silk!  I was smitten.  Tina threw piles of it into a bucket to soak...

And then we got out "practice" skeins.  Guess what you get to "practice" on when you play with Tina?  MORE STR.  Lightweight this time.  Tina went straight to the dyepots and picked out three or four, without any hesitation.  She knew exactly what colors she wanted for me.  First we made this:

It's deep, and vibrant, and more than just a little sassy.  But Tina wanted it to be more layered and complicated.

So then we made this one:  

It's moody and mysterious, and super-sexy.  But I said I wanted it to be sparkly, which meant that it needed more light areas.

And this happened next:

This one has just the right balance between depth and sparkle.  And then:

Tina pulled out the Silkie STR and we squirted and squished all the right colors onto all the right places.  I felt a little faint.  And a little bit of what it must be like to be the fabulous Ms. Newton:  This kind of power should not be wielded lightly.

I'm pretty sure the Dyers are going to take over the world.  And when they do, we will all happily do whatever they say, because they know how to make the string beautiful.  And they do it with such generosity and magnificence that the rest of us are just blessed to know them.  

Oh, and in case you're wondering, my very own Blue Moon yarn color is called "Quite Contrary", and you can have it, too.  Just call up and ask for some, on whatever kind of string you like best.  Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Us.