Book Give Away!

Greetings, dear readers and (dare I say without jinxing us) happy spring? It's a lovely day outside! Check out this insanely gorgeous tree in my in-laws front yard that was just on the verge of bursting open on Sunday...

In honor of the cherry blossoms (I am a sucker for the Virginia and Washington DC cherry blossoms), let's do a giveaway, shall we?

Jane Patrick and Stephanie Flynn Sokolov recently released a book of 26 scarves entitled Woven Scarves.

While I don't weave, I think it's a fantastic talent to have. Weaving has been around forever and as a knitter, any kind of fiber craft or technique is aces in my book. The designs are meant to be woven on a rigid heddle loom. This kind of loom is a table top loom, so if you're a spinner looking to use up some of your spun yarn, someone who wants to get into weaving or have always been curious to take on a new craft, they seem to run about $130-$400, depending on the model.

There are a lot of beautiful scarves in this book, including the below:

All of the scarves in this book are woven with yarn, so if your stash is out of control *ahem*, weaving might be a perfect solution. They make stunning gifts and EVERYONE loves a handmade scarf.

To win, leave a comment with the answer to this trivia questions: How long is the world's longest scarf? Hint, it's in the UK.

A winner will be randomly selected tomorrow evening, good luck!

A Few New Things...

I'm trying to be better about posting new designs… The design world is similar to the magazine world (and so often we work in conjunction with each other so that only makes sense) whereas we design and knit something, send it off, forget about it and appears months later in print or online. It's akin to seeing an old friend after a long absence or cleaning out a closet and finding the shoes you've been looking for for months. I design a pattern every other month for Imperial Yarns. You may recall that Imperial Yarns was featured in my Knit Local and Knitting Architecture books and they also supplied Ralph Lauren with the yarn for the US Olympian Athlete sweaters. What I like most about working with them is they are family owned and operated, they work the land themselves, raise the animals, keep everything in the US and are good people. The Wrapped Lace Hat is knit in 1 hank of their Anna yarn, a textured, fun knit with wrapped stitches, lace, reverse stockinette and garter in the round, topped off with a pom pom. Download the pattern here.

Everyone knows and loves Webs. If you've never found yourself in western Massachusetts, I highly recommend visiting. They have a very nice storefront, but then you go through the double doors in the back and WOAH. A warehouse full of yarn. It's like Costco for knitters, filled with discontinued colorways, yarns, OMG the YARN. So. Much. Yarn.

Webs is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and I adore the husband and wife team that run it. I have been on their podcast a few times and they're good people. I was honored to be asked to design a special knit for their anniversary. I knit a lace cowl, the Nikiya Cowl. Webs will carry it for 6 months, then it will be available through TanisKnits in October. Download the pattern here.

That's all for now. Stayed tuned for a giveaway next week!

From Mama, With Love

I hope that long after I'm gone, as my grandchildren and great-grandchildren make their way through this world, that they will be wrapped in hand knits made with love from me to them. I have a few knit and crocheted things I've inherited from my grandmothers and they mean so much to me. Snuggling under one of Grandma Myrt's afghans is the closest I can get to getting a hug from her. Holding a bright pink hat Grandma Irene made for me brings back snowy afternoon childhood memories. Handmade things are left behind when those we love are gone and knowing how they were made and taking care of them until they are passed to the next generation is an honor.

I had an idea many, many months ago to put out an ebook of baby knits as a group project among friends, including myself, Kate Gagnon Osborn, Connie Chang Chinchio, Melissa LaBarre and Margaux Hufnagel. The knitting design world is a small one, with most of us being female, many of us mothers and many of us friends. I so admire these women… Working moms, wives, creative minds, yarn lovers… These are my people and I love them fiercely.

The idea was rather simple - we'd each design 3 garments, have our children be our inspiration and models and gather these 15 designs together in an ebook. We all work in the knitting field, whether we're running a yarn company and taking care of our daughter (Kate), designing feverishly while awaiting the birth of our second daughter (Melissa), designing while flying across the country for work and missing our daughter and son (Connie), designing while chasing after our son (Margaux) or designing late into the night while editing knitting books and making knitting class lesson plans while my son sleeps across the hall (me). I have spent time with all these incredible, talented, wonderful women in real life and having us all work on one big project like this together in the virtual world was an example of mom power. This book is a labor of love for our children, for each other and for ourselves as mothers.

I have 2 garments and a baby blanket for my 3 projects:

The Antonia Blanket is a cable-lovers dream. Knit in Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Aran Weight (superwash), it brings to mind sunny days walking in the woods with my son, Callum.

The Ronan Pullover is my favorite of my 3. Fair Isle knitting is my favorite technique and I love the bold, bright Scandinavian motifs marching across the mid-section and sleeves. Knit in the round from the top down in Alchemy Yarn's Temple (superwash), this would be easy to put the wearer's favorite colors into the design.

The Callum Vest is a surprisingly quick knit. Knit in Sublime's Extrafine Merino Wool DK (superwash), the back is all stockinette. It's knit from the bottom up in the round, then splits for the armholes and v-neck. I love the wrapped stitches and "manly lace" panel climbing up the front.

Some of my other favorites in this book...

Melissa LaBarre's Sid Scrappy Hat (who doesn't love a kid in stripes? AND it's a great stash buster!)

Kate Gagnon Osborn's Bluebell Pullover (I started knitting this for my son in darker colors. LOVE that "envelope" technique at the shoulders!)

Margaux Hufnagel's Boppy Cover (everyone has a Boppy but no one has been clever enough to design a hand knit cover for it until now!)

Connie Chang Chinchio's Velvet Hoodie (every little girl's dream is in this adorable flared pullover!)

That's just a taste of the 15 unique designs in this ebook.  You can see them all and purchase the collection here. Be sure to join our From Mama, With Love group on Ravelry. We're kicking off a KAL very soon!

I am so proud of this collection, of these women, of what we banded together to work on and create for our children.

The collection is going on an exciting blog tour, won’t you follow along?

Friday, April 4th, Carol Sulcoski of Black Bunny Fibers Monday, April 7th, Melissa LaBarre of Knitting School Dropout **Designer of FM,WL! Tuesday, April 8th Tanis Gray of Tanis Knits **Designer of FM,WL! Wednesday, April 9th, Connie Chang Chinchio, **Designer of FM, WL Friday, April 11th, Susan B. Anderson Monday, April 14, Kate Gagnon Osborn of Things for Charlie (And KW) **Designer of FM, WL! Wednesday, April 16, Vickie Howell, Host of Knitting Daily Friday, April 18, Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches Monday, April 21, Kate Chioccio of Dragonfly Fibers Wednesday, April 23, Julie Crawford of Knitted Bliss Friday, April 25, Katie & Kara of Nice & Knit Monday, April 28th, Ysolda Teague Guest Blog Post! Tuesday, April 29th, Karida Collins of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Friday, May 2nd, Cecily Glowik McaDonald of Winged Knits Monday, May 5 - Carrie Bostick Hoge of Maddermade Wednesday, May 7th - Thea Colman of Baby Cocktails Friday, May 9th - Kate & Courtney, of Kelbourne Woolens Tuesday, May 13, Jessica Correa, of Dream in Color Yarn Co. Thursday, May 15, Kristen Kapur of Through the Loops Tuesday, May 20, Tanis Lavalee of Tanis Fiber Arts Friday, May 22, Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting

Zimbler Cowl

Congratulations to reader photogmomma on winning Amy Gunderson's new book! Check your email for further instructions...

--------------------------------------

When I was 6 years old, I feel off the top of a jungle gym and shattered my elbow. I was taken to the local hospital, who told my parents my injuries were so severe that my arm would not recover. The doctors there believed it would stop growing, wither and be rendered useless. They recommended amputation.

My parents refused to believe that and took me to Boston’s Children’s Hospital. There, Dr. Zimbler was able to perform surgery on my elbow with positive results. He set it with titanium pins and after many months of painful physical therapy, my elbow was fully functional. Many years later, no one would ever know anything happened to my elbow just by looking at it. Even the scars have faded to almost nothing.

To this day I think of Dr. Zimbler. He saved my elbow and therefore, my entire arm. I would not be able to write or knit without his help, two of my favorite activities.

100% of the pattern proceeds from the Zimbler Cowl will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

While the doctor that saved my arm was not part of this amazing program, it is an incredible organization that delivers independent emergency medical care to victims of armed conflict, brings relief in the aftermath of natural or man-made disasters, and fights deadly epidemics in more than 70 countries around the world.

Dr. Zimbler is one of thousands of talented doctors who change the lives of people for the better. Being a doctor is a calling, and an important one at that. How many people have a career that can literally save lives?

Thank you, Dr. Zimbler.

The Zimbler Cowl uses 3 hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes, or about 300 yards of any worsted weight yarn. Pattern available for download here.