I started work on a cowl pattern this week and got maybe a foot of it done already. It made for a nice distraction on the plane ride. Lots of bobbles and a cable on each end:

Not that I will ever need to wear a cowl. We live in a hot climate and we're moving to a hotter one next year. I just like to punish myself, I guess.

* Also, some new pics are going up in the photography section today, for those interested in looking.

Why do I keep making hats for myself? I keep saying that if I just make it the right size, shape, and color, it will look good on my head. Well, it ain't happenin'. I look terrible in hats. Officially. I made this one for the 'free patterns'  section of the site so I suppose that's ok, but I'll never find anyone with as big a head as me to sell it to in the store. Maybe I can starch it, turn it upside down, and use it for a fruit bowl. Not apples though, watermelon, because that's how @#$%&ing large my head is. I wonder if the culprit is my actual skull or my freakishly thick hair.

All I have left to do is embroider the silver X across the diamond and I'll be done. Then as soon as I get back from Florida (for Adam's mom's wedding) I'll take some good pictures and upload the pattern. At least it will look good on other people, so I may as well share the wealth.

Let's see, what else... I swatched with the Jaeger Roma I bought (now 50% off!) and I really like the feel of it. Good stitch definition, would probably work very well with a complicated lace or cable pattern. It's also very soft, so I might want to bobble or puff-stitch it. (Thanks to Lucy Neatby, I now know how to do a perfectly balanced bobble!) I've been meaning to design something to submit to the Pattern-A-Day 2009 calendar people, so maybe I'll crochet something up with it while I'm on the plane.

Tonight I started knitting a hat, to be posted as a free pattern on here since I haven't made one in a while. It's blue with one argyle diamond on it like the one Cho Chang wears in Hogsmeads (from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). I'd like to make her scarf as well but that looks a little harder to do from this crummy little picture I found. I'm making it out of a new yarn I had never used before; It's a llama & silk blend make by Plymouth that's pretty soft. It doesn't have the same bounce to it that wool does, but I like it anyway. It didn't come in the exact right colors, so I'm using the light blue as-is for the main part of the hat, and Kool-Aid dyeing a skein of the darker blue to match the diamond colors. I was unsure if the 40% silk would prevent it from taking color, but it ended up working well. Here's a photo of what I'm copying:

***

Also, I got my photography page up and running. Nothing much to scream about, just some artsy-fartsy photos I've taken recently. Check 'em out if you wish.

I'm making the switch to an Etsy.com store to see if it gets me extra traffic & sales. I'll still be updating the store items on this website, but the payment part will link to my Etsy shop. This way I no longer have to hassle everyone to purchase from me via email. This feels much more official.

I also got a whole slew of my Wabi-saBeads done this weekend. (The ones from the Scram-scarf.) I'm brainstorming about what to write in my "press release" for when I send them out. So far Knitty.com and Knit1 magazine are my main targets, and I might send some to Cloth Paper Scissors along with a "look what I did with your tutorial" letter. Here's a glimpse:

$12 a 4-pack, get 'em while they're hot!

Here it is, ladies & gents, the garbagey scarf:

Much like lettuce in a salad is nothing more than a delivery mechanism for ranch dressing, this scarf is a presentation board for my paper beads. I will be updating my "FO" section shortly with larger pictures and a couple more angles. The idea was to make it as messy looking as possible, and I think I succeeded. It's got two yarns held together for the main body, a third for the fringe, several colors of silk ribbon, and 12 beads. I was thinking of naming it "Scram!" because it reminds me of Oscar the Grouch.

Also for your viewing pleasure, here's my shadow-knit scarf for the class that may or may not have any signer-uppers:

Of all the classes I'm teaching this fall, shadow knitting was the one I most looked forward to because I have a really good spiel on how to design your own pattern and a fail-safe way to explain the formula. Unfortunately this is one of the only classes with zero takers (so far). Possibly because no one is awake enough to learn at 10am on Monday mornings.

Other items of note:

-Our American distributor is not going to carry Jaeger yarns anymore, so everything that's left of them at the Woolie Ewe is 25% off. Get it while it lasts. 1-800-460-YARN

-The new fall yarns are arriving, and there is some really great stuff. Sublime's Wool Angora is SO SOFT! and Rowan's Kidsilk Aura is not too shabby either, even to those who hate mohair because it has 25% silk. And of course let's not forget Debbie Bliss's new Luxury Tweed, which has enough angora mixed in to take away the scratchiness of the wool. 

-Last night at the Marilyn Manson concert (yeah yeah, I know) I saw some kids wearing falls in their hair that looked possibly like handspun yarn. I was thinking about making myself one to wear around the store, but I no longer own any clothes gothy enough to go with it. Eh. At the very least, I plan to have a big pink & purple thing made up in time for Lucy Neatby to come to town in '08. I'm still planning to try to convince all my coworkers to dye their hair with Manic Panic when she comes.

-Plymouth yarn company has redesigned its OH MY yarn, and the improvements are wonderful. It's still got the same UberSoft feel, but it is now made up of plies, rather than the old i-cord construction that lent itself to unraveling. If you're wondering why you can't find it in the store, it's because they're making up a whole new batch and it is definitely worth the wait.

Yay! My paper beads are a hit at work. I had intended for them to be stitch markers, but the shop owner thought they would make great embellishments for knitted things, so we've been coming up with some really neat new pattern ideas to show them off. I've got the first scarf knitted for them, and as soon as I get the pattern typed up I'll put it on display in the store and take some photos to upload here. I'm trying to get enough beads made to send them to some magazines & websites in time for the holiday product reviews.

I've been neglecting my spinning duties (and blogging duties... sorry) in favor of these beads for a week or two but I've got some neat ideas swimming around in my head. I'm going to dye a batt inspired by the colors of my cat Hedwig:

I think the bright white will be pretty when carded together with some gray & beige. I've actually got a couple of baggies full of her fur from when we had her shaved, and one of these days I'm going to pull out my non-bulky flyer so's I can spin it.

***Edited to add:

I am really, very sorry about this. I hate being that crazy lady who thinks people want to read about her cat on a knitting blog, but I can't resist posting this photo too. This is Hedwig's brother Steve-O and his first attempt at a submission to Stuffonmycat.com. We'll go ahead and pretend I'm posting this for more color inspiration on my white and gray batt:

Check it out everyone, socks in progress made by Vanessa using sock yarn from my store:

When I first started selling yarns, I would always comment that I'd love to see the finished product, but I never had anyone send pictures so I eventually gave up. But now it has come to fruition, an FO made by someone else but me. Yay! I really like this pattern, too.

* For no particular reason, here is a picture I took this morning of the brand new ducklings in our pond: