Gone to Michigan to visit my family for a "prolong the joy" Xmas. Will be back on the 30th. Will try to fill orders daily from the coffee house, but today they will likely be closed by the time we arrive, so...

patience is a virtue.

Fear not; all Garden Variety Collection orders received by midnight, New Year's Eve will qualify for both the poinsettia scarf AND the discount.

Susan of the North, signing off...

Love Came Down?

I know you are all wondering what I am doing posting on Christmas morning? I mean, come on! Doesn't that woman have a life?

Ordinarily I would agree with you, but we are in our first Christmas sans live-in children in twenty-four years. There are no pitter patter of tiny feet. There is instead a wake up call to a very surly twenty-one year old, who answers his cell phone with...

"Bah Humbug!"

Ah, the innocence of youth...

As a Christmas present, we decided to give him an extra half hour of sleep. As a new parent, he's gonna need it.

So I am sitting here with my mug of hot Christmas coffee, listening to a very Jazzy Christmas CD and pondering a phrase we have probably all heard before.

"Love came down at Christmas."

And it occurs to me that, just perhaps, I don't believe that statement to be entirely accurate.

I think it is an immature conceptualization of faith as something that is given from on high and received down below. It teaches us to look up to God.

Now stick with me here. According to the Christmas story, the angel Gabriel came down from heaven to tell Mary about the impending incarnation.

But Jesus? He didn't come down. He grew within.

And that, I think is, a crucial difference.

When we were children, we thought that storks brought babies from (yes) on high and dropped them into parent's laps. Once we grew older, we knew that it takes a long nine months of inner nurture to bring forth a child. To say nothing of the hard labor required to birth it.

I remember the years of my youth, when Santa came calling in a flying sleigh (there's that on high thing again!) dropping down the chimney and leaving gifts in our greedy little hands, with no thought to cost or effort.

This year, I paid for Christmas, for the first time in my adult life. Everything from the tinsel to the bows, from the stocking stuffers to the baby toys, from the donations to charity to the ham sitting in the fridge. And I have a new appreciation for how much hard work goes into earning that money. Even a modest Christmas doesn't come cheap.

Christmas 2008 came literally from within (with a whole LOTTA help from you!) as I saw the creativity that God has blessed me with blossom into both a business and ministry (of sorts.) And for that, I am eternally grateful.

But I believe we are mistaken when we look up and ask for blessings to rain down upon us. Then we are like a child, asking (and expecting) Daddy to take care of us and catch us when we fall.

Miracles don't come from on high. They grow within the human heart. And they don't come cheap.

If we wish to see God's love at work in the world, we must turn inward. We must allow God to grow within. We must put in the time and effort.

Only then, will we quicken; only then will we feel a new heart begin to beat within us. Only then, will we know how Mary felt as she struggled to bring love into this hard world of ours.

Only then, will we know the true calling of Christ-mass and keep it all the year.

Now THAT'S what I call a Christmas miracle.

May the many blessings of love manifest themselves within your heart and family today, bringing you peace and joy...

Press Pause...

"God walked down the stairs of heaven with a Baby in His arms."

- Paul Scherer

And now we pause for a message from our sponsor...

Sugarplums

"And visions of sugarplums danced in their head..."
- Clement Clarke Moore

This year's free Christmas pattern showcases the beautiful saturated color and lovely deep texture of Malabrigo worsted yarn.

The color is called velvet grapes, but it is really more of a deep plum than a grape purple.


I wanted something easy and quick with a short repeat and a textured stitch that had rounded shapes in it. You can make it a scarf or a wrap; you can make it fat as Santa's belly or thin as a candy cane. You can make it long as a winter's nap or short as an elf.



You can make it any way you want it. Yardage will vary accordingly

Sugarplums


Materials

Malabrigo worsted (yardage will vary)
Size 8 (US) needles

Cast on any multiple of six. (Mine is 60 stitches.)

Work 4 rows of K1, P1 rib.

Main Stitch Pattern

Row 1: K3, *P3, YO, S2KP, YO; rep from * to last three stitches, K3.
Row 2: K3, *P3, K3; rep from * to last three stitches, K3.
Row 3: K3, *YO, S2KP, YO, P3; rep from * to last three stitches, K3.
Row 4: K3, *K3, P3; rep from * to last three stitches, K3.

Repeat these four rows until scarf/wrap is desired length.

Work 4 rows of K1, P1 rib.

Bind off. Weave in ends. Soak and block if a flatter, more open appearance is desired. Remember, blocking will result in a larger finished product. Plan accordingly.

Pattern will also be available on Ravelry as a free download.

Merry Christmas to all
And to all a good night!

Magnolia Mitts

"Let us believe neither half of the good people tell us of ourselves, nor half the evil they say of others."
- John Petit-Senn

When I was younger, one of my favorite reads was a children's book titled "Half Magic" by Edward Eager.If I recall correctly, the book revolved around some sort of talisman that granted its possessor half of whatever they wished for.

To quote Amazon, "Imagine the results emerging from inaccurate efforts: half invisible, half rescued, half everything!"

The book is still available and I heartily recommend it for your children. In fact, I think after I am done here, I will order one for my niece who reads like a fiend.

Now, MY idea of half magic would be if that second mitt, second sock, second sleeve, second half of the scarf just magically knit itself overnight.

MAGNOLIA MITTS

VITAL STATISTICS

SIZE:
LARGE: 6 inch circumference
SMALL: 5 inch circumference
LONG: 9 inches
SHORT: 6 ½ inches
MATERIALS:
1 skein (150 yd) MANOS Silk Blend
or MALABRIGO Silky Merino
four size 3 & 5 (US) doublepoint needles
GAUGE:
8 stitches = 1 inch (twisted rib stitch)

Charted design - Intermediate level - knit in the round.

My studio is strewn with half finished projects, enough to vet the pattern, but not enough to wear.

I have half a set of Magnolia Mitts. If I can just find someone with only one hand, I'll be good to go.

Unfortunately, most people have two hands and both of them want to be warm.


Guess I'll just have to grit my teeth and bear down.

Birthing a pattern has to be easier than birthing a baby, right?

I am doing some Christmas knitting, but I am too ornery...

stubborn...

creative...

to use someone else's pattern.

I was surprised at how many small tweaks I had to make on the fingerless mitts. Stitch count, gauge, needle size, increase placement. A lot went into these little gems.

And a lot took a detour to the frog pond.


I made mine long so they would cover the forearms with a 3/4 length sleeve. They came in just under one skein of the Manos silk blend, but if you are in a hurry, you could easily do two pattern repeats instead of three. Malabrigo's silky merino would also be lovely.

The color is Dove, a lovely ecru with very pale undertones of soft green and pink. Perfect for the delicacy of the design, but I could also see them as Poinsettia mitts in that lovely deep crimson color.


I placed the increases within the thumb gusset so they form a chevron pattern, and added a little picot trim to the edges.


The pattern pulls the bottom of the mitts up in the center, providing a gracefully curved line, and the twisted ribbing ensures a snug fit.

I will try to get better pictures, but it was late last night when I finished (HALF) and it isn't easy taking a picture of your right hand with your left, when you are right handed.

Charted design - Intermediate level - knit in the round.

It is a very speedy little pattern...when you aren't tweaking. I should have the second one completed by the end of the day.

The quote above is quite apt for a week that began with criticism and ended with an increased awareness of the great blessings all of you are to me.

Thank you for all the kind messages. I choose to believe more than half of them, even as I am acutely aware that I am not half so good as you might think.

If that...

Now THAT is what I call magic!

Post Haste

"Make haste slowly."

- Latin Proverb

Just one quick shot...

Well, maybe two...



Magnolia fingerless mitts

in Manos Del Uraguay silk blend

Color: Dove

Now I am off to my LYS for some last minute elf business...

Post haste...

Get it?

Post...

Haste...

-snicker-

ADDENDUM: Of course the pattern will be available sometime soon. Promise...

Taliesin

The Story of Calicoin

There once was a powerful witch called Cerridwen who wished to make her son Afaggdu a powerful potion that would make him a wizard. She ordered her servant, a boy named Gwion, to make a potion that took a year and one day.

He stirred it until the very last day, when Gwion accidentally spilled three drops on his finger. His finger was burning, so he put it in his mouth and swallowed the drops. Gwion became a wizard instantly. Cerridwen found out, and began to chase Gwion.

Gwion first changed into a hare, and Cerridwen changed into a hound. The boy became a fish, and the woman an otter. He turned into a dove, she turned into a hawk. Finally Gwion transformed into a tiny grain of wheat, hiding with many other grains on a barn floor. Cerridwen transformed into a black hen and pecked up all the grains, including Gwion.

Nine days later Cerridwen gave birth to Gwion as a baby. She could not kill her own child, so she tied him up in a leather bag and threw him into the river. He was discovered by a kind man named Elphin, who had no children of his own.

Elphin named the boy Taliesin and raised him. As Taliesin grew, he remembered all that had happened before he was with Elphin, and retained his wizardly knowledge. It was said he became a very great wizard, maybe the greatest in the Islands of Britain before Merlin.



I first began looking at silk/wool blends, when I fell in love with the multicolors of Manos Del Uruguay's silk blend yarn. The colors are really gorgeous. You can see them here.

I wanted something that would blend the colors so I wouldn't get streaks. But I didn't want to overwhelm the pattern. And, of coourse I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I had to tack on a border for a little extra pizazz.

I began with the color stellar...


And a simple scarf pattern. A twisted stitch border and a diagonal windowpane pattern for the body of the scarf.







And then I thought, what about a hat for a Christmas gift?









In Olivewood.






But why stop there?

How about trying it in fingering weight for a baby hat?










Conner's Taliesin Hat in Socks that Rock, color: Fire on the Mountain.



Hmm... Michael needs a winter hat and I have a skein of mmmMalabrigo worsted lying around somewhere.

I was going to knit another one of Jared Flood's hats, but I just couldn't face all those twists...

Yup, the design works in worsted as well.

I took out the triangular inserts in the border for the guys, so it doesn't look too feminine. A plain twisted rib works just fine and will allow them to go about the neighborhood grunting their manhood, while keeping their noggin warm.

And the decreases form a nifty littel spiral at the top of the hat.




See what I mean?

Next up?

Taliesin fingerless mitts...

It's a shapeshifter. And the way it blends the colors is magic.

That's why I named it after the wizard in Welsh folklore

A versatile pattern is a good thing to have when you are knitting a lot of Christmas gifts.


Back to the workshop...

Please

"Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification."
-Romans 15:2

I am a middle child.

Middle children are commonly known as the peacemakers in the family. They are also often "pleasers" by nature, seeking a sense of their own worth through the approval of others.

I spent the first forty-odd years (and some were odder than others) of my life with no sense of who I was or what I did. I mirrored back to others what I thought they wanted to see in me. I tried my darndest.

And, of course, I failed, as indeed we all do when trying to assume the identity of another, rather than the self.

Until I found myself sitting on the psychologists couch, in full blown depressive mode, completely out of touch with my soul and psyche.

When I stand before the gates of heaven, St. Peter will not ask me, "Why weren't you Annie Modisett? Or Stephanie Pearl McPhee?" but rather, "Why weren't you Susan Pandorf?"

Yet most of us consider it a good thing to please others. Even the bible tells us so.

This time of year, especially, we seek to please the recipients of the fruits of our hard earned labor - whether that be a hand knit scarf or a scarce, but dearly desired toy. We want the smile of recognition, the squeal of delight, the heartfelt "thank you" that makes it all worthwhile.

We aim to please.

This thought is on my mind today because of an email I received last night. One of my readers forwarded an email "warning" they had received, which said,

I hope you don't order before looking at the few projects for each one on Ravelry. In the pattern section, type in Sunflower Designs. Then look each one up. Not many people have attempted them, and even less have finished them.

---

One person notes that there were far to many errors in the pattern to even attempt completing it

---

Like you I have wanted them for a long time, and thought it was a great deal, but after reading the comments from the people who attempted to make them I decided against them. That is why I didn't give you a "heads up"

OUCH!!!

Those of you who have been reading me for a while know that I try to be truthful at all times.

I once asked my friend Greg (a terrific psychologist and a truly wonderful human being) if he ever got bored, listening to different people day after day pour out the same old problems. His answer?

"Only if they aren't telling the truth, because then they are wasting my time, and more importantly, theirs."

I don't know about you, but I don't feel, at the ripe old age of 52, I have time to waste. My mother died at age 61. Life is too short and love too precious, to waste our days in lies.

I make mistakes. When I do, I do everything within my power to make things right. I give refunds. I post errata in four different places: here on the blog, in the Ravelry forums, on the Ravelry pattern page, and in downloadable files. This may give the appearance that there are more mistakes than there actually are, but I want to ensure that everyone knows the truth.

I immediately correct the error, update the pattern, notify all who may be affected, and always reissue the updated pattern out to any of those who have purchased it in the past. You only have to ask.

Again, our knitting time is limited; we don't have time to waste on lies. Even if they are unintentional and regrettable. I get that.

And it pains me when I have told you to SSK, when you need to SK2P. In my humble opinion, for what it's worth (which isn't much; my opinion and a quarter will buy you a soda pop...wait a minute...not anymore it won't...) it is the worst thing about being a designer.

My mistakes are mostly of the careless variety - a typo here, a brain fart there. None are intentional and none are, to bely their appelation, care-less. I care. I care very much. I just don't always see clearly.

Sometimes, I see what I want, or expect, to see. That is what test knitters are for. Having no previous expectation as to appearance or structure, they knit EXACTLY WHAT YOU TELL THEM TO.

Most of the time. I have learned during the past year, that even that is no guarantee, especially when it comes to written directions as opposed to charts.

My mistakes are many; I often ask your pardon. And I promise to do everything in my power to make things right. That is all I can do. Short of shutting down.

The second criticism is also of concern to me - the assertion that my patterns are too difficult to finish. I have noticed there are few FOs on Ravelry, and have wondered why. I had chalked it up to the endless fight for space in the Queue, with projects jostling each other for primacy and a spot at the front of the line. I think we all get a bad case of "start-itis" from time to time.

I know that my beaded lace patterns aren't a walk in the park. But I have seen much more difficult patterns. Hell, I have knit much more dificult patterns. And, to be honest, some are sitting in hibernation hell. (Anything with colorwork or intarsia - YIKES - LOVE the look; HATE the process.)

Even I get tired of intricate. By September, after four Garden Variety shawls, I thought if I lifted one more strand, knit two more together, or placed three more beads, I was going to run screaming into the arms of the men with the straightjackets. I realized I needed a break.

So I refocused and knit up some nice quick and relatively simple aperitifs, before returning with Poinsettia.

I want to know what you think, even if it is hard to hear. I believe that knitting is a partnership:

• Between sheep and breeder
• Between spinner and dyer
• Between designer and knitter
• Between giver and recipient

Partnerships depend upon clear, consistent, and honest communication between friends. The feedback I have gotten from you has been overwhelmingly positive until now. It distresses the "pleaser" in me greatly that there are people out there who are unhappy with my work.

On the other hand, I recognize the truth in the hoary maxim, "You can't please all the people all the time."

We are blessed with a plethora of knitting choices. There is room in our craft:

• For those who knit Neibling and those who knit dishcloths.
• For those who design free patterns and those who try to eke out enough to pay the water bill.
• For those who are beginners and those who have done this all their lives.
• For those who knit from their stash and those who surf the web looking for the newest fiber.
• For those who want "easy" and those who relish a challenge.

And one is no better than the other.

If you put yourself out there on a limb, there will always be someone with a chainsaw waiting to cut you down to size. I guarantee it.

I also depend upon it.

To make myself better. To make my patterns better. To move forward together in partnership.

I have pictures to share. I even uploaded them. But I think I have blathered on enough for today. I will save the actual knitting for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

With humble heart and grateful soul, I wish you...

Blessings and happy knitting always.

Christmas Sale!

"Sell cheap and tell the truth."
- Rose Blumkin

From now until the end of the year, I am dropping the price for purchase of the entire Garden Variety Collection (Crocus Pocus, Iris, Hydrangea, Zinnia, and Poinsettia) from $28 to $20. That is five patterns for only $4 each. Can't beat that deal! So, I hope you will add Sunflower Designs to your Christmas list this year.

Remember, these patterns are limited editions. Poinsettia is available only through Jan. 1st and the other four will be retired in March 2009. Get yours today...

Abundance

"Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance."
- John Petit-Senn

Sometimes, it only takes a sentence to improve our outlook on life. I think the one I quoted above is a doozy.

It is an interesting holiday season this year.

REVELATION BY TYPO ALERT: I accidentally typed holidazy. Actually, I think that is a pretty fair description. I just might have to keep using that...

Anyway, as I was saying...

This year:

As the no-longer-looming-but-already-painfully-here recession deepens and the sobering news is interspersed with cheerful advertising...

As my email box fills up with desperate emails entreating me to spend, spend, spend...

As my mail carrier groans with the added weight of all the glossy catalogs ordered by retailers in happier times...

As my desire to indulge my family wars with my fear of impending lay-offs...

I find myself, even more than usual, contemplating what it takes to make us happy.

I will confess to having barely started my Christmas shopping. I have looked, but not yet bought, as I watch my bank balance creep up into enough to fund a modest shopping trip.

Hey, you try earning your keep in increments of $8 or less! It takes a lot of pattern sales to buy a sweater...

So I electronically shuttle from PayPal to Online Banking to Old Navy to Fisher Price (now there's a company I haven't patronized for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time!) to Gap to Williams Sonoma.

At least I don't have to find a parking place. And I can play MY music while I shop.

With a cat in my lap.

And a mug of hot coffee.

But, no matter how serene the surroundings, there is still a creative tension between want, need, the willingness to go into debt, and the ability to pay.

I think to myself, "There just isn't enough!"

And then I read a sentence like the one that leads off this post.

And I humbly beg forgiveness for my foolishness.

I am a knitter. I am a designer. I am a writer. I am a mother. I am a grandmother. I am a wife.

I am a seeker of truth, a child of God.

And I enjoy each and every one of these things. Together they add up to a magnificent abundance.

Sometimes, all it takes is a sentence...

*****

Here are some pictures of my knitting abundance, but first a word (Well, several actually; why use one when a dozen would suffice?) about those eight charts I spoke of yesterday.

I did eight charts, so you won't have to.

I was tired of knitting and ripping out rows. I was unhappy with the balance of the patterns in Rouen. So I charted the whole thing out, including repeats, reduced the size of the graphs and lined them up on the page so I could get an overall picture.

And it worked.


I have added the next element to the foundation of the border I shared with you yesterday:

A secondary border, with vertical ribbing and architectural details.


The color is very pretty; rather an opalescent gray, with bits of pink and blue. Appropriate, I think to a piece that was inspired by the incomparable Monet and his paintings of Rouen.

And now, I am ready to move onward and upward to the soaring heights my creative soul can reach. I have an abundance of enjoyable challenge waiting for my hand. God will provide.

It's a good thing.

Failure Is NOT an Option!

Rouen Cathedral

"The pursuit of peace resembles the building of a great cathedral. It is the work of a generation. In concept it requires a master-architect; in execution, the labors of many."
- Hubert Humphrey

I don't know about peace, but I have a whole new respect for those who built the great cathedrals.






Eight whopping charts









And one border later...












Have I bit off more than I can chew?



Naaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!





To quote Winston Churchill...

“We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire, Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”

But I DO think I'll call it a design day and do some easy, relatively mindless knitting on Protopopov!

Now THAT is what I call an option...

Cathedrals

Three people were at work on a construction site. All were doing the same job, but when each was asked what the job was, the answers varied. "Breaking rocks," the first replied. "Earning my living," the second said. "Helping to build a cathedral," said the third.
- Peter Schultz

The Cathedral Collection
a series of six cabled stoles in Malabrigo Silky Merino
inspired by the great cathedrals of the world and their incomparable artistry

Rouen Cathedral in Rouen, France















Cape Cod Gray

St. Nicholas Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland











Natural

Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, Great Britain











Tatami

Bristol Cathedral in Bristol Great Britain










Cloudy Sky

St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia












Coral

Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany








Smoke

COMING IN 2009

Hydrangea Stole Errata

MINOR GLITCH
On Chart C, row 45:

Center stitch should be a knit symbol, NOT a SK2P.

MAJOR GLITCH

OK, Now see, this is what happens when you have someone test knit the scarf but not the stole…

When I divided the B chart in two, so I could fit it on the page, I inadvertently deleted one repeat of the chart. (When I do this, I have to copy the chart and one by one, delete the bottom rows on one of the copies, and the top rows on the other.)

My face is very red… I have also posted errata on the pattern page, and put a new chart on Ravelry’s free download page . I am so sorry to be the cause of your un-happy knitting today!!!!

Here is a new chart B2 for those of you without access to Ravelry. I think you can right click on it and save a copy to your computer, then enlarge if necessary.

Of course, you should remember you are talking to the woman who couldn't figure out how to program the computerized thermostat...

Looking Forward

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway, yay
And I wonder if I'm really with you now,
Or just chasin' after some finer day?

Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late;
Is keepin' me waitin'...

- Carly Simon

This time of year is all about looking forward: to the holidays, to vacation, to the new year, to a new administration, to the first snow, to the football playoffs.

You name it; we look forward to it.

And it got me to thinking (always a dangerous prospect!) And the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became, that having something to look forward to is essential to human happiness. Or at least we think it is...

A while back, the Indianapolis Colts won the super bowl. We yelled. We cheered. We bought tee shirts and game videos and various commemorative items. We stood out in sub-zero weather to cheer the team. It felt huge; it felt important; it mattered...

At the time.

Two years later it's a blip on the NFL's radar screen.

My eldest son got married in August. I started looking for a dress in January. I had a makeover at the Bobbi Brown counter. I got a new hairdo. My DH lost ten pounds. It was very important that we put our best foot forward.

And now? What remains are the memories of love and joy, not the appearance of the flowers on the table or the garb of the groom's parents.

MSNBC, which has been talking non-stop about the election first, then the economy, is now yammering incessantly about O.J. Simpson's sentencing.

And I remember how my parents watched his murder trial obsessively. Like it mattered. And I think how little it actually did (to those who weren't friends and family, of course.)

So why do we invest things with so much importance?

So we have something to look forward to.

I publish a pattern and people want to know when the next one is coming out.

My WIP basket should serve as a deterrent to my taking on anything else. But it doesn't.

Marketing does a masterful job of creating need in our general society. We are always looking forward to the next big thing.

And I am as guilty as the next knitting whore enthusiast. I post pics of Durum (that golden thing to the left - I know what you want) on Ravelry and everyone comes a- calling (but they don't bring pie, darn it! What happened to our manners?)

When I was depressed I came up with a phrase that summed up everything I felt at the time; that so perfectly captured the malaise and despair I felt, that I christened it the "mantra of the clinically depressed"...

"It doesn't matter."

Whatever "it" is.

What we had for dinner...

Didn't matter.

What I should be doing instead of staring out the window and crying...

Didn't matter.

What I liked, what I thought, what I did, who I was...

Didn't matter.

And that nearly killed me.

Until the day I knew the truth.

I mattered.

To my family, to my friends, to the world, to God.

Because everyone matters. Life is only about relationships and it is hard to have them, without other people.

We need something to matter in this world of ours.

We need this so much that if there isn't anything particularly meaningful going on in our lives, we infuse something else with meaning, just so we can go on living, hoping, looking forward.

And all along, what matters, what's real, is right here, right now:

• in our homes - our families, our health, our lives, our loves.
• in our neighborhoods -our friends and neighbors
• in the world at large - our fellow humans and our commitment to their well being.

Maybe we need to stop looking forward and look around instead.

And maybe I should quit thinking preaching, and get back to my needles...

After all, yarn matters too - to us anyway...