It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Halloween Christmas

All things come to she who waits works her butt off...

OR NOT...

BACK TO THE DRAWING KNITTING? BOARD...

Better pics tomorrow; wanted to block this much out and make sure I was happy with it.

I WASN'T...

TOO BUSY AND THE TWISTED CHEVRON DOESN'T PROVIDE ENOUGH CONTRAST TO THE FLORAL MOTIF...

STAY TUNED...

WATCH THIS SPOT...

BAH HUMBUG...

Welcome to My World

"Sharing what you have is more important than what you have."
- Albert M. Wells

So...do you really want to see what I have?


I have the beginnings of a Poinsettia scarf.

ONLY the beginnings.

No middle.

Just muddle.

and a picture

But hey! The border looks good...

Know what else I have?

I have a bunch of failed designs - too open - too busy - too whatever...

I love the yarn.


I love the gold beads with little red flowers.



I'm not really a hard person to please. But I know when it's right. There's this little subliminal "click" inside when the yarn finds what it wants to be. And I can't wait to knit more on it.

Poinsettia just isn't there yet.

sigh...

But I love the border; see the little Christmas trees with their golden garlands?

What else do I have?

I have a headache. Up till 2:00 this morning before conceding defeat.

I have a strong cup of coffee. Did I mention I was up till 2:00?

I have a bunch of frogged seasilk.


But I also have another idea...

Later...

Delay

"A delay is better than a disaster"
-Unknown

I spent the weekend waiting:

• for the final beads for Poinsettia to come in the mail, so I can begin knitting.
• for news of a dear friend's son and his ongoing battle to recover from brain surgery last week. (If you believe, please offer a prayer for Tyler; if you don't, offer hope)
  
• for my test knitter to finish up Sherwood.
• for the housing market to improve
• for the economy to settle
• for our next leader to be chosen
• for my grandson to open his eyes again (last two times we saw the young family, Conner slept through dinner - good for Mom & Dad, not so much for eager grandmas)

Delays are an inevitable part of life. We don't have to enjoy them, but we do have to understand and accept them. We fuss; we fret; we hope; we pray...

and not one bit of it changes the course of time.

So we wait.

• In hospital rooms.
• In churches.
• In homes.
• In businesses
• In schools.

And while we wait, we knit.

I used to sit on several community boards, and I always took my knitting to long monthly meetings. A fellow board member once asked me, "Do you have to do that during meetings?"

My response?

"You wouldn't like me much if I didn't."

Somehow the act of manipulating sticks and string calms my soul and grants me that which is sometimes all too rare and hard to come by:

Patience, purpose, and perspective.

Delay has something to teach us: about flexibility, about tolerance, about the fact that we are not the ones in charge.

About the true nature of our world and our proper place in the grand scheme of things.

The present moment hangs suspended between the past and future; we live between the dreaming and the coming true. Delay builds character. It tests us. It tempers us.

We can spend our lives fighting every delay in fear and frustration.

Or we can meet the challenge with reverence and respect for the past, grace for the present, and hope for the future.

We choose. And what we choose makes life an eternal surprise or an endless hell.

For us, and for all those who come into contact with us.

*****

Speaking of delay, remember this?


Suie is finishing up her test knit and I am pushing it this week, so Sherwood's long delayed release should be later this week, God willing.

Good news for those of you who have been patiently waiting.

My other priority for the week is to get Poinsettia far enough along to get the pattern out to Maria the wonder knitter by the weekend.

So what do I have to share with you, while we wait together?

How about a few pics of another upcoming Aperitif?

Diamond Girl (yes, from the Seals & Croft song - I just dated myself)



Yarn: Handmaiden Silk Twist in Stardust


And yes, this one has beads. But I still place it in the aperitif category because of the easily memorized and executed stitch pattern.

In the meantime, here's a final pic of my grandson Conner modeling his Sea Baby ensemble to tide you over.


Cute, huh? And his eyes are open!

All things come to those who wait.

Eventually...

Susan the Designer

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
-Douglas Adams

Hi. This is Joe the Plumber Susan the Designer.

I live with Scott the Computer Guru, Pippin the Cat and Jingle the Cat.

I used to live with Nicholas the Student, who now resides with Katherine the Mom and Conner the Baby.

And then there is Michael the Musician.

(Fake real names were used in producing this post, to better protect exploit the privacy of the participants. If Joe can take all the media exposure, we can!)

This is Gotham the Hat and Scarf - can be ordered over there on the right - decided to price at $4 because:
A. I'm flaky
B. I wanted to be sure everyone who wanted to keep their ears warm this winter could afford to do so, even if their portfolio is dog meat
C. I'm too lazy to deal with so many price differentials
D. all of the above







This is Ziggle the Wrap











Barely one day old.












And Brackets the Tree Fungus












Not to be confused with Brackets the Scarf/Wrap





And now you've all had your morning Joe...

Is this any way to run Obama/ McCain the Campaign?

Something's Coming

size- hat: adult medium
scarf: 8 in by 60 in
materials:
blue sky alpacas sport or other sport weight yarn
hat: 150 yd
scarf: 500 yd
optional trim: 10 yd contrast color
hat: size 4 & 5 (us) double point needles
scarf: size 5(us) needle
gauge: 9 stitches = 1 inch
(in twist stitch rib on size 5 needles)

This hat and scarf have no actual cabling. The crossed appearance is achieved by gathering the ribbing with the working yarn as in smocking. No cable needles necessary. MUCH easier and faster too!

"Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!"

- from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein

Look what I did on my summer autumn vacation!

I made a hat!

(Hey! It beats a lanyard or a pinch pot any day...)

This is the newly christened (i.e. renamed)

Gotham hat

You may recall pictures of the matching scarf a few weeks ago, only at that time I was calling it Cafe au L'ait.

I decided to name it for the arched pattern rather than the color, since it would be lovely in any color.

Arches make me think of Gothic, which morphed into Gotham when I wasn't looking.

(It worked for Batman. Maybe I can tap into all of that Dark Knight craze)

Yeah. Right. So not gonna happen...

ADDENDUM: This hat has no actual cabling. The crossed appearance is achieved by gathering the ribbing with the working yarn as in smocking. No cable needles necessary. MUCH easier and faster too!

Anyhoo...

The pattern goes on sale Friday. I've priced it at $6 because it includes directions for two items: a matching hat and scarf. So you get two for the price of one (and a half)

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

If you act now, I'll include bonus instructions for knitting a headband, a la Calorimetry

(But only if you are among the first one hundred callers...)

kidding...

(but I will throw in a set of Ginsu knives)

no, I won't...

Now, if I could just get some heat coming, all would be wonderful back home on the sunflower farm. Furnace on the fritz again. 62 lousy degrees in here.

BRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Great Northwoods

"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day."
-Monty Python

"So", I can hear y'all asking, "What is Susan doing way up there in the Great Northwoods?"

(Hey! You try spending 3 days alone in a cabin in the woods; you'll start hearing things too!)

Hunting moose with Sarah Palin?

Communing with the bears?

Clear cutting a new trans Canadian bike trail?

Standing in a frigid stream in plastic panties, looking for trout?

Nope.

I'm knitting, silly!

Look what arrived in yesterday's mail drop (yes, we have mail in the Great Northwoods, provided the dog team holds up)

kidding...

Two full skeins of Christmas cheer.


Poinsettia goodness.

Now, if only I had remembered my skein winder. Guess this'll have to do for now.



We live simply here in the Great Northwoods.

Now excuse me while I go churn the butter, chop down a tree, build a fire, and gather berries for a pie.

On second thought, maybe I'll just stop at the Leland Mercantile (affectionately known to locals as "the Merc".)

Surely, the dogsleds deliver pies too.

Of course, I could always "put on women's clothing and hang around in bars."

later...

Patience

"Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul."
-Francis Bacon

"If I'm not back in five minutes... just wait longer!"
-Jim Carrey

Well, life is never dull on the sunflower farm, especially when I pack it up and move it to Michigan.

Every time I visit the Northwoods, my email/internet goes wonky. In April I could receive email at the local coffee house, but not send. Now THAT was frustrating.

(Of course, last October, nobody missed me. I had just published my first pattern and the demand was...

null and void.)

Knowing that was no longer the case, I took steps before returning in July. I changed internet providers and glommed onto the next door neighbor's wireless feed (with their permission. Thanks Jerry & Jeannie! Only cost me a plate of chocolate chip cookies.) I had connectivity from the cottage (ooh! revelation by typo - cootage - what you get when the individual inhabiting said dwelling is no long in the , ahem, shall we say, FULL bloom of youth) I was in sunflower heaven.

And now, I have a brand new laptop with built in wifi and everything. I was good to go.

Until I got here last night and discovered no feed from the neighbors. Either they have changed their provider and password, or I am back to checking messages and filling orders once a day from the homely confines of the local watering hole coffee house.

So, patience my friends. I WILL get back with you. I WILL fill orders on a daily basis.

I will NOT, however, live 24/7 at Stone House Bread.

They aren't open 24/7 for one thing...

I'm just glad I don't have to travel to Traverse City to pick up my mail.

Nanook Susan of the North, signing off...

On the Road Again

"On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is makin' music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again."

- Willie Nelson

I'm en route between Indiana and Michigan today...

Visiting the parental units...

Spreading sunflower goodness across state lines...

Gee, I hope that isn't illegal...

Catch you on the flip side (now THERE is a dated reference; CDs have no flip sides)

Why did the designer cross the road state line?

To get to the other side, of course!

Give me nine hours or so, and I'll be back in business from the great North woods. I'll send out pattern orders then.

Arrivederci...

Third Time's the Charm

SIZE: 10 in wide by 72 in long
MATERIALS:
3 skeins (500 yd) KOIGU Mori
Or other fingering/ laceweight yarn
Size 4 (US) needles
GAUGE:
5 stitches = 1 inch
(Triad stitch - blocked)

This little bit of lacey goodness is lovely in any fingering/lace yarn. The pattern does a nice job mixing up the colors of a handpaint or multi-color yarn, but the lines are interesting enough to stand alone in a solid color.

It reminds me of those pictures where one person sees two wineglasses and another sees an old woman in profile; do it in green and call the openings shamrocks; do it in red and call them hearts.

Whatever you choose, call it gorgeous!

16 stitch, 16 row rep. all the way to the finish line. Easy, no?

Written Directions.

“I don't really see why we can’t go on as three.”

“Triad” by David Crosby

So, I had this skein of Koigu's new wool/silk blend lying around...

Y'all can see where this is heading already.

Literally.

This is Triad.

A really fun pattern to work - nifty

Over there on the right.

you know what to do.

OOPS sighting

Leaves of Grass

Written Directions

Row 15: should be ...K4 (slipping marker)...

Row 23: should be ...YO, SSK, K1, YO, SSK... and in the left-hand side of the chart ...K2tog, YO, K1, k2tog, YO...

Row 24: should be P1, K1, P3... and at the end of the row ...P3, K1, P1

The chart is correct.

I can't really say I am surprised. The written directions were quite tedious and long; while I was writing them out, I tried to be careful but I thought to myself, "If I don't mess up somewhere, it's gonna be a blessed miracle!"

Maria, the wonder knitter, knit by the chart. Thank you Liz for the feedback. Y'all please let me know asap if you find anything else, OK?

Sherwood update: After being stuck in test knitter purgatory (I lost her name in one of my computer freezes) for the summer, I have sent her out this morning for another knitter to try her hand. Hopefully, she will have smooth sailing and we can get her to market by November.

Late Bloomers

"As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.'
- Denis Waitley

Thank you all for your ongoing interest in Sunflower Designs. Your enthusiasm and passion is inspiring.

The Aperitifs Collection is flying off the shelves out of the laptop (we don't have shelves on the sunflower farm - way too organized for a chronic right-brainer like me.) I have the feeling there will be more than a few of these designs under the Christmas tree this year. Look for another release later this week...

A new friend on Ravelry has reminded me that we probably have a few latecomers who might benefit from a reiteration of the details of the Garden Variety Collection.

The Garden Variety Collection is a series of lace scarves/shawls inspired by the magnificent diversity we can find in our garden flowers,and the gorgeous colors of Handmaiden yarns. The patterns are designed for Sea Silk or Mini Maiden although other yarns of similar gauge can be (and have been) substituted successfully. Designs feature extensive crochet hook beading (optional) to enhance the lines of the patterns.

So far there have been four releases:

Crocus Pocus

Iris

Hydrangea

and
Zinnia

Sunflower was supposed to come out this month.



But factors such as repetitive stress injury, family illness, new grandchild, punishing pace, and size of the finished piece have combined to delay its release. Oh, c'mon now, don't cry; you know how that affects me...

Poinsettia will still come out in November as scheduled, in time for Christmas, and that pattern will be emailed free of charge to all who have purchased the four previously published patterns. Don't worry; Evelyn at Knitty Noddy and I have been keeping track of who orders what.

I have first pictures to share of the sample skeins that Jana at Handmaiden has dyed exclusively for Poinsettia.

Evelyn is shipping one of each to me today so I can decide between them. The main difference seems to be the relative amounts of red, gold, and green and the overall intensity of the colors. I will knit a bit with both and then decide which to use. What do you think? Which one do you like?

(Please keep in mind that this an informal non-binding survey.)

This yummy color of Sea Silk will be available (soon!) exclusively from Knitty Noddy.

So don't throw up your hands in despair.

Don't mope.

Don't cancel your subscriptions, tie up your loose ends, and jump out your window...

(Y'all can detect the heavy irony in my tone, can't you?)

Sunflower

and
Bougainvillea

will be released following Poinsettia.

Not exactly what I had planned, but real life got in the way. I hope that those of you who have been knitting the series will embrace these two "late bloomers" as a welcome break from the winter doldrums, even without the added bribe carrot of the free pattern.

Since the release schedule has changed, I am pushing back the retirement date of these patterns accordingly. They are still limited editions, but I will continue to offer the patterns for sale until March 2009. At that time, all seven patterns will be retired and I will begin production on the 2009 edition.

(Yeah. I know. I'm a glutton for punishment.)

I trust that all of my fans (Gosh, do i really have fans?) will understand the slight delay and accept my heartfelt apologies.

Blessings & happy knitting always!

Simple Gifts

"Tis a gift to be simple
Tis a gift to be free
Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
T'will be in the valley of love and delight."

It is hard to get excited about knitting today. The news here in the US is full of both the worldwide financial meltdown and our hotly contested race for president. We are worried about our retirement funds, the kid's college expenses, how we are going to make both ends meet at an increasingly lean middle.

These are important issues and I hope all of us in the US are registered to vote. This year, no matter whether we live in a "blue" state or a "red" state, we are all touched by the most important state - the state of our union. Never before, in my lifetime and maybe in yours, have the challenges facing us been so urgently in need of our thoughtful consideration and civic engagement.

Of course, we all know knitting began as a strictly utilitarian occupation. If your family had cold feet, you knitted socks. But the Dickensian days of Bob Cratchit wrapping his muffler thrice around his neck to compensate for the lack of coal in the grate are long past.

These days, we knit because we want to, not because we have to. We face a plethora of choices: in yarn, in patterns, in local yarn stores, in on line purveyors, in knitting groups, in blogs, in fiber festivals, in what groups we belong to on Ravelry. What we make often costs more than we could buy the same item for, in these days of mass production and foreign labor.

So how do we cope with our strained budgets and our shrinking discretionary income? The same way knitters always have. We adjust. We make do. We find creative ways to live our lives and pursue our craft. We remember the heart and soul of our pursuit: the beauty of our hands, the warmth of our love, the comfort of our community.

A lot of us will knit from our stash. Many will increase the charity knitting we do, as more families fall into need. Some will work on those forgotten WIPs, lurking in the depths of our closets.

And all of us will rejoice in the blessing that knitting is in our lives.

In these uncertain days, I am beyond gratified (try amazed!) that you choose to spend your shrinking dollar and hard earned free time with Sunflower Designs.

I hope you and your family are weathering the financial storm and that you are drawing peace and comfort from your knitting.

I have every faith that our community will rise to meet the challenge that lies before us. Knitters are resilient people. We know what is important.

And we know how to turn, turn, till we come down right.

It's Twins!

Knit the harvest! Cute cabled design features pumpkins and vines running vertically up the length of the scarf. Perfect for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Written directions and an easily memorized repeat make this pattern suitable for a wide varieety of knitters.

Includes directions for two versions: one in worsted and one in fingering weight. Both versions require approx. 650 yards yarn (3 skeins Malabrigo, 2 skeins Camelspin.)

The worsted version is more casual, a quicker, chunkier knit, measuring 12” by 60” and using size 7 & 8 needles.

Fingering version drapes better and is long enough to wrap several times around the neck, measuring 12” by 72” and using size 2 & 3 needles.

"Sisters, sisters
There were never such devoted sisters,
Never had to have a chaperon, no sir,
I'm there to keep my eye on her
Caring, sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress scarf, and I stayed home"
- Irving Berlin

OK, I can't really claim this idea as my own. Maria, the wonder knitter, was in the middle of my newest scarf pattern, which calls for fingering weight yarn ( I used Handmaiden Camelspin) and emailed me.

"I think this would be gorgeous in a bulkier yarn too. Could you offer a beginning stitch count for that?"

Great idea, Maria!



As long as I was writing up the pattern, I might as well offer it in two weights. So I hied myself to a nunnery LYS and found some luscious Malabrigo worsted in Glazed Carrot. This yarn is bright, folks! Takes carrot top to a whole new level...

So different from the muted, bronze- like shade of the Camelspin. Different texture too. Soft and cushy, springy, fun!

As opposed to the Camelspin's elegant drape and velvety color gradation.

So y'all can have two different ways to knit the harvest.

Are you the kind of person who plants tombstones in the yard and invests $149 on a life size mummy? (no kidding folks; check this out!)



Do you wear your jack-o-lantern earrings and light up pin the entire month?



Do you spend hours in front of the mirror, perfecting your evil cackle, all the better to scare you them with, my dear?


Then you don't have any time to waste! Root around in your stash, find a little bright orange worsted, and get cracking...


Or are you the laid back, tastefully understated type?

Do you hand out Martha Stewart designer popcorn balls on October 31st?


Do you painstakingly arrange an autumn harvest tableau on your mantle, utilizing decorative gourds, seasonal mums, and just the right touch of bittersweet branches?


Do the strains of "We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing.." waft sedately through your cranium, from now till thanksgiving, when you turn the centerpiece into a horn of plenty fit for the heavily laden table, groaning with home baked pies and biscuits?


Then you are a fingering type. You want understated elegance draped around your neck. And you don't mind the size 2 and 3 needles and extra time required to get there from here.

We have something for everyone down here on the sunflower farm.

Or, at least, we try...

Cabled design features pumpkins and vines running vertically up the length of the scarf.

Written directions and an easily memorized repeat make this pattern suitable for a wide variety of knitters.

Includes directions for two versions: one in worsted and one in fingering weight. Both versions require approx. 650 yards yarn (3 skeins Malabrigo, 2 skeins Camelspin.)

The worsted version is more casual, a quicker, chunkier knit, measuring 12” by 60” and using size 7 & 8 needles.

Fingering version drapes better and is long enough to wrap several times around the neck, measuring 12” by 72” and using size 2 & 3 needles.

Release date: Tuesday, October 7th. Now taking pre-orders.

"They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere

When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here--

Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,

And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;

But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze

Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock--

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock"

- James Whitcomb Riley

Leaves of Grass

SIZE: 14 in wide by 72 in long
MATERIALS
660 yards fingering weight self-striping yarn
Prototype knit with Elegant Yarns Charming – color 02
Size 3 (US) needles

Heavier yarns such as Noro’s Kureyon and Silk Garden may be substituted with size 7 needles for a larger stole)

“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars.”
- Walt Whitman

It never ceases to amaze me:

How this...

Turns into this...

Which isn't bad...

Because the colors are lovely...

and the feel so delightfully sproingy (which Blogger says isn't a word - What do they know?)

The myriad shades of green flow and ebb across the piece; they enchant you, drawing you deeper into the forest, weaving a faerie spell to hold you..

And you think you couldn't possibly love it any more...

And then you block it out...

And you do.

No beads ( for a change)

No charts (unless you want one - row by row written directions are included)

No fuss (once you get past the end panels, the rest is one long stretch of easily memorized 8 row pattern repeat)

No fooling.

Pattern is now available as electronic file only, over on the sidebar, for a modest $4.

Like Rumplestiltskin, we spin straw into gold.

Like alchemists, we turn the common grass beneath our feet...

Into the journey work of stars...

Ol' Walt really knew what he was talking about...