Housekeeping

"Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household."

- Erica Jong

I am a lousy housekeeper.

No ifs, ands or buts. I would rather be creating something new, than maintaining something old.

My house is a pit, my lacework impeccable - sigh...

Which is why it has taken me this long to put my house in order.

Now that all of the patterns in the Fellowship of the Ring series (first of the Lord of the Rings Collection) are out, I have compiled them into both a comprehensive E-book of all 13 patterns (including Evenstar) for $60. This is a $12 savings over purchasing them individually.

I have also separated them into three"mini-collections" of four patterns each.

Wee Wonders $18

four small accessory patterns

Bag End, Goldberry, Rivindell, & Bombadil

Traveling Togs $22

four cabled patterns

Argonath, Dwarrowdelf, Lothlorien, & Strider

Elven Delicacies $25

four lace patterns

Evenstar, Galadriel's Mirror, Legolas, & Mithril

This way, those of you who love lace, or cables, or small projects can purchase a selection that includes only your favorites and still take advantage of a reduced price.

You can purchase here on the sidebar, or on Ravelry's website. Either way, you will download through Ravelry, so can keep the patterns in your library if you so desire.

You do NOT have to be a member of Ravelry to use their download provider.

I have also made another page that features the Fellowship Patterns.

*****

Now, anybody do windows?

Evenstar Errata

Chart 2

row 52, st 12 s/b a spiral symbol denoting k3.

Evenstar Revealed

êl síla Ai! Aníron Undómiel
I 'lîr en êl luitha 'uren Ai! Aníron...
From darkness I understand the night: dreams flow, a star shines
Ah! I desire Evenstar
Look! A star rises out of the darkness.
The song of the star enchants my heart
Ah! I desire...

At last we have come to the end of the journey. No more guessing; no more wondering; no more pieces to the puzzle. All has been revealed at last.

I want to thank my moderators for all their hard work on the KAL, my family for allowing me the time and space necessary to undertake so large a task, my friends for encouraging me to expand my design capabilities...

Most of all, I want to thank all of you: my readers & knitters.

There have been a few bumps along the way (OY!), but without your dedication, generosity, and incredible talent & knowledge, this experience would have been much diminished for all of us.

I have never met a more amazing group of individuals, nor seen a more beautiful collection of finished objects. You are absolutely the best!

EVENSTAR SHAWL

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING COLLECTION
a beaded lace creation from the needles of Susan Pandorf

MEASUREMENTS
60 inch diameter
MATERIALS
1500 yds. laceweight yarn
Sample knit with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread 2, color: Winter Solstice
3000 size 8 seed beads
size 3 (US) needles or to obtain gauge
crochet hook for beading

Written & Charted Directions
Advanced Intermediate Level

Swatch Directions Included

A central medallion of Evenstar stitch is surrounded by a second ring of woodland leaves and mesh, inspired by the work of Herbert Niebling. The third ring of the pattern evokes images of the arched doorways & windows of Rivendell, before returning to the Evenstar motif, this time surrounded by a blooming flower and elongated as in the Evenstar necklace itself.

Upon completion of the main part of the shawl, directions are given for a beaded (optional) lace edging around the outside of the shawl.

This is a circular shawl. You begin at center and knit around in spiral fashion until you reach the outer edge. You are always knitting on the right side of the fabric, until you reach the final border.

Shawl uses PI configuration of doubling your stitches every so many rows, rather than increasing on each round. Increase rounds are between charts.

**************

So...

For better or for worse (and there has been plenty of both) here she is: complete at last!

May she bring her wearers justified pride in a job well done, the inherent joy to be found in all creative and generative activities, and hope for a future free from conflict and woe.

Blessings & happy knitting...always

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.

-Spanish Proverb

Just heard back from my proofreader; she got called away from the office to Dusseldorf.

She is done with the proofing and will get it back to me within 8 hrs, as soon as she returns to the office in London and her computer.

So Evenstar will be ready for public consumption tomorrow! YAY!

Thank you for your patience...

An Open letter to My Customers

As many if you know, there has been considerable debate and heated argument on Ravelry regarding issues about Evenstar and my business practices.

I posted the following on the Evenstar Boards this afternoon. I offer it here as well, in the spirit of openess & fairness.

The "drama" has gone on long enough. In fact it has gone on far too long.

I will admit to not having read every post in all threads. After repeated attempts to address the grievances of disappointed knitters in a businesslike fashion, I have come to the conclusion that nothing I can say or do will satisfy, short of taking down my shingle and quitting the business. Replying to repeated complaints over and over, when nothing new is added to the mix is a waste of both my time and yours.

At some point you have to agree to disagree and leave the table.

Do I knit halves on projects that are identical on both ends and joined at the center? Yes, I do. I have made no secret of that fact. If you visit my projects page, you will see honesty about what is finished and what is not.

I like my ends to be symmetrical so my designs often feature a join. I don't mind the graft/3 needle bind off. Now that I know this is an issue for some people, I have updated all of my pattern pages to display this information. Whenever possible, I try to offer other options for those who do not like this method of construction.

Was I honest about the fact that I was knitting along with you on Evenstar? It is clearly stated right at the top of the announcement thread and in my blog. The whole reason this KAL came into existence was the desire expressed by people who did not want to wait until June to knit this pattern.

Do I usually publish something I have not knitted or tested or done before (as in the case of grafting or doing a 3 needle bind off)? No. If I am doing something different for the join, as in Dwarrowdelf & Mehndi, I work it out and complete the center portion as well.

The only exception to this rule is my free patterns. Until Legolas, they were simple enough not to need testing. I have been honest about the Legolas pattern problems and deeply regret putting an untested product on the market. I am doing everything within my power to correct my unfortunate oversight and learn from my mistake.

Do I test knit? Yes I do. But until Evenstar, all my test knitters were chart people. Most of my patterns were charted only, prior to Evenstar. You will see most errata were in written directions, which I do not use. Since the second clue, I have added a second, written directions, test knitter.

Do they make mistakes? Sometimes. The greatest pitfall in knitting is doing what you know is right versus what is on the page. I ask them to do only what is there in writing, but that does not always happen; example: the wrong direction slants of the wrong side decreases, due to the software error in Goldberry. If they had done what was in the written directions, the scarf would have looked wrong and the error would have been caught.

Do I knit from the written directions? No. I find written directions incredibly hard to keep track of. Too many places to go wrong. I cannot get through a row, without messing it up. I am a visual person. I "see" the pattern,to the extent that anything uncharted from Barbara Walker's books gets charted immediately before I pick up a needle.

Am I bad at written directions? Yes, I am. This is why I am testing the Intwined Design software. While it does not catch every problem, it provides a framework from which to work. It does not however include repeats, parentheses, or asterisks; those must be added by hand. It has additional problems with the stitch library, from time to time.

Is it worth the trouble to provide written directions to charted designs? I have debated this question a lot over the past few months. Designs of this complexity rarely include written directions. I provided written directions for two reasons:

1) A lot of "written directions" knitters contacted me, requesting they be able to participate
2) I think the more often you compare a chart with written directions, the sooner you begin to understand, or "read" your lace.

The inclusion of written directions brings many into the knitting process who would otherwise be excluded.

Do my test knitters knit the entire pattern? Not always. It depends on the construction of the individual piece. For example, they each knit the center panel of Dwarrowdelf and one repeat of one side, plus the border design. In other words they worked through all the directions without doing all the repeats. Then they ripped back and will complete at their leisure, with my thanks.

Do I use a proofreader/tech editor? I never have until this project, but added one after the second clue, when it was suggested to me. Is she perfect? No. Are there better people out there? Probably, but this person has experience and is volunteering her services, for which I am eternally grateful.

Are there errata? Absolutely! Are they due to my business practices? Absolutely not.

Do I miss deadlines? Sometimes. We all have lives and other commitments; most of us have other jobs. Sometimes it is due to a misjudgment on my part; sometimes a pattern gets stuck in the pipeline due to circumstances beyond my control.

Do I read every post in every forum? No, I don't. I did when we started out, but the sheer volume of the posts became too much to manage. That is why we have four moderators. If I read every post of every thread of every group that has anything to do with Sunflower Designs, I would spend all my time on line and have no time to produce anything else.

Do I care about my knitters? Yes, I do. In an ideal world, everyone who knits one of my patterns would clearly understand all directions, never have to frog anything, and pick the ideal yarn for every project. I do not ask for, promote, nor want any "drama." I want happy knitting always and feel very bad when something I have done causes difficulties.

When people do have a problem I try, within reason, to address those issues fairly and in a timely fashion. If someone else has offered a solution before I get to it, I thank them for that, and am glad the person helped out. I do not always respond, because I feel someone else has provided the answer already and people would prefer not to wade through two replies saying essentially the same thing.

Do I have "fangirls"? I think this is a demeaning appellation for those who express affection for someone or something. People should be free to like or dislike whomever and whatever they please. Those who dislike me and/or my patterns are not "crazy" or anything else demeaning. They are merely unhappy customers. Likewise those who enjoy my company and/or my patterns. They are not "fangirls", but happy customers and friends.

Do I manufacture drama? No. I hate this. It is antithetical to everything I believe in and stand for. I believe people are basically good. I believe that love is what we are here for. I think we should be helping, not harming each other.

Am I sorry for all this? You have no idea how much.

This needs to end & it needs to end now. I will issue refunds to any who have a legitimate gripe about the pattern, not the yarn, or the care & feeding of the KAL, or my past actions & words, or those of others.

I am sorry. I am human. I have had enough. As have we all.

In the effort to turn this negative experience into something positive, I have decided to make an additional donation to Knitter's Without Borders: one dollar for every post about these issues. Good cause, good karma...

I am locking this thread and the positive experiences thread and will be deleting all future comments that talk about other people (no matter whether they are happy or unhappy with the experience), rather than the knitting of the pattern. I will instruct my moderators to do likewise. Those who do not abide by these rules will be asked to leave.

Thank you for your time spent reading this. I ask that no comments be left so that no one can take offense in any way. Those who wish to speak further may contact me directly by email at susanpandorf@comcast.net

Evenstar Update

Heard from my proofreader this morning. She had a work-related crisis yesterday, which kept her at the office late, so she did not get a chance to proof last night.

So, no complete Evenstar today, but hopefully over the weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Random Acts of Knitting

In complex situations, we may rely too heavily on planning and forecasting and underestimate the importance of random factors in the environment. That reliance can also lead to delusions of control.

-Hillel J. Einhorn

My thoughts are scattered today - not good for a writer. I don't know if it is due to the heat which has suddenly struck hard at the midsection of our country, the many patterns I have in the pipeline at the moment, or the push-me-pull-you nature of balancing the demands on my time.

All I know is that I am having difficulty settling down to any one thing right now. I work on Evenstar's beaded border until my eyes and brain give out (which comes sooner on some days than on others) then pick up Dwarrowdelf to finish the second side. When that feels stale, I knit on Strider which is already in test knit and about 10 rows from sample completion.

When all else fails to interest, I work on another design which I have had in mind for Fellowship since it's inception, but had not finalized in time for the initial offering. This one is low on the priority list as it is not part of the original series, but I hope to have it ready for publication in August, just in time for you to complete it before the cold winds of winter strike again.

Evenstar's release has been pushed back from June 1st to the 4th (next Friday) in consideration of the holiday weekend and the many festivities surrounding it. I have learned (to our detriment) the consequences of premature release (now that sounds a lot racier than it should-lol) and want to make sure the final product is thoroughly proofed by several people since it has only been tested in its clue format.

Those errata are sneaky little suckers - they and their ugly cousins: the typos!

Now some random acts of knitting for your enjoyment...

close up shot of back panel of Dwarrowdelf showing the center graft & the pick up along the side edge (the diagonal line) with the side panels knit out from the back.

beauty shot of Dwarrowdelf on the artist's chair

!!SPOILER ALERT!!
Evenstar Pic ahead

Almost done with beaded border - next time you see her, she'll be blocked
so excited!!!


Galadriel's Mirror triangular shawl - mid-way through 3rd chart

close up of center back divide showing mirroring

close up of twisted stitch/bobbled lace pattern

Elven-ish motifs ripple out in mirror fashion from center of shawl before radiating out into an overlapping lattice with half round motifs on the edge. The yarn is the yummiest color - String Theory Blue Stocking in Alexandrite - a real joy to work with! I have almost used up the first skein, but have 2 more if I need them.

And I think that's about it for today. Not up to my usual standards, but as much as I can manage today. My knitting awaits...

Great Expectations

"There is no greater enemy to those who would please than expectation."

- Michel Eyquem De Montaigne

"Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate."

- Henry David Thoreau

I was already planning a post today on expectations, and I now find myself skewered by them.

There are some very unhappy knitters on Ravelry and they are voicing their disappointment in Evenstar.

That is their right. It goes with the territory. I live my life, to a certain extent, in the public arena. With great successes, come great expectations.

And perhaps I had a few expectations as well. I expected to please 1000 people. I probably shouldn't have.

Expectations can be wonderful things; they allow us to dream our dreams and build wonderful castles in the sky. They can also take on a life of their own, if we let them.

This time last year, I was looking forward to the cruise I took with my husband in celebration of our 30th anniversary. I had almost as much fun during the planning of that trip as I did during it.

I thought about what to pack, what shore excursions we should take, which islands we should visit, what cabin we should spring for. I did research on line. I joined travel chat rooms. I did everything I could to fulfill my expectations for that vacation, our first in many years.

But a funny thing happened on our way to the ship. We missed our flight. The airline lost our luggage. We found ourselves in San Juan with the clothes on our backs & the swimsuits in our carry-on.

We sat on deck before sailing, with a lovely breeze flowing over us and the sun beaming down. We had drinks with parasols in them.

But DH was so angry over the screw ups that he couldn't enjoy the beauty of the day. His experience failed to live up to his expectations and he was unable to reconcile the two. I told him to relax; they would find our bags (which they did - eventually) and we should make the best of it.

Because our expectations weren't met, we wasted the first day of our vacation fuming & fussing, instead of relaxing and we will never get that day back.

The basic facts of life are this: we cannot control our world. We are not in charge. Sometimes things will work out to our benefit. And sometimes they won't. No matter how many precautions we take, no matter how much experience we have, no matter how hard we work, sometimes things just don't go how we thought they would.

We must not allow our expectations to get the better of us. Therein lies only grief.

A parent's expectations begin during pregnancy. This child will be special. This child will be a doctor. This child will always love me. This child will look like me, talk like me, have all my virtues, but none of my faults.

We bring some of those same expectations to our other relationships as well. And we find that people in real life are rarely what we expected.

Ultimately, all we can do is hope for the best, expect something somewhat less than that, and learn to accept the fact that neither we, nor the world we live in, are perfect.

One of the perils of living a more public life than in the past, is the very real possibility that people will expect more of you than you, in fact, are capable of.

As my business has grown over the past few years, I have found people who think I am famous. I have found people who imagine I live a charmed life, out on a real life sunflower farm somewhere. I have found people who expect my patterns to transcend the norm. I have found people who expect perfection.

And I have disappointed them.

In truth, I live an existence as flawed and full of contradiction as anyone else in this world. I eat too much, exercise too little, forget to buy the milk at the grocery store, have good days & bad days, procrastinate too often, call my friends too in-often.

I knit just like you. I make mistakes just like you. And I try my best to fix them just like you.

I asked a burning question on Plurk this past week: Do we expect too much of our artisans? Do we forget that what makes a hand-made item special, also makes it flawed?

We could, after all have a machine made sweater for much less money and effort. Every stitch would be the same. Everything would be perfect.

But it would not be a product of our love for the individual and our passion for our art.

And I think that would be sad.

I could set up my software, plug in the stitches & measurements, have it spit out a flawless pattern, which I could then try to sell as my own.

But what fun is that? It would be stale & lifeless, predictable & inert. Computers are very good at perfection. They are very bad at creativity.

Creativity requires the human spark and that human touch comes with imperfection attached.

Over the last few weeks, I have seen several people cease their creative endeavors, because they decided that the joy they got from creating art or supplying those who do simply wasn't worth the unpleasantness that occurred when they failed to meet someone's expectations. I have seen the pain of honest people doing the best they can and discovering it isn't enough.

Are we setting them, as well as ourselves, up for failure?

Several years ago, I struggled with depression brought on by my inability to cope with the truth: I am not now, nor will I ever be: perfect.

Anyone who expects differently should not buy my patterns.

They should also not travel, not have children, not get a job, not get married, not knit, for that matter. All these things, at one time or another, will not go as they expected.

I aim to please. Sometimes I miss. When I do, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and carry on (a little worse for wear, but standing still)

I think Thoreau said it far better than I can. Public opinion does not dictate private character. I work very hard at my craft. I love knitting with a passion, one that I share freely with anyone who wishes to join me.

I ask your forbearance for my faults and beg your forgiveness for my earlier outburst on the boards at the KAL. It seems that, just like you, I get angry. Just like you, I can have my feelings hurt. Just like you, I have feet of clay.

Who knew?

Errata

YIKES! Clue 3 of Evenstar is cursed!

Move beginning of round ten st to right, not 5 before starting clue #4. I forgot we had increased by doubling the number of stitches. 5 st at end of chart equals TEN once you do the increase round.

My bad...

You want the purled stitches in clue 4 to line up with the highest leaf tip in clue 3 and the lowest valley.

You don;t have to do this, but it aligns the two sections.

Evenstar Errata

Clue #3, row 49:

sk2p is a wonky floating marker row, like row 43.

The first two stitches are knit together, and the last stitch of the rep is slipped over.

So the peeps who had no trouble, disregarded my note in the beginning of the clue and those who followed my every word, went astray by one stitch.

I am so sorry for the confusion!

Do You Feel Lucky?

"Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit. "

- R.E. Shay

OK - I let the Plurkies talk me into doing something outrageous. We currently have 942 Evenstar knitters, and it seems some of our more - ahem - enthusiastic members really want to see us reach the big 1000.

Now, I told them this was highly unlikely, since sign-ups end tonight at midnight, but they suggested we could make a final push and reach that elusive number 1000. They wanted to know if we could do some kind of contest.

Well, y'all know how I love a good contest, especially if it involves nothing more from me than emailing a pattern...or two...or three...

How do y'all feel about seventy?

Here's what we're gonna do:

I will give the entire Fellowship of the Ring series (seven patterns - $45 value) FREE to numbers 950, 960, 970, 980, 990, and 1000.

I will also randomly award two free pattern series to current subscribers, to thank you for your support.

If you order the FotR series tomorrow and are the winner, I will refund the full amount on Tuesday.

So spread the word please - email your friends - plurk your pals - post on your blog - discuss in the RAV forums.

And I will extend sign ups one more day: Monday, March 1st - midnight EST.

So...do you feel lucky? Huh? Do ya?

One Series to Rule Them All

When the cold of Winter comes

Starless night will cover day
In the veiling of the sun
We will walk in bitter rain

But in dreams
I still hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again

When the seas and mountains fall
And we come, to end of days
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
I will go there
And back again

Words and music by Fran Walsh and Howard Shore,
Based on the song for the Entwives by Tolkien.

I have finally pulled this whole mess into a semblance of order. So many ideas...I haven't been this excited in ages!

I have decided to divide the patterns by the book/movie they come from; a trilogy of knitting!

LORD OF THE RINGS PROJECT

Fellowship of the Ring
Evenstar (circular mystery shawl KAL)
Argonath (cabled stole)
Dwarrowdelf (lace shawl)
Lothlorien (cabled stole)
Strider (cowl)
Bombadil(fair isle tam)
Mithril (beaded vest)

The Two Towers
One Ring (mystery shawl KAL)
Balrog (mosaic cowl)
Rohan (fair isle cape)
Ringwraith (lace stole)
Eowyn (tw st. gloves)
Tree Beard (lace scarf)
Legolas (lace ruana)

Return of the King
Elessar (triangular mystery shawl KAL)
Minas Tirith (mosaic hat)
Into the west (lace)
Samwise (cabled cowl)
Arwen (lace)
Gimli (mod. stole)
Green Dragon (intars mittens)
Requiem (hood)

I have tried, whenever possible, to include both a variety of techniques and a variety of accessory types within each cycle. Wouldn't want anyone to feel bogged down or bored!

I do not have a firm schedule for the patterns, beyond a commitment to thee first coming out May 1st and the others following every 6-8 weeks. Some will obviously take longer than others.

I want to be flexible - if a pattern is ready to release in four weeks, I don't want to hold it until a certain date. Conversely, if a pattern takes eight weeks to complete, I don't want to be pushed into release before it is truly ready. I hope you will understand my reluctance to place firm dates upon the series. Creativity is hard to structure.

I can promise you we will be done within the year (or sooner) and then we will move on to the next installment - The Two Towers - and the next mystery shawl pattern.

Sign ups begin March 1st, 2010.

Patterns will be available individually as they are issued for $8 each. Those who purchase in advance get a price break - $40 for the Fellowship of the Rings series (first six patterns).

First pattern will be released May 1st, with others following every 6 to 8 weeks until complete.

Here's some preliminary pics to whet your appetite.

Argonath (cable & lace stole - String Theory DK weight)

Mithril (beaded vest - Handmaiden Silk Twist)

Bombaldil (fair isle hat - String Theory Caper sock fingering weight)

Dwarrowdelf (lace shawl - Tanis Fibers lace weight)

Strider (cowl - worsted weight)
Bag End (mosaic bag - fingering weight)
Lothlorien (cabled stole w/ gradient colors- DK weight)

*****

A word to those who are waiting on other designs:

I know for every pattern on which I have begun the design process, there are avid knitters wanting to cast on. I know I design far more than I have time to knit. I know there are knitters out there who are disappointed in this new development and what it means to my other projects, which have been tabled for the current moment.

I beg you forgiveness and your patience. All things happen for a reason and all in our world works towards the good. I believe I am meant to follow this muse, where ever she may lead. I will get back to these projects, I promise. Like Isildur's heir, I shall return.

*****

Tomorrow at 6:00 PM EST the first clue comes out for the Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL , however we are still taking sign-ups till February 19th.

Yesterday I signed up with an automated email service to better manage the large number of people involved. The business has officially outgrown my home server.

You should have received an email from Aweber on my behalf, requesting you to confirm your membership in the KAL by clicking on the link at the bottom. Make sure you have done this before 6:00 tomorrow or your first clue will be delayed.

And now, if you will excuse me, I am off to make final corrections to tomorrow's clue.

Until we meet tomorrow in dreams...

How Dat?

"Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect."

_Ralph Waldo Emerson

First Off: I owe you all an apology. Can't believe it had been over a week since my last post!

Gulp!

It would appear that cooking & cleaning aren;t the only casualties of my new-found addiction, ahem, obsession, ahem, focus...yeah, that's it...

I never intended to go so long; have just been incredibly busy with the knitting of the Evenstar as well as the design work of the rest of the Lord of the Rings collection.

But it has been a truly joyful period as well as busy. My creative muse no longer sits on my shoulder. She has moved in and taken over my house. She has interrupted my sleep, tickled me during my daily shower, and invaded every corner of my life (except for my familial relationships - girl's gotta draw the line someplace, y'know?)

The other great passion in my life right now is football. My beloved Indianapolis Colts are back in the Super Bowl and ready to take on the NO Saints. Or as someone on Plurk put it: Who dat? meets Been there, done dat...

"Who dat?" is a worthwhile question. I remember my days with the Indianapolis Arts Chorale. They wanted me to raise money, not do publicity, but I found the two to be joined at the hip. You can't raise money if no one knows who you are. Who dat comes before Why dat, Where dat, When dat, & How dat.

I am informed by other knitters that I have moved past the Who dat stage. Apparently people have heard of me and that is no small feat. It takes a lot of waving your hands around and yelling, as Horton's Whos did, "I am HERE! I am HERE! I am HERE!" It takes perseverance, and dedication, and hard work, and no little amount of hubris to get to that point.

These days, I am more consumed with How dat.

• How do I get direct download for my patterns?
• How do I program a web store?
• How do I communicate effectively with everyone?
• How do I keep up with all the questions?
• How do I find time to knit in all the hubbub of over 700 people knitting at once?
• How do I make the yarn look the way I want it to?
• How do I work with new software & get it to do what I want?
• How do I release a pattern in stages rather than all at once?

How dat.

And most importantly, how do I answer your "How dat"?

That is the essence of being a designer. The best designer in the world is useless if he or she can't figure out how to tell others how to complete a pattern.

I am a firm believer in the power of How dat to change the world. The answers are out there waiting to be discovered. Whether those answers teach us how to knit a shawl or build a hydro electric dam.

Or feed a world.

Who dat is one of the first questions we ask: as babies, as newlyweds, as we meet new people every day. It introduces us, one to another, and helps us to form the connections that sustain us in our daily lives.

How dat moves beyond introduction to instruction. It teaches us new skills, new ideas, new ways at looking at our world and the people in it. It takes us to places we haven't been before. How dat invented the wheel, and the light bulb, and landed us on the moon.

Who dat aquaints us. How dat enlightens us, excites us, energizes and delights us.

How dat compels us to step beyond our known limitations and grow. It propels us along the journey's path.

Frodo knew What dat - what he had to do: take the ring to Mordor. And he soon learned Who dat, as the fellowship formed.

Frodo was just a Hobbit from the Shire. He did not know the way. But he knew his own limitaions. He knew the importance of asking the questions.

How dat took over from there, took him beyond his neighborhood, his home, all the way to Mount Doom & back.

How dat is an amazingly powerful question and , I would argue, the force that shapes the world.

Or at least, my small part in it.

So... I bet you want to know how dat with regards to the Evenstar KAL...

Here is everything I know (about this anyway):

The shawl will be a full sized round one inspired by Arwen’s Evenstar from Lord of the Rings. Shawl will take 1700 yards of laceweight, and require an intermediate level of skill; no expertise required, just patience. Written & charted directions. Every other row is straight knitting (circular equivalent of purled wrong side rows)

I am doing mine in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread II in Winter Solstice. There will be optional beading on the outside edge of the piece. Bead count is 2900 - size 8/0 seed beads - get extra so you have wiggle (or jeez, did I just dump those on the floor?) room.

You will also need size 3 US needles (or to obtain gauge)in both dpns and several circular lengths (at least a 24” & 40”) 30 stitch markers (if you want to place marker between each repeat) and a small crochet hook for beading

Sign ups run through Friday February 19th. Cost is $8, $1 of which is donated to Doctors Without Borders for relief in Haiti. You can sign up here on Rav or on the sidebar of my blog

I have released a swatch to be used for both determining gauge & practicing your lace knitting skills. Swatch directions are available on Ravelry as a free pattern download, or you can wait until I email it to you.

First clue will come out on February 12th at 6:00 PM EST, just in time for the Ravelympics. Subsequent clues will come out every other Friday through May 7th, for a total of seven clues. Right now I am emailing communications, but I am working on getting direct downloads in place. You will get an email with the password to unlock the download.

IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN ANY EMAILS FROM ME & HAVE SIGNED UP MORE THAN 36 HOURS AGO, PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY AT susanpandorf@comcast.net so we can resolve any email issues prior to Friday's clue release

If you keep up, by Memorial Day you will have a stunning shawl, perfect for any and all summer events. The entire pattern will be available for purchase in June.

But that’s not all…

This shawl will kick off a new series.

Eighteen additional patterns in the collection will come out every 6-8 weeks and be available both individually or as 8 pattern subscriptions (at a discounted price). Sign ups for the series open March 1st.

There will be three Mystery KAL’s (counting this one) and 15 (so far) additional stand alone pieces in the collection. The KAL’s will run independently of the other patterns in the series. KAL patterns will be available for purchase after the completion of each KAL (June for Evenstar)

Here is the series as it currently stands - I have not finalized the order yet:

Evenstar Mystery Shawl (duh)

Ringwraith Stole: lace/twisted stitch stole in BMFA Geisha in Raven Clan
Argonath: cabled wrap in String Theory DK
Arwen’s Requiem Hood in BMFA Luscious Single Silk
Lasgalen (or Greenwood) Ruana: gradated lace in Unique Sheep Luxe
Eowyn’s Riding Gauntlets: twisted stitch fingerless gloves
Lothlorien Wrap: cabled wrap in special custom dye gradiance DK by Unique Sheep
Dwarrowdelf Shawl: triangular lace shawl in Tanis Fiber Arts lace
Bag’s End: mosaic stitch mushroom bag (but you will probably keep other things in it)in Unique Sheep tinsel toes
Mithril Vest: in Handmaiden Silk Twist
Gimli Scarf : modular knit (unisex) in Noro Kureyon Worsted
Green Dragon Mittens: color-work mittens in Tanis Fiber Arts fingering (kit)
Samwise Gamgee Neckwarmer: (unisex) in (too cool) yarn from the mill that made the cloaks for the movie
Strider Cowl (unisex) in BMFA Peru Ravenscroft
Rohan fair-isle capelet in KnitPicks Palette
Bombadil Hat fair-isle in String Theory Caper Sock
Into the West stole or shawl in Unique Sheep Eos Custom Gradiance

and two more mystery KAL’s

Elessar Triangular Mystery Shawl in Woolen Rabbit alpaca lace
One Ring Mystery Shawl: circular in Unique Sheep Mordor gradience

This is now officially a trilogy! 1st Mystery shawl - series of 8 patterns - 2nd Mystery shawl - series of 8 patterns - 3rd & final Mystery shawl.

I have decided to keep the KAL group on Ravelry to simplify matters. If you want the very latest scoop on the entire LOTR project (spoiler alert) you can follow along with my progress on Plurk

I am so excited about this project. I hope you will all sign up and tell your friends. There will definitely be pattern giveaways throughout the project, and possibly yarn & merchandies also, if I can find someone to coordinate those. Any volunteers?

Thank you for your participation, your inspiration, and, most of all, your patient assistance and answers to my eternal question:

HOW DAT?

Obsessed? Why no! Whatever Do You Mean?

"Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful."

-Alduous Huxley

If that quote holds any truth, then round me up and call me "Bessie."

MOO...

I am re-reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy (having not read them since college).

I am watching the movies (again- extended version, of course).

I am watching the documentary content of the DVD set (for the first time).

I am searching through Lord of the Rings Art Books (to die for- unbelievably gorgeous & cool) drawing inspiration from them.

I am haunting Blue Moon & Tanis Fiber Arts, String Theory, the Unique Sheep, & Sanguine Gryphon , searching out the perfect yarns for Lord of the Rings projects.

I am paging through stitch dictionaries, modular knitting, twisted stitch, Estonian lace, mosaic knitting, mitten, & colorwork manuals, looking for just the right shapes & textures for Lord of the Rings patterns.

I am spending my quiet morning reflection time reading, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind the Lord of the Rings.

I am keeping up with the Evenstar KAL on Ravelry ( have read every post and there have been a lot of them!)

I am tallying up the total number of participants (538 so far!) and cataloging the countries:

Austria
New Zealand (only fitting after all, since movies were shot there)
Netherlands
Sweden
Japan
Scotland
Korea
Australia
England (Tolkien’s homeland & inspiration for a truly “English” mythology)
Germany (quite a few - they are starting a thread on the KAL in German)
Norway
Finland
Spain
France
USA
Canada
Ireland

I am emailing welcome letters and swatch directions, activating Ravelry links to order & download the Evenstar pattern.

I am fixing the glitches in the existing patterns and charting new ones - have reinstalled new software on advice of the designer - keep your fingers crossed...

I am knitting furiously on Evenstar ( no, I will not give you another peek - stop whining!)

And swatching other designs for the series, which has grown considerably since our last conversation!

• Ringwraith Stole: lace/twisted stitch stole in BMFA Geisha in Raven Clan
• Eowyn's Riding Gauntlets: twisted stitch fingerless gloves in Sanguine Gryphon Eidos
• Bruinin (or Loudwater): rippling something (undecided) in String Theory DK
  
• Lasgalen (or Greenwood) Ruana: gradated lace in Unique Sheep Luxe
  
• Dwarrowdelf Shawl: triangular lace shawl in Tanis Fiber Arts lace
  
• Bag's End: mosaic stitch mushroom bag (but you will probably keep other things in it)in Unique Sheep tinsel toes
  
• Lothlorien Wrap: cabled wrap in special custom dye gradiance DK by Unique Sheep
• Mithril Vest: in Katia Gatsby
  
• Gimli Scarf : modular knit (unisex) in Noro Kureyon Worsted
• Green Dragon Mittens: color-work mittens in Tanis Fiber Arts fingering (kit)
• Samwise Gamgee Neckwarmer: (unisex) in (too cool) yarn from the mill that made the cloaks for the movie

I tried to stop at elevenses, but the darn thing keeps growing...

Last, but certainly not least: One Ring Circular Mystery Shawl

I may have to change the name of the blog to either:

MORE than a few stitches short (considerably)

or

Hobbitses Happenings...

And if you have stuck with me thus far, there is a reward (because there is always a reward at the end of a quest. Have you learned nothing?)


This is the swatch for the Ringwraith Stole. I ordered the yarn from Blue Moon today.



In Corvid from the Raven Clan colors. (That's not the Geisha; it's shown in sock yarn)

I'm not obsessed; I'm just...

enthusiastic - yeah - that's it...

Formation

"To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now." -Samuel Beckett

I found this quote under the heading of "Chaos." and it struck me that most of what we do in life is formation.

On a personal note, I am still searching for the form that accommodates my house mess, but let's just agree not to go there...

Knitting is all about formation. How do we take a length of string and form it into something beautiful? How do we bring order out of chaos?

Having spent the last three days swatching and working out the design nitpickies on Evenstar, I am all about the formation.

I want so badly for all of you to find something magical in this design. It is a big challenge.

It needs to be special. It needs to be beautiful. It needs to be art.

The form needs to communicate the message.

I have completed the first section (clue) and am moving into the second and I love how it is developing. You have no idea how hard it is not to show pictures.

Something else has been forming out of the mess: our community of knitters.

I broached the prospect of fellowship in my welcome message and I believe it to be coming true.

I have never seen such a devoted, enthusiastic and generous group of people in all my days as a designer. The KAL on Rav is bustling with ideas and helpful opinions. Plurk is full of peekers & helpers. The comments here are a wealth of inspiration.

Are we having fun yet? I know I am...


I have decided to send you a small portion of the first clue to the finished pattern in advance. This will serve as both a gauge swatch and a tutorial in lace knitting.

If you can knit this swatch, you can feel confident of your abilities to knit the shawl.

And if you struggle, well... just unravel it and try again.

And ask for help.

I will try my best to be standing by in the chat room from 12:00 noon to 12:30 pm and again from 7:30 to 8:00 pm to answer any questions you have.

And I invite (encourage) other experienced lace knitters to help me out.

If you can't wait until one of those times, there will be a HELP ME!!! thread on the board at Rav. You can also email or pm me and I will do my best to get back with you, as time permits.

Between all 400 of us, I guarantee SOMEBODY will know the answer to your particular problem.

Unless you want Legolas' home phone number. Sorry. Can't help ya there.

And even if I could, I'm not sharin'... (waggles eyebrows suggestively)

If enough people are struggling with an area, I'll rope in DH to take some pics for a tutorial here on the blog (another first!)

I want YOU to succeed - I want ALL of you to succeed.

I want this to be as much fun for you as it is for me.

This way, when the first clue comes out on Feb. 12th, you can all feel confident in your abilities to find the form and avoid the mess.

So put on your thinking caps and ready your needles - ES101 is about to start...

Patience

"Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown."

-Chinese proverb

And the BMFA Silk Thread II becomes an Evenstar!

I want to cast on - badly!

But I'm being a good little knitter and swatching first.

Later gators...

Philanthropy

"The word philanthropy has its roots in the Greek language meaning "love for mankind." It was never meant to apply only to donors of thousands or millions of dollars."

- Arthur C. Frantzreb

The knitting commmunity is answering Haiti's call for help in a big way. According to the Yarn Harlot, over $50,000 has been raised for Knitters without Borders. That is a lot of yarn, people.

I am proud to be a small part of that effort.

For every person who signs up for the Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL, we are donating $1 to the effort - $309 so far.

I say we, because, though my debit card shows the charge, I consider it a mere funneling of $1 from every person who has been inspired by the message of fellowship and concern for others that lies at the heart of the LOTR saga.

You have given, not me. My personal donation is private, as it should be. The only reason I mention this effort here is to ask others to join with us and, together, make a difference in our world.

I encourage you to support this effort in any way you can. The need is great and time is short. Should you wish to donate directly to Knitters Without Borders, go here.

Great Britain has a wonderful philanthropic knitting project as I mentioned in December: P/HOP, which stands for pennies per hour of pleasure. They also raise money for Doctors Without Borders. Designers donate patterns and the patterns are used to solicit donations.

I have donated the entire series of 2008 Garden Variety Collection patterns, five in all. These patterns are retired, so no longer available anywhere else.

They have been very popular in the past & I am always fielding inquiries about their availability. My hope is that the patterns will live on in this way and continue to raise funds for a worthy cause.

The fine folks at P/HOP will be putting them up asap. In the meantime, there are many other fabulous patterns available there. I cannot think of a worthier way to knit intentionally in the coming weeks.

How fortunate we are to be worrying about things like what yarn to use, and when clues are coming out. Our homes are intact; our children safe; our needs, for the most part, well met.

Others are not nearly so lucky.

To quote Aragorn, "It is in Men that we must place our hope."

Thank you for your incredible generosity to myself, and much more importantly, the people of Haiti.

Oh, The Places We'll Go...

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

Dr. Suess

Well it has certainly been busy out here on the sunflower farm, since I announced the new Lord of the Rings project!

We are already up to 268 people strong, and they are still coming in from all over the world: Germany, Finland, Norway, Australia, France, Great Britain, Korea, & I'm probably missing a couple.

Wow!

I don't know what else to say...

Just wow!

One of the themes that I really love in LOTR is the message that we must all work together to accomplish great things. Whether dwarfs, men, elves, eagles, ents, or hobbitses.

It would appear that our own fellowship may turn out to be every bit as diverse.

That is so exciting to me! (kindly forgive the liberal sprinkling of exclamation points throughout - sometimes periods just don't suffice)

I have been contacted by someone who has volunteered to translate the clues for Evenstar into German and would be pleased if anyone else wishes to do so for knitters in their country. the more, the merrier. Don't want anyone to feel left out.

DH is worried this is going to change our quiet little lives. I told him not to worry. A friend told me, "As long as they don;t show up on your doorstep, eyeing your stash, and whispering, 'My Preciousssssssss,' you're probably okay."

But DH is right; it has already changed our lives.

My email has tripled; my Plurk account is blossoming with new friends; the KAL on Ravelry is going on with great enthusiasm, & I have lots of new bookmarks on my browser: LOTR lyrics, LOTR dictionary, LOTR characters, LOTR chat rooms, LOTR jewelry...

You get the picture.

I am worried that the pupils will surpass the teacher, Hell, I think know they already have!

It is time for this designer to take out her trilogy and start boning up.

A few words about the Evenstar KAL:

This will truly be a Knit-a-long in the truest sense of the word. I will be knitting along with y'all. I have swatched and done all the design work in another yarn, but am awaiting delivery from Blue Moon on the final yarn I selected for the project: silk thread II, which is both lighter and has a great deal of sheen to it. The Geisha is a beautiful fiber, but it just didn't seem ethereal enough for Arwen. So I have bitten the bullet and will begin again.

I will, of course, be working ahead of you by about 2 weeks. No progress pictures allowed (that is part of the fun) but know that I will be thinking of you and taking copious notes as I knit, so that I can adequately address any questions that arise throughout the project.

I have based my yarn estimate on a shawl of similar size, shape, and design then added a hefty cushion onto that figure to allow for missteps and gauge variations along the way.

We have a beginner's thread going over on the Rav KAL board called "Bag's End." I named it that because that is where the adventure begins. It seemed appropriate. Bag's End is a welcoming place with lots of newbies and just enough more experienced folk dropping in to keep things moving along.

There is also a thread for your ideas as to future projects in the series. I refer to this as the "ooh ahh I wanna" thread. So many good ideas & only one designer. You guys are an amazing font of inspiration.

And I have entered my first chat room ---ever. (Yes...I know I am a troglodyte. What can I say?) I will try to visit the Evenstar Chat room on Rav at least once every evening and once during the day. Already had a good chat with some folks there this morning. I will post a message on the boards when I am entering. Hope to see some of you there.

I am wondering if I should push back the start date by a week or two to allow the yarn dyers time to fill all these orders - don't want anyone to get left behind. Most people are having to order yarn rather than pick it up at the LYS, due to the size of the project. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

I have been thinking much this past week on divisions within the fiber community. We all know they are there.

Some knit, some crochet, some spin. Some use charts and others swear by written directions (Evenstar will have both, thanks to nifty new software I am testing.) Some throw their yarn; others pick. Some use metal needles; others like bamboo.

We are divided into nations, states, cities, towns, neighborhoods, cliques, knitting circles. And with these divisions come the temptation to define ourselves by them. Not only by where we belong, but by where we don't.

I like this, but I don't like that. I believe this, but I doubt that. I AM this, but not that.

It is a short and tragic step from there to: I am right and you are wrong.

And then we start keeping score, like Gimli & Legolas, of all those whom we have shot and killed with our arrows.

I believe what binds us together is stronger than what tears us apart. I believe we can move forward faster, if we don't waste our time moving away from each other. We have places to go.

I believe in fellowships, like the one we are beginning to form here.

I believe together we can change the world...

one Orc at a time.

*****

Speaking of which, I hope you all will donate to Knitters without Borders today. Yarn Harlot is running a drive here for the residents of Haiti who have been devastated by the earthquake yesterday.

All proceeds go to Doctors without Borders, a wonderful organization that has done much good around the world. I am trying to set up something so we can donate $1 for every Evenstar sign up, but don't really know how to do that. Have left a message for Stephanie, so we will see...

Evenstar Mystery Shawl

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost.

-Tolkein

Announcing the Evenstar Mystery Shawl from Sunflower Designs

Big Excitement around the Sunflower Farm. I am going to kick off the new decade with my first mystery shawl project!

The lace shawl will be a full sized round one (again a first) inspired by Arwen's Evenstar from Lord of the Rings. Shawl will take 1700 yards of laceweight, and require an intermediate level of skill; no expertise required, just patience. Written & charted directions.

I am doing mine in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silk Thread II in Winter Solstice. There will be optional beading on the outside edge of the piece.I don't have a bead count yet. I'll have to get back to you on that asap...

Sign ups begin today and run through Friday February 5th. Cost is $8. First clue will come out one week later on the 12th, just in time for the Ravelympics. Subsequent clues will come out every other Friday throughout February, March & April. By May you will have a stunning shawl, perfect for any and all summer events.

But that's not all...

This shawl will kick off a new series. I know you have all enjoyed the Garden Variety Collection, but I need a little break from it. There may well be more coming down the pike in the future, but for now, I am turning my creativity in a new direction.

Evenstar will serve as the first project in an entire Lord of the Rings Collection. I am still finalizing plans, but pieces will definitely include a Ringwraith stole in Blue Moon's Raven Clan colors, a Samwise Gamgee neckwarmer and mittens (he''s my favorite Hobbit), a beaded mithril vest, and a woodland piece inspired by the Shire. a sixth [pattern is yet to be determined.

The six additional patterns in the collection will come out every other month and be available both individually or as a subscription (at a discounted price).

I will close out the project with another circular mystery shawl, based on (what else) the One ring to rule them all.

There will be a KAL on Rav, as well as a Yahoo group. And if you want the very latest scoop on the entire LOTR project (spoiler alert) you can follow along with my progress on Plurk

I am so excited about this project. I hope you will all sign up and tell your friends. There will be pattern giveaways throughout the project.

sings "And we'll have fun, fun, fun till Gandalf takes the palantir away!"