The Lady Lorri Hat
A few years ago I designed a handful of knitted hats and posted the patterns on Ravelry. Well, here’s one more: The Lady Lorri Hat, named for my good friend Lorri. It’s a very quick knit. Took me only three hours to design and knit. I think one of my characters will have a hat like this. Maybe Carla? Maybe Rose. Yeah, this will be the first thing Rose will knit with the yarn she spun herself.
Click the link below for the free pattern.
The Lady Lorri Hat
Happy New Year!
First, let me start off by saying the winner of the $10.00 Amazon gift card for the Naughty New Year bog hop was Jackie from TN. Jackie has received her gift card and is hopefully finding some good reading material. 🙂
2012 wasn’t too kind to me in some ways. I started the year at a job I really hated, and then in July was able to return to a team I knew and enjoyed, although at a major pay cut, like a 32% pay cut. I was sick a lot (pneumonia in May, strep throat in December and assorted other colds and flu and asthma troubles the rest of the year), and it affected my writing. Eddie’s Prize is quite a long book, and it took me literally more than a year to write.
However, 2013 is a completely different animal. I started writing Wolf’s Prize in October, and although I’m still not a terribly speeding writer, I feel good about the story. I’m at 20,900 words of a guesstimated 50,000. I really hope I can finish it by Feb 20, get it sent off to the beta readers by March 1, and have it submitted to the publisher by March 20. Then, at last, I get to dive into Sky and Rose’s story. Whoo-hoo!
I also plan to be more active in the SCA (my medieval history group). This weekend I’m going to 12th Night and even made a new
outfit to wear. This is a very generic version of what might have been worn in the eastern Roman Empire around 900 AD. It’s pretty barebones now, but later I can pretty it up with pearls and gems and some embroidery. The colors of the pic (the before pic) on the left are accurate.
I wish you all a wonderful, productive and joyful 2013.
Tuesday Truth: Spinning is Cheap Therapy
When I say spinning I mean wool. Or silk. Or any other fiber. Not cycles. For me, cycling is an asthma attack waiting to happen. I’ll stick to my leisurely strolls on the treadmill.
No, I mean spinning fluffy fleece into beautiful thread and yarn. After a crappy day it helps me relax. There’s a certain rhythm to treadling to turn the wheel and feeding the roving through the oriface onto the bobbin. It’s soothing. It’s also a great time for me to plot out a story or a scene, and talk to my characters. Quill insists that living for five years in a house full of working girls has almost completely cured him of his shyness. Ellie needs a strong man to defend her now, and he, by golly, is that man. Ellie thinks he needs to back off a little. Yes, she needs him and the other wolves to help her get her son back, but she knows how to cook a meal over a fire, and doesn’t need his help to do it, thank you. If a spark leaps out and leaves a small burn on her hand she can handle it. Well … maybe he could kiss it better if he insists.
Here is a pic of my wheel. It is a castle style wheel from Kromski. her name is Zoya. I have commissioned a handmade saxony style wheel from a lovely gentleman in Wisconsin and I hope to have it by the end of February. He says it will get done when it gets done. Here is what I am currently spinning, a beautiful sparkly wool/silk blend in teals.
Saturday Crafting
I finished knitting a hat this morning. It’s a cute cloche but it turned out too big. I tried to felt it down to a smaller size. I was semi-successful. At least my cheeks and the back of my neck should be protected from the cold wind when I walk to work, right?
I’ve also been knitting a lacy little shoulder shawl, possibly as a giveaway during the Naughty New Year’s blog hop coming up the last week in December. It would be pretty light, more decorative than warm. I call it chocolate cherry, because the colors are light brown, chocolate brown, cheery pink and soft pink.
This is what it looks like now. Here is another one I made from the same pattern.
Right now it looks like a snarled mess. But that’s okay. Lace usually looks like a snarled mess until it’s blocked. What do you think? Would people like to win a lacy little shawl? Or should I concentrate on giving books away?
A Few Upcoming Give-Aways!
I appreciate my readers so much! To all of you who have read my books and enjoyed them enough to mention them to your friends,
Thank You! I wanted to do something nice for you in return. During the next JustRomanceMe bloghop (date not yet determined, but probably in month or two) I will be giving away this little shoulder shawl. I knit it myself, so I can point out all the boo-boos :), but it’s still pretty cute.
I am still working on Eddie’s Prize, but there is hope that I will have the rough draft completed by the time I go to bed on Sunday, September 23. Right now I am writing a scene where Lisa has (in utter frustration) sworn she’ll never try to knit again. She HATES knitting! Tami tries to teach her how to braid rugs, but that is a disaster for Lisa, too. But Rose introduces her to crochet, and for some reason, that works for Lisa. Soon she is making a granny square, and since she doesn’t like the idea of sewing dozens of squares together, she just keeps working on that one granny square until it becomes a big square afghan. I will be creating Lisa Madison’s After the Crash Throw to give away to a member of my newsletter. More info on that in a few months. Here is how far I’ve gotten on it so far:
Sheep To Shawl Competition
Do you know what that is? That is when a group of fiber artists take nice fluffy wool that has been sheared from a sheep, and dye it, spin in into yarn, and then weave it into a shawl. Some teams are sponsored by local farms, or yarn shops, but the team that I am part of, Arachne’s Handmaidens, is independent. This is the third year I have taken part in this fiber event, and the past two years my team has won. Sadly, we were disqualified because we did not finish our shawl within the alloted time. Still, it was a fun day and I had a blast with the other gals. I’m exhausted after spinning and plying for six hours, but it was so much fun. The shawl that did win was absolutely gorgeous. I still need to remove the waste and add the fringe so the shawl can go on display for the second day of the Fargo Fiber Fest.
