I Dyed a Little.

I finished spinning the last of my fiber a couple of weeks ago. The result was a nice, but very boring silk yarn, so I picked up some kool-aide, and threw it in a pot with the yarn.

I forgot to take a before picture until it was in the pot. The fiber was natural white, though the grey I tried (and failed) to dye a few years ago with food coloring. The grey was okay, just not really what I wanted.

This, naturally, made me think of this:

Which is one of my favorite movies (we won't talk about the books, especially the third one).

(No marmalade was involved in the making of this yarn.)

After about an hour simmering in blue raspberry lemonade, I wound up with this:

It's hard to tell, but the tweedy looking ball actually has some white in it still, so it's not a solid blue/grey. For that matter, the smaller one also has some white in it, but not as much. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it, but I can't wait to knit it up.

Don't Cross Me!

I've got a new pattern up!

 Don't Cross Me is now available in my Ravelry shop for $4.99, or you can purchase the PDF through the patterns tab at the top of the this page.

As an added bonus, followers of this blog and members of my Ravelry group can use the coupon code "Censored1" to get 25% of their total purchase when you buy the Don't Cross Me pattern. This discount is running through the end of October, so hurry before it expires!

Pico Review: Knit, Swirl

Title:  Knit, Swirl

Author: Sandra McIver
Price: USD $24.27
Notes: When I mentioned knitting a circular swearter, someone linked to this book for inspiration. I was curious right off the bat, because I love the look of circular or "swirl" sweaters. I picked up my copy from the library, just to give it a quick browse before committing the $25 to the book, since I'm not usually a sweater knitter (see London Calling sweater, on the needles since 2010).

Now that I've looked through it up close, I can say this: It's got great photography, lots of good information on the different shapes that can be used with this type of sweater (basically, knitting a flat circle with sleeves, which then drapes itself into a nice cardigan). I think many of the designs are beautiful. The book itself is quite thick and well made, and lies open flat, which makes it great for knitting directly from the book if you're so inclined (that being said it's a very heavy hardbound book, and I'd prefer to make a copy of each page I'm going to use).

Bad points: Every single sweater in this book has textural ridges. Here is the book page on Ravelry so that you can see what I mean (you can also click the "look inside" feature on Amazon, linked above. It's probably best illustrated by the image on the back cover). It's not that these are bad...they're just not to my personal taste. I would either find a way of hiding the increases to that the sweater could be knit all in one stitch type, or replace the garter/reverse stockinette bands with some kind of open stitch work (again, hiding the increases within). Or just knit a basic pinwheel swirl jacket, incorporating some of the elements from the book.

This is still on my wish list, because I find that the technique information at the beginning of the book is more valuable than the patterns it includes.

Rating: three out of five skeins

Nano Training

I mentioned last week that I set up a training schedule. It’s nothing too fancy, but after writing sporadically over the summer, I knew that I needed to work up to 1,667 words, seven days a week.

This is what I came up with:

As you can see, I broke it up into blocks, each between 7-12 days long. I started with 100 words a day, before I made this list. I did that for three days, then realized how easily 500 words were coming, so I jumped right into that. I know that 1,000 words is a bit of a hurdle for me, so I gave myself longer to practice.

Within each block, I gave myself challenges. The first block is “freestyle,” which meant I could write on anything, or everything, so long as it added up to 500 words at the end of the day. My 1,000 and 1,500 word blocks are also freestyle. And yes, I count blog posts towards my totals.

My 700 and 1,200 word weeks were “short story sprints.” For the first one, I worked on an existing short story. For the second, I plan on writing a new one, which will (with luck) be the final installment of the Post Club.

The final stretch before November is 1,667 words a day on a dedicated project. I don’t have to finish the project, I just have to work on the same one every day.

I'm not doing so well on my training. Not horrible, but I've missed a few days. I think it'll be easier once Nano actually starts, and I can work on the project that I'm actually excited about at the moment, instead of whatever is mildly interesting at the time. And this week I haven't much wanted to write, because of the whole "I'm not longer getting published" thing. I'm starting to get back into the swing of things now, though.

I like crossing things off my list. Having a schedule is satisfying, I think, and I’m finding it useful since I’m writing two books and knitting a bunch of samples this month.

What kind of training do you do for Nano? How early do you start?

P.S. Posted this on the typewriter thread in the Nano forums. I'm just going to leave it here. :)

CENSORED

As you all know (hopefully, anyway!) I've been working on a book of knitting patterns for the past year. I got a contract, and have been working on patterns and samples.

Until Monday night. Monday night, I was hoping to get shipping info for my yarn support (yarn provided by the publisher and a willing company to make samples, which are then used to promote both the book and the manufacturer). Instead, with no reason and no warning, I was informed that CENSORED has been cut.

That's right. The book has been dropped.

I don't think I have to tell you what a blow this is to me. I'm completely devastated. That's not just a credit I have to remove from my resume, that's the entire budget for yarn, photography, tech editing, and printing up in smoke.

I've put the last year of my life into this. I don't want it to die, but I can't do it on my own. I'm barely paying the bills from week to week; paying for everything else just isn't possible.

I've come up with a list of options here (Ravelry link). Take a look if you are so inclined, and weigh in with your opinion.

Randomly, From the Internet

A few of the amazing, cute, and puzzling things I discovered while I was away:

Steepster
It's social media. About tea.

For those too lazy to click the link, you can "Write a tea journal, see what others are drinking and get recommendations from people you trust."

I may or may not be toying with the idea of signing up.

The most adorable pirate kitten ever
I love color-pointed cats. Doubly so when they are kittens. And this poor little guy just as too much character to resist. And the fact that his name is "Sir Stuffington?" Yeah, I'm just gonna go turn into a little puddle of goo over here.

Faking Sanity
It's a used bookshop. And a yarn store. And a cafe. And quite possibly the holy grail, but I'm reserving judgement since I haven't actually been there.

Yet.

Sleepy Hollow
This is my new favorite show. Period. If you want to know why, here is a post I put up on Tumblr just after the 2nd episode:

How often do we get a female lead that is a minority, who is completely badass without being completely masculinized as well?  Abby is strong, smart, and practical. She’s pretty but clearly her appearance plays second fiddle to her work. She’s willing to entertain the idea of the supernatural, but is still actively looking for ways to debunk it.

And on top of that, we’ve got a fantastic male character that while he is capable to kicking butt, his first reaction is always to outsmart the bad guy using as little brute force/direct contact as possible.

For the time being, they each have their own love interests (we’ll see how long that lasts, since this is Hollywood we’re talking about), but there is still a good tension/chemistry between them, even if they are completely platonic (for the moment).

I've also decided that I'm going to review each episode as it airs (because I totally need MORE things to do with my time, right?). The first one is here. Episode two should be up shortly.

And on Friday, you'll get to see a few of the things I've been working on.

It's That Time of Year Again

I'm back!

Did you miss me?

And guess what: It's that time of year again.

The weather is getting cooler. The leaves are changing, if they haven't vanished already. Even though the Halloween decor hasn't been put up yet, the crazy's are already coming out, making their lists and planning how they will spend the last few days after Thanksgiving.

No, I'm not talking about Christmas. Nanowrimo, of course!

Around the time my Blog Break started, I began outlining a training schedule for myself. I kept saying that I wasn't going to do Nano this year, because with a book under contract, I doubt I'll have time. But...

I might as well give it a go, eh?

Once again, I'll be joining the Typewriter Brigade on the Nano forums. I'm not committing to doing an entire novel on the typewriter, just because my time is so limited and I'm faster on the computer than on the typewriter, but I did do my entire outline on the Sterling, and I'll probably work at least in part on the typewriter, now that I have two portables. If you're part of the Columbus region, you might see me at the occasional meetup with a typewriter. I'll be the one with the blue hair, if the typewriter isn't enough of a giveaway.

The Annual Blog Break

It seems that around this time of year I seem to have trouble sitting down to blog. I don't know why this is. It seems that in late summer/early fall I just can't concentrate. So I'm going to take my annual vacation from blogging. I'll be back on October 2, just in time to kick off the Halloween season (although anyone who works retail knows that it started ages ago).

See you then!

What I Made on My Day Off

That would be the top portion of a quilt, made from my old work shirts. The patterned material is from my favorite pillow sham which met an untimely death.

Somehow, I wound up with exactly the right number of blocks. No leftovers, none missing. When I get more fabric, I'll add to it (this is about the right width for a twin bed, but only half the length), but considering my cashflow problems at the moment...that'll have to wait. I also have no idea how I want to finish it. Full quilting? Batting? Border? Or just slap a backing onto it and topstitch the edges (since I lack a quilting machine and I am not up to hand quilting).

So, quilt top: 1 day. Rest of the quilt? That will probably take a year or more.

Shh!!!

You can't tell anyone.

I'm making a present.

I can't tell you who it's for, or what it is yet, because she might be reading this. I don't know.

But oh my god, I love this yarn:

Bernat Mosaic in "Calypso", just for the record.

RAINBOWS!!!