Tag Archives: lantern moon

And the winner is…

Posted on April 7, 2009 | 10 comments

Aunt Kathy! Who is not *my* aunt, but just Aunt Kathy. She wins the Lantern Moon Silk Needle Case. Congratulations, Kathy! I will send this off to you this week.

After organizing my needle stash, I found that I only needed two of the four needle cases that my family picked up at the Loop & Hoop event, so I’m giving away one more. Back to the random number generator, and the second winner is Sarah, of Attitude Hats. Go check out Sarah’s creations; they are amazing!

And another winner! DH won an elevator pitch contest, and he’s pretty pleased with himself. What’s an elevator pitch? According to Wikipedia, an elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, 30 seconds & 100-150 words). Congrats, Sweetie!

I think I need a knitting picture now…

I’m knitting the Baby Bolero from One Skein by Leigh Radford. It’s a short and sweet little jacket for a newborn. It will be a bit longer than this when the ribbing is added to the edges. I picked up the sleeves and am knitting them top down instead of knitting them flat and sewing them in.

I love the little motif on the back (I did change some of the k2togs to ssk to enhance the hole-iness):

What I’m not loving is the yarn.

It’s Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, a fluffy cotton core with a wrap which gives it a fun texture. But the fun texture is interfering with my ability to control my tension, I think. I have a horrible column of loose stitches between dpns on the sleeves (see them in the picture?), and I have to go back and adjust everything to even them out. Yuck. I’ve knit with lots of cottons before, and haven’t had this issue. Maybe I should have knit the sleeves flat? But then I’d never sew the sweater up! (I know myself.)

So I guess I’ll finish, since I’m so close to finishing, and give it a soak and see if things block out/even up. Otherwise, I’ll re-knit this with a smooth cotton. It’s a quick knit, except I’m having a hard time sitting down with it!

10 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Tagged contest, Knit, lantern moon, yarn

Pass it on…a giveaway!

Posted on March 30, 2009 | 48 comments

Well, it turns out that I really don’t need all *four* Lantern Moon silk needle cases from the Loop & Hoop event. I already own a matching needle case especially for circulars, so five is over the top! The circular case holds my Lantern Moon ebony and rosewood circulars. One new case holds my 16 inch LM ebony circulars and matching dpns. (These are all size 7 and up; my skinny dpns live in a different case.) Another holds my bamboo (non-LM) circulars. I’m reserving one more because I’m not sure how storage is going to work out, but I still have at least one extra case. Combined with my missing my first blogoversary this month (March 17), I think this means I need to celebrate the anniversary and have a giveaway!

Here’s the inside of the case. There’s a zippered compartment on the left, storage for circulars in the middle, and storage for straight needles on the right.

If you’d like to win this needle case, please leave a comment on this post by April 5. I’ll use the random number generator and pick a winner. Good luck!

In other news, one of my pictures has been published in Schmap Portland Guide. You can see it here, but you saw it on my blog, first! The Schmap people must have found the picture by title from flickr. Schmap seems to be a nice travel guide, and it’s free. Cool!

48 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Tagged Knit, lantern moon, schmap

Loop & Hoop swag

Posted on March 27, 2009 | 10 comments

Last night’s Loop & Hoop event at the Blazer game was fun! We made it a family outing. I knew CollegeGuy would be happy to go to a game on spring break, even if surrounded by knitters. Our seats were pretty high up, but it was a good crowd.

Here’s the swag from the goodie bag:

Let’s see, a re-usable bag with the Blazer logo. A Lantern Moon silk needle case (beyond awesome) and catalog of temptation. Yarn and a pattern from Yarn Garden. Tea from Knit/Purl. A sample of Soak from Knitted Wit (and I got to sit next to Lorajean and her DH). And a Channing Frye bobble head doll!

The best part of this deal is that my whole family was there, so we got this, times four.

CollegeGuy claimed most of the Blazer bags, and my bobble head doll. I figured DH & I could share. But I claimed all the knitterly goods, which means I have FOUR Lantern Moon needle cases (and I probably own enough needles to fill them), four balls of yarn, four samples of Soak. And tea.

We also got coupons for free chalupas from Taco Bell thanks to this sequence from Rudy Fernandez to end the third quarter:

The Blazers won 129-109, so it was a happy time all around.

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, lantern moon, loop & hoop, rudy fernandez, yarn

Beach souvenir, and a Lantern Moon event

Posted on February 25, 2009 | 19 comments

I bought two skeins of Mirasol Hacho at Coastal Yarns in Cannon Beach, Oregon last year during Crafty Moms Weekend. It’s been sitting in my tiny stash, waiting to become socks. I love dk weight socks; they knit up so quickly.

When I first started swatching, I tried some lacy patterns, but the lace got lost in the variegated yarn. I thought about my entrelac socks like the ones Anna test knit for me with some Hacho last year (same yarn expedition).

But I wanted something different. This yarn definitely needs some stockinette to have an opportunity to sing. Here’s what I finally settled on:

I love the way this is knitting up. The ripples remind me of waves at the beach. Very fitting for a yarn from the coast!

I’m having a lot of fun making this up as I go, and I’m planning to write up the pattern when I’m done.

In local news, Lantern Moon is having an event at their warehouse next Thursday, March 5, 6:30 pm. There will be an opportunity to view January’s TNNA fashion show, local yarn shops showing what’s new and hot in the stores, Leigh Radford signing copies of her new book, AlterKNITS Felts, and refreshments. It’s also an opportunity to purchase Lantern Moon products at 20% off retail prices. Reservations are required; RSVP to diana@lanternmoon.com to let them know you’re coming. It’s no secret that I’m a big Lantern Moon fan; I’ll be there!

19 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit, lantern moon, Mirasol Hacho, socks

Drum roll for the winner please…

Posted on February 16, 2009 | 9 comments

And the winner of the drawing for the Lantern Moon Sox Stix is…

Turtlegirl76! I’ve added a couple things to the prize package, too. The yarn is fingering weight, hand dyed by Knitted Wit. I love the colors of this yarn, but when I started to knit with it, I realized that I’m just not a skinny yarn knitter. All my socks are sport or DK, or even worsted! Also included is a cute cake keychain, also from Lantern Moon. Have fun, Cristi! Please send me your snail mail addy, and I will send your package out this week.

Edit: It turns out that Cristi’s not a dpn knitter! See the next post for the new winner…after checking out the blogs mentioned below.

And I’m a winner, too! This week, I’ve been nominated by two bloggers, Jeanne Knits and Knitting Siamese, for a Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks, Jeanne and Courtney!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

And here are the blogs that I think you should check out:

Emilee Knits: Emilee is working her way through the Barbara Walker treasuries, doing a swatch a week. I’m enjoying seein the swatches, and Emilee’s commentary on the stitch patterns.

Earthtones Girl: Denise is a fantastic knitter, and a big fan of Elizabeth Zimmermann. You can see it in her projects. A woman after my own heart!

Princess Pea: Anna lives in the UK, and knits exquisite things. Tea cosies, Jared Flood’s druid mitts, anything! Her photography is lovely.

Turtlegirl76: Cristi (yes, the same Cristi who won the Sox Stix!) is an amazing knitter; I love seeing her projects. And her cats, Ripple and Calvin!

Smariek Knits: Marie loves cables. Me, too. Her scarves and mitts are in many Ravelry queues, and she’s just finished her first socks.

We Do Not Have a Knitting Problem aka IrishGirlieKnits: Carrie is a big fan of BMFA, and I can see why. I love looking at her projects.

What Katy Did: Katy is a local blogger, and I found out last month that we have a mutual friend in real life. Small world. Check out Katy’s Kiki Mariko.

Enjoy!

9 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Tagged lantern moon, sox stix

More, more, more…Athena

Posted on December 19, 2008 | 6 comments

I finished my second Athena entrelac neck warmer last night. Purling back backwards (not turning the work each row) makes this go pretty quickly. But it looks like this Athena won’t be for me. She’ll be going on to her new life as a shop model. Shannon and Emily will be selling the hard copy pattern at Twisted, and they’d like a sample. Done! So I picked up more Taos and will make another one for myself, in a bit. Check out this color:

And I bought myself a little present for the next one: 16″ ebony circulars from Lantern Moon. Mmmmm, I love these needles. I didn’t realize that they made 16″ circulars, but now that I know, I had to get a few. Great tools make knitting even more of a pleasure!

I’m also dreaming of some quick worsted weight socks, because it’s cold and snowy, and my boots are just a tad big so there’s room. I think I’ll use some stash KnitPicks Wool of the Andes and make something fun with a color pattern, because I have a lot of bits of different colors left from other projects.

I guess I should be cleaning my house for Christmas, but if I clean it now, it will be messy by Christmas Eve. Maybe tomorrow!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Athena, cowl, entrelac, Knit, knitpicks, lantern moon, neck warmer, twisted

I’m a winner!

Posted on December 1, 2008 | 6 comments

Liz had a contest to celebrate her blogoversary, and I’m a winner! The prize is two skeins of Mirasol Hacho, a dk weight yarn. I can’t wait to get this yarn in my hands; I’ve used it before and love the weight of it. Just right for sport/dk weight socks, which is what I like to knit. Thank you, Liz!

If I ever have to go on the lam, I don’t want Tami tracking me. She’s a super-sleuth! I asked if anyone could figure out where I was last weekend, based on this statue.

Here’s her comment:

“We were watching Anthony Bourdain’s ‘No Reservations’ and this episode is set in Colombia where there’s a whole plaza of Fernando Botero statues.

A little work to get his name again and then search for ‘man & horse’ tells me that you are visiting here:

“This statue is located in Clayton, Mo. at the intersection of Wydown and Hanley. The statue is constructed in bronze by Columbian artist Fernando Botero.”

The picture I found shows that there’s a Starbuck’s behind him too, so you don’t have to be deprived while you’re in the middle of the country. ;^)

Have fun!”

I did have my holiday kick-off peppermint mocha at Starbucks over the weekend, and I think Tami was watching. Such diligence requires a reward. While this wasn’t an actual contest, she gets an actual prize!

This is a tape measure from Lantern Moon. Seasonally cute! Tami, email me your snailmail addy, and I’ll send it to you.

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, travel

Tagged botero, Knit, lantern moon

In which I learn a new technique

Posted on August 6, 2008 | 10 comments

And reject it out of hand.

I finished the body of the February Lady sweater, and it’s lovely. I’ve been knitting with Lantern Moon ebony circular needles, my favorite. I thought I’d try magic loop for the sleeves so I could continue using the same needles. I found some tutorials on the web and tried it. I’ve knit eight rounds of sleeve so far. I DON’T LIKE IT. There’s too much time spent dilly-dallying with scooting stitches around on the cable every half a round. Feh.

There she is, sitting on the hammock, looking like some kind of crazed Mickey Mouse. See the loopy ears?

I briefly considered using two circulars (I have 26 and 40 inch cables), but that also involves the scoot. I knit fast enough that the half round comes around way to soon. No thanks.

So it’s back to the double points. My dpns are Brittany Birch. I do love these, too, especially the skinny ones for socks, because they’re so “grippy,” but I wonder if that grippiness will change my gauge? The ebony needles have been so smooth; the stitches slide right along. On the other hand, my gauge working in the round on the sleeve may be different than my gauge working flat on the body, anyway. I guess I should just go for it.

Option three is to buy ebony dpns! That would be extravagant on my part, since I do have workable options already…

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Brittany, february lady, Knit, lantern moon

Needful things

Posted on July 12, 2008 | 7 comments

Let’s see: Josephine is knitted but I still don’t have time to seam until after this weekend. My favorite aunt and her family are visiting (of course she’s my favorite; she taught me to knit when I was 16!) for my brother’s birthday celebration. We went to Twisted yesterday for a little shopping, and to Powell’s, to look at knitting books (and cookbooks, but not for me). I managed to avoid buying more yarn or knitting books, but I did buy these. They are the most elegant pins I’ve ever seen.

While at Twisted, we wound more of my Dream In Color Classy. I told you there was no going back on this one! This means commitment. Although there is one more skein to wind. It just wouldn’t fit in the cute little bag I was carrying. You can see more of the color variations here, but it’s still not as good as real life. The February Lady is coming along nicely; I just moved from a 26 inch needle to a 40 inch needle. It feels better not being so scrunched up.

I just received this as a gift.

It’s a needle case for double pointed needles. I’ve been looking for a way to manage them, and this is practical and beautiful. It’s from Lantern Moon. Now that my needles are in there, I’m wondering where my size 3 dpns have gone? I know which socks my size 4 dpns are living in, but the 3’s should be free. Oops.

Oh, I have a fairly recent Lantern Moon silk circular case, too. I love it; it’s nice to have all my circulars in one place so I can find the right size quickly. And I like that I can just tuck it away. Again, practical and beautiful.

And last of all, I think we’ve declared a winner in the squirrel war.

It’s not me.

I think he’s jumping from the trellis on the front of my house. We’ve moved all the other possible launch points away, and moved the bird feeder, too. The trellis has a really ugly climbing hydrangea on it, and it will probably be removed next spring. But for now, it’s Mr. Squirrel 4, Me 2, maybe. Mookie doesn’t seem to mind. She finds the birds more interesting, though.

7 Comments

Posted in Knit, the squirrel

Tagged february lady, Knit, lantern moon, squirrel

Slap myself upside the head

Posted on May 7, 2008 | 3 comments

So I’ve been hanging back, not posting anything, because I haven’t finished anything since the Shetland Triangle last week. Second one is going great, but it’s not done yet. What other knitterly exploits could I possibly have to blog about?

Doh! I went to the Lantern Moon warehouse sale last Saturday. I love this company. They’re locally owned, have beautiful things, and provide jobs to women in villages in Vietnam. They’re good people. And they make my favorite needles, the ebony circulars. On Saturday, they were also giving back to the community; a portion of the day’s sales went to the Grant High School Foundation.

I didn’t buy much: a handbag for me, a basket for a knitting friend, and several mini-balls of Gelato, Leigh Radford’s silk taffeta ribbon, for another crafty friend. I already have a lot of their stuff. My restraint was countered by Anna’s shopping spree; she made out like a bandit! Yes, she did buy everything you see here, and some things that you can’t see, too. Caught by the camera phone; I don’t usually take my camera shopping.