Author: tobyroxane

1. I could apologize for letting it go so long without an update but that would be dull and I’m sure you’d rather I just get to it.

2. I QUIT MY DAY JOB! I am my OWN BOSS. I am working for myself. It is fantastic. In mid-October, I had my last day at The Blue Purl. I am now a self-employed independent knitwear designer. Really, I’m living the dream.

3. The London Underground series is finished. The ebook is available for purchase on Ravelry AND I am currently working with a well-known, well-respected graphic designer (oh, I can’t keep secrets—it’s Knitterella!!) on a print version of the book. I’m self-publishing and you can look for copies in a yarn shop near you sometime in January. I’ll keep you posted. There will be signings and whatnot. I’m pretty excited.

4. I have begun the next series of shawls: the Tarot series. All the shawls in it are inspired by a specific card in the Tarot deck. So far I’m having a lot of fun with it. This brings me to…

5. New pattern: Queen of Pentacles

Regal but also grounded and domestically inclined, the Queen of Pentacles is a natural healer. She inspires respect and a sense of calm in those around her.

The first shawl of the Tarot series, Queen of Pentacles features widening stripes, delicate mesh lace, and a picot edge.

New pattern out: Howl!

Howl is a long, seed stitch cowl worked in the round with a hood worked back and forth in short rows. Wear it several ways for a lot of warmth or a little.

I am getting EXTREMELY sick of owls.*

*Not real owls. What I’m talking about is owls on knitwear. It has become creepily ubiquitous. STOP.

I’ve been pretty remiss in updating, but here’s a pattern I released a few weeks ago:

It’s called Maida Vale, and it’s the seventh shawl in my London Underground series. It’s not available for individual purchase–only as part of the collection.

I have lots of other news, so check back!

Ok, remember when I said the trunk show was this Tuesday, the 11th? Scratch that, it’s the 18th. I’m losing my damn mind.

SO:

Trunk show at Down Cellar
Tuesday, Sept. 18th, 6.30 pm

Be there (but not tomorrow)!

I know I’ve been remiss in updating, BUT:

I’m having a trunk show this Tuesday evening, the 11th of September, at Down Cellar in Basking Ridge. They’re hosting a knit-along all autumn where you can choose any shawl from my series, and this Tuesday I’ll be there with all the samples so you can see them in person, try them on, and decide which ones you want to make.

In other news, today I went to the Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival. I’ll tell you, it’s no Rhinebeck or Maryland, but it was really nice and I had a really good time. There were lots of good vendors (I’m a sucker for the indie dyers) and two sheepdogs herding..ducks (I know! It was hilarious!) and Philly cheesesteaks (in fact, that was the only dining option, which was sort of endearing (which I mean in a non-condescending way). I’m on a strict yarn diet (I keep saying that, and I keep breaking it) and…well, you can probably see where this is going.

Here it is, the penultimate shawl of the London Series:

Uses about 440 yards of fingering weight yarn.

Last night I dreamt I was in high school and I had a class with Franklin Habit. He saw my Knightsbridge shawl and completely hated it. I believe the word he used was “fugly.”

A few weeks ago, I went to Barnes & Noble and found this book on the clearance table for $5. It was a coffee table book about cathedrals of the world, and it had beautiful pictures. You should know, I have kind of a fascination with cathedrals (I’m not a religious fanatic of any variety, it’s about the architecture). So I bought it, and thought maybe it would inspire some knitwear.

It did!

This hat is inspired by the motifs in the vaulted arches of the Santa Maria de la Encarnacion cathedral, of which I’m having trouble finding a picture. There’s one in the book that I’ll have to scan later.

In the spirit of the Olympics, which, as you know, I watched much of, I thought I’d bring you an Olympic-themed slew of cat pictures. Unfortunately, I was unable to find my camera charger until this morning and if I wait much longer, an Olympic-themed slew of cat pictures will be irrelevant. So here’s a list of the events and winners and pictures will be forthcoming.

Mousie-Fetching: Esme
Green-Bean Stealing: Jack
Boogerball-Chasing: Jack
Tissue-Paper-Shredding: Esme
Bug-Hunting/Killing: Esme
Basement-Lizard-Hunting: A Tie!
Laser-Dot-Chasing: Jack
Ping-Pong-Football: Jack
Entire-Pork-Chop-Stealing: Neither could quite pull this one off, but Jack did try valiantly.