Category Archives: The Designing Day

Hint-of-fall weather to energize the creative spirit

Maple Leaves from Playing in the Leaves, a HeartStrings design by Jackie E-S Happy Fall! I know it has been WAY too long since I posted to my blog. But then, I was never a great letter-writer nor did much in the way in keeping a daily journal. Days just slip by … believe me, the older you get, the faster they go.

I am not going to try to catch up in detail on all that has gone on since my last post. I did have a great beginning to the summer though — exhibited at TNNA Columbus trade show, vacationed in Maine, New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia, and chalked up some more points toward my Life Master’s in bridge. Then the days of hurricane evacuations ensued, and believe me, that is NOT conducive to productive design work, lol.

Well, I am finally getting settled down again (I hope!). The Fall release, albeit delayed due to the hurricanes, is finally completed and shipped. It included Playing in the Leaves (there are instructions for the maple leaf as pictured above, along with an aspen leaf and oak leaf), Lace Doily Beret, and A Feat of Twist Socks. Do check them out if you have not already done so and let me know what you think.

Some gorgeous hint-of-fall weather has arrived here in south Louisiana — terrifically low humidity for us and low 70’s. Great for energizing the creative spirit! So, thought you might like to see what I have next up on the plate.


Prototype and yarn to make Elemental Changes Shetland Stole
It is a new design I am working on to publish soon. The working title is “Elemental Changes Shetland Stole”. The backdrop for this picture is a portion of the sample prototype for the design concept of this to-be pattern.

The yarn I am planning to use for the sample model in the published pattern is Sarah, a Suri alpaca and domestic Merino yarn by Kraemer. Have you tried this new yarn yet?
Well, I am off to wind up some yarn and try it out!

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Duo-Zephyr My Beading Heart Scarf

I designed the My Beading Heart Scarf for 2 strands of laceweight yarn, which I originally sampled in Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace Purple Club. The idea of my design was to allow closely-toned multi-colored laceweight yarn to mix visually into less distracting, yet ever-interesting color patterns. The idea of the beads was to complement and lend a more structured design element to the otherwise random images produced by the variegated colors of the yarn. Sort of like the ying and yang of design, don’t you think?

My Beading Heart Scarf All along though, I had in mind to raid my stash of Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk to try out combinations of closely-toned solid colors, too, for subtle yet interesting color play that cannot be achieved by a single solid color alone. For the scarf pictured here, I chose Plum and Mulberry. The beads I chose to enhance the overall effect were Miyuki #2440 Transparent Gray Iris beads.
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I have lots of other yarn color combos picked out and matching beads, but just not enough time to knit all I want to. So let me know what you try and share pics if you can!

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Cajun Gold Concertina Lace Socks

Cajun Gold Concertina Lace Socks - front view Here are the pics of the Concertina Lace Socks in Lion Brand Sock-Ease that I promised to show you. (You can click these smaller pics to see a larger picture in a separate browser window.) Cajun Gold Concertina Lace Socks - front view

This is color #204 Lemon Drop. I chose the gold colorway for these Concertina Socks, as I was smitten with the beautiful bright yellow/gold Cajun accordions last fall at the Acadian Festival in Lafayette. That is why I am calling them my “Cajun Gold” socks!

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Playing with Sock-Ease yarn

Country Girl Socks - back view Over last weekend, I played with the Lion Brand Sock-Ease in my pattern Country Girl Socks. This is color #206 Sour Ball. This color ‘spoke’ to me for making these socks because I really think of lush countryside and green as going together, lol.

Sock-Ease has nice long sections of the main color interspersed with short sections of 2 accent colors. This creates larger solid areas of color when knitted than would usually be the case for most variegated yarns. I think this allows the lace stitches to stand out nicely even amongst the relatively large contrast of the other colors.

Here’s another view of the sock from the front. Note the foot-flattering instep detail as the lace transitions from leg to the wide ribbing down foot. Country Girl Socks - front view

Next up is Concertina Lace Socks in the bright yellow colorway that Lion Brand calls Lemon Drop. Check back soon to see pics (I hope). Meantime, I am off to play a bridge tournament this weekend!

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An Easter basket of …

Easter basket of yarn … yarn, of course! No dyed eggs for me this Easter. Just lots of great yarn that has been showing up to evaluate, make new designs, knit additional models for the June TNNA trade show, etc.

After being heads down the past couple of weeks getting out the new release of patterns, it is going to be fun to take a break and play with these and other yarns that have come in.

This is the new Sock-Ease yarn from Lion Brand in 7 colorways. They make a cute Easter basket, don’t you think? The yarn is fingering weight 75% wool/25% nylon, machine washable and dryable, and finished with aloe vera. The balls are 100g (3.5 oz) of 400 m (438 yds). Plenty to make a pair of socks in most sizes and styles.

The length of the main color repeats is very long, with shorter accent sections of accent color. I’ll be testing the yarn today in my Country Girl Socks pattern and will give you a further report later.

For those who celebrate, Happy Easter!

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