Gray Day and Herbology
My life is interesting. When things happen to me, it happens all at once. I can go for weeks, months even without things happening. And then boom. Everything comes down at the same time.
Some might say it’s coincidence. But since it is a constant thing, I am no longer inclined to believe that it is simply coincidence.
They might be little things, they might be big things, but they have a habit of grouping themselves together.
I’m not going to go into details, but I must say I find it rather annoying at times.
It can cause frustration, anger, elation, and confusion. It can be the cause of drink, be it in celebration or depression.
It can cause artists to retreat into their worlds, be it on canvas, or paper, or whichever medium they find to be most comforting.
It can also cause that same artist to feel blocked and unable to enter into that world in which they feel so comfortable, causing them to float aimlessly about the aether.
Today is a gray day.
It is sleeting here in Colorado, which means I am unable to photograph yarn (not that it’s dry yet…); I am unable to go for a walk like I would like, and there are storm clouds both inside the house and out.
So as it is a gray day, I am watching Dorian Gray, the new one with Ben Barnes (alright it’s a few years old now, but I hadn’t been able to watch it previously).
I am enjoying it immensely. I am reinstalling MS Office onto my laptop. And I am trying to ignore the annoyance of the world.
Oh, and I give you a new yarn.
Herbology. Part of the Whimsical Wizards series.
And here is some knitting that I have done…. it was a commission that I took while at Anomaly Con.
Both shawls are in the Legolas Pattern by Susan Pandorf
Both shawls are on the Cherry DK yarn from The Asylum.
The blue one to the left is the colorway “Melisande”, the green one to the right is “Herbology”
I guess that’s all I can talk about right now. News will be coming soon.
Happy Birthday Mum – a giveaway
Edited note: Remember, to get multiple entries you need to do multiple comments (not just saying “I followed this, this and this” in 1 comment). Otherwise my RNG won’t find you.
Today is my mum’s birthday. I cannot for the life of me remember how old she is, but that’s nothing new… I’ve never remembered. We’ll go with the classy reason of “To me… she is ageless.” Yeah… that one works.
The chocolate cake I made a few weeks ago is defrosting (first time ever freezing cake… we’ll see how it goes.).
Her pressies are ready and waiting (yes, you might think I’m a good daughter. Truth is, I totally forgot it was her birthday, but luckily I bought her presents last year and didn’t misplace them.).
So Happy Birthday mum. Hope it’s a good one.
Now onto the giveaway. No, this really wasn’t planned due to mum’s birthday… but again.. I’ll just say it is.
I have not announced this new little project before because I’ve been too busy. (Really… I need a full time assistant, and an actual work space now. This is getting ridiculous.)
The Asylum For Wayward Yarn is being a secondary sponsor for the Crafty Diversions Fan Appreciation Knit Along.
I am absolutely honored to be a part of this. I really like her patterns (had quite a few of them queued without realizing it when I agreed to be a part of this KAL), and this is a huge step up into the big leagues for my little Asylum.
I couldn’t have done it without one of my fans/customers being juts totally awesome and dropping my name when the question about yarnies came up.
Well, right now I am very sleep deprived. And when I am sleep deprived… I do stupid things. This stupid thing, you will benefit from.
On top of the prizes I am going to be doing for this KAL, I am offering up one now.
Oh, I guess I should talk about those first.
1) You are allowed to purchase some of my new colorways that I have not debuted here on the blog. (I guess I should do that) My only rule is that you actually participate in the KAL if you buy the yarn. I’ll be sad if you don’t, and a sad Erin means no more giveaways. (I’ll put the new yarn pictures down below)
2) I will be doing a Finished Object random drawing winner from this KAL. Doesn’t matter what yarn you use, if you finish your shawl, you can possibly win one of my yarns in a colorway of your choosing.
3) I will be doing an Asylum Finished Object random drawing from this KAL. If you use an Asylum yarn, you get entered to win another skein from me, colorway of your choosing.
4) Oh wait… 4… that was just me giving a skein to someone already. Nevermind… ignore that. (Yes, someone has already been lucky)
So I’m a gonna do another (yes, what great sentence structure from me this morning…) drawing. Right now.
There are several ways you can enter.
“Like” The Asylum on Facebook. – This one is obvious as to why.
“Like” Me, the author on Facebook. – I know, it’s blatant self promotion, but hey… my Asylum.. my rules. And I bet a few of you didn’t know that I have an author page on there now. Well, now you know.
“Follow” me on Twitter. – I’m not sending you to my Asylum one on twitter because I don’t really use it anymore. Just go with my personal one. I’ll do yarnie goodness on there as well. And I’m trying to be better about using twitter. (Make sure in your entry comment you tell me who you are on Twitter so that I can associate you with it)
“Follow” this blog.- Seriously, just do it. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
And one last one because I’m totally about promotion right now…
“Like” Aether Horizons on Facebook. – If you don’t know what it is, it’s a novel I’m hoping to publish later this year. Does it have anything to do with this KAL? No. But it’s my baby, and again… my Asylum… my rules.
Comment here in the comments each action you take. (I’ll be checking, so don’t try to lie… ) For each action, please leave a separate comment (it just makes it easier on me when it comes to picking the winner, and if you shove all of it into one comment, you’ll only get ONE entry.).
Alright, I think my insanity is over for the moment. On to photos of new yarn goodness.
“Beware” inspired by the most awesome band “Bitter Ruin”. I kind of love them. Kind of more than I should. If you haven’t listened to them, you should. Go do it. You won’t regret it. This yarn was created as I am knitting a hat for Georgia, who is the more feminine half of Bitter Ruin. But that is a post for another day.
“Les Pacte Des Loups” inspired by the creature that actually terrorized the French countryside in the 18th century. The Beast of Gévaudan (huh, guess I could have named it that… non? Oh well, if I ever have to change the name… that’s what I’ll change it to.) was responsible for an estimated 210 attacks, resulting in 113 deaths and 49 injuries; 98 of the victims killed were partly eaten. Some say it was a giant wolf. Some say it was a hyena (I don’t give into the people who say it wasn’t due to not having the right amount of teeth. When you kill 113 people or more, you are bound to loose a few teeth eh?). Some say it was a wild boar. Some say it’s sire was a red furred Mastiff. Some even say it was a Mesonychid. We will sadly never know.
“The Silver Kiss”, this one amuses me because while I was dyeing it I kept thinking it reminded me of Silver Kisses. Don’t ask why, it just did. I decided on Silver Kiss instead and only then remembered that The Silver Kiss was my very first vampire book that I read as a child. I’ve spoken about the book before, in my post about “Blood and Chocolate” by Annette Curtis Klause. She also wrote The Silver Kiss. So yes, I unintentionally named it after the first vampire book I ever read. It feels appropriate.
The photo does not do the yarn justice. The subtlety of the steam and brass and copper tones is gorgeous on this yarn. I can’t wait to see it knitted into something. I had been planning a series of Steampunk yarns for a long time now, this is just the first of what will be many. Oh hey.. there ya go.. there is the tie in to Aether Horizons. See, I can justify anything.
Copper Dragonflies is another in my Steampunk line. Inspired partly by the most fabulous friend of mine who is Copper Dragonflies. Her hats will be with me at Anomaly Con (ACK, another thing I haven’t posted about.. whoopsie. I guess I’ll be doing another blog post soon!) as she is my… “apprentice”. *shifty eyes*
The Governor’s Daughter is the next in the Parley of Pirates series. Betcha can’t guess who that’s supposed to be? I’ll give you 5 guesses and the first 4 don’t count.
“The Anguisette” is the latest in my Love as Thou Wilt series, based off the immortal works of Jacqueline Carey and her Kushiel Legacy. I think it turned out just perfect.
And last but most certainly not least…
Sleepy Hollow. I really wanted Fall colors for this yarn. I think I got exactly what I wanted. Headless horsemen, Ichabod Crane… things that go bump in the night…
Alright, you’ve seen all my new yarns (which other than for the KAL, will NOT be available until April, after the Anomaly Con is over.
Bloody February
Not really any new information for those who follow me on Facebook… but I figured I should update here as well. I’m trying to be good about that.
February was a bloody month for me.
I did not plan it, it just happened that way.
The Tell-Tale Heart was added to the general 2011 portfolio. I rather like it.
Sangoire is part of my Love as Thou Wilt series, based on Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel Legacy.
This last one was a one of a kind that I did. Truthfully it was the first one I did, and The Tell-Tale Heart was my attempt to recreate it. No matter how many times I tried, I just could not recreate what I did with this one, hence it being an OOAK.
“Savvy?” is part of my Parley of Pirates series.
Demon Seabreeze is based off the fabulous Lorne from Angel. Part of my Hellmouth series.
Blue Meanie is also from my Hellmouth series. Based off the fascinating Illyria.
I have quite a few more to add, that need to be photographed.
It’s been quite a creative year colorway-wise. I’m liking how it’s all turning out.
I most certainly hit the ground running in 2011.
Excited again, and The Great Batsby
So I’ve been meaning to blog for a little while now.
I’ve even had things to blog about. But, I just never seemed to have the chance or the brain power to do so.
I am excited.
Oh, lets get through the other stuff first. 😉
Work = dull right now. Thats alright though.
Saw Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was quite fun. When I was younger I loved the Air and Space museum, so seeing it in a different light was quite enjoyable. Ben Stiller didn’t even annoy me that much. No, the only person in the movie that annoyed me was the “I’m only famous because I’m fat and am slightly a comedian” actor Jonah Hill. I’m sorry, John Candy used up all the “I’m fat and stupid, so that makes me funny” quota. No one has ever come close to being him. Oh, and sadly the Jonas Brothers were in the movie as flying Cherubs. They were annoying.
And yes, it rained on us, so we really did see the movie.
Now on to some more exciting stuff.
Sunday I had a bit of a break through in the writing.
No, I did not add to the chapter I was working on, but I actively got a Chapter Outline started, and it actually helped me get past the place I was stuck. So I am quite excited about that. I allayed my concerns that I had about certain pre-existing correlations, but in the end.. Hey.. those authors had the same process on human friendship as I did. So I’m not going to fret.
Guy was quite helpful in figuring out some of the military stuff, and yes, I have a lot of play in what I actually end up working with, but now I at least have a base to start from.
On to other exciting stuff..
Tomorrow, I am going to purchase my first set of dyes. Yes, yes I will.
I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned it before, but I have just found a supplier of non acid dyes, that work just like Acid dyes.
What does that mean?
Well, all the readily avail dyes out there for the non animal based yarns… suck. The process is “Cold” and so takes FOREVER. And you don’t get good vibrant colors either.
Well, the dyes I just found are “Hot” like the regular animal based dyes. The process is the same, the only thing I won’t have to worry about is the pH level of the bath. WOOHOO.
I already know exactly which colorway I’m gonna do first. I can’t wait. I’m excited. It’s odd, because the colors are not something I would normally do for myself. But, this is an experiment, and also it was the only colorway I could do in only 3-4 dyes.
Also, any day now I should have a Rolotape meter arriving, so that I can accurately count off my yardage. Hey, I’m for real on wanting to start a business.. I need to know exactly how many yards are in my skeins.
Also, any day I should be getting Santa Olivia from Amazon.com (i was buying the rolotape, so I figured I could justify the cost of finally getting Santa Olivia)
The reason I am buying Santa Olivia is because June 25th, Jacqueline Carey will be IN Denver for a book signing. Woohoo!
Her new book Naamah’s Kiss comes out the DAY before her visit, so I will pick that one up in person instead of running the risk of it not arriving on time for her to sign it.
Saturday mom and I are going to a baseball game.
It is opening day of faire, but mom got the tickets thinking the game was on Friday. No worries. I’m alright with not going to Faire opening day.
I might go closing day.. but who knows.. I’ll go if and when I feel like it.
An awesome person on Ravelry gave me a free copy of one of her new patterns, as it was something I had slightly requested her to make. (I asked her to make a gargoyle pattern, and this she made first.. so it’s close) The condition of getting the pattern free is that I have to make a SteamPunked Bat. Woohoo I think I can do that.
So I cannot wait to start playing with The Great Batsby
He actually clips on things. Tee hee.
Alright, I guess I’m just trying to kill time.
oh, and I’m bummed because Since JC is coming to town, it means I cannot go to REPO the Genetic Opera in Denver the night after. I just can’t justify driving to Denver two nights in a row for no other reasont than to just see a movie and get a book signed. lol
The Impossible Project.. – Very picture heavy.
Okay, so this really isn’t “The Impossible Project”, or at least it started that way, but once I got past some frustrations it was quite simple.
I think I’ve got a few other things that actually will fill the description of “The Impossible Project” but we’ll get to those in time. (Oh and James, you will love the fact that they are Kushiel related.)
Yes, this is the Entrelac Gator that I have made for my hunny.
If we were still doing Tourgique, this would have been perfect for our “house scarves” or equivalent there of (as we were set on an island).
But I did not make this with that in mind.
I did the project in the colors of Black and wine red, simply because I was learning how to do Entrelac, and the separate colors were a way to keep from getting fully lost. I was originally going to do 3 colors, but decided not to at the time.
So, when I decided that the project wasn’t going to be frogged out, and also that I didn’t want to make a scarf I’d never wear (due to the colors, I just don’t wear red often, though, this Wine Red isn’t that bad), I decided to make a Gator for Guy.
For those who don’t know what a Gator is, it is a cowl like scarf thingie. Okay, it’s a neck warmer. Generally Gators are knit in the round, because it is the equivalent for a Headband for your neck. But with entrelac, you can’t do that- well I think you can, if you know how to knit backwards, which I don’t. And I’m not sure if it actually be knit in the round due to just the way it works.
So, I decided to give my hand at buttons.
Now this was not in the original plan for this project.
In truth, there was nothing planned for this project. I was just trying to figure out how to do entrelac!
Button holes are not easy if you are just learning, and they are even more difficult if you are not working a “normal” side to side knitting project.
With entrelac, your sections end up going diagonal. So what you’d normally work with, is just slightly skewed.
Considering it was my first time, I think I did a DAMN good job.
Because of the small size of the button holes, to me they seemed a little sloppy, but in truth that is just the nature of the beast.
Unfortunately, when I was out buying buttons yesterday, I ended up getting two packs of different sizes. Sigh. I only needed 3 buttons naturally.
So the project is currently unfinished due to 1 button.
But all the knitting is done, all the button holes are finished, and all the ends woven in. All that remains is stitching on the last button when I go out and buy a new pack.
SQUEEEEEeEEEEEEEE.
In other news, yesterday was a good day. As I wrote above, I finished the project(mostly). Mother of Mine and I went out for breakfast at Panera as we had a Buy 1 get 1 free breakfast sammich coupon from the Library’s 8 books in 8 weeks event that we did. (Which is still running, but Mother of Mine and I finished it a long while ago and collected our prizes).
The brekkie was very good! Surprisingly good actually. I haven’t had something from Panera in a very long time, so I had forgotten that they were in fact good.
Then we skipped over to the store and picked up a few necessities like laundry soap. We managed to avoid any psycho crazy ladies this time, and got in and out very quickly.
Then we went over to the Colorado Mills, which is a privately owned fabric and notions shop. So basically, it’s Colorado Springs equivalent of Denver Fabrics. Only slightly smaller and more cramped.
But, I think it’ll be worth going there from now on, simply because oh my god.. they cut your fabric straight!
True, I was only there to look for buttons..
And actually, not for buttons for Guy’s Gator. I was looking for buttons for my button up leg warmers Mother of Mine made for me (pattern via Knockdown Knits by Joan of Dark).
We of course did not find the buttons for the leg warmers. But, I did obviously find the buttons for Guy’s Gator, and I also ended up finding buttons for my Steampunk Alexandra waistcoat. Woohoo. I had found buttons online that were made to look like gears and such, but honestly I don’t want to use those, simply because they might catch on the yarn, and if you read my previous post, I’m spending a lot on my yarn and the last thing I would want would be for the buttons to snag my precious yarn.
Coming home, I looked for buttons online for the leg warmers, as now I had physically held some buttons and knew what I was looking for.
Lets just say with all the buttons I’ve looked at, I felt like I was in Coraline’s Other world.
Okay, Okay.. I’m done chatting I guess on to photos. I don’t know what my next project will be. I have a few ideas, but I don’t have the yarn yet to do those. Mayhaps I’ll just work on a few patterns for another crazy impossible project. Or mayhaps I’ll start working on cables.
Oh, and a random note.. it is amusing how our couch there are balls of yarn shoved everywhere, seriously behind ever pillow is at least one ball of yarn if not more. Thats not dangerous, but the random knitting needles are! Lol. It’s a good thing we never have guests over, otherwise they might get a wooden knitting needle where they don’t want it!
Please ignore how horrible I look. Sunday morning prior to a shower. I’m sure you wouldn’t look too spiffy either! 😛
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