It's a Bloggy Tour Announcement

Happy Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday, everyone! Where oh where did this week go? Where oh where can it be? It's lost and gone for certain, out there with the unmatched socks.

Nevertheless, I'm here to tell you that the Voie de Vie Spring Flingy Thingy is in its infancy here in my Ravelry group. People are starting to make their way to both the Frosted Espresso Cardigan test as well as the a-long for Leather, Lace, Grit & Grace. Do come and join us, won't you? We're having fun picking just the right yarns for our projects at the moment.

Speaking of the book, I'm thrilled to be able to announce the stops on its blog tour, which will take place between Monday, 5/4 and Sunday, 5/10 (Mother's Day). The wonderful participants include:

                  Monday, 5/4        Dream in Color
                  Tuesday, 5/5       Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings
                  Wednesday, 5/6  January Yarns
                  Thursday, 5/7      Neighborhood Fiber Co.
                  Friday, 5/8           Wonder Why Alpaca Farm, LLC
                  Sunday, 5/10       Wooly Cakes and Wooden Spoons
                                          (Stefanie of Knitspiring Odyssey's brand spanking new home)

Remember that all the comments left each day will earn the author a chance at some yarny + book prizes in my give-away at the end of May, a chance at the grand prize package that includes a Scenic Seaplane Flight Tour donated by Kenmore Air (and of course you need to be in the greater Puget Sound for this prize, or get your awesome self here ... like ... pronto), and that's on top of those blog tour participants that give away a copy of Leather, Lace, Grit & Grace. I hope all the people will visit every tour stop and give each blog owner your time and attention. 

In the interim, I'm going to enjoy choosing more yarns for projects. I sooooooo need more time so I can make.all.the.things.

New Designs This Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday

A wee process photo. See my
straight pins? Markers for
the side buttons.

Hello everyone! Happy first Friday in September. As we enjoy the final throws of great summer weather, here are a few new designs published just this past Monday in the October issue of iLikeCrochet.com.

I do love how this colorway mimics the
tree's leaves in the bottom of the photo.
So not planned.

Everyone who reads this blog or knows anything about me knows that I lurves my morning coffee. And yes, I drink decaf - I actually love, love, love the taste and smell of coffee - it's definitely a Proustian thing with me. So even though I've designed one French press cozy already, why not another one? The Cafe au Lait French Press Cozy (found in the "Autumn Around the House" section of the e-zine) is a one-skein fun project that most crocheters, including adventurous beginners, should be able to whip up in no time at all. I especially love these granny square motifs in Lion Brand's Amazing in the strawberry fields colorway. And once closed at the top, your coffee will stay warmer much longer. Really.







The next new design in this edition has been dubbed a "hot pattern" - it's the Floral Embellished Tablet Cozy. I do think it's rather genius, not to mention a great use of color. Just two skeins (one each of Berroco Comfort and Noro Kureyon) makes this great cover for your tablet; you choose from three different dimensions in order to get the best fit for your tablet size.







Here's a peek at the inside:

The pocket at the top of the photo holds a piece of lightweight foam board so your tablet has a great stabilizer. Pretty neat, huh?





And finally, to cap the cozy warmth theme of these designs, please check out my Autumn Leaf Shawl:

Done in Dream in Color Wisp in the Anguished Rose colorway, this light-as-a-feather shawl carries a big shoulder-warming stick. As a rather fun fact, this is my first triangular shawl design, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The stitch pattern creates "veins" from the center spine outward, not unlike a leaf. The edging is simple, yet seems to grow organically from the main body of the shawl. It can be customized to pretty much any dimension - the stitch pattern allows for as many repeats as the wearer chooses.

Now don't forget to head on over to Andrea's at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see everyone else's finished projects this week.

Have a great weekend; get out there and enjoy all that final summer weather!

(Just Another) Melange Monday

Hello everyone - it's Monday, time for melange.

I was recently picking up a few things in my local whole foods co-op, and I stopped by the magazine rack to check out what was currently on tap. I was instantly drawn to the above cover, the spring issue of Tricycle magazine. It shows a portion of one piece of Jakkai Siributr's textile art, Red Buddha. If you were to see this cover up close, you would instantly notice that a large portion of this piece is made up of crochet motifs, mixed with other found objects. It is absolutely stunning. (And, if you're interested in reading a quite different take on the annual Burning Man festival, definitely check out this issue - it's a fascinating spin on what happens in the desert sand every year.)

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I am a big fan of foreign films. While I normally gravitate toward French films, I will peruse all of the foreign language film section of my library to see what might look intriguing. I've come upon a foreign film distributor, filmmovement.com, and have been exploring their releases found in the stacks. The most recent I've seen, 2011's The Piano In A Factory, is simply superb. Ostensibly about a father's quest to provide his daughter with a piano, it's in turns comic, poignant, and quite visually appealing (in an industrial communist blue collar sort of way). Initially, watch for the story. Then, stay for the cinematography. And the costumes. And the music. And all the bicycle riding.

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Finally, I leave you with more of the current fiber on the hooks/needles. I cannot seem to get out of the way of projects lately (always a pleasant state of events). I must tell you how much I love the Dream In Color Wisp in a new-ish colorway, Rose Anguish, that I recently received. On the DIC Wisp page, they show the colorway on a different base, which is nice, but in Wisp is so delicate. Just yummy. 

I quite like my yarny life.