And apparently I know the right people. Sugarbee stepped up to the plate and got pictures for me again with her gorgeous daughter as the model. So here it is, for sale and everything.

Just to let you know, I was never this pretty.  And she also got an even better picture on the details of the cowl.

Needles: Size 7 needles (4.5 mm) – 16 inch circulars

Yarn: 2 skeins Plymouth Mulberry Merino, 50g, 99 yards, 48% Merino, 52% silk in the color Eggplant

Sizes: 20″ circumference

Gauge: 20 stitches and 30 rows = 4 inches in stockinette

Notes: This cowl is worked in the round. The instructions are offered in written and charted form.

For sale on Ravelry. Only $4.50.

So I’m complaining about the man socks when I really shouldn’t. The man has been insanely patient about the whole thing. Like years patient. Last night I had a moment of inspiration and I charted out a pattern. Which I think will be perfect. For boy socks. The man might have to wait longer.

But it’s nice yarn, no? I traded Kimber some very lovely pink Miss Babs for this yarn, which is quite manly and quite perfect for my man, who may never get a hand-knit pair of socks. The colorway is even manly – Brewhouse Ale. A quite nice merino/nylon blend from Cables and Lace.

Oh and by the by – the cowl did not get published today. Whoever said it’s always sunny in Jacksonville must have been smoking something. It was a very grey day.  But I’m hoping tomorrow will be better!

So I am having trouble with the man socks. I’ve started these socks so many different times. The cast on is too big, the cast on is too small, the pattern doesn’t show well enough, the gauge is too loose, the gauge is too tight… and so on, and so on, and so on. A couple of days ago I had the perfect twisted 1×1 ribbing on the perfect yarn and it flowed just perfectly into the perfect manly pattern. (I am nothing if not all about the flow).

But then a good friend of mine on Ravelry favorited a lovely new sock pattern. Which was exactly what I was starting with. So there’s another no-go for you. Back to the drawing board as they say.

The good news is the cowl is finished and will be published tomorrow. I would just like to get some modeled pictures of it. The light today was horrible, but I did get a lovely shot in my light-box that shows all the gorgeous texture.

Wish me perfect light and a willing model tomorrow. And some mojo for these man socks – ’cause I’m about ready to throw in the towel again!

So I did all the morning crazy-ness. I got up early, I fixed lunches for all my menfolk. I cooked breakfast. Everyone went off to school looking neat and nice. I of course drove the boys to school with crazy hair and dark circles under my eyes. The people in the school office must be used to it by now. I very rarely put myself together anymore. Must remedy that. No one takes the woman with crazy hair and a wild look in her naked eye seriously.

And then I realized it was February. February and I don’t get along. February brings me broken arms, and crazy high temperatures, and all manner of bad stuff. But this year will be different. I will make friends with February. Friends I tell you.

I started the South Beach Diet this morning to try to take off some extra poundage. After I took the boys to school I came home and did some business stuff and have begun the process of making myself look human. Makeup is next. I’m cleaning the house and running numbers and I’m telling February in no uncertain terms that good things will happen this month.

We’re planning a Disney trip mid-February. That will be good. And the boys will start basketball practice this week. That will be good. Little J is loving his guitar lessons and Big J is still doing well with trumpet. Also good.

And I’ve raised nearly $1000 for Doctors Without Borders with my Help for Haiti campaign via Ravelry. I am giving 50% of pattern sales. The end date for this was originally yesterday. But less than $1000 – $925 and change is such an unsatisfying number. Really. We can do better. I want to break that $1000 mark. So I’m extending the contributions until February 14th. So we can send that organization a lot of love!

So if you have any PicnicKnits patterns on your to-do list, now is the time to buy. It’s my offering to February, so that it will stop kicking me in the arse.

Patterns are so hard to name. Sometimes I come up with names that are inspired and awesome. So awesome in fact that umpteen million other designers have already used them. Somedays I think it would be better just to number them. Actually I do number them. But I don’t think that PK0031 has any oomph to it.

I’m hoping that my photographer extraordinaire will be able to capture how pretty it is in person. It’s this gorgeous silk/merino blend that kind of glows. (Note to self: Must learn how to use new camera!)

These however were easy to name. And they have already been tested and partially edited. So they will be coming out real soon.

Again I need the help of my photographer. Due to my need for cozy slippers, these will be the Mother Necessity Slippers. Everyone who has tested them so far says they are fast and fun. I’m finishing up some in kid and man sizes so they will be good for the entire family!

I think I need to start up a new notebook. Instead of design sketches and notes, it will be a name book. All kinds of names for all sorts of patterns. I’m starting to get desperate!

I’m kind of in love with some of these new Malabrigo colorways that kind of defy description. First it was the Liquid Ambar in the Malabrigo Twist, and now this:

It’s Malabrigo Silky Merino in Archangel and it’s for a new shawl/shawlette pattern. I’ve already started the design and it’s coming out really lovely. The way it looks in the skein or the ball does not convey how gorgeous it is knitted up.

But you’ll have to be patient for the knitted pictures. And I will try to knit really fast so I can show them to you!

I am now (officially even) a published designer. I’ve been self publishing for awhile. And I love it. And it’s going well for me. But I really want to expand to get into magazines and online publications. And I did!!! Yarn Forward – page 86 baby!

It’s my Frosted Goblet Shawl, and it’s made of the softest, prettiest alpaca yarn. You can even see the halo in the pictures. It’s crazy soft.

So I’m excited, and I’m basking, and I’ll even be in the next issue of the magazine. Conquering the knitting world one tiny step at a time…

I looked. And now everything in my pattern store is in the Help for Haiti category. Actually I didn’t even mean to look. I just saw some ads. With the pictures. Oh my Lord the pictures.

So to recap, if you buy anything in my Ravelry Store between now and the end of January, I will donate 50% of the purchase price to Doctors Without Borders.

I’m not looking, but I know it’s happening. I can’t watch the coverage on Haiti. I can’t listen to the stories. I was reduced to a sobbing heap the other day reading a news story about a cop who was killed here locally in a head-on collision. I am that person that is nearly incapacitated by hearing about tragedy. I don’t know why. I guess it’s a bad thing. It doesn’t mean I’m not compassionate – I think I’m too compassionate. I don’t know. But enough about me. This is about them.

Even though I’m not watching or listening, I know. I get little bits and bobs. And they are horrifying. Ravelry is doing something good though. That I can read about. They are doing a “Help for Haiti” designation where you can designate percentages of your pattern sales to go to relief. Tons of designers have already signed up. Right now all of my hat patterns are in the mix. If you buy any for sale hat pattern, I will send 50% of the sale price to Doctors Without Borders. They were in Haiti when the quake struck. Their hospital was destroyed – so they set up tents in the rubble and kept working. They’ve lost many of their own.

And hey, if you’re knitting hats, they are fast, yes? Think about knitting some up for some of the folks at home that are homeless and cold right now. Other bad things haven’t stopped happening because Haiti happened.

Oh and one more thing. If you were going to buy patterns, try to buy ones that have the “Help for Haiti” designation. But if you weren’t… well just send that $5 or so straight to Haiti. That way 100% of that money goes straight to the people that need it most. And $5 does a heckuva lot more there than it does here.

I wanted to call these Frippery socks. But I always search for names on Rav before naming stuff, and frippery was used multiple times. So Finery Socks it is. I love these socks. Chris wanted to make some socks out of her most popular colorway, Toe Curling ‘O’. Um yes, the O stands for what you think it does and on her site it is spelled out. But I don’t want to attract any more weirdos than I already do.

When I whipped up the pattern I thought it would look lovely. But Chris did the sample knitting, so I had no idea how lovely it would look until she brought the in-progress sample up to the yarn shop on Wednesday. Lovely is an understatement. And the color is rich, so evocative, dare I say it? So aptly named. It really is just that fabulous of a color.

I think this stitch pattern would look lovely in handpainted or variegated yarns as well. The stitch pattern has a lot of movement that would break up pooling. It starts off with 2×1 ribbing and has a slip-stitch short-row heel for durability.

Needles: Size 2.5 needles (3.0 mm)

Yarn: Politically Incorrect Yarns & Fibers Merino-Cashmere-Nylon (MCN), 100g, 435 yards

Sizes: S/M and M/L Women’s

Gauge: 30 stitches and 40 rows = 4 inches in stockinette in the round

Notes: This sock is worked top down magic loop style with a heel flap. It is offered in 64 and 72-stitch counts, with written and charted instructions for the lovely lace pattern.

For sale on Ravelry. Only $5.50.