Crofter's Cowl Class

I don't think I mentioned this yet but I'm going to be teaching a class at Fiber College in Searsport Maine in Septemeber!
I'll be teaching my Crofter's Cowl pattern in a 3 hour class on Sunday the 13th of September. If you know of anyone in that area that may be interested in making a cowl as we head into cooler weather then please let them know!
The class will be appropriate for beginners (with a teensy bit of experience) and up.
Skills that will be taught:
Knitting in the rnd
Simple Lace
Grafting
The Fiber College folks have also put up a wee interview I did for them on their blog.
I'm very much looking forward to it and for the opportunity to meet Mary Jane Mucklestone who is also going to be teaching there!

New Connections

I've spent most of today online getting together a Shetland Trader Group on Ravelry! I decided it was time for a central location for Rav users to ask questions and for me to be able to respond easily! If you're on Ravelry please come and join!

The Shetland Trader Group

Also got sucked into twitter today......username shetlandtrader!

"Best Raspberry Jam I've Ever Tasted!"

......this is what Maya said about my first ever attempt at jam making......can't get better than that!

The kids and I picked the berries this week from Nourse Farms......obviously a few didn't make it into the jam!

I had seen Lolly's lovely looking peach jam and vowed that I would finally get around to making jam of my own this week......and I did!
After I grilled my canning expert friend on the phone I felt equipped enough to take the plunge!It was of course pretty easy! However I was surprised at how much those berries condense down ......I only got 2 and half pints out of our pickings..........

.......with the rate that it's being eaten we'll need to get back to the farm soon!

Aestlights!

One of the most rewarding things about designing is when you get to see finished products of your patterns. This has become so much easier to do what with Ravelry and all the blogging that goes on these days!
I've been checking out all the lovely Aestlights that are appearing and thought I'd share a few of the multi-coloured interpretations.
Obviously I designed this with a solid-ish colour in mind but after one of my test knitters (The Lady-see below) tried out a blue and orange combo, I think she sparked the interest of others to explore the use of more than one colour. The construction of the shawl lends itself well to this with it's multi-directional knitting.

theladyknits

goodgirlsaturday

Feltedfanatic (rav link)

Looks great in variegated yarns too!

dyedinthewool

mobbysthoughts

(All photos by permission of the photographers)

Bird's Eye Lace-Video Tutorial

Persy!

Maya said goodbye to single digits today! All she wanted to celebrate her 10 years was another kitty....so we surprised her with this little ginger cutie!
He comes from the home of Kristin Nichols no less! Kristin had blogged about these kittens a few weeks ago and I contacted her to get first dibs on a ginger one. We kept his given name....Persimmon, or Persy for short.

It was so adorable to see the absolute pleasure and surprise on Maya's face! It was also wonderful to meet Kristin and see her beautiful and colourful home in person!

Life is good!