Playing with my new lens

After a long wait and search for prices, I got my birthday gift: Micro-Nikkor Macro lens - 105 mm - F/2.8 - Nikon F. Thank you to my wonderful family for this fantastic lens.


Do not judge my photos, please. I am so not a professional photographer! My wish is that I will learn how to use this wonderful tool and make some great photos. For now, I am in the stage of exploring what it can do without much knowledge. So, here are some shots with it.

My new design for my own line. It will be published very soon.


My plant in the front yard is trying to say that Spring is here, but the weather here is more like Winter right now.


This is a special bottle of beer from our local Sierra Nevada brewery. It was a gift.





The delicious Beet Salad you see on this photo is made from
_ beets
_ green apples
_ pine nuts
with some lemon juice and salt.

I think the photos are pretty good, right? I know, I know. They can be much better. I will learn how to make them better.

NEW PATTERN CALYPSO CAPELET

I got a very nice surprise today. UPS came by and brought this book by House of Birches with 10 designs on a circular knitting. It is edited by Kara Gott Warner. One of the designs is mine.


I love the photography in this book. Some of the projects are simple, so it is a good book for a beginner. The illustrations, charts, book layout are done beautifully. It is available on Amazon and on Annie's Attic (pdf is an option here)

For this book I made this capelet out of lace weight yarn by Louet called Mooi. I played with the traditional Orenburg Shawl technique that is normally used on even finer lace yarn and with smaller needles. So, it is not exactly a very traditional piece in that sense. The border is done first and worked in flat. After that sts are picked up for working in the round.


Gauge: 28 sts and 56 rnd = 4 inches/ 10 cm
Needle size: US 2
1-2 skeins of Mooi by Louet

Hop on a wagon! There is a blog tour for A Knitting Wrapsody going on.

I am very pleased to participate in the blog tour for her new book A Knitting Wrapsody. Although we saw her published knitwear designs before, this is her first book of knitting designs.
In this book Kristin made a leap from crochet to knitting. She follows her style and aesthetics that we know from her previous books and puts together a winner.
Here are some designs from this book...read this article in full

Fashion Show at TNNA in January 2011

I was waiting for this video for some time now. At the end of this clip you will see the three models wearing pieces made out of Bijou Basin Ranch yarn. My design Sasha is one of them. If you want to see just this part of the clip, begin with time around 6:00 minutes.

Very quick trip to New Jersey.

I am sitting at the airport and enjoying a free Wi-Fi access while my husband is driving to pick me up. I had to make a very short trip to New Jersey for my mom's funeral. Although I was aware that this day will come soon, it was a shock (as it always is) when I got a phone call about her death. This is one of those things that make you stop and put down everything you are doing to realize that there is another part of you that needs attention. So, I went to NJ to say goodbye to her and reflect on her life and mine with her. It was good to be with my family at this difficult time. She will always be a part of me and my memories.

I brought two projects with me and finished one on the plane. The other one I am planning on finishing soon. People who do not knit think it is crazy that I always have my knitting with me. All you, knitters, know that it is crazy not to knit at times like this. It is my relaxation and escape. It helps me to keep sane.

I am back in grind of things again. Very soon a few of my designs that are included in three books other places will be out and I will be able to share them with all of you. These are the books I am waiting for not only because my designs are in them, but because I had a quick glance at them at TNNA and know that there are some wonderful patterns in them.




















In addition to these books, I have one very different and very exciting work that I am doing and dying to talk about, but have to wait. I hope you will come back to see what else is new.