FO: Welt Fantastic

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Woodlawn", and Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Dye in "One Hit Wonder"
Needles: US 3
Pattern: Welt Fantastic by Charlene Schurch

FO: Iris the Gourmet Monster

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Green Line DK in "Zombie BBQ"
Needles: US 4
Pattern: Iris the Gourmet Monster by Rebecca Danger; a kit from Lorna's Laces

FO: Feather by the Roadside

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Roadside Gerry"
Needles: US 1
Pattern: Generic toe-up with a feather&fan stitch pattern

FO: Lonely Vera

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in "Vera"
Needles: US #3, two circulars
Pattern: was just a lonely pair of toes for the longest time; eventually settled on Kaiso by Judy Sumner

Ysolda Red is in the house!

We have the latest in Lorna's Laces Color Commentary series, Ysolda Red, in the shop in Shepherd Sock. A number of people have been asking for this, and I have to say that the photo doesn't do it justice - this colorway is beautiful!

Swing by the shop to drool over this in person, or give us a call (352.338.7222) if you need more information about it (and don't forget that we can order it in any of the Lorna's yarns, if you want it in something other than Sock).

FO: Edgewater Pheasant

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Edgewater"
Needles: US #1, double-pointed
Pattern: Pheasant Run Socks by Lisa Parker

What's on your needles (or hooks)?

I have about nine different projects going on right now, not counting spinning; one of them is revisiting a lovely yarn that I had some issues with last year. I tried to do a pair of Herringbone Rib socks, and that just... well, ended badly. They got the better of me. But I love the yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in "Roadside Gerry"), so I'm revisiting it with a pair of simple feather & fan socks.

Have you ever gone back to yarn that you thought had beaten you? How did that turn out?

New Lorna's Sock Colors

Lorna's Laces has some new colorways, and we have them in Shepherd Sock - starting at the top left we have Avondale, Zombie BBQ (the new "staff favorite" colorway around our shop), Catalpa, Pullman, Calumet, and Humboldt (a little more light green than it looks in the photo). Swing by the shop or call us (352.338-7222) if you want any more info on these!

2009 FOs Year in Review - Pullovers

This last year was the year I learned to love knitting tank tops and pullovers -



Pattern: Tubey
Yarn: Trendsetter Merinos VIII




Pattern: Monogrammed Sweater
Yarn: Aslan Trends Artesanal




Pattern: Green Gable
Yarn: Classic Elite Premiere




Pattern: Pioneer
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted




Pattern: Wicked
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted weight, and some handspun




Pattern: Wicked
Yarn: Louet Gems Worsted Weight

2009 FOs Year In Review - Socks

It looks like I knocked out a couple of socks this year!



Pattern: Ribbed Socks
Yarn: Rocket Yarn




Pattern: Monkey
Yarn: Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Dye




Pattern: Marigold
Yarn: Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Dye




Pattern: Ribbed Socks
Yarn: Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Dye




Pattern: Basic Adult Sock by Ann Norling
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport




Pattern: Lacy Summer Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock




Pattern: Monkey
Yarn: Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Dye




Pattern: Air Raid
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock




Pattern: Pheasant Run
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock




Pattern: Crest of the Wave
Yarn: Perhaps Today is a Good Day to Dye

2009 FOs Year In Review - Hats

In looking back over the year, it seems that I've knit a lot of hats --



Pattern: From the Ann Norling "Head Hugger" pattern
Yarn: GGH Tara




Pattern: (OK, technically a headband) Nakiska (from Knitty.com)
Yarn: Trendsetter Merinos VIII




Pattern: Coronet (from Knitty.com)
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted weight




Pattern: Hallowig (from Knitty.com)
Yarn: Trendsetter Merinos VIII




Pattern: House Hat, from the book "Charmed Knits"
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted




Pattern: House Hat, from the book "Charmed Knits"
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted




Pattern: Based on our August afghan square
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted

And I have one more hat on the needles right now - The Sunflower Tam from the book "Knitting Nature", being knit in the December sock club yarn. But I'm not guaranteeing that I'll have it finished by the end of the year!

Revisiting June is for Jag

Remember this, from last year? Well, the original has long since gone to live with Jag, but we wanted to continue to show off this pattern because it works so well with different yarns-- and is a great pattern for either a new knitter looking to up their skills just a bit, or someone looking to crank out a pretty scarf in a quick amount of time.


Well, our lovely friend Jacquie knitted this up for us. The pattern is June is for Jag (Ravel it!) and the yarn is Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted in the "Hermosa" colorway.

Beautifully done, Jacquie - thank you!

Cookie's Deep Dark Secret

Latest in the Color Commentary Series by Lorna's Laces is Cookie's Deep Dark Secret -

We have it in the shop right now in Shepherd Sock, but should you want it in any other weight just give us a shout and we'll be happy to special order it for you!

Pioneeeeeeeeer!

The August and September Lorna's Laces Knit-along pattern is Pioneer; I'll be doing mine in the Woodlawn colorway -



However, I am having horrible gauge problems.

Here's an excerpt from something I wrote on Ravelry, as back-story:

But here’s the process that I used to get to my correct cast-on number (and bear with me, for I’m sort of writing out my thought process rather than jumping to the conclusion, because I am about the most math-phobic knitter on the face of the planet):

Swatching: I knit a swatch on both 4’s and 3’s - I did the 3’s first as I am a loose, loose knitter and usually knit Shepherd Sport on 3’s. However, I have circular 4’s that are the length I need for this project, so I swatched on those as well. I’m getting 6.5 on the 4, and 6.75 on the 3, so I’m going with the 4’s.

Begging for logic in math: I want to make about the 38” bust, but if i am getting 6.5 stitches per inch, and I want the bust to be approximately 38 inches, then at the bust I should have approximately 247 stitches; which only really looks close to the numbers of the 50” size. Ack! brain!melting! So then. Let me see what Sally says about ratios (I accidentally took three classes from Sally Melville last year - long story - and was possibly insufferable for weeks with my knitting friends, only saying “Well, Sally says…” to every knitting question). OK; according to my notes, if gauge in the pattern is “puppies” and my personal gauge is “kittens” (I refuse to say “X” and “Y”, I have just.that.much. math anxiety), then puppies into kittens equals martinis (one of which I really want after thinking this much about math before lunchtime). So I should multiply by martinis every time my pattern says puppies. LOLwhut?! Using real numbers instead: the gauge in Pioneer is 5; my personal gauge is 6.5; 5 into 6.5 is 1.3; so every time I see a number in Pioneer, I should times it by 1.3. Sadly I do not have the numbers for the 38” because I am a slacker and kept forgetting to email and ask for it, so I’ll pull from the numbers for the 41”, which I’m guessing I’m going to wind up using anyway. After all of the neckline increases are done, at approximately the bust level, for the 41” numbers I should have 206 (at 5 sts/inch). If I times 206 by 1.3 I get 267, which is only 20 stitches more than I’m guessing I would have. The difference of those 20 stitches is approximately 3 inches, which is the difference between 38 and 41 - and I really hope y’all are still with me.

Conclusion: In playing around with that ratio formula, all of the numbers I’ve played with seem to indicate that the given numbers for the gauge that I’m getting means that I need to make between the 38” and 41” size. However, I’m not making this for me - I’m making it for [deleted to not ruin the surprise], who is roughly the same size as I am. I would much rather have it come out just a tad too large than a tad too small, so I have decided to use the numbers for the 41” size to make Pioneer.

However, what I'm getting on size 4 needles is so loose that it... it looks like cheesecloth. You can practically read through it. So... I'll be switching to size 3's, and going up one size in my knitting in order to compensate.

And I'm sooo glad this is a two-month knit-along!

Air Raid

How have I not shown these off yet?



Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sheridan
Needles: Size 1 DPNs
Pattern: Air Raid by Emily Miller (Ravelry link; pattern link)
Notes: Part of the Lorna's Laces Knit-a-long; this was the July pattern.

Lacy Summer Rainbows

Remember earlier in the month when I mentioned the Lorna's Laces Knit-along? I finished my socks--



If you missed out on June, for July the pattern will be Emily Miller's Air Raid Socks. Hmmm... what color of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock do I want to use for this one...?

As if I needed an excuse...

As if I ever needed an excuse to cast on another pair of socks, here are three more reasons...

1. Lorna's Laces is doing a Knit-Along (here is a post on their blog about this month's pattern; here is the Ravelry group).
2. The KAL is for a pair of socks.
3. The sock pattern takes ONE skein of Shepherd Sock.

The fact that I have like eleven other things on the needles is NOT A PROBLEM. Because these socks are cute. And socks. And they take one skein. Must... cast on... today...!

Do me a solid

A solid color sock yarn, that is!

We realized we were almost completely out of solid colors of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, so we called up to see what they had on the shelf -



We wound up getting six colors, four of which we've never had before!

New Lorna's Laces colors

We have the five new Lorna’s Laces colors in the shop. Right now we only have it in Shepherd Sock (and we're working on getting them up on the website, don't worry!), but if you want it in another yarn/weight just give us a shout! Now, we give you… Andersonville, Beverly, Montrose, Rockwell, and Satsuma!

Lorna's Laces Single Shepherd Sock Sale

We have a few skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock that are singles (we call them “widows and orphans”). We’ve marked them down 20% to $8.80. Get ‘em while you can– we’re only marking these down because when we get more in, they won’t be in the same dye lot!