Good morning and happy Friday to you!
Last week I mentioned that I would love to share some of your businesses in my newsletter, and I had two people take me up on the offer. One is an author, and the other is a member of a weaving cooperative, so I have the pleasure of bringing each of these artists to you. I also have a new cowl pattern that I just published. It’s free this week, and I hope you enjoy it.
A Tale of Two Artists
Let’s start with the two artists. The first person who contacted me was Joyce Hertzoff.
Here is what Joyce told me about her work as an author:
Hi Carla, I consider myself a creative person. I knit, of course, but I also write fiction. That’s my business. This is my writing website: http://www.fantasybyjoycehertzoff.com I’ve published six books so far including these three: https://www.amazon.com/Bite-Apple-Portal-Adventures-Book-ebook/dp/B01K0QP4JU , https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Orb-Book-Crystal-Odyssey-ebook/dp/B06XBC38LW, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CLNLVDV
My novels are PG and aimed at middle school kids and older. The last one here is a kid’s book. I’m working on one more series about a fourteen-year-old part Navajo girl, another that’s a survival story and a series of stories about teens in space.
I have several lovers of fantasy who fit Joyce’s audience, so I’ll be sharing her books with them. Maybe you or someone you know would enjoy her books too!
The next artist I want to tell you about is a weaver whose work I find so inspiring! Cathy Crawford wanted to share not just her work but that of her weaving co-op.
Cathy wove all of these beautiful stoles, and she kindly selected these particular ones because they have Purple Lamb yarn too. The top left is made using Objectivity, and the bottom left is made using Chocolate. Cathy used Black Butterfly for the stole in the middle and Purple Iris for the one on the right.
Here is what Cathy said about the cooperative:
Friendship Village Tempe Weavers is a Not-for-Profit organization with proceeds from purchased handwoven items used to purchase equipment and materials for the Weaving Studio and contribute to selected organizations and projects. Items created by the Weavers include a variety of different styled stoles and wearable art; items for the home such as towels, table runners, and placemats; gifts such as baby blankets, mug rugs, book marks, and much more. Custom and special order items may be woven to accommodate specific color choices, styles, and sizes. The Friendship Village Weavers may be contacted via email at: fvtweavers@gmail.com
Isn’t that fantastic?
New Cowl Pattern – Free This Week
The other thing I wanted to share with you today is my new (sort of) Diamond Twist Cowl pattern. First of all, it’s free this week on Ravelry. I would love it if you would download it and let me know what you think. If you aren’t on Ravelry and you’d like a copy, just let me know and I’ll email it to you.
I wanted to tell you a little more about this pattern. A few years ago, I wanted to showcase my then-new Jane Austen colorway collection, so I created a cowl the first prototype of this pattern to do that. Then I made a few small changes and used the Diamond Twist Cowl pattern for my first Eight Days of Easter Kit. In both those cases, the directions were very specific to a set of mini skeins. I decided it was about time to re-create the pattern to work for a single skein of sock-weight yarn or two coordinating colorways too, so that’s what I did.
I made a few improvements to the pattern to make it clearer and just better, and then I asked two wonderful knitting friends to test it for me, which they did. Here is the one Nancy made using Copper on Sock Perfection:
…and here is the one Marion made, using Purple Iris on Sock Perfection.
I’m so grateful to Nancy and Marion for testing these for me and giving me some very helpful feedback.
Here’s mine that I made using Van Gogh’s Starry Night on Sparkly Merino Sock:
It’s a very straightforward pattern with enough variation to keep things interesting. It would be great for an advanced beginner or anyone who would like a great project for knitting while talking or watching a movie. I actually just started another one using Unicorn on Stained Glass Sock. I’m not very far along, but here it is:
I hope you enjoy the Diamond Twist Cowl pattern. As I mentioned, it’s free on Ravelry throughout this week.
Yarn and Art Batt Club
There’s one more thing I wanted to mention. Every month I announce the next month’s club colorway inspirational painting, but I haven’t said much about what this club thing is for awhile, so if you are new around these parts, I thought I would explain.
Each month I create a new exclusive club colorway based on a famous painting. I offer the club colorway as art batts and on a number of different yarn bases.
I hate those things where you sign up and it’s hard to cancel, so I absolutely refuse to do it that way. Any time you like, you can skip a month, pause your subscription, switch to a different club, get more, or cancel altogether.
I am just getting caught up on the page of my website that shows all my past club colorways so you can see what I’ve made in the past. You can see them right here. If you are interesting in joining the club, you can learn more here. The deadline to sign up is the 1st of each month for that month.
Stay well, and happy fiber artistry!