Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Summer Spa Swap II – Another Swap in the Books!

Posted on by Carol

The Summer Spa Swap II – A Day at the Beach swap is now complete. It was a great swap; everyone was very creative, and I even designed the Castle Beach Spa Cloth for the swap! I love seeing the generosity poured into these swaps – even into these mini-swaps where we’re limited to spending just a little bit on the packages we send to our SPs (swap partners).

I love that our swaps are secret swaps. No one except for our amazing organizer Jen knows who is sending to whom.  It’s such fun figuring out what your SP would like and then plotting and planning and putting together a special gift just for that person.  It’s also great fun anticipating getting a package in the mail and then finding out who sent it. And I think our group also has fun admiring the creativity shown in the packages put together by each person as the packages arrive and as pictures and thanks are posted in the group.

One of my favorite things to do after each swap ends is to put together a collage of all the great swap packages – like this one:

Summer Spa Swap 2016 Collage (1024x1024)

I think our next mini-swap might be a Fall/Halloween mini-swap after the Ravellenic Games are over. There is talk of a mini-Advent swap too. Our swaps are great ways to get to know some other knitters a little better, to make a quick little project, and to receive a fun little something too. Come check out the group if this sounds like something you would enjoy.

knit equals joy

Posted in Depoe Bay, Nature, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pacific Northwest, The Coast, Weekly Photo Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow

Posted on by Carol

When I saw this week’s challenge, I thought immediately of Depoe Bay, locally known as “The World’s Smallest Harbor.” It’s fascinating to watch fishing boats maneuver through the narrow channel.

Red fishing boat (1024x768)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow

 

Posted in knitting, knitting patterns, purple, Spa Cloth

The Queen’s Spa Cloth!

Posted on by Carol

Alex's Edge Detail (640x640)

I’m excited to introduce a new pattern, The Queen’s Spa Cloth.  This is another spa cloth that’s knit side-to-side using lovely pima cotton to make a cloth that is soft enough to use on your face. I use the spa cloths from this collection every day.

I will admit that this stitch might not be the most practical for a spa cloth, but it is made by using triple yarnovers to make elongated stitches which are then knitted together, and it’s just fun to do! Admittedly, if lace and yarnovers aren’t your thing, it might not be your idea of fun. But I found it oddly satisfying to unwind the triple yarnovers to make the elongated stitches. Yes, I am a knitting nerd; there’s no denying it.

This pattern is available on Ravelry for $1.25, here.

If you use social media, use the tags #morespacloths and #thequeensspacloth to join in on the spa cloth mania!

A huge thank you to my wonderful test knitters and tech editor. Their help is invaluable as I endeavor to provide quality patterns to you. I am fortunate to be surrounded by such a talented and kind group of knitters.

The photos on this page and in the pattern are by Alex of alexand knits. Many thanks to Alex for allowing me to use her lovely photos.

Finally, I am working on a collection of six or seven spa cloth patterns, currently under the working title of Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection.  This is the fourth and two more are in testing and tech editing. My hope is to write them as an e-book, although they may be grouped as a Ravelry collection instead.  I will keep you posted on the collection!

I hope you will check out the Queen’s Spa Cloth, and that you will enjoy this wild stitch as much as I did!

Alex's - on Trunk (2) (1024x1024)knit equals joy

 

 

Posted in knitting, Ravellenic Games, Ravelry, Team Knit Equals Joy

The Ravellenic Games: FAQ

Posted on by Carol

For Team Ravatar with words 2 (1280x1280)The Ravellenic Games = awesomeness! But what do you do? How do you participate? This list of FAQs will help you navigate the waters and have a fabulous time.

Frequently Asked Questions – General

  1. The Ravellenic Games?? In a nutshell, Ravelry members have organized a site-wide knit-a-long that takes place during the Olympics. This thread is home to the 2016 Ravellenic Games. Cast-on occurs during the Opening Ceremonies (or any time thereafter), and projects must be completed by the Closing Ceremonies. There are events (categories of projects) and laurels (types of techniques). When you complete and post your project as directed, you will receive virtual awards and laurels, which you can proudly display on your project page and/or your profile.
  2. When is the event? Friday, August 5 starting at 19:15 in Rio’s time zone (BRT) through Sunday, August 21 at 23:59 (BRT). If I’m looking at the time zone converter correctly, that means I can cast on at 15:15 here in the Pacific Time Zone.
  3. What are the rules? The rules are to pick a project that will challenge you, and to have fun!
  4. Do I have to watch the Olympics to participate? No, not at all.
  5. Do I have to be on a team? No, you can be a participant without a team.
  6. Can I be on more than one team? Yes. The rule is that each project must be associated with no more than one team.
  7. Why would I want to be on a team? A team is like a virtual knit night. We will exclaim over your projects, cheer you on if you falter, and dance a happy dance when you cross the finish line.
  8. Why would I want to be on Team Knit Equals Joy? We are really good at the above! And we have prizes! Read more below.

FAQs – Team Knit Equals Joy

  1.  How do I join Team Knit Equals Joy? Our team thread is here. You can post and say you are joining, or just join the conversation at any time. Tagging your project with ravellenics2016  and teamknitequalsjoy2016 will automatically list you as one of our ravthletes.
  2.  Do I have to knit a Carol E. Herman pattern to be on Team Knit Equals Joy? No! You can knit any pattern you like. But knitting my patterns will give you extra chances for prizes! 😀
  3. What about prizes? We already have a queue of physical prizes like yarn, project bags and the like for our team. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the Games via random number generator and will be chosen from our team’s finished projects. We have a thread here with more detail and where we will post our finished objects.
  4. What if I have questions? Post them in the team thread, send me a private message on Ravelry, or ask below.

If you are reading this, you are invited to join Team Knits Equals Joy. I hope that you will consider it. We have so much fun, and an event like this really does provide a lot of inspiration, incentive and encouragement to learn a new technique, finish a languishing WIP (work in progress), or even to frog something you never are going to make and free up that yarn for something else.

Hope to see you there!

~knit equals joy

Posted in Nature, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: Cherry on Top

Posted on by Carol

Little Marina 3 (1280x913)

The Challenge:

Show us the detail that made a good experience a truly transcendent one —

~Michelle W.  The Daily Post

One November day while wandering near Cascade Locks, the light was perfect and the views divine. The Bridge of the Gods was breathtaking, as were the locks, to say nothing of the spectacular fall color. When it was nearly time to leave, I came upon a tiny marina. Not only was finding this marina a treasure, but the serene calm of the water with its beautiful reflective quality was the detail that made my heart sing.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Cherry on Top

Posted in knitters, knitting, knitting patterns, pattern, Spa Cloth

Cinderella’s Spa Cloth Pattern is Live!

Posted on by Carol

DSC_0214 (1024x858)

Cinderella’s Spa Cloth is now available on Ravelry!

This is the newest pattern in my Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection.  I am compiling an e-book of these patterns, and after having written several patterns of varying degrees of difficulty, I decided to write a pattern that would be simple yet elegant.

This pattern has just two rows, repeated until the cloth is the desired width.  It uses only knit stitches and slipped stitches, yet it creates a cloth that is both lovely and useful. Made with Cascade Ultra Pima Fine, it’s a wonderful, gently exfoliating facial cloth. I use my spa cloths daily!

My friend Alex of alexand knits is one of the amazing testers who test-knit this cloth for me, and she wrote about it here. She is an excellent writer and knitter and blogs about all kinds of lovely knits.

The pattern is available on Ravelry for $1.25, here.  I hope you will enjoy this pattern!

DSC_0208 (1024x646) (2)

Posted in Nature, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pacific Northwest, photography, The Coast, Weekly Photo Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: Details

Posted on by Carol
Sea Kelp and Sea Foam (2) (1024x769)
Sea Kelp & Sea Foam

There is so much color, light, and reflection to be seen in a close-up view of sea kelp, ocean bubbles, and sand.  I never tire of the ever-changing ocean landscape, and up close I find it even more intriguing.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Details

Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting, Ravellenic Games, Ravelry

Team Knit equals Joy – The Ravellenic Games 2016

Posted on by Carol

jump (2)

Team Knit equals Joy is joining the Ravellenic Games! The Ravellenic Games – a fun way to connect with other knitters and to challenge your own skills. They take place during the Olympic Games but, of course, are not affiliated with those games.  The goal is to challenge yourself to begin and complete at least one project between Friday, August 5 and Sunday, August 21 – and to have fun doing it.

15 events cover just about any type of project you want to make:

Afghan Marathon,  Bag Backstroke,  Cowl Jump,  Frogging Trampoline,  Garment Polo, Hat Dash,  Household Heptathalon, Mitten Medley, Scarf Hockey, Shawl Sailing, Sock-Put, Sweater Triathalon, Synchronized Spinning, Toy Toss, and WIPs Wrestling.

The Ravelry-wide event awards virtual prizes. Generally these are a graphic you can post on your Ravelry profile page and on your project page. Pretty fun to post those prizes proudly!

We will have prizes in our Knit equals Joy team, too…real prizes like yarn, bags, patterns… come check out the thread in my Ravelry group for more details!

We would love to have you join our team!  It’s like a giant KAL, and so much fun. Hope to see you there!

jump3 (2)

knit equals joy

Photos by unsplash.com.