Dear knitters!
Something very exciting is happening. I’ve been dying to share with you for the past few months, and finally I’m able to reveal……
I went to Denver in the beginning of October to record my very first Craftsy class! That’s right – you’ll be able to learn all about lace from me on Craftsy. I’ll be at your fingertips, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, etc. And we’ll be knitting lace, lace, and lace!
The class is called My First Lace Shawl, and we’ll be working through a brand new design called the Waterspout Shawl. Waterspouts are generally formed by a tornado over water. They are funnel shaped clouds rotating over water, and can sometimes be seen in the Great Lakes. …and along the edge of this beautiful lace shawl. You can knit the shawl in fingering weight yarn, or worsted weight. We’ll talk all about the yarn choices in the class.
The class will be available soon. I really look forward to seeing you there. If you would like a chance to win a free copy of this class, simply follow the link to be entered into the draw. I’ll announce the winner on Nov 25.
When Osiris was killed by his brother, his body was broken into 14 pieces – one for each full moon in a year – and spread over Egypt. When Isis tried to collect all the pieces of her dead husband to reassemble him, she found that one piece (the phallus) had been consumed by a fish. She reassembled him anyway and fashioned a new phallus of gold (as you do), and they spent a passionate night together before Osiris had to return to the valley of death.
Let me present Osiris – a stole with 13 full moons and …. a fish. A fun knit, as well as a great conversation piece.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/osiris
Osiris is also available in Ancient Egypt in Lace and Color. The book is full of stories from Egyptian mythology, and designs inspired by them. This particular story was one of my favourites. It just makes me giggle. Here’s the complete story, if you want more details to add to the conversation. 
In addition to the full moons and the fish, I also added the cedar tree to the other half of the stole. And of course it’s green because green was the colour of death in ancient Egypt, and actually Osiris’ skin was often depicted as green after he became the king of the dead. I chose to use a cedar green for obvious reasons.
Osiris was the king of Egypt and Isis his queen. His brother Seth jealously plotted to overthrow him.
Osiris was generous in spirit and enjoyed hosting parties for the entire court. To one such soirée, Seth brought an exquisite wooden chest with gold decor. As the guests admired it, he promised to give it to the man who fit in it exactly. The guests were eager to try, but when they laid down in the chest, some were too short and others too tall. Seth knew that there was only one man who would be the right size for the chest, as he had already secretly acquired Osiris’ measurements from his servant.
When all the guests had tried and failed, Osiris climbed in and was exactly the right size. As the guests laughed at Seth for losing such a valuable piece to his brother, Seth and his supporters suddenly slammed the lid on the chest, nailed it shut, and sealed it with molten lead so that Osiris died. The chest had been transformed into a coffin and Seth’s supporters threw it in the Nile. Seth announced his brother’s untimely death and declared himself King of Egypt.
Osiris’ coffin drifted down the Nile and hit the shore close to a cedar tree. After searching for the coffin for days and nights, Isis found it and brought it home. When Seth saw the coffin, he became very afraid. So one night he opened it, lifted out his brother’s body and ripped it into 14 pieces – one for each full moon during the year. He spread the pieces over Egypt, certain Isis would never be able to find them.
Isis set out again to find Osiris, and wandered Egypt for many years. Finally she had gathered 13 of the 14 pieces, but the last piece – the phallus – had been consumed by a fish. So she fashioned a phallus out of gold, and brought Osiris back to life using all the magic she knew. They spent one passionate night together, so that she could carry his child. After that, Osiris’ body died, but his spirit lived on. Ra-Atum made Osiris the king of the dead.
Today marks the seventh anniversary of my very first mystery KAL – Mystic Waters. Looking back, I just can’t believe the journey the past 7 years have taken me on.
Mystic Waters was not only the very first lace I ever designed – it was also the third lace shawl I ever knit. The first one was a mystery KAL hosted by Pink Lemon Twist called the Swan Lake Stole. That KAL ran during the summer of 2007, and I had a blast. My final shawl looked like this:
I thoroughly enjoyed the process of knitting a shawl in a mystery KAL. Getting a weekly “clue”, that is a piece of the pattern, was fun, and I really enjoyed keeping up with the KAL. I also enjoyed watching the lace grow off my needles, and speculating as to what might be next. When that KAL ended, I looked around for another mystery KAL to join, but I couldn’t find one. So I thought I’d host my own. The blog post announcing Mystic Waters is perserved here. Basically, I designed my own triangular shawl, and then figured I could email the clues to whoever might want to join. I was hoping I might find 20 knitters to join me on my lace adventure. Imagine my shock when 1400+ knitters signed up for my KAL.
I’m so very grateful to all of you for taking a chance on me. I’ve had a blast these past few years. I’ve met knitters from all over the world, and seen my patterns knit up in countless colours, variations and yarns. I’ve hosted over 30 mystery KALs, and published 3 books, 2 ebooks, and some 100+ patterns. My work has appeared in numerous publications, including a cover page on Piecework Magazine. I’ve had a chance to work with lots and lots of amazing people, and I have met amazing knitters and wonderful students everywhere I’ve gone. Thank you all for making the past seven years wonderful.
As a special thank you, you can use the coupon code SEVEN to get Mystic Waters at 50% off. The coupon code is valid until midnight, Oct 31, 2014 (EST) and can be used here to purchase Mystic Waters.
The journey is still continuing. At the moment, we’re working on the Mystic Vortex KAL, and the third clue will be out today. I’m busily plotting and scheming for more knitting fun this winter. Hope you’ll join me for more knitting fun!
The Mystic Vortex KAL is underway, and some lovely projects are being posted on Ravelry. There are both circular and semi-circular shawls being knit. So far, we have had 2 clues (out of 6), and the 3rd will be out tomorrow.
This Mystic Vortex in cream is knit by Pamela in CA. She’s knitting the full circle, and has (as of this picture) worked her way through the first clue. Lots of people are using various paintbox gradience kits from Fiber Optic Yarn, and others are knitting in solid colours.
Diane in Australia is knitting hers in a paintbox with neon green through hot pink. I bet this one is going to be smashing! While you guys are knitting along on your Mystic Vortices, I’ve had a less fun project of my own.
Last week, our hot water tank flooded the basement. Our guest room was sloshing with water. Which I naturally found out because we had guests arriving that day. So, instead of making the bed for our guests, I ended up mopping up water for hours and hours and hours. But in the end the carpets could not be saved.
So, we’ve pulled out the carpets, and will lose some drywall as well.
It’s an ongoing project for now, and it seems it will take a good, long while until we have our guest room back. In the meantime, I guess we’re lucky that we found it quickly. There could definitely have been a lot more damage. Still, it’s been most…. distracting. And believe me, I’d rather be knitting than mopping water for days. But for now, I’ll be living vicariously through your pictures.
Victoria from Ottawa (actually from my LYS) is knitting her Mystic Vortex in a deep red. It also looks amazing. I’ve always loved red, and this red is right up my alley. Beautiful. Far more beautiful than my own water flood project.
The Mystic Vortex KAL is starting today, and I have just released the first part of the pattern. I’m ridiculously excited to see pictures, but I suppose it’s too much to hope that people manage to work through the first clue in a mere 10-15 minutes, or whatever it’s been since I released it. I’ll give you a little bit more time. 😉
I’m looking forward to seeing all the colours though. Right now, the woods around me are ablaze with all the colours of fall. There is everything from greens, through yellow and brown, to vivid oranges and deep reds. Fall here in Ontario is always amazing, colour-wise. And relatively warm too, even though it’s only a few degrees above freezing at the moment.
I just spent a few days in Denver, Colorado. And I have to say that we can’t compete with the temperatures – it felt like summer there, and the leaves had yet to turn. The view of the mountains was amazing though, and I really enjoyed getting to see the city. There were some really neat buildings – of course the modern art museum and the State Capitol stood out – but I saw some other ones too that were really nifty. Like this one that looked like it was built out of shipping containers.
There was lots of good food in Denver too, as well as interesting microbrews. All in all, I had a wonderful time. It’s always nice to get back home though. Right now we have a long weekend coming up – Canadian Thanksgiving. I look forward to relaxing, (more) good food, and perhaps a trip out to the cottage.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m getting ready for a class. It always amazes me how much STUFF there is to bring.
Samples.
Books.
Handouts.
Swatches.
WIPs for demos.
Needles.
Yarn.
Blocking tools.
Measuring tape, sewing needles, scissors.
And then I have to figure out what to wear. Thats next on my to-do list.
Every year, September just seems to hit me like a brick wall. After a nice, long, leisurely summer, it’s back to reality for most of us. School starts up again for the kids, and the various extracurricular activities kick into gear.
It’s nice once we’ve gotten back into our routines, but the actual getting there can be a bit rough. The rush to do all the things can be a bit overwhelming, but I’ve noticed that by now September is almost over, and things should (hopefully) slow down a little bit.
Project-wise, it’s been really busy.
The Mystic Ocean KAL finished, and I finally got to post a picture of my finished shawl.
I’ve also launched a new KAL that will actually start in October – Mystic Vortex. Sign-ups are open (here), and I’m busy prepping all the files for that.
And I have received a large shipment of yarn which I am busy turning into something quite exciting. I do have a deadline though, and that deadline is in just over a week. Luckily I do have some trusted sample knitters to help out, but it’s going to be one busy week.
So if you don’t hear from me, I’ve probably drowned in my ocean of blue yarn.
Swirls of water, whirls in space
Knits and purls and dashing lace
Growing peaks, converging lines
Round and round so many times
Mystic Vortex, mesmerizing
Lace in circles, so enticing
Welcome one and welcome all
to mystic lace knit in the fall!
Come join the Mystic Vortex KAL – the new MYSTERY KAL from Anna Dalvi, starting Oct 10, 2014.
Mystic Vortex can be knit as a circular shawl (1,800 yds lace weight yarn) or a semicircular shawl (900 yds lace weight yarn).
MATERIALS
1 or 2 Lace Paintbox Gradients from Fiber Optic Yarns 100% merino wool – 900 yds/823 m per 3.6 oz in Damson-Gold Gradient
3.75 mm US 5 needles
Stitch markers
Large-eyed, blunt needle
KAL START DATE:
Oct 10, 2014
Clues posted every Friday for 6 consecutive weeks.
The PDF pattern can be purchased here for CAD $6.50.
The KAL is available at this price until the first clue is posted on Oct 10. At that point, the price will increase to the regular pattern price.
A week ago, we set off on our great summer adventure. We’ll be traveling around Sweden for about a month.
After a long flight or two we ended up in Stockholm. It was a glorious summer day – 28 degrees and sunny. This picture is taken at almost 10 PM, and it’s still bright outside.
For the next month, I’ll be posting about my Swedish summer adventure on the Knit & Knag Facebook page, so come on over and join us there.
Announcing the new Mystic KAL!
Imagine the vast Ocean – rolling waves, thundering waves, and masses of water. It can be violent or entirely calm and peaceful, intimidating dark gray or brilliant turquoise. You could find yourself sailing on the surface of the ocean, or plunging deep down into its never-ending depths.
Mystic Ocean is inspired by the waters that cover more than two thirds of our planet. It’s a crescent shaped shawl knit in an enticing fingering weight Gradient Set from Miss Babs.
MATERIALS
1 Gradient Set (Set of 5 Yummy 2-ply Toes) from Miss Babs in Aquarius or similar colourway.
KAL START DATE: Aug 14, 2014
Clues posted every Thursday for 5 consecutive weeks.
The KAL is available at a discount until the first clue is released. At that time the pattern price will increase to CAD $8.00.
SIGN UP TODAY
CDN $6.00 (KAL price will increase to regular pattern price upon the release of the first clue)
Come join us in the Knit & Knag Designs group on Ravelry for more KAL fun.
PS. I’m announcing this KAL a little earlier than usual to give knitters a chance to order the Gradient Set from Miss Babs (if you so desire).
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