The deadline for Ram Club sign-ups is July 9th!  If you are a man who knits socks or someone who likes to knit socks for men, this is the club for you!

The Ram Club ships every other month for 6 months with exclusive patterns  and colorways featuring a variety of Unique Sheep yarns.  The patterns are designed by podcaster extraordinaire StitchStud and all the colorways are a collaborative effort between the designer and dyers.  This means “manly” colors with enough yarn included to knit up to a men’s (US) size 14.

The shipments start at the beginning of August, so sign up now before it’s too late!

Happy July 4th to all of you in the U.S.!  What better way to celebrate than by whipping up this flag pin from the Vogue Knitting web site?  You still have time to finish this before the fireworks start.

This Week’s Block:

Stitch:Wavelengths (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Two: Cables)

Yarn: Cascade 220, color 9459

Needles: size 7 (US)

Gauge: 5 1/2 sts x  5 rows per inch in pattern

Size:  28 sts x 42 rows = 5″ x 8 1/4″

Notes: Very simple pattern. Easy peasy. Only two rows out of twelve have cabling on them and the rest is straight stockinette. The finished product isn’t super exciting, but it makes a really nice slightly textured fabric. Perfect for anything where you want a little interest but nothing flashy. The minimal cabling means it rolls on the edges and is still pretty stretchy. I can see replacing this stitch for the stockinette in a basic sweater pattern.

Sam lives in the Pacific Northwest and spends her days knitting, writing, designing, and trying to keep up with her family and friends. You can read more about her knitting and crafting adventures on her blog, and reach her at sam@limenviolet.com.

I’ve always been fascinated by silk cocoons.  This fine little fiber, all from the home of a little moth.  Over at Larkspur Funny Farm, you can buy hand dyed silk cocoons for your enjoyment.  She’ll even include degumming recipes on request.  I love her choices of colors and the prices can’t be beat!

Not so much of a column as a challenge my dearies.

It being Independence Day here where I be, my mind is on breaking bonds, going new directions, being true to the little voices inside my head. (don’t be scared, they’re nice.) Here’s my challenge to you. Grab some yarn you love that has not yet had it’s chance to declare it’s destiny. Grab some hooks. Grab perhaps a stitch dictionary or peruse the library at MyPicot or the projects at CrochetMe for inspiration. Try things you usually wouldn’t. Use a really big hook for a very airy fabric. Work dense to get something more durable and utilitarian. Leave all patterns behind and just start playing around until you find something that works with the yarn….then leave us a link to some pictures and a little blog-o-rama, eh? Proudly declare your crafting independence, shout out in your own voice of your own vision.

Happily enmeshed in the usual July festivities. May there be beer, brats and berries for all! As usual, complaints, comments and crochet can be left for Dawn at crocehtcompulsive@limenviolet.com.

My 7 Kids is a woman who likes to recycle.  Every single yarn pictured here has been rescued from a sweater, and in the case of the red & blue yarns, overdyed to make glorious colors.  And they’re all at least partly wool.  That pink & brown number is 50% lambswool/50% acrylic, and a nice bulky yarn, to make a cute hat for someone. The blue?  Sockweight yarn.  From a sweater!

As someone who is intent on reducing how much stuff she puts in the local landfill, to see these yarns retrieved from such a possible fate, and offered to us to transform into something else to love, warms my heart.  Her prices warm my credit card.  And she loves to give presents;  every order comes with some little gift, such as a stitch marker or a handknit bookmark.  Huzzah!

Oh my, my credit card wants to scream in agony!  Just look at these fibers from Winderwood Farm.  Don’t they make your spinning wheel sit up and take notice?  The colors, the fibers, oooh, a spinner’s dream.  The rainbow colored mohair is my favorite.  (Just don’t let Miss V see this store, she’s allergic to mohair.)

Artist Hildur Asgeirsdottir Jonsson has a unique way of painting.

She photographs landscapes in her native Iceland and bases sketches on the photos.  She then handpaints fine strands of silk and weaves those strands into “paintings” based on the photos.  The abstract images that result are gorgeous, haunting and subtle.

Check out the artist’s site for more of her work!

Crash Into Ewe has caused a wreck in my wallet.  These yarns speak to me in ways unexpected to this yarn dieter.  That top one? It’s that luxurious yarn with silver spun in.  No, not silver-colored angelfire.  REAL SILVER.  She  calls it her Jewel Collection.  And it’s a steal!

Add to that the fact that she will custom dye anything you ask for, and will wind any of her yarns into a center pull ball, and all your credit cards will weep.

As I eye my ever-increasing sock yarn stash, I try to think of new patterns to knit.  I love socks, but perhaps not every sock skein wants to be a sock when it grows up.  The Lisha Lace Scarf by Sleepy Eyes Knitting requires just 400 yards of light fingering weight yarn.  The finished scarf is stunning in a handpainted yarn but would be equally lovely in a semi-solid or solid.

If you decide to buy a Sleepy Eyes Pattern between July 1st and August 1st, you could win a skein of Sereknity’s “Luxe”, a 100% cashmere fingering weight yarn.  Then, you’d have the perfect yarn for Lisha.  See the Sleepy Eyes blog for further details on how to enter, or listen to her podcast Sleepy Eyes Knits.