It's fine. No reason to panic. 

I'm 40 today. Yesterday, I was in my 30s. Today, 40s. Feeling a little... cranky? Maybe just, ambivalent? Sleepy? Sedated? Hungry? I hope they still give you a free slice of cheesecake at Michaels off Main on your birthday.

However, enough of that, this is a Knitting Blog, not the Agony Aunt. And what is more knitterly and life-embracing than pictures of yarn? The Arimono Shawl/Sweatermaker Kits have had such a great response, we're going to try some single skein kits, in a fingering weight merino/silk.

Here are a few pics of Sweatermaker Yarns Marjorie, 50% merino, 50% silk, 350 meters/100 g. One skein of this will make a long skinny scarf or a smal shawl. It is wonderful to work with. And I have a gorgeous pile of it, with fantastic colors. More on Marjorie soon.

Cashmere. Camel down. Tussah silk. Blue faced Leicester. Glass beads. Just a few of the tools in the yarn artist's palette. And then there's the colour. Since 1986, Vancouver Island based Sweatermaker Yarns has been producing custom yarns, weaving and knitting designs. Judy Maclean, artisan and founder of Sweatermaker Yarns, pushes the potential of artisan yarn with dynamic color-play and exotic fibers.

And now you can find some of these gorgeous yarns right here on Tricksy Knitter.

You can now buy the patterns from Interweave knit.wear as individual downloads! Here's the link to the Crossed Jacket.

All that winter knitting is coming to fruition. Kind of like planting tulip bulbs (which I never do in time) and then forgetting about them. And then spring, and Oh yeah, I remember now. Ladysmith is out in Knit Magazine, May 2012. Where can you get this magazine? Well, the UK on stands... Online at yudu, but I don't know if it's available yet. 

The Ladysmith is a sweet little cardigan in Louisa Harding Ondine. Seamless, bottom-up, knit-in edging, raglan yoke, wrap front. I love wrap cardigans; they’re so versatile. I originally imagined this worn with a narrow, buckled, velvet belt. But made a matching yarn belt for the sample. You can wear it with a pin too.

If you saw our kitchen reno, you'll know I have a small obsession with this colour of green. Saturated, bright, with a touch of ochre to it. (I have since repainted that kitchen wall to a more soothing avocado green so you can't see it from space any more).

The new Paravel Wrap (which at different times was the Paravel Shawl, Paravel Scarf and Paravel Stole, but I liked the sound of Wrap best) is such a treat in CashLuxe fine. The yarn is a fingering weight, with a little nylon, so I suppose it's intended for socks. But I like trying out fingering weight on big needles (4.0mm) for a lightweight drape. And CashLuxe wet blocks beautifully.

Isn't this quite fabulous? New skein of Marjorie from Sweatermaker Yarns in a new colour. Marjorie is the yarn you see in the Oaklet Shawl. Fingering weight, 50% merino 50% silk, it's gorgeous to work with. Just fine enough to show off lace stitches, substantial enough to be a forgiving knit.

What am I up to with this skein? Well.... It's a surprise. Exciting little plan in the works, hope to reveal soon.

This new edition of Twist is gorgeous! So many textures and romantic knits... I'm so pleased to be included in such a talented group. Harrow is a smart little tank, with buttons at the hip and neck line, a little subdued lace, side shaping, a wide scoop neck, simple garter stitch edging, hmmm, what else? Wear it as a tank, as photographed, or wear it as a vest. You know how I feel about sweater vests! 

I love my iPad. But I've been an Apple girl long before I could afford my first Mac (an LG475, had to use 3 different credit cards, see if you can figure out my age from these clues) so I'm a little biased.

Here's a good trick for using your iPad as a knitting companion: get a decent PDF reader. I use GoodReader. GoodReader lets you view PDFs and make notes and marks right on the PDFs. It also makes it pretty easy to move files around. You can use GoodReaderUSB on your computer, and copy files back and forth from iPad to computer. Or (this is the one I prefer) you can use the free Dropbox system. Drop your PDF into your Dropbox, and pick it up from within GoodReader. Or you can Download from Web.

How nerdy is it to get excited about rulers? I have a bit of a fetish for rulers. I even have a dedicated spot on my studio wall to hang them all: traditional wood yard stick, t-square, french curve, 48-inch ruler with built-in level, mini aluminum square, 18 inch alumicutter, to name a few. And of course, the knitting basket always has a couple of needle gauges and measuring tapes.

But I always wanted a little more out of my needle gauge, and daydreamed of designing my own. And thanks to the internet, I found a ruler specialist in Washington, that would make ruler gauge to my specifications! After a couple of prototypes, and lots of testing, they're here. Quite a thrill to see my little logo on a needle gauge.

These are in the store and ready to ship: click here for details!

A couple of little snapshots of another project, blocking as we speak. A little vest with knit-in bands and a touch of lace. In SweetGeorgia CashLuxe Fine Cayenne. I love the wrong side of lace. Sometimes more than the right side. But I don't want to be sidist.