with this yarn color

for Austin, TX, where 90F is pleasantly warm, which of these yarn bases would you go for?

I know they are calling is Sandbar, but this reads fall to me. Cinnamon coffee and pumpkin pie and warm on a chilly day. <– wishful thinking, there are very few chilly days in Austin during our very short fall.

This is my big reward to myself for finishing The Inheritance and the yarn is pricy, so I don’t want to stumble. The pattern calls for sport, but I’m thinking maybe DK weight.

What do you think?

The post Which Base? first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

This is Rainbows and Airwaves from Bad Sheep Yarn. It is a gorgeous yarn, so I wanted to make a fun cardigan with it. I usually make stuff for the kids, but I wanted something for myself and all the colors made me happy. I tried knitting it first, but for some reason the stockinette came out very yellow and underwhelming. Then I tried knitting a textured stitch, but I still didn’t like it.

One of the interesting things about Bad Sheep Yarn is that the skeins are remarkably consistent. They look just like that and one skein is very similar to the other. This is quality dying – love it – but it also causes the yarn to pool a bit. So this was unraveled twice.

I finally settled on a heavily textured crochet stitch alternating skeins with each row.

This is a row id hdc followed by another row of 2 hdc, a double crochet around the post in the previous row, 4 hdc. It helped a bit with the pooling. The sleeves are hdc just for fun. I finished it with knitted rib because at the time my hand hurt too much and the rotation of the crochet hook was not fun.

And here it is, ta-da!

It still pooled a little, because the yarn is just that consistent, but I kind of love it more this way.

It is basically done. It just needs pockets. I love it!

While we are on the subject, thank you so much for all of the yarn recommendations. I ordered samples and will report on success or failure.

The post A Happy Cardigan first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

It was made with Stylecraft DK yarn. I don’t really care for acrylic normally. If you ever felt a skein of Red Heart, it’s rough and scratchy and it kills my hands. But Stylecraft, although it is acrylic, is buttery soft, cloud-like, and shiny, and it comes in a million of colors, which is why I bought it from UK.

It is now time for Kid 1’s blanket, so I confidently ordered a bunch of yarn for it. Imagine my surprise when it arrived, and I felt it, and it feels like a horrible, scratchy mess. I am squishing this yarn and blergh.

So here I am, staring at the yarn and wondering if I have lost the whole bag of my marbles. Given all the things that are happening right now in my life, that was a distinct possibility.

I ended up googling it and guess what? Stylecraft moved their production from Turkey to West Yorkshire. Yarn produced in Turkey? Super-soft. Yarn produced in West Yorkshire? Scratchy mess.

I hate it. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

I’m actively controlling my irritation right now, because this is a tiny drop into a very full cup.

So I need a new yarn.

• Preferably DK weight
• Very soft on hands
• Must have many colors
• Should be durable enough to be washed and dried frequently, because Kid 1 will wash that blanket all the time. That’s the way she rolls.

It can be a blend of cotton and acrylic or acrylic. I don’t mind paying more as long as it’s soft, because if I’m going to invest that much time in it, I want it to be nice from my daughter and I want my hands to survive. Right now crocheting is off the menu for a bit, because the hands hurt, but I would like to buy the yarn and be ready.

The post A Dirty Betrayal first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

How it was going:

How it is:

2 months, 63 squares, two unravelings because of the poor joining decisions, 8 balls of yarn imported from UK.

Kid 2, showing her new blanket to her boyfriend: This is my mother’s love. Mmm, so soft.

Worth it.

The post 63 Squares first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

Here is hers.

I wanted a kind of rustic look, because of the yarn colors. A slightly modern take on patchwork.

The pattern is available free on Ravelry and here, on the designer’s website, at Sewrella.com.

The yarn was Dk weight, Destination Yarn Southwestern Collection Variegated Colorways set. It is now sold out. I will say that while on the website the colors of each skein were distinct, in my set the two reds were practically the same color, green and blue were extremely close, and darker and lighter tan were only a couple of shades apart, which what gave me the idea for the cardigan. It is to be expected with the hand-dyed yarn, but if I wanted very distinct colors, I would’ve had to pivot.

The yarn was lovely to work with, however, so no complaints. Also, I can’t find the two extra skeins I ordered. I received them and put them somewhere. If I find them, I will add pockets.

Now I need to figure out what the next project is. have to do something with my hands while sitting next to Gordon on the couch watching true crime specials and Gold Rush. Come on, Parker, I’m invested in your Dominion project. You must succeed.

The post Kid 2’s Cardigan first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

The post Truth Hurts first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

This hasn’t been washed or ironed so it’s as is, grimy and all.

I tried to take more pictures, but it didn’t quite work out.

There is no cross stitch. There is only Tuna.

The dragon pattern is called Dragon of the Night. The design is by Nadezhda Gavrilenkova and is available from SofiaMBelenko Etsy shop. I liked the pattern particularly because it came with Saga chart. Saga is a cross stitch app a lot of Eastern European and Slavic designers use and I found it really helpful. No more folders with printed out patterns.

Kid 2 has claimed this dragon and now I have a dilemma. Do I frame or do I stick it into an ornamental hoop? Framing under glass would preserve it and keep it dust free, but cross stitch is meant to have texture, otherwise might as well have a print. What do you think? To frame or not to frame?

I’m thinking of trying this one next, after a do a couple of smaller projects.

The post Dragon and Tuna first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

I don’t care if it’s preorder or not. My husband can buy all the action figures he wants. In fact, I recently bought a new shelf for him so his collection can be better displayed. But for some reason he persists with the preorder label. It’s become a thing. When I bring his packages in, I announce it as “Honey, your preorders are here.”

I haven’t been buying yarn lately. First I’m 86% into cross stitching project, according to my app. Second, we were super busy trying to finish the “novella.” Third, I have reviewed the state of my craft room and had a serious talk with myself regarding the fact that I do truly have enough yarn.

However, as Magic Claims drew to a close, I kept seeing these beautiful yarn advertisements on Facebook, and I finally gave in and ordered some yarn from a shop I’ve never ordered anything from before called Yarn Love. I used my incognito work email for it. I have two work addresses, and they are the only email inboxes I check on regular basis because that’s my life. One address has all the bells and whistles, with a link back to website and #1 NYT Bestselling Author and all that. The address I used has nothing to indicate what we do, no links, no website mention. The signature just reads Ilona Andrews.

The yarn arrived today and none too soon. I had to go to the doctor last week for a minor medical thing and when they took my blood pressure, it was 130/90 which is a shocking number for me. We’ve been going there for years, and I’m never over 120/80. So I am under strict doctor orders to relax.

The state of our roof and our yard might be a contributing factor. Roofers are hammering, and every time they pound on the roof or walk by, the dogs go ballistic. And you can’t correct that behavior because we do want them to go ballistic if strange people start making loud noises. Also, Texas is so pretty right now and we are stuck inside because the back yard and the front yard are a war zone.

So my yarn arrives. I inform Gordon that it’s my preorder and open it up. It is gorgeous.

There is a card. How nice.

I flip it over.

You can find this yarn and many others at Yarn Love website.

The post Yarn Love: Expect the Unexpected first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.