It sometimes happens that designers come up with similar ideas, at similar times, and here we have a delicious example. Pat from The Thread Room (formerly Marta’s Yarns) sent in some lovely I-Cord creations, which we had to reject, because we had already said YES to the I-Cord necklace/scarves that were submitted by Liz Gemmell.

Pat used a 4 stitch I-Cord on 9mm DPNs using 1 ball of Flowers yarn, in red. This is my favourite. She also did 4st I-Cord using 10mm DPNs in 1 ball of Slubby yarn, which she then felted, and used her hands to chain crochet. This can be used as a choker to wear over a jacket.

The white one is a textural dream, done in 4st I-Cord, being purled instead of knitted, taking 1 ball of Flowers and 1 of Slubby, then chain crocheted in the middle using just your hands. It makes a great belt, collar or necklace.

If you are out and about in Melbourne, and you feel like dropping in, Pat will show you “how it is done”. The Flowers yarn is delectable. Check it out here.

Trudi has won the YARNblog draw for The Crochet Bible by Sue Whiting and the Fibreworks 2ply wool donated by Yarns Online. Congratulations Trudi, I hope you enjoy them.

Check out the blog entry below for how to enter the FANTASTIC 2009 accommodation/workshop and cash prize in honour of Esme Johnson. It’s a pity YARN staff cannot enter :(

The article on page 48, Yarn 11 has touched many people. It is such a wonderful gift to pass on; the knowledge and love of yarn craft.

To help encourage others Lynne has very generously offered the “Esme Johnson Prize”, to be judged by YARN, for the best feather and fan creation.

Here’s how it works…

Fibre Forum 2009 in Orange (19-25 April) includes a wonderful Mini-Forum called “Loops of Diversity” with 4 different yarn related classes (more information available from Janet at  tafta@iinet.net.au). In the “Abstract & Creative Knitting” class Lynne Johnson and Jenny Dowde will combine and share their passion for exploring design possibilities within the mediums of knit and crochet. Would you like to tag along to this or one of the other 3 classes?The prize is for any one of the four Mini-Forum classes/workshops, accommodation (if needed) and the balance of the prize money (if any is left over) will be paid in cash. The total Esme Johnson Prize pool is valued at $1000.

We will have more information in the December edition of YARN. The competition will close 31 January, be announced on the YARN blog in February and featured in the March edition of YARN.

All you have to do is come up with your own Feather and Fan creation (or similar stitch in crochet, a felted design, or a woven piece, as long as it looks like feather and fan, or somehow incorporates a feather and fan element). Take pattern notes if you wish to have your pattern published. When you are finished, send us a picture, with an outline of what you have done and why.

We will need to inspect the work of finalists, but your designs will be returned. We will contact you if we need “an inspection”.

Best of luck. Please give us a call or email info(at)yarnmagazine(dot)com(dot)au if you have any questions or would like more information.

Go Feather and Fan!  

We are so happy with the way Yarn 11 came out, we need to celebrate. We’d like to give 1 lucky reader a copy of The Crochet Bible by Sue Whiting, and a gorgeous skein of 2ply hand dyed wool to get you started.

All you have to do is let us know via the comments box (or email) what your favourite pattern is in the current edition. Competition closes September 22. That leaves you plenty of time to learn to crochet (if you don’t already) and get some gifts made before Christmas (even if the gifts are for you).

Good luck!

Congratulations Vicki. You have won a year worth of Yarn Magazine, by guessing that Kylie was the baby on pages 20 & 21 of the September edition. Vicki remembered that it was a popular name around that time, so took an educated guess. Well done.

 We’d like to give some more stuff away. Books or yummy yarns? Let me think on it…

Kylie

Only 1 more week to wait now (or just another day or two if you are a subscriber)… so we thought we would temp your tastebuds with a tiny sneek peek at the cover. Kylie will upload a bigger sneek peek later tonight so you don’t all get eye strain.

One of the wonderful jobs at Yarn HQ (headquarters) is the knitting of swatches for the Yarn Reviews. It is something I enjoy… sitting peacefully watching the children play in the yarn or down at the beach. I find it very relaxing.

During my Sunday “swatch knit” I was so startled that my knitting went flying into the air, and stitches were dropped for a full 2 rows down! A drunk driver (during the middle of the day) ran up the middle of the traffic island, took out 2 safety poles, his radiator, his airbag, and landed 5 metres from where we were sitting. Admittedly, he didn’t come through our brick fence, but that didn’t stop me (or the children) from having a few moments of panick.

We decided to go for a bike ride because the man was cursing (while still drinking), and leaning into our yard asking for help. We gave him our hose and got outta there!

On our way back from the bike ride (my thoughts drifting back to the swatch), as we were crossing the lane, the chain on my son’s bike broke and he went flying into the air like a wounded seagull. He cracked his helment, and took skin off everywhere - no bandaid was big enough to fix him up, so I had to resort to gauze and bandages.

They say things happen in threes, so I was beginning to get a little nervous. Maybe the Rio de la Plata was cursed? It was a lovely yarn. It felt good, knitted up beautifully, and performed as it should… should I really pick it up again and finish the swatch? I still had dinner to cook and emails to answer.

The curse was lifted. We had a lovely dinner, I turned the computer off (and did not answer any emails), put the children to bed early, and finished the swatch. We all slept well, we were all alive in the morning, and the sun was shining.

Thank you Rio de la Plata.

Thankyou to all the wonderful readers that have just renewed their subscriptions. You help support a team of pattern writers, technical editors, test knitters, freelance journalists, photographers and printers. We are a small independent magazine, not just “another title” in a big publishing house. YARN magazine is all we do, and we love it, live it, breathe it.

 The September edition is at the printers, and subscriptions to begin September must be in by 20 August in order to make the mailout… it’s a bumper issue, and our best yet.

Thanks again YF (YARN Friends).

With a bit of help from friends team YARN have put together a template for you to copy and paste, then send before SEPTEMBER 19 if you agree that knitting needles and crochet hooks should be allowed on flights in Australia. It may also help to contact the Minister for Transport, Anthony Albanese on 02 9564 3588.

Aviation Security Screening Review

Office of Transport Security

GPO Box 594