Things Liz Makes October Fiber Feature

October is just around the corner, which means it's time to give you all a sneak peak at the awesome fibers I'll be stocking in the Things Liz Makes shop. This is the first month that the shop is contributing to the Phat Fiber Sampler box, so the October fibers go along with the Phat theme for October: The Witching Hour. I plucked my inspiration from the most fabulous witches I know, the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus.

This animated version of the Hocus Pocus sisters is where I got my inspiration.

Have a look at the samples I'm sending to Phat HQ today:

"Amok, Amok, Amok!" - Sarah Sanderson

Sarah Sanderson is a silky little minx, and her fiber is too. The Sarah inspired colorway is a blend of fuscia Targhee wool, maroon Merino and nylon blend, pale yellow Tussah silk and a strip of black Merino wool to tie it all up. The full sized batts have the black blended right in, so it spins up together with pops of color, shine and darkness.

"I Smell Children..." - Mary Sanderson

Mary Sanderson is a soft, simple, no-frills kind of gal. The Mary inspired colorway keeps in line with this by being a no-sparkle workhorse sock blend of maroon Merino and nylon blend, natural chocolate brown BFL wool, streaks of vibrant purple nylon and black Merino to pull it all together. The black will also be blended into the batts for the full sized version of the colorway. This blend is super soft and resilient enough for sock yarn.

"I Put a Spell on You" - Winifred Sanderson

Winifred Sanderson needs no introduction. After all, of all the witches working, she is the worst. The colorway inspired by the black-hearted Winifred is high contrast and sparkly, perfect for an art yarn. The blend includes bright green Targhee wool, soft blue baby alpaca, fiery orange Firestar and a strip of black Merino wool, because you can't have Winifred without some deep dark evil inside. As with the other colorways, the black Merino will be blended right into the full sized batts.

I had a ton of fun making these colorways, and I can't wait to get the full sized batts finished up and posted in the shop. If you love the colors and fibers but don't spin, there will also be a spinning service listing that you can snag at a discount with these batts to have your own custom Hocus Pocus yarn. If you want to get your hands on a sample sized Sanderson Sister, swing by Phat Fiber and get on the list to be emailed with the box drop date. You'll also get your hands on samples from a ton of other awesome fiber artists, all with the fun Witching Hour theme. Full sized batts will be listed in the shop right around the time of the box drop, so look out for them!

Shameless Plug - Vote for Me!

Hi guys! Just a quick post to ask you to pop over to Ravelry and cast a vote for my yarn to win the Firefly themed Spin-Along contest in the Dyet Yarns group. My entry is the Earth That Was colorway, which is a lovely deep green with blue and cream accents You have to have a Ravelry account to vote, but accounts are free to sign up and the community is a lot of fun. So hop over to the contest thread and vote for Liz! The voting closes on September 9th, and that's my 6th anniversary, so it would be an injustice for me to not win. I'm just saying. Thanks bloggy friends!

Time Travel Tuesday: Hocus Pocus

What's this? A new Time Travel Tuesday? That's right, we're back, and with some serious awesomeness. This week, we're going to take a look back at one of the most fun, cheesy and entertaining Halloween-themed movies of my childhood, Hocus Pocus.





Hocus Pocus
Released in 1993
Rated PG
Starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch and Vinessa Shaw

My adoration for this movie was recently revived when I started looking for inspiration for my October contribution to the Phat Fiber Sampler. The theme is "The Witching Hour," and in true Things Liz Loves style, I wanted to pull my inspiration from either a movie, TV show, book or song. Then I remembered this little gem, and it was perfect. The over-the-top colors, the silly dialogue, the family-friendly yet interesting storyline...everything in this movie is an ingredient for awesomesauce. Bette Midler even sings! You can't beat that.

A little bit of "Where are they now" info...Bette Midler retired after her last run in Vegas in 2010 after decades of Hollywood success. Sarah Jessica Parker went on to become wildly successful in Sex and the City. Kathy Najimy does a lot of TV now, including a run on the law comedy Franklin and Bash. Thora Birch went on to star in some film fixtures like American Beauty and Now and Then, and currently has 3 films in production. Vinessa Shaw has been busy since Hocus Pocus, acting in films like The Hills Have Eyes and 3:10 to Yuma. Omri Katz left acting in 2002 to pursue hairdressing in LA, and later moved to Israel with his family. And another character from Hocus Pocus found success later in life as well. Remember the boy turned immortal cat that helped the kids fight the Sanderson Sisters, Thackery Binx? That boy, Sean Murray, currently stars in the successful CBS series NCIS as Special Agent Timothy McGee.

If you're feeling nostalgic or you're looking for a Halloween movie that you can watch with your kids, Hocus Pocus is a good one to pick up. Put it on your Netflix DVD queue or pick it up from Amazon.

Things Liz Makes: New Phat Fiber Contributor!

Hi guys! Just posting to let you all know that my shop, Things Liz Makes, has been approved to be a contributor to the Phat Fiber Sampler Box! I will be contributing fiber, yarn and patterns for your spinning and knitting pleasure. Check out the Phat Fiber website and look for my samples in the October sampler box!

News from the Vampire Empire Series and Dragon-Con!

Just got an email from the publisher of the Vampire Empire series that was full of awesome! If you remember a few months back, we reviewed the first book in the Vampire Empire series, The Greyfriar. I totally dug that book in a big way, and I'm excited to be reading the second installment for review as we speak.

The publisher of the series, Pyr, has some big things in the works for the Vampire Empire, including a series of audio books narrated by the amazing James Marsters. *insert fangirl squee* You remember James Marsters. The hot piece of man candy that played Spike on the Buffy and Angel TV series.

You are hypnotized by my eyes of awesome blueness.

I adore James Marsters, so I'm ridiculously excited about the next tidbit of news I'll be giving you guys. This year, at Dragon-Con, there will be a special Vampire Empire ticketed event featuring the authors of the series and Mr. Marsters.

Attendees will be able to hear all about the Vampire Empire series from the authors, Clay and Susan Griffith. Then, James Marsters will read from The Greyfriar and women everywhere will melt. The event will be followed up by a book signing, where you can get your copies of both The Greyfriar and it's follow-up, The Rift Walker. Since the event takes place on September 4th, you'll have a chance to get The Rift Walker before it hits shelves on September 6th!

Information about DragonCon and tickets can be found at the convention's official website. There's going to be a whole lot of awesome stuff going on at DragonCon, so if you can get down to Atlanta, do it! Also, look for the review of The Rift Walker to be posted here very soon.

Big thanks to Pyr and Prometheus Books for providing the info and the awesome books to review.

A Things Liz Makes Tutorial: Crochet Staghorn Cables

Cables are like a foreign language to many crocheters. Most people think cables = knitting, and that's simply not the case. I've worked out crocheted cables before, and I was presented with a challenge to do a Staghorn Cable pattern in crochet. I did a quick search on Ravelry's pattern database, and there are no crochet patterns that feature Staghorn Cables. Not one! So I looked at photographs of knitted Staghorn Cables and the experimentation that happened over at Knotrune's blog. Armed with this information, I came up with a written Staghorn Cables pattern that can be adjusted to work with pretty much any crocheted project. I'm going to go ahead and link this up to the Ravelry pattern database for free, so you can all feel free to work the technique into your patterns. Of course, I'd appreciate a nod in any pattern that uses the technique. :) Happy Crafting!

Crocheted Staghorn Cables
By Liz Beckwith
Written July 10, 2011

This pattern swatch is written with one set of staghorn cables that is two three-stitch cable sections positioned together. The swatch is 20 stitches wide. This can be altered to include more than one set of staghorns, to make larger or smaller cable sections or to be worked with smaller stitches. Can be used with any yarn weight, hook size and gauge. This sample of the swatch is worked in worsted weight acrylic yarn and with a size H hook.

Crocheted test swatch.

Stitch abbreviations:
fdc: foundation double crochet
ch: chain
dc: double crochet
tc: triple crochet
fpdc: front post double crochet
bpdc: back post double crochet
fptc: front post triple crochet
bptc: back post triple crochet

Row 1: Work 20 fdc. For help with the chainless foundation, see the Crochet Cabana article on them here.
Row 2: Turn, ch 1, dc in first stitch. 3 dc, 12 fpdc, 4 dc.
Row 3: Turn, ch 1, dc in first stitch, 3 dc. Skip the next 3 stitches, then work 3 bptc. Cross back and work 1 fptc in each of the skipped stitches. This creates the cables. Skip the next 3 stitches, then work 3 fptc. Cross back and work 1 bptc in each of the skipped stitches, then work 4 dc to end the row.
Row 4: Turn, ch 1, dc in first stitch, 3 dc, 12 fpdc, 4 dc.
Row 5: Turn, ch 1, dc in first stitch, 3 dc, 12 bpdc, 4 dc.
Row 6: Turn, ch 1, dc in first stitch, 3 dc. Skip the next 3 stitches, then work 3 fptc. Cross back and work 1 bptc in each of the skipped stitches. Skip the next 3 stitches, then work 3 bptc. Cross back and work 1 fptc in each of the skipped stitches, then work 4 dc to end the row.
Row 7: Turn, ch 1, dc in first stitch, 3 dc, 12 bpdc, 4 dc.

To continue the pattern, start again at Row 2. Fasten off when the fabric reaches the desired length.

Close-up of the Staghorn Cable detail.

Staghorn Cables are a great adornment for any crochet project. Thank you for checking out this tutorial and check back for more in the future!

Upcoming Reviews...Who Knew?

So I know you guys that still follow this blog are aware that I have been the world's worst blogger over the past couple of months. I had some personal issues that kind of made things fall apart on here, and it's been much harder than I thought it would be to get back into the swing of things with posting. Lucky for me, the great people at some of the publishers I've reviewed for will not let me go quietly into the night. Prometheus Books deserves a public thank-you from me for helping me keep kicking in the blogging world. They've sent me another title to review, so I will be reading and reviewing The Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman very soon. I also have copies of Matched by Ally Condie and Teeth: Tales of Vampires waiting to be read, so there will certainly be more to come from Things Liz Loves.

Another thing that has kept me from being all over the Blogosphere is the extra work I've been putting into my store, Things Liz Makes. I have a supply of handspun yarn for sale for any other crafters, as well as finished objects, both crochet and knit. If you have a minute, head over to Etsy and check it out.