As far as I know there isn’t any little saying or anything to announce the arrival of fall. It officially arrived here last week, but there was no fanfare, or special message sent out to say that it had. Where I live the leaves won’t change color that much and it is still a few weeks away anyway. What I have noticed however, is that the amount of scarves people are wearing has increased dramatically. Hmmm … scarves. I love scarves! As a matter of fact, when I’m designing a sweater, I’ll usually make a scarf with the stitch pattern. It gives me a much better understanding and idea of how the overall pattern will look, feel, drape, etc. Yes, a swatch is adequate, but aside from putting it on the inside of the sweater for future repair needs, it doesn’t do that much for me. A scarf is so much more! I can experiment with techniques, try color combinations, stitch textures, test drape, feel fibers, and simply inspire myself. Scarves are also a great telling of upcoming fashion trends. Color, texture, fibers … And there’s no describing the incredible warmth you get from being wrapped up in a scarf. Don’t we all have memories of a favorite scarf on a cold winter’s day?
This fall I am producing my most ambitious project to date. As a matter of fact, I started it awhile back while working on the set of a now cancelled television show. I had a vision of producing a calendar o knitted objects. Sweaters were the first idea, but coming up with 13 sweater patterns so quickly was a daunting task. Naturally, my thoughts turned to scarves. Who doesn’t love scarves? Of course, we all do. Of course though, I had to come up with a “sell”. Yeah, why would you want to buy my scarf calendar instead of that one with the cute puppies or kittens or babies? Well, then I thought about the title of my website – “It Takes Balls To Knit” – and thought it takes balls to do a lot of things. Including posing naked in a calendar. I quickly realized I might be onto something. So I sat and thought of creating a calendar with scarves where the models were wearing nothing but the scarves! Of course, just being naked might sell a few calendars, but there has to be more value in it for you.
Then I decided to put part of the proceeds of the sale of the calendars to charity. But which one/s? Well, again, going back to the title of the website, prostate cancer research came to mind. I mean I was going to do a calendar of 13 naked men wearing scarves, right? Wrong! As I sat talking with Dino(yes, he’s in the calendar – he’s the bass player) on set, I got some curious glances from Vanessa and other women. Why were women being neglected? Hey, if I had my way the calendar would be all women! But my target demographic is knitters, and that’s mostly women and gay men – mostly, but definitely not all! It didn’t matter – within an hour or two I had enough ideas for “scenes” depicting models wearing scarves to create about 3 years worth of calendars. And I had women wanting to be in it too! So it was then decided that the calendar would have men AND women, and proceeds from the sale of the calendars would go to prostate AND breast cancer research. The breast cancer was added not only because there were women, but because I have a friend who lives in the Czech republic who is currently fighting the disease. She is currently doing well, but sadly had to cut her glorious mane of long hair prior to getting her kemo treatments. I am glad to say that she is as beautiful as ever, and still has a smile to light up the room!
There still had to be more value in it for you though. So I decided to include the patterns. All the scarves will have the patterns included. There are quite a few different scarves, covering quite the gambit of techniques for beginners to experts alike. There will also be some tips for you to help make your scarves the best they can be because even though everybody thinks scarves are the easiest thing to make when you first start knitting, they can also be the easiest things to mess up. I have learned a few things while making these 13 scarves and I’d like to pass them along to you. I’ll also post a few teasers before now and November 1st – the official launch date – of the calendar. And just in time for Christmas, too! Mentioning that, there’s one more thing I’d like to give to you, my loyal reader. $5. From now until November 1st, the price of the calendar will be $14.95. On November 1st it will go to $19.95. YOU CAN ORDER YOUR CALENDAR BY CLICKING ON ANY OF THE PICTURES IN THIS POST, OR BY GOING TO THE PRODUCTS PAGE, and it will be shipped on Nov 1st and you’ll save $5. Oh, BTW, it is a tabloid sized wall calendar (11″ x 17″) that you’ll want to hang anywhere in your abode – hopefully. I almost forgot, you might get your calendar free. There will be a draw for 5 names from the first 100 to buy a calendar and they will have their money refunded. More details to come. Oh, and yes, I’m in it. 😉
Hugzzz 😎
