🌿 Vines and Leaves Cowl/Wrap 🌿.
Modeled by my Boricua mom (although she'd want me to highlight that she's from Vieques 🇵🇷😁) 🌿Hand knit using soft, warm, and sustainably-produced @catskillmerinosuper-bulky yarn finished Vines and Leaves Cowl/Wraps are available in red and green. 🌿 The Vines and Leaves Cowl/Wrap pattern is knit on US size 15/10mm needles and is available on Ravelry and my Etsy shop. See links in my profile. 🌿.
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💛 Hi! I'm back. It's been a while and I've been on an emotional roller coaster with my beautiful mom. She's showing new symptoms of Alzheimers and it's been difficult for all of us. Mostly, it's depressing and it's been difficult to summon the energy to engage. I appreciate all of you who read everything and comment and I just felt that if I couldn't engage, it was better to just disappear for a bit. Things aren't really better, but they're calmer so I guess this is our new normal.   We'll just have to take it day by day.  There is no cure.  I can't make my mom feel better, but I can take care of her with more love and patience.  That is my new goal in our new normal.  So, thank you for your patience and I'm looking forward to catching up with you. 💛.
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I love yarn.  I love to look at it and touch it and feel it and, best of all, create with it.  I've been knitting a while now so while I appreciate the beauty of yarn and ❤️ them on Instagram, I'll rarely see a yarn on a feed and think, "I must purchase this."  That, however, is exactly what I thought when I saw Cloud 9 Fiberworks sock yarn.  I was on a yarn diet though and was NOT buying more yarn.  But then Countess Ablaze started the Tits Out Collective (you can hear all about how this came about from Jo Milmine's excellent podcast Shiny Bees Sh*t Tea and Tray Bake with Countess Ablaze episode 107) and Daria Rakowski came out with her contribution.  If this yarn doesn't stop you in your tracks, well I don't know what will.  The colors in this yarn . . . the vibrant colors in this beautiful sock yarn are stunning!  When, I read that $3 of every skein sold would benefit the Bear Clan Patrol, I knew I had to give in and buy some!   

I bought 3 skeins.  😊 I started gauge swatching on Friday to see what I would create with it.  The yarn is deliciously elastic and soft and those color changes make working with it such a great experience.  I meant to do just a simple stockinette swatch, but, umm, I couldn't stop playing with how the yarn changes with different stitch patterns!  Not including the stitch patterns I didn't like, this swatch includes 5 different patterns.  I really liked the 5th one, but I couldn't find a way to photograph it well, so I'm only showing you four of the five.  
The first photo below is a close-up of stockinette stitch.  Isn't it lovely?  That deep violet really pops.  Next I did a lacy rib.  In this one, the reds and oranges pop!  Next, I did a diagonal rib, which I think lets all the colors shine equally.  Finally, the lace chevron which clusters more of the colors together.  So cool!
I love this yarn.  I'm really looking forward to designing something with it!  Thank you, Daria, for creating this amazing yarn!  And thank you for making all the donations to the Bear Claw Patrol.  If you would like to get in on this, you need to ACT SOON!!!  Daria will only be taking pre-orders for this yarn until August 1, 2018 -- that's only two days away.  

​Six weeks late and I finally finished the One Ring Scarf!  It is stunning and I am very pleased with the results and so was my daughter!  This scarf is really amazing.  The free pattern by Lyle Stafford is double knit.  Ravelry user Ommarienkaefer adjusted the pattern to make it legible to those of you who read Tengwar (ancient elven) on both sides.  The words are the ones inscribed on the ring of power wielded by Sauron.  “One Ring to rule them all.  One ring to bind them.  One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”  You can see a video of the entire scarf on my Instagram account.  (I'm eva_landeo on Instagram.)

​I also purchased Alasdair Post-Quinn’s book Extreme Double-Knitting to teach myself how to knit this way.  The helpful staff at Knitty City highly recommended this book and it did not disappoint.  I’m looking forward to knitting quite a few patterns in this book and learning the techniques he explains so well.  Double-knitting is basically repeating k1p1 pattern while alternating colors.  By alternating stitches and colors on the different sides, the main color on one side is the contrast color on the other side and the contrast color on the first side is the main color on the other side.  You can see in the picture on the right that the gold fusion (yellow) shows as the contrast color on the solar (orange) side and the solar is the contrast on the gold fusion side.  It's time-consuming, but the ending result is very satisfying and because the textile created is double-layered, it is very warm!

As for the rest of my holiday knitting, it didn’t fully work out.  Fortunately, two of my gifts were timely despite the glitches.  I’ll write more about my other two projects soon.

“Where’s the next book?”  That’s what my thirteen year old asked me after she finished Cry of the Sea by D. G. Driver (published by Fire and Ice).

I am thrilled to be reviewing this imaginative and intriguing novel as part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day (“MCBD”).  MCBD is in its fifth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom.  The mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.  Please see additional details about Multicultural Children's Book Day, and the wonderful sponsors, authors and co-hosts at the end of this post. There is also information about tonight's Twitter party and how to win book bundles.

Juniper Sawfeather (aka June) is a senior in high school.  She’s got plans.  She wants to go to college in San Diego and study marine biology.  Unfortunately, June hasn’t actually disclosed this to her environmental activist and lawyer parents.  They have plans for her education too and they don’t match with June’s.  So begins this age-old family conflict . . . but then the story goes in an entirely unexpected direction.

June and her dad are documenting an oil-spill caused by the shady, profit-driven Affron company.  While her dad is photographing the destruction, Juniper takes note of all the dead and dying creatures covered in oil that she observes on the beach -- a lot of dead fish, a couple of otters, a porpoise, and dozens of birds.

• “It never got better, seeing this kind of destruction.  I could now bear the sight of it without breaking into sobs like I used to when I was younger, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to fall on the ground and wail. I felt my throat close up and my body tense in the way I’d trained it so that I could stay cool despite the emotion rushing through me.”

Distraught by her inability to help them, June nevertheless records her observations.  They are preparing to leave when June sees three figures thrashing on the beach.  They look human and June and her dad run over to help them, but when they reach the three figures, they find not humans, but mermaids!

Ms. Driver handles this introduction of fantasy so well that I was entirely able to continue the story without feeling skepticism.  She carefully details, the mermaids’ appearance and June’s incredulity.  As the story continued, I realized that the only time I felt like I had to suspend disbelief was when June seemed more preoccupied by the handsome intern from the Sea Mammal Rescue Center and her friend’s yearning for popularity than the wellbeing of the mermaids!

It’s been a while since I’ve been a teenager so I asked my thirteen year old daughter to also read the novel and hear what her thoughts were.  My daughter contemplates a future in animal conservation and has spent a lot of time reading nonfiction.  She’s been known to lose interest in a book if it contains factually incorrect information.  Like me, however, she was completely taken in by the mermaids.  Also like me, what she couldn’t understand was why June didn’t ditch school, her friend, and the cute boy in order to spend every moment helping the mermaids.  These confusing parts, however, fall into place and enhance the story.  But if you want to know more, you’re going to have to read the book!

I fully enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  As you can read in the first sentence, so is my daughter!

I’d like to note that the fictional character Juniper Sawfeather is the child of a white mother and an American Indian father.  In this novel, June’s background is secondary and June is clearly more connected to her white ethnicity.  June describes her connection to her Native heritage as, “I felt as much part American Indian as I did part elephant.” D. G. Driver is not an Indigenous American, but after teaching her class about Native Americans and being especially interested in the tribes of the Northwest, she wanted her main character’s background to be at least partially American Indian.  I don’t have sufficient knowledge of Native American history or lore, but I felt that the author took the time to research and represent Juniper respectfully.  I greatly enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the sequel.  I also hope to see more books for kids by Native American authors.


Current Sponsors:  MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors
HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild
PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs
GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies
SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press
BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press


2018 Author Sponsors
Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina
Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo,  Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles,  Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen,  Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and  MFL Publishing  Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham  Author Natasha Yim
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Every year, I choose a word to set the tone of my year.  Often, my word is in Spanish.  The first year, my word was “Supera”.  Supera means overcome.  I chose this word because I needed to overcome my fears and start acting in the best interests of my family.  This meant more communicating with everyone and standing up to my fierce mom.  Boricua moms are no joke.  I venture to say that Boricua moms from Vieques are even fiercer!  It wasn’t easy.  It took months.  I frequently revisited my word, “supera” to encourage myself.  Finally, she agreed to getting medical care.  Then I had to overcome my feelings following her diagnosis in order to get her the medical treatment she needed.  My mom is doing much better now.  You can often see her here, on my Instagram and on my ELKAmade Facebook page.

​Last year, I chose the word “Cumplir”.  Cumplir is defined as accomplish, carry out, comply with, attain or reach.  To me it meant to fulfill or carry out my obligations.  I had obligations to my family, especially my mom, and to myself.  I wanted to do right by all of us so when I felt discouraged or lazy, I’d reach to my word for a reminder.  I did okay by all of us.  And for myself, I’m especially proud that I finally got two of my patterns published -- Skew Too and the Vines and Leaves Cowl or Wrap.

This year, the word that came to me was “sigue.”  This means, keep going.  It can also mean follow.  I was cumpliendo with my family and I needed to continue or keep going.  When I think, “keep going” I think of Dory.  Yes, Dory the adorable, positive-thinking, short-term memory-impaired, Regal Blue Tang from Finding Nemo.  Dory always tells herself, “Just keep swimming.”

Dory also reminds me of my mom.  My mom has Alzheimer’s.  She’s in the early stage, but she has a significant short-term memory impairment.  Like Dory, my mom tends to forget things we’ve talked about and will ask again about 10 minutes later (except when she’s said no to something, she doesn’t seem to forget that 👀 ) Like Dory, my mom is also adorable, light-hearted, and happy.  Laughter is her favorite expression.  Kindness towards others is her way.  She always talks to people, smiles at babies, fusses over dogs, and marvels over birds and other wonders of the City.  Like Dory, my beloved Mai is so positive and forgetful, she can really make my life difficult.  She doesn’t fully understand the consequences of her actions or inactions.  She thinks everything is not a big deal.  In order to get to appointments, see relatives or fulfill other commitments, a lot of planning and mental gymnastics are required.  It can get complicated, but Mai’s well-being is a responsibility I want.  She’s always been an amazing mom.  I love her and I want to take care of her, but . . . as I’ve mentioned, caring for her is not without its challenges!

And the there’s my plans.  I have them, but when my personal life gets complicated, it’s hard to find the time and brain power to address them.  This year was especially busy with my mom’s appointments and researching high schools for my kid.  It seemed that every day there was something to research and review or somewhere to be and very little time to devote myself to my designs.  I have at least 10 more original designs swimming around partially completed that I need to translate into patterns.  I'd really like to complete at least one every month.  

Necesito seguir cumpliendo.  I need to keep fulfilling my obligations to my family and myself, step by step, little by little, at my own pace.  So, my word for 2018 is Sigue, but instead of a word, I'll keep the image of Dory.  "When life gets you down, you know what you've got to do?  Just keep swimming."  Dory’s optimism is a bit annoying, but she’s also right.  I’ll keep making plans for my family and myself and hoping they work out, but since the best-laid plans do not always work out, I’ll just keep swimming. ​

It's October, so it's time to start my holiday crafting.  I've learned from experience to start early.  I used to plan to make far too many knit gifts and ended up not sleeping in order to complete them.  After too many sleepless nights, I decided I would limit my knitting -- usually only for my spouse and kid and my parents or in-laws or close friends.  This limited my holiday knitting to about 4 projects and allowed me to sleep.  Despite these precautions, in 2015, my holiday knitting was a disaster.  I had only planned two projects -- socks for my spouse and a skirt I designed for my daughter.  Alas, after completing my second sock, I discovered I'd lost one sock so I ended up having to knit three socks.  I didn’t plan my pattern correctly so I had to undo my pattern design which meant my gift was not complete.  You can read all about it here.  New mistakes brought new knowledge so last year, I did all I could to ensure my holiday knitting was a success.  I started reasonably early, kept my projects realistic, and didn’t carry any completed projects out of my home.  I made a pair of socks for my friend, designed a pair of mitts for another worthy friend, and designed a pair of mitts for my daughter.  All were completed timely!  This year, I’m committed to making at least two of my holiday gifts and, hopefully, gifts for my mom and my in-laws.


For Beloved, I’m making a pair of Cookie A socks.  The pattern is milo from her book, Sock Innovation.  I have made three pairs of her socks and I love her work.  Her patterns are complex and beautiful, but easily adjustable for different size feet. Below, you can see the Bex socks I made for my daughter (green with orange and purple Lion Brand Sock-Ease), the Kai-Mei I made for my mom (purple with green, blue, and lavendar Koigu Painters Palette Premium Merino) and the Cauchy socks I made for Beloved (gray with brown and black Oasis Yarn Aussi Sock).  The last picture is a completed milo sock for this year's holiday in Circus Peanut Lion Brand Sock Ease yarn.

For my daughter, I've taken on a seriously difficult project.  It is the One Ring Scarf by Lyle Stafford.  You can see it here.  It is an exceptional pattern.  This pattern was made even more exceptional by Ravelry knitter Omamarienkaefer.  She adjusted the pattern so that the scarf could be read on both sides.  It's amazing!  My daughter is entirely fascinated by The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.  She started reading Tolkien a few years ago and cannot put down the books down once she starts.  She's also seen the complete extended trilogy of the Lord of The Rings movies every year for the past 5 or 6 years.  She has seen this scarf and has asked me to make it for her.  This year, I will do my very best to make it for her.  I purchased this beautiful yarn at Knitty City a few days ago.  Tomorrow, I will print out my charts in color.  Hopefully I can also start knitting tomorrow.

Fancy knitting up this soft, squishy cowl/wrap?  I'm seeking test knitters for this tech-edited pattern.  Ideally, I'd like to get a range of knitting skill levels, but this is definitely not something that can be knit by an absolute beginner. 

​First, some background on the Vine and Leaves Cowl/Wrap. The cowl is made using Catskill Merino yarn.  Catskill Merino sells yarn at my local farmers' market and I absolutely love their yarns.  Not only are their yarns soft, light, and warm, they are produced locally and sustainably.  The wool is obtained from their New York Saxon Merino sheep, processed in Vermont, and then dyed at the farm in small batches using earth-friendly dyes.  When I first saw the Undyed Super-Bulky Saxon Merino yarn, I just couldn't resist it.  I wanted it to be a cowl, but after wearing it a while, I found it looks great as a wrap too.  Despite the chunky yarn, it is light and never weighs you down.  I chose Undyed for mine (see photo at left), but the Vine and Leaf Cowl/Wrap looks great in Touched Green and limited edition Rustic Red.  In the photo above, my mom is wearing Touched Green and my daughter is wearing Rustic Red. (Unfortunately, the Rustic Red color is no longer available, but Catskill Merino has a similar color called Barn Red.)  The yarn can be purchased on Saturdays between 8 am and 6 pm at the Union Square Market in Manhattan.  If you're not in New York City, you can order the Super Bulky of their yarns on their website.  http://www.catskill-merino.com/store/872 I prefer test knitters to use Catskill Merino yarn, but if you need to substitute the yarn, let's talk so that we can make sure the yarn will work for this pattern.  

The Vine and Leaf Cowl/Wrap is knit on large needles, so it can be knit up fairly quickly.  You will need to know how to do a provisional cast-on, increases and decreases, and grafting.  I do, however, give detailed, row-by-row grafting instructions to make it easier.  In order to complete the pattern, you will need size 15 needles (or size needed to achieve gauge), tapestry needles for grafting and weaving in ends, stitch markers, and waste yarn for the provisional cast-on.  I'll be hosting the test-knitting on this website and need testers to complete the pattern by Sunday, October 15, 2017.  I ask testers to complete the pattern, answer some questions about the pattern, and to take pictures of their final project. If you post your progress on Ravelry, I will also need you to link your Ravelry project page to the pattern page when the pattern is published.  If you are interested in testing please leave a comment below or email me at [email protected].  

I consider myself to be pretty good at crochet. I can figure out patterns and my stitch-knowledge is significant. I wouldn't call myself an advanced crocheter, but I’m comfortable saying I'm an intermediate crochet.  After this experience, I have nothing but respect for hand crocheters of fine lace and I'm going to continue to encourage you to work with your yarn before you make your project.

As part of my 100 Days of Creating project, I decided I wanted to try something new.  I decided to make a spiral flower with LB Collection Wool Stainless Steel.  I’ve used fine and lace weight yarn before, but never something so thin.  (LB Collection Wool Stainless Steel is more like a thread than a yarn.)  Still, I felt confident, so I broke out my teeny steel crochet hooks (size US1/1.5mm) and got to it, planning on making a silvery spiral flower. ​I cannot believe how long it took me to make an ugly little flower.  (Sorry, flower, it is not your fault that you are ugly, it is mine.) The pattern I was working with wasn’t terribly complicated and the yarn quality was great, but I couldn't do it.

First of all, I could barely see what I was doing.  I made my crochet stitches by feel and muscle memory. But when I looked over my work, I'd see my stitches and I'd undo them.  I started over and over.  I was so unhappy with my work, but I persisted and over 2.5 hours later, I ended up with the poor little dud above.  You couldn’t even tell it was supposed to be a flower -- it just looked like a thin, gray hairball.  I was beaten.  I couldn’t do it.  And I cannot think of a time this has ever happened before.  I’ve always been able to make something work usually through sheer, stubborn persistence, but not this time.  So I have new respect for people who crochet items like this by hand.  It is super difficult and time-consuming and should be very expensive because it can really only be done by masters.  You can see more examples here.  

I tried again using a thicker lace weight yarn -- Darn Good Yarn Recycled Silk.  Using a US 1/2.35mm hook, I made the very same spiral flower.  I accomplished this very quickly.  I like how it looks although I’m not sure this yarn really shows off the spiral.  Mind you, I LOVE this Recycled Silk, but I think the color changes distract from the flower shape. ​

Finally, I found some shimmery pink mystery yarn in my stash.  I thought it suited this flower so well, I made another (although I slightly adjusted it -- can you see the difference?)  The shimmery pink yarn shows the stitch details and highlights the spiral nature of this flower beautifully. ​

​So, you know how you’re always told to swatch?  You really should do it.  Swatching gives you a feel for the yarn as well as how the yarn looks knit up and I strongly encourage it.  However, if you’re not into making random swatch-squares, you can also make little flowers in the yarn.  Seeing the same stitches in different yarns is a game-changer.

In any case, what do you think of these flowers?  Do you agree that the pink yarn looks best?  Also, have you ever been defeated by your project?  What was it?  What did you do when you realized your yarn wouldn’t work? ​

The solution came from Elise Blaha Cripe.  Elise has a podcast called Elise Gets Crafty.  I appreciate her sharing her creative process and enjoy her thoughtful interviews.  (You should really give her a listen.)  In episode 101, “On the 100 Day Project”, Elise and designer Allie Lehman discussed the challenges they set for themselves (Elise did 100 days of pep talks and Allie did 100 days of paintings) and how they felt during and after the completion of the challenge.  While I enjoyed hearing about their 100 Day Projects, I wasn’t motivated to start one myself.  However, Elise and Allie discuss their challenges further in podcasts number 119 and 125.  Both felt the experience was sufficiently rewarding to commit themselves to another 100 Day Project.  They also discussed how they limited their projects to prevent them from being overwhelming.  This intrigued me and after thinking about how to keep myself motivated, I decided to start an 100 days of crafting challenge for myself.  This way, I’d be able to keep crafting and stay active on social media, but not take too much time away from my pattern-translations and additional obligations.  You can read more about the project on Elise's blog here.  


So, my challenge is to engage in 100 days of Creating.  I will make something every single day for the next 100 days.  The projects will be small, allowing me to look at new patterns and learn new skills, but not occupy my entire day.  I started today, August 5 and will end on November 12.


So, here is my first project.  I made a few flowers.  Do you like them? Which is your favorite?