Back to Earth again

...after dropping off the face thereof.

This was the scene at Chez Romi all last week. Here's a half day's worth of packages.

Mr. Romi would take some to the post office in the early afternoon on the way to taking the boys to swim practice, and then I would take another load at the end of the day. I spent a lot of quality time at the PO! :) The kids and I were all working to get my club packages out, and when they were gone? None of us quite knew what to do with ourselves! I'll show you all a picture of what's inside when I think everyone has gotten theirs and/or seen the spoiler pics in my Ravelry group. I had a great time with the pattern for this one; the particular theme has been on my mind for a few years now, and I'm so excited to have finally done it! It's a wonderfully relaxing knit, and I so enjoyed taking it along with me for travel knitting. Well. You'll see very soon. :)

Today I decided I needed a treat. I was feeling kind of tired and a little low spirited, so I raided my jewelry materials stash for a quick pick-me-up project. Nothing like a little new bling to make me smile!

I had a couple of pearls that I thought were very cool; I love the blobby texture on them. And to go with them, I pulled out some copper findings and a length of copper chain with great links.

The tools came out next.

And I went to work.

Copper is so easy to bend.

It was a fun treat after all the (very hard) nickel I've been hammering lately!

I detached a couple of links from the chain.

And 15 minutes later, I had a new pair of earrings!

I lurve instant gratification. :)

And tomorrow? You shall see the yarnz I picked up at TNNA. I can't wait to show you!!!

Last Day of Sale!

Today is your last day to shop at my 15% off sneaky sale! Enter coupon code KILT at checkout to save 15% off your entire order of $15 or more. A heart for a valentine friend, perhaps?

My Designs by Romi pins come in copper, nickel, and sterling, and my sterling yarn ball earrings are always a huge hit!

Drop on by! :)

Blog Tour! and a little Musing

First I want to thank all of you who have been leaving comments and writing to me about Bijouterie. A lot of you have never tried knitting with wire before, and I am SO excited that you are making these earrings! I am really enjoying seeing them all!

This week my book and I are making the rounds!

We've got some great stops planned!

First up is my girl Scout on Monday, December 15th. She is a huge inspiration to me and I just think she is the best! And have you seen her photography? And her yarn? :swoon:

Tuesday I will be over at the Art Bead Scene blog. You must check out this blog. It is full of fascinating studio visits, tutorials, and great jewelry. I've been a reader for some time now!

Wednesday, I'm visiting Steph at ...and she knits, too! Steph, for those who don't already know, completely rocks! And one of these days, I will meet her in person (and probably have a nice long philosophical discussion). Mwah to you, Steph!

Thursday, I'm off to Sweater Surgery. This is a completely wild and crafty blog! Wait 'til you check out the recycled sweater turkey a few entries ago! Really. You must see. :)

And Friday, I'll be TurtleGirl's guest on her special pr0nny Fridays. Can I just say? TurtleGirl is teh awesome. She makes me smile every time I read her blog or correspond with her. :)

A big and giant thank you to all of my hosts! I hope you'll stop by, check out the projects and Q&A, and then stay awhile and look over the rest of these great blogs!

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And a little musing for Monday:

"If you don't try, you've already failed." - me, every day, to my kids :)

Have a great week, everyone!!!

Join Me!

I'll be at Knitterly in Petaluma CA this Saturday, December 13th, at 11 am to chat, share projects from my new book and sign books! My friend Susan Mall of Eastside Farm and Zin fame is providing munchies! I'll be there from 11 to 12:30 and then teaching a workshop in the afternoon from 2-5! We'll be swatching wire and experimenting, and then making the swatches into a necklace from my book! The workshop fee is $60, and materials (wire, rubber cord) are provided. BYO needles and hooks. :)

If you like Bijouterie, then my guess is you'll like my book, Elements of Style! I hope you can join me!

Knitty, she is up!

It's up, it's up! The winter issue of Knitty!

And with it, Bijouterie, a fun little pattern of mine for a trio of pearl and wire earrings.

Enjoy!

Friday Eye Candy, Shawl Pin Edition

Finally...for those lovers of silvery things: my swirly penannular in brushed nickel! And there's a coupon at the bottom of this post, too. Because.... :)

Can you tell I'm totally

absolutely

in love with it?

I couldn't decide among the pictures.

So I had to put them all up!

You can order your own here. And when you are checking out, enter coupon code NICKEL for $6 off your order of $20 or more! The coupon is good through August 20th, so get yours while the gettin's good! :)

Shiny!

The other day, I got the greatest tip in my issue of Beading Daily. I couldn't wait to try it and now I have to share. It is a totally non toxic way of removing tarnish from silver. And here to demonstrate it is my pair of very tarnished silver ball of yarn earrings. Behold.

Ick. Here's how to get rid of it.

You'll need:
baking soda
a plastic or glass dish
hot, almost boiling, water
a plastic utensil
aluminum foil
the tarnished item

1. Spread a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of the dish.

2. Pour hot water into the dish: enough to cover the tarnished item.

3. Add two tablespoons of baking soda and stir with plastic utensil to dissolve.

4. Drop in tarnished item.

5. Watch the bubbles;

smell the sulphury smell.

It's working!

6. Remove from water and rinse. Dry.

And it's tarnish free! Woooooo!!!

The process took about 7 minutes from start to finish and was totally non toxic and environmentally friendly! How cool is that?

SOS (Save Our Stitches)

Look what my friend Ruth sent me!

It's one of her adorable little stitch savers. And she personalized it for me! How cute is that? :) Thank you, Ruth!

And just look at these lovelies. Habu bamboo laceweight (from Knitterly).

And another.

I transformed the red into a lovely scarf for my class at Knitterly on Ice Queen, in case someone didn't want to knit mohair at this time of year. I know, it's almost inconceivable that someone might not want to knit mohair! ;) Here's a sneak peek at the Delta Queen scarf.

I have a few tutorials on this one, though, so all you get right now is a sneak peek (unless you take my class - heehee). :)

I am in mad passionate love with the bamboo laceweight. It has the hand, sheen and drape of silk, but it doesn't fuzz up like silk. I cannot wait to knit the second hank. It's just waiting on a pattern worthy of it. Yummy yummy stuff!

ETA: Oh! I almost forgot! The silver yarn ball jewelry is finally back in stock! Woooo! You can get yours here.

I couldn't wait! plus a coupon

I know today is supposed to be the picot cast on tutorial, but I promise I'll have it tomorrow. I just couldn't wait to show you my new penannular pin! I am absurdly and ridiculously in love with it. Look!

And it totally works!!! This is what it looks like "open."

And here it is closed and locked.

To insert, move the stick portion down and through the garment:

bring back up through:

and then slide the pin around to lock in place.

I lovelovelove it! (Okay, I'll shut up now). You can order it here.

To celebrate, I have a coupon for $6 off your purchase of $20 or more! Go to Designs by Romi, order, and then enter the code SWIRL upon checkout. Good through July 22! Eeeeeeeeee! :D

Beauty shot:

and I couldn't resist another beauty shot. :)

Hope you all like it!

New!

Edited on 04.28.08 to add: To celebrate the new offerings, we have coupons for Designs by Romi!! $5 off purchases of $15 and above (enter 6EQTMQK at check-out), and $10 off purchases of $50 and above (enter 6EQU2HJ at check-out). If you are ordering earrings or pendants, put the coupon number in the comment section and I will refund the proper amount. How about that?! These are good through Monday, April 28th.
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My friend Leigh asked for a pair of sterling yarn ball earrings that clip shut, and...

here they are! You can order your own pair here (scroll down and you may have to refresh your browser). :)

In other news...I'm not going with Haloscan unless I can figure out how to keep all my old comments. Stay tuned....

Happy V Day!

In honor of the day, I have free shipping over at Designs by Romi through V Day! Enter coupon code 6DJM293 at checkout. Back-orders placed through the 14th will have shipping refunded.

And also in honor of the day, I give you my first penannular style pin, a heart!

A penannular does not come apart; the prong slides around on the pin, so that it can go through the opening in the bottom. Once you have put the pin through the material (knit, crochet or coarse hand woven), you slide the pin around into place to lock the prong in place.

And a new finish! The heart penannular is available in nickel, matte or brushed. Yes, brushed nickel! Over the next few weeks I'll be adding it as an option on all the elements pins. Here is a comparison of the finishes that will be available for all the elements pins: polished copper, polished sterling silver and brushed nickel.

I am so excited; I love this finish! So please to forgive my gushiness!

At the moment, I only have two pins available in it, but you can special order any elements pin even before I get it up on the site. Just email me! And of course, special orders placed the 14th ship for free. :)

Have a great day!!!

Friday Eye Candy, Jewelry Edition

Well, the recipient of Ms. Purple Ice loves her, and that makes me very very happy! Thanks everyone for all your kind comments!

I have been busy. Very very busy to make up for lots of lost time! So I have just done a major shop update with all sorts of new goodies. :) We have a bee shawl pin, inspired by the fabulous Knitspot Anne's Bee Fields Shawl and Honeybee Stole.

And here's a sterling turtle on a rosewood stick (there's a ladybug too!) that reminds me of turtlegirl every time I look at it (wonder why?). ;)

Then we have a miniature dragonfly pin in sterling and fine silver (fine silver has a higher silver content than sterling).

And an entirely new kind of pin for me - it is one piece and I love these!

They stay put really wonderfully well and are super super light.

That's in addition to a whole passel of new sticks and a few new simple pins!

And in sterling ball of yarn news, I am out of pendants (you can backorder here) and have only four three pairs of earrings (scroll down on the linked page to order them) left. I'm ordering more supplies! Honest!

Have a great weekend all! :)