I could run out on the street and grab a stranger and give them a big ol’ hug, I’m so happy happy happy.

I just finished the Super Secret Shrug thing for Defarge-3 (Defarge Does Shakespeare, for those keeping score at home)! Yes, Defarge 2 has yet to come out (though it’s in pre-orders) but we’re already hard at work on the next book in the series. We’re also still accepting submissions for Defarge Does Chaucer and Defarge Does Sherlock, iffin yer interested.

So this shrug. It all started with Taming of the Shrew. If you’ve been lucky enough to find the DVD of Shakespeare Re-told then you might have see their Taming of the Shrew. Masterful. Just lovely. The actress who you may only know as Moaning Myrtle and an occasional face in a costume drama is Kate and she is transcendent as the shrew. If you’re a fan of Warehouse 13 then you’ll recognize Bianca as HG. Marvelous. (And I’m not even going to get into the genius James McEvoy (yummy) as Macbeth-as-Gordon-Ramsay. Yikes!)

Anyhow. The shrug.

Bianca has this marvelous shrug. Diaphanous lace. Just stunning. When the DVDs first came out there was some chatter on the ‘net about who designed or where it came from or whether there was a pattern… then nothing. Radio silence. Zombieland.

Well, darn it, I wanted that shrug.

So I made my own.

It’s different, as I didn’t even try to match the lace pattern. And it’s my own construction (though, seriously, how many ways can you make a shrug?!). And it’s with Dragonfly Fibers’ stunning Ruby Ruby in Super Djinni instead of green mohair lace—but it all started with a dream.

And when I thought about telling you about this and how happy I was with how it came out, I also thought, “you know, I’ve actually written a bunch of patterns now, and most of them just kind of happened. Almost accidentally. So I’m going to launch a grand re-opening of my pattern shop and give you special dealies as I go. I hope that will be fun and lighten the load a bit as we head into Autumnal knitting. We hear it’s going to be snowmageddon here again this winter, so I’m stocking up on wool and patterns now.

Look for the first installment of my first pattern later this week!