Skip to main content

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Mon afghan

Captain's Log, Stardate 02.24.2009

I am extraordinarily proud of this. For Christmas, I wanted to knit something for my parents that would be really cool and personal, and sort of an heirloom. So I took the five family crests I had for my family (in Japanese, a family crest is called a “mon”) and graphed the designs on knitting graph paper so that I could knit intarsia panels of the mons.

I knit 5 intarsia panels and 4 plain panels and then sewed them together to make an afghan.








In Japan, family crests are carried by both male and female, so I used mons from both my parents' sides. Traditionally, mons are passed down from mother to daughter and from father to son, but there are sometimes cases of a son taking a mother’s mon or a husband taking his wife’s family’s mon and things like that.

I know we have more than 5 family crests, but we’ve lost some of them. My mom tried to find them all several years ago, but could only find these five. The fans mon was actually found on an extended family member’s gravestone somewhere. Neat, huh?

Anyway, Mom and Dad were very pleased to receive this, although it ended up being a reeeeeeeally late Christmas present. Originally, I’d thought to do a purl-knit stitch pattern, but I changed to intarsia (more difficult, but more easy to see the mon) and while I tried to get it done by Christmas, there was just no way.

I’m really happy with how it turned out. I hadn’t done intarsia on a completed project before—I’d only done practice swatches. And I’d certainly never graphed my own pattern. It ended up not being as bad as I expected. A more advanced knitter can see my mistakes if they get up close, but in general, I think the afghan looks pretty good.

If you’re on Ravelry, click here for the project info.

Comments

Wow! That is truly impressive. I love the white on black and can't imagine how complicated it was to get those designs into the piece. And when do you have time to knit AND write? Kudos to YOU!
Angie said…
Wow...you did a great job! I didn't know about the mons, very interesting.
NeedANap2 said…
It looks wonderful! I can't imagine how you knitted all of that. I'm sure your parents loved it even if it was a little late. :)
Camy Tang said…
Thanks, guys! My parents were so happy to get it that they called me to tell me it had arrived and how pleased they were.
Camy
Anonymous said…
Dad & I really love it! Haven't shown Grandma Sue but I'm sure she'll be very impressed.
Grateful Gramma said…
You continue to amaze me with your knitting ability. This is beautiful!!
Camy Tang said…
Hey everybody, my mom commented! Everybody say hi!
Camy
Hi Camy's mom! You have a very talented daughter and I know you must be so proud. Did she get those creative genes from you?
Crystal Laine said…
Hi, Camy's mom! As you can see, we love Camy and she is incredibly talented and kind.

Camy, this is so wonderful, I can't even tell you how impressed I am with this. It's so meaningful and beautiful, artistic. It is inspiring to me.

It has me thinking about my own family and things like this.

Thank you for sharing that.
Anonymous said…
To Sherridan & Crystal: Thank you for supporting Camy. And, no, Camy definitely did not get that creative talent from me. I am more the paint-by-numbers type. Camy's dad's sister is very artistic and creative with her hands.
Alyce said…
This is amazing, and I love the family history behind it!
You are one talented lady! This is a piece of art.

Blessings,
Susan :)
Anonymous said…
That is so incredible I can't find words. You are so talented! Wow.
Camy; WOW!! Beautiful. I can't believe it didn't take you years, and years to complete this project in the middle of all the writing you are doing. It's AMAZING!! I bet your parents were THRILLED to receive such a special, thoughtful, gift. I know I would. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Blessings to you!!

Nora :D
katylinvw said…
absolutely gorgeous! i am in awe of your knitting abilities! :)
Pat Cochran said…
I am so in awe of folks who can knit
such marvelous works of art! Your
parents just have to so pleased and
proud of this gift and your talents!

Pat Cochran
Kathie said…
It is beautiful,Camy. I know your parents must really love it.
Blessings from Costa Rica,
Kathie
The Dynamic Uno said…
How awesome! You are very talented--both as an author and knitter.
Anonymous said…
Really impressive. It looks really nice.
Anonymous said…
What a huge undertaking, and the results are beautiful! I'm sure that will become an heirloom piece. :)

Popular Posts

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Release day! Christian Historical Romance Anthology!

Today is release day for my Christian Historical Romance anthology, Once Upon a Courtship ! Get it today for only 99 cents! Price goes up next week! https://bit.ly/lissa-spy

Kickstarter postponed (yes, again!) and book release news

My family was a bit stressed while I was visiting my parents (I promise, it wasn’t me!) and so I decided to postpone my Kickstarter. It has changed my book release schedule, and so I’ll be releasing Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster hopefully next month? It has also allowed me to figure out when book 8 will be released. Check out my (rather lengthy) explanation on my Patreon . (You’ll need to set up a free Patreon account if you don't have one.) Read when my books are coming out: https://www.patreon.com/posts/113452442/

Once Upon a Courtship paperback available for a limited time

The paperback edition for Once Upon a Courtship is available at Barnes & Noble for a limited time! The paperback for our multi-author historical romance anthology is extra special with a design printed on the fore-edge pages, a design on the interior outer page edges, and a unique design for each novella’s chapter headers. (I did the interior formatting and design myself, so I’m rather proud of it.) Order your paperback here .

Renumbering and renaming books in Lady Wynwood's Spies

On my Patreon, I posted a short explanation of all the renumbering and renaming I was doing for the Lady Wynwood’s Spies series books. If you “Follow” my Patreon page (you’ll need to set up a free Patreon account if you don't have one), then you’ll receive email notifications whenever I have a public post, even if you’re not a paid subscriber. I have lots of extras for free Followers !

Now Posting on Camy’s Patreon

Thank you to everyone who subscribed to my Patreon! At the moment, I’m posting chapters of Lady Wynwood's Spies, volume 7: Spinster . Contemporary novels: Since I got my rights back from Zondervan (Yay!) I now have 3 contemporary romances and 2 romantic suspenses to re-release. I also still have 2 other romantic suspenses that originally appeared in anthologies, but I haven’t yet released independently. I’m considering offering these contemporary books to my Patreon. If you enjoy my contemporary books too, then please consider subscribing and voting in my poll on whether I should post my contemporary novels on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/113403983/ Additional Tier 2 Benefits: Since I postponed my Kickstarter , I won’t be able to start work on my human-narrated audiobook until next year (since the Kickstarter was going to help fund it). However, one of the benefits in Tier 2 in my Patreon was the human-narrated audiobook. Also, I’ve had my virtual assistant w

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Lady Wynwood's Spies, Vol. 7: Spinster rough draft finished!

I finished the rough draft of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster! Next up is editing and formatting. I also posted a bit about what’s next. You can read about it here . Thank you SO much for praying for my health! I know it’s only because of your prayers that I was able to finish the book without my IBS flaring up! If you haven’t read it yet, the first 2 chapters (Prologue and Chapter 1) are available free for all Followers on my Patreon. I also added annotated versions with Easter Eggs, background research, and comments .

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Camy's Big News about a new (old) series!

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem