The Calm After the Storm

This morning I woke up feeling rested.  I slept in until I felt decent, and slowly made my way to the computer to respond to emails from the week.  The past 2 months have been this overwhelming era of travel and events, deadlines and due dates.  Between work travel, Squam, TNNA, countless weekends away for cycling trips, and the baby shower last night, there hasn't been much time to just breathe.

I've enjoyed all the going-ons and travel, but this feeling I have this morning is euphoric.   All I have to do is make it through the work day in order to get to a weekend of actually being home.  Sounds lovely, no?

Well, I'm sure you're all wondering how the gift turned out, and although I went with 1 half knitted slipper in my purse (which didn't get touched while I was there because I had the daunting task of MC'ing the night), I was still pretty impressed with what I came up with.

First up, the sweater:

The sweater was inspired by the yarn/color scheme.  I was a bit worried considering I was making it up as I went, which involves more thinking on my part (scary!), but there was only 1 major rip back, and even that wasn't so bad (maybe 5 rows when I was working on the neck).  

The colors are Madelinetosh's Tosh Vintage in Mica and Winter Wheat, the cream is Spud and Chloe Sweater.  I originally purchased the Winter Wheat in Tosh Light, which is fingering weight.  Fingering weight yarn is probably my favorite yarn weight to work with, but given the situation and quick turn around time, I was happy to switch to the worsted weight yarn.  The Tosh Light Winter Wheat is a little lighter than the Vintage, more of a yellow tone where the Vintage reads a little more Tan.  I love them both, but was originally going to go with a grey stripe.  When I found the Mica colorway, all bets were off.

Which leads me to the Milo Soaker: 

I've made it before (click here to see Elise's cute little baby bum in the Milo Soaker) and I'm sure I'll make it again.  It's a quick knit that whips up in no time, and it's cute to boot!  The pattern can be found in Vintage Baby Knits  along with many other wonderful baby patterns.  If you have a little one in your life, and you're a knitter (what an amazing combo!),  it's probably time to get the book!

I wish my camera captured the fabulous-ness of the Mica colorway, but I don't think it got it quite right.  Honestly, I think it's safe to say I have never been more in love with a color before.  It's this perfect balance of vintage-looking faded blues, and I can almost see a hint of lilac.  I can't give it enough praise, wonderful work Miss Madelinetosh!

This little hat was dreamed up as I was working on the sweater, so it too is an original pattern.  I used short row shaping to make the back flap- it may need a little more tweaking before it is ready to 'grow up' and become a real pattern, but I think it will happen sometime soon.  I only wish I had a baby to try it on to see how it works... oh wait- that will happen soon as well!

Here's where things got a little wonky.  I was home two hours before the shower and thought I would be able to whip up a pair of booties.  I found this pattern for Seamless Baby Platform Booties and thought seamless sounded faster.  I like the pattern, and how it's constructed, but at the end I was working with 5 dpns and it was not going as quickly as I imagined.  I think it would've been faster to just find something that was seamed up a bit at the end, instead of dealing with the fickleness of a bunch of dpns. 

 I did do a garter top instead of the rib suggested in the pattern, and if I made them again, I would probably make less of a 'platform' by cutting out a few garter ridges at the bottom.  They seemed a little to roomy for my liking, but altogether a cute, quick knit.

And there you have it.  I've pulled off some crazy knitting tasks in the past, but I'm particularly proud of this one.  Partly because I didn't even do a swatch until Saturday morning, partly because it's been a crazy busy week and I've forced myself to knit in odd places in order to get things done,  but mainly because  I came up with two totally original creations that didn't give me too many issues along the way.  I love how the set works together, and since I already have the yarn in Tosh Light, I may work these items up again for my babe in the fingering.  

And patterns?  After talking to so many amazing people at TNNA, I'm inspired to work a little harder- secret knitting already in the works :-)

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The People Have Spoken...

...and the "Fun and Funky" hat (option 2) is well on it's way to becoming an FO.

For those of you who were more into the "Simply Classic" style, don't fret- you may see it again soon!

Opinions?

I'm just about ready to send my little mitts pattern to test knitters, but thought I would include a matching hat.  The problem now is that I can't decide what look I like better.  Enter blog readers- the choice is up to you- what do you think?

Sorry for my less than impressive drawings (although I have to admit that they were kind of fun to do).  I'm calling the first hat "Simply Classic" and the second "Fun and Funky". 

Help me out by giving me your opinion in the poll below:

In Absence

The least I can do is explain what I have been up to this week. The basement is almost finished. The problem is, I'm learning that "almost finished" can be a very long process.

Also, I am working hard to launch my baby bootie pattern. Since we're now approaching summer, I figure it's a good time for some baby knits. The felted baby booties were originally a knitted item I sold in my Etsy shop. Designing something to make myself and writing a pattern for others to use are completely different things, so this process is also taking a bit of time.

What's keeping you busy these days? Any big projects on your plate?

Sneak Peek

Just a quick sneak peek of what is coming. Pattern written up, test knit, and sending off to the graphic designer later today. Some details I can give you now: hooded cowl/infinity scarf, utilizes just 1 (yes, one!) skein of Malabrigo Worsted.

I'll also be taking some better pictures today... more soon!

Have a Heart

This past weekend, the blogosphere was brimming with Valentine's Day posts. My Google Reader was well decorated in pink and red hearts, along with Valentine's Day tutorials and print outs. Somehow I missed the boat.

Valentine's Day is usually pretty low-key for us. This year we spent the weekend celebrating our good friend's Valentine's Day birthday. Ava turned 3 on Sunday, and although I was instructed to not bring a present, I figured I could bring a card with a knit heart.

Prototypes were drawn up, and my 'little heart' turned out a little bigger than I expected. I used fingering weight yarn left over from my Girly Mitts, but it was still a bit to large to adorn a card. Instead, it became a card (In the form of the pillow, that is):

We signed the back and wished Ava the happiest 3rd Birthday- what a wonderful Valentine's Day it was!

What about you...whose company did you enjoy on V-Day?

Craft Room Inspiration

There are many events in a girl's life that she dreams about for many years. Falling in love, her wedding day, buying her first home, starting a family. For me (and I assume many of my loyal readers), designing an ideal craft room has always topped the list.

I admit, in the past decade many a'pages were dog-eared and torn out of my personal collection of Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes and Gardens magazines. There are folders on my computer marked 'decorating ideas' that seem to only grow with time.

I don't know if its the soft colors or pristine organization that draws me in. Either way, it's always been a dream of mine to have a full-fledged craft studio and yesterday, my dream started to become a reality.

We will be starting to frame out our basement on Monday, and an 11' x 15' space will be completely dedicated to knitting. Granted, we will be working within a budget, but I've started looking for inspiration on the web. Get ready for a picture overload... these are just a few of rooms I love:

{via BHG}

{via BHG}

{via BHG}

{via Pottery Barn}

{via Country Living}

{via Apartment Therapy}

{via Apartment Therapy}

So here's where I enlist your help. Any wonderful craft room inspiration ideas? Throw up the links- I want see them all!

Preparations

Today I met up with Brittany of My Mom Thinks I'm Swell. We have been following each other on twitter and in the 'blogosphere' for a few months now. I will often tweet about how much I love Center Street Knits in Northville and she happens to live only a few minutes away. Besides having the wonderful opportunity to chat and catch up in 'real life', Brittany was also able to give me some great photography tips. She also helped me snap some shots of my newest design.

Here's a sneak peek:


Check back tomorrow as I should have the pattern ready(along with more pictures and details!).

The lovely ladies of Center Street Knits have been putting my Autumn Orange Cowl pattern to use! They have been knitting it in Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky and I love the result. I took some pictures on location to spruce up my pattern pictures. Thanks to Nancy for a beautiful shop to take pictures in and to Brittany for these wonderful photos and for teaching me how to get 'smudgy' background pictures!





This last picture I am so excited to share- I feel like a proud mother. In reality, it is a proud wife moment. This is Joe's swatch from Craft Day. He learned cables! Impressive, yes?

International Craft Day

Did you know that today happens to be "International Craft Day"? Well...'international' may be a stretch. Truth be told, it's not even "National Craft Day"...but it is the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, which means it is "Craft Day" in our household!

When Joe and I were just dating, I taught him how to knit on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The two of us sat all day working on our projects. By the end of the day, Joe had a very tightly-knit pot holder(which never actually made its way off the needles). At the time, we jokingly called the day "Craft Day", and have acknowledged this day as a holiday ever since!

Today marks the sixth annual Craft Day and crafts are certainly a'plenty here! Besides working on slippers, I will be using the oatmeal colored yarn above to work on my next pattern. In case you were wondering, the yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in Porcupine. Joe plans on expanding his knitting repertoire by learning how to knit cables. This way he will be able to test knit my new pattern- what fun!

I realize that I should have given a head's up to my readers beforehand to announce Craft Day, but at least I didn't let the day go by without posting! So today it's me, Joe, warm mugs of Chai tea, a fire, the rain, and knitting- perfect!

With a Heart Full of Thanks

There is no doubt that I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. God has blessed me with a wonderful and supportive husband, a loving family, and great friends.

This year took an interesting turn for me. At the beginning of 2009, it had been a while since I had even picked up my knitting needles. In February, I started getting the itch to knit again. Perhaps it was the fact that we kept our house at somewhere between 55-60 degrees due to high propane costs. I decided I wanted to make myself a cowl to wear around the house and started looking for patterns. When I didn't find a pattern I liked, I decided to just play around and figure something out.

By March I began getting ideas for an Etsy shop with knitted goods. I spent time on the forums and got myself all set up. By March 31st, I was up and running (I didn't want to launch on April Fool's Day, after all!).

I never thought about making my patterns available, but that seemed to be what I was getting contacted about the most. I joined Ravelry soon after Etsy, but was scared off. I'm not sure why it intimidated me, but it did. I still regret that decision- Ravelry is AMAZING!

A few months ago I decided to take the plunge and try to put some project pictures up on Ravelry. Soon after posting my French Press Felted Slippers people began to contact me about a pattern. This was when I decided it was time.

On October 12th, I launched the pattern. I was ecstatic to get home from work last week to see this:
I couldn't believe my slippers were the #1 "New and Popular" pattern on Ravelry. I have all of you to thank, and I will say "thanks" with a free pattern!

This is a pattern I promised before, I just worked extra hard to get it our earlier than expected! It is a simple newborn hat that is meant for the hospital. It is made a bit smaller than other newborn hats I have found(which say newborn, but end up being too large). The idea is to give baby a new hat on their first outing- from hospital to home. So I introduce you to "Bring Me Home Hat".

~A simple knitted hat in a true newborn size. Made with the softest organic cotton, perfect for the little one’s delicate skin. This hat is worked in the round on double pointed needles. It starts with a seed stitch brim that is followed with a row of eyelets. It is perfect for expectant parents who do not know if they are having a boy or a girl. They can bring both the pink and blue ribbon with them and have the perfect hat to bring baby home in.~

You can download this free pattern on Ravelry here. Not on Ravelry(you should be...it's free, and as I said before: AMAZING!)? You can download it here.

Besides this wonderful surprise on Ravelry, I also hit 500 sales in my Etsy shop last week. Maybe I'll even hit 50 blog followers today? So, as a second token of my appreciation, I have been working hard to get another pattern available for purchase on both Etsy and Ravelry. My goal is to have it up by next week.

Again, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU! This has been so exciting for me and I have loved all the encouraging notes and support.

Beautiful Fibers

In the last couple weeks I have been visiting local Michigan yarn shops in search for yarns that inspire me. Here's a peek at what I've found...

Cascade Yarn Magnum
Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky

Malabrigo Worsted in Hollyhock
Manos Wool Clasica

Kollage Yarns Corntastic

Mirasol Hacho

Aslan Trends Santa Fe Kettle Dyed

Woven Art Kona Superwash

Stay Tuned!

I Saw Buffalo

As I mentioned last week, we recently spent some time in North Dakota. This is one of the buffalo I saw. Ok... it is actually a bison, but you didn't know the difference, did you? Believe it or not, buffalo sight-seeing was not the reason we made the long trek to North Dakota. Here are the reasons:

Love. Them.

We had a wonderful trip- I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Back on the home front, we jumped right back into slipper-making mode(not that I didn't knit up plenty of pairs while we were away). The great news is that Joe is getting quicker and quicker with his knitting. What this means is that I may have time to get another pattern about before Christmas. I started one today... :)