Meet Abby!

I knit this little dress for Abby before she was born and she just grew big enough to wear it. Isn't she the sweetest?

Legwarmers for Olivia!

I had to share this pair of legwarmers I'm knitting for my niece.

I am using them to take a mental break every now and then from the huge project of test knitting my newest pattern set to release in August. It's all so exciting, but a little overwhelming. This yarn is the perfect thing to relax and "zen out" with when I need a break.



The yarn is self patterning, so all I have to do is knit knit knit to my heart's content :)

The pattern is Never Not Knitting's "legwarmies" I love the name!

A Proud Auntie :)

My niece Olivia was born just the other day and I am in love. She is so precious. I can't wait to meet her in person & hold her & sing her lullabies. I'll get to go next month!

My brother in law sent me pictures last night and I was already so proud of Meagan's bravery and serene confidence through her whole pregnancy and delivery, but the pictures just made it so real. She and little Olivia went through a lot just to get her into the world! Mothers amaze me.

Then, if you can make an already proud aunt even prouder, they brought her home in the little yellow dress I knit for her.

It was so fun to see that she had lots of loving arms and smiling faces to see as she made her debut. I'm just overjoyed & simply can't wait to get out to see her :)

a quick shower gift

In the midst of all the craziness of the end of the school year there was a baby shower for two of the girls at my school. I wanted to make something for each of them, but I ended up only having time for one special little piece. I decided I had to make something for Whitney's daughter.(due in July- Her name will be Kinley) Whitney and I went to school together and taught together at Foothills, and now she works with me at Lake Pleasant. I found a pattern on Ravelry called confection, and I had some pink Cotton Tots yarn in my stash, so I knitted this little shrug in a couple of nights. I thought it would be perfect to throw into the diaper bag for those cold air-conditioned restaurants in the summer. It was a really nice pattern. Well written. I will definitely make it again. Especially if I'm ever in a pinch :)

A Mother's Day Gift

As a Mother's Day gift I made a circular needle holder for my mom. This is what a typical stash of circular needles looks like. This is mine, in fact.

I saw a picture in a magazine of a needle holder that hangs on the wall.

I tried my best to whip one up for Mom. She has a newly decorated craft room with a work table & bookcases finished in black and red cotton cloth covered boxes.

Here's the process, from quarter flats to finished piece:

Mom Loved it :)

Malabrigo

My mom asked me to wind some yarn for her this weekend. It was a skein of a really lovely Malabrigo wool/silk blend. As I was winding it, the sunlight was streaming in through the window, and it made the yarn almost glow. I just had to try to capture it on film... er... pixels.

My Creative Chaos

I thought it would be fun to have a record of my creative chaos to look back on in a few years. So, here it goes, My creative process:

I usually get inspired first by the yarn. If I can see the garment in my head, then I start to work out its construction on paper with a sketch.

After sketching I usually knit a swatch. 4 inches by 4 inches is the standard size, but sometimes I go a little bit larger just to get the feel of the fabric. On this one, I actually took the time to make note of what size needle I was using by making the same number of eyelet holes as the US size of the needle. Four holes for size US 4, five holes for size US 5 and so on. Some experts say to take the time to wash the swatch and block it at this point. A nice idea, but... I don't really have the patience. Usually at this point, I can hardly wait to get started. I get really excited and impatient!

Time to cast on. I like to have a sample piece, and then I go from there to figure out the changes for each size. For this piece, I had decided I wanted a little skirt with pockets.

I did all the work, and then tried it on my little model, Capitola. I was pretty much instantly disappointed. The baby is adorable, but the skirt was too long but somehow too tight! I went directly home and ripped the entire thing out. I reclaimed the yarn and wound it back into balls. A few days later I started again. New sketch. Same idea, but a dress instead of a skirt:
And here's the finished product! I am very happy with it.

Now here's hoping I won't end up back at the drawing board again!

Capitola's first modeling job

My friend Bekah and I found a grassy spot to photagraph her little girl, Capitola in the store sample of the Scallop Edge Dress. We had fun playing with Cappy on this beautiful sunny & breezy day!

Sleeping on the job...

This is my favorite! Aren't her eyes so pretty?

Store Sample

Jessica of Jessica Knits asked me to knit up a store sample for her to display with my pattern. Here it is!

More details later...

The yarn shop is a dangerous place

I went to Jessica Knits yesterday to talk to her about my patterns, and I thought, "oh I'll buy the yarn to finish the project I'm working on and that's IT!"

Yeah, that never works...

Busy, busy!!

I've been a busy girl lately. I have a huge project at work coming up. (in fact, I should be working on it right now...) My students and I have been working on a conservation unit, and preparing for our state tests. I have been knitting as often as I can in my hectic life!
I started a blanket for a friend of Reed's who is having a baby girl. I have a really hard time editing myself for time. I like DK weight yarn. (sometimes smaller...) I just really enjoy the light, happy result of knitting with small gauge yarn. When I started this project I knew I didn't want to spend more than about $30, and I knew it should be quick because of my busy schedule. Despite all that reasonable thinking and planning, this is what I came up with:


In short - fine gauge yarn on itty bitty needles. I was going to muddle through it anyway. It didn't have to be done until April or May, for goodness sake! Well, here it was, April 4th, and I still only had a third of the blanket done. Surprise surprise... So, I decided to go against my instincts and try something different. "Start over?" My mom & husband thought I was crazy, but:

This is the project that came of it. It took me one week, and the yarn cost about $35. (and I got to use my pretty glass needles :)

It was made in strips as you can see, and then sewn together. I did one strip Monday night, another Tuesday, half of a strip on Wednesday, half on Thursday, and one on Friday. Last night I sewed it all together using the mattress stitch.

Now I'm wondering about embellishments... Whatever became of the other blanket? I don't want it to fade away into obscurity like so many other projects have, but we'll see. It may become another free pattern on Ravelry. It's really just a variation on the staggered eyelets baby blanket. So many ideas for the summer, I just can't wait!!

yellow dress

I brought my sample of this dress into Jessica Knits in Scottsdale. Jessica saw it and asked me if I would be selling the pattern. Yay!! I am currently working on the third size and hope to be finished with the fourth and ready for sale by the end of my Spring break. (which is the end of the week - yikes!) This one is for my niece. I'll be sewing on the buttons and giving it to my sister on Saturday :)

(originally posted 3-15-10)

itty bitty baby things...

These took me awhile, and I cut the fabric on my Cricut machine. It was not as easy as the YouTube video made it look. I love the way they turned out though! Especially after the embroidery. Can't wait to give them away to the new mommies!

Here are two of my favorites up close:

(originally posted 3-15-10)

Staggered Eyelets Baby Blanket

Last week I finally cast off on the staggered eyelets baby blanket. I will be offering this as a free Ravelry download in the next couple of weeks. It is really nice as a social knitting project to take with you to knit nights. I want to start another one - everything else I'm knitting takes so much concentration! (originally posted Jan 2010)

Naming my baby

This whole idea of finding a name for my "company" has been really weighing heavily on my mind. I have been thinking about it for months, trying to find something that encompasses my spirit, personality, and creative vibe. I was working with knitting terms. Stitches sticks & string, yarnlove, yarn therapy, yarnologie. It is insane how many knitting blogs and websites there already are. I whined to my husband about it tonight, and within an hour he spouted off: "how about strawberry blond? I was stunned into silence. "I kinda like that... I kinda really like that!" He suggested I spell it strawberie since my best childhood friend calls me Erie, and presto - I have a name. I can't wait to get moving forward. I already have sketches and ideas for 4 new patterns for the summer. SO excited :) Wish me luck!