Work-At-Home Mom

My "office"

Yep. That's me. I am a work-at-home Mom of two little ones. I just had to snap a picture of my 

"knitting chair" today because I felt it well represents my life at this time.

Between the day to day children/cleaning/family/work juggling act I feel that I am working constantly, but accomplishing little. I joke with my friends that I am now knitting at a rate of one row per day.

I have had to become an expert at the fine art of multitasking. 

Right now I am typing this blog post one handed with a baby in my arms.

It's a crazy life for sure.. But I'm glad to have these little people around me during the day.

Although our days can be hectic and somewhat exhausting, I know that deep down I wouldn't want it any other way.

Because.. someday they will be all grown up.. and I know that I will miss playing barbies while feeding a baby and typing an email and making dinner..

..right?

Because Elephants Need Scarves Too.

Over the years I have been trying to teach my daughter to knit. 

If you are a long time reader.. you may remember this post from a few years back.

Now that she is six years old, I am happy to report that
she has turned into quite the accomplished little knitter.

She has now finished her first project. A stylish scarf for her elephant.

And she is very proud.

... as am I!

Last night she says to me.. 

"Mom.. why don't we both grab our knitting and sit on the couch and knit together?"

Somebody pinch me.. I must be dreaming. :)

A Special Little Something

I've been busy over here!

Recently I had the privilege of working with one of my favorite yarn lines again... Becoming Art.

This time I have knitted up a very special little something out of her Theia Sport yarn in the Tulgey Wood colorway. This is a new design for my baby boy.

Can you guess what it is?

How about now?

Yes, you are right. It's a cute little sweater. But not just any sweater...

A tiny version of my Gnarled Oak Cardigan!

The Little Oak Cardigan will be released as part of a new pattern collection from myself and Hannah called Coastal Kids. We will soon be releasing pint size versions of our favorite Coastal Knits patterns!

Look for the new Coastal Kids collection within the next few months!

I cannot tell you how much I love this little sweater. And the good news is.. the little guy also thinks it's pretty great.

Now onto a tiny version of the Wildflower Cardigan for my daughter!

Stitches West 2012

Well.. we are back from Stitches West... or "Mommy's Never Not Knitting party" as my 6 year old daughter refers to it. :)

I have to say that despite all of the work, I had a really great time this year and am very glad that I was there.

Our booth.

With my booth-mate Lisa being 8 months pregnant and me with my 3 month old little guy.. it really was a bit of a miracle that we actually pulled it off!

I brought the little guy to the booth with me as much as possible.. but come to find out.. babies don't really like knitting conventions. Weird. 

I know that he did, however, enjoy meeting Ysolda. 

You might notice the star-struck look on his face. :)

My favorite thing about this year was getting to see everyone's enthusiasm for Coastal Knits. I signed many books over the weekend which was very fun!

I also found many knitters around the convention center wearing their Coastal Knits garments. I tried to track down as many as possible for a picture.

Rocky Coast sighting

Rocky Coast sighting #2

Ok.. another Rocky Coast..

And yet another!

This last knitter pictured actually spun up all of the yarn for her Rocky Coast Cardigan herself! Didn't she do such a beautiful job?

Gnarled Oak

Water's Edge

Sand and Sea Shawlette

I loved hearing this knitter's story behind her Sand and Sea Shawlette. If you own a copy of Coastal Knits, you will know that this design was inspired by the incoming tide at Morro Strand Beach. Apparently this is the exact spot where this knitter's husband proposed to her. This shawl was a sentimental knit for her and she lovingly refers to it as her "engagement shawl". I thought that was so sweet.

Rustling Leaves on Maia from Tactile Fiber Arts!

Cambrian Cowl on Carrie Sundra from Alpenglow Yarns

And Ysolda took a liking to the Wildflower Cardigan that I had on display and wore it all day on Sunday. It looks so cute on her!

 Well actually if you want the real story.. she stole it off of our mannequin. But I figure that if Ysolda likes your sweater.. that's a good thing. And if Ysolda steals your sweater.. you let her. :)

She did give it back though.. so it was really more of a borrowing.

Thanks to everyone who came up and said "hello" at Stiches this year. It was great to see all of you!

Ready For Stitches West!

I'll be heading off to the Stitches West convention this week and I am awfully excited!

I will be sharing booth #1139 with the amazing Lisa Sanchez from Becoming Art again this year.

I will be there with all of my patterns, many knitted samples, and of course lots of copies of Coastal Knits... oh and a cute baby too.

I'll also have lots of fun little things there to give away to all of you.. so be sure to stop by and say hello!

Just look for the blonde girl covered in spit up holding a baby. :)

There are two book signings scheduled if you would like to bring your copy of Coastal Knits for me to sign.

Friday 2/24 booth #1139 I will be signing books from 2:00-2:30

Saturday 2/25 booth #931 (Alpenglow Yarns) I will be signing from 11:30-12:00

But if you happen to catch me at any other time during the show, I'll be happy to sign it for you then too. :)

I look forward to seeing all of my friends again and meeting new ones. See you soon!

Leaves of Gold

Just sharing a recent knitted sample of my Cedar Leaf Shawlette pattern in Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Sand colorway. The golden leaves are so very pretty.

 This was expertly knit up for me by greentrianglegirl on Ravelry.. who also happens to be the host of 

A Playful Day podcast... where I made a recent guest appearance.

What a small world it is.. :)

Winter Trails x 3

I just received my three samples of my new Winter Trails pattern back from my test knitters.. and before I put them in this month's trunk shows, I thought I would share a picture.

For this pattern, I chose to have it tested in three different worsted weight yarn blends,
but all in a wintry off-white. 

I love seeing the differences that yarn choice makes in this design.

From the right: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Natural, Cascade Venezia Worsted in color #101, and Cascade Cloud 9 in color #101.

I think that my favorite has got to be Cascade Cloud 9. I have always really enjoyed how a fuzzy yarn like this looks knitted up in cables. (Here is another example of great cable-to-fuzz ratio. Oh and here is another favorite fuzzy knit.)

Thank you to Veronika, Stephanie, and CeRae for doing such a great job on these knits for me!

Pattern available HERE.

Winter Trails

I am happy to tell you that there is a new addition to my pattern line! 

And yes.. since you asked.... I AM proud of myself for completing this pattern while having a new baby in the house! :)

Although I seem to be designing at a snail's pace these days, I am very happy with how this hat turned out.

 The cable pattern weaves through itself and is very fun to work up. Also.. the entire project knits up quickly with a worsted weight yarn. The end result is a squishy, cozy, elegant hat, perfect for a cold winter's day.

For the hat pictured, I chose The Fibre Company Organik yarn in Arctic Tundra after being 

inspired by this lovely knit. What a fabulous yarn this is! 

This is my first time working with it, and the texture of this yarn is amazing. 

Soft, slightly shiny, slight halo.. gorgeous.

Here is the pattern information for those of you interested in knitting up a Winter Trails hat of your very own:

SIZE

Women’s Medium-Large

(fits 19–23” / 48–58cm head circumference)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Brim Circumference approx 17” / 43cm unstretched.

MATERIALS

The Fibre Company Organik [70% Merino, 15% Alpaca, 15% Silk; 98 yd/90m per 1.75 oz / 50g skein]; color: Arctic Tundra; 2 skeins or approx 180 yd / 165m of a worsted weight wool or wool blend.

Alternate Yarns: Cascade Yarns Venezia Worsted, Madelinetosh Tosh Merino, Malabrigo Merino Worsted

1 16” / 40cm US7 / 4.5mm circular needle for brim.

1 16” / 40cm US8 / 5mm circular needle for body of hat.

1 set of US8 / 5mm double pointed needles

Cable needle

Stitch marker

Tapestry needle

GAUGE

18 sts/ 24 rows = 4" / 10cm in Stockinette stitch on US8 / 5mm needles or size needed for accurate gauge.

The pattern contains both charted and written instructions.

As always, thank you to Julie Crawford for modeling and to her husband for the excellent photography. 

I hope that you enjoy the pattern!

This pattern is now available in French!

Ruby Leaves

I just recently had this lovely set of pattern samples knit up for me by one of my fabulous test/sample knitters, Anne. This is my Autumn Vines Beret and Oak Grove mitts worked up in the lovely Road to China Light yarn in the Ruby colorway by The Fibre Company. I've used this yarn before but I especially I love the elegant look it gives to these designs in particular. The slight fuzzy texture and sheen is so luxurious!

Although the stitch pattern is different, I've always felt that this hat and mitt pattern would serve as an excellent coordinating set, especially knit up in the same colorway like this.

I often have samples knit up for trunk shows and to put on display in different venues... but this particular set.. I wish I could keep. It's so pretty!

Autumn Vines Beret pattern found HERE. 

Oak Grove mitt pattern found HERE. 

Yarn found HERE.

Good Things

There are so many good things lately that I have been very happy and excited about...

First of all.. on a personal note.. our little guy is now 2 months old and is all smiles these days.

Just a smiling face sitting atop a pair of shoulders. No neck in sight. :)

Aside from that, I've felt re-enthused about my knitting and have been working on a new design!

Squishy elegant cables are always a treat.

Also. I am planning out a trip to Santa Clara, California at the end of February because I am going to be a vendor at Stitches West again this year! The neckless baby and I will be sharing a booth again with Lisa Sanchez from Becoming Art. Crazy? Yes, probably. But it will be fun.

See.. so many good things.