Finishing Fever

After months of working at a very comfortable pace, I woke up one morning a few weeks back with a sudden case of "finishing fever" and decided that I had to finish up my 

collection for Botanical Knits 2... right away. 

As in NOW. As in yesterday.

I don't know where the sudden rush of motivation came from.. but I have been working like a crazy person ever since. I am determined to get these knits designed and done as soon as possible.

That means... a lot of knitting... and a lot of playing with new yarn. It could be worse, right?

I thought I'd share with you some of the highlights from my past few weeks of work.

Firstly, I got these gorgeous special skeins of Spincycle Dyed in the Wool yarn in a brand new colorway to test out. I am so excited to see what they will knit up like! The colors are so rich and beautiful.

I also finished a new shawl design that I just love. 

It's a new and updated take on my Cedar Leaf Shawlette and all of the other leaf bordered shawls floating around out there in pattern land.

Its cool and whimsical and I am really happy with it.

And I love the way that this gorgeous purple yarn goes with the other colors I'm using.

I am also knitting a sweater out of this rich glowing brown yarn.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I am "un-knitting" a sweater out of this rich glowing brown yarn.

I have spent a fair amount of time ripping back today as I learned an invaluable and unfortunate lesson about the placement of bobbles on the front of a sweater. 

Turns out a bobble put in the wrong place on a sweater front can look rather inappropriate. :(

Speaking of sweaters... do you remember this lovely little green sweater?

Oh good.. I'm glad. 

 I promise that I haven't forgotten about it. 

I still have plans to release this pattern individually very soon.

Thank you for your patience with me. 

Back to work I go! More updates soon!

Tiny Ivy

I can't quite tell you how happy these little knitted leaves are making me right now.

They are so fun to make!

These tiny ivy leaves will be a new pattern to be included in my upcoming book, Botanical Knits 2. 

Inspired By Nature

I just got the Winter 2013 issue of Knitscene magazine in the mail...

and was delighted to see my article published!

I was quite flattered when Amy Palmer, the editor of Knitscene, asked me to contribute an article. I've never written something like this for a magazine before, but fortunately it came quite naturally. 

After all.. This is on one of my most favorite subjects. :)

I hope that you enjoy reading my article on pages 26-28!

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 74: The Matching Sweaters

Episode 74

Shownotes:

Pictures From My East Coast Book Tour

Botanical Knits

Argyle Yarn Shop

Loop

Looped Yarn Works

Whatcha Swatchin Video Podcast

Hannah Fettig

Coastal Knits

Neesha Hudson

One + One Hats

The Ultimate Hat Book

Margaret on Ravelry

Join the Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

 

Enter to win a copy of these two books, One + One Hats, and The Ultimate Hat Book by leaving a comment under this post by October 15th. Please remember to include your contact information. Only one comment per person please! The winner will be announced on Episode 75.

Thank you for listening!

Little Details Make the Sweater

Awhile back I talked of a new sweater design on the needles out of the beautiful Quince and Co. Owl yarn.

I am happy to report that this sweater has now been completed and I am really enjoying the little details that make this piece so unique.

A little button and loop closure on the cuff...

 A sprig of foliage winding around the asymmetrical neckline...

and the way the leaves gracefully drape over one shoulder.

This design was created for my new book Botanical Knits 2, but I can't wait until then to share this sweater with all of you!

Soon I will have this individual pdf available as a limited time purchase. And... not to worry.. the entire cost of the pdf will be applied to your future purchase of Botanical Knits 2 when that becomes available next year. 

This is just a little thank you for your being so patient with me as I work on the patterns for the upcoming book.

I hope to have this pattern available soon! 

East Coast Book Tour Recap

I am back home with my kids and my normal routine after one jam packed week of traveling with my husband. Last week I had the amazing opportunity of being hosted by 3 amazing yarn shops and getting to explore the Eastern coast of the United States. In one weeks time we traveled through 5 different states on 8 different plane trips, 2 train rides and multiple taxis, buses, and subways. 

Whew. It was fast paced.. but I'm not complaining. We had an amazing time!

My first stop was Brooklyn, New York where I got to visit the fabulous and cozy Argyle Yarn Shop. 

The husband and wife owners, David and Esther, were so helpful and accommodating. The book signing and workshop was amazing and I got to meet some very enthusiastic Never Not Knitting blog readers. As for New York itself.. wow. What an overwhelming difference from the small town I live in. 

There was just so much to see... 

The next day we took a train to Philadelphia and were awestruck by this beautiful city. I spent a wonderful afternoon at Loop yarn shop. Between the cupcakes and beautiful Botanical Knits display, the owner, Craig, and all of the knitters there made me feel so welcome. I had a great time visiting with everyone!

The city of Philadelphia was so fun to walk through. We of course had to have a "Philly Cheesesteak" and see all of the beautiful colonial sites. 

My next stop was Looped Yarn Works in Washington, DC, and what a charming little store this was! The shop was made up of two octagonal upstairs rooms with lots of windows and sunlight streaming in. It was a very cozy space with a great yarn selection and comfy couches. The owners Janie and Susan were so fun and supportive. I am so grateful to them both for inviting me to the East coast in the first place. The knitters I met in DC were also amazing. So supportive and sweet. I loved the time I spent here.

After 3 yarn shop events in a row, we traveled through Maryland and up to Maine, where I got to visit with my friend, Hannah Fettig after 5 long years! We have kept in touch and worked together via phone and email during this time, but it was so nice to see her in person once again. Her husband and family showed us around the beautiful coast of Maine and took us to several locations featured in our Coastal Knits book. Hannah even kindly gave me one of her extra Rocky Coast Cardigan samples which I was able to wear at Two Lights State Park. I felt like I was in the pages of our book. :) We were amazed by how truly beautiful this state is.

I was also excited that we were able to meet up with Neesha Hudson, the illustrator of our Coastal Knits book as well as Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf and Botanical Knits! 

What a treat to finally meet her in the flesh!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by these yarn shops to say "hi" and to these amazing yarn shop owners who made this trip possible. We had a wonderful, wonderful time that I will never forget!

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 73 : The Tell-Tale Hat

Episode 73

Click HERE to download the mp3 file for episode 73

Shownotes:

My Lace Shawl Pattern Sneak Peek

Madelinetosh Merino Light

Susan B. Anderson

My Susan B. Anderson Podcast Interviews HERE and HERE.

Itty Bitty Toys

The Reversible Egg to Bluebird 

Topsy Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys

Check Out This ADORABLE Video about the Book!

Anna Zilboorg Cones #2 Hat

Toddie Downs Blog

My East Coast Tour Schedule

Botanical Knits

Join the Never Not Knitting group on Ravelry

Enter to win a copy of Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys by Susan B. Anderson by leaving a comment under this post by September 15th. Don't forget to leave your contact information! Only one comment per person please.

The winner will be announced on Episode 74.

Thank you for listening! 

East Coast Book Tour

Big news! I am coming to the East Coast! 

Next month I have the privilege of doing a small East Coast book tour for Botanical Knits!

I will be visiting 3 awesome stores in 3 different states to do a book signing and teach a sweater finishing workshop. The workshop will guide you through some of my favorite sweater finishing techniques for a professional looking garment including invisible seaming, blocking, and weaving in yarn tails. 

Here is the schedule:

First stop

Argyle Yarn Shop

Brooklyn, NY

Book Signing 6-7 pm, Friday, September 6th 

Sweater Finishing Workshop 7-9 pm- Limited space available

 Please call 347.227.7799 to reserve class space

Second stop

Loop

Philadelphia, PA

Book Signing 4-6 pm, Saturday, September 7th 

Sweater Finishing Workshop 2-4pm- Limited space available

 Please call 215.893.9939 to reserve class space

Final stop

Looped Yarn Works

Washington, DC

Book Signing 12-1:30 pm, Sunday, September 8th 

Sweater Finishing Workshop is FULL

I am so excited about this trip! If you live nearby, I hope that you will stop by even just to say hello. 

I am so looking forward to meeting you!

The Lacy Beast

I just finished my very first lace shawl design and I am feeling over the moon.

Not just because I designed it. But because it is finally. off. my. needles. And because I didn't kill anyone in the process of creating this lacy beast.

This shawl was ripped out and re-knit so many times that I lost count. Or at least I have repressed the memory. Being the lazy and over confident knitter that I sometimes can be, I could not be bothered with putting in lifelines. Instead I fearlessly shoved hundreds of lacy stitches off of the needles, ripped back and tediously had to feed all of those tiny yarn overs and decreases back onto my circular needle... over and over and over again.

Several times I wanted to give up. Several times I wanted to disown this project.

But in the end, I kept with it. I conquered the beast. The battle has been fought and won.

Hopefully my pain will result in your knitting joy. 

Look for this pattern in my upcoming book, Botanical Knits 2!

Verdure

ver·dure

  [vur-jer]  

noun

1.

greenness, especially of fresh, flourishing vegetation.

2.

green vegetation, especially grass or herbage.

3.

freshness in general; flourishing condition; vigor.

I felt that the word "verdure" was a great title for this new little botanically inspired pattern.

These mitts feature a fun twisted stitch, sprouting plant motif on the back of the hand. 

It is so fun to watch it grow as you knit!

The pattern calls for only one skein of Madelinetosh Tosh DK. I used the Grove colorway which is such a perfect shade of green.

photography by Vivian Aubrey

I have designed these mitts to be included in my upcoming pattern book, Botanical Knits 2. But I am happy to announce that this pattern is available individually for a limited time as part of
Twisted yarn shop's Mad About Tosh Club 2013.

The pattern is available HERE.

Enjoy! :)