Ewan

Yesterday launched my newest pattern Ewan in the Fall 2010 issue of Petite Purls. Petite Purls is an online magazine that is all about knitting for babies and kids. I am always excited when their magazine comes out because I love knitting for kids. They have had some really great designers work for them (like Stefanie Japel's Tree Hugger Tutu and Kate Oates' Boys Can Wear Pink) too!

I am quite excited about this design! It's knit sideways which is by far my favorite way to knitting a sweater - why make lots of pieces when you can make just two?? Lana Hames (The owner of Hemp for Knitting)is the designer & friend that introduced me to sideways knitting, and to her I am quite thankful. She has the neatest designs and I learn a lot when I knit her patterns. You can check out her blog here.

I'm going to add a tutorial in the "Tutorials and How-To" page on my blog that will help for when you are knitting along and get to the gusset & the sleeve division for the front & back. It's a really simple step but can sometimes need more clarification to ease the process.

I owe a huge THANKS to Cheryl for all of her help. Cheryl, Ewan's mom, was great in letting me 'borrow' Ewan to take some photos. She also is responsible to taking all these adorable photos - (she's a great photographer!) She has a daughter as well that I would love to knit for . . .

Here are some of the photos from the photo shoot that Cheryl and I did. He is such a cutie!

An Aran Twist . . .

We just received a new yarn from Schoppel-Wolle called In Silk Fingerwolle. It's not technically a yarn; more an unspun, pencil roving but it's very soft and cozy with the 25% Silk and 75% Merino fiber content. It has 40 meters per 50 gram ball. I decided that we needed a sample so people could see how to knit with it as it definitely does not look like your normal plied yarn :)

I am designing a cute hat for the winter. Something not too hard to knit but enjoyable and on big needles - Perfect for Christmas presents on the run. Here is a sneak peak of the texture . . .

Fly, Fly, Flutter By, Fly . . .

I am just getting ready to travel home so I can visit friends & family before I leave to go to TNNA. TNNA is held in Columbus, Ohio and is the largest trade show of the year for wholesale. Retailers, wholesalers and designers come from all over to congregate in the yarnie goodness! This is the second year that I am attending with Lana Hames, owner of Lanaknits Hemp For Knitting! PS. Our booth is #733 - love to see you there!

I have been looking for a cute, little pattern that I could bring with me in my purse - something small and definitely cute! I was looking around on Ravelry and stumbled across the Flutter By Socks pattern - just what I was looking for.  There was an extra ball of Fleece Artist Trail Socks looking all good on my shelf and I had been saving it for just the right pattern - this was it! So I had to cast on right away! The pattern is well written and easy to follow :) 

Now off to bed so I can leave early tomorrow morning.

Concord Cable Pattern is now up on Ravelry!

I have been trying to add all of the patterns that I have written lately to Ravelry. Currently they are available at Gina Browns in Calgary. I have added the Concord Cable Cowl pattern the other day. I quite like how quick this pattern is to knit - only a few hours and you have something that you can wear right away. :)

A New Cabled Cowl

It seems as though every winter I am unprepared for cold weather. It's as though I don't remember what happened the year before and think "Well I won't need warm clothes this time around. . . ." This year, moving to Calgary and suffering through the super-cold, made me realize that my knitting was not only a lot of fun to create but also super functional! So this year I have spent quite a bit of time designing warm, cozy and fashionable things to wear while it is -30. My latest design is almost up and finished. The cast off is done; now on to the photos!

Here are a few teasers . . .

A Quilting We Go . . .

So I have been taking a beginners quilting class which has been quite fun. I quite enjoy the fact that the teacher is also the owner of the store.

We are making a 5x7 Patch Quilt and the fabrics that I chose are Batiks. I love their beautiful colors and neat, somewhat floral type patterns. Yesterday I finished cutting out all my squares and lied them on the floor to see what the quilt will look like (for the main center part). Tomorrow night we are going to put that together and then make our small boarder, our large boarder and then the binding. I can't wait!

Thus far:

Jane's Baby Booties

I have decided that I should add a favorite pattern of mine to this site : Jane's Baby Booties. Such a good pattern and so cute! The nice part is about this pattern is that you don't have to worry that they might come off - they have a ribbon on them that keeps those booties right on! This is a free pattern written by Ann Kreckel that I have re-written to make it a bit easier for new knitters to read. I have also added my own photo for it.