fiddlesticknitting

Teardrop Cowl

I originally designed this cowl pattern for Shivaya Naturals' "Taste of Shivaya" yarn club last winter. I am down making it available for all of you!

The pattern is $3.50 USD and can be found here

Bliss

This dress went through so many obstacles before becoming what it is. First there were going to be big cables on the bodice, then there were going to be flowers in the same color here and there with a i-cord stem attached between them, then the flowers were going to be another color, there were going to be buttons added to the straps, hated the color I chose for the dress, and on and on. Lots of frustration. Lots of "I don't know what the hell I'm doing".  I still don't really know what the hell I'm doing when it comes to designing, but I LOVE the way Bliss turned out.
Without fail, it's this gorgeous photo that sells the dress. Satya was crabby that day, I was crabby that day, I wanted tons of flowers, couldn't find the exact location that I envisioned (have I mentioned that I'm a PITA?), etc. But my dear friend Stacy is beyond brilliant and what she is able to produce blows me away.
Her photographs are "like buttah". That's how I like to describe them. Creamy, perfect color combos (ok, the dress color helped that!), just amazing. I can't thank you enough Stacy, muah!
So, something that I've learned in the past month is that I know little to nothing about designing. Nothing about construction. I have great ideas and have NO idea how to bring them to life. I always think, oh that will be easy, you just do this and this and this, without ever thinking, oh but that is so not how you construct that. There's also a time issue. I'm a total procrastinator. Plus I am very low on time that I can spend desiging, or knitting for that matter. Do I ever take that into consideration? Nah. I like to torture myself by pulling close-to all-nighter, practically knitting with my eyes closed and then get very stressed out when things don't turn out the way I expected them to.
So I've learned a lot. There are a lot of things I need to change about my process. And the first thing I'm going to do is to just sit and KNIT. Someone else's pattern. Maybe another after that. Maybe read through the myriad of books that I have taking over my house and learn a thing or two about construction. Knit gauge squares. What a concept! (actually, I've gotten a lot better with that). I have a new design in my head for a toddler summer top, but NO CLUE how to construct it. Going to take my time on this one. No deadlines :)
Whatever happened to the Year of the Cowl, you may ask? Yeah, that got thrown by the wayside with all the Petite Purls work I had to do. I still have plans for it, but won't do anything publicly about it until the fall. I have a great plan, we'll see if I can pull it off. Yes, again, if you don't remember, my middle name is Ambitious :)
Finally, I want to thank everyone that checked our site out yesterday. We got the site hit numbers today and wow! They totally exceeded our wildest expectations! Amazing! We are off to a great start.
Ok, now I'll go back to my blogging every 6 weeks or so! jk!

Saturday Morning Thoughts

Well, I guess it's not really morning anymore, but it still feels like it. We had a huge snowstorm on Thursday which gave me a snow day! Satya had a great time with Lovey in the snow (I'll try to get those pics) and I was verrrry lazy and spent a lot of time surfing the web. I did lots of thinking about knitting and here's what I came up with:
So, I was overly ambitious with this Year of the Cowl project. There's no way I can crank a well designed cowl pattern out monthly. Where was my brain? So I still have big plans for the YoTC project, but you will see patterns when they're good and ready. The big plan with YoTC will be coming in the fall, and I am committed to that. You'll just have to stay tuned to see what that is!
One of the reasons I am backing off on YoTC is that I miss knitting for myself and my family. I want to learn how to knit two socks on two circulars and would like to actually have a new pair of handmade socks. (oh, btw, so I have lost two skeins of yarn that were both supposed to be mates to my Hedera and Monkey socks. WTF. I am going to have to order some more, I want those pairs!).
I am already planning two big Fall projects, thanks to browsing Ravelry waaay too much this week. I NEED this skirt made out of Noro Kureyon and I finally want to bite the bullet and learn how to do colorwork, with this as my first project. I have been in love with this vest since the pattern came out and my Lovey would look so awesome in it. Screw the nasty boring old Cobblestone that will never get finished because it looks like pure sh*t, really. I might as well knit him something that I love, that will challenge me and that will (better) look great on him. I think I am only going to do the colorwork on the front of the vest, or maybe not. I don't know yet. I'll see what my level of frustration is when I get to it!
So, any good recommendations on books or anything to teach myself how to do colorwork? I'm scared!
So there. That is my plan. I am excited. I am going to knit! Woo hoo!

Since I missed Friday Favorites, and I actually have a few, here they are:

* I cannot get over this kitchen. Is there anything that Emily does that isn't so totally cute?!?! I just got some new prints and cards in the mail from her, loooove her stuff!

* What a wonderful issue of Mothering, with such lovely crafty mamas!

* My friend Marly has designed this awesome hat. Go buy the pattern now! And check out her new and improved podcast!

For some reason I thought I had more to share with you, but I guess that's it for now. Gotta go! xo

Easy Peasy

My February (Year of the) Cowl is finally available! This cowl is a quick and easy knit and uses a great yarn, sKNITches Big Tryst. I love love love this yarn. I plan to use it for at least another cowl this year. This is a very stretchy yarn in a stretchy pattern, so be aware! I've been sporting my cowl with a cute pin from Hearts of Gratitude, and it's a nice look. ETA: Here's a pic with the pin.
I'm also going to upload some blog buttons for "Year of the Cowl" too. I want to thank Alana for her tech help and great pdf skills and the wonderfully talented Stacy Z for her amazing pictures and all of her help and support. Muah, girls!

You can purchase this pattern for $2 on Ravelry and right here on the blog.

The Year of the Cowl

When I got the idea to design the Sugar Plum Cowl back in the fall, I decided that the cowl really was the most brilliant accessory item for cooler weather. As much as I love scarves, they can be bulky, and you never have that problem with a cowl. I started having ooh and aahh moments, coming up with more and more cowl designs. Therefore, I am taking the plunge and naming 2009 as The Year of the Cowl. What does this mean? This means that I am going to be offering at least one new cowl design here on my blog and on Ravelry every month for the entire year. Nuts, I know. But I'm looking at it as a great way to improve my design skills and to learn even more skills.
Now, seeing that I don't actually have the time to do all this, heh heh, I am not setting deadlines or dates of any kind. When you see a new cowl pop up here, well, voila then. I had hoped to have one to offer you this weekend, but sadly, it's not going to happen.  I've been busy finishing up my design for Shivaya Naturals. It is a cowl, so I guess technically you could say that it is the first of my year-long offerings. It is part of the first of Shivaya's Taste of Shivaya club's packages, which is pretty cool. If you'd like to take a peek, go visit her website.
So there you go, my other secret project. I have lots of great designs in store, using some pretty awesome yarns. I also have big plans for the whole cowl project near the end of the year, so all in all, I think it'll be a fun time.

Mama and Baby Baking Day

Satya and I spent Saturday afternoon baking lots of yummy goodies. She helped me mix, found the electric mixer to be intriguing, and loved drumming with the mixing spoons.
We made: Peppermint Bark, Russian Tea Cookies, Spicy Molasses Cookies and Key Lime Thumbprints. I think that I will hold Parikha personally responsible for any weight gain :)
Today for dinner I am making this, and adding chickpeas and okra. I made this dish last week and Y-U-M!
More recent Satya pics can be seen here.
Oh, and btw, my LYS will now be carrying my patterns!! Yay!!
Keep your book and activity suggestions coming. I am thinking of choosing a random winner around January 4th, and they'll receive a skein of Malabrigo and my newest cowl pattern (soon to be published).
I doubt that I will get to post before Christmas, so I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays, whichever you celebrate!

Sugar Plum Cowl

The Sugar Plum Cowl is now available for download. It is also available as a download on Ravelry.
Many people have asked who my lovely model is, she is Satya's babysitter. I see more modeling of my designs in her future!

 Download SugarPlumCowl

Download Rav pattern

Visions of Sugar Plums

Didn't mean to be gone for so long. I have the week off so expect many more posts, including one announcing my newest pattern, Sugar Plum Cowl. I will be offering it here and on Ravelry for free as my contribution to NOROvember.

For Sale

Please let me know if you need any more information about any of the pattern books I've listed. Also, be on the lookout for a stash sale (yet again).

Shipping is $3

Email me at allegra918ATgmailDOTcom

*The Little Box of Scarves, Melissa Matthay & Sheryl Thies,  $12

*Tahki Yarns Fall/Winter Collection 2002,   $6

*Ella Rae Designs, Book 1, $12

*Ella Rae Designs, Book 2,  $12

*SOLD    Rebecca Magazine No. 27, $6

*Louisa Harding, Beachcomber Bay Design Collection, $12

*Adrienne Vittadini Yarns, Spring 2005, $6

*Adrienne Vittadini Yarns, Fall 2005, $6

*Phildar Patterns 25 (Mix Adult 2), $12

*Jo Sharp, Gathering, Book 5, $12

*Jo Sharp, Village, Book 6, $12

* Jo Sharp, Family, Book 7, $12

*Rowan, The Summer Tweed Collection, $10

*Classic Elite Yarns, Great BIG Knits, $10

*RYC, Classic Holiday, Book 3, $12
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Break

I'm going to take a blog break for a while. Take care of my real life, get my family to sleep (one Little Miss in particular) and get some things organized. Hopefully during this time I will be more productive knitting and designing-wise and will have some good stuff to show you when I come back. Don't know how long I'll stay away, hopefully not too long. I will be checking my email, but am going to take a break from reading blogs and  raveling.
I  do want to thank all my new readers who found me via knittingpatterncentral.com. I posted Boheme there and wow, I get a lot more traffic now! Awesome!

Take care my pretties and I'll be back when I'm back!