fiddlesticknitting

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.

Monday Morning

I am looking out the window enjoying the fact that we're having a blizzard and I don't have to go anywhere. That's a nice  Monday morning present, don't you think?
Here are some nice Monday Morning presents for you, just some fun things for you to check out:

* StacyZPhotography. I love her photographs and her etsy shop is awesome. Check her out!

* FruitaBu. Best food invention since sliced bread. Satya loves them (and so do her parents!)

* I didn't expect to have this to show you, but here you go. One of my secret projects. You'll have to wait for more info. My other secret project should be announced by the end of the week, if everything works out!

Hope you all have a great week! And thanks to all of you that have recently downloaded my Sugar Plum Cowl pattern. We had an explosion of hits this week! Thanks!

Bentos, Blythe, Books and Beautiful Yarn

I swear, you blink once and a day is over. You blink twice and a week has flown by. This past week was a really nice week, pretty much stress-free! I can't remember the last time I had a week like that. The week before, not so much. Satya broke out in hives and was pretty miserable (and clllliiinnngggyyy) for five days. And then all of the sudden, whatever that had been hosting her body up and left. We still don't quite know what caused the hives, but my vote is that it was viral. So, this past week has been really nice.
So, I have a few new interests and things to tell you about. I don't need any more collections or anything, but these things have been catching my eye and making me think (and join flickr and ravelry groups!):

* Bento Boxes. I am trying to be creative with Satya's lunches these days and it looks like there are a lot of people out there that are doing the same.  Not that I'm going to get all elaborate right now, but there are a lot of great lunch ideas to go with the cuteness of these lunches! And not only are the lunches cute, but the boxes themselves are totally cute! Some sites I've been checking out: Adventures in Bentomaking, Cooking for Monkeys, Just Bento.

* Blythe. Yup, I've finally decided that although they are a bit creepy, these dolls are adorable! I would love to start a collection to pass on to Satya when she's older. Plus, how quick would it be to knit up some clothes for these girls!??! I haven't bought one yet, but have been checking out the sites and have been having dicussions with a Blythe conoisseur. They're really cute, aren't they? I haven't checked out any Blythe related blogs yet, like I need to add to my Bloglines, any recommendations?

* Books.  I've been buying a few lately. All craft-related, of course! Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me, Alicia Paulson's Stitched in Time, Born-Again Vintage, and Daniel Vosovic's Fashion Inside Out (along with Season 4 of Project Runway, which I watched in 2 days thankyouverymuch). Great books. Between reading these and also being frustrated trying to find skirts that are my style, I think I will be cracking open the sewing machine and will be trying my hand at a simple A-line skirt (or 5 or 12). That's one of my many projects lined up for February.

* Beautiful Yarn. I have recently learned of Heather's beautiful hand-dyed yarn and how cool is it that she's local? Plus, ahem, I am designing a pattern for her Taste of Shivaya yarn club! You should definitely check out her yarn if you haven't yet.

I have lots more in store for the end of this month and beginning of next month, including the unveiling of one of my secret projects, so stay tuned.

Oh, here's a picture of Satya to hold you over til the next post!

A Little Late to the Party

I've been trying to write a "Happy New Year"post since, well, New Year's Eve, of course! I cannot believe how quickly the holidays went. I am still somewhere around December 23rd. Definitely not January 6th!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We definitely did, with a visit from some of my family members, an iPod Touch, a Wii and a trip to Aspen. Fortunately we were home before there was any news making going on in Aspen.
The last few days have been tough: Satya's going through a very unconsolable phase with lots of whining, lots of tantrums, lots of mommy, and at the same time being very fun and loving with lots of hugs. Lovey and I are exhausted and practically on the ceiling. I've basically grown a 30 lb appendage over the weekend. Don't really know what's causing this and just praying that this phase will be over soon. Tonight is the first night since New Year's Eve that I've gotten her to go to bed before 11pm and that I haven't passed out right after. I pretty much got nothing done over the holidays until yesterday when I finally got to scrub this house clean, even though it took me eight hours!

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to be a pity party. I'm just a little out of sorts!

So I am thrilled that 2008 is over. Sure, there were a lot of great things that happened during the year, but it sure was a hard one. Figuring out this parenting thing, being as much of a SAHM as I can be with a job (or two), let's not even talk about finances, alright? Anyway, I am very much looking forward to 2009 and what it brings.

*I am hoping in 2009 to actually have some FOs. I think I can count on one hand how many FOs I produced in 2008. Sad. I am calling 2009 the Year of Finishing. I have many many projects that are crying out to me to be finished and I think I will finally listen to them. Especially my socks. I really want more handknit socks and I have at least 4 half-pairs waiting to be knit.

*I really want to design more. I have tons of ideas in my head (no time to write them all down or knit on them, oh details!) and I am hoping that at least two secret projects come to fruition. One I know will happen, but I won't be able to discuss that one for a few more months. The other is a self-imposed project, so really, I make up all the rules as I go.

*I hope 2009 is much more handmade in general for me. I never wrote about the great sewing class that I took at Fancy Tiger. It was great. The teacher was fantastic and I learned everything about my machine. Of course have I had any time to review what I learned or to work on my drunk-driver stitches? Nope, but I will at some point. I plan to take another class in the spring to make an A-line skirt. Yippeee!!! A new wardrobe, here I come!

*I really want to take the time to make myself look good. I have felt like a hag for a year now, with some hacksaw haircuts and crooked glasses (a la Satya). I've been trying in the past few days to make an effort and wow, I'm not superficial or anything, but it does make you feel better to feel a little "put together". Even more incentive to get more knitted and sewn FOs going!

* I want to read books that don't involve wheels on the bus or saying goodnight to the moon. I feel like my vocabulary has gone down the pot. (Not that I have anything against those books! Kids books are great!)

*Blog more. Have more interesting things to blog about! For starters I am hoping to write a post totally devoted to Satya sometime this week. I don't think I've done an update since, she turned one?!?!? How sad, since she'll be 16 months on Friday! Even with all of her crabbyness lately, she's so awesome.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. I don't mean for this to be a picture-less post, but Satya broke my camera while in Aspen. Anyone have good suggestions for an inexpensive point and click?

I hope to be back soon! xo

Just popping in......

I'm not really back, just making a drive-by post. I've received these books in the past week or so and am in love with all of them. I sure have a lot of reading to do! The ones I'm totally peeing my pants with excitement about are Leigh Radford's new AlterKnits Felt and Knitting New Scarves by Lynne Barr. So creative and innovative. I am excited that Leigh will be at the Highlands Ranch Tattered Cover (along with Wendy Bernard!!) in a couple of weeks. I plan to be there.
Another thing that has me peeing in my pants with excitement is something that I can't tell you about. No, believe me, I am NOT pregnant. My brainstorming idea just about knocked me over this weekend and I have been ultra-caffeinated since.  It is knitting related though, so I think you'll all be very excited about it too. I hope we can share the news at the beginning of the new year. We? Yeah, put me and Pixie together and you get a good thing.
How are you? Let me know what's going on with you!