My Mountain

There is a great contest wrapping up right now put out by the folks at Schachenmayr Yarns.  The "My Mountain" design contest requested original hats knit up in their "My Mountain" line of yarns.  Here's my entry:

My mountain is finding a balance between being a mother, employee, and designer. It's impossible to do it all, so I'm learning to do what makes me and my family happy. Knitting, crocheting, and designing are some of the things that make me happy and I'm glad to be able to share my work in this contest.

Finalists for the contest will be chosen soon, then voting ensues.  Cross your fingers for me!

Check out some of the other entries on Facebook

Mad Dash

There's a crazy-pants challenge in the Stash Down group in Ravelry to use up 12,000 yards from February 15, through March 31st.  While I didn't sign up for the entire challenge, I did sign up to try to finish up 4,000 yards during that time.

My major double-stranding project is finished, and it has used up 2,031 yards of my stash yarn.  I triple stranded lace and held it with worsted; I double stranded fingering and held it with dk; I doubled up the worsted, and this is what I got:



It's using my Reverse Mitered Block pattern in all the rainbow colors I could find in my stash.  It's going to Wool-Aid, a charity that collects handmade wool items to send to children overseas.  I love it.

Project Linus - Reverse Mitered Block

My Stitch'n Club at Nationwide is starting blanket project to benefit Project Linus.  To help everyone get started, I wanted to find a couple simple patterns that could be easily used with any yarn and any gauge.  For the crocheters, it's the Corner Stripe Square by JudyK.  For the knitters, I wanted a mitered block pattern but most of the ones I was finding started with a large number of stitches for the cast on, then decrease to a point.  I wanted to work in the reverse direction to make it really simple to get the proper size.  While this is probably not an original idea, I have searched for this pattern and could not find it anywhere.  It is similar to this pattern by Ari Whitlow, but without the yarn-overs.

Enjoy!  I will add pictures soon!

Pattern
cast on 3

row 1: kfb, pm, kfb, k1
row 2: sl 1, k across
row 3: sl 1, k to 1 st before marker, kfb, sl m, kfb, k across

repeat rows 2 and 3 to desired size, ending on row 3, bind off

Notes
kfb - knit into the front and back of the stitch
pm - place marker
sl - slip
sl m - slip marker

Magic Carpet Blanket

I am so excited!  I have another pattern being published in the Spring 2011 Interweave Crochet, which is due out closer to the end of the month.  They've shared their preview here.

The pattern will be available for download on the Interweave website at some point, if you don't get the magazine.

And now that it's public I can share my pictures!



And one of the girls playing on it while I was taking a break from the seaming:

New Year, well, a little late

I think I wrote a New Year’s resolution last year, and obviously it didn’t hold. It is yet to been whether this year will be different, but here’s to giving it a go.

I am committed to two things for this year. The first is to design more, and share the things I have designed. I have two patterns that I intend to share as soon as I can get them written up. One is a crocheted hat that features spirals rounding from the top all the way down into he ribbing. The second is for a 12 inch block I designed for my last round of NYOBE on Ravelry.

The second goal is to continue to knit from the stash. While the last couple years of stash-down have really gotten me far, I still have far more than I need. I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty wasteful to purchase yarn, hold on to it for 3-4 years, then sell it at a loss because I no longer want to use it. Doesn’t it make more sense to make a purchase and start up with the yarn while you still remember why you bought it? That’s my goal.

Here’s a picture of the stash as of mid-January.



I’ve actually sold off 35 balls through Ravelry’s ISO/Destashing Board. I’ve also made some purchases from those very same boards, but the net is a decrease. I’m hoping to show another picture at the end of the month with some real progress.

Pattern Writing

I have decided to spend the day (or the free hour I'll get during nap times) writing up three patterns I've been playing with. There are two crocheted block patterns (both for the block exchange I mentioned in my last post) and one crocheted hat. The hat is made with sock yarn and is for a baby, but could be for an adult as well. The hat will become a submission, once it's ready, that is....

Writing the patterns is not the hard part, the testing is. Once these are written, I'll have to make a couple to test myself. Then, once I'm happy with them, I'll find someone willing to try them out as well. A free crochet pattern isn't worth anything if you can't read it.

Focus? What's That?

Sorry for the long delay with no postings, there was a new baby, then a death in the family. I am back now.

My brain is going crazy with ideas for new patterns and project ideas. A large lacy scarf/wrap? Reversible? A knitted sweater with short sleeves and a single button at the throat that makes everything fall at an angle? A crocheted baby vesty/cardi out of some kettled-dyed sock yarn? A poncho-type thing that widens at the base and is assembled out of two matching not-quite-rectangular pieces?

My problem is my lack of focus. I think any number of these items would be fun to work on and might turn out to be pretty cool, but I can't seem to concentrate on one idea long enough to make any progress. I started a baby cardi, then stalled on making a lace pattern for it. Then, I drifted off to the lacy shawl... then wouldn't that be a cool baby blanket?

November will be my month to get my act back together and design something. I just need to make a decision and roll with it and see how things come together.

On the stash side of things? I have now gone over four months with only buying two skeins of yarn to finish specific projects. I'm pretty proud of myself. My goal now is to get below 40,000 yards of yarn on hand by the end of the year. I think I can do it!

Beaded Lace Garter

It is official, Interweave Crochet is publishing one of my pieces. The supply list is here, while bonus photos are here.

Now that it's finally here, I feel like I can share a couple of my own photos. This is the piece actually featured in the photos in the magazine:

I am so proud,and very excited to start working on my next item. I've taken a break lately because I've simply wanted to knit up some of my stash, but I think the time has come to start up again.