Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

Well, since the world didn't end I guess it's time to start planning for 2013. But first I have to say goodbye to 2012!

Lots of exciting things have happened this year!
I started this website! Here's my first post ever. I owe many thanks to Justin Barnes for creating my logo, and to Katy and Kevin Doyle for their photography skills. Without the help of my friends I don't know where this website would be!

Another exciting thing happened this year, the Anime Infinity Cowl was in the AllFreeKnitting.com top 100 list!

And now, the year in review through patterns:
January
Broken Rib Hat, Miya Shawl, Business Card Case

February
Falling Leaves scarf & shawl, Bunny puppet, Yak Hands

March
Bamboo Baby Dress, Anime Infinity

April
Cash Baby Hat & Shoes

May
Pine Cone Shawl, Holey Hug Shrug

June
Mama Miya, Spring Wolle

July
Cable Doodle Doo

August
Katy & Kevin Cowl, Mimi Shawl

September
Lovely Lady Arms

October
Lola's Lace Shawl, Two Hands Make A Heart

November
Barnsley, Anteros Shawl

December
Eros Cowl, Heartigan

In 2012 I published 23 patterns!

Fuzzbee Yarns

I just got a box full of amazing things from my friend Cassie. I met Cassie while serving in the Peace Corps, and she is one of the people that helped me to learn how to knit while living in Armenia. She came to Armenia already a skilled spinner and knitter, and she has continued to hone her skills and is now selling amazing hand spun and organically hand dyed yarn! It's all pretty amazing, and I can say this because I just got a box of her yarn! You can buy your own at the Fuzzbee Etsy shop, and check out her website fuzzbeeyarns.com to learn more about her spinning and dying process.

Here are some photos of the yarn I just received!

 Ok, one by one, because you know you want to know more!

100% BFL handspun, undyed 109 yds

100% BFL, 150 yds

100% Shetland Wool, handspun, red caggabe dyed, 470 yds

100% Shetland Wool, 216 yds, turmeric/indigo dyed

yarn ball and knitting needle ornament!

I'm going to start designing a few things specifically for the subtle beauty of handspun. I'm really excited about this, because I've very rarely had the opportunity to knit with handspun yarn before, and have yet to design with it! Stay tuned!

In print!

HOLY COW! I knew this was going to happen one day, but I am so super duper excited to see my name in print, next to photos of my pattern! Seriously! I began knitting in 2008, and designing in 2011, and it was January 2012 after TNNA that I decided I was going to make a go of becoming a knitwear designer, and here I am, less than a year later, with a book in hand that has my name in it! I can't tell you how excited I am!

A lot of our mail goes to our in-laws house, so when I heard that there was a flat envelope with my name on it from F+W Media I just assumed it was another rejection letter (it comes with the territory, unfortunately) but imagine my joy when I opened the package and found this book!

This book is sold at Joann Fabrics, and also on Amazon!

Quick & Simple Knits for Babies & Children

My pattern is on page 26!

I am still also selling this pattern online through Ravelry: Cash Baby! Hat & Shoes

So of course on my agenda for this week is to visit the Joann Fabrics near my house to see if I can visit the book in person in the store! 

New Pattern: Eros Cowl

I published my Eros Cowl yesterday! Eros is the brother of Anteros and is the greek god of love. Eros is also known as cupid. The myth goes that Anteros, the god of requited love, was created as a companion for Eros, because in order for love to be complete it must be reciprocated. This cowl, much like the Anteros Shawl, is a cowl that you will love to knit and wear. The simple lovely cowl will love you back as much as you love knitting it! It features a beautiful and simple diagonal eyelet pattern that exemplifies the silky beauty of Bergère de France Origin’ Soie. 

This pattern was actually inspired by the yarn. When I first saw this yarn at Warm 'N Fuzzy I knew that I wanted to make something with the beautiful silk. I wanted something that would show off the beautiful sheen and drape of 100% silk. Of course you could easily substitute a different fiber and weight yarn, because this cowl is super customizable. (And instructions for customizing are included in the pattern!)

Now through Christmas Day you can get $1 off this pattern by entering the code EROS at checkout. 

FO Friday: Randomness

Ok, so only one of these images is of an FO, and I actually finished them a few weeks ago, but the rest are things I've actually worked on this week...so it all counts right? It's Friday, I feel like the rules don't apply quite as strictly today anyways, and it's been forever since I've posted for FO Friday, so here goes!

Recycled Bag Wrapping Paper

Christmas presents wrapped in recycled bags! I try to be eco-conscious, but I don't think I succeed most of the time. There are a few reasons why I decided to cut up paper bags and use them as wrapping paper. 

1. Traditional wrapping paper can't be recycled

2. Brian got really excited and really enjoyed drawing pictures all over them. The one standing on the right is a pirate santa. I think that's the only one that is holiday themed

3. I could use little pieces of yarn instead of ribbon, and using yarn is always a good thing!

4. By not buying wrapping paper we also didn't buy ribbon or tags for our gifts. We just wrote everyone's names right on the paper, but we wrote all the names in Armenian, so that way nobody can snoop to see which gifts belong to who! (this is more theoretical than practical, because we don't open gifts at our apartment anyways, and the gifts are currently in our closet). So, if you want a way to code all of your gifts spend 2 years learning a language that is only spoken by 4 million people in the whole world, and you'll essentially have a secret language! 

Not So Tiny Slippers

I posted these on WIP Wednesday over a month ago, and I actually finished them just a week or two after that. The timeline is hazy now. Of course I knit them because it got cold here, and then as soon as they were finished it warmed up to 70. Now that it's been cold again I've been wearing them non-stop! I love them!

Felt Christmas Tree
I saw this idea on Pinterest, and it was meant as a toy for kids. But since we don't know our future plans, and don't have anywhere to store a bunch of holiday decorations (since we have a tendency to move every 12 months! ) we decided to make a felt tree for ourselves! I bought the materials at Joann's for less than $15, and the felt ornaments stick to the felt tree all by themselves, so it was fun and easy to put together.

Holiday Knitting

I didn't do very much holiday knitting this year, but I did knit a few things. I think it's a great idea to include mini packets of wool wash with your hand knit gifts and directions for proper care. You've put all the time into picking the yarn, finding the pattern, and knitting the item, so you might as well include care directions to give the gift the best chance for longevity right? 

Hearts!

I'm going through a bit of a heart phase right now. No, I'm not 13, but hearts are just so cute! I've also always loved symmetry, and I figured, why not take advantage of the symmetry of hearts, by cutting it right in half!

Heartigan Girl's Sweater

My most recent interpretation of hearts was first seen in this post: too cute heart sweater. Well, now the pattern has been published, and you can see it here: Heartigan. It's been published as part of KnitPicks IDP. I originally named this sweater Heart Apart, until this happened one night:

Me: "Blah blah  blah heart cardigan"
Brian: "Is heartigan the pink one with the red heart?"
Me: "Heartigan? That's a good name!"
Brian: "Isn't that what you named it?"
Me: "No.."
Brian: "Oh, that's what I thought you said"
Me: "Nope, but it's clever, I'm going to re-name it! Maybe the fact that your going deaf isn't so bad..."

Two Hands Make A Heart Mittens

I also recently published the Two Hands Make A Heart mittens, with the hearts wrapping around the edge of the hands, so that when you put them together it makes one complete heart.

This lead me to think about other symmetrical shapes, and now I'm working on a couple other gloves in this series, but more on that later! 

WIP Wednesday: Shawls & Secrets

I made some good progress on my Anteros Shawl these past two weeks, but all the photos I tried to take are really blurry and terrible, so I'll save everyone the pain of looking at them. I did unknit almost the entire thing on my flight to Portland, because the stitch count didn't match on both sides. I got some strange looks on the plane. Brian was very nice and helped me to wind the yarn as I pulled my shawl apart. Over 7 hours of flying I managed to unknit almost the entire shawl, and then knit back to where I was before I got on the plane. It's kind of like I accomplished nothing at all!

I also made some progress on the purple lace weight shawl that I've been working on. I took this to Portland with me, but I didn't touch it. It's just a little too tedious for travel knitting, despite that it's just stockinette. It is taking so long to knit I feel like I've made almost no progress, but now looking at the photos I see I am actually making some progress! Who knew!

Here's also also something new I'm working on. I can't say what it is just yet...

Holiday Wish List

It's that time of year where everyone is in full holiday season, so incase you need some inspiration for your own wish list, or you are shopping for a quirky knitter, here are some ideas on some great gifts! Oh, and in case you are on a budget, it's broken down by prices!

Under $10
Hiya Hiya Circular Needles - These needles are my absolute favorite! They tips swivel, so that your cord never gets twisted and kinked, and the tips are so sharp that I accidentally drew blood once when I poked myself (so be careful!)

Octopus Earrings by Paperpistolcharms on Etsy - Who can resist? Octopus earrings! I don't think I need to explain why these are so cool.

Yarn Christmas Tree Ornament by Fuzzbee on Etsy - These are a perfect stocking stuffer for any knitter! They are also made by my friend and fellow Recovering Peace Corps Volunteer, Cassie!

Under $20

Daily Dose of Fiber Oat Bag from Ravelry Mini-Mart - Everyone needs their fiber, and I love bags! 

Under $25

Yarn Love yarn in Granny Smith - I'm really into green right now, and who could resist this amazingly brilliant bright and cheery green? Personally I like the fingering weight, it's enough for a whole shawl!

The Knitgrrl Guide to Profoessional Knitwear Design by Shannon Okey - Shannon is the mastermind behind Cooperative Press, and a very talented knitwear designer. This book has been on my must-read list for ages, and I've heard great reviews that it has information that is applicable to anyone in the craft/fiber business!

Under $50

Supscription to Knitscene - This is by far my favorite knitting magazine, so I couldn't imagine anything better than opening my mailbox and seeing a brand new issue of Knitscene, without even changing out of my pjs! 

Under $75
2 skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport in Stormy Weather & Barnsley pattern from Twist Collective - Even though I've knit two of these sweaters I actually don't have one to wear! I really do think that this is a great everyday cardigan, so I would love to knit one for myself!

+

Photograph property of Twist Collective, photographer: Carrie Bostick Hodge 

WIP Wednesday: Shawls

Shawls are one of my favorite things to knit. I'm flying to Oregon for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I'm getting ready for the plane ride by casting on a couple projects that I know I'll enjoy knitting on the plane. 

I decided to knit the Anteros Shawl for the Mari Knits Knit-A-Long, but when I went to wind the skein I discovered that my yarn was super tangled, and the yarn was broken into over 20 pieces! It was a huge tangle, and a disappointment since I really love the color. I've contacted the company, and hopefully I'll get a replacement skein. I was really looking forward to knitting with it!

So I started with some Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport that I had sitting in my stash. This time I am working increases on both sides of the edge, to make this shawl wider than the original. This little bit has taken just over an hour.   

If you'd like to participate in the KAL, just pick any one of my patterns and post your project page to the KAL thread in the Mari Knits Ravelry Group. I'm going to be offering prizes, and for every 10 participants that join there will be an additional prize added, so no matter how many people join you have a 1 in 10 chance of winning! 

My other WIP is a shawl in lace weight yarn. This shawl is only slightly larger than the other one above, but has taken me a LOT longer. There's a big difference between knitting with sport weight yarn and lace! The Anteros shawl I'm knitting on a size 7, and this shawl on a size 2! It's going to take forever... 

Barnsley

This is the super exciting news that I have been DIEING to share! My first pattern published in Twist Collective: Barnsley! The sample shown in Twist Collective's photo below, is knit with Blue Moon Gaea Sport. It is a lovely yarn! Photography by Carrie Bostick Hoge.

The first sweater, however, was knit with Anzula Cricket. This pattern was really inspired by Sabrina's beautiful colors and yarn. I loved the soft comfort of this yarn, and I thought a sweater knit in a lovely sport weight yarn was the kind of sweater you could wear every single day, so I had to design a classic and beautiful sweater that you would want to wear every single day! To me this is the perfect sweater, it's warm and cozy without being too heavy, the style is classic and easy. To me the beauty is in the details. This sweater is knit seamlessly from the bottom up (because I hate to sew!) and features deep ribbing on the sleeves and body so that it hugs your curves without any waist shaping. There are short rows in the bust that are written out for cup sizes, so no matter your proportions you can have a perfectly fitted sweater. And my favorite part: the saddle shoulders. I love the simple geometry of it, and it's quite fun to knit! A little bit of spice after all the ribbing and stockinette! Below are some photos of Katy Doyle in the original Barnsley, knit in Anzula Cricket.