Weekend Changes

This is half of what I was planning to do: (typical 3 day weekend dreams)

Then the Fedex Man brought me this:

So instead, I'm doing just this:

I apologize if I don't get back to you right away, I'm going through the book with a fine tooth comb for the last time. That make me a bit nervous*, man I hope everyone totally digs the way I wrote this book! Hope you all have the super productive weekend I was dreaming of.

*Only a bit nervous, this is the fourth time I will have edited the book. Amazing right? Yes, Interweave really takes editing very seriously which is great for us!

Design Series: Mockups

The next design I have been working on is something completely for me*, so I thought it was a great opportunity to start a little series on my design process.


My design process always starts with some sort of inspiration. I have chatted with you before that my inspiration comes from everything I touch. For this design I was channeling muumuus. Yes, muumuus. Not the grandma kind, but the 60's larger woman kind. The ones that float around the body with big bold graphics, and usually are cinched somewhere at the bust line. Every photo or movie that I have seen of women wearing them in the late 60s I get the impression that they are strong fearless women. Since, I am large up top, I thought this would be a great jumping off point to make myself a really cool summer top.

Since I have no experience with this type of garment, I went directly to my junk fabric box. Why? Well, because whenever I am unfamiliar with a design and want to "test" out the shape I make a mockup. Call it the engineer in me, but I rather rip out my mockup then have to frog over and over again. I actually do mockups for most of my designs. Like the comfy cardi, or the lastest raglan, and the cropped jacket from the booklet. As you can see in the raglan design, I also use it to mark up notes to myself. My junk box contains fabric from old flannel sheets, old t-shirts, and old felt pieces; all items that we were not going to use and I have no problem hacking up. I find these 3 fabric types to be perfect for crochet. The felt works well to mimic the drape in stiff fabrics, like in textured stitch patterns. The flannel drapes similar to straight rows of dc or hdc. And the jersey from the t-shirt goes well with lacy stitch pattern, like my motifs.

For this design, I was doing a motif pattern (which I'll talk about later) that will drape a ton, so I went into the jersey pile. I measured out my design concept on the jersey, adding seam allowance on the sides that I'll sow up. The measurements I figured out from knowing my motif gauge and working out a preliminary schematic. (in a future post I'll talk more about how I figure that out) As you can see, I don't use any straight lines, I am just sketching. I don't overly worry about being precise, I am just looking for basic shaping usually. Obviously, I'm more precise when I know it is important (like in cap sleeves). I then markup things that are important to me, like the neck area or the bust line. Anything that I'll want to scrutinize later. I cut it out, and sow it up and plop it on Susie Q. Then I play.

In this garment, I see the top of the garment being open, with it only slightly seamed at the neck and having it mainly open at the arms. I can tell right away that I will want to modify my design a bit to get a less bunchy neckline. (great to know!) I also play with the bust line. I can tell right a way that you can get a few different styles all by changing how often you thread the ribbon through the fabric. If its just in the front, you get a cape in the back which would be good for any women with areas they don't want to show off back there. If its woven in a lot, you get an empire waist. I also notice, when I try it on, that it will shorten up slightly (which I like since I'm short) do to all the bunching from the ribbon. But if I was taller, I'd probably want more length so it will end at the low hips instead of high hips on me. I note all this on the mockup, and head to crochet. So from this 15 min exercise, I learned all sorts of things that will make my life a lot easier when I am crocheting.

Annette had a great article on Crochetme on Mockup that I really suggest you check out. They are great for designing and for checking if a design would look good on you.

*I am hoping to get my act together to be able to offer this design (if it comes out) as a download to purchase. I'll let you know if that materializes.

Yarn Preview

Yarn Preview:


Mission Falls 136 Superwash Merino

Yup you heard that correctly, Yarn PREview! On my doorstep last week was this little package of yarn from Mission Falls, plus some copies of the promotional materials for the new booklet. All I can say is WOW. I think the first words out of my mouth were, "Oh, crocheters are going to love this." And really we are.

So how new is this yarn? Well the label only has the name of the yarn on it. So that's so new that no gauge info was on the ball band yet. So what's a designer to do with no info? Yup... Swatch her heart out!



I grabbed my trusty H hook (the size I run to almost immediately on every project), and started doing a basic sc swatch (yes, boring- but important!). The sc swatch can tell you so much about the yarn, since its the most stiff of all the crochet stitches. It can tell you pretty immediately if the fabric will have elasticity and/ or drape on its own, or if you will need deal with that in the hook size and stitch pattern. Well, my initial thoughts were that my H hook was a little big, so I switched to a 4.5mm hook. The resulting fabric is VERY soft (really really soft-you can definitely tell this is merino wool) and was light. Drape would have to be achieved by the hook size and stitch pattern, but that's normal for wool too.


Ok, boring over. Bring on the granny squares, motifs, fun stitch patterns. My next move is always to check out the classic granny square. Its always nice to see what stitch definition I'll get and how well the yarn holds up to the rounds. I'd say very well.* It didn't pill for me, or look odd in any way. I also noticed that it did not split for me while working it, which is wonderful news for us crocheters. Nothing more annoying then yarn that untwists while you work, right?


Now, I start thinking projects. So of course, I moved on to motifs and they turned out really lovely. I can easily see this yarn being used for motif shawls, scarves, sweaters. It is a super wash and it will be coming in the 1824 range of colors; so kids clothes would look adorable. Home items would look incredible, like beautiful pillows in gorgeous intarsia. Especially since it is sportweight, you can get away with intarsia and not have the fabric be bulky. Speaking of weight, you could also do crocheted cable patterns - it would make lovely cabled scarves and hats. I wanted to test how lacy I would go with my stitch patterns, so I swatched in the Ballet Shell pattern. It came out ok, I'm not wild about it like I am the motifs. I really think the less lacy, more intricate would really stand out in this yarn. What it did do nicely is block. I laid the pieces down, and just slightly sprayed with water. They all came out with very nice drape. Sometimes with wool, I have to do a full soaking bath or entire steam to really get the fibers to cooperate, but not this time. Which mean, that will make finishing projects much nicer.


If you couldn't tell, I am pretty darn excited about this new yarn. I really think us crocheters are going to like using it. Maybe I'm biased since sport weight merino is my favorite yarn, that only means that you will have to try it yourself. It will be available at LYS this fall.


SUMMARY:
136 Superwash Wool
Sportweight
G/4.5mm hook, 18 sc by 17 rows in 4"
Nice stitch definition, super soft to touch
Great for garments, colorwork, cables, kids
Available in same colors as 1824 Wool
In LYS this fall

*Ok, so my photography is pretty bad. I just can't ever seem to photograph red correctly; so you will just have to take my word for it that the yarn does have stitch definition.

Virtual Yard Sale

**Edited to Note- all the "buy it now" is expired, since you wonderful crafty bidders have bid or bought on all the lots. Thank you bunches and bunches! I am overjoyed that these all will be leaving my house soon! The auctions end Monday so there is plenty of time to bid if you want to. If not, I'll be posting more auctions on Monday, if you are looking for more bargain basement (or my craft closet) deals. Thank you again and again for taking my stuff, I think I will be able to start actually seeing the floor in my room soon and that's totally exciting to me. Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway. Details below**

Virtual Yard Sale (aka Destash Extravaganza)

Since the yard sale is in full swing in Cincinnati, I was inspired this week to start cleaning out my craft room (aka the spare room) so that theoretically a person could walk around in it. Oh yes, not only was it a disaster, it was stuffed full of stuff. So what's annoying to me, hopefully will be good news for you! Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be listing a ton (almost literally) of yarn, supplies, bags, and books I want to see leave my house. There will definitely be something for everyone from 2gal mystery bags filled with yarn to all sorts of treasures I have picked up over the years. I am trying to break everything up into sizes that one, I know won't cost a fortune to ship, and two, make some sort of sense. If you are looking for a deal, I probably have it. I am basing all my prices on half of the cheapest price I know I have seen the yarn go for. Here are my first eBay listings:

Cotton Yarn - 2 lots

Totally bought these to make some cute kid clothes since they come in great colors and are machine washable.
Yarn Specs: Knit Picks Shine Sport and Crayon

Buy it now (expired) Bidding at 10.55$ Lot 1
Buy it now (expired) Bidding at 10.51$ Lot 2

Alpaca Yarn- 2 lots

I have a total addiction to alpaca yarn, and I always seem to buy twice what I need. Some of these where made into my comfi cardi or scarfs or hats through the years. I hope you love them as much as I did.

Yarn Specs: Elann.com Pure Alpaca Fina, Baby Silk, Misc Quechua, and Lavish

Buy it now-Lot 1 (SOLD)

Buy it now (expired) bidding at $10.50 Lot 2

Felting Yarn- 2 lots

Pulled out all my felting wool yarn and was surprised at all the fun colors I have collected over the years.

Yarn Specs: Patons Classic Merino, Cascade 220, Kramer Naturally Nazareth, and more

Buy it now (expired) Bidding at 4.99$ Lot 1

Buy it now (expired) Bidding at 5.83$ Lot 2

Echo Yarn- 1 lot

2 balls of really nice mercerized cotton that would really make a cute summer top. Comes with a swatch I was working on for the top in an F hook.

Yarn Specs: Ornaghi Filati Echo Flash, 150g/435m per ball, sport weight, machine washable, dry flat. Colors- Lime to Teal variegated

Buy it now-(expired) Bidding at 4.99$

Bag Handles - 1 large lot

I used to make everyone a bag. It was silly how many I have made over the years. I must have burnt out, b/c I haven't used them in years. This lot is my vintage fun plastic handles that I have used for handles and bag sides.

Specs: 22 handles of misc size and shape. Range from oval, circles, rectangles and D-shapes.

Buy it now (expired) Bidding at 2.47$

Mystery Bag of Yarn- 2 Lots

Who doesn't love surprises? I know I do. These bags come with at least 16 balls of yarn plus a bag buttons. Yarn ranges from sock yarn to afghan yarn. Buttons are from my eclectic collection.

Buy it now-(expired) Bidding at 0.99$ Lot1

Buy it now -(expired) Bidding at 0.99$ Lot 2

If you are interested, you can check out my eBay listings. I have to say I almost cried at giving away my babies, but I know you guys will make amazing things with them.

oh, and I almost forgot. Every week I'll be posting a giveaway as well. This week leave a comment (or email me) by Saturday May 24th on your best yard sale find and you will be entered to win this lot of Crochet Today magazines. I'll randomly pick the winner and post the winner in a week (Monday May 26th).

Speaking of finds, I wanted to mention that Marly has made some really cute stitch markers for sale on her site. Go check them out too when you get a chance.

Mission Falls Goes Crochet: Under the hood

Amy and I are doing a little victory dance this weekend. We have finished the edits for my new booklet, and it feels great to have another big task crossed off our lists. Now that I have sent in all the patterns, I am all ready to give you a bit more info on what you can find inside. Remember this booklet will be available in August at your local yarn store. You can find a list of the closest one to you on Mission Falls' website. If you are heading to TNNA or Stitches this summer, you will be able to see all the projects in person.

Table of Contents

Calla Lily Cowl - sized to fit 36", 39", 42" chest

Hydrangea Crop - sized to fit 34", 38", 42", 46" chest

Hibiscus Car Coat - sized to fit 34", 38", 42", 46" chest

Daisy Snow Shawl

Gladiolus Cardigan - sized to fit 33", 37", 41", 45" chest

Blue Iris Vest - sized to fit 34", 39", 44", 49" chest

Granny Flower Purse

Blooming Hat and Scarf

Rock Wrap - sized to fit 12mth, 2yrs, 4yrs

Waffle Pullover - sized to fit 12mth, 2 yrs, 4yrs

Green Machine Truck - the little boy is sitting on it in the picture. (I know totally adorable!)

Granite Tread Vest- sized to fit 39", 43", 47", 51" chest

Glossary

More Reader Posts

I hope you guys have been enjoying reading everyone's day in the life blog post as much as I have! I don't know about you, but I have been having so much fun finding out about everyone's days.

Here are some more reader's blog posts for you to check out:

Julia talks about her busy day of swatching and being a mom. BTW, Her work is really pretty you have to check out her most recent cover design.

Tracie has her day full of crocheting and talking to her pets. (Which I totally do with Faye all day too!)

Vickie tells us about her typical day in the UK.

Enjoy!

Sneak Preview Weekly

Sneak Preview Weekly

Issue #13: Wavy Raglan


This is the last project for my spring crunch projects. Every April, seems unbelievably crazy with the amount of projects we try to get done to get ready for the Fall season. I really should know better, but I just get so darn excited as soon as that first bud pops open outside. So many project ideas come rushing in, that by now I am pooped. Well, my brain isn't pooped, just my hands. My brain is going a mile a minute right now coming up with all sorts of wacky plans. It's like having eyes that are bigger then your stomach. I have eyes that are faster then my hands.

This project will be in another Fall magazine this year. The editors talked to me about the sort of sweater they were thinking of, and this is what popped out. I chuckled at my flickr photos because from swatching for it to boxing it up and shipping it was 9 days. Yup, that's from dreaming up the design, sketching it out, drawing it up, and crochet it. Don't blame the editors, they gave me a month but with everything going on in April, I didn't get to it to the last few days. Still 9 days is a bit quick even for me, so I am pretty darn proud of myself. My hands are not happy campers, but I am. I think its super cute. Its a fun stitch pattern in a raglan sleeve. I don't do too many raglan sleeves, so this project was fun for me to seam up. I actually wear a lot of raglans, even though I don't design too many. I really like showing off the seam, so I had a blast coming up with how I wanted to join the panels. I was able to try it on and model it for Faye. She gives 2 paws up in approval.

Emmy

Exciting News!

Knit and Crochet Today was nominated for an Emmy!

How cool is that?

You can check out more info at the Yarn Market News Blog.

Sending a big CONGRATS to Candi Jensen, Detroit Public Television, and Coats and Clark.

More Day in the Life...

Adding to the "day in the life" fun...

Here are some more posts from readers and friends:

Mel gives us an account of her day at odds n' ends n' things.

My friend Cecily, clued me into her friend, Tania, amazing account. I say AMAZING, b/c she has drawn a comic for each hour of her day. It is inspiring to see that much pure talent, and she will crack you up while doing it. Check Tania out at My Poorly Drawn Life.

And Kim, was great enough to post a weekday "day in the life" version to go with her weekend version.

Thank you guys so much! Please keep them coming I adore them. Oh, and don't forget starting Monday we'll have a whole series of a "day in the life" of a crochet designer.

Here's next week's schedule again:
Monday, May 12th --- Amie

Tuesday, May 13th--- Mary Beth
Wednesday, May 14th--- Margaret
Thursday, May 15th--- Amy

Friday, May 16th--- Vashti
Saturday, May 17th--- Ellen

CraftStylish

Have you guys checked out Craft Stylish?

It's a relatively new website that talks about all crafts; anything from crochet and knitting to quilts and jewelry. They have book reviews, product reviews, and how-to tips and tricks. Linda Permann is the crochet contributor at the site. She was super nice enough to interview me about crochet. You can read the article here. But Linda, is also a crochet designer, herself. You can see a lot of her work in Crochet Today. One of my favorite projects of hers was a stiffened doily bowl from a few issues back. So, you know she is going to be giving you lots of great tips. I really loved her article on how and why you would want to use a stitch gauge. When you get a minute, check them out, and bookmark the page. I think you are going to really love the site!

Day in the Life.... Friends

Thank you guys! I am tickled that you guys liked my "day in the life" of this structural crochet engineer! I totally owe the idea to Julie, so THANK YOU!

Did I tell you that I have some fantastic friends? Within hours of posting a bunch of my friends emailed me that they were inspired too to write their own "day in the life" posts. Woo-hoo!

Who are these friends? Awesome crochet designers that's who!

So stay tuned for an exciting trip next week when we will get to walk through the lives of 6 of my wonderful crochet designer friends. I am so excited I could hardly stand it!

Here's the schedule*:
Monday, May 12th --- Amie, owner of NexStitch, Art Teacher, and Crochet Designer
Tuesday, May 13th--- Mary Beth, Author of the Secret Language of Knitters, Host of Getting Loopy, Bunny Parent, Mom, and Crochet Designer
Wednesday, May 14th--- Margaret, Fiber Design Veteran, Author of scores of fiber books, Grandmother, and Crochet Designer
Thursday, May 15th--- Amy, Tech editor, Author of Knits for Bears to Wear, Mom, Moving to remote Alaska, and Crochet Designer
Friday, May 16th--- Vashti, CGOA board Member, Mom, and Crochet Designer
Saturday, May 17th--- Ellen, Mom, Afghan Maven, and Crochet Designer

*And add, "and so much more" to the end of each of these great ladies

Exciting right? I know!

Can't wait for next week? Then mosey over to Kim Werker's Blog. She took up my challenge pronto! You all know Kim, editor of Interweave Crochet. But did you know that she works from her home office in Canada? See, it gets addicting, right? If you want to join the fun, or already have; just leave me a comment and I'll link to your post too. Can't wait!

At the end of the month, I'll have even more in store with more "day in the life" of even more of my friends in the crocheting world. So stay tuned!

Sneak Preview Weekly

Sneak Preview Weekly

Issue #12: Ridge Preview

This photo sums up our life around here. Faye thinks it's fun that I am constantly moving Susie Q in and out to take photos of her in my crochet. See while, I'm taking pictures, she's staring at our neighbors (which is her favorite pass-time); who are staring at me and wondering why I keep fussing with that mannequin. They are the same neighbors who were glaring at me two weekends ago when I was crocheting this sweater in a hurry to meet the deadline, instead of gardening like they all were doing. Even though, most of them have some idea that I crochet for a living; they still think I am slacking off all weekend. It makes me chuckle thinking of them stewing that I play all day. (B/c I pretty much do!)

So how quickly was I crocheting? Well, let's just say I crocheted this hip length, long sleeved, cardigan in 4 days. That includes frogging it completely at least twice. I didn't pull any late nights or all-nighters, I just crocheted when I could. So I can say with confidence that this is a quick project. It is also my new favorite project. It was inspired by a washcloth I made my sister-in-law. I loved the stitch construction so much, I thought why not in a garment? And I LOVE the results. (Even Mr CBF admired it too) This cutie will be seen in a fall crochet magazine. I'll let you know where and when as soon as I can.