Petite Purls Final Design Package Submitted

Oh, how wonderful this project turned out - and what a great learning experience it was! Well, it's not quite over yet because I've just submitted my final design package and will see what changes Joan, the tech editor, needs me to take care of... fascinating...

The Fall 2009 issue will be live sometime in mid September.
Make a note of it!

I've never realized how much calculation goes into patterns for multiple sizes! Well, now that I have my Excel spreadsheet setup for this type of project (Thank You, Marnie MacLean for your great tutorial and tips!) it will be a much easier and quicker process for the next project.

While knitting the design at the playground and watching over my kids, quite a few of the other moms came up to me to check out the project. What a great confirmation that this design hits the spot! And when they heard that it was an easy pattern, I was able to knit it while observing the kids, they were delighted.

Later in the week, the weather played along to get the right kind of mood going for the photo shoot and the kids were too busy playing to notice me taking pictures. This made for some natural looking photos but I also quickly realized that any instructions were either not heard or totally ignored! :)

And, I need to practice some more with my camera settings and live action shots, haha!

Well, so far it has been a very pleasant experience and I can see myself designing away... dreaming big is always good... :)

Birthday Yarn Box Surprise

I was totally surprised and blown away by what has just arrived in the mail for my birthday! Mom, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Look at what was spilling out of this box!


10 skeins of off white kid mohair, 8 skeins of black kid mohair, 8 skeins of fancy novelty yarn and some basic black 100% merino wool... my head is already spinning with all the possibilities...

And to top it all off, my sister sent me a gift card for one of the local craft stores. I am walking in the clouds right now... don't know when I will come back down... well, I guess when everybody gets hungry for dinner and I won't be able to ignore their pleas... just kidding! :)

Sun Bathing Bikini

My own birthday is just around the corner so that I decided to make something for myself. What a novel idea!

Doesn't that happen to you too, that you always make something for others and totally forget yourself?

Well, since summer temperatures have finally, finally arrived after a wet and cool Spring, I decided to give a bikini top a shot. Not the kind you go into the water with, but for some sun bathing sessions.

sun bathing bikini top

I had 3 skeins of Sugar'n Cream "Summer Splash" cotton yarn in my stash, found a bikini pattern on Ravelry (DROPS Crochet Bikini Top With Tassels) with an agreeable shape as a starting point and jumped in.

As I worked my way through the pattern, I started to change things to my taste:

Mod 1: Since I used a different yarn than in my guideline pattern, I had to adjust the stitch count a bit.

Mod 2: I also decided to only pick-up the back loop of the stitch to make a decorative edge and add more interested to the piece.

Mod 3: I split the top ties into two strings (chains and then a row of slip stitches) each to make it more playful.

Mod 4: To give the cups a nice firm finish (without it they are wavy and rather revealing) and make it less revealing, I changed the edging around the triangles. Beginning at the top, it starts out with slip sts, moves on to single sts, half dcs, dcs, and trebles.

Mod 5: I didn’t want to cover up my mid section since this was a bikini top explicitly for sun bathing. So instead of working the netting I decided to go for a 4 row single sts bust band.

Mod 6: Instead of tie-strings for the back, I decided to go for a flat closure; sew-on snaps, hooks or Velcro. This would make it nice and flat so that when I sun bathe on my back I won’t have a big knot pressing into my back.

Hmm, those were quite a few changes… pretty much it turned into a new pattern… as so often when I try to make something… :)

Need to weave in all the ends and decide on my back closure and hopefully there will still be some summer time left for sun bathing!

Submission to Petite Purls: Accepted!

I am so excited that a design proposal for the fall 2009 issue of the new online knitting magazine Petite Purls has been accepted!

Sorry, can't say more about it but it has a really nice classy look to it.

Gotta go knit, write pattern for multiple toddler sizes and take some cute pictures...