New Design Out!

Wow, two posts in a week! Oh my goodness! :) Don't get used to it, though. While I'm trying, I can't guarantee anything past today.

Anyway, I found out yesterday that the preview for the February 2010 issue of Crochet World is up on their website. What does that mean? It means I can share a photo!



Butterfly Kisses baby blanket is made in Bernat Cot'n Corn. Yeah, I know, not your traditional baby blanket colors, but I think this is what makes it so neat. And the yarn is fabulous! It's so soft and great to work with.

So why's it called Butterfly Kisses? Well, because the stitch pattern alternates between rows of butterflies and rows of half double crochet clusters that look like little chocolate kisses. Thus, Butterfly Kisses.

I love the look of the variegated and solid colors on this blanket. It pops way more than the original swatch did in plain baby yarn.

I do hope you give this pattern a try! If you do, please let me know. I love seeing what you all do with my designs. Oh, and it is linked on Ravelry for those who would like to queue it.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Hello December!

Anyone still here? Sorry about that.

Here's what happens in my brain: 1. Oooh, I should totally blog about that! 2. Oh, wait, I can't 'cause I can't talk about what I'm doing. 3. Okay, I'll wait until I have something to blog about. 4. Got tons to blog about but no time!

Welcome to my world.

So, lots to talk about. Let's break it down into little chunks, okay? :)


Pattern line & Website updated

I spent the last couple of weeks updating my pattern line into much nicer template. I think they look much more professional and consistent across the patterns. Big thanks to Kristie Chester for providing the template. I did some tweaks to suit my line and I think it looks great. No pattern is longer than 4 pages, with most of them being 2 page patterns. This makes it much easier for you to print out and use.

With that, I updated all the patterns in Ravelry and on the website. So, if you've downloaded one of the free patterns in the past, feel free to go back and download it again so you can get an updated pattern.


Guild news

We have our first meeting this weekend (tomorrow) at A Good Yarn in Sarasota. We'll be meeting from 11:30am to 1:30pm and if you're in the area, we'd love to have you join us!


Published designs

Some may say this is burying the lead, but I wanted to have the spot for the photos to be near the end. :) I've had a lot come out in the last month or so.


Camo Girl Slippers



Found in the Slippers By the Dozen booklet from Annie's Attic. I love these slippers. My original sample were in solid purple and cream and I just love them. Here's a pic of the original:



They're big and floppy and frilly and just plain fun. They don't take much yarn at all and make great gifts!


Snowflake Afghan and Ornament



Snowflake afghan



Snowflake ornament

This pattern is found in the December 2009 issue of Crochet World. And I'll tell you, my pictures do not do it justice. The photography in the magazine is great and even it doesn't show how well these colors pop in this afghan. It's a stunning afghan and I think it would look great in any wintery decor (except down here in Florida where we don't see snow...or temps even close to snow). The ornaments whip up quickly and are precious as either ornaments for your tree or gift trim. I bet you could even make a bunch of them and join them as you do the final round and make a garland. In fact, I may try that for our tree. :)


Sweet Ruffles Crochet Dress



Found in Super Baby booklet by Coats and Clark. Oooh, go to the link, and look at the cover!

This is my first real garment pattern and my first design with Coats and Clark. I was THRILLED to see my design on the cover. It fulfills another of my things I want to do as a designer. I love this little dress and I think it looks so cute on the model.



Things coming up

I have a design coming out in the February Crochet World. It's cute and I can't wait to see it in print!

I've been doing some work for Coats and Clark that will hopefully be coming out soon. I can't wait to show you 'cause they're all so cool.

Workshops coming up next month at A Good Yarn! I'm really excited about doing these. I can't wait to get back into teaching again.

New designs in the works for next year. I'm going to try to be better about releasing patterns throughout the year. Now that I have a great template, this will be easier.


Other news

Last month I became an Affiliate member of the TNNA. Big step in my career and now I am starting to make plans to make it to the June show in Columbus.

Other than one last gift I'm working on now that was added on last weekend, I am DONE with my holiday gifts. Yeppers. This would be the earliest EVER for me. :) Granted, I have two gifts I need to buy, and a few I want to make that are not fiber related, but they don't count in the crochet list. :)


Have a fabulous December and holiday season (whatever you celebrate)! I will try to be better about posting, but we all know how that goes for me. Thanks for sticking with me!

Lots of things to announce!

Happy Thursday! It's a beautiful day here in Florida (the temperature actually matches the calendar) and I've been a busy busy bee.

There's a ton of stuff I can't announce yet, but it's going to be super cool when I can. :D

However, this is not just a typical teasing post! I have real news that I can share!

I'm scheduled to teach three workshops early next year (only a couple of months away!) at a brand new yarn shop.

The shop? A Good Yarn in Sarasota, FL. Susan, the owner, is an absolute delight and has a stunningly beautiful shop. It's bright, it's airy, it's open, and it has crochet stuff! She's got a great selection of yarns with more to come.

I'll be teaching the following workshops based on my patterns:




Broomstick Lace Cloth, Saturday, January 23rd, from 1-3pm.








Felted Coasters with Box, Saturday, February 13th, from 1-3pm.








Broomstick Lace Wrap, Saturday, February 27th, from 1-3pm.






I'm in the process right now of making samples for her shop of these three items. I can't wait to get them done because the colors chosen are spectacular. I'll share photos once I get finished.

And another thing to announce!

The Gulf Coast Crochet Guild of Florida (chapter status pending) now has a new home at A Good Yarn! We meet on the first Saturday of every month from 11:30am - 1:30pm. If you're in the area, come out and join us and take a look at the shop! It's a win win for us all. :)

Okay, that's all from me for a bit. I need to get to work on these samples. Have a great day!

Button Spiderweb Scarf

Yeah, yeah, I know....it's suddenly the end of October and I haven't posted in weeks. Sorry about that. Been busy, all with stuff I can't show you.

Until now!



That's the new Button Spiderweb Scarf available on the Coats and Clark website. (Ravelry link here).

I'm so excited to have this pattern published by Coats and Clark. It has an interesting story, this scarf does. See, this scarf has been rejected two times before getting picked up by Coats and Clark. I took the swatch (which happened to be the same length as this little scarf) with me to Buffalo and showed it during the Meet and Greet. Coats picked it up for review and when they came back to me to pick it up, they decided on doing it as a smaller scarf. So my "swatch" was the perfect length to do this little scarflette.

I love this pattern and believed in it and refused to give up on it. And I actually like it better as the smaller buttoned scarf than as a full length scarf. In this size it uses one skein of Red Heart Soft yarn. It works up super quick and is a great last minute gift. Because it's short, it's perfect for those of us down here in the warmer climes to use for decoration or to keep just a bit of the chill off our necks (without feeling silly with a long scarf on).

I do hope you enjoy this pattern! If you make your own, please post them on Ravelry as I love seeing everyone's interpretations of my patterns. What? You're not on Ravelry? Well, if you crochet or knit and like to keep track of your projects, you should be! And there isn't a waiting list anymore, so come on in!

More stuff to come, there's another pattern of mine out in Crochet World, but I need to get pics off my camera first. :) I've been a bit lazy about that, sorry. Again with all the crazy busy work (which is great for paying bills, not so much for posting blog entries)!

Have a happy Halloween and see everyone in November!

Make your own blocking wires

I just finished my first large crocheted lace project that needed to be blocked. Since the edges needed to be straight, and I really wasn't in the mood to pin 10000 pins every 1/4", I needed blocking wires.

I saw a kit while in Buffalo at the CGOA show, but couldn't swing the cost or getting it home in my suitcase. I had no where near me I could go pick a kit up, and I needed it sooner than it would take to get shipped.

So what does a DIY person do? Make her own blocking wires.

And now you can, too.

I went to Lowe's (home improvement store) and first picked up a pack of marking flags. I found them in the tools section. There were different sets and sizes. I chose the 21" long ones so I'd have longer wires. Unfortunately, they were out of the smaller number in a set, so I ended up buying a bunch. A whole bunch. I may be decorating the lawn this Halloween with them. But I chose these because the wires are thin and flexible to allow for curved blocking later.

Anyway, I also got a can of Plastic Dip. This is the stuff used to make a plastic coating on tool handles. Found it in the paint section by the spray paint cans. Here's a pic of what I got:



Here's how I turned these two items into a set of blocking wires.

Step 1: Remove flags from wire

Now, you can either cut these off, or do as I did and pull them off. It takes a bit of work, but it's possible to pull it apart at the glue line and remove them.



Set the flags aside or throw them out. I have in mind a project to make later with the rolls of marking flag "tape" you can buy in the same aisle as the flags. But that's for later. :)


Step 2: Cleaning the wires

The wires are kinda grungy on their own, and where the flags attach it's really gummy. They need to be cleaned. I started by filling the sink with hot soapy water and dropping the wires in (flagged end down) after removing the flag.



I also used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on them. I just ran it up and down the wire, twisting the wire as I did, until it wiped clean. Then I laid them all out on a towel to dry.


Step 3: Protective plastic dip on ends

Now, this is optional, but I wanted the ends to be a bit more protected, so I chose to do the plastic tips. If you are careful, you can use them as is. But, if you want to use the plastic, here's how you go about it.

I went out to the garage. This stuff STINKS and needs to be done in a well ventilated area. I would not do this inside. I used a cardboard box turned upside down and punched 12 holes in the bottom of the box to place the wires in to dry. Following directions on the can, I dipped about 1" of the end of the wire into the plastic dip then let them sit in the cardboard box holes. They'll look a little bulbous when they first come out of the dip, but it does pull into itself as it dries.




Here's all of them drying:



I let them dry for a few hours, then went back into the garage and did the other end.

I only did one coat on each end. I might go back later and build up another coat or two, but I needed them a little faster than that. :)

Here's the before and after look of the wires:



And the wires in use (with a sneak peek of the lace project):




I hope this helps anyone who needs a set of blocking wires. They're not really long, but they work well. I was able to easily weave it in and out of the openings on my project and pull it evenly to stretch and block.

Since I don't have time to post...

...here's the link to Brianna's recap of the Fiber-In with pictures of me teaching my demo and learning to spin.

Thanks Brianna for posting and for taking the pics!

Florida Fiber-In by Brianna of The Crochet Side

Me? Drowning in yarn and trying to stay ahead of the deadlines. Two projects out the door, two more to do for October (one due mid month, the other due end of month), plus a submission proposal. Eek.

Guild meeting

(I know I owe a longer post, but that will have to wait. Still neck deep in deadlines and projects and am popping up to quickly post this).


South Hillsborough County Crochet guild will have their first meeting this Saturday at Barnes and Noble in Brandon, FL, from noon to 1:30pm. If you're in the area and have been longing for a CGOA local chapter, come on out! We'll be talking about our ideas for the chapter, filling out the official paperwork, and discussing a more permanent location.

If you need more info, we can be found on Ravelry and Yahoo Groups.




A real post with pictures will happen soon. I promise. I can't promise when, but soon. :)