Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012 - A Year in Review

Let us hope 2012 will be a little better than the last year. 2011 for many has been a very challenging year. So much has happened locally, nationally, and around the globe. The world has seen political up rise and revolution, destruction, disasters and renewal of faith in humanity.

For the KNitDesigns household, it has been a mixed bag ranging from good (published patterns) to down right scary (tornado and snow storms) to a renewal of faith (angels who aided with the tornado clean-up). But together we made it through to see another year, where the possibilities are endless.

Below is the KNitDesigns household year in photo.

NEW DESIGNS for Frabjous Fibers

BACKYARD FRIENDS

MAY 2011 - Celebrating my little boy's 7th Birthday

MAY 2011 - More Backyard FRIENDS.

- View from our bedroom after the June 1st tornado.

- Assessing the damage the day after the tornado.

-After a summer cleaning up, finally a vacation.

- Off to Virginia we go for a week. And guess what, we were hit by a earthquake, while in the caverns!!!
- Luray Cavern

- Shenandoah Skyline Drive

After a long, hard 6-months, our house is finally back to rights.
- New roof and siding. Isn't it beautiful.

- But there is still work to be done outside.

Despite all that we have loss, despite the frustrations we face with our insurance company, despite the stress and emotional turmoil, through it all, we are optimistic about the future.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

More Knitting in the Sun - WENDY (pleated empire top)

So, last year I had the great privilege of having a knit pattern design accepted to be included in Kristi Porter's new book, More Knitting in the Sun (pattern links to Ravelry here). I have been a huge fan of Kristi's work for many years, so the chance to be included among the other fabulous designers that contributed to the book was a great honor.

I really like the concept for this book which features 32 wonderful warm weather knit projects for kids. And now, having seen the entire book, I love the projects. They are age appropriate while at the same time able to span multiple age groups. A great majority of the projects are suitable for young teens and not just geared towards babies and toddlers. Often times I see kid patterns sized up to 10, 12, or 14 and I think 'sure my 7-year-old niece like this, but would my 14-year-old niece want to be caught wearing this?' Often times the answer is no. With this book, the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES. Kristi did an excellent job of putting these designs together in such a beautiful way.




A little about my design.
When coming up with this design I wanted to create something both my 7-year-old and tween nieces would be willing to wear. The Wendy top reflect my own personal style for simplicity with touches of details along with long lasting wear-ability. Since this book is geared toward kids, I wanted to create something that was relatively fast to make, but was easy to tweak if the garment did take a little while longer to complete.

The idea behind Wendy was that the child could start out wearing this piece as a baby-doll type dress or a long tunic and as she grew, which inevitably kids do, the top could become a tank worn with shorts or capris. In addition, because I was a tomboy as a kid and was often times forced to wear frills, I thought the detailing would be a good compromise, not being too overly girly. Of course the frill edging (done in crochet) can be left off, but I think it's a great way to get more structure and stability to the sleeves/straps and prevent the garment from stretching out. Besides, the edging is a great way for knitters to add elements from crochet.

I really enjoyed working on this design and finished garment. Not seeing the garment in a year, and now now have it modeled and styled, I was totally blown away. The models are all so cute and the photography amazing. I hope you all get a chance to see the book. Go check it out at your LYS or Amazon.

Photos made available by Kristi Porter & Wiley Publishing

DayDreaming

It's a cold and rainy Wednesday morning in CT/MA and I am setting at my desk at work daydreaming. I daydream quite a bit, but lately more so, in particular today because it's a perfect day to just cuddle up in my craft room with my latest pattern design in progress and a good movie... of course a Jane Austen flick. Maybe Pride & Prejudice or Sense & Sensibility. Heck! Let's make it a movie marathon and do both.

I think the major reason I've been daydreaming so much this past week is because I will be traveling across the country to Arizona next week for work, leaving my boys (husband and son) and my fully stocked craft room. So, I am thinking about what I will bring for my trip. While I love planning for getaways, I usually have unlimited space in the car and unlimited time to craft. None of these features will be available for this trip, so I'm left to plan frugally as I will have very limited space to in my luggage and even less time to craft as I will be stuck in conferences all day and into the late evenings with NO KNITTING or CROCHETING!!! arrrgggghhhh.

So I am thinking of bring a sock project. While I am not a sock knitter, I can work on a plain vanilla sock without worrying about a pattern. I might bring one or two of my latest design ideas. One's a knit and the other is crochet... I'll have to think about that some more. There's also the concern of running out of yarn while away from my stash. But of course I will be making plans to visit a yarn shop or two that opens after 5pm. We'll see how well that works out. This trip is pretty packed, so I might have to call uncle on one of the evening's activities and get some fiber therapy. Last year when I went to Scottsdale, I had a very quick (less than 20 minutes) trip to JessicaKnits, which is a cute little shop, but they're business hours are not conducive to a visit this year, so I'll have to see what else I can find out there. I'd be interested in seeing what that side of the country carries compared to the East Coast. Hopefully with more than 20 minutes to shop!