Sunday, April 29, 2012

Frenchy!

Awhile back I had posted  a photo of some legwarmers I'd made from the sleeves of an old shirt.
Here is what the rest of that shirt became!


Kiss Of Noth

This weekend I released a new pattern called Kiss Of North.

This pattern started off as a collaboration project with my friend Alicia and was supposed to match and be a "sister" pattern to one of her upcoming designs.  We hit a few snags along the way with accidentally felting some yarn and then the yarn not matching the pattern correctly, so it looked like our collaboration was falling apart at the, well, seams.

The final blow was after I had the garment completely knit as a crossover vest, the result was simply not flattering. 
Luckily, with a few extremely minor changes and a great suggestion from Alicia, the design was spared from the trash can and has gone on to be quite wearable and actually, quite flattering!


What I love about this design is that it's made in a lightweight gauge on big needles which means that you need much less yardage than the typical adult sized cardigan, or vest.  This also means that it knits up in a jiffy with little thought.  As a mom who is exhausted by the end of the day (the only time these days that I have for knitting) I appreciate easy knits with big results.


The bottons really make a project like this special.  I got these amazing, high quality, real wood buttons from a fellow fiber artist http://www.etsy.com/shop/giftofgracehandspun .  They are smooth and stunning!



Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Reuse Recycle RESALE!

As many of my friends know, I do a lot of antique and resale shopping. I have a few favorite haunts, but have been known to stop my car on a dime and do a 180 if I see a shop that looks interesting, even while on vacation. When most people think resale, they might think of someone's old, broken, or dirty cast offs. While this is sometimes true, it's not always the case.
When you resale shop you have to know what you're looking for. Not only do you have to know what you want as far as the clothing itself goes, but you also have to know what quality brands to look for.  I've also found that shopping near a big city yields different results than shopping small town resale.  It only makes sense.
 With persistence and some luck, you'll end up walking away with some really incredible finds! Here are a few of the recent treasures I've scored!
Leather, mint condition Tignanello purse- satin lined!  Gorgeous! ($15.00)
 
Barneys New York "Goddess Dress" -$35.00
A Common Thread super cute , mod, summer dress - $30.00  This one also came with a slipdress not shown.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

New Rovings

I've finally decided to add some of my painted rovings and more yarns to my Etsy Shop!






New Pattern Available. Plover

My new summer pattern, Plover is now available in all of my shops!
This was such a fun little shirt to knit up and it is so incredibly comfortable, not to mention washable and dryable. This was the first time I'd used Kertzer cotton and I've got to say I am in love.
I've also knit up this same shirt in children's sizes and will be releasing the pattern shortly. My 5 year old lives in hers and I'm afraid I'm going to have to knit another for her soon before she wears the life out of this one!