Kathleen Dames

Errata: An Aran for Frederick

2012-02-14T15:21:00.000-05:00

So, there is a minor glitch in the Double Wave chart. You could knit it in the round and not *really* notice, but a couple of savvy knitters have noticed, when swatching flat, that the cable crossings switch from even to odd in the second half of the chart. You can find a link to the revised chart here.

When your hobby becomes your "thing"

2012-02-07T17:47:00.000-05:00

I can't really say that knitting is my profession now, but I'm working towards that. Certainly, time-wise it's as close to a job as being a wife/mother, and I spend a lot of time thinking about it when I'm not actually knitting.

So, last month when I visited the Vogue Knitting Live marketplace (I received a ticket for being a last-minute volunteer during set-up), I made sure to be there for the panel discussion on When Knitting Becomes a Career. Melanie Falick moderated, and the panel included Trisha Malcolm (Vogue Knitting EIC, Deb Stoller (Bust founder, Stitch 'n' Bitch creator, you know who she is), Norah Gaughan (! If you don't know who she is, get thee to google), Erin Slonaker (EIC of Yarn Market News and, more importantly, Mintyfresh on Ravelry, who sent me some stashed Manos when I ran out on Nick's blanket), Kristy McGowan (Modern Top-Down Knitting), Kirsten Kapur (Ms. Through the Loops), Betsy Perry (owner of Classic Elite), and Laura Zander (owner of Jimmy Beans Wool). This was a seriously cool panel, and it was really great to be in a room with this bunch of women. I really appreciated the breadth and depth of experience these women have in the industry.

My big takeaway from this talk was that when your passion/hobby turns into your career, you need to find a new hobby. And lately I'm finding that is so true. I love knitting. I get such a thrill out of turning a little idea (often of the semi-crazy, "what if?" variety, like "what if you used ribbing to shape a piece?" or "what would that yoke style look like with cables?") into not just a knitted thing but a pattern for other people to turn into their own knitted things. I love yarn. My stash is barely under control, and visiting places like the VKL marketplace don't help :) But now that I'm trying to make it my business, I have to find something else to become my "down time".

To that end, I've gotten into a few things of late.

Trashy, soapy TV: Gossip Girl (it's gotten terrible, but I can't quit it), The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (obsessed! I think it's partly the codependency between Kyle and Kim, and the rest of it is just voyeurism; plus, I love the recaps on Gawker), Downton Abbey (the classiest of the trashy, but still very soapy and fabulous, don't you think? I'm unsure of whether TV has gotten so bad, or it's so good), and Upstairs Downstairs on Amazon Prime (it's pretty funny to watch this and compare the production values with Downton Abbey - both are such products of their times; it's the same with the original Star Wars trilogy - so 70s - and the second set - epitome of the late 90s/early 00s - just look at the space ships, all sleek and organic in the second, very sharp-edged in the original).
Candy making: I've been making marshmallows as Christmas gifts for the kids' teachers for the past few years, and then I saw a copy of Sugar Baby at the library. I tried my hand at the caramel spirals because they reminded me of the Snirkle candy we'd get as kids when up in Wisconsin. I've gotten a little addicted to the caramels - it's probably really bad for me even to eat a few, especially since knitting requires me to spend a lot of time on my derriere. Anyway, my next project is probably macarons because I'm crazy like that.
OCM (Oil Cleansing Method): Washing my face with oil. Crazy, no? Pretty great, actually. Crunchy Betty's website has a lot of great information. I use jojoba and castor oils, which work really well for me. I tried switching out the jojoba for sweet almond oil when my face seemed a little dry, but that was a mistake, which I'm now patiently, gently washing away. After discovering that I'm allergic to propylene glycol (in an astounding number of things from sanitizer to all kinds of lip things to mouth wash), I've been trying to simplify my skin care routine. Two ingredients is pretty awesome for a cleanser/moisturizer. Seeing as I sometimes put my face on this blog, I prefer it to be spot-free and not in need of major retouching. I'm vain like that, I guess.

And, I guess this blog is more like semi-weekly at the moment. And sadly devoid of pictures. I will take some pics of the goodies I brought home from VKL for a future blog post. They are pretty!

Maybe it's a weekly blog.

2012-01-27T17:25:00.000-05:00

I'd like to get back in the daily swing of things, but for the moment daily activities include knitting like a fiend, shepherding children to/from school, feeding the family, and doing laundry. I will fold blogging back in there at some point. Maybe even with photographs (I received a new lens from my parents for Christmas but for some reason am intimidated by it, even though I put it on my wish list and am really excited to have it and all - just need time to get to know it, I guess).

So, we left off with swatching. When my swatches aren't lie-y lying liars, they are extremely helpful. Heck, even when they do lie, they're helpful. I know most of the time I'd just like to dive in on knitting the PROJECT, but we all know the heartbreak that can ensue. Plus, when I'm designing, the swatch is the cornerstone of the design.

After the swatch comes the math. Luckily for me, it's basic math, which my parents would quickly point out has always been one of my strengths. Once we got to imaginary numbers, I quit, but I'm seriously quick on the basics. Usually, I calculate the cast-on number for my key size, whether that's me or the size I've contracted to produce for the sample. For now, most of my designs are bottom-up, so I start with the hem. Since, in addition to working from the hem, I prefer working in the round, I figure out the start of the sleeve right away and usually cast on a sleeve first. That way I finish one sleeve right away, while I'm "full of prance" as Elizabeth Zimmermann said. Plus, I won't end up on sleeve island or suffer from second sleeve syndrome (cousin to the dreaded second sock syndrome or SSS).

I know some designers who write up the entire pattern before they knit a stitch (aside from the swatch), but I prefer starting with some calculations, then take notes as I go. Sometimes the design happens on the needles. Oftentimes I'm still working out an idea (usually a crazy, I should be able to do this with knitted fabric kind of idea, like adding ribbing for shaping in Turn of the Glass). As a designer I'm most interested in manipulating the knitted fabric to do what I want it to do, or what I think it should be able to do. And exploring the brilliant engineering that EZ pioneered (if you're interested, you should check out her Knitting Workshop). An Aran for Frederick came about because I was curious to see how cables would work into her hybrid yoke idea.

Once I've successfully finished the piece, I consult all the notes I've taken, mostly in my Moleskine notebooks, and write up the pattern for the size I've knit, leaving spots for the other sizes. And then it's time for the spreadsheet! I'm no Excel power user, but I manage to get my OpenOffice spreadsheets to calculate everything for the various sizes. Usually, I have rough numbers to start and then I massage them to make things smooth for all you knitters. For instance, I will have to adjust the number of stitches between cables, but not too much or it will start to look like a different sweater. I started out looking at Marnie's amazing spreadsheets (that woman really knows how to make Excel do her bidding!), though I ended up creating my own since hers was for a sweater knit in pieces.

When I'm massaging those numbers, I refer to the brilliant chart Ysolda compiled for different sizes [link], which has been extremely helpful. Grading patterns is a challenge. You don't just add an inch or two all around in all directions for each size. You do have to finesse it. I've also built a lot of checks into my spreadsheets, converting stitch counts back into measurements to make sure we haven't veered into crazytown.

And the really cool thing I've figured out sort of how to do is calculate yardage requirements. I was really worried about doing this when I started designing sweaters. It seemed like it would just be guesswork. It is a somewhat inexact science, since knitters take up yarn into stitches at different rates, but still. I keep careful track of how much yarn I use in the sample, then use the spreadsheet to come up with some calculations as to how many stitches went into the whole piece. I always make these a little generous, so you have a cushion. Plus, I wouldn't want to calculate each and every stitch, especially with shaping in some garments. Anyway, I was very excited when I figured out that part of designing and grading.

Happily, all this crazy spreadsheet work has, thus far, meant that my patterns are pretty clean as far as my numbers go. Of course, after it's all written up, it goes off to my tech editor to make sure things are correct.

Swatches are lie-y, lying liars

2012-01-20T16:45:00.002-05:00

I think the title says it all, don't you? Looks like I am not halfway through the current OTN project. Sigh. Never mind that I swatched a good-sized swatch, washed it, let it dry (sometimes, having patience on that is difficult), and measured carefully. It seems I should have measured larger samples, especially for the stitch gauge, in this instance. I usually measure in a few places on the swatch, but I think this time it would have been better to measure over a greater area rather than double-check my measurements over smaller areas. Lesson learned. And now shared.

This is not a monthly blog.

2012-01-18T11:57:00.001-05:00

Goodness gracious, where have I been? I haven't posted since ... December 19th?! Apparently, I've been busy. Last-minute Christmas knitting (bears for the girls and one of their cousins, hats + mittens + felted balls for the other cousins, scarf for Mom, as-yet-unfinished hat for Dad, and trying to design a cap for my sister), baking and candy making, and three weeks of kid wrangling, including over the East River and through the air to the grandmothers' houses. Life would be easier if Penelope's preschool calendar was in sync with Isobel's and Stephen's.

Penelope's Christmas bear (Isobel's needs minor surgery before her photo shoot)

Amidst all that I agreed to a design for Knitscene (yay!) and have been talking with the editor of the now semi-annual Jane Austen Knits (double yay that a one-time idea has turned into a regular publication) to do some projects for that. So, on my plate I've got one done, except for some last-minute calculations, one half-way through the process both in knitting and pattern, and one that's just a sketch and a swatch. Being a designer keeps one pretty busy!

On Sunday, before visiting the Marketplace at Vogue Knitting Live, we went swimming with some friends and their kids, and the missus asked me how exactly one goes about designing a sweater. So I thought I'd write a little bit about my process here. Of course, it's different for every designer, and it's not even the same every time for me. But here goes...

Inspiration comes in different forms. Sometimes I'm inspired by a call for submissions, sometimes it's an empty spot in my closet/sweater drawer, and often it's a "crazy" idea that I have to see through to the end. There are, of course, a wide variety of crazy ideas from a stitch pattern to a detail in a museum piece to my ever-increasing understanding of what you can do with knitted fabric. The more you knit, the more you'll know. I like interesting details, prefer working mostly in one piece (and in the round, if possible), and am always inspired by the brilliance of Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Next come the doodles! Nick would tell you that I've been in training for this since college, when my notebook margins were littered with dress sketches. Now, it's a succession of Moleskine note and datebooks that bristle with notes, descriptions, lists, and, of course, drawings.

And then, most often, comes the yarn (sometimes it comes first - we all know how it can go at the LYS: the yarn just demands to come home with you, saying "You'll figure out later what I'm meant to be"). I'm a loose knitter (the only relaxed thing in my world! Kidding! Sort of :) , so I often have to go down a needle size or two from the ballband suggestion, if I'm knitting a sweater. For lace, of course, you go up a needle size, and down for socks, mittens, even hats on occasion. The great thing about being the designer is that you are swatching for the fabric you want, not a particular number of stitches per inch. It's freeing, though it puts a lot of pressure on said swatch when writing the pattern.

More to come ... tomorrow? I'm not sure this will again become a daily blog, but I'm going to aim for at least a few times a week. Happy New Year!

Pattern: JOY garland

2011-12-19T19:04:00.001-05:00

JOY garland

A little something for the holidays! I dubbed this garland "JOY" because it came out even better than I thought it might. You see, I had this idea of using i-cord, and then it all fell into place. This is knit in one piece (oh, joy!), and I didn't even weave in the ends, just trimmed them to an even length so they could be used to hang the garland.

It comes in two sizes, and the pattern includes templates to cut out felt letters to spell JOY, PEACE, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH, and HAPPY NEW YEAR, large and small.

My JOY garland hangs on our front door, makes me smile every time I see it (I seek out peace and joy all year round), and gently jingles when the door opens or closes (and we all know what happens every time a bell rings, don't we?*).

Our door, which does not photograph well for patterns

So, share some joy this holiday season (or work it up in other colors for festive bunting any time). If you can knit, increase, and decrease, you can have some joy in your life. I've included instructions for making i-cord, if you've never done it.

I chose Plymouth's Encore Worsted, since it was in the stash, cheery, and sturdy. You could use just about any yarn you like (I'm contemplating some teeny garlands in fingering weight yarn because I'm twee like that), though I'd save the cashmere for something else. And then you'll need to visit the craft store (unless you have a five and dime - I'm sure they would have had felt and bells at the 5 & 10 I visited when I was little) for some jingle bells and felt. I went classic here, but I saw glittered bells in various colors *and* sparkly felt. You could really bling this one up, if you were so inclined. I may have to go back to the craft store...

The pattern may be purchased through Ravelry or on Etsy, or you can use the handy button below to buy instantly.

May the coming year bring you peace and joy and lots of yarn. xoxo, Kathleen

*"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets it's wings," according to It's a Wonderful Life. Whether you believe in angels or not, jingle bells are a merry sound.

Craft Fair 2011 and Etsy

2011-12-12T14:45:00.002-05:00

Goodness, how the time has flown! I've been busy knitting up items for the kids' school craft fair, and anything that didn't sell is now available on my Etsy shop (see the sidebar). The craft fair, as always, was lots of fun, and again I was impressed with all the creativity in the room.

I've also been coping with turning forty and having a seven-year-old daughter. How did all that happen?!

I need to get back into the blogging habit, so I hope to show up here more often. There is a holiday decoration pattern in the works, so come back soon!

An Aran for Frederick

2011-10-14T14:09:00.002-04:00

Designers have started uploading photos to Ravelry for Jane Austen Knits 2011 [link], so I realized it was time to add mine. If you can't wait for the print versions to show up at your LYS next month, you can purchase the digital edition from Interweave's site [link]. My contribution is called An Aran for Frederick [link] - a men's cabled pullover knit in the round with an EZ-style hybrid yoke to show off all those amazing cables.

You can also see a little of the sweater in Catherine Shields's Fitz fingerless mitts [link].

This bundle of cable-y goodness was knit up in Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter, which I really enjoyed working with. Most of the time I work with Worsted-spun yarn, like tosh dk, so working with a Woolen-spun yarn was interesting. There is a fluffiness to it, and yet the cables really pop. Plus, it spit-splices like a dream, which is perfect for a sweater knit in the round. I only had to weave in the cast-on and bind-off ends, as well as the underarm Kitchener-ed ends.

Ever since I read Elizabeth Zimmermann's description of the hybrid yoke, I've wanted to see what would happen if you tossed cables in there, winding up the arms and shoulders, climbing up the back. So, when submissions for Jane Austen Knits were called, it seemed like the right time to explore this idea.

Persuasion is my favorite of Austen's novels, closest to my own story, and I thought a sweater inspired by Captain Wentworth was a great idea. Happily, clever editor Amy Clarke Moore agreed, and I was able to work some Frederick-themed cables into a handsome, strong-shouldered sweater.

I hope you like it! And the best news is that Interweave is already planning another edition for 2012 - call for submissions may be found here.

Forty

2011-10-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

So, that happened. Now, I'm 40. How did that happen?

I can't really believe my "big" birthday has come and gone. It was a fairly low-key day, with phone calls from family, kisses from little people (and big ones), and macarons from Ladurée. And a surprise breakfast the following day with some of my mommy friends, since I was the working parent at Penelope's school on my birthday.

Birthday treats with the cuties

Now that I'm a grown-up, I have finally gotten my proper New York State driver's license, which means I can drive myself to Rhinebeck this weekend! Hope to see some of you there, though I missed the Rhinebeck Bingo deadline.

And I've applied for some jobs, which is properly grown-up. I mean, my less-than-thrilled feelings about this birthday mainly stem from wanting to accomplish more, professionally. I love my husband and kids and feel so blessed to be at such a good place in my life in that regard. Yes, I managed to avoid the whole When Harry Met Sally... breakdown ("And I'm going to be forty! ... Some day."). But I want to contribute more. I've been brushing up my resumé, which has reminded me of how much I enjoyed working. I know, going to an office, interacting with co-workers, coping with deadlines, all that stuff can be tough. But producing things, hanging out with the smart/cool co-workers, and wearing grown-up clothes (I have had some work wardrobe fantasies after applying for jobs) are pretty great, as is that whole getting paid thing.

In regards to my birthday wish list, some yummy things did make their way into my life, in addition to the aforementioned macarons (fleur de sel caramel were my favorite). Some shiny red Hunter boots have been keeping my feet dry, though, luckily we haven't had much rain since my birthday. Blue and white striped espadrilles arrived from my besty - so "me" that it's almost funny. And my sister tracked down some Wollmeise, sending me a lovely, giant (300g) skein of the stuff in a beautiful kelp forest colorway (teal, greens, black). It's one of those one-of-a-kind dealies, so I don't know the name of the colorway, but I'm sure going to have fun figuring out what to do with it. Then, I may have acquired a sweater's worth of tosh dk in Baltic during the NYC Yarn Crawl. Oops!

Tres chic espadrilles!

Yarn photos will have to wait for daylight.

August Trip Report

2011-09-26T19:27:00.002-04:00

I'd better write this up before October arrives!

In August we went up to Massachusetts so Isobel could spend some time with her father and a bunch of his relatives. We stayed in Cambridge while they went up to Burlington. Conveniently, this was the same weekend as the Fiber Revival in Newburyport (yay! if you know me even a little, you know that the combination of knitting supplies, old friends, and an antique farm in the summer in New England is pretty close to perfect). Inconveniently, the traffic out of Boston was ridiculously awful (and Penelope gets carsick in stop-and-go traffic), so we almost bailed. I am so glad that we didn't! In addition to seeing my Yarns in the Farms ladies (hi, Carolyn, Jill, Joanne, and Suzanne!), I got to meet Amy King, Ms. Spunky Eclectic herself. I also had a chance to catch up with Leslie Wind who made the beautiful C-pin on Turn of the Glass and who lives on Cape Ann.

Dugout

Outfield of corn

Stephen watching; beards, beer, and baseball

But the best part was that Nick, Stephen, and Penelope came with me, and they had fun! There was a triple-header of antique rules baseball (1861 - no gloves, balls caught on one bounce are an out, underhand pitching, sideburns and charming uniforms) played in a grass paddock with a field of corn for an outfield. Nick had seemed ... not terribly enthusiastic when I mentioned this beforehand. But once we got there, it turned out to be really neat for all of us to watch. And there was a beer truck from Ipswich Ale (yum!) with hot dogs and whatnot. Penelope discovered the popcorn popper (and an adorable cast iron toy stove in the gift shop). Stephen found some other kids to play soccer and baseball with. And I came away with a bag of The Woolen Rabbit's Sporty that is destined for greatness (well, that's the vague plan, anyway) in Storm and Midas. I haven't even tried to take a picture because I'm not sure I can do these colors justice. I'll try at some point, but today is not picture day.

The rest of the weekend was nice, too. It was as if New England was on its best behavior (except for the traffic Saturday morning and the lack of a Red Sox game in town). The weather was lovely - sunny and warm during the day, cooling off at night. New England in the summer can be so delightful. We had dinner at Farnham's in Essex where I realized that I have a painting of this house:

Essex marsh house

Painting of the Essex marsh house

Why, yes, dinner at Farnham's was good. Thanks for asking!

After a long weekend in Massachusetts, we high-tailed it back to New York for lots of laundry, showering the cats with affection, and repacking before we headed to Chicago. Nick's parents live within walking distance of Loopy Yarns, so I got to visit there (with Nick - his first time), though I couldn't find yarn I wanted to buy (that Woolen Rabbit yarn was still on my mind, and I kicked myself for not bringing it along, even though I was working on another sweater, which I finished). I have some gorgeous yarn in my stash that I need to knit up before I invest in something new.

And then we made the great migration North to Door County, Wisconsin. My sister came from Berlin (via Paris and Detroit), and my brother and his family came up, too. It's tons of fun for the kids, and the grown-ups have a good time, though with six kids things get a little crazy. We even made it up to Washington Island, where I got to visit the famous Sievers School shop. Again (is something wrong with me?), I didn't buy any yarn, but my sister came away with some lovely, dark grey alpaca. Of course, the stop caused us to miss the ferry, but we caught the next one. My sister and I also checked out Whitefish Bay Farm and Spin in Sturgeon Bay. I was tempted by the hand-dyed yarns at Whitefish Bay Farm but couldn't decide what I wanted, especially as I still have a sweater in various shades of their undyed yarns OTN (I think I have a gauge issue - it's biiiig - and can't really face how much work I've put into it already).

Of course, the end of our week saw Miss Hurricane Irene pop up on everyone's radar, and we started to panic that we wouldn't get back to the East Coast. A phone call to the airlines had some nice lady in India talking about flying back in September, which would not do at all. We even reserved a car and started gearing up for driving the kids back from Chicago to New York. Luckily, our flight was one of the first to land at La Guardia on Monday. Whew!

Somewhere in there I also finished a shawlette (pattern TK) and a sweater I can't wait to wear and show you. I also reviewed the edited pattern for Jane Austen Knits and saw photographs of the sweater on a model. So cool! Publication date is 8 November, so you've got a little time to wrap up your current projects ;)

Group!

2011-09-07T21:58:00.000-04:00

I know you're dying for the August trip report (ha!), but I just shoved my superego out of the way and created a group on Ravelry for people interested in my designs. So, if you read this here blog and are a member of Ravelry, come join us (me) here! Don't leave me all by myself over there, people. Mwah.

Wish List, Birthday 2011

2011-09-06T15:02:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so you're going to have to wait for the trip report from August. Life has been busy. And today is one week before the big four-oh for me, so it's time for a birthday wish list. Yippee!

Madeline Tosh yarn - any, all. [link]
The new edition of Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English. [link]
Anything from my Etsy wish list - Seriously? There are amazing things over there! [link]
Rainboots - rain is forecast all week long, and I threw out my leaking boots in the spring. I'm between Bogs, which Isobel has and loves, and some Hunter boots. Any advice would be much appreciated.
A job and some clothes to wear to it. I applied for the Director of Communications position at the kids' school and have had occasional work wardrobe fantasies ever since, mostly J. Crew.
Bill Cunningham New York - this documentary was so delightful, and it's being released on my birthday. [link]
Pampering - massage, manicure, pedicure, stuff like that. Sadly, I don't really know where to go in the city (ridiculous, I know), since all the well-known ones seem very spendy. I feel like there must be secret, cool places that don't charge and arm and a leg to work on your arms and legs. I'm probably delusional.
A new laundry basket, preferably not plastic. I know. But I'm a Virgo, and mine is falling apart. And nice tools make the job slightly less onerous. There is a gorgeous Shaker one... [link]
Wolff cage-bottom dress form - there's one in my Etsy wish list for $1400, which is crazy (crazier than a $100 laundry basket, even), but there must be a way for me to get one of these here in New York City...
A new bike - not sure which one, though. Actually, I'd love a Vespa, since this is a *wish* list, but it's extremely impractical with the little ones. Maybe in ten years - then I could be the cool mom dropping Penelope off at her new high school. (OMG, panic attack.)
Whatever one needs to run away with one's husband for a romantic weekend in Paris (in early November).
A sleeve for my laptop. I like the Moleskine one but feel it's too cheap (plastic) for the price. So, something cool but, you know, not flimsy. [link]
Alternatively, a new computer/laptop bag that can also hold my DSLR. The one I have is a Timbuk2, and it's fine, but sometimes you want something new, especially when you're wishing. Maybe an Epiphanie? Clover or Paris, but I hesitate over the braided handle or studding - not really me, but maybe I'd like it. [link]
Macarons. Love them. Laduree just opened an outpost on the UES. I'm sure they will be featured on Gossip Girl in a matter of weeks. [link]

I'm sure I could come up with more cool, fun (OK, a laundry basket isn't exactly fun. For you.) things, but there is much laundry (see!) to be done to get ready for the first day of school tomorrow.

September!

2011-09-02T15:17:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's my favorite time of year again. I do love September, and it's not just because my birthday is this month (13th for those of you worried about getting my present here on time ;) I love the still-warm days and cool nights, that hint of crispness in the air, and, as a parent, that the kids are heading back to school.

To celebrate the anniversary of my birth and all the lovely things September brings, you can get 20% off anything in my Ravelry and Etsy stores all month long. Just use the code "September20" on either site.

We were all over the place in the month of August, so once I get my new pattern off to the tech editor, I'll be able to write up a "trip report". Hope you had a great August - I'll let you know all about mine tomorrow.

Summertime

2011-08-08T12:39:00.000-04:00

And the living is ... hot. Due to a variety of unforeseen (and unfortunate) circumstances, we've been in New York all summer. No Maine for us. Sigh.

We've spent most mornings at the playground enjoying the sprinklers. Well, the girls have enjoyed them, while I've sat on various benches knitting up sleeves (conveniently small enough to fit in my purse). And in the afternoon during Penelope's naptime in the air conditioning, Isobel and I have watched movies, read books, and knit sweater bodies. I've been working on a Knitty submission and a pattern to be self-published once Jane Austen Knits comes out. Sadly, both are not ready for their close-ups (and Knitty gets upset if you show things pre-publication).

Guess who is ready for her close-up?

I've also worked a version of my Night Watch Cap pattern in Rowan Calmer that, hopefully, will make a good chemo cap for a friend's sister. Penelope modeled it for me at the aforementioned playground. That Calmer is an interesting yarn - very squishy and stretchy. Perfect for a chemo cap, since it's soft and machine-washable. Makes a great ribbed hat.

And Isobel has been working on a blanket and pillow set for her doll. Yes, she's finally gotten on the knitting train! Not quite obsessive yet, but definitely working on her knit stitch. I've outfitted her with a bag of Malabrigo leftovers. What? It's not like I'm piling my cashmere and KSH in her lap :)

So, we're off to Boston this weekend. Isobel will get to spend some time with my ex and some of his extended family. I will get to at least one North Shore beach and hit up the Fiber Revival on Saturday. And we may tour Fenway Park on Sunday morning - what else are you going to do when the Sox are on a road trip? There will also be a burger and shake taste-off at Mr. Bartley's (we'll compare to our Friday Family Date spot, Mel's Burger Bar).

I'm on the second sleeve of both sweaters so hope to finish at least one (if not both) of them before we go. I always like to start a new project when I hit the road - less anxiety about having nothing to do that way. I mean, what if I finished a project on the way UP there? What a disaster that would be!

Pattern: Deckhand (Knitpicks version)

2011-07-21T14:23:00.001-04:00

So, I've done my first project with Knitpicks' Independent Designers' Program (IDP), and a second version of Deckhand is the result. It has the same sizing range as the one in Avast No. 1 but is worked in Knitpicks' Comfy Worsted.

I enjoyed working with Knitpicks the company and have some more ideas brewing for future projects. Perhaps a Deckhand with some shaping for me?

And I really liked Comfy (75% Pima cotton, 25% Acrylic microfiber) - silky with a nice drape often missing from straight-up cotton, and it's machine-washable - so important for the small set.

You can find my KP IDP profile here, and the KP version of Deckhand here.

eBook: Avast No. 1

2011-07-05T15:29:00.000-04:00

Yo, ho ho and a ... new pattern booklet.

Now available on Ravelry and Etsy, my first pattern ebook! Avast No. 1 contains patterns with notes and charts (where necessary) for eight piratical knits suitable for summer (or any) time knitting.

Aphros - a laceweight shawl - one skein, one needle

Babe in the Mist - baby blanket that is pretty to look at and fun to work

Captain Austen's Scarf - seaweed scarf with hand-knotted fringe

Deckhand - child's boatneck sweater worked in cool and easy-care cotton

Mermaid's Mitts - pretty little bits of lace

Night Watch Cap - Turn of the Glass twisted ribs make a cozy hat

Walk the Plank - worsted weight socks worked from the toe up

Wench - linen pullover perfect for summer

Fibers like linen and cotton are great for summer knitting, as is laceweight wool. And if you don't want to give up worsted weight yarns, there are smaller accessory patterns so you don't end up with a pile of wool in your lap - I can't tell you how happy I was to finish my Austen Knits project at the end of May, just a things were starting to heat up here in New York.

I've done my best to describe things clearly, providing both charts and written out patterns where I can, and including lots of helpful notes in every pattern. If you can knit and purl, I am confident you can create any and all of these projects, and if you get stuck, I'm always available to help!

There are 24 pages for all eight patterns, letter size, and, as always, I've set things up so that you don't have to print the cover pages with all the "pretty" pictures, just the notes and pattern pages (sometimes the same page) to take with you in your project bag. There is a list of abbreviations at the beginning, but I've also included them in each pattern as needed, so you don't have to refer to the entire booklet. While the booklet is full-color, the patterns can be printed in black-and-white without losing any valuable information.

To be of even more help, I'm going to set up a Group on Ravelry to help with my 17 (seventeen? when did that happen?!) patterns, perhaps start a KAL or two, and generally get to know more knitters. I'll post the details once I know them and hope you'll join me.

Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters
buy now

Pattern: Wench

2011-07-05T14:46:00.000-04:00

A saucy lass deserves an easy-to-knit and easy-to-wear pullover for warmer weather: Wench fits the bill. The drape of the finished linen fabric will win you over, keeping you cool yet covered. This sweater was inspired by the shifts that all women used to wear, but now you can show it off. With picot edgings and drawstrings at neck and wrists, you’ll look just a bit fancy while feeling supremely comfortable.

Sizes: 30 34, 38, 42, 46, 50, 54” bust

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Increasing
Decreasing

Wench $7

buy now

Wench is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters

Avast No. 1 $25

buy now

Pattern: Walk the Plank

2011-07-05T14:41:00.000-04:00

Though most sailors run barefoot on board a ship (easier to climb the rigging), sometimes socks are necessary. Walk the Plank are worked in worsted-weight from the toe up (with complete directions for a short-row heel), so you can quickly use up every last bit of your yarn. The Sailor’s Rib is attractive and easy-to-remember, so you’ll have a new pair of socks in no time.

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Working short rows

Walk the Plank $5

buy now

Walk the Plank is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters

Avast No. 1 $25
buy now

Pattern: Night Watch Cap

2011-07-05T14:32:00.001-04:00

An essential part of any pirate’s kit, a watch cap keeps your head warm whether you’re hairy or not (pirates often shaved their heads to streamline their grooming routines). Wear your Night Watch Cap with brim folded in classic watch cap style or unfold the brim and push it back onto the crown of your head, letting the top flop back. With this rib pattern you can have the fancy side showing or go incognito with plain ribs. If you weave your ends carefully as you go, you can flip the hat from knit to purl side for four looks.

A note on sizing: The ribbing on this hat allows the circumference to stretch from 16-22 inches, making it a hat that will fit most adults (and some kids).

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Working stitches out of order

Night Watch Cap $4

buy now

Night Watch Cap is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters

Avast No. 1 $25

buy now

Pattern: Mermaid's Mitts

2011-07-05T14:23:00.000-04:00

Even mermaids get cold hands, I imagine. They could use a pair of Mermaid's Mitts! And these little pretties are quick to knit, light and cozy, and require just a smidgen of laceweight yarn. If you are ready to move beyond the basics but not ready for the time commitment of a shawl, you’ll flap your tail for this pair in fishtail lace. You could even use the last ten grams from your Aphros for a matching pair of mitts!

Pattern is charted and written out and includes helpful tips to get you started.

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing

Mermaid's Mitts $5
buy now

Mermaid's Mitts is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters

Avast No. 1 $25
buy now

Pattern: Deckhand

2011-06-29T19:21:00.000-04:00

Does your little scallywag deserve a new sweater? How about a comfortable, easy-to-wear (and put on) pullover in easy-care cotton. Just right for cool summer evenings on deck. Worked flat with one-row stripes, the generous bateau neckline fits easily over squirming heads, while single button adds a little verve. Sleeves are “just right” at the young end of each size and will be 3/4 sleeves for the older wearer—perfect for keeping out of the way when climbing the rigging.

This version is worked in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. You might surmise from the photographs that Penelope doesn't really like her sweater, but she has happily worn it before, with a grin even. Unfortunately, these pictures were taken at the end of our vacation, by which time she was quite cranky. I'm happy to report that she's in a better mood now, though still recovering from jetlag.

A version knit in Knitpicks Comfy Worsted will be released in July. And Isobel modeled that one, which was a hoot. Can't wait to show you some of the poses!

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Decreasing

Deckhand $2.99

buy now

Deckhand is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25

buy now

Pattern: Captain Austen's Scarf (reissue)

2011-06-29T14:50:00.000-04:00

A cozy scarf is a must for walking the deck of your ship, and what better way to dress it up than with a little of Frank Austen's fringe? He worked the very same fringe (on some curtains) while on shore leave with his sister Jane. Luscious, bulky Malabrigo Twist makes for a quick knit, and the reversible Seaweed stitch pattern will keep your interest until it's tie to tie that fringe and board your ship.

I originally released Captain Austen's Scarf last fall, but when putting together the collection Avast No. 1, I realized it belonged here and brought it to the photo shoot. Doesn't it look great on Stephen?

Captain Austen's Scarf $4

buy now

Captain Austen's Scarf is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25

buy now

Pattern: Babe in the Mist

2011-06-29T14:29:00.001-04:00

Wrap your littlest buccaneer in a blanket of Mist Drops to keep baby safe from discovery, whether on board ship or tucked away on a desert island. Every edge of this cozy cover undulates so baby will become accustomed to the waves, and both sides of this pattern are beautiful, so no worries about which side is best. A washable wool blend makes this a practical, not-too-heavy, and easy-to-care for blanket for your babe.

Babe in the Mist uses approximately 500 yards of Berocco's Vintage

Pattern is charted and written out, and includes helpful notes to get you started.

Skills Needed
Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing

Babe in the Mist $5
buy now

Babe in the Mist is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25

buy now

Pattern: Aphros

2011-06-29T14:22:00.000-04:00

Aphros (Greek for “sea foam”) is an airy and elegant stole that can serve as cover for your evening gown or over-sized scarf for your everyday ensemble. Gently undulating seafoam stitch, simple yet beautiful, forms the body, while a knitted-on lacy edging adds a graceful flourish to the ends.

Lace is a wonderful project for travel—one ball of yarn, one set of (or circular) needles —whether you’re flying across the country or washed up on a deserted island. Plus, it's not too heavy or woolly in your lap.

Pattern is written and charted, and includes helpful notes for getting started. If you can perform a yarnover and work two stitches together, you can produce this lovely stole.

Skills Needed Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Reading charts
Lace

Aphros $5

buy now

Aphros is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25
buy now

Aloha!

2011-06-25T03:13:00.001-04:00

Greetings from beautiful Maui! We've had a lovely week here, lots of swimming in the pool, enjoying the sun before it gets too intense (Isobel got a light sunburn on her nose and cheeks on day two - very mild, and we've been extra-vigilant everywhere/when else since). I do wish we could just buy a vat of zinc and titanium dioxide and dip everyone in it a few times a day.

As you may have seen on Ravelry the other day, I've released half of the patterns for my first booklet, Avast No. 1, and the other half should be ready to go next week (a couple are out for tech edit, and I need a few more photographs for the other two - my smallest model is proving somewhat recalcitrant, and there is no arguing with a two-year-old, however close to three). So, I will be blogging about Wench, Night Watch Cap, Aphros, and the reissue of Captain Austen's Scarf over the next few days.

If you can't wait until the booklet is released and buy a pattern now, I will be happy to send you a coupon for the pattern price off the book. But that offer will only be good for people who buy individual patterns before the booklet is available.

In the meantime, Aloha! from Isobel, Stephen, and me - Nick was behind the camera, and Penelope was sitting at on the steps down to the beach complaining about the sand.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

2011-06-17T14:08:00.000-04:00

Bright and early tomorrow morning we're off to Hawaii. Hopefully the flights won't be too onerous, though I'm not holding my breath with three kids. Luckily, we're meeting up with the rest of Nick's family in SF and doing the second leg together - to a zone defense family, there is nothing like the prospect of man-to-man-plus (the plus being that there will be six adults to four kids while we're there).

I'm excited because I've planned a photo shoot during our trip for my first pattern booklet. All eight patterns have been knit (two need a quick tech edit), and they're tucked away in my carry-on. I'm still working on the layout of the booklet, which is the part I'm supposed to be good at. My goal is to have everything ready to drop by the end of the month, especially since I managed to snag a Ravelry Notebook ad spot (absolutely no idea how I managed that, since I was just checking possible ads, and there it was). Apologies in advance if you get tired of my ad ;)

The collection is called Avast and will contain Aphros (a stole that has been waiting it's turn for quite some time), a baby blanket like my nephew's, Captain Austen's Scarf, a unisex child's sweater, a pair of laceweight mitts, Night Watch Cap (as seen back in March), a pair of worsted weight socks, and Wench (a women's linen sweater from the old blog). I think it's a good mix, and the patterns are filled with my usual chatty (and hopefully helpful) pattern notes. I've chosen lightweight yarns (linen, cotton, some laceweight superwash wool) and/or small-ish projects - perfect for summer I hope. And I hope this will be the first of a number of collections I produce, though this will probably be the only one with a Hawaiian photoshoot!

Have a great week, and I'll try to get back to blogging more often this summer.

Yay! And something for Father's Day

2011-05-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

Finally, the sweater is in its bath. Goodness, has this been a labor. But I am very happy with the finished product and plan to be even happier with the blocked piece. The last few nights I've closed my eyes and seen various design elements behind my lids. This thing was like the knitting equivalent of Sudoku - lots of things to keep track of all at the same time. And that's just the knitting - the pattern is still a bunch of notes and charts and numbers - I plan to spend Thursday writing while the kiddies are at school. In the meantime it's taking its bath and getting ready to dry out, which may take a few days considering that the humidity was 100% this morning. Reminded me of Houston in August. I hope when it comes out that you like it!

Speaking of which, I had a nice comment the other day asking where to find Jane Austen Knits when it comes out. Pamela, silly blogger didn't pass along your email address, so I couldn't reply directly. To the best of my knowledge Jane Austen Knits will be available from your LYS and to order directly from Interweave. I will be sure to post more information once I know more.

Once the writing is complete, I'll be able to get back to some other projects that have been on hold. Actually, it's more like when I had to write a paper in college. I couldn't start right away. I would have to think on the subject then ignore it, put it in the back of my head and go about my business. A few days later, and only then, I could sit down and pour my thoughts out. So, I have two more small projects that I would like to do before releasing a pattern booklet.

Yup, this experience with working on deadline has reinforced my inclination to self-publish. There will be a couple of sweaters, something each for the head, hands/arms, legs/feet, a couple of lacy neck/shawl items, and a blanket. There's still a bit of work to be done, but I'll keep you posted.

And I mentioned Father's Day... It seems to sneak up on me, coming just a couple of weeks after my dad's birthday and often right after school gets out. But if you're looking for a good gift that could even be almost last minute, how about my Dennis pattern? I saw this bit in the Wall Street Journal Saturday pairing knitted ties with handsome checked shirts. Rather than handing your hard-earned money over to Ralph or the good people of Brioni ($195?!), why not make your own? I'm thinking of making one for myself (some day). Since the original was for my dad, I still have to come up with something for him.

Mother's Day

2011-05-11T18:54:00.000-04:00

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day and/or made much of your mother on Sunday (if you're in the US - I know Mothering Sunday is different in the UK, and Mother's Day happens at the end of May in France; elsewhere, I am uninformed). I had a lovely day with Nick and the girls, including sleeping in (the best present!), french macarons from Bouchon Bakery, and sushi for dinner. Really, pretty great.

But the best part came yesterday, when Nick (who is done teaching for the semester) and I had to leave our apartment while some painters touched up cracks in the ceiling and some water damage in the corner of our bedroom. So, we hied over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see Savage Beauty. (Once when visiting New York in my twenties, I asked a cab driver to take me to "the Met", and he asked me if I meant the museum or the opera house - couldn't he tell that I was "arty"?)

The show, the whole museum, in fact, was crowded. But the show was amazing and completely worth it. My only beef was that some of the pieces were displayed so that you could only see one side, leaving me crazy to know what the front (or back) of the piece looked like. Other pieces were displayed on the fancy, art museum equivalent of lazy susans or displayed in mirror-backed cases so that you could see a reflection or peek around the back.

My favorite pieces included "Oyster", which I've always loved - it is also in my copy of 100 Dresses, the pieces made out of actual sea shells, and the gilded duck feather coat from McQueen's final collection. What was interesting to me was to see that his signature elements were there from the very beginning: the bumster pants, the high collars, the exaggerated hips and shoulders, really, the drama. Beautiful, repellant, thought-provoking, clever, weird.

To make the show complete, I brought home the catalog, which is also a little weird. I read about the production of it some time ago, and it is interesting, but I would have liked something a little less of an art piece, and a little more informative. All the pieces were photographed on live models covered in makeup. Then the photographs were altered to make the pieces look as if they were on mannequins (hinged wrists and waists). But there was only one view of all but a few pieces, and all the information about the pieces (title, show/season, materials, owner) is at the back. I still want to see the back of the buttoned-up jacket from Joan! There is an interesting history of McQueen at the front of the book, as well as an interview with Sarah Burton at the back. But I want moremoremore. I want a documentary or a DVD compilation of all his shows.

I was, however, thrilled to see the pieces from the last collection (colloquially known as Angels and Demons). The aforementioned duck feather coat, as well as the printed angel gown. And I had forgotten about The Girl Who Lived in the Tree collection, which was beautiful and fairy-tale romantic. Again, there was a piece that I wanted to see the back of, but what can you do? The calendar, which has Oyster for May-August and then follows with 18 months of beauty, also came home with me.

To cap off the morning, I had a cupcake and salted caramel milkshake from a truck for lunch (what? the kids were at school) and bought some Madeline Tosh sock yarn (Window Pane and Tomato - awesome turquoise and red/orange - might even do something stranded with the two together) at Annie & Company, a yarn store at Madison and 93rd, which I hadn't managed to get to before now. All in all, a super day.

Work continues on my publication project (knitknitknit), and the pattern writing will commence soon (lots of notes, and the charts need to be edited). Now that I have this pretty new yarn, I'm looking forward to finishing this project and playing!

Turn of the Glass FAQ (edited 10/19/11)

2011-05-06T10:40:00.001-04:00

First of all, thanks to all of you who liked Turn of the Glass. I hope those of you who knit it like yours as much as I like mine (wearing it again today). Since its publication I've received some questions and thought I would reiterate my answers here in case other knitters had similar questions. But if I haven't answered yours, please ask.

Q. What other yarns might work?

A. Not everyone can use madeline tosh DK for whatever reason. If you are looking for a similar hand/kettle-dyed yarn, Malabrigo Rios would be a good choice and is also superwash. A knitter has already worked up the sweater in Malabrigo Merino Worsted, which must feel dreamy, but it certainly pills - the tradeoff you must accept when working with this yarn. Since tosh DK is something of a light worsted, Cascade 220 (regular or superwash) would work, as would Berocco's Vintage or Plymouth Encore. Goodness, there are lots of yarns in this range!

Q. Wait! I thought the yarn you used was a DK-weight, but you're talking about Worsted-weight. Which is it? And under materials it is listed as 50g/skein, but on Ravelry it looks like tosh DK is sold in 100g skeins.

A. It is a little confusing, but tosh DK is a heavy DK or light worsted yarn. It used to be called tosh Worsted, but the company renamed it to align some other yarn names. Tosh Worsted is now a single-ply yarn, and the yarn used to knit this sweater (tosh DK) is a multiple ply, which will make it a little sturdier. The yarn comes in 100g skeins; the listing of 50g/skein is a typo.

Q. I'm having trouble getting started with the chart. Do I have to worry about mirroring the cables on the other half? Any advice?

A. Although these look like cables, technically they are twisted ribs; you don't need to use a cable needle to work them, since they only involve two stitches. The twisted ribs are set up so that you don't have to worry about mirroring. By working an odd number of ribs and adding a pair at each increase, all you have to do is remember which rib to work next.

Let's call Little Hourglass Rib "A" and Twisted Cross-Stitch Rib "B". In the first row of ribbing, after working Seed Stitch and Stockinette, work the ribs as follows: B, A, B, A, B. After working four rows bookend these ribs with a pair of A's.

For those who have trouble with charts, here are the rib patterns written out:

Little Hourglass Rib

Row 1 (WS): K2, *p2, k2; repeat from * to end.

Row 2: P2, *k2tog-b, then k2tog the same stitches again through the front loops, p2; repeat from * to end.

Row 3: K2, *p1, yo, p1, k2; repeat from * to end.

Row 4: P2, *ssk, k1, p2; repeat from * to end.

Reverse Cross-Stitch Rib

Row 1 (WS): K2, *p 2nd stitch and leave on left needle, p 1st stitch and slip both stitches to right needle, k2; repeat from * to end.

Row 2: P2, *k2, p2; repeat from * to end.

Q. How do I choose a size?

A. That depends upon your measurements, but it's probably best to go by your chest measurement, since the ribs are more elastic. The ribbed section can stretch quite a bit without looking stretched out and still, through the play of light and shadow on the purl and twisted sections of the ribs, give the illusion of a curvier figure than you may have. Can you tell that I'm a classic apple shape?

Q. At the Waistband, you say to work the Waistband Chart, but the charts are labeled A, B, and C. Which one?
A. Chart B is the Waistband Chart, although at this point in the sweater you probably don't need it, since you've been working the stitches in the twisted rib pattern. Just keep everything in their respective patterns: 10 stitches in Seed Stitch, the next whack of stitches in their respective twisted ribs, and the last 10 stitches in Seed Stitch.

Q. Right before the Neckline shaping begins, it looks like I'm supposed to work three WS rows, in a row. How can I do that?
A. I think there is a typo there, and the row where you place the underarm markers should be labelled RS (and should be one last repeat of chart B, row 4).

Q. Eep, the Joining Round! I'm confused. Something seems wrong with the numbers. And what's up with those held stitches?
A. If you've never knit a sweater "together" rather than in pieces, this will seem a little confusing, but it will be OK. I promise! On your sleeves set aside 'x' stitches at the beginning and end of each sleeve - these held stitches will, combined with the same number of stitches on the body, be your underarms when the sweater is complete.

Start with the sweater body, work your way *in pattern* (Seed Stitches in Seed Stitch, Stockinette in Stockinette, twisted ribs in twisted rib) until you get to 'x' (as in pattern) stitches before the first marker. Place 'x' times two stitches from the body on waste yarn or a stitch holder, then get a sleeve. It doesn't matter which, since they should be identical. Place a marker on your right needle and, starting after your set-aside 'x' stitches on the sleeve, knit across until only the other 'x' stitches remain. The numbers for this sleeve should be 54[54, 54, 60, 66, 76, 82]. Add another marker, knit across the back stitches until you reach 'x' stitches before the other marker on the body. Repeat the setting-aside-body-stitches-and-sleeve thing with the second sleeve, using the same numbers. Work across the second front in pattern.

Now your entire sweater is on one needle. This is the fun part! You're going to magically set your sleeves into the body of your sweater.

I'm sure there will be more questions, so I will add to this post or post another.

Red Cross

2011-05-02T09:43:00.000-04:00

Well, my pattern and item sales donation period is over, so I made another donation to the Red Cross this morning. Many thanks to everyone who participated!

The Mother's Day promotions for 20% off in my Etsy and Ravelry stores will continue through next Sunday, 8 May 2011, if you use the code "mother20" at checkout.

I'm working away on a pattern and sample due 1 June. When that one is complete, I should be able to get back to more bloggable knitting. Plus, I need to take some photographs so I can release some new patterns. Soon!

Excitement

2011-04-20T10:18:00.000-04:00

As you probably noticed, I'm experimenting with the coupon code features on Etsy and Ravelry. Virtual shopkeeping is interesting. I have a lot to learn about turning my personal passion into a "proper" career.

In other news, my pattern proposal for Jane Austen Knits, an Interweave "bookazine" to be published in November, was accepted! I'm anxiously awaiting my contract and yarn, so I can get knitting on the sample garment. This is exciting for me on a number of levels. First, it's Jane Austen. And my proposal is based upon my favorite of her novels, Persuasion. No more on that, or I'll give it away! Second, of course, is that this is an Interweave publication, and I am beyond happy to be working with Amy Moore and the Interweave staff. I think very highly of the Interweave needlework publications (Knits, KnitScene, Crochet, PieceWork, Spin-off). As far as I'm concerned, this is the "big leagues" of print publications.

And I just finished my re-knit for KnitPicks in their Comfy yarn, which was a pleasure to knit. Can't wait to show it to you, but we must find a day with some sunlight for pictures. Isobel will be my model, and we all know how she loves the camera. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks promising.

I'm working on some other things "behind the scenes", so I'm afraid there are no pictures in this post. Exciting to work on but boring blog fodder. I'm sorry! I'd like to do a little knitting soon that's just for fun.

Mother's Day (Ravelry)

2011-04-20T09:47:00.000-04:00

Continuing the Mother's Day love, use the code "mother20" on Ravelry to receive 20% off all patterns. Now through 8 May, so you can even wait until the last minute!

Japan

2011-04-20T09:41:00.000-04:00

Through 30 April, 50% of all purchase prices in my Etsy and Ravelry shops will be donated to the Red Cross to aid Japan in their time of need, as well as everyone else who ever needs help from the Red Cross.

Mother's Day

2011-04-20T09:40:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day is coming up, and what better occasion to offer a coupon in my Etsy shop than that? Now through May 8th use the code "mother20" (no quotes) and receive 20% off any purchase, including my handknitted Matryoshka doll sets. As always, shipping is free.

Fell off the wagon

2011-04-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

Well, I kind of lost my momentum at the end of the month of March, didn't I? I thought signing up for the Knit & Crochet Blog Week would give me the chance to spring to the finish line and then keep going, but I got distracted by the Infinite Variety quilt show, and then my parents came to visit Thursday through Sunday. We had a great time with them, but between grandparents and kids there wasn't much time to blog.

I also finished writing up (and charting) a pattern. Now I just need to find a baby to photograph (it's a blankie), since the pictures I took of my nephew with the blanket, using my cameraphone, just won't cut it.

Skill + 1UP (2KCBWDAY2)

2011-03-29T20:49:00.000-04:00

This post is part of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week.

The past year has been more about gaining skills and confidence in knitwear design and pattern writing than about gaining any one knitting skill (I'm pretty good with cables, lace, and my stranded work improves, but I have yet to tackle entrelac, and socks just don't drive me wild). And I think it's safe to say I hit my big goal of getting published. Having Knitty publish Turn of the Glass hasn't changed my life in an obvious way (no one is beating at my door with a big contract to sign, hehe), but it affirmed my decision (alright, my falling into this) to pursue knitwear design, to even think it was an option. It's also so exciting to know other people like your work, and I love seeing everyone else's version of the sweater, since knitting is such a personal hobby.

This was pretty huge for me. For years and years I introduced myself as a whatever-my-current-title-in-publishing was, and then for a while it was as a "temporarily retired person". Since reaching adulthood I've worked, and worked hard, to make things (and make them more appealing). I've liked doing it, and it was difficult to let that go when I had to. But knitting was a saving grace there.

And now I usually say I'm a knitwear designer and waggle a shawl in their face!

As for my skills, pattern writing has been an interesting challenge. The other day I was working on the hat that's coming soon and just before I sent it off to my tech editor I realized that I hadn't mentioned the two different needles called for in the materials list at all. So, what would a new knitter do? "Why did she make me get those two different kinds of needles? I've never used one of those before. Ack!" These are the kinds of things I have to remember. An experienced knitter would probably know to cast on with the circular needle and then switch to the DPNs as decreases make it difficult to move the stitches around. But a newer knitter, perhaps one who had never knit anything in the round before, would be stumped. Just as in my days in academic publishing I had to learn about the different ways people take in information (fascinating stuff, seriously), now I have to remember that knitters may come to my patterns from all different levels of experience and skills.

I've also become more willing to rip things out (see my recent frogging post) when they're not right, re-knit, drop stitches and repair things on the needles, and just plain being confident that I can manipulate the stitches and fabric to become what I envision. I'm also working on my vision being realistic as far as what the yarn/fabric can do.

A Take of Two Yarns* (2KCBWDAY1)

2011-03-28T20:13:00.000-04:00

This post is part of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011.

Have you ever knit with linen yarn? The first time I tried knitting up some Louet Linen I broke a favorite needle. Granted, it was a plastic Bryspun, not a metal needle, but still, it was a disheartening experience. On top of that, as a fairly new knitter, it was difficult to handle this yarn, so wiry, so rough, nothing like the soft merinos I had grown fond of with their bounce and sheen. I put the three skeins in the back of my stash and did my best to forget about them.

However, a few years later, continuing to hear about what a great yarn this Louet Linen is, I tried again. This time I was more prepared for the hand, and I grabbed a Hiya Hiya metal needle - no chance of breakage there, unless I ran the needle over with a tractor. I re-swatched, and the knitting wasn't terrible. I think my additional experience as a knitter helped. Then I washed the swatch, as Louet recommends, in the washing machine and threw it in the dryer. Holy smokes! It went from crispy and rough to soft and drapey. Now I understood what everyone had been talking about. From the swatch I worked up a pattern (coming soon) and knit up a sweater that I wore all last summer. It only gets better with washing! I have some more, and I'm debating whether to wash the skeins before working with them. It's still a tough, strong yarn, and I kind of enjoyed the magic of putting the finished item through the washing machine. We'll see.

Just goes to show that sometimes you should give yarn a second chance.

*I guess this ended up being a tale of the same yarn at two different times.

Froggy went a-courtin' (Sunday's post - am I caught up yet?)

2011-03-28T09:52:00.000-04:00

Sweater frogging

I finally admitted to myself that the Ditto sweater I knit last summer, with ribbing at the bottom hem and no waist-shaping, just didn't flatter my figure. And it was time to reclaim the six skeins of Berocco Vintage that went into it (along with some pretty mother-of-pearl buttons). Above you can see me, mid-frog. The balls of yarn behind my knit kit are from the front bands.

I wasnt' sure how well the yarn would frog, since I had put the sweater through the washing machine a few times - Vintage is a blend of acrylic, wool, and nylon - but it went smoothly. There was an occasional, tenacious pill of wool fibers, but nothing that a little tug wouldn't fix, and the yarn still feels "whole" as I'm reknitting.

What am I knitting? It's a new pattern for my first collection. I knit this one before but gave it to my nephew (and don't think it's quite fair to ask a baby to give back his blankie), so I need a new one. It's going fairly quickly and, hopefully, will be finished by the time the Knitpicks yarn arrives for my first IDP pattern.

Kittehs (Saturday's post)

2011-03-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

When you run out of things to blog about, blog about your creatures, right? Well, not really. I probably have other things I could blog about, but a comment from Ellen on Isobel's Pipit sweater (and the cat in one of the photos) made me realize that I hadn't properly introduced our kittens to the blog. I'd uploaded a twitpic (I'll wait while you go see them as kittens - George was so little!) back in October after they came home with us, but they hadn't actually appeared here. Without further ado, meet George and Henry!

George behind the couch

Henry lounging

After mourning Riley we decided we'd better get some new furballs to liven up the place, and, boy, do these two deliver! George was only eight weeks old when we brought him home mid-October, and Henry was about five months old. We were all attracted to George at the adoption site but were told that we had to take both. I was a little worried when the adoption coordinator told us not to leave George alone with Henry for a while, since he was bigger and didn't know his own strength

But it turns out that red-headed Georgis is the savage beasty of the two, while Henry is just a big sweetie. I joke that George is the looker, and Henry the lover. But Henry is a handsome boy, just a little unconventional, whereas there is a kitten on a t-shirt in the copier place window that Penelope points out as "Georgie" every time we walk by - he's more "standard". Henry will just stare sweetly at you with those eyelinered eyes until you start petting him, at which point he'll flop over on his side and drool. Loverboy.

George is a bit more of a wild child, though he's the one who sleeps ON my neck most every night. He purrs like a lawnmower every time you get near him, which I've come to believe is some sort of disarm-the-human defense mechanism. George, it also seems, is a woolpig. I can't leave any knitting or even a skein of yarn unprotected anywhere or he will attack it, drag it around, and chew on it. Totally bad for feline digestive tracts, I know! Luckily, he doesn't seem to have ingested more than a bite here or there, and I am now much more careful about the yarn.

I still miss Riley (and Penelope is going through a phase where, whenever she's upset, she says she misses Riley, rather than saying what has really upset her), but these two fuzzy heads have worked their way into our hearts. And, as you can see from the above photos, settling in to Riley's old spots, particularly George who is in the Riley evening locale on the table behind my spot on the couch.

Blogger of the Day: Robin Hunter (Friday's post)

2011-03-27T17:09:00.000-04:00

[Yes, I've slacked the last few days but am making up for it before this week's extravaganza.]

If you're interested in the business of knitwear design, particularly in the perspectives of a wide variety of today's knitterati (not sure how I got in there, but let's go with it), be sure to bookmark Robin Hunter's How to become a Professional Knitter. And don't forget to go back through her archives. Annie Modesitt, Teva Durham, Nancy Bush, Shirley Paden, Jared Flood, Stefanie Japel, and many more! On top of all these great interviews, Robin also touches on all sorts of topics related to the biz, from creativity to bust darts to feeling good about your own unique shape and making the most of it. I'm always learning things from Robin's blog, and it makes me think.

So very tired

2011-03-24T21:02:00.000-04:00

Wow, who knew that going to the Museum of Natural History could make for such an exhausting day? It was fun to go with Isobel, a couple of her friends, and their moms (who are my friends, too), and I finally got to visit the Hall of Minerals and Hall of Gems (not quite Hope Diamond, but sparkly and minerally and cool, nonetheless).

Lunch at Shake Shack UWS only made things better, as did the sun coming out. Errands and whatnot in the afternoon until it was time to go to the dance studio, at which point I realized that I was getting really tired and had spent the entire day on my feet in my beloved-but-heavy LL Bean Shearling boots (I have the gumshoes but may have to give these moccasins a try). Have I mentioned these before? They are brilliant and warm and this is the second winter I have worn them just about every day. No slipping, they come high enough up on the foot to keep slushy puddles out, fantastic. Just wish they weren't lace-ups, but I do know how to tie my shoes.

But very little knitting happened today, except while waiting at Isobel's tap and ballet classes (she has to choose one after this semester - we're not doing both after this). It's a re-knit of my nephew's baby blanket as a test for a pattern. I really like the pattern because it is so symmetrical, and if you read your knitting just a little, the stitches basically tell you what to do, and I'm pretty sure that's not just because I'm knitting this a second time.

Hope this goes quickly, as I'm itching to knit a sweater. Hehe.

Dilemma (Wednesday's post)

2011-03-24T08:33:00.000-04:00

So, there is a job posting on the boards right now for an Assistant Editor at Vogue Knitting:

Company:	SoHo Publishing Company
Position:	ASSISTANT EDITOR
Location:	New York, New York
Job Status:	Full-time
Salary:	$30,000 to $35,000
Ad Expires:	April 22, 2011
Job ID:	1241551

Description:

Publisher of knitting magazines seeks a creative, responsible full-time, in-house assistant editor to perform myriad editorial duties. Candidate must possess superior editing, reporting, writing and knitting skills. Responsibilities include conceiving story ideas and design concepts and working on photo shoots. Genuine interest in the knitting industry essential. One to three years of experience at a magazine or book publisher required. IF YOU ARE NOT AN EXPERIENCED KNITTER OR CROCHETER, PLEASE DO NOT APPLY.

Well, it's not really a dilemma, since the pay is far below what makes economic sense for our family, and VK's offices are pretty far away from Morningside Heights. I wonder if it would even make sense for a younger person living near the office.

It's pretty funny that they require knitting/crochet experience and yet, as Julie points out every issue, they can't even bother to swatch up the yarns they profile - perhaps it's a stylistic choice in the magazine, but it doesn't convey much information about a yarn to show a picture of a ball/skein when a little time would give a swatch that shows how it looks when knit up, which is what we knitters, ultimately, are interested in. Also, I think they are expecting an awful lot of experience for fairly low compensation. I would love the experience of working at a magazine, especially one focussed on knitting, but I guess I'll have to wait until I start my own ;)

Technical

2011-03-22T20:54:00.000-04:00

I was putting the finishing touches on a pattern (you might have seen the prototype in the pictures from the Highline - it's going to be called Night Watch Cap) tonight before sending it off to my tech editor when I realized there were a couple of bits of text that would be better as links (URLs and a mailto). I know those can be added in Acrobat but I had a feeling I could do them in InDesign. So, I found the options to do it, and it worked! Had to tweak things a little to get them looking nice (the programming on that bit seems a little clunky - you can't edit the hyperlink or its appearance once you've created it), but I was pleased with this little thing that everyone who uses InDesign probably knew about three years ago. Pleased to have figured it out, and pleased to have gotten it to do what I want. Kind of like how I feel about knitting.

Back in the day I was more of a bleeding edge girl when it came to technology. I went to conferences and had programmer friends (including the guy who put the monster easter egg in QuarkXPress - hi, Ed!) and worked for O'Reilly & Associates, for goodness' sake. But these days I prefer to stay away from bleeding edges. Guess it's the mom thing.

Rainy day + Red Cross donation

2011-03-21T20:00:00.000-04:00

Nick's back to work, but the girls are still home, which is a tough time for a cold, rainy day. We made it through pretty well, even ended up cleaning a bunch of things out of their room (along with some dust bunnies that are trying to throttle me - ah, allergies). I haven't knit yet today but keep looking at the swatch of tosh Pashmina I worked up yesterday. Not sure if the needle size is right (may need to go down to a US3) and not sure if my idea is going to work up the way I imagined. Just not sure. So, I should go work on a couple of patterns.

I also donated some money to the Red Cross. In the interest of making a larger donation, I will donate 50% of all pattern sales until the end of April to the Red Cross. If you've been thinking about getting a pattern (or helping out with the terrible events in Japan), now is the time. I will add this information to all my pattern pages on Ravelry, too. Thanks in advance!

FO: Sidecar Mittens (Sunday's post)

2011-03-21T09:55:00.000-04:00

Realized in bed last night that I'd forgotten to actually write the blog post for which Nick had snapped these pics. Lazily, I did not get up and write the post, so you, poor things, had to wait until this morning.

Anyway, these are Sidecar Mittens, a great little $3 pattern written by Thea, worked on Malabrigo Silky Merino.

Boston fan, incognito

I didn't do the undercuff, since my attempt at gauge wasn't the best, and the mittens are a little bigger than they should be (completely user error on my part). But I like them a little loose, since they are spring mittens. I might make another pair, going down a needle size, for next winter or make a complete inner mitten with the Malabrigo Sock in Persia that was supposed to go under the lacy cuff to line the whole thing and make them twice as warm.

A fun and quick knit, I made them in just a few days. [Ravelry details]

2011-03-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

And I wondered what I was going to blog about today (the birthday party Isobel attended at Chelsea Piers was interesting but not particularly blog-worthy - I am a terrible bowler, though I do have fun), and then my friend Emily invited me to join Pinterest. Just what I need: roll Flickr, Etsy, Facebook, and your favorite food/home/style/knit blogs into one, and Ravelry for those of us who spend days scrolling through patterns. And I thought I had trouble tearing myself away from my computer before!

I think it's a great tool. Now, I just have to figure out how to pin all those beautiful things I've been saving to my hard drive. Guess I need a rainy day once the kids are back in school.

March Madness

2011-03-18T21:38:00.000-04:00

I don't think it gets much better than this. What a gorgeous day! We went to the Highline this morning with the kids and then checked out Chelsea Market (I was overwhelmed by the options and ended up eating nothing there - crazy!), which I had also never been to. Top it off with some park time in the afternoon and dinner at Mel's Burger Bar with friends. Seriously close to perfect.

And, frighteningly, not a stitch knit. What is going on? I think I'm kind of stuck on my next design project, since I have some seriously gorgeous yarn waiting (tosh pashmina in Bloomsbury, which is such a me color I'm struggling to create the perfect project for it, as well as tosh vintage and lace, both in the makes-you-crazy-it's-so-gorgeous Fragrant colorway) but have a pattern that needs to be re-knit since I gifted the first version. But it's hard to knuckle down to re-do something on such a beautiful spring break day.

Anyway, here are some snaps from this morning's adventure, including the new hat (pattern coming soon):

On the Highline

Cheese!

Lounging on the tracks with my new 'do

Night Watch Cap

Sunshine Day

2011-03-17T20:38:00.000-04:00

What a gorgeous day! And tomorrow is supposed to be even better.

Oddly enough, I haven't knit a stitch today. But I did write up a pattern. On my phone. While we were enjoying the fresh air and sunshine on campus. It's for the hat I knit up over the weekend, and I really like it, which is funny, considering the weather is too lovely to contemplate wearing a warm hat like this.

But I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow of the hat and a light sweater I finished last week because we're going to check out the Highline. I'm very excited, since I've never been, and we thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kids before Nick has to get back to teaching. And the pictures will be even better because I finally got a haircut today (ah, the exciting life of a WAHM).

So, visuals tomorrow, folks. Hope you had a great day, too.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

2011-03-16T18:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a long blur of time in the car punctuated by visits to some special places.

After hitting up Au Bon Pain, the Harvard Bookstore, and J. August, we bid Harvard Square farewell and drove up Routes 1 and 128 to one of the cutest yarn stores in New England, Yarns in the Farms. Sadly, Jill and Carolyn weren't there, but Jill's lovely daughter Anna was womanning the shop, which is as colorful and yarn-stuffed as ever, though probably not quite as stuffed as it had been over the weekend for the North Shore Yarn Crawl. And the cherry on top was that Captain Dusty's, the ice cream shop across the street, had just recently opened for the season - always a sure sign of spring. We did the naughty thing you're never supposed to do with your kids and had ice cream for lunch. Whoohoo, Spring Break!

Since we'd already hauled our offspring up to Beverly Farms, I decided it was best to go up to Gloucester now and not regret it later. We drove past my old house and then went in search of Coveted Yarn, which was also filled with yarn, including some yarns dyed by the owners sister right there on Cape Ann. Unfortunately for my stash I was pretty wiped, so only some cute buttons came home for the BSJ that's knit up but needs to be assembled:

Yes, that bright blue lump of knitting will soon be an adorable baby-filled jacket!

On our way back to New York we stopped in New Haven for some pizza. This time we tried Sally's (named for Salvatore Consiglio, not some chick named Sally), which is very much an old school family operation with signed photographs and letters from The Chairman of the Board himself and lots of Syracuse football plaques. The pizza (or should I say apizza) was yummy; however, things moved very slowly since there was only one man taking orders, writing up checks, and talking with the regulars, of which there seemed to be many happily eating their apizzas. My white clam was delicious (no mozz!). We'll try Modern Pizza next time (gotta try 'em all, you know), but if you've got the time and want to try wood-fired apizza, give Sally's a try.

So, now we're back in New York for the rest of Spring Break. Happily, the weather is supposed to improve over the rest of the week, and I did a lot of housework today, so I'll be free to play!

Knitblogger of the day: Babycocktails (3/15/11)

2011-03-16T17:41:00.000-04:00

[Blogging the day after I should, since yesterday (Tuesday) was another travel day.]

Monday morning Penelope and I got to meet up with one of my favorite knitbloggers, Thea Colman of Babycocktails fame. We met some time back when Thea came down to New York City, and we did a mini yarn crawl with Colleen, Subway Knitter extraordinaire. Luckily, Thea had a little time for coffee, knitting, and designer shop talk in the midst of selling her house, so we met up at a groovy (and huge, especially by NYC standards) coffee shop, Diesel Cafe in Davis Square. We were too busy having fun and chatting to take any pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination :)

We did a little show-and-tell, Thea gave Penelope a little paper cocktail umbrella, which helped Miss P warm up to Thea, talked about how we do what we do. I even got a sneak peek inside Thea's design notebook. It's so interesting to see and discuss how we do things. Thea and I are more seat-of-the-pants types when it comes to designing, working out a lot of the details on the needles, while Thea's friend Amy Herzog of Fit-to-Flatter fame has everything written and spreadsheeted out before she knits a stitch.

I would love to hand the same yarn to a bunch of different designers and see what they come up with. I bet no two would be alike.

After a delicious latte topped with one of those foam designs (sort of a leafy branch thing), we stopped in to the Davis Sq. Goodwill to see what adventurous bargains they might have. There was even a dress form in the window Thea and I both noticed. But all I found was a big Spongebob coloring book for Penelope. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the racks and racks of clothes, I think.

Penelope was a trooper on the T, and I even got to grab a burrito from Anna's Taqueria (one of my favorites) for lunch.

Blogger of the day: The Ravell'd Sleave

2011-03-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

What better day to select for mentioning my friend Bridget's blog than today, her birthday!

Bridget's blog is always interesting to read. She's got lovable furballs (including Riley's twin brother from another mother, Jetsam), a passion for Christmas, and monthly book reports with lots of great books you may want to check out yourself. Plus she was a docent at Eastern State, an historic penitentiary, in 2009 - be sure to go back in the archives and read about it. Seriously entertaining.

Be sure to go on over there and wish her a happy one. Happy birthday, Bridget! Keep up the good blog :)

Sunday Travelling

2011-03-14T15:50:00.000-04:00

Perhaps there is a good reason not to travel on Sundays...

We drove up to Cambridge so Isobel could see her father and Nick could visit the rare book library at Harvard for some research on his own book. Penelope and I came along for the ride. Unfortunately, said little person got sick, not once, but twice, on the way up. Ick. But what are you going to do with a child who think yogurt and milk are a good breakfast? Personally, I need some starch (cereal, bread, waffle) to keep my stomach settled. Needless to say, we were all a bit frazzled by the end of the journey. While I'm sorry not to have made plans to see some of our family friends, it probably was for the best.

I did start working on a hat pattern in the car, though, and am really enjoying it. It's a watch cap but with a little more going on that will give it a few wearing options, if that makes sense. And I think this hat is going to be part of a small collection of patterns I am going to put together and publish in a booklet, or at least an e-book. They will be available individually, as well, but I think I have enough of a theme going to put them together.

Because, really, after all my years in book publishing, I should be able to do this. I've been a copy editor, writer/editor, production assistant, advertising designer, marketing specialist, graphic designer, web designer, and art director. I think I have the bases covered, don't you? So, I've been trying to get myself organized (hence, all those project sheets on my bulletin board to visualize the work completed and the work yet to be done). I'll keep you posted, obviously, and hope that actually mentioning it here on the blog will push me to make it happen.

MIA? AWOL? I'm back (Saturday's post)

2011-03-14T15:38:00.000-04:00

Wow, laziness got the best of me on Saturday, but I will make up for it.

We had a beautiful, sunny day in New York, so all of us escorted Stephen to his ballet lesson, and then we played at the awesome new Union Square playground. We even saw a butterfly sunning itself on a park bench.

While at Union Square I checked out the farmer's market, which is much larger than the one up by Columbia. Even the stands of the vendors we see at our market are larger at this one. Of course I found the yarn vendors! And a skein of Catskill Merino's Saxon Merino Undyed Lace yarn came home with me. I was so tickled by it that I wound it up into a ball right there in the playground. Soft and creamy, just a little bit of chaff here and there. Absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with it (just 225 yds), but it is ready to go when I do.

BSJ

2011-03-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

Man, are Baby Surprise Jackets fun to knit! Especially when using yummy yarn. I worked one up over the past few days and hope to get some buttons tomorrow, at which point I'll take a picture (it's too dark now to show off the rich blue of the Lapis colorway).

The morning with the book making kids was fun, especially with Penelope on hand to keep everyone on their toes, so we have books to show, too. Again, too dark now to see all the glitter Isobel put on her handmade piece of paper. She's a girl who loves her sparkle. Wonder where she got that from :)

Glue Fingers

2011-03-10T19:58:00.000-05:00

I helped out at Isobel's school today and ended up with Elmer's Glue all over my fingers. Can you remember the last time that happened to you?

At the kids' school the week before Spring Break is called IPW (Integrated Project Week), and groups of students and teachers (in our case ten and two) get together to explore a topic not usually covered in the curriculum for a week. Isobel chose Papermaking and Bookmaking, and I made the "mistake" of mentioning my years of book making experience (albeit on a larger scale, usually having pressmen do the dirty work) to Isobel's teachers, one of whom is leading Isobel's IPW. I said I would come for a morning to help out when they were putting together their books, since an extra pair of adult hands would be helpful when you've got ten first and second graders, glue, and sewing needles.

I ended up spending all day there and am going back tomorrow morning to help finish up their projects, which have to be done before the school Showcase begins at 1pm. Penelope is going to help, too. I'm already exhausted :)

But it's been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed spending time with the kids and seeing how they all (teachers and students) interact together in the classroom, albeit not during a typical day. First and second graders are still so squirmy. Some of them gnaw on their shirts (they are still teething, after all). Sometimes they are so excited about their ideas that they forget to raise their hands. And they all want my help. They love interacting with adults who are willing to sit down at their little tables. The teachers are patient and kind and fair yet also human and with high expectations for how the kids should handle themselves and faith in what these children can do. I'm always impressed with how great the teachers and staff at the school are, but this was a special treat for me. A day on the inside, if you will.

I helped out with accordion books for half the kids at the beginning of the day and ended up making my own, which I'm excited about*. And late in the afternoon we decided to "go for it" and make classic bound books, too, which the other half had made in the morning. We managed to get everyone's boards attached to book cloth spines and wrap the boards before the day was done. Tomorrow we'll sew signatures together and attach the book blocks and endpapers to the boards. So much fun. And it was so neat to see how excited the kids were about their books, especially after we copied/shrunk the stories they've been working on all week so they could paste them into their books.

I'll show you my work (and Isobel's) after we get to bring everything home tomorrow. Until then, go smear some Elmer's on your hands and then peel it off. It is still as fun as ever.

*Back in my publishing days when people still bought books at their local book store, the highlight of my job, much as I enjoyed the designing and directing and whatnot, was when I got to make little packaging models. The box manufacturers would send me files showing how the eventual box would be printed on a sheet of cardboard. I would print this out on a piece of letter paper, cut it out on the die-lines, fold it on the fold lines and put together a wee sample of what the box would be like. That way I could understand where to place the graphics on the big sheet that would eventually be cut and folded into a package. I always loved my little models, probably because it was a chance to get out the Exacto knife and tape. But it was also because you turned this simple sheet of paper, with a few folds and cuts, into something completely different. Guess I kind of do that now with sticks and string. See, fun!

Where the Magic Happens

2011-03-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

Thought you all might be interested in seeing where I work:

The Magic Factory

So, this is it. My desk is in a corner of the living/dining area right by the kitchen. It's in the middle of everything but out of the way, if that makes sense.

The desk itself is one of those build-your-own from IKEA (I know, they're all "build it yourself", but I chose the top and legs, which are little bookshelves). As you can see the desk has a glass top, so I can tuck things underneath for display - nothing very pretty right now (knitting mags, notebooks, a cutting mat, clippings from magazines, my scales). There's also the laptop (an antique PowerBook G4 - I keep changing my mind on what I want, then having to save more money, then spending some of it on something else, then having to save more, then having to decide all over again because all the new models are coming out soon); it works-ish, and that's what counts right now.

Since the kids are on Spring Break for the next two weeks, I'm trying to come up with some things we can do so I won't ... you know ... go crazy. Ahem. So, on the desk there's a copy of The Best Things to Do in New York City: 1001 Ideas, which is a really entertaining and informative book. I came up with a bunch of things I'd like to do with the kids, some of which I hadn't known about before. Did you know that there is a botanical garden on Staten Island, and it has a garden designed like The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (one of my all-time favorite books)? And the Queens County Farm Museum raises heritage breed sheep! I may actually be excited about Spring Break.

You may also notice Little Red Riding Penelope's picnic basket, the hand-crafted tinker toy-esque and index card versions of 3-D Rectangular Prisms Isobel made in school, my swift, my Palm Pre on its Touchstone (best charger ever, and a great little phone - I really like the keyboard), and a bag from Knitty City.

What else? My file thingy with folders for the kids, client stuff, clippings of decorating ideas and three sets of Farrow and Ball paint chips collected over the years - their paint names are as delightful as their hues. My pencil cup is a lovely bit of Burleigh Ironstone I bought when the Stonewall Kitchen at the Atrium Mall closed, and is filled with colored pencils, Sharpie Fine markers (note to self: I need more of those), a nail file, and various scissors, which no one else is allowed to touch. Peeking out behind the laptop is a giant, pale blue, plastic clothespin holding tax info and a picture of Isobel from last summer. I should add pictures of Penelope, Stephen, and Nick, shouldn't I?

On the walls are my "Comfort on the North Shore Line" poster from the Chicago Historical Society (hey, I bought it when it was still a Society - I know it's a full-blown Museum now, though I haven't visited, but I should next time I'm in town) and an IKEA bulletin board covered with project sheets to keep me focussed on in-process work (otherwise I would fly off in a million directions and never get anything done), sizing chart information, and Isobel's school schedule, since they have a two-week schedule, and I could never keep it all in my head. I'm happy I remember to pick her up on the days I'm supposed to pick her up. There used to be more (and more interesting) things on the board, but the cats took it into their heads that the ephemera must be attacked and taken down. It was not pretty, nor was what I said to the cats. Even still, one of the project sheets has been gnawed on and the schedule comes down once a week or so.

There's a red, rolling set of drawers from IKEA that fits underneath the desk and holds computer cords, notecards, old notebooks, and other paraphenalia (sewing kit, *my* tape, *my* glue stick - shhh, don't tell the kids about that) that would fly all over if not contained. I've started to put some of my knitting books on the shelves, which have mostly held the "tall" kids books until now (if you have kids, you know that invariably there are those books that will not fit on your regular shelves). And what desk in a kid-home would be complete without little tea and coffee cups from IKEA to corral pins and a seam ripper and bits of ribbon? Mine, of course, are pale blue, which the girls don't seem to miss at all.

The lamp is Nick's and used to sit on the piano until I inherited my grandmother's brass lamp. I'll have to give you more of an apartment tour in future posts, I guess.

So, this is where pattern writing, blog posting, and all that email sending take place. Magic ;)

Winner: In the Shallows and STR Nyame contest

2011-03-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

I know I promised to announce the winner this morning, but I went to the gym - I really need to get in shape! Thanks to the random number generator, the winner is

Michele said...

that color is gorgeous! this would be great knit up as your In The Shallows shawl.

no signs of spring here yet. we had blizzard conditions again this morning. tomorrow i think i will go buy myself an orchid plant because i'm dying to have something around that's growing.

March 4, 2011 9:39 PM

Thanks so much for you comment, Michele! Please send me an email with your mailing address (lovely Blogger won't give me your email address), and I'll send the yarn to you. And be sure to include your Ravelry ID, if you have one, so I can add In the Shallows to your library.

I'm mulling over another contest - let you know tomorrow. In the meantime I have to go work on a Baby Surprise Jacket for a new baby who surprised his parents by arriving a month early. It's madelinetosh Sock in Lapis, and I am in love with the color!

FO: Grés

2011-03-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

Some of you who "knew" me over on Purly may remember my Twitter Sweater adventure of last October and this January (looks like there is one more set of tweets to be consolidated - soon). I'm not sure if I will write up a pattern, since I tweeted what I did as I went along, but I thought you might want to see some pictures, which I took while messing around with my camera, tripod, and remote:

Eep

2011-03-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

Nick just asked me if I'd blogged today, and I've been so busy on a graphic design idea that I forgot! Eep, indeed. We had a quiet day at home, since the March lion has been in full roar all day. Cupcakes were made and decorated with lots of sugary bits by someone blonde. And not much else happened. I didn't even knit much. Shocking, I know. I'll blog more tomorrow, perhaps about the Grés sweater - it's been finished long enough.

2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week

2011-03-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

In case you're not up for blogging every day like a few of us are trying for March, you may want to consider blogging the week of 28 March to 3 April with Eskimimi and friends. Lovely reader Karen blogged about it, inspiring me to join. I took a look at the daily topics and am already excited about blogging on those days (and also feel a little inspired to blog about some other things before then).

So, think about joining the group. I cut down my blogroll recently, when I was becoming overwhelmed with information (Ravelry, Facebook, Twitter, blogs - ack!), but think I cut out too many knitting blogs, so I'm hoping to find more good reads that week.

Not much else to report today, since I think I'm coming down with something. I don't feel sick per se but fell asleep on the couch this afternoon while Isobel and I were watching a movie during quiet time, which makes it the second time this week I've napped, and I never nap. Seriously, I'm pretty incapable of napping, though I can go back to sleep in the morning like a champ. Sadly, that's difficult to achieve often with little people around. Nick usually gets up with them on the weekend so I can sleep in until eight - he's my hero.

By the way, thanks for all the comments so far on the giveaway post. I love hearing about the arrival of Spring. We had a beautiful, sunny morning here, though the wind started to whip around this afternoon. All the snow is gone (kind of hard to believe, considering how much we got this winter), and Isobel's class found crocus/tulip/daffodil tips coming up in Riverside Park a few days ago.

Giveaway of the Day: In the Shallows + STR Med in Nyame

2011-03-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

The first giveaway was so much fun that I've decided to keep it going. Leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win a copy of my pattern In the Shallows and a skein of Socks That Rock Mediumweight yarn in the Nyame colorway (look at all the different yarns Tina will dye in this colorway!), which would be perfect for the plain or fancy version of the shawlette (or split the skein in half and make two mini versions!).

This skein is from The Fold, which is halfway between my parents' and where my grandparents all lived in Illinois. If you haven't been to The Fold and you are in Chicagoland for some reason, try to go. It's out in the middle of some fields in the Chicago ex-urbs, and, more importantly, it's filled with Blue Moon Fiber Arts, other yarns that I heartlessly ignore when I'm there, lots of fiber for spinning, wheels, spindles, dyestuffs, you name it, and, most importantly, Toni Neil the proprietress. I have acquired a number of special yarns from Toni on my way back from visiting my grandmother, including the yarn for the Grés sweater I'll blog about soon. This Nyame skein has been waiting it's turn patiently, but in the spirit of Spring I've decided to send it out into the world (as well as the spirit of Keri's decluttering post). How much pale blue yarn does one girl need? I'm going to share!

As you can see, it's in the skein now, but I would be happy to wind it for you. So, leave a comment on this post, and you will be entered to win. Why not mention what signs of Spring you're seeing in your part of the world? Tell your friends! And I will announce the winner on Tuesday morning (8 March 2011).

Contest winner for The Natural Knitter

2011-03-04T09:35:00.000-05:00

And the Random Number generator says the winner is:

Yolande said...

There must be something in the air. I have never liked walking, but this January saw me finally get on my treadmill and get myself moving every day. I'm quite amazed at myself...hope it continues :-)

Congratulation, Yolande! Please send me your mailing address, and I'll visit the post office ASAP.

Ravelry meet-up

2011-03-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

I was really excited to see that Knitty City (my madtosh connection here in NYC - it is an addiction!) was hosting a Ravelry meet-up tonight from 6-8. Lucky for me, Nick was kind enough to wrangle the girls for dinner and bedtime so i could go. And even luckier for me that it was really cold today, so I could wear my Turn of the Glass without looking like a complete twit.

Everyone was very nice, and I love how there are knitters (and crocheters) there of all variety: age, skill level, pattern interest (you know, some people are obsessed with socks, some love anything in Wollmeise - must ask my sister to get me some while she's in Berlin - and some are into garter stitch). That last one is actually me, working on a possible Knitty submission. We'll see; I had to frog a big chunk of it today but am pretty sure I'm on the right track now. Now, I have to admit here to all of you that I am shy. No, really, I'm kind of a big dork, perhaps especially the past few years. I think my social muscles don't get the same workout these days - I'm home with the kids a lot and most of the grown-ups I hang out with are other moms and dads, so we reflexively talk about them. But, I got over myself tonight and had a good time with people I didn't know.

I'm looking forward to going again next month, since this is now going to be a regular thing. Yay! Between my kids'-school based knitting group that meets joyfully but sporadically and this Ravelry meet-up, perhaps I'll get back in social shape, at least with the knitters.

Knitblogger of the day: Canary Knits

2011-03-02T17:35:00.000-05:00

In an effort to start my new blog home off on the proper foot, I've joined CanaryKnits and some other bloggers in blogging every day for the month of March. So, I thought today would be a good day to profile the knitblogger and designer who profiles independent designers. And you're in for a feathery treat if you visit her blog today, since she's featured her new zebra finches.

Teresa not only profiles independent designers every Friday, she is a designer herself. She has self-published the booklet Little Seasonals recently with Hannah Poon and has a pattern - the alluring Milk Maiden - featured in Julie Turjoman's Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere.

Short and sweet today, since we're hosting a playdate for Isobel. Tomorrow everyone will be at school, so hopefully (after a workout) I'll be able to write a little more, perhaps even post a picture. After I exercise, of course!

Many thanks to yesterday's commenters, some of whom I didn't know before. Remember, you can still comment on yesterday's post until Friday morning, when I will announce the winner and the next giveaway!

Welcome! And a contest.

2011-03-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

Today is the day! I've "moved blog" to this address and hope to blog long and often here from now on. To celebrate I'm going to have my first contest (how embarrassing to blog for so long without hosting a contest).

How about we talk about "firsts" and turning over new leaves and such? In addition to moving to the new blog, today I went to the gym. Can you believe it? Generally, I pride myself on my laziness, but it's time to get back in shape. So, I walked and jogged on the track and took a look at all the equipment they have (it's the Columbia gym, so they have a ton of stuff for all those kids). There was a Vinyasa Yoga class going on in one of the studios while I was there, and I may have to see if I can arrange my schedule to take it, though I'd rather do Hatha to start. Anyway, that's my new leaf today.

For the contest, I have an extra copy of the wonderful book The Natural Knitter (link will take you to Amazon; go here to check it out on Ravelry). It's a lovely book (and a shame that Barbara Albright passed away before it even came out), with a nice variety of patterns and lots of interesting information about plant and animal fibers, as well as a little bit on dying and spinning. It looks like Potter Craft may be taking this book out of print.

To enter, leave a comment about what new things you're doing as Spring comes our way on this post before 9am on Friday March 4th. On Friday I will announce the randomly selected winner. And be sure to keep reading for more contests and knitting news.

Thanks and happy knitting!

Pattern: In the Shallows

2011-01-25T14:35:00.006-05:00

In the not-so-distant past I started a basic triangular shawl (or so I thought), but I wasn't paying attention to my increases and, suddenly, I had In the Shallows. It worked out so well I tried some variations, so there are plain and fancy versions. It makes for a cozy bit of color popping out of your coat collar this winter or an added bit of flair when spring comes.

What's that? You have more sock yarn? You're in luck! In the Shallows will allow you to use up just about every last yard in a cozy shawl to be tossed casually around your neck like a scarf, work bandit style, or gently draped across your shoulders for modesty or warmth--the shallowness of the triangle makes long ends that can be tied, if you like. And the fabric choice is yours: Plain (garter) or Fancy (eyelet).

The pattern is available here on Ravelry or you can purchase it immediately using the button below.

Pattern: Turn of the Glass

2011-01-25T12:15:00.003-05:00

Last summer I fell in love with some madelinetosh dk yarn in Mourning Dove at Purl Diva, and I decided to turn it into a cardigan. But not just any cardigan, of course! I started to think about different methods of shaping knit fabric and wanted something that shaped the waist without traditional waist-shaping. And I really wanted to try out seamless set-in sleeves. So, armed with some interesting ribbing patterns and my interpretation of EZ's über-cleverness, Turn of the Glass was born.

Where did the name come from? One of the rib patterns is Little Hourglass Rib (the other is Reverse Cross-Stitch Rib - not quite as poetic). Mash that up with my focus on shaping and penchant for all things nautical, and Turn of the Glass just seemed to fit. I hope you like it - I wore mine again yesterday and am looking forward to wearing it next weekend at Vogue Knitting Live! Maybe I'll see you there.

The pictures here are from the first photo shoot (see the Flickr set here), showing the sweater with one of Leslie Wind's beautiful "C" pins, which is the way I wear it most of the time. However, we wanted to show it worn open on Knitty (and looking more wintry), hence, the photo that shows me with some faux snow at Thanksgiving, though it sure was cold enough for the real thing. Apparently, they were shooting Contagion at one of the grade schools in my hometown (and I missed my chance to meet Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, etc. - shoot!). We were driving by and managed to snap some shots before the Teamsters pulled up the white tarps and carried off the polyfill batting.

Pattern: Captain Austen's Scarf

2010-09-17T11:57:00.001-04:00

I've had an idea for a red captain's scarf for quite some time (think "Captain Jack Sparrow", if you've seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movies). Then, one day I walked into Yarntopia and saw this Malabrigo Twist yarn in Ravelry Red - perfect color for what I had in mind and, oh my, what a yarn! All the softness and richness of color that you love in Malabrigo Worsted with multiple plies to keep pilling at bay.

A cozy scarf is a must for walking the deck of your ship, and what better way to dress it up than with a little of Frank Austen’s fringe? He worked the very same fringe (on some curtains) while on shore leave with his sister Jane. Luscious, bulky Malabrigo Twist makes for a quick knit, and the reversible Seaweed stitch pattern will keep your interest until it’s time to tie that fringe and board your ship.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry, or you can purchase it directly using the button below.

Pattern: On the High Seas

2010-04-16T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it’s a little chilly at the helm of your ship. Or perhaps you want to drape a little something across your shoulders (for modesty?) to greet that boarding party. A shawlette is just the thing. This one uses your favorite sock yarn and the beautiful Crest of the Wave lace pattern, which has enough “lace action” to keep you interested without being so complex that you can’t keep an eye on the horizon. Pattern includes chart and written-out instructions for lace.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry or you can purchase it directly using the button below.

Pattern: Vines

2010-03-26T10:04:00.001-04:00

You've seen the preview, now you can buy the pattern. Apologies for taking so long -- the schematic intimidated me, since I'm a designer, not an illustrator. You'll laugh when you see how simple it is, and I knew it would be.

Anyway, I hope you like it! My test knitters (thanks, ladies -- you rock!) were enthusiastic and, happily for me, tried it in different kinds of yarn. Should you want to use an inelastic yarn (silk or cotton), you'll want to lean more towards two inches of negative ease rather than four for a stretchier yarn.

I've graded this piece for sizes XS, S, M, L, and XL. The lace pattern is both charted and written out (and it's a really straightforward lace pattern), so you have no excuses! You need a spring layering piece, don't you? The sun is out here in New York City, but it's still brisk.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry or you can purchase it directly using the button below.

Patterns for Haiti

2010-01-18T09:39:00.002-05:00

From now until January 31st I will donate 50% of all pattern sales to Doctors Without Borders/MSF to aid in Haitian relief efforts. You can find my patterns for sale at my Etsy store and on Ravelry, where a whole bunch of designers are also donating portions of their proceeds. Help Haiti and get to know some new-to-you designers' patterns (or buy the ones you've got in your queue).

Pattern: Dennis

2009-11-30T11:12:00.004-05:00

Back in the day, I remember my dad, Dennis, sporting a cool knit tie like this for casual wear. Now everyone seems to be getting in on the action. Quick to knit from luxurious alpaca and silk, this tie has an elegant texture that makes it stand out (quietly) from the crowd and would make a great gift for the man (or woman) in your life.

I used the entire skein of Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca Silk for the small tie, so if you want to knit a gauge swatch, be sure to buy a second skein or be prepared to frog your swatch. The men’s tie will leave you with plenty of yarn for a swatch and the tab, to keep the tail of the tie under control (men like that kind of thing; ladies usually wear their ties with a little more insouciance).

The Spot Stitch gives interest for knitter and wearer while being easy to remember. It is also a good lesson in “seeing” your knitting with purl bumps every other stitch every other row.

Columns of purl stitches up both sides help it to lie flat in the front, while the back, knit flat, helps the yarn go further, keeps the around-the-neck area slim, and the front lie smoothly over the back.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry or you can buy it directly using the button below.

Technical Difficulties

2009-11-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

More work to come once the new battery arrives to save my laptop from brickdom.

Safari

2009-11-05T16:47:00.001-05:00

Safari: Home page

Safari: User home screen

Safari: Search results screen

These are screen shots of the original user interface for Safari: O'Reilly Books Online (now Safari Books Online, as other publishers have come on board to add their content to this online interface). I worked with the development team in Belgium and the East and West Coast offices of O'Reilly to come up with the interface back in 1999-2000.

This was such an interesting project to work on because I not only had to reinforce the O'Reilly identity but take it into a new online realm. I also had to think about how different readers/users would want to work with our material online. Luckily, my earlier experience in educational publishing came in handy, where I had learned about different modes of learning. And my years working with Edie Freedman, Creative Director extraordinaire helped, too.

From here I went on to work for Gomez.com, largely in the GomezPro division, designing online tools for customers, including a tool to create online surveys, which was, again, interesting, as I had to think of all the different kinds of questions users would want to ask and then figure out the best design for those elements. I am looking through my archives for design samples from my Gomez days and will post what I find.

Pattern: Matryoshka Japonais

2009-11-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

Who wouldn’t love their own set of soft, woolly, knitted dolls? My daughters can’t keep away from these three. They are based on the traditional Russian nesting dolls known as Matryoshka, which were in turn inspired by a set of Japanese dolls representing the Seven Gods of Fortune. The blue and white colorwork was inspired by Japanese indigo resist-dyed fabrics.

These dolls are a wonderful way to try intarsia and stranded colorwork techniques on a small scale. If that is too much, the dolls could also be worked plain with their faces added afterwards using duplicate stitch and their skirts embellished with embroidery.

This pattern is for all three dolls and includes five charts.

CSB Fashion Show Invitation

2009-11-05T15:38:00.001-05:00

Invitation, envelope, reply card, raffle cards and tickets, note card (not shown: reply envelope, stationery sheet for staff use, and program) for The Children's Service Board of Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago 46th Annual Gold Coast Fashion Show

This was a two-color job, so I chose the classic combination of red and black for a sharp and sophisticated look -- previous years had gone for a softer color combination. The checkerboard added a graphic element to balance the lovely fashion sketch, and I really liked the impact of opening the invitation and getting that full-on pop of red.

Pattern: Infinite

2009-11-04T14:25:00.001-05:00

Just one skein of luscious Rowan's Kidsilk Haze will give you the most popular accessory of the season: an infinity scarf. Wear it long, like a super-drapey cowl, double it up for that casual scarf look, or pull the second wrap up over your head like a smoke ring. $2.00 PDF download from Ravelry.

ETA: Infinite will increase in price to $4.00 on 15 November.

Healing with Crystals & Gemstones

2009-10-29T15:42:00.000-04:00

Healing with Crystals & Gemstones by Daya Sarai Chocron (Weiser Books)
Art direction, photo research, production

The Fairy Party Book

2009-10-29T15:32:00.000-04:00

The Fairy Party Book by Marina T. Stern (Red Wheel)
Art direction, hiring of freelance illustrator, production

Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow

2009-10-29T15:28:00.000-04:00

Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow by Karen Casey (Red Wheel/Weiser)
Art direction, photo research, production

Free Pattern: EZ as Pi Lace Beret

2009-10-28T15:21:00.000-04:00

A beret from the top. Starting with i-cord and progressing into a Miniature Leaf Lace from Barbara Walker, this beret increases based upon the principle of Pi.

Download a PDF now.

Free Pattern: Jean Beret

2009-10-28T15:10:00.000-04:00

A new pattern...

This one is for my mom. She wanted a cozy, beret-style hat that was large enough to pull down around her ears to keep warm in Chicago (and up in the snowy wilds of Wisconsin sometimes). You can wear it down around your ears like a stocking cap, beret-style, or pushed back on your head, which seems to be all the rage these days. I knit it with two skeins of Crystal Palace Yarns Merino 5 Solid in Black, and a good sub would be Berocco's Pure Merino to get the same fabric, but Malabrigo Merino Worsted or Cascade 220 would work just as well (and only one skein!).
Download the PDF now.

Moon Magic

2009-10-23T12:39:00.001-04:00

Moon Magic by Dion Fortune
Cover design and production
We ended up doing a one-color printing (and had to choose a dark enough color for the barcode to scan) of the cover and then foil-stamping the title in silver - inspired by the lovely cover treatments for the His Dark Materials series but without the budget for the gorgeous hand-lettered titles [The Golden Compass paperback].

Celtic Cross

2009-10-23T12:20:00.000-04:00

Celtic Cross: Croes Celtaidd kit by Derek Bryce (Red Wheel)
Design and production of die-cut box and included book

Moments In Between

2009-10-23T12:16:00.000-04:00

Moments In Between: The Art of the Quiet Mind by David Kundtz (Conari Press)
Cover design and production, photo research, interior design and production
A lushly illustrated, abridged edition of Kundtz's Quiet Mind

course|notes Reference Guides

2009-10-21T13:08:00.000-04:00

course|notes Reference Guides series design
Brief: Create series design for z-style, tri-fold, laminated reference cards filled with a wide variety of information; color-code information and build in enough flexibility to cover design issues that will come to light as new topic cards are created. Previous card designs were jumbled and filled with undifferentiated type, limiting their usefulness to students.

Alternative MCSE/MCSA Series designs

2009-10-21T12:58:00.001-04:00

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista by Byron Wright & Leon Plesniarski (Thomson|Course Technology)
Alternative designs for MCSE/MCSA Series

Health Care Law

2009-10-21T12:52:00.000-04:00

Health Care Law by Janice Kazmier (Thomson|Delmar Learning)

Art direction of freelance designer working with remote team

Evidence

2009-10-21T12:50:00.001-04:00

Evidence: Investigation, Rules, and Trials by Benjamin H. Frisch (Thomson|Delmar Learning)
Art direction of freelance designer working with remote team

Illustrated Series

2009-10-21T12:47:00.000-04:00

Illustrated Series
Introduction to Computer Concepts, Sixth Edition, Enhanced by June Jamrich Parsons and Dan Oja (Thomson|Course Technology)
Art direction of existing series design included art selection, adjustment, and color correction; color palette selection; interior design adjustment; ancillary design, production, and coordination

MCSE Guide to Microsoft Windows Vista Professional

2009-10-21T12:42:00.000-04:00

MCSE Guide to Microsoft® Windows ® Vista Professional by Byron Wright & Leon Plesniarski (Thomson|Course Technology)
Redesign of series for a more modern, graphic look

A Guided Tour of Microsoft Office 2007, Windows Vista Edition

2009-10-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

A Guided Tour of Microsoft® Office 2007, Windows Vista™ Edition, Movie Tutorials CD by Corinne Hoisington (Thomson|Course Technology)
Stock photo research and adaptation of series design for new Vista titles.

Lessons from the Top Paralegal Experts

2009-10-21T12:34:00.001-04:00

Lessons from the Top Paralegal Experts by Carole A. Bruno (Thomson|Delmar Learning)
Art direction of freelance designer working with remote team
Four different options for dealing with the issues of race and gender when producing books that will entice and reassure rather than offend wide-ranging market, including handsome two-color option

A Guided Tour of Microsoft Windows Vista

2009-10-21T12:28:00.000-04:00

A Guided Tour of Microsoft Windows Vista™ Movie Tutorials CD by Corinne Hoisington (Thomson|Course Technology)
Stock photo research and adaptation of series design for new Vista titles.

Buckland's Book of Saxon Witchcraft

2009-10-19T13:59:00.000-04:00

Buckland's Book of Saxon Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland
Brief: A reissue of a classic book on witchcraft; ethereal, not "witchy"
I art directed the photographer remotely -- we were excited about the idea of the model's hair and the tree limbs working together -- and then did the book design.

The Breakup Repair Kit

2009-10-19T13:49:00.000-04:00

The Breakup Repair Kit by Marni Kamins and Janice MacLeod, foreword by Breakup Girl Brief: fun, bright, graphic; reminiscent of a First Aid Kit
I designed this cover and created the illustration.

The ABCs of Full Tilt Living

2009-10-19T13:31:00.000-04:00

The ABCs of Full-Tilt Living by Maureen Smith
Brief: colorful, fun, appeal to women-of-a-certain-age -- little girl on bicycle to evoke the joy of childhood