So, um...yeah.

Hellooo there little blog and lovely readers.  I am very sorry for taking an "extended leave of absence." But, I have some good excuses, really.

So here's what happened:
November - 

• I was rushing to get Snowberry Brambles released both as a Ravelry download and as part of  KP IDP. Man, translating the charts on that pattern to include written instructions was a bear, but I got it done!
• The yarn support came for my big, secret project and I began to work furiously on charts, drafts and the first sample.
• Went to Chicago and enjoyed wonderfully cold weather to rock my hand-knits in and great company.
• Then my dad suffered a major injury to his knee at work the day before Thanksgiving. Broken patella, torn muscles and ligaments...it was horrible and he had emergency surgery right away.  So by the end of the month I was in NJ to help him out with just about everything, since it is impossible to drive with a cast that goes from ankle to hip!

December -

• Hung out in NJ was bored to death, worked on a ton of Christmas knitting and ate a lot of good food.
• Brought my dad down here with me for a few weeks, celebrated Christmas, panicked at my slow progress on secret project.
• My dog, Rocket, got a huge gash in his side and had to have stitches and then proceeded to rip the stitches out...ugh. (He's ok now and none the worse for wear.)
• Went to NC to visit my sister and nephew and to "hand-off" my dad so she could bring him back to NJ for his doctor's appointment.

January

•  Decided to do a Project 365 (really like I need more hobbies)!
• Spent a lot of time charting lace, unsuccessfully trying to get the massive repeats to bend to my will.  In the end I bent to the will of the lace and it worked out quite well.
• Marathon season preparation, lots of meetings and public speaking...eeek!
• Turned 31...another eeek!
• My other dog, Roxy, got a hematoma in her ear and had to have surgery (actually on the day I was supposed to leave for NJ...see next bullet point).
• Found out my dad's knee needed to be operated on again and by the end of the month I was back in NJ. And there was snow, a whole lot of snow.  I brought Rocket along for company and so Roxy could heal in peace.
• I did manage to get one sample done for my project  >_<

 February

• By mid-month I was back in Savannah and my dad is doing much better.
• Roxy finally got the silly bandage off her head and a week and a half later got all of her stitches out. 
• Coaching started, I actually missed the first 2 weeks.
• Woke up the other day in a cold sweat realizing that I need to start busting my butt to get my designs done for the big project.
• Became obsessed with Photoshop and textures thanks to Kim Klassen's wonderful blog and e-course.

See, I told you I have good excuses! Don't worry, I will do my best not to let it happen again. I am going to try to post at least once a week, hopefully more ♥ Stay tuned, in the next few days, I'll bombard you with pictures from my big project and give you the full scoop!

Almost.

I am so close to finishing my Something Sweet pattern collection!  I feel like I have been working on it forever.  The nice part is, that after finishing my pattern for the book, I came back to the collection and everything was almost done...awesome.  So I just had to finish up a few samples and edit the patterns.  And now...only two patterns remain!  The testing is almost finished and they should be on their way to my lovely tech editor by Monday.

The funny thing is, after all of the craziness the past few months, I was ready for a break.  Not that I don't love designing, but I just wanted a break from expectations and deadlines...self-imposed or otherwise.  Of course that day when I was telling my friends I was going to let up on my crazy schedule, I find a message in my inbox.  I have to keep the wherefores and whatsoevers secret for now, but I in a nutshell it involves me doing a small (6) pattern collection/e-book.

I can't wait until I can say more, but it will be a few months yet.  Luckily I will be able to give little hints here and there, so be on the lookout for that once I start the collection!  The yarn support is already here, so it won't be too long.  It was incredibly exciting for me to have been sought out, instead of submitting the ideas myself.  My confidence has been boosted immensely and I am so flattered! 

I have two other designs kicking around right now, one is a drapey vest in Malabrigo Rios and the other is a capelet in Malabrigo Chunky.  The capelet has been on and off for months, I was going to submit it somewhere so I kept it a secret, but I am finding I rather enjoy the freedom of self-publishing sometimes.  Especially with the upcoming pattern collection on my plate, I am happy to just do these on my own. 

I will say it was fabulous to come back to the capelet just because it was already written and charted!  I hate charting, and this baby is all charts!  I finished up the prototype the other night, but I decided I wanted to change a few things, so I ripped and restarted yesterday.  I love chunky yarns, because I am already more than 75% done with the new prototype!  Hopefully I'll be able to get it finished and get some shots of it up next week.

The vest is actually a copy of one I saw at Target.  Of course, I ended up embellishing it a lot.  The Target vest is basically a large rectangle with armholes.  So is mine, but I decided to use a lace pattern for the fronts of my vest with a plain Stockinette back.  The Rios has a lovely drape and I love the color (Aguas).  Right now I am crossing my fingers that I will not run out of yarn...it is going to be close, which is why I am working both fronts at the same time, so I can still have some yarn left for the collar.  I am probably going to stop by my LYS tomorrow, though, and hopefully they will have some left from the same dyelot (one can dream right?!!?).

I Love Darts!

I am amazed and in love with using darts in knitting!  Actually, I haven't had much experience until recently, and I wonder why you don't see it more often in patterns.  They look great and I feel the increases and decreases follow the shape of the body better than the traditional increase/decrease along the side seam.  It definitely suits certain styles and stitch patterns better, though.  I find they give the knitted garment a wonderfully polished and tailored look.

Why this sudden need to proclaim my love?  Well I was taking some shots of my progress on the Winsome proto and I am just so pleased with how it is coming along...including the darts.  I am sure you know that feeling (or want to!), when the design idea in your head and the actual knitted piece are the same...no this could be different here or I should change that neckline, etc.  It is exactly how I pictured it in my head and I couldn't be happier!

I hope to finish up this week, though my carpal tunnel is acting up a bit...I just have to be patient and not push it.  While I am so excited about the prospect of this sweater, it is hotter than Hades out!  It 100 degrees F here today with a heat index of 112, so I won't be wearing this anytime soon!

San Diego and whatnots.

I just got back from coaching my team for the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon.  I was sad that I didn't get as much knitting done on the flight as I had hoped, but I do hate knitting socks...if only my boyfriend didn't like them.  The weather was fabulous, even if I did get some serious sunburn/chafing on race day...that comes with the territory, though  when you're on a race course for close to 10 hours and run close to 30 miles!

In other news, things went a little wonky with a submission, so I am now planning on self publishing that prototype I was talking about.  It is a lace weight shrug, featuring eyelets laced with ribbon and turned picot hems and collar.  I currently have one tester done and a few in progress.  Hopefully it will be all prettied up and ready for release by the end of the month!  Here's a shot of the finished prototype:

It is knit in Willow Creek from Pagewood Farm, a nice heavy lace weight that seems almost a light fingering weight to me.  That works well for a completely impatient knitter like myself!  The weather was quite chilly in San Diego for a Georgia peach, so I got to wear this a lot while I was there and happily garnered a few compliments along the way!

Now that Olive is done, though it is big and may require some altering, I am back to work on my Winsome Proto:

I have made some more progress since this photo, the waist decreases are done and I am almost finished the increases.  Today I did some more swatching of the lace pattern I'll be using and I think my math is sound and I am ready to continue.  Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have more pictures to post for you!

Vixen, Finally!

I am so excited, my Vixen shawl was released yesterday!  It is part of Knit Picks Independent Design Program, which is such a wonderful idea.  You can find the pattern at Knit Picks or on Ravelry.  It has been such a wonderful journey creating the pattern and learning evermore about knitwear design!  I would like to say a big thanks to Knit Picks, all my wonderful test knitters and my awesome tech editor!

So Close.

I think I am just about finished with the editing on my pattern, woot!  My test knitters have provided me with great feedback and more people than I would have thought are interested in the pattern.  The final step is getting some killer photos and then it will be ready to leave the nest!

Today while out for a run, I found the perfect spot to grab some pretty photos of my shawls.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate with me and it will be just as gorgeous as it was today, tomorrow.  It is full fledged spring here in the South and the bugs are already out!

Stay tuned and I'll try to get the pictures up tomorrow and hopefully the pattern will follow shortly thereafter.