The Official Announcement!

Well, after months of hinting...the official announcement has been made!  That's right...I am Miss May for the Malabrigo Freelance Pattern Project!  I am so excited to be a part of it and so glad that it isn't hush-hush any more.  There are still a couple months of hard work ahead, but I can't wait for May ♥

Work in Progress: Hesperides

It took me a little longer than I had hoped to get pictures of my latest WIP, Hesperides.  These were taken with the new wireless remote I got for my camera, since I was the only one home today.  It was actually quite interesting to see what I look like when I knit!



Every "action" shot I got was a bit blurry...I don't really knit that fast!  I think I just had the bad luck of moving my hand every time the camera took a shot.  I set it for a 2 second delay so I could get the remote out of the shot ;)  Also, I've noticed I hold my right middle and ring fingers super awkward...funny.



Here is a little larger look at Hesperides.  It is a triangular shawl with alternating bands of stockinette and a striped lacy section.  The original striped lace I had swatched for this worked out horribly in action, but maybe someday it will live again as a scarf or stole.  Luckily the change didn't set me back too far and I managed to recover the design gracefully and still keep the general look I was going for.

When I came up with this design, I had wanted something that would work well with a variegated yarn and a complementary solid color.  Since I have an unhealthy obsession with variegated yarns, I am always trying to come up with good uses for them.  This way I can justify those skeins that inevitably find their way into my stash and it offers up a fun challenge for me to tackle.

Happy Malabrigo March!

This month is a frenzy of activity for us Malabrigo Junkies on Ravelry. Basically it is an excuse to cast on as many projects as we can in one of our favorite brands of yarn!  I am working on Irving the Icebox Monster  from Rebecca Danger's adorable book, The Big Book of Knitted Monsters. He is looking great in Apple Green and Purple Mystery (here's a shot of the lovely skein):



He is just a bunch of parts right now, I am waiting for his safety eyes to arrive. As soon as they do I can begin assembly!

I am also busily knitting away on two more samples for the secret project.  Hopefully I'll be able to grab a picture or two for you guys in the next couple of days.  They are looking lovely, though...one is in Violeta Africana and Archangel Malabrigo Sock, the other is in Blue Surf Malabrigo Lace.  And, with that little teaser I bid you adieu!

Sneak Peek: Kisseis

Here is another look at just what I've been up to!



Kisseis is a crescent shaped shawl worked in Malabrigo lace with a large ivy lace pattern and beads! It is named for Kisseis, the Lady of the Ivy. She is one of the Nysiades, nymphs of Mount Nysa, in Greek Mythology and caretaker of the young god Dionysus.



This pattern is currently being tested and edited.  It will be available as part of an ebook and as an individual PDF download in May.

Sneak Peek: Amalthea

Malabrigo Silky Merino, fringe and leaves...on my!



This shawlette was inspired by one of my favorite childhood characters; Lady Amalthea from The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle.  Soft leaves and delicious pastel yarn make this shawlette perfect for keeping a unicorn turned lady warm in King Haggard's drafty castle by the sea.



Amalthea is currently being test knit and edited, the pattern will be released in May.  It will be available as part of an ebook and as an individual download.

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!

So...we're not professional photographers.

One of the hardest parts of designing for me is getting great, artistic photos of the finished objects.  Most of the shots are taken by me or my boyfriend and we're not professionals by a long shot!  Surprisingly I get many compliments on my photographs, which always makes me feel a bit better about our interesting methods.

We did a quick and dirty shoot for most of the Something Sweet eBook in between Ken's work schedule and my jury duty.  I wanted to re-shoot, or at least add some prettier photos to supplement what we already had.  First it was such a bad day for me; record high temperatures, running late and not being able to find anything to wear.  We made it downtown and had a very delicious and very late breakfast (pumpkin crunchcakes, yum!) then began our trek to Ellis Square with stops at a few shops along the way.

Here are the outtakes from the lovely photo session, I couldn't even model any of the items because it was 90 degrees and I was sweating like crazy.  Adding a layer of wool was not going to happen!


Yay...the scarves will look so pretty floating gracefully in the air...hehe no.



 Floating on the breeze...not really.



 Kinda floating...



 The throwing thing is still not working.



Where are the scarves?



 There's one...and sadly this was the best shot of that series.  Luckily there is a large art school downtown, so most people are used to seeing people doing strange things :)  There are some more outtakes in my flickr photostream, like shots with my feet, shopping bags and weird tourists in them.