Drop Leaf Shawlette

About a month ago I released my Drop Leaf Shawlette pattern, and I have been pleasantly surprised about how well it is being received.

I don't remember what originally inspired this shawlette, but I have had a sketch of it in my notebook for at least a year.

Being part of the JulieSpins Handspun Swap group, I received an amazing fingering weight skein of handspun (along with some other yummy stuff) from silmiriel, who was my swap partner. It was the most beautiful arrangement of colors and I knew I had to use it right away. I thought of the shawlette that was still picking away inside my brain and decided this was the perfect project for it.

So, I started working out the details at the beginning of May, and finally finished my trial by fire sample not too long after. It turned out beyond perfect, this handspun and this pattern were born for each other.

Anyway, here is my Drop Leaf Shawlette:

It is available both on Ravelry and Etsy.

Happy Knitting!

Happy Margaritaville to me!

Another birthday has come and gone, and now I have a Margaritaville! This puppy is soooo coming to Radium with me this year! I spent both Saturday and Sunday evenings 'perfecting' my concoctions... ok, not perfect yet, but working on it! Besides, the more you have, the better they taste, right? Right!

The best thing, is I was able to make the 'virgin' versions in plastic margarita glasses for the kids. They were really happy to be part of the party too :-)

I had lots of laughs with family all weekend, and I was glad to have people to celebrate with. Hopefully this year will be full of new adventures. 

Moving On

Now that Knit Magazine (formerly YarnForward) is no longer in the hands of All Craft Media, I am able to re-release the three patterns that were published with them independently.

I am bitter about my Commuter going missing. It would take quite a lot to convinced me that it was not stolen by a member of the senior staff of ACM. I think that part of that bitterness is because I don't believe, based on past actions of this person, that she feels the slightest bit of remorse about it. It is pretty, and now it is hers. I hope she is allergic to alpaca. and deceit. I am very sad with the whole thing, not only because of what happened to me, but to everyone else too.

The massive amount of negativity surrounding this magazine publisher for the last six months (failure to pay designers, failure to return samples, failure to mail out purchased yarn, failure to pay their bills, rent etc.), tainted my all three patterns. I am hoping that more people have the opportunity to make these items now that they are no longer associated with the magazine.

That said, I am optimistic that re-releasing these patterns will also help me move on. So, without further adieu, here they are:

Commuter Caplet

Photo courtesy Michael Ritz

As most ladies dress coats have a ‘V’ neck collared front and no hood, commuter protects you where the coat stops. It covers the gap between the coat’s collar, so no more scrunching up your scarf to try to fill the void. Its turtleneck keeps your neck warm without falling off your shoulders like a scarf would, and by flipping up the turtleneck it will protect your face when the wind is really howling. The hood is generous enough to keep the wind off your ears and the snow off your curls, without squashing that up-do you spent half your morning creating. You will still look fabulous at the big meeting no matter what Mother Nature throws at you. When the sun comes out to play on the weekend, its simple style also serves double duty over a sweater and jeans.

The model is my Sister-in-Law, Aimee. Isn't it a great shot?

Available on my Ravelry store or at my Etsy shop.

Commander-In-Chief Handbag

This bag was inspired by a military-style pea coat, and can be made with or without pockets. Mix it up with different colors, handles, and embellishment to suit your style!

Available on my Ravelry store or at my Etsy shop.

 

 

Playa del Cardi

Playa del Cardi is a seamless, hooded cardigan that is incredibly light and airy. Perfect for those warm summer nights, or wear it with jeans for a day of shopping.

Available on my Ravelry store or at my Etsy shop.










So there you have it. Moving on, or trying to anyway.

Meet Sally

As I said in a previous post, we lost our amazing girl, Limbo, to cancer. It took us a long time to come to the conclusion that we really needed to have a greyhound in our lives at all times. They are the perfect dogs for us.

Back in January, we went back to the society that we got Limbo from (SAGAA) and, lo and behold, they had a little girl that was looking for her forever home. We decided to go down to the meet and greet the next Saturday to meet her... but she wasn't there! We were a little worried that she was already gone. Luckily she wasn't, but it really solidified in our minds that we really did want her.

So, even though many of you have met this lovely girl in person, here is Sally.

This was the first night. She had a new toy, and I think she liked it... she still likes it.

This is her most famous position. She can be found begging for bellies on a regular basis.

Find the hound!

Sally has her own couch, spoiled girl.

So there you have it. You have officially met Sally.

We expect her brother to arrive in a few weeks!

M.I.A. in the U.K.

Have you seen me? My name is Commuter Capelet.

(c) All Craft Media

 Here is the back story. In early 2011, submitted my design for a hooded cape to Knit Magazine, which was owned by a company called KAL Media.

A few months later my design was accepted. The company had changed hands and was now owned by All Craft Media (ACM). I signed the contract, knit up the sample and worked on the pattern, sending it off in September.

While I was waiting for the publication date to roll around, I was commissioned for two other pieces to be published in the new year.

It was about a month after I signed my additional contracts that some rumblings started on Ravelry about ACM having issues with payments to their designers. There was nothing I could do, I thought, I had already signed my contracts.

In November, my hood was published, and I was very pleased to find that it had made the cover of the issue! Yay!

Then the rumblings got louder. More and more designers were not getting paid. Huh.

I sent in my second design, Commander-in-Chief Felted Handbag in December. More rumblings. Ok....

I submitted my third design, Playa del Cardi. The rumblings were no longer rumblings. They were roars. They were so loud, that no one could dismiss this as a coincidence. Something was really wrong here. Dozens of designers were speaking up about not being paid by KAL. OK, I thought, I was paid for Commuter by ACM, so perhaps they had straightened up their act after the liquidation?


In March, Commander-in-Chief was published. I submitted my invoice for it, and was assured that there would be no problems with it.

At the end of March, Playa del Cardi was published. I submitted my invoice for it, and inquired about the payment of Commander, which hadn't been paid in the 30 days that the contract stipulated.

No response.

Three weeks later, on April 26th I re-issued both invoices, and was told to forward them on to the accounting manager. Uh oh. This doesn't seem right at all.


On 4th May, All Craft Media was placed in Administration. Sigh.

Ok, so it looks like I won't get my money for the last two designs. Bummer. At least I knew that all three of my samples are under my editor's desk, waiting to come home. At least I would get those back, right? Keep reading.

As part of the Administration, I had to register as a Creditor of ACM. Done. Then I found out that all the samples would be available for the owner to pick up on Monday, May 21. Glitch! I live on another continent!

I was able to get two wonderful, amazing women (who happened to be the aforementioned editor as well as the tech editor of my patterns) to go pick up them up for me. After all, they knew exactly where they were. Monday came, and I received news that they had been able to retrieve two of the three samples, but Commuter was gone. It was there the day the staff (except for Kerrie Allman, from what I understand) were locked out, and was gone the day that everyone was allowed back in. My heart sank. I knew that two people had expressed interest in keeping my hood, but because I had purchased the yarn on my own, it was not allowed to be given away (which sometimes happens when the designer doesn't want the sample back).

I guess that someone then decided it needed to be stolen.

So there we are. My Commuter Capelet is stolen.

The last photographic evidence I have of it is a photo of Kerrie Allman herself WEARING MY CAPELET.

So, if you find yourself out and about in the UK this winter, keep your eyes open for a very sad, abducted orphan of a hood. She wants to come home where people have morals. I miss her very much, and I would ask that the thief understand that what was done was wrong, and in the end, this wrong must be righted. I will understand.

ETA: thanks for asking about the pattern Cyndi! Here are the links for my Ravelry and Etsy shops in case anyone is looking for the pattern!

Remember Me?

Today's post officially marks two years that this blog has been sitting idle. I think it is a sign to get back to it!

So, what is new with me? Well, the mittens that I designed earlier in this blog have opened up a whole new world for me. I have started designing knitwear for over a year now, and have somehow managed to publish a few of them, but that is a whole other story. One that I will brooch soon.

Right now I am planning on a very busy upcoming month. Munchkin is in his last month of Kindergarten, and is participating in swimming, hip hop, soccer and golf lessons in June. I can't wait for the crazyness to end!

Our amazing greyhound, Limbo, passed away December of 2012 of cancer. We found another greyhound in January of this year, named Sally (or Silly Sally, or Sally Bally). She is just about to get a new grey-brother in a few weeks, so I am sure you will hear a lot about that. He is fresh off the track (which we haven't had before, all our greys were fostered first) so there will be a lot of growing pains, methinks.

So, not bad for a first crack in 2 years :-) TTYL!

Hopelessly Over Committed

I know, I know, this is a common excuse for knitter bloggers, but it is so true. Let me catch you up on things that have been going on in the last two months.

March – I started and finished my Haruni Shawl (pattern by Emily Ross) which I wore to my DH’s cousins wedding. What a wedding! There were a lot of tears, but a lot of laughs too.

I also worked on my Olympic sweater that sadly didn’t get finished in time for the Olympics.

I started my immunotherapy.

April – I got word that I would be switching jobs AGAIN at work, same company, but I would be getting the job back that they took away from me when I went on mat leave – 4 years ago.

I still was working on my Olympic sweater.

I got the brainstorm that I needed to tear the carpet off of our stairs to the second floor and put in hardwoods… More on that later.

Started working out again to get into the dress I want to wear to my brother’s wedding July 3rd… lost 5 pounds.

May – On the third of May, my DH’s uncle went into hospice. He was suffering from metastatic melanoma. On May 5th, after a long and very brave fight, he passed away at the Southwood Hospice. We were there every day before his passing, as was all of his family and many many friends. We miss you Geoff.

I finished the knitting on my Olympic sweater, I just need to sew on the sleeves.

I started knitting the cowichan sweater for Chris.

A very dear friend went to take her daughter to get her third open heart surgery. She is the bravest mom I know. You know who you are. Still thinking of you and insisting you have another chocolate break. Now. Go. You can read the rest of this later.

I found out two couples that have lost their precious little ones are now pregnant again. May they be both blessed with normal perfect babies this time.

I celebrated DH’s and my 9th wedding anniversary at the Deerfood Inn… We only lost $40.00 at the casino ;-)

Little Monkey’s Grammie and Grandpa were in town and he had a blast with them over the long weekend.

I started working at Heritage Park again.

I found another dress for my brothers wedding.

My Brother in Law was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame – congrats again John!

We held a garage sale in snow…

We went to the Foothills hospital for a recognition tea for the WCOBBS.

And

June – I will be making the wedding cake for my brothers wedding, as well a birthday cake for a special little lady that will be turning 7 in a few weeks.

I have to organize and hold the annual meeting for the society… time flies! 1 year already!

I will be flying with Monkey to Regina at the end of June.

So there you have it, I have been busy. So busy in fact that I don't have anything that I can knit on the train. Nothing. I only have one thing on the needles, and that is the cowichan sweater, but that is too big to take with me. I need to find a new project!