Ready for the End of April

It's been a tough week...let's say month overall. Bye bye to April! Instead of focusing on all the rough stuff, here are some of my recent happy news items (with several pictures).

Frenchie of Aroha Knits was looking for testers and I just couldn't say no. I really love her team's designs and picked one that didn't have as many takers. The pattern was perfect for me. I don't get a lot of downtime during busy season and I needed something that I could quickly start and didn't need to give tons of focus. The effect is lovely and I'm so pleased with the results. The Aroha Knits next quarterly magazine will feature this pattern and several others in May and I'm happy to be part of the process. I'm already a subscriber.

What made the pattern very special was the luxurious pattern yarn. My kids really want to claim the shawl for themselves because it has such a lovely feel. The tonal look to the yarn is beautiful. Not only did I get to test the pattern, I also had the chance to experiment with yarn that I would have otherwise never found. Check out Harnie Hoolie's Designs.

The first pattern aka scarf I'm designing is in testing and thank you so much to my crochet buddies who are helping me out. I'm working on a sample as well and plan to include a larger size with one more repeat so it's wider included with the instructions. 

Today I've started the log cabin cardigan that my sister-in-law noted as her fave from the three projects I listed several posts ago. I'm starting two: one with hot pink as the contrast with grays and coral as the main colors and another with a sky blue as the contrast and dark earthy greens and browns for the main colors. I'll share some pictures as I make progress. The first block for the back has been completed and I hope to get 1 - 2 blocks done per day with the weekend to catch up. If I'm lucky enough to get both finished, Gilly can pick the one she likes best.

Back to my sample :)...I have almost 30 inches and I'm excited to see how many pattern repeats I can get out of one ball.

Have a great week and happy crafting.

One more busy season down...let the crafting begin!!!

After the flurry of work and last minute juggling it feels good to take a breather before hitting all of the open projects next week.

Last year I took a breather on the coast for quick weekend getaway. We planned to have a similar set up this weekend, but things didn't quite go to plan. Cleaning and crafting have been the big focus of this weekend.

Here is my progress on the test knit for Aroha Knits. The yellow edging is such a pretty addition to the basic light grey body of the shawl. I was so pleased to be off on my stitch count by only 1 before starting the edging.

Jeffrey stayed home with me Friday night because he had acted out a bunch at home this week. We had a fun evening just the two of us. He started learning to crochet and seemed pretty positive about the experience. He made such a goofy smile when I wanted to get a picture of him. I'm trying to get him to try new things on a regular basis.

After dropping Jeffrey off with family Saturday morning I decided to celebrate Local Yarn Store (LYS) Day.  I chose to walk to the nearest yarn shop NW Wools. This is a lovely shop in Multnomah Village that is larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. I enjoyed looking and squeezing some yarn :). 

I bought a couple of  new pretty skeins of Tosh Merino Light. From the festivities I received a Berroco shawl book designed specifically for the event. There were hand massages too, but I didn't plan to stay for long.  The neutral light grey and the jewel tone in the blue green will be great inspiration for maybe a cowl or mitts.

Today is time for me to show up to my knitting group again :). Some of my crafting buddies will be testing my first pattern that I intend to self publish and sell online. I'll make a big to do when it's ready. The plan is to have it ready and online in May for National Foster Care Month. Half of the proceeds after fees will go to the Oregon advocacy group Oregon Foster Youth Connection.

I'm working on a knit version from the same inspiration I had for the crochet pattern. It's a bit more complicated than the simple crochet version. Swatching today would be great :).

Knitpicks had a call for pattern proposals, but I just don't think there is enough time to devise one or two. I'm hoping to spend a little time this week on a proposal because sending in a proposal would be a big step forward for me.  Having a pattern picked would be incredible unlikely, but taking the time to go through the proposal process is a great practice run for me.

Happy crafting :)

Almost Tax Day

Generally, April 15 is the deadline, but it falls on a Sunday this year. Thanks to Emancipation Day, the deadline is not until April 17. Having an extra day is a double edged sword, but I'm just thankful that I'm done with my work today before 9:00 PM. I definitely can't wait to have this deadline under my belt. Onto better things...


Here is my progress on the test knit from a few days ago.

Thankfully, due to insomnia, I've gotten much more done and I'm hoping to have the main body of the shawl done this week and to get started on the lace. The yarn is a light grey that is tonal so it's not one solid shade. It's super fluffy. Oh, how I love it :).

I plan to start drafting my pattern tomorrow night from the previous progress I made. It must be ready on the 19th!!!

I think I've figured out the stitch patterns for the knit version of the arrows scarf, which will look nothing like the the crochet version. The last purchase I plan to make before calling it quits on my design/blog budget for the year will be StitchMastery. It's a charting tool for knitters. I have a free charting tool for crochet pattern writing that I've finally started to figure out :).

Sammy has a conference on the coast, so I'm hoping to with him next weekend. This would be a nice chance to rest and craft. Taking Friday off will be wonderful and some quiet time to myself will be a welcome change. My 8 year old son has to behave, or I'm staying home.

I'm not sure if I'll have time to do a knitting/crochet pattern proposal or two by the end of the month, but I'm hopeful I can make it work :). Trying to find a place in the pattern design world will likely be slow and full of rejection. If I can have fun along the way, who cares?

Wishing you all a great week and happy crafting.

10 Days to Go

For those of you outside the realm of the certified public accountant, my work and personal life will look pretty strange. At this point I have over 75 hrs and still another day to add more. My hope is just to sleep in tomorrow. My son's cough will probably get in the way of that, but I'll take whatever sleep I can get.

I'd rather talk about fun stuff. In the mail arrived some beautiful yarn. I signed up for another test knit for Aroha Knits. I'm so humbled to be part of the group and it's fun to use the pattern yarn. The pattern is called Sophyrosyne and it's a shawl for the next quarterly magazine that Aroha Knits will put out.

The yarn has cashmere and mink in it. I've never knit with mink it it's very lovely. I'll share my progress on it soon. I'm using silver for the main body and toxic buttercup for the lace edging. I'm thankful that the pattern is pretty laid back with increases on each end and a basic garter body. I'd love to test the other patterns, but there simply isn't enough time. The yarn arrived fast. New Zealand to the US west coast seem super fast. Check out:  Harnie Hoolie's Designs.

On April 19 I'm going to start a test crochet for my first paid for pattern. Three of my Facebook friend said they'd test it for me. I guess I had better finish writing the pattern :).

I'm keeping this post short and hope to feel more relief from work by next weekend. Have a great week and happy crafting.

Happy holidays!

For those of you celebrating various holidays, I wish you a blessed time. For those who aren't, I wish you all the best.

My family always loves an excuse to get together. My kids did wake up to little gifts waiting form them this morning. While many folks know that it's my busy season, I try to still stay around my kids. They're growing up very quickly. It was exciting to hear that my stepsister gave birth to their third kiddo. They had been hoping for a boy and now he has arrived. Welcome, Alden :).

This week has been very busy with work. Thankfully, a nice little distraction is Aroha Knit's Initiate Knit Design. It's a free program that generally runs over 10 days and follows Francois' process of designing knitting patterns from the spark to written instructions. I follow the Facebook group for this program. She had a class that goes into more depth and it's $247 - $297. It's not too expensive for a live and recorded program. She said it takes most people about six weeks to complete. It's tempting...if only there could be more time in a day. Here is a link to the class enrollment:  Swatch Studio.

One big goal is to actually publish a few patterns this year and I'd like to do so with a great sense of purpose. I found a charity that I'd like to donate half the net after fee (paypal, ravelry, etc fees) proceeds to. A family member has agreed to model for me. Now I just have to get patterns fully designed, edited, and tested. Any takers? I'll give you the yarn if you'll test for me. I want to get the pattern out in May, which isn't much time. May is national Foster Care month and I'd like to help those kids. Can I get a pattern out in time? I'm hoping a few of the crocheters in my group will help me. Please shoot me a message. I'll be sending a message out to my Meetup group.

Here is my sketch:

Here is my swatch, I'll probably play with it more :).

I know this sounds crazy, but I'm also looking at a tech editing class for knitting patterns...much more expensive and will I actually start doing that work? Some designers take the class so that their patterns are more accurate. I love the idea of helping the knitting community and being able to do work from anywhere. Here is a link to Joeli's classes:  Joeli Creates. If you take one of her classes, please let me know what you think about it. I'm really tempted, but time is not my friend.

Lastly, I get to test for a designer I greatly admire. I've just started. Thankfully the main body of the shawl is simple. A mindless knit is a really great. I ordered  special yarn for the test that will take a little time to get to me, so I'm starting with some lovely alpaca lace that a European yarn company accidentally sent me instead of the fingering weight wool I requested. It's in my favorite Tiffany blue color...who will get this shawl....I'll post picks in a week or so.
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The special yarn is coming from New Zealand and it sounds so luxurious: Harnie Hoolie Designs. It will make for a nice gift as well, or maybe I'll keep it. It's a blend that includes mink and cashmere. I can't wait to knit with it...when will it get here already :).