Never not knitting?

Well the past couple of months have been very busy and this blog has been a little neglected so I thought a little catch up was in order...

New Patterns

First up is the exciting news that my first pattern appeared in print. In an actual magazine!!
My design - Skinny Lace Scarf in Boho Spirit yarn appears in the 'Designer Challenge' section of Knit Now magazine this month (issue 67). Submitting this design idea and then subsequently writing up the pattern for publication was a very steep learning curve for me - from swatching with totally the wrong yarn (won't make THAT mistake again) and sketching my idea to trying to create a knitting chart using excel (won't be doing THAT again either now I have discovered the brilliant Stitch Fiddle - a free to use, online chart maker) and writing out the pattern to a very specific set of rules so that it fits in with the rest of the magazine's style.  The whole, apparently simple, project gave me a few days of headaches before I finally let it go the magazine editor but it was worth every second to open up the magazine and see my scarf, beautifully modelled and photographed alongside my pattern in print. My mum even phoned me the other day to say she was knitting the scarf for herself and loving it (although she may be slightly biased...).

 I also managed to publish another pattern on Ravelry. Mind the Gap is simple triangle shawl I designed especially for my 8 year old son who wanted something 'like the ones you wear mum but not so girly'. The body of this child sized shawl is knit from the top down in stocking stitch with contrast garter stripes and the addition of extra long ties to help keep it secure whilst your little one is running wild! I am incredibly pleased with the result, as is my son which is the most important thing...

The pattern is priced £3.00 from my Ravelry store or click on the BUY NOW link under the picture.



It has been very well received so far, so much so that I am currently in talks with a well known yarn dyer/seller about creating a 'grown-up' version that will be absolutely gorgeous!

Another project due for release very shortly is a design I came up with whilst playing with a new yarn in the Erika Knight for John Lewis range. The new XXL wool was released last week and is available exclusively through John Lewis haberdashery departments and online and my pattern uses one single skein of this super bulky pure British wool to create a snuggly textured cowl. More to come very soon...

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Sometimes it feels like I am never not knitting. That's not true, although I wish it were! I have a couple of cleaning jobs and I do all the admin for my partner's motorcycle retail business, not to mention the whole taking care of the family thing (washing up doesn't do itself apparently and the boy is still not old enough to walk himself to school and back!) but this year I have come another step closer to my dream of earning a living creating beautiful things with yarn. I am feeling more confident about pattern design and what I can achieve and I am learning more about presenting ideas to publishers, approaching yarn suppliers and releasing finished patterns to the public. I have so many exciting plans for next year including opening an Etsy store to go alongside my soon to be revamped Folksy store, and collaborating with more indie yarn dyers and manufacturers.

In the meantime thank you to everyone who has commissioned work, trusted me to knit samples and purchased my patterns through Ravelry or supported me in other ways.
Because of you I can keep going, keep pursuing my dream and not get too downhearted when I have to go out and scrub another toilet...

Designs and Prototypes and Shawls, Oh My!

Well I had hoped to write a few more witty and informative blog posts this week but I have been so busy with actual knitting the writing about knitting thing has had to go on the back burner.
Priorities y'know.

First, and most excitingly, I got my very first pattern commission from a magazine! A month or so back I got in touch with the editor of Knit Now magazine asking about their design submission process.  She sent me a link to sign up to their designers email list and a couple of weeks ago I received the first 'call to action' - a design challenge using just one skein of yarn (from a selection) to be submitted in three days. I spent a quite enjoyable Sunday playing with stitch patterns, sketching my idea and creating a design submission which I duly emailed before the deadline. I may have whooped a little when I got an email back to say that they wanted to commission my design for the December issue!! So now I am furiously knitting up my design and wading through the magazine style sheet to write my pattern in the correct manner for the magazine. It's all a bit exciting. And scary. What if I get it wrong? What if the design just doesn't work with the yarn? What if I just don't like the finished object? What if no-one else likes the finished object? Stepping into the unknown is always a little stressful for me but I keep reminding myself that they must have liked my idea enough to take a chance on me.
Obviously I can't reveal any more right now but I will be shouting from the rooftops when the pattern finally goes into print!

Then a few days later I received another knitting job - this time from designer Erika Knight whom I knit design samples for. A bag of super chunky wool and a prototype pattern to knit up asap for a photo shoot for new product range for John Lewis. How exciting is that? Again I can't share much just yet but it's a great project and I look forward to seeing the results!

Thank goodness for knitting, tea and chocolate digestives.

And if that was not enough knitting to be getting on with the first pattern in The Shawl Society was also released and after a month or so of anticipation (I blogged about it here) of course I just HAD to get that started too! I probably shouldn't have, what with deadlines and all that, but I just couldn't wait to start knitting up that gorgeous Wool Kitchen yarn!

The Talisman Shawl is a simple stocking stitch crescent shawl with cute, yet subtle rows of star stitches and lace border. As always Helen's pattern is beautifully written with percentage system she uses being so useful in ensuring you have enough yarn AND so encouraging - just want to keep knitting to the next 5% mark! It's a simple enough knit to work whilst watching TV so whilst my days have been filled with work knitting, my evenings have been all about Talisman. As I type I am at about 75% so it won't be long before I get to the lace border and that picot bind off but they may have to wait due to aforementioned deadlines!!




And so, although it's the weekend, I shall mostly be working - albeit in my pj's, on the sofa, watching movies with my boy...  #lovemyjob