Prairie Fibre Festival: September 24th

Have I mentioned that I'll be at the Prairie Fibre Festival on September 24th with my sample garments and accessories, selling patterns and talking to fellow crafters? It's looking to be a great event, and I'm giving away a pair of tickets via Facebook and Instagram, so if you're interested in being in with a chance to win those, then look me up and follow me on one, the other, or both. I'm easy to find, just type in my name!

Hope to see you there!

Yarn Chase Hat

Today I'm sharing with you a ridiculously adorable knitting collection! I am very pleased to be a part of the new Knit Picks collection, Charmed: Whimsical Knitted Accessories. You can check out the entire collection at Knit Picks or at Ravelry, where you can see foxes, gnomes, vegetables, cheerful pops of colour, all making for a great set of accessories. (Update: Pattern can now be purchased at this link from Knit Picks, and you can pick out your yarn colours right there to put together your kit!)

My contribution, the Yarn Chase Hat, features a cat chasing a 3D ball of yarn that unravels around the hat. Worked in Knit Picks Palette, it is written for sizes small, medium and large (pictured below in small). Knit flat, using intarsia, the hat is seamed, embroidered with surface crochet, and topped with a pom-pom.

A little while ago, I joined Instagram, where I'm giving away a copy of the e-book! If you're on Instagram, you can enter by commenting on this post by the end of October 29th (23:59 GMT).

Good luck, and Happy Knitting!

Very Brief Update

Hi, just a quick update today!

I would like to congratulate Scarpetta1, who won a coupon for a free pattern of choice from my Ravelry shop. The coupon is good for one year, so patterns that are not yet uploaded will be available as well to her; looking forward to seeing what she chooses.

My camera won't talk to my computer at the moment, so I can't share any photos right now. So, please believe me when I say that Spring is finally here in Edmonton even if I can't offer a glimpse of the crocus and tulip that have bloomed in the past week.

I also am pleased to have a new nephew! The family is busy scuttling around getting ready to welcome him home, so the week should continue to be busy. He came a very wee bit early, so I haven't managed to get my sewing done for him yet (I'm just stitching up some burp cloths so far anyhow). I'm planning to knit up a 9-month-old size sweater for him for Christmas, and would love to hear your suggestions for patterns!

Crafting is Catching

A very good thing about doing DIY crafty stuff is that it's catching.

I caught it from Mom, who would bake, cook, sculpt, sew, glue things to other things, cross-stitch, do leatherwork, arrange flowers, and decorate wedding cakes (and probably lots of other things) as I was growing up. She continues to be crafty, and has added quilting to sewing, has done a pottery show, taken up crochet, and has added making pretty things with glass to that list. This last she herself caught from a friend with a talent and love for working with glass; I'm happy to hear how much they enjoy going to glass workshops together!

Really, I also caught it from Dad, who would garden, compost, build fences, build things for the house to make it work better, build the house itself (two of them!), and with the help of friends and relatives with a lot of DIY know-how, make it a well-functioning house too. I may not have acquired many of those particular skills, but thanks to Dad, I know they are acquirable. Whether or not you learn the actual skills from someone, learning that something can be learnt and done yourself is even more important. 

I also feel very happy that my family has found crafting to be catching as well. Last weekend, there were all sorts of projects on the go. My husband has a great old ex-military jacket that he wears a lot, only the collar was getting thoroughly worn-out. He's taken it off of the jacket, and has cut a piece from an old corduroy skirt that I don't wear anymore. He'll be sewing on the new collar, and will get to enjoy the satisfaction of having preserved a favourite jacket by doing a bit of mending.

My 6-year-old finished up a sew-your-own-mermaid kit, which has a blank doll to put together. Isn't it darling? While I did the hair and some of the cutting, and my husband and I helped her start and tie off threads, she did do the rest entirely herself, including cutting out the scales, and decorating with beads.

My 8-year-old made the cute little fish-themed purse for the mermaid, and is working on a weaving project (thanks to a kind friend for lending her a loom to try out)! She also took the time to make a little bag in which to put teeth for the tooth fairy, entirely on her own.

I'd love to hear who you caught craftiness/DIY from, or any stories you may have of craftiness and DIY spreading, or of being inspired by someone to learn a new skill. For fun, let's make a giveaway out of this, shall we? Comment on the blog with a story (or link to your blog with a story) about crafting being catching by the end of next week Friday (April 17th, Midnight, MST), and by random draw method I will select a winner of a coupon for a free pattern from my Ravelry shop (also listed on my pattern page).