Goin International

In the words of my sister, "business is booming" for my PennyMae shop this week.  I've made four sales to four different countries (Japan, Australia, the US and Spain)!


Three of my items were immediately relisted, but the last one (my Southwestern top) I couldn't, due to a hard-to-find yarn I picked up in Sequim, Washington.  However, I do have the same yarn in a different colorway, which is light pink and orange.  Keep an eye out for this one coming soon...

Southwest Fantasy

As you can probably tell I have many many projects going all at once.  It gives me lots of variety and little chance of boredom.  As much fun as it is to start new projects, of course nothing compares to the satisfaction of actually finishing something!



Coinciding with the miracle of a computer returned from the dead, what a great time to finish a bright and (I think) stylish new top to photograph and edit with the latest version of iphoto!

This Southwestern top is knitted in one piece with an identical front and back.
The bias cut drape was created using a combination of yarn-over increases (at front and back) and decreases (at both sides).

Back to the 21st Century

I am pleased to report that my computer (whose hard drive crashed in like May) is back up and running, and it only cost me $75!  That is the cost of a new replacement hard drive with 500GB of memory.


If you are like me and many I know, you love your Mac. Let me give you another reason to love it, if you don't already know.  You can replace your own hard drive in about 5 minutes with two screwdrivers and a YouTube video, okay?  Do not shell out $85 in labor to hire a "professional"!


"But Meghan," I hear you say, "I didn't plan ahead for this. I threw away my original 2007 Mac OS disk and Application suite disk!" (Okay, maybe you weren't stupid enough to do this, but I was.)  Well, not to worry because you can just go to the Apple store and they will give you the BRAND NEW versions of everything, and it will be free! 

Yarn Bombing

I'm going through some big changes (back in Arizona for the winter...and I believe I mentioned my laptop has been down, et cetera) so I'm far behind in listing new items on Etsy as well as updating the blog here.

In the meantime, here is some inspiration for today!  Oh, I hang out at the Tempe Public Library every day now, and when I'm not using the internet I can be found wandering the stacks.  I rented an interesting book called Yarn Bombing.  I've never been lucky enough to come across this type of graffiti, but I have a feeling some people in my neighborhood might, soon enough!

The Next Level: Knitwear Design!

     Last year at this time I was working my trail crew internship at Baxter State Park and, in my spare time, knitting my first sweater (The Sublime Organic Cotton dk Pullover).  At that point if I so much as dropped a stitch off the needle, it would be a week before I would even look at the project again for fear of accidentally twisting the stitches trying to pick them back up!

It's encouraging to think how far I've come in the past year. When I opened my PennyMae shop on Etsy, I was just beginning to push beyond the basics of knitting.  In the next several months I filled my shop with many small projects using all of the new skills I was learning.  Now I have reached a skill level where I am comfortable enough to really move into the exciting world of knitwear design!  Despite my lack of recent posts, there are actually several things I have been working on that I can't wait to share.  Here are two of them:



Purple sweater vest using 100% local handspun wool from Chittendon, Vermont.
Since this picture was taken, I actually finished the main knitting (all except the edging along neck and sleeve openings).  However, I'm not satisfied with my decrease method on the sides of the sleeves, where you can see big stitches on each side, so I am going to redo it.  More on that later...





My favorite - I will go into much more detail about this item later.
Just a little teaser for now :)



the dip dye-ing process

Yesterday I began the dip dye-ing process for my knitted boho bag.Well, the beets did not exactly produce the color I was looking for - less deep red and more of a stomach acid yellow-grey, I would say. Luckily I did some small test pieces before throwing my final product into the pot.

I was about to give up on the whole "nature" route and spring for some powdered Kool-Aid when I decided to try using a bottle of cranberry juice berry dye.  Actually I will probably try Kool-Aid too another time, but for now I am keeping things natural.  Here are some photos of the process so far!

Step 1: almost all in, except the top of the handle.
I let it simmer for about an hour.

Step 2: lifted out the handle and simmer some more.
I left it in approximately this position overnight
then simmered for another hour this morning.

Step 3: after rinsing the cranberry juice off the bag,
I placed only the bottom portion in some tea,
where it is currently simmering.
I'll probably let it go about an hour.



UPDATE:

Here it is all done.  The cranberry juice barely stained the cotton at all!  I may add some store-bought dye to it later but for now it is a very light pink on top - although I do like the way the tea stain worked on the bottom.  On further research I learned that Kool-Aid works great on wool but does not work on cotton.



Color From Nature

I absolutely love color and while there are so many colorful products out there, I am excited to try dying things myself!  Rather than buying from the store, I'm gonna start experimenting with natural plant dyes.


I knitted another one of these "boho bags" but this one is bigger and made with a natural off-white cotton.

Everything about this screams "blank canvas" to me.  So I've done a little research and I'm planning to use some of the beautiful beets Ned brought home from his co-worker's farm the other day, along with some strong tea, to dip-dye this handbag and hopefully turn it into something much more exciting!

Lightweight Lace

A few months ago I started to get into knitting lace, but then got distracted by other projects and haven't been doing much of it lately.  I was just home in Arizona again last week and of course one of the highlights of my trip was my visit to Knit Happens.  In addition to the Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed I'm using for the red fox, I found several fine gauge yarns that I will be using for lace.  Here is what I started today using a fine 100% merino wool called Harmony.  It's going to be a little "capelet" to wear around your shoulders.

The waves are produced by
making four eyelets
then making four decreases

Red Fox Progress

Here is a sneak peak of the nearly finished RED fox!

Debbie Bliss
Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky
in Sienna and Ecru

It's amazing how fast I was able to make this now that I figured it out the first time.  I did have to do a few extra stitches everywhere because this yarn is not quite as bulky, but I'm pretty happy with it overall, and without any re-doing!

Lux Knit Fox Stole

I'm happy to report that I have finally finished the fox!

Now that I've developed the pattern, I got some rusty red-orange and matching off-white chunky tweed to begin the next one...

Flat Fever

Ever since I found that Italian Ice yarn, I have become OBSESSED with flat yarns, aka ribbon or tape yarns.  Unfortunately the local stockist here doesn't seem to carry any.  I finally checked out the "supplies" section of Etsy and found some really amazing stuff.  I am exercising my self control and so far have only purchased the Sea Green Silky Tape below...

Golden Snake Charmer

I designed this tiny handbag (my first one) using oversized needles for an interesting snakeskin effect.

I have been experimenting a lot with putting simple knots in i-cords.  This may become a theme in my projects...

Winter Hats

I am always looking at color combinations that I see around me - in nature, on houses, interior design, you name it.  I know it's a little early for winter hats, but there are a couple of color combos I had to try out and a hat is the perfect sized project to do it!

Fat...Fluffy...Fabulous

Since my last update about the fox stole, I have made several changes.  I figured since I was redoing the tail, I might as well try something different with the feet too, which were looking a bit unnatural to me.

It was getting much closer but
the tail and feet
were still a little too stubby...

Longer feet and tail but
somehow the tail looks WORSE...

After the second redo, I was happy with the feet and pelvis, but the tail was still not right.  I decided to try something different this time, and I'm really glad it worked.  Rather than take out the entire thing, I detached the tail from the body, fixed it (by decreasing at a less rapid rate so that it looks more elongated) and "surgically" reattached it to the body!

Fat...Fluffy...Fabulous
Finally!

Baby Boy Quilt

Instead of a term paper for my women's history class (Spring 2006 I believe it was), I opted for an art project and that is when I made my first quilt.  It was a simple "Around the World" quilt, which consists of an arrangement of plain squares.  Now that I have a sewing machine again, I am excited to try a more complicated block quilt.


My friend Amber is having a baby boy in October, which gives me the perfect excuse to piece together a 20-30 block mini-quilt.  I already had this unspeakably adorable hot air balloon fabric, which I picked up from the Marden's store in Waterville, Maine.  The rest of the fabrics are from the local craft store here in Vermont, Knits & Bolts.  A brand new top-quality nonstick ruler made quick work of cutting up the squares yesterday.

I soon realized the 1/8 yard of each fabric was more than enough for two quilts - the second one will be up for sale.  I feel like a genius of efficiency!

Fox Stole Progress

Here is a quick image to show where I am going with the fox stole.

The slant is formed by
decreasing on the right every rs row
and increasing on the left every ws row

I've done and redone this much over and over, but reassuringly it gets better each time.  I am pretty happy with the top portion now, but a proper fox tail should be fat, fluffy and fabulous.  I'm not seeing that yet.  So I had to take a break from it this past weekend. I now prepare to start all over again, looking forward to the results...

Packers Pillow

Way back in February, I showed you this Green Bay Packers pillow I was making for my favorite Cheesehead!  My sewing machine is finally up and running, so here is the finished project...

a very late Valentine present!

 











Ned loves his pillow!



Summer Stripes Boatneck

I finished it awhile ago, but here for your viewing enjoyment is my Sirdar Summer Stripes dk sweater!



My sister and I have a saying.  Well actually we have many, but here's one that I want to share.  You know that certain item of clothing that you always turn to lately?  You just got some adorable new jeans, and even though you wore them to last night's barbecue over at Suzie's, tonight you're going out to dinner with Jane and she wasn't at Suzie's, so you go ahead and wear the same jeans.  These are what we'd call your 5 out of 7 day jeans.  Well this is now my 5 out of 7 day sweater.

Copyfox

Oh, the life of a struggling artist.

It is always a good feeling when you receive a request from someone who wants to commission a project!  Recently Like a month ago, a girl from Tucson messaged me on Etsy about trying to recreate this chunky knit fox stole.

Eugenia Kim for Anthropologie:
nearly 300 big ones!

One thing I've had on the back burner of my to-do list is learning amigurumi (the art of crocheted or knitted dolls).  Most use crochet over knitting, as it makes a sturdier fabric.  However, I will always prefer the look of knitting over crochet.  The fox stole has given me just the push I needed to perfect this new skill!

Summer Stripes

As I've mentioned, I am a big fan of the UK fiber and design company Sirdar.  For the past few months I've had my eye on their new cotton/acrylic blend Summer Stripes Dk and the Summer Safari design book they have released with it.  There are so many beautiful, modern designs that I knew I could learn from, so on my recent visit to Scottsdale's Knit Happens I decided that purchasing this book was a worthwhile investment to put on my credit card write off as a business expense!


It was a tough choice whether I would start with the Boat-Neck Top with Turnback Cuffs or the V Neck Tank...and the color choice was even more difficult.  Ultimately I went with the Boat-Neck in their color choice, Oasis (312).


I finished the first half within about five days, meticulously choosing which skein to join based on keeping perfectly ordered stripes.  Now on my second half (pictured below), I decided to mix it up a bit, and you can see there is a little "reflection" in the middle where I changed yarns and started backwards with the new skein.  I can say for sure now I think it's more interesting to mix it up when using a self-changing yarn like this than to try and keep perfect order.

Home Sweet Home

I am so happy to finally be back in Maine! Even though it was fun to catch up with family and friends and get some long-awaited sunshine, I definitely confirmed that making the big move to New England was the right decision for me.

To make my trip

e v e n   l  o  n   g    e    r

it took me three days of travel just to get home!

Between flying standby, and nationwide crazy weather, I spent Wednesday night in Chicago, Thursday night in Philadelphia, and Friday afternoon I miraculously made it onto an overbooked flight into Bangor, Maine.

From the sky I could see there was already green grass on the ground and buds on the trees. Only my beloved Mount Katahdin was still covered in snow. I am sad to have missed out on a lot of the transition into spring. Where have I been for the past month?

Jet-Set

     Good morning from Portland International Airport! Soon I'll be on my way to Philadelphia where I will enjoy a late birthday lunch with my BFF Kara (her birthday was yesterday) before boarding my plane to sunny home Arizona! 


     My project for the plane:  Italian Ice Tank Top

lacy headbands

Knitting doesn't have to be useful only in cold weather.  In fact I hope it isn't, if I am to make any sales in the next few months!


This week I've become very interested in lighter weight styles of knitting than those used in cozy winter knits.  Here are some lacy headbands which will soon brighten up my Etsy shop.  Who would have thought wool could be so summery?

I learned this squarish style from
another of Judy's YouTube videos.
It's so easy!

Cast on an odd number of stitches.
row 1:  *k2tog, yarn over*,
repeat between * to last stitch, k.
row 2: knit across.

The classic Shetland lace pattern
Crown of Glory,
featuring a series of grand eyelets,
takes 12 rows to complete.

summer fabrics for summer fashions

     I am so happy that Spring is in the air!  True, the lake in my backyard is still frozen, but there is a new freshness outside that is so promising, I know I will be soaking up the sun in a bikini before I know it.  Looks like I have survived my first winter!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

     I have some summer fashions in mind that I want to create just as soon as I get my sewing machine working.  The following fabrics (currently scarves) have sufficiently motivated me to really get cracking on that machine today!

Meezer Mats

     One of the things Siamese Rescue needs is blankets to give newly adopted kitties both a soft surface and a familiar item for comfort during their long car ride to a foreber hoem.  The blankets are called Meezer Mats.


     I started my first one, using this exciting stitch I'd never learned before.  It's not only great because it creates a light and puffy, comfortable surface.  The most exciting part about this stitch is that it involves no purling!

row 1 & 3 (wrong side): k across.
row 2: *k1, k by inserting needle in
center of stitch in row below,
knitting through both loops.*
repeat between * to last 2, k, k.
row 4: k1,
repeat between * to last 1, k.

UPDATE: Here is the finished product!

I think something like this
would make a cute little clutch

Simply Sublime

"...the underside as perfect as the outside..."

-Coco Chanel