The Hard Part...

This past weekend was really great...learned a lot and now... it's time to apply what I learned to real life...that's the hard part!!!  The projects that are underway in the pattern-writing stage are "Risotto - Made to Order", "Swinglet Cabled Cardi" and "Bella Color-Yoke Tee".  These all need to be drafted, charted, have a schematic created and graded (technical term for sized)...the schematics are what's making me nervous right now.  I have gotten a technical drawing package off the web but don't know how to use it yet - not being one of those twenty-somethings that can just play with new software and figure it out - yikes!  I still need a test knitter for "Bella Color-Yoke Tee" if anyone wants to volunteer - bottom-up, in the round, simple shaping and colorwork...

Two projects are in the design / swatch stage:  "Dragonfly Wisp Cardigan" and "Elemental Jacket" ...pictures coming soon:)  These will be the first of designs completed in actually the "right" and most efficient way - NOT on the needles...this is really tough to not just take a few measurements, make a few calculations and cast on ... much self-discipline required!!! :)

Have a great day - wish me luck!

A Glimpse at the Goodies :)

Here are some pictures from the Goodies I picked up at SS but first from our garden (these are self-sustaining luckily for them and a little past their prime but still beautiful!

This is DK weight from the Knit Witch for a Cardi with colorwork (haven't worked out the details yet)














Kate from Dragonfly Fibers is also supporting my obsession with 2 great big skeins of laceweight which will be combined for a wispy cardi (also to be determined)

I picked up some MadeleineTosh for a sweater and a shawl (cause it's the IT fiber right now)

Here's enough Kauni for (you guessed it) a sweater!  












And finally,  superwash DK from Valley Yarns (Webs)

As usual, I wish you were here because my phone (even though magical) does not do any of these colors justice!

What an Amazing Weekend!!!

I could hardly speak last night there was so much information floating around in my brain...I learned so much and saw so much and met so many great people that my mind was a blur! Yesterday's class with Barry Klein (owns Trendsetter Yarns) on Fit and Style was eye-opening...consider this...patterns are mostly written with the same measurements for the back and front...well...are your back and front the same?  Probably not :)  Anyway, I had an absolutely marvelous time the entire weekend and highly recommend to everyone that they take classes the next time Stitches comes around!

Here are some pictures as promised!  This is the Market before anyone got there! :)

 These garments are from the Kauni booth (sorry they are blurry ... I must have been shaking with excitement :))
















Yep... I got to meet Lily Chin!  She wore a Knitted Harry (Lily) Potter costume at the Student Banquet on Saturday!!!  This picture is from the opening day luncheon.









Next pictures from the XRX Fashion show Saturday night -  These knitted garments sure look great on runway models!

And finally... the Knit Witch in Booth 437 - Only Ewe and Cotton Too - wearing the completed Bella Color-Yoke Tee!!!  Sorry Bill and Elyse - I took a full on shot of your beautiful booth but something happened to it!  The Spellbound kits almost sold out :)  Thanks Bill and Elyse and Brittany!  The pattern is now up on Ravelry for those who were looking for it!

 

Day 3 - Continuing to be Over the Top!!!

Terrific class with Edie Eckman - Pattern Writing 101 - picked up some great tips on wording, format, marketing etc and then... fashion  show / dinner last night ... I need to get my game on, we'll just leave it at that :)  This morning I have "where do they get those numbers?" with Edie again and more fun!  Hope to see you there!  Pictures will be after this is over :(

Day 2 - Tee Hee Tee Hee :)

Wow!!!!   Stitches South has been A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!  (and only 1 day down :))  I attended a marvelous class with Judy Pascale on armhole success yesterday....all I can say is everyone needs to check in the mirror to see if their shoulders go straight across or if they slope downward because if they are straight, you don't need to do the shoulder decreases that are typically provided in patterns and... you will get a better fit - that alone was worth the class for me!

Well, almost time for Pattern Writing 101 with Edie Eckman..see ya'!  p.s. Everyone go to the Only Ewe and Cotton Too booth (# 437)!!!

It's Here, It's Here, It's Here!!!!

Stitches South 2010 has finally arrived in Atlanta!!!  I am writing to you from a comfy seat in the Waverly Hotel just outside the room for the opening day celebration!!!  A few other early birds are here - the reason I am soooo early (Opening Day is not until 10 am) is that I was anxious to avoid Perimeter traffic...those of you who hail from Atlanta know what I mean...

Here's a picture of the Cobb Galleria...Hmmm... experiencing technical difficulties getting pictures off my magical phone may need to get them to you later...

Anyway, I need to go cause I might not get much knitting time later :) and I need to finish off Summer Mesh to wear later in the weekend (the More Than Knotz garment du jour for today is Swinglet Cable Cardi) Bye!

Knitting under Duress...

DHJ says it's self-imposed duress :)  Just the deadlines of Stitches South (1,1,1 more day!!! :))  Put together a couple of items of clarification (much more pleasant word than errata!) for Spellbound which Elyse is kindly inserting into the kits (there was an extra yo in Section 4 and the border instructions needed to be simplified because what was clear to me was clearly not clear to others :)

Just a few more stitches to bind off on Bella and then speed finishing and power blocking so that she will be ready for display...here's a few final pics...

And then, of course, finishing homework for my classes!  (Not to mention a long coffee stint later:()

Quick Hello :)

Good Morning Sunshine!  Have to leave the house for 7 am so I am trying a slightly different tactic so as not to leave y'all hanging this morning...We are all getting VERY excited about Stitches (2 more days :))down here in Georgia... I will be commuting this year so will have early mornings to avoid the Perimeter traffic... I will do my best to continue blogging throughout so I can stay on this track but please bear with me.

I am almost finished with Bella - pictures soon (maybe I can get another model tonight over at OE) I then just need to calculate sizes and find a test knitter :)  and then publish...I am hoping to be able to publish Bella, Risotto, Summer Mesh Vest, and Swinglet Cable Cardi by mid May...By, better go! 7am comes pretty quickly :)

Mostly about Bella (Color-Yoke Tee not Cat :))

Here is one very famous person who tried on my design :)  She wants to make it too!!! (It's the Knit Witch for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting her...)

Alas, after speedily completing the tee, I discovered that the Yoke was a little bit not-so-bella...needed some adjustments...so.........

Frog,frog,frog (I feel like I've been here before!)  Not too much pressure either as Bill and Elyse are going to use this at Stitches South (3 more days :) :(!!!

Gotta go make the donuts (I mean coffee :))  Have a great day!

Hibernation Over for Bella Color Yoke Tee

I knew there would be some extra math involved (and I like math ... just like to knit,knit,knit more I guess :)) so Bella had been set aside for a while ... well she's back and destined to be a sample for Cotton Supreme at Stitches :)

And here are a couple of swatches for Swinglet Cable Cardi (I am pleased with the rough draft knit in Debbie Bliss Primo (Bamboo / Wool) but it needs a spring summer yarn for the official pattern  :)  Only Ewe has lots of lovely choices - these two are in the finals.  Please let me know what you think...

SWTC Terra - Bamboo / Cotton blend

or a not-so-well blocked Kollage "Milky Whey" (Milk / Soy !!!  Blend)

I would probably use the pale pink Terra but the Milky Whey would be a lighter shade...haven't made a color choice yet.

Have a great day everyone!  I almost forgot my biggest news - all my currently published patterns are now on Ravelry!!!!   Long time coming - makes me happy happy.  My designer name is Susan Dingle or you can reach through my main page under susanknitsalot.....

Good Golly - Here's Another One :)

Joyce of the Noble Knitters is working on this .....

The colors Joyce has chosen are gorgeous aren't they (even though they aren't Knitwitch yarns)!!!  The picture quality is not too bad either, is it?  These pictures were taken on my new magical phone(?)  - the Palm Pre Plus...Easy to upload and my phone is always with me, so guess what... more blogging pictures to come!

Like this one that I took less than 1 minute ago of Zoe, one of our neglected dogs (of course Magellan snuck into the picture) ...wow, now that's technology working for us :)

Hey guys ... I got a comment from the Knitwitch herself!!!!!!!!!  :)  (p.s. feel free to comment anytime - I have also finally figured out how to have blogger notify me when I get a comment (on my new ?phone? even :))

To not leave Pat out - here's a link to her shawl on Ravelry...http://www.ravelry.com/projects/pogrady/spellbound-shawl

Ok ... enough techie stuff for one day!  (only 7 more days til Stitches South:))

Have You Ever Noticed ...

how work interferes with you life? :)  at least it's not 5:00 am (very thankful ........Ok, well, up to this point was written yesterday and I was about to say ...  that I was very thankful that my shift was 7:00 am instead of 5 am; however, (funny story) at that exact point in time I realized that it was quarter of 7 and my hair was wet and my lunch unmade!  I don't think that I have ever done that before - I was happily going about my day thinking that I had plenty of time before I needed to leave for work and was trying to be true to you all.  Oh well, the good news is that I actually clocked in at 7:04 am with no speeding involved :)

Today I start at 11 so I really do have time to finish this post and you should feel very special because I am really close to finishing the Cabled Swinglet Cardi (although much math and test knitting must occur before I can publish!) and I am choosing to write to you! :)  You were supposed to get these pictures yesterday :)  but here you go ... FO pictures soon...

The color is not accurate but the one on the right is the closest - true color is a light navy...not the best choice for showing off the seeded cables in the raglans but this was in my stash...

Here are some other visual treats for those of you not taking up residence at Only Ewe...

This is Flutterby :)  Cute and easy (kits to be at Stitches!!!)

This is version1 of Rissotto (Dolce Merino DK weight) and version 2 (Punta Cotton Worsted)

Here's a closeup of the border stitch - really fun :)

Bye - gotta go ... Only 8 more days (tee hee) :)

Oh My Goodness!!!

Check this out - I saw Nancy at the shop yesterday and look what she's been up to!  Fantasticjob Nancy!  (and I think this might be my favorite colorway yet :))

Wait til you see :)
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I just spent a bunch of time messing around with Flickr and trying to load from there to my blog so I don't have time before work to show you everything but here's one more :)

Two more colorways at one of my favorite places :)

Remember Everyone that the kits for 6 different colorways will be available at Stitches South  (Only You and Cotton Too Booth) in just 10 days!!!  Also, a little birdie told me that special orders will be taken if you miss out - just contact the shop :)

Do Cats Have Packs?

If so, I think we have a pack leader!  These little cuties are trying to get their mitts on a bug that has made its way into our lamp...their antics could become a huge disaster, but for now it is all fun and games! :)

So sorry for the delayed post this morning but the family has gotten smarter!  We now have Palm Pre Pluses!!!  The good news is that it will be easier to blog anywhere and everywhere! :)


Projectwise:

Flutterby pattern just needs a picture and the Swinglet Cardi is starting to get a yoke :)

Enjoy your Sunday!

p.s. Sorry for the picture orientation but I don't know how to rotate in Blogger!

Moving Right Along

Classes for "Spellbound" and "Rissotto (Made To Order)" have been posted to the Only Ewe Calendar.  I am offering 2 different sessions for each (Thursday afternoons or Saturday mornings) - go here to check out the specifics. :)

I finally figured out how to set up my Paypal account this morning ... really not that difficult just one of those roadblocks that I seem to create for myself ... I really wish I could break through this tendency of mine!  Next, I will get some more patterns up for sale (and some freebies :)) and then as they are completed, I can easily add that step to my process.  "Spellbound"  will not be available on Ravelry until after Stitches South (2 weeks away - yippee:)) By the way, I got to see another of the colorways worked up at the Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting last night (made by Pat - beautiful job!) - pastels - blues and greens - wow!!!

I just remembered that I need to do my homework for my Stitches South classes - I have a full schedule but luckily only two are requiring homework... better go

Technical Team Fixed the Issue

Internet rebooted yesterday so all better now thanks to DHJ! 

For those of you outside of Georgia, "we all" :) are in the midst of yellow snow season (not the kind you don't eat although you wouldn't eat this either).  Every Spring, major pollen blankets the earth here, many people are sneezing and most people never ever open their windows...except back in 2000 when my family moved to GA, some unnamed member of the family thought it was so beautiful outside that all the windows should be thrown wide open resulting in a thick covering of yellow-green dust all over everything!!!  I can't even remember now how we cleaned it all up!  Anyway, today 90% chance of rain which should help to calm things down a bit!

DDK comes back from Spring Break today - Can't wait to see her!!!We have been texting back and forth and I think the vacation was really fun - she tried alligator meat even.  I told her that when she got home she would have to try asparagus but she never answered the text ... hmmmmmmm

Flutterby take 2 is complete and the pattern / kit will be available at Stitches South!  This morning I will be posting classes for "Spellbound" (starts right after Stitches) and "Rissotto - Made to Order" (starts next Saturday) on the Only Ewe Calendar. 

And... Atlanta Knitting Guild tonight!  :)  (Great day off!!!)

Technical Difficulties!

Good Morning!!!  I am posting from the Only Ewe computer!!!  Our internet was down this morning and I didn't have time to mess around with it because I soooooo needed to get over here :)  I missed Tuesday Night Knitting group because I had a couple of long days at the cafe and need to be at home but I plan to head over to Noble Knitters tonight as well and I get tomorrow off - Yippee :)  Talk to you tomorrow!

A Little Bit of Swing

Good Progress on my little diversion even with some frogging to get the gauge right...  I am using Debbie Bliss Prima (80% Bamboo / 20% Wool - DK weight) that has been waiting in my stash for just the right project ... I think this is it!

It will grow up to be a staple wardrobe piece (in everyone's wardrobe hopefully :)) Simple but with some secret special details :)  Everyone needs to learn the tubular cast on for when you are doing k1 p1 rib - I just love it!!!

Nice Easter yesterday - DSJ came for lunch (and his Easter Basket, of course :))  We relished the beautiful weather - I do believe Spring has Sprung!

Happy Easter!!!

First cut of Flutterby is finished - this is a cute easy-to-knit Capelet (a little different than the norm :)) designed for Plymouth Yarn "Athena" (a calmed down texture-y little bit sparkly novelty yarn)  Take 2 will need to incorporate a couple of modifications and then it will be ready :)  On a slight side trip right now thanks to MFM (no pressure, right?) - a little swingy summer cardigan - no details yet but they will be forthcoming soon...

Happy Easter Everyone!  Have a wonderful day with Family and Friends!

Unplanned Visit - Happy Happy Joy Joy!

DSJ came by yesterday for a visit and stayed for dinner without much twisting of arms!  He is great and enjoying his job, looks great from some good physical work (lifting much 100 lb cables and such) and good sleep (he has figured out that going to bed early is a good idea when you must get up for work each day :))  He is working on the audio / visual wiring for a soccer stadium - pretty cool!  It was great to see him and really great to know for sure that he is doing well...we have been in contact by phone but face-to-face is a gazillion times better!!! :)

DDK is heading to Florida with a friend's family tomorrow for a little spring break in the sun - we will miss her but glad that she gets to go away - she has been working really hard at her schoolwork and deserves a fun little break.

Here's a few pics of Rissotto and Flutterby.  I apologize profusely for the early morning lighting (or lack of it) ... hopefully you can get the idea!  Rissotto is being test knit now and will be available very shortly - class to be posted for Thursday or Saturday sessions starting next week.

Wake up You Sleepheads!

Good Morning!!!  Just a quick post to let you know I am not losing steam again but alas, I have an opening shift today...just counting my blessings as it is the only one this week :)  I wish everyone a wonderful day!