Tuesday

Imitation

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Artist should feel flattered right now.

This young one has been very busy of late. 

Life imitating art... or perhaps the other way 'round?

Saturday

Tuesday

Fancy Tiger Fun!

Fancy Tiger Crafts is our "happy place."  We always have fun there!  This weekend we made a visit to the shop with our new book, and enjoyed chatting with the shoppers, signing books, eating treats, and being inspired by the great collection of fabric, yarn, threads, and patterns available.  Here we are with a sweet Auntie, who had a copy of Freddie's Blanket signed and personalized for her twin nephews.

Meet Frank, who is sporting a great handknit colorwork hat of his own creation... nice!  He simply had to have a copy of the new Freddie book for a good friend by the same name.  Also, he is planning the men's knitting retreat in beautiful Allenspark, CO this summer, sounds fun!

We always come home with something special from Fancy Tiger... this time it was a lovely 2-yard piece of fabric for Mother and a Japanese embroidery kit for Sister.  Oh, and a "I heart hand made" button that Jaime and Amber gave Sister.  She really does love handmade, just like everybody at Fancy Tiger!

Sunday

Happy Anniversary!

by Joanna
One year ago today we launched our first book, Phoebe's Sweater, at our local yarn shop, Woolen Treasures.  The year that followed has been truly a dream come true for us, and we were thrilled to celebrate our first anniversary as an author/illustrator team.

We sincerely hope this is the first of many great years to come.  Thank you all for your encouragement, kind words, and support!  Cheers!

Tuesday

The Makerie- a photo diary

Freddie hanging out at the Fancy Tiger Crafts Cottage

Painting Class

Amber knitting on the porch

Allegra checking out the new fabric

Stefanie with some of her knitting students

Friends hanging out at the cottage

Saturday

Little Crochet Giveaway! (closed)

by Joanna
Today I am proud to share with you Linda Permann's brand-new book, Little Crochet!  I first met Linda via email when she was preparing to write a review of Freddie's Blanket this fall.  We met in person at TNNA in January, and had a great time visiting together there.  Most recently, Linda came to Denver to film her new crochet classes with Sympoz, and we were able to meet up for dinner, which was especially fun since I had a review copy of her book with me!

Crochet is something I have always admired but never taken the time to learn very well.  I made a pair of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls a few years ago, but aside from edging my handknits, that's about the extent of my knowledge of the craft.  My grandmother was a gifted crocheter, and made me a blanket 25 years ago.  I kept it on my bed for years and years, and it has now found a home with our toddler.

Meeting up with Linda this spring inspired me to just jump in and start learning!  Sister has been eager to learn more about crochet, too, so we are learning together!  We are starting with the sweet bib from Little Crochet:

And we found her clear instructions easy to follow- off we went, making the circle!

Next, Sister wants to make the Owl for Little Brother:

Linda's new book is chock-full of adorable crochet projects for little ones...

The Hooded Capelet,
photo by Heather Weston

Boat Neck Sweater,
photo by Heather Weston
and the Sweet Dreams Sleep Sack are a few of my favorites!
photo by Heather Weston
There are 24 patterns included in the book, along with great instructions for techniques, gorgeous photography, and an index- this part is really helpful for me, as a beginner.  You can see all of Linda's great patterns here on her Ravelry page.

On to the giveaway... I am happy to say we are giving away a copy of Little Crochet to one of our blog readers.  I am also including some yarn, too!

4 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine and some tidbits from my stash for the embroidery... to make the Sweet Daisy Sundress.

And 2 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, to make a little boy bib.  We can't forget the boys, can we?

Giveaway Package

To enter, leave a comment answering this question:
Has anyone ever crocheted anything for you?  If so, what?  If not, that's okay, comment anyway!
Share the giveaway on fb or twitter, and leave a second comment to enter twice!

Comments are now closed, congrats to Sarah our winner!
note: a review and giveaway copy of this book were kindly provided by the publisher, Potter Craft  the yarn was provided by yours truly

Wednesday

Big Book of Knitted Monsters Giveaway! (closed)

Today we are very happy to bring to you... a knitting book giveaway!

We first met one of Rebecca Danger's cute monsters last spring at our local yarn shop.  We hit it off right away.  Fastforward several months... and we met Rebecca in person at TNNA and had a great visit together!  She was in the kind company of Mr. Danger, who is really very nice even though his name might sound a little scary.  Rebecca was at TNNA launching her new book, and so we were, so it was an exciting time for both of us! 

While we were visiting, we decided it would be fun to do a giveaway of each other's books... so here we are!  Rebecca's book has a lot of great information about choosing yarns, knitting techniques, and clear instructions for customizing your own one-of-a-kind knitter monsters.  There are a lot of fun patterns in the Big Book of Knitted Monsters...

There's Dot, the Dress Up Box Monster...

and Hugo, the Couch Potato Monster.

I think Cecil the Computer Monster might be our favorite!

Which one do you like best? 
You can view all of the fun patterns here on Ravelry.
And you can keep up with Rebecca Danger here on the web.
And... you can win a copy of this fun book here on our blog!

Simply leave a comment and a way to contact you (via email, web, blog, or Ravelry) and we'll pick a winner within the week! 

If you send a friend over from facebook or twitter to leave a comment, let us know so we can enter you again!

Oh, and remember to visit Rebecca's blog post about our new book, Freddie's Blanket, to enter to win a signed copy!

Comments are now closed, thank you all for your kind words about Rebecca's fun new book!  And congrats to Laura the winner!
note: a review and giveaway copy of this book were kindly provided by the publisher, Martingale & Company

Tuesday

Knitty reviews Freddie's Blanket!

Big news for us today, Knitty.com reviewed Freddie's Blanket!  It is a great review, and you can read it here, just scroll down a bit!  Thanks, Knitty!!

Monday

Serendipity Yarn and Gifts... and, What's Needling U?

by Freddie
This weekend we went on the road!  It was a mini book tour through the Colorado Rockies, and I loved every minute of it!  I joined Phoebe and the rest of our family as we made our first stop at Serendipity Yarn and Gifts in Buena Vista, Colorado. 

The fun thing about this shop is that in addition to being a great yarn shop, it is also a toy shop!  There are some really special toys here, but I have to say my favorite was this sweet Sleeping Beauty.  I think her bed looks really comfy and cozy, don't you?

Mother had fun meeting the knitters and the readers, and looking at yarn.  Phoebe and I are here with her and Tami, who owns the shop.  We wish we could have stayed longer... but...

... it was time to hit the road!  We drove through Leadville...

which is an interesting old mining town, located at:

2 miles above sea level!  Onward to our next stop, What's Needling U? in Frisco...

where we were warmly welcomed by a fine pair of platypodes.  I felt quite at home among such good company! 

A fun trio of brothers each went home with one of Miranda's awesome knitted turtles...

...and this little sweetie, who just became a big sister, got her very own signed copy of Phoebe's Sweater.  It was a good day for all.