Friday

Green Gables Knits Instagram Gallery~ Diana's Hat

My favorite part of the creative process for Green Gables Knits was making arrangements for the photography. On and off over the course of two years I scouted locations, props, clothing, shoes, jewelry... I love how the photos turned out, and that the book has a distinct "period" feeling to it, and that the patterns have that "classic" storybook look to them. At the same time, I was hoping that the patterns would be versatile enough to work in a wide variety of yarns by fiber, style, and color. 


Here you see Diana's Hat as published in the book. I just love this photo of Diana, waiting to walk to school with Anne!


 Here is an example of Diana's Hat done up in a really different color style. It is actually the exact same yarn called for in the pattern, Brown Sheep Company Lamb's Pride Superwash Sport, but in a bright turquoise color. 


With my hot pink coat, it really is a different look, isn't it? But I think it works, and confess that I like me "new favorite hat" so much that I have taken to wearing it around the house. I have been working up the Green Gables Knits patterns in a variety of yarns and colors and you can expect to see some more "Green Gables Knits Instagram Galleries" here in coming months.

I am also thinking that a lot of these patterns will lend themselves very well to handspun yarn as well, I think I will begin with a handspun Diana's Hat to see how it goes!

Wednesday

Unfinished Object Update #3

In my first "Facing My UFO's" post in February, I took an honest look at my 13+ unfinished knitting projects, even the ones I had squirreled away into secret corners of my studio.

I made a new rule for myself- that I must cast off and finish two projects before starting a new one. In the two updates since then, I have finished four things and started two new ones. (I also finished those two new projects, too! But I am not counting those as "finish two start one" because I could feasibly cheat myself at my own game and never really get down to those last and lonely things I have been shying away from.)

So... in recent knitting months (which have been complicated by finished my new book!) I have made some more progress, which I want to share.

I finished my "mystery lace" project, which was actually Rachel's Table Runner from our new book, Green Gables Knits:



I also finished the adorable Lester the Fox by Lucinda Guy. I didn't enjoy all of the finishing work on this knit, but the end result is so adorable that he has taken up permanent resident on our piano!



So... reward time, right? 
I cast on something new, in my own handspun yarn. I attempted to spin a gradient yarn, going gradually from blue to yellow. And this twist pullover has captured my fancy since the moment I saw it!



One final update, my reward for my UFO update #1 was to cast on in a beautiful yarn called Metalico from Blue Sky Alpacas. The end result was the Invisibility Cloak, which was published in the recent Unofficial Harry Potter Knits:


The reward for my second UFO update was to cast on in Madelinetosh DK in the stunning colorway Mandsfield Garden Party. I made this adorable Sweet Shoppe Shawlette, and wear it every week.


It feels so good to be slowly gaining a handle on my crazy collection of unfinished things. Starting with 13 UFO's, I am now down to seven. I will post the next two soon!

Monday

Green Gables Knits is here!


Green Gables Knits is here! Two weeks ago, the delivery truck arrived with two pallets of our newest book, Green Gables Knits. Our delivery driver was rather curious about what we do, and politely asked, "Are you a distributor of some kind?" I started explaining that we are a small publisher, and then decided to just ask him if he knew anyone who was a knitter. "Sure! My wife is a big time knitter!" he responded. So of course we gave him a book for her!


We were fortunate to have a lot of help from our little superhero, who was eager to help push the books up the drive.


Boxes and boxes of orders flew out the door, including pre-orders from yarn shops, Etsy readers, and our shop distributors. We shipped an entire pallet to Amazon, so their warehouse is stocked and ready to go!


Superman had a great time stamping books at our old town post office, he saved us a lot of time!


We held a release party at our weekly knitting night, which was a wonderful time. Knitters, sample knitters and test knitters, along with our models and wonderful photographer all came together to celebrate our new book at our favorite local coffee shop. It was a whirlwind evening and so much fun to share the finished book with the people who were a part of it all along the way. It was a night to remember.


We wrapped up our exciting launch with my first book signing for Green Gables Knits at Ewe Count in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I always love to visit Penny's shop and I loved spending Small Business Saturday with her, especially as it was her anniversary sale!


I picked up a skein of Zauberball starke 6, which is a gorgeous sport weight sock yarn (socks for me!), a skein of Araucania Nuble (a Diana's Hat for a Christmas gift?) and a sweater's worth of Ella Rae classic sport, for an Anne's Sweater for our daughter. I have been feeling a little uninspired about knitting for the past few weeks (maybe a little post-book burnout?) but after a visit to Penny's, my needles are flying!


And now? Now I am going to sit for a minute. Look. Here it is, and yes, this really happened. To all of our family, friends, readers, to everyone who loved this idea, too-- thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement!

~An Interview with Gina House, author of Wonderlace~

We absolutely love working with our book printer, Signature Book Printing, and once in a while, a friend or colleague decides to give them a try too. I recently received a review copy of a new knitting book by Gina House, which she self-published via Kickstarter and Signature Book Printing. I thought it would be fun to do a little interview, so here we go!
 
JJ: When and how did you first get the idea for your book Wonderlace?

GH: I think I got the idea for Wonderlace even before I was finished with writing my first book, Dreamscape! (I tend to get very excited about something new before I've finished what I'm working on...whoops!)  But, seriously, I think I decided to have a collection of lace designs because lace is my FAVORITE kind of project to knit.   I love how magical lace is to knit - lace is challenging, interesting and the entire blocking process is like unwrapping a gift.   When the lace is finally pinned out, you get this feeling like, "Omg...I really knit this beautiful piece.  I am so proud of myself."


JJ: What was the most enjoyable part of the creative process for you?

GH: The most enjoyable part of the creative process is envisioning the knits I want to design.  Once I get a single idea in my head, that idea bubbles up into an overwhelming number ideas that I can't even keep up.  This is how it feels every time I want to start a new collection of designs.  A number of my ideas haven't worked out (and sometimes I get teary over designs that I had to let go of), but I kept the 13 that were my favorites.  I'm pretty happy with them :)  To be honest, though, at times I've created a design that, years later, I look at and say to myself, "What the heck was I thinking?!  Ugh!"

I also love, love taking photographs of my knitwear designs.  I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but I do have fun with it.  I am super lucky to have such amazing (and attractive! lol) friends that agreed to model for me (90% of them are knitters!) for this book...and my first book, too. My favorite model is one of my best friends, Jackie, and she is the model for most of my designs.  We make a great team because modeling comes naturally to her and we know each other so well.  I tell her where to stand, drape a knit on her and say, "Okay, do your stuff."  And she does!


JJ: I was so happy to hear that you are working with our book printer, Signature Book Printing. What was it like to work with them?

GH: I am incredibly glad that I asked you about your book printer because they are FANTASTIC! I'm not very computer savvy (getting better, though) and they took me through the entire process step by step.  They were patient, friendly, surprisingly prompt at answering every single email I sent (ah-hem) and I was more than satisfied (thrilled, actually) with the end result.   When my next book is done (currently working on it a little bit), I'll be going back to Signature Book Printing.  I wanted to hug them when the book arrived! :D
 
JJ: What was the most challenging part of the process of creating this book?

GH: *sigh*  Well,  the most challenging part (aka pain in the you-know-what) had to have been the chart making process and creating the book's page set up.  There is SOOO much more to creating a book than most people think.  When the book needs to be printed in a certain format (with very precise margins and all of that), it's very intimidating.  Especially if you're new to the software. Dreamscape was created using Microsoft Word and, this time, I used Apple's Pages.  Every time I create a book, I seem to have a new word processing system to learn, so it takes a while. Luckily, my husband Ian is a computer geek, so he helped me to figure things out here and there. But, it took months to put all of my finished designs, charts, photographs and clip art into the book.  I wanted it to look a certain way (like a fairytale story book) and I didn't want to rush.  I was happy with the end result.
 
 
JJ: Which is your favorite design from this book and why?

GH: My favorite design from the book has to be the Dreams of Alice Shawlette.  It looks complicated, but it really isn't.  The center is knit flat and then the lace border is picked up on either side.  All of the lace patterns in this shawl are interesting, but doable.  I think I also love this one because I love the yarn and the finished shawl feels like a feather...so light and airy.   I was very happy knitting on this one.

It's funny because my close friend, Heather, modeled for this design and all I told her was that she should come over wearing a black dress and black dress shoes.   She had no idea that she'd be modeling a shawl...AND next to the pool shed at my house!  She was such a good sport...kneeling right in the damp soil or sitting precariously on the metal table I had placed in the low shrubbery.   My husband was perched on a ladder with a white parasol (as a filter) to keep out the sun.  My neighbors must have thought I was nuts!  lol.  The pictures came out lovely, though.   We were both happy with the results and that's one of reasons why I chose this design for the cover.
 
 
JJ: Tell us a little about your book signings and the events you are planning for this new book.

GH: So far, since September of this year, I've had 5 book signings/trunk shows on the East Coast. Mostly, in New England.  I have 4+ more scheduled from now until the end of the year.  It's fun, but exhausting.  It's hard to sell yourself.  You want to be proud of your designs and get people to be as excited as you are, but you don't want to shove your book down their throat.  Especially with lace.   Once knitters see that the book is all lace designs (even though I have beginner lace to challenging and using many different weights of yarn), they always say, "Oh, no, I could never knit lace.  I'm not good enough."  I can't tell you how frustrating it is...because I know they COULD do it!  I felt the same way at first, but it's like riding a bike or driving a car...the more you practice, the better you get at it.  And, really, lace is mostly just decreases and yarn overs, right?  I want to encourage knitters to try lace - just a little - because I want them to love it like I do.  That's why I created the Water Nymph Washcloth, the Hunter Scarf and the La Bete Pillows designs...all beginner lace. Interesting, but not so difficult that you want to strangle yourself with your yarn.

I love all of the yarn stores that I've visited so far. The owners have been super nice to me and really making me feel like my book is Something Special.  I always try to go to the Elegant Ewe in Concord, NH because that's one of my favorite local yarn stores.  They've supported me from the very beginning with Dreamscape and I couldn't be more grateful.  I love visiting the store and the people who work there would do anything to help you.  Plus, their yarn is awe-some!

I was also asked to go to the Shenandoah Fiber Festival this year in Berryville, VA and I had the BEST time there. The festival was amazing (as well as the cherry crumble! mmmm) and I feel like I made a lot of friends.  I hated to leave...I was having so much fun.  I hope I can go again next year.

I'm also trying to get the word out to podcasters and bloggers about my book for reviews and such.  I get overwhelmed with the amount of work that goes into advertising myself and my book and I wish I had an assistant!  lol.  I have three part time jobs (I work at an acupuncture clinic, I teach archery, hula hooping and I used to teach yoga & knitting, too) and I'm also a stay-at-home mom when I'm not working or designing.  I only have one son at home now (he's 11 and a cutie pie), now that my oldest is in college (he's finishing his junior year! omg).  There is always a lot to do and not that much time to do it.   If anyone out there is interested in reviewing my book, please let me know and I'll send you a book (and a huge hug!).   When you asked me to do an interview with you, I was jumping up and down in my kitchen and ran outside to tell my husband.  He thought I was slightly crazy, but he was happy for me nonetheless :D   Yay!
 
 
 JJ: What are you working on next?

GH: At the moment, I'm working on creating individual patterns from the Wonderlace book to sell on Ravelry and my Etsy shop.  I'm also brainstorming ideas for a book of baby knits.   I have some designs worked up or swatched...and they're so adorable!   A few of my knitting friends have recently had babies, so I'm hoping to snag them for the book.  They're just too cute.  Once the book signings settle down, I'll be able to spend more time on the new book.  At least, I hope so...

I also wanted to share that I have a free app on iTunes called "SleepyEyes".  There are over 15 free patterns to download and you can buy both of my books through the app, as well.  There's a search section and a yarn/needle gauge chart, too.  My husband created it for me and I think it's pretty fun.  

Joanna, thank you so much for interviewing me. I'm really grateful for this opportunity.  You are one of my favorite designers and you truly inspired me to finish Wonderlace, after seeing and buying your beautiful books.  I can't wait to get my hands on your new book, "Green Gable Knits"!   I hope we can meet one day and spend the afternoon knitting together. 
 
There are lots of ways to stay connected with Gina and her work! Here they are!
 

Sunday

Phoebe Mouse Dress for my niece, Ruthie!


My older sister is a knitter, too. It has been really fun to share knitting tips and tricks over the 1500 miles that separate our homes and families. Her youngest child, little Ruthie, just turned one. And my sister, who insists that she is a beginning knitter, recalculated the Phoebe Mouse dress from Phoebe's Sweater and made it into a darling dress for Ruthie.

I asked her for instructions, and although they were vague, I think they would work! 
Directions according to Aunt Beth:

"She is a 19 inch chest so I just increased the whole pattern by 50% and it knit itself ;)"

Hm, kind of like a recipe for a mud pie, isn't it? She used a worsted weight wool, and the results are darling! If any of you try it out, let me know how it goes!

Friday

Who was Lady Denman? ~Downton Abbey Knits~


While researching ideas to submit for Interweave's recent publication, The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits, I stumbled across a very fascinating historical figure, Lady Gertrude Denman. Have you heard of her? I hadn't, but was enthralled. I really wanted to create a design inspired by the agricultural work done my women during the first world war, and named my vest design submission after her.

Apparently the editors wanted to learn more about her, too, as they asked me if I would be interested in writing a profile about her for the publication. Actively involved in politics from a young age, she was the first President of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, a Director of Westminster Press, and later the Director of the Women's Land Army. I was looking for a "real life" Lady Edith, I guess you can say I found one! 

I hope you enjoy my article about her in The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits. What an inspiring woman!


Monday

Lady Denman's Vest~ Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits


I am sure many of you have seen Interweave's new publication, The Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits? I was intrigued by the concept as soon as I heard of it. Of course I was compelled to submit *something*...

I feel fortunate to have a pattern in this publication, entitled Lady Denman's Vest. It is knit in the airy LOFT from Brooklyn Tweed in the colorway Blanket Fort.


It is a great yarn in a great color, and worked beautifully for this design concept. 
You may be wondering, who is Lady Denman, anyhow? 
I will answer that very soon... the answer lies within the magazine!

Little House Shawl, in Slovak


Šatka z Domčeka v prérii

„Moja dcéra nedávno začala  čítať nádherné knižky od Laury Ingalls Wilder, a tak som sa nimi nechala inšpirovať a rozhodla sa navrhnúť pre dcéru čipkovanú šatku. Táto prekvapivo jednoduchá šatka je pletená od spodného lemu smerom nahor a využíva tie najzákladnejšie techniky pletenia čipky a tvarovania. Je to výborný projekt pre tých, ktorí chcú prvýkrát upliesť šatku alebo čipkový vzor, keďže jediné úkony, ktoré je potrebné ovládať, aby ste si šatku z Domčeka v prérii mohli upliesť, sú: pliesť hladko, obratko, spliesť 2 očká spolu hladko a pridať nahodením. Hoci som šatku navrhla špeciálne pre deti, bola som milo prekvapená, keď som zistila, že poslúži ako krásna menšia šatka aj pre dospelú ženu. A tak som rýchlo nahodila priadzu na ihlice a uplietla druhú šatku pre seba!“

Veľkosť
Dieťa: 147 cm pozdĺž čipkovaného lemu
Dospelý: 172 cm pozdĺž čipkovaného lemu

Priadza
Dieťa: 1 klbko priadze Malabrigo Sock; 100% merino, 402 m, 100 g, odtieň č. 859 Primavera
Dospelý: 2 klbká priadze Lorna's Laces Honor; 70% baby alpaka, 30% hodváb, 251 m/klbko, 100 g/klbko, odtieň Hullaballoo

Ihlice
Dieťa: veľkosť 3,75 mm, dĺžka 60 cm
Dospelý: veľkosť 4 mm, dĺžka 60 cm

Skúšobná vzorka
Dieťa: 22 očiek na 10 cm vrúbikovým vzorom (= všetky riadky sú pletené hladko)
Dospelý: 19 očiek na 10 cm vrúbikovým vzorom

Skratky
hl – hladko
PN – pridať nahodením
sp2hl – spliesť 2 očká spolu hladko




Postup

Poznámka: Postup je rovnaký pre obe veľkosti. Verzia pre dospelého človeka je väčšia vďaka použitiu hrubšej vlny.

Nahoďte 396 očiek.

Upleťte 2 riadky hladko.

Začnite s čipkovým vzorom „Old Shale“:
1. riadok: Hladko.
2. riadok: Obratko.
3. riadok: *3-krát sp2hl; 6-krát (PN, 1hl); 3-krát sp2hl; opakujte od * až po koniec riadku.
4. riadok: Hladko.
Tieto 4 riadky tvoria čipkový vzor. Zopakujte ho ešte 4-krát, spolu teda upletiete čipkový vzor 5-krát.

Nasledujúci riadok: Hladko.
Nasledujúci riadok: Obratko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): 3hl, *1hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 3 očká, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 130 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 266 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 1 očko, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 53 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 213 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 3 očká, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 42 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 171 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 1 očko, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 34 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 137 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 2 očká, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 27 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 110 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po koniec riadku. Ubrali ste 22 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 88 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 3 očká, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 17 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 71 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 1 očko, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 14 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 57 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 2 očká, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 11 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 46 očiek.

Upleťte 7 riadkov hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): *3hl, sp2hl; opakujte od * až po posledné 1 očko, ktoré upleťte hladko. Ubrali ste 9 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 37 očiek.

Upleťte 1 riadok hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): 1hl; potom 18-krát sp2hl. Ubrali ste 18 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 19 očiek.

Upleťte 1 riadok hladko.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): 1hl; potom 9-krát sp2hl. Ubrali ste 9 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 10 očiek.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): 5-krát sp2hl. Ubrali ste 5 očiek, na ihliciach zostalo 5 očiek.

Nasledujúci riadok (uberanie): Sp2hl, 1hl, sp2hl. Ubrali ste 2 očká, na ihliciach zostali 3 očká.

Posledný riadok: Spleťte 3 očká spolu hladko. Následne prevlečte koniec priadze cez posledné očko, ktoré vám zostane na ihlici, utiahnite a zapracujte koniec priadze.

Many Thanks to Hana for providing the Slovak translation. To see more, please visit here. Thanks!


Saturday

Sheep Wagon Shawl

all photos by Christa Tippmann Photography
modeled by Raceine Tippmann


This generous shawl, knit from a richly colored blend of wool and recycled silk, is created with a simple 2-row pattern repeat. Worked from the top down, it is one you will want to wrap yourself in as soon as summer's warmth passes.





For details on the Sheep Wagon Shawl, please visit our Ravelry page here:











Thursday

Green Gables Knits Sneak Preview


By request... a sneak preview of Green Gables Knits.
A collection of eight patterns inspired by the story, Anne of Green Gables

The book includes patterns, charts, and schematics, along with literary quotes and a collection of 10 photographs from L. M. Montgomery's personal collection of the places in Prince Edward Island that inspired the story.

Coming fall of 2013.
Many thanks to the kindred spirits who also happen to be knitters for being interested in my latest project.
~Joanna

Wednesday

Green Gables Knits in Yarn Market News

by Joanna

About two months ago I was contacted by Yarn Market News magazine about our upcoming book, Green Gables Knits. This week, the newest issue arrived, and look what's inside!


It's getting close to crunchtime, so I've been finishing projects for the new book anywhere any everywhere--


from waiting at the dentist's office, 


to driving over Loveland pass. 

(Wait! Not actually driving, just a passenger.)


The photography is coming along beautifully. I have been scouting out period clothing at resale shops and on Etsy, and brushing up my jewelry hacking skills. All of the details matter!

Thank you all so much for sharing in the excitement for our new book. And thank you Yarn Market News for the great write-up!

Thursday

Ignotus Peverell's Cloak~ from The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits


Have you heard about the newest knitting special issue from Interweave? 
The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits is here.


This publication is created by the same wonderful team that produces Jane Austen Knits, and I am truly honored to be a part of it. My pattern, Ignotus Peverell's Cloak, was inspired by our daughter's fascination with the Cloak of Invisibility. 


 I set out to create a garment reminiscent of this unassuming piece of fabric with great magical powers. The blend of alpaca and silk yarn creates a wonderfully fluid drape, and its name, Metalico, aptly describes its seemingly metallurgical shimmer, which is a key component of this design.


With a nod to Ignotus Peverell's thirteenth-century roots, the unisex cloak mimics chain mail, and is suitable for an advanced beginning knitter. The print edition will be available in mid-August, and I am hoping to sit down with a lovely cup of tea to and read it leisurely when it arrives. (Or, maybe I will just tear it open right there in the post office... much more likely!)

all photos copyright Interweave ©2013