How to Make it Rain: 

(NOTE: This instructional guide is intended to produce droplets of water falling from the sky, NOT dollar bills.  For more on the monetary version of Making it Rain, please see the entry on Jones, Pacman 1A as a lesson on how to Make it Rain (Selectively).)

Step 1: Select a book you’d like to read.

Step 2: Take said book and any awake children left in your charge outside.

Step 3: (Optional, but further guarantees presence of rain) Water your garden.

Step 4: Sit down.  Rain should commence within 30 seconds if it did not already begin during Step 3. 

How to Make it Stop Raining

Step 1: Take your unread book indoors.  You have completed this “How to Make it Stop Raining” Guide!

I have pictures of knitting, the kiddo, and the garden, but flickr and our new internet are not friendly.  The new internet makes me curse a boatload. 

Conjoined

My little sister got engaged! (Insert obligatory “I am Old” exclamation.) Best wishes to you, Pam and Jon; may you grow old and lumpy together like these squashes.

Summer in Our Yard

Dax and I spend many mornings picking raspberries and poking around the backyard before it gets hot.  A few days ago, the sky was a little overcast and the light was just perfect for taking some close-ups of all our little treasures.

I love the colors of these plums that fall to the ground.  Some have this great purpley color underneath a dusty mauve layer that covers the fruit. 

Hope you are enjoying your summer wherever you are!

xoxo, Katie

FO: Firecracker

Oh, I love it so!

Sunday we went to Loveland’s Benson Sculpture Garden to photograph Firecracker.  It was HOT, but the park was a beautiful, shady location to snap some photos and keep Dax occupied too.

I’m finding that patternwriting is difficult to do at the end of the day (especially when one’s sleep has been interrupted by a teething almost-two-year-old) so I think I need to have some dedicated work time outside of the house this weekend.  The pattern is really straightforward and should be easy to size, I just need a little more focus!

After that, I will be sending the photos and pattern to a wonderful graphic designer friend and I hope to have the pdf available on Ravelry soon!

Firecracker

I’ve been working on a design to release independently; it’s almost done, so here’s a sneak peek:

I’ll post the pattern pics as soon as we shoot them-hopefully next weekend! I’m really excited about this design–it’s cute, easy, and pretty.

Look at these cute heart-shaped leaves from our rosebush! I have no idea how that happened; the whole plant is weird. It was here when we moved in and was always just bushy. This year though, it stared shooting up all these vines with different foliage.

I’m resisting the urge to start a small shawl. I just feel like knitting more lace! I do have yarn ready to go for a big monster for Dax, and he deserves a treat.

Happy Knitting!

Go Huskers!

Almost a year ago, I got an email from Derrick’s cousin Cody about a business he was starting up.  He had heard that I am a knitwear designer, and was looking for someone to knit up a prototype for a product idea. 

As you may or may not know, the University of Nebraska football team is called the Cornhuskers (informally the “Huskers”).  Cody came up with a hand gesture he dubbed the “corn finger” that fans can do to show their support–by holding your hand up, fingers together, and bending your pinky, your hand resembles a partially husked cob of corn.  The first product was a giant foam hand giving the corn finger gesture. 

So, seeing as how many football games are played in cold weather, Cody wanted to produce a mitten with a separate pinky so that fans could still throw up their corn finger while staying warm! Here’s what I came up with:

And now they are being manufactured! Some changes were made due to gauge and to streamline the process I imagine, but it’s a thrill to see something I knit being made available for sale! Go Huskers!

To see the mittens and other CornFinger products, visit their site at cornfinger.com.

Knitting Green: Eco Vest and Better Baby Rattle

When Ann Budd asks you to contribute to something she’s working on, there’s a really good chance you’ll get to be part of something special.  Knitting Green, Ann’s latest book, is one special something that I’m proud to be a part of.  And I’m absolutely honored to have one of my projects on the cover (Eco Vest, shown above).

The Eco Vest is truly one of my favorite designs.  I love the way the textures all work together; cables, garter stitch, and elongated slipped stitches finished off with a nice fat ribbed border and collar.  With no shaping to worry about, the vest is easy to work and can be worn open, with a button as shown, or with a shawl pin or stick.  And the yarn! Cascade Eco-Wool is a dream yarn for green knitters.  It is smooth, strong, and durable without being chemically processed or dyed.  Once washed, the yarn has this wonderful bloom and is a perfect match for cables and stockinette alike.  And it comes in big fat affordable skeins.  I love the jumbo skeins; they just make me happy!

I also designed the Better Baby Rattle.  Dax was the inspiration for this one (quelle surprise, non?).  When he was really tiny, he had a hard time holding on to traditional rattles, but he had one kind of oval-shaped one that he loved.  Only problem, it was hard plastic and he ended up hitting himself in the head a lot! So I wanted to create a soft toy that even the littlest could enjoy. 

This is a great gift project involving some simple shaping and short rows, and you could create all sorts of different characters by changing the embroidery.  The Plymouth Oceanside Organic is a smooth and sturdy cotton that will stand up to drool and play. You could easily turn one out in an evening the night before a baby shower or while waiting for a new baby to come home!

I hope you enjoy Knitting Green as much as I do.  I’m the caboose on this blog tour, so stop by the previous participant’s blogs if you haven’t yet!

June 5: Ann Budd

June 6: Kristeen Griffin Grimes

June 7: Kristen TenDyke

June 8: Mags Kandis

June 9: Cecily Glowik MacDonald

June 10: Veronik Avery

June 11: Kimberly Hansen

June 13: Sandi Wiseheart

June 12: Carmen Hall, Q&A with Ann Budd

So, um…hi!

After the holidays, I thought I was in a bit of a knitting slump.  But as it turns out, I finished knitting my Thermal, knit a mohair vest but ran out of yarn, and worked on a few other things here and there. 

And I’ve been cranking out these fantastic guys like nothing else.  Maddox by Danger Crafts

Mason; for a friend who likes fuzzy toys.  Dax called him “Big”.

Rosie G., just for fun.

AWESOME-O for Dax.

Landon, a gift for a friend turning one!

This handsome guy is Ian, the first monster, for a new baby.

And one lonely Greta (pattern also from Danger Crafts).

All yarn and needle details are on Ravelry. 

I’ve had a few patterns come out since I last blogged, and I’ll write about some of them soon.  Right now, I’m designing a little lace bolero/vest perfect for summer that I’m hoping to release in the next month; sneak peek coming soon!

Until then, keep on dancing!

FO: French Press Slippers

Love. These. Slippers. I’ve been wearing them all week! I never used to like having anything on my feet indoors, but my feet seem extra cold this fall and this pattern looked too cozy to pass up. 

Oops! My assistant got in this shot!

Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky, 3 skeins

Pattern: French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi

This yarn felted amazingly.  I made the 9/10 size and felt to fit my size 11 feet and it worked out just fine.  The only mod I made was to work the all the shaping on knit rows by reversing the row instructions. These were so fast to make; I’m wondering if anyone on my gift list needs slippers? ;)

 

I made some things!

So, first I designed this hat in September:

And just as I finished it, I saw this. I thought “okay, it’s constructed differently; I’ll contact Alex and see if she’s alright with my version” and I did and she was.  I decided I’d offer three sizes too.  Then this.  And, just this morning, this one.  I don’t know how I didn’t come across these patterns earlier!  So I’ll just write it up in one size and offer the pdf for free on Ravelry.  It should be good practice at any rate.

I made Dax a hat and beard and dressed him as a gnome for Halloween.  It was cheap and easy and he liked it much better than the lion costume we tried first!

I tried so hard to get a picture of him straight on, looking at the camera, standing still for just one second, just one picture, please! but it is completely impossible right now! He is always on the move.

And I finished up his Loch Ness Monster too. I am just glad to have finished it.  Hansi wrote a great pattern and the directions aren’t hard to follow, but my goodness does the knitting require some patience!

I do feel like knitting some more toys now; maybe Dax will get an owl or a monster for Christmas.  He loves stuffed animals and squishy pillows.  But next time I am picking fat yarn and needles!

Yesterday I started making some felted slippers–I saw on some Ravelry project pages that people were knitting them up in only a few hours, and I thought it would take me much longer, but no!  These go super fast!  I just have to finish the seaming and they will be ready to felt.  They are also super ugly before felting! So I haven’t taken a picture yet!

Oh geez, I almost forgot–I’ve also been working on an awesome project with one of Derrick’s family members.  It’s kind of a secret at the moment but it involves corn, knitting, and a football team.  I hope it all works out and I will be sure to share pictures when it comes to fruition :).