Flying Along at Warp Speed...

Sorry, I haven't posted in the last week or two, but I had two patterns finish testing and go live on Ravelry, plus I have another that just finished.

Pelican Beach, a cabled cowl will be released on Ravelry as of  November 15 at 6:00 p.m. EST -  if everything goes according to schedule. See a picture and a couple of stitch details below.😁
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If you read this before that time, you have a chance to score yourself a free copy of the pattern.  If you, sign up for my designer update newsletter you will get a free copy, with a special code just for subscribers.

The first 20 downloads will all be free, but they will disappear pretty quickly - so be assured of  a free pattern by signing up here. 👈

After that, there will be a 40% discount for 24 hours until 11/16 at 6:00 pm, when it will shift to 20% discount for 48 hours until 11/18 at 6:00 pm. By the way, all times listed are EST (US Eastern Standard Time).

I will also be sharing information about a new collaboration with Sunshine Dye Works very shortly and I will also be taking part in the 6th Annual Indie Designer Gift-A-Long for 2018 starting 11/23 so watch for those details as well.

Happy knitting!

Pelican Beach Cowl

Ribbing & Cable Details

Sunset Beach is in Testing, along with Petite Plumeria

I haven't been here, because I've been a very busy designer.  Sunset Beach is now in testing, as is Petite Plumeria.

Sunset Beach will be launching in the beginning of November, with Petite Plumeria close behind as part of the Artesanitarium Designer Challenge - which has been running since the beginning of October. I designed a baby dress/tunic with 4 sizes from 6 months - 24 months based on the plumeria flower which is so prevalent in Florida yards and voting is about to end up.  If  you see this and would like to vote for my design you can find it here.

Here are a couple photos to whet your interest.

Sunset Beach progress

My collaboration with Sunshine DyeWorks is in full swing, so I thought I would post a few pictures of swatches and beyond for your inspection. I'll post more when I have them.

New Collaboration with Sunshine Dye Works.

I have a new collaboration going with Scarlett of Sunshine Dyeworks. She was looking for a designer to work with and I was available, so we decided to try it.

I perused her lovely offerings and thought sunset colors since she is on the west coast of Florida. The working name is Sunset Beach, but may change at some point. I used this as the spring board for my design idea in the Initiate Knit Design Workshop. This is the mood board that I created, with images and words that inspired me.      
I chose colors that spoke of twilight, the special peace of sunset and promise of magic that can occur at the hours between day and night.
I chose Indian Summer, Sriracha-cha and Dana, which a pictured below. Stay tuned for swatches and further progress.

Stella Eve and her Snoozle

I'm finally giving Stella Eve's Snoozle a proper pattern launch.  I'll be running a sale starting, 07/11 at 19:00 EST through 07/17 23:59 EST with a tidy discount of 20%!

There will, of course, be a better discount for newsletter subscribers. If you would like to sign up for that, you can find it here.

Stella Eve's Snoozle is a great blanket for any baby with chevrons, eyelets and ridges from beginning to end. A snoozle is another name for cuddle, caress, hug, snuggle or nuzzle. All the things you do with a baby and blanket, colors selected for whatever nursery it which it will be a part. It was designed for my grandniece, Stella Eve.

Self-striping yarns, such as the ones used in the original, make it easy because they're aren't as many ends to weave in.  If you decide to make one, don't forget to tag it on Instagram with #kraziknitzdesigns, #stellaevessnoozle or both. You can follow my posts about this blanket and the baby who it was made for by following me on Instagram here.

This is Stella Eve and her Snoozle!

Canova Beach Made Ravelry Hot Right Now Top 20 and how I arrived there...

Just a quick note to say thanks to anyone who favorited, liked, queued or otherwise supported Canova Beach on its release date of 06/29!

It made it to Ravelry's Hot Right Now Top 20 and stayed there for a few hours! A tremendous accomplishment according to my design instructor, Francoise Danoy of Aroha Knits.  I studied her approach to knitwear design through her signature on-line design course Swatch Studio a bit over a year ago.

I had forty plus knit/felted designs but knew I could do more than that tiny niche, but lacked the courage and drive to try. I had all but given up designing, when I spotted a post about a design workshop being hosted by Frenchie (her nickname) and I was intrigued. I had taken her 5 Shawls 5 Days Challenge previously, so I knew a bit about her.

The Initiate Knit Design workshop helps demystify knitwear design and provides an easy to follow framework that Frenchie herself uses. I took the workshop and had an idea, which became my first post-felting design Infinite Surf. I learned from the challenge that Frenchie has infinite patience and gives a lot of time and effort into her workshop. The free 10 day workshop took me from inspiration to fleshed out idea to the beginnings of a written pattern and design sample.

When the opportunity came to sign up for Swatch Studio, I jumped on it and was the first one to sign up for that round.  Of course, early bird prices and a coaching call with Frenchie were also inducements, because for the first time in ages I felt empowered that I could do this.

I can recommend this workshop for anyone who may have toyed with the idea of designing or just simply curious about the design process. I known other knitters who have taken the workshop as a way of improving their own understanding of knitting and knitting construction.

I have rediscovered my passion for design and have been working on new designs ever since. I have made many friends in this wonderful supportive community and am grateful for their friendship and support.

If you are interested in taking the design challenge, you may sign up for it at www.initiateknitdesign.com.  I've signed up again for my fifth or sixth round because each time I get fresh idea. It starts again on July 16, so I hope I see you there.

A bit of Canova Beach Test Knitter Appreciation

I had a smaller pool of testers for my Canova Beach Capelet, but they did some awesome work. Some had never test knitted before and some were quite experienced, but all of them did great work.

We had more than our share of set backs! Illness, surgery and the challenges of shipping yarn to Europe put us way behind schedule as far as testing went.  These ladies were real troopers though, and I wanted to share some of their work here.

If you think you would like to be a test knitter, please follow this link and join my test knitter list. People on my test knitter list are notified 24 hours before I put out a general call for test knitters, so that they can apply first if it interests them.

Maria used fantasy fiber for sparkle and white bamboo to create foam, as if on breaking waves.

Suki had never done cables before, but now she's a pro!

Krista is wearing hers higher on her shoulders, like a draping cowl.

Giuseppina from Italy did a wonderful job! I love the way the colors pooled.

Canova Beach release....

Canova Beach will be released this Friday, 06/29/18 with an introductory discount.  Those who purchase Canova Beach during this introductory period will also get a discount code to purchase from Arrowhead Fibers, who is my partner in this design collaboration. A win-win! Discounted pattern and yarn to knit it with!

For those who wish to get a more substantial discount, my newsletter subscribers will receive a generous discount delivered to their inboxes in the next few days. If this sounds like something you would be interested in you can sign up here!

Sea Oats Serenade Release

Sea Oats Serenade Cowl will be available on Ravelry starting 06/20/18.  It has an easy to remember slip stitch cable pattern that will be challenging for adventurous beginners, yet keep more experienced knitters interested as they watch the sea oats pattern emerge.

This cowl is the right size to use as a layering piece during the cool weather of spring or fall, as well as a barrier to the frigid air conditioning that you may find blowing on your neck in some buildings during the heat of summer. Your hands created this little piece of warmth and remind of your time at the beach.

Listen to the breeze sing its ancient song as it makes the sea oats, sway to its rhythm in its eternal dance. You can hear it if you try, especially when stillness surrounds you.

I am offering an exclusive discount to my newsletter subscribers which will arrive in their inbox before the pattern release. You can sign up for the newsletter here.  

If you are interested in becoming a test knitter for any future designs, you may sign up for my test knitting pool.  Members of my test knitting pool are notified 24 hours before general test knitting calls are submitted to other social sites for applicants. You may sign up for the test knitting pool here.

Sea Oats Serenade Test Knitter Appreciation,...part two

In the last post about my excellent crew of test knitters, I profiled the pictures of five of the twelve. I am going to get the rest of them in this post on the countdown to releasing this pattern!

I finally had my photoshoot, so am completing the layout and getting looked over one more time by Heather Folkner of Crafty Ferret Tech Editing, before releasing it. I will be giving an exclusive discount to my newsletter subscribers, so you can sign up here. I will be sending out discount codes before the pattern release, so watch your inbox once you sign up.

Now on to the shameless praise and exhibiting of pictures from my test knitters, who have gone above and beyond in the pursuit of helping to test this pattern. So many beautiful colors were chosen from solids to speckled wonders, it really does show the versatility of this cowl.

Please review these pretties to see an example from each of the seven remaining test knitters.....

Andrea of Artistic Fibers rocking her cowl!S

This lovely cowl is from dimpls742

This from Pam aka knitziwhitzi

Mewmui models her cowl

This pretty blue from yarnsmithdori

a

This pretty purple is from aromanov

Yvonna13 first one done & got a prize

500 Followers on IG ...Giveaway Time!

Go to Instagram for details on my little giveaway package.....http://www.instagram.com/kraziknitz

Sea Oats Serenade Test Knitter Appreciation ....part one

I got really lucky with my Sea Oats Serenade test knit! I was overwhelmed by the response of people who wanted to test knit for me. I had to shut it down in less than 24 hours and decided on 12 test knitters and decided to run it like a mini-KAL to get some experience, since I planned on having my first one within a month or so.

I was amazed at the variety of yarns people chose and how each one suited the pattern differently. I have to thank Heather Folkner of Crafty Ferret Tech Editing, for the bang-up job she did of checking my pattern and making sure it was ready for the test knitters. If you are in need of tech editing services, you can find her at her website.

I am showing off a few progress photos of the test knitter versions below.  As soon I have my final photo shoot with my model, I can finish the final layout and release the pattern. These photos will give you a feel for how versatile this pattern is and if you would like to see more you can check out my Instagram feed here, where I have been shamelessly praising and showing off test knitter accomplishments  I am only including a smattering here, but want to thank all my testers and I plan on featuring more when I have more photos of blocked or modeled cowl

This is from @spunbyrj! I really like her mini photo shoot!

This beauty is by @anneswolle! So pretty!

This is from egypte on Ravelry! Love the colors!

@slmetaime modeled this one beautifully.

We folded this one from @lacinitting. She's local!

What to do with leftovers?....yarn that is....

When you have a goodly amount of yarn left from a project what do you do? Here are some of the things I have been known to do....see if some of them sound familiar....

• Leave them in the bottom of the project bag to see if they will go away.
• Put them in another bag with other left over balls of yarn to "organize" them.
• Swatch for other projects of similar yarn weight.
• Look for scrap projects that require lots of yarn.
• Make minis and swap for temperature or hexi-puff blankets
• Any of a number of other ideas.

When I finished Canova Beach, I had approximately 50 g of the color Lagoon left from Arrowhead Fibers and I hated to let it languish in my project bag. While knitting Canova Beach, I had to decide how big to make the neck opening, so with advice from a few others I decided to make up a sample neck.

After casting on the smallest amount of stitches I thought would work, I discovered I would need more stitches, so I continued and came up with the right amount of stitches.

I kept the sample neck around for reference, while I finished knitting  the Canova Beach sample and discovered that the stitch pattern really appealed to me. I thought at some point I would use it again.

Little did I know, that it would be sooner than I originally thought. While Canova Beach was being blocked, I cast on and started playing around with the stitch pattern again.  The result is a great little cowl in the same Sea Oats stitch pattern used in Canova Beach.

Sea Oats Serenade is now in testing. The cowl has an interesting little eyelet pattern at the beginning and end to remind us of the fencing that protects the sea oats on the dunes. The sea oats, themselves protected in Florida, are protecting our dunes from erosion from wind and water. They sway on top of the dunes as the breezes blow up the beach, singing their sweet and ancient song.

 Keep an eye out here for future updates about its progress down the test knitting trail. I'll be posting more here about it later...

Canova Beach is in testing....

Canova Beach, one of my local beaches, is like most others. It constantly renews itself, as the waves bring the sand in and take it out again. The wind sculpts the dunes, while the sea oats and other vegetation keep it all from eroding away. This circle is infinite and always.

Translated into knitting, Canova Beach is a long capelet, knitted in the round with lace, cables and texture stitches calling to mind waves, drifting sand dunes and the sea oats that hold them fast, despite the action of wind and water. The stitch patterns are straight forward and easy to remember, which makes it a pleasing knit for adventurous beginners, but enough of a challenge to keep more experienced knitters engaged.

I recently had my pattern tech edited by Frauke Urban of Urban Yarning, who did a wonderful job. She's a non-native speaker of English and looked at my pattern with both the eyes of a tech editor and a consumer of knitting patterns.  She was very encouraging and made some great suggestions, which helped the look of the patterns. 

I put up a call for testing and had lots of wonderful applicants, but I was giving preference to people who were willing to purchase their yarn for the test from my partner in this venture, Melody Harmon of Arrowhead Fibers. We have several great testers in the US and two in Europe (Germany and Italy).

Canova Beach should be out in late May, as I gave extra time to my testers in Europe due to the shipping time for the yarn. I have included a picture below for your viewing pleasure. It is on my dress form Bertha Rose, which was named for my husband's maternal grandmother and my paternal grandmother. It seemed fitting to give her a name, since she is earning her keep as my model some of the time.

I will have a real model for my pattern photos, as I recruited my niece for that job when she was in town. You'll have to wait a bit longer before I start using those shots. You can follow along on Instagram where I am @kraziknitz, to see progress photos from the various test knitters or you can join my group on Ravelry, KraziKnitz Designs for future test knitting opportunities, KALs or other events.

Canova Beach

First Collaboration with an Indie Dyer! Melody Harmon of Arrowhead Fibers

I'm currently working with an indie yarn dyer, Melody Harmon of Arrowhead Fibers. She's a relatively new dyer and we were connected by another designer, Mary E. Rose. Mary thought we might make good collaboration partners since we were both relatively new.
I had to wait until I was done with my Knotions pattern, but we connected. Once I was done, we spoke and I looked at her colorways. I found three colors that inspired me and came up with a design idea.
I worked up a swatch for what I had in mind and sent photos. She liked my idea and sent me the yarn.
I have been documenting the progress of the design on Instagram. The design is now complete and I start the next step in the process.
Writing the pattern, creating chart and schematics are next on the list before I send it off to the technical editor. A tech editor checks it for accuracy and consistency in a variety of areas, before it can be sent to test knitters.
I will be putting up a call for test knitters very soon. You can see progress shots on Instagram, but I have included a few here. If you would like to see more of Arrowhead Fibers offerings, you can find her at www.instagram.com/ArrowheadFibers.

Silver Fox, Lagoon and Stormy Seas

 

The secret is out....

I should have posted about this sooner, but promoting my Rushing River Cowl and other medical  issues have slowed both knitting and typing.

My secret project was a design that appeared in Knotions Magazine, for their January issue that went live on the 27th.  I spent quite a bit of time promoting it all over Instagram, Ravelry, Facebook, and a few other places. It's a free pattern and can be found here. Please enjoy it with my compliments.

Rushing River Cowl made it to the first page Ravelry's Hot Right Now and stayed there for about 36 hours, which was very exciting! I've never had anything go there before, so if you are one of the folks who helped it get there by making it a favorite or putting it in your queue, I want to thank you. If you look at the picture on the right you will see it. It made it into the upper twenties, which is pretty good considering that I am a fairly new designer to conventional patterns, outside my knit/felt niche.

Speaking of my knit/felted niche, I will be rewriting all of my patterns to coincide with my better pattern writing skills. It may take quite a while, because I want to have them all tech edited as well, which is not an inexpensive undertaking.  It may take more that a year, but I want to provide the best patterns that I can for everyone. I will re-launch each of the patterns as I have them done, but will also have them test knitted as well, so be on the look out for calls for test knits on Instagram and Ravelry.
If you would like to be included in the test knits, you may contact me at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/kraziknitz-designs, Reply to the general test knitting thread, I usually recruit from there and from past successful test knitters first.  After that, if I don't have enough test knitters, I recruit from Instagram and Facebook groups I belong to.

That's all for now. 

Motivation has not been my middle name, but.....

Motivation has not been my middle name over the holidays, but I'm going to try to do better. I can't promise that I will, but I am going to try.  Carpal tunnel and a few other issues left me unable to knit as much as I like.  I recovered a bit, but over compensating for the time I was laid up led to another bout.

You might have read in earlier posts about my secret project that took so much of my knitting time, well in two weeks time I'll be able to let that bit of mystery loose in the blog complete with pictures.
It is currently being test knitted by my intrepid band of testers. You might be able to find a few test knit reposts over at my Instagram feed at www.instagram.com/kraziknitz. I can say that this will be my second pattern with the particular publication, but first non-knit/felted item to appear in a third party publication.

Also over the next month or so, I'll be trying to publish a series of posts at the urging of Chelsea Fitch and the gang over at FiberBoss College about the knitting cruise that I was involved in this past fall
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I also am working on my first collaboration with an indie yarn dyer.  She and I have been discussing a design inspired by some of her lovely hand-dyed yarn. We will be working together on this and hopefully other collaborations in the future. I have been sketching other ideas and making notes on some other designs I would like to try. We were recommended to each other by another designer, Mary Rose to whom I am very grateful.

I think that's all for now, but here's to a safe, happy and prosperous 2018.