Sunday, September 6, 2015

I'm back....Knitty Deep Fall 2015, a KAL, and a new mitt pattern.







You may have noticed a familiar face in Knitty  when it went live on Tuesday. Well, I'm back. This is my third time being featured in this online magazine as a designer for Deep Fall. I also appeared in 2012 for You Can Call Me Al and then later in 2013 for Ridley.

These are a great, fast, fun knit done in thick yarn with large needles. Warm enough for Winter, lacy enough for Fall, named for a crazy Viking...really, its all win! And its free. You really can't go wrong with free.


I thought it might be fun to share some of the photos that didn't make it into the article. You see, I took the ones in the jeans first and was asked to reshoot....and maybe put on a dress this time. I figured if a dress would be good, a corset would be better...In the end the used the jeans photos, but here's an assortment of some of my favorites over the three days and 2 outfits.
I really loved the green of the fennel behind me. Very "fall in Berkeley" I thought.

I love these old stone banisters. They lead up to the circle on Marin.




I thought a lot of these pictures were really fun, but maybe too much cleavage? Not enough sock showing?




Here we are at the end of the last day. Hawke kept trying to photo bomb. Good thing he's cute.

These socks are almost knee high. They stretch vertically and horizontally and are tapered throughout the leg for a snug fit. All the decreases are also on the top of the foot, so you don't have to worry about any uncomfortable seams.

If you feel like giving them a try, I'm having a KAL in my Ravelry group. Feel free to include these along with all the fun October Daye Socks that are being posted.

Speaking of which, have you all seen my latest sock pattern??


Right now, in collaboration with Invictus Yarns, I am running a KAL for my October Day(e) Socks. They are an addictive, quick knit.  Finish a pair before October 31st can qualify you for prizes. If you join in the KAL with Invictus, they'll accept any design knit up in their yarn, so you could even make a pair of Floki Socks if it suits you. I'll also honor any of my own patterns knit up in ANY yarn.  Feel free to double dip and join both KALs. Come join the fun!

Also new this month, my Love is a Battlefield fingerless mitts. Enter the code "battlefield" at checkout on Ravelry, and get a free pattern! 

More coming soon, I have some great new ideas coming in the next couple of months. I'm also hoping to update my blog a bit more frequently.



Sunday, April 12, 2015

Spring in Berkeley: Running, Knitting, and Sunshine.

Its been ages since I've written, and so much has changed in my life with so many changes on the horizon.

Despite my best efforts, my children keep growing faster than I can keep pace with. It is a pleasure and a joy to watch them grow and change day by day. My son, Little Hawke, is now 18.5 months old with a headful of floppy dirty blond curls and a taste for mischief and adventure. One of his favorite games is
"Chasing Sister." Here he is wandering into some one else's yard to smell their amazing roses. Some of the blooms were as large as his head, hair included!



My DD, Roo, is also continuing to blossom and change day by day. She's now 4 and 3/4 as she'll tell anyone will listen, and is getting ready to start Kindergarten this August! I've had her mostly to myself now for almost 5 years, and I'm already fearfully anticipating the loss of my little adventure companion. Here she is at Aquatic Park, showing me how she was able to remove some of the pavement with her awesome strength. She was rather impressed with how strong she is...I didn't have the heart to tell her it was crumbling away without her best efforts. We had a great afternoon of duck watching, walking, and hot chocolate. 


In other news, I'm still running and designing new things all the time. This morning I woke up extra early to go out and tackle a half marathon's distance before the family was up and about. I actually successfully managed to sneak out before the sun was fully up and the kids were awake. :D I left the house at 6:27 and began my run at around 6:40-6:50. I was home by around 9:15. Two hours out on the trail. It was a beautiful morning for a run. 

 Here I am before the run started, at the Emeryville Marina. My destination, the end of the Bay Bridge.



About 1/4 of the way through...This sign warns me that if I chicken out on the running thing and decide to walk, it'll be 3.5 hours to the end of the bridge back to this sign...Good thing I was running!




I made it to the halfway point with no problems. I was running a bit slower than I had hoped, but I at this point I figured I could make up some time on the downhill back to the car. The view was amazing from out there. I wish I had a better camera.




Here I am at the turnaround point. I didn't have quite the milage I needed for a half, so I did a few back and forths at this point followed by some loops of the parking lot at the end to make up distance.



On the way back to the car, I played a few speed games on the trail. I hadn't brought any music, and I was running solo, so I needed something to keep my mind occupied for the hour run back to the car.





I made it back a bit slower than I wanted, but with a negative split. All in all a good run!

I've got a marathon coming up in August, so I'm trying to stay active this summer. Hopefully this run will be the first of many great runs on my journey back to Marathon fitness. I haven't run a marathon since before the birth of my son, the last one being almost 3 years ago.




 In knitting news, I'm also designing lots. Here's a glimpse at one of my current projects, a set of fingerless mittens for a swap. It worked really hard on making a fun heart-shaped lace and cable motif. I'll post more when I'm ready to design these into socks!

I'm planning to have a really busy summer. I hope to blog again soon...I miss writing sometimes.

Until next time~!