Disclaimer: Grab yourself a coffee and settle in before proceeding, because this post isn't a fast read! If you're just looking for a quick and easy list of tips to fit more knit and crochet into your life, you might want to take a look at 13 Helpful Tips for More Knit & Crochet Time instead. I started this year with a quiet New Years Resolution to gain more focus in my life. Too much time wasted on social media, not enough time actually doing the things that mattered to me. The goal went way beyond knit and crochet and crafting, but of course it included them too. I read the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. (Yes, it’s an affiliate link!) Such...
Don’t you just love it when you finally find a moment to knit or crochet? Then someone approaches you and says, “Wow that’s so cool that you do THAT! But I would NEVER have time for that!”. As if that’s all you do. You just sit around and knit and crochet all day. And it’s not like that person has never binge-watched a show on Netflix. Or sat around shooting the breeze with friends. Or taken public transport. And those were all opportunities to knit or crochet if that had actually been one of their priorities. What we know, as knitters and crocheters, is that it’s all about prioritizing. It's about being creative in finding ways to fit this passion into our...
This post is long overdue. My Beyond Basic Broomstick Lace class on Craftsy has been out for a few months now, and one of the most common questions I get in the class is "What are you wearing?" and "Do you have a pattern for that?". Below is a rundown of what I am wearing in each lesson and a link to where you can obtain the pattern and/or kit for the project to make your own version of each project. Up above in Lesson 1 (Introduction) you can see me wearing the Endless Broomstick Lace Cardi Shawl. This totally versatile garment can be worn a ton of different ways. I am wearing it backwards and upside down with a shawl pin...
My newest knitted design: Turtlenect Batwing My favorite place for inspiration is my own closet. So I used my most beloved sweater as the model for my latest knitted sweater design. I figure that if it's a style that has a proven success record in my own wardrobe, chances are that other women will like it too. Here's the story of what inspired my latest knitting design and what I was doing while I designed it. For years, my cheap-acrylic-yarn-Forever-21 sweater has been my absolute favorite. I actually bought it on a whim - I think it might have been on sale. At the time I bought it, I hadn't yet tried one of the voluminous sweater fits, and thought it would...
One of the most common questions I'm getting in my Tunisian Crochet Craftsy class has little to do with the class content at all. The question is: "Where can I get the pattern for what you are wearing?". I'm not shy at all about letting you know what I'm wearing - I've had a ton of fun in times past documenting my personal style. I wore a mix of knit and crochet, with some Broomstick, Hairpin and of course, Tunisian, thrown into the mix for good measure. ( The photo up above is from Lesson 7, I'm wearing Borgia. ) So here's a lesson-by-lesson, play-by-play of my outfits with the links to learn more about the patterns behind them: Lesson 1: I'm wearing Asymmetric Redux as a cardi. To...
