Tag: Ravelry

  • Indie Design Giftalong 2018

    Indie Design Giftalong 2018

    How are your holiday gifts coming along? Have you been shopping for deals in stores or online? Are you starting to feel the heat of gifting deadlines? Are you taking on big knitting projects this year, or are quick projects the way to go?

    Pattern sale!

    Well, I might be able to help! Have you heard about the Ravelry-wide Indie Designer Giftalong (GAL)? It’s part sale, part game, and part community. It begins tonight (November 23, 2018, at 8 p.m. EST) with a week-long sale on patterns by 349 independent designers, myself included. Each participating designer has created a bundle of 10-20 patterns that are included in the sale. Use giftalong2018 to save 25% on any or all patterns in the bundle! Sweet! But don’t wait! The code is only valid through November 29, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. EST. All of my patterns for sale on Ravelry are included in the sale, so now is the time to stock up! Most of them are quick projects, too, so they’re perfect for the busy season.

    Prizes!

    But that’s not all! Every project you complete from now until New Year’s Eve can help you win one of over 2000 prizes. Any pattern for sale (not free) from any participating designer is fair game. Be sure to post photos of your finished objects in the Ravelry forum for the GAL to win yarn and other awesome physical prizes. And there are some fun games to play every day; I’ve always loved the designer scavenger hunt and alphabet soup. You can win patterns for those!

    Friendship!

    Each type of pattern (e.g., shawls, hats, socks, etc.) has its own thread in the forums. There are general chatter threads, too. It’s fun to see everyone’s projects, read about their holiday traditions, I love the camaraderie of so many others working towards the same goal.

    I know the details of the GAL can be overwhelming and confusing, but my friend, Sarah Shira, made a video that explains everything far better than I can. 

    By the way, even though this is a GIFTalong, that doesn’t mean you have to give away your finished items. Feel free to make yourself a little treat, too!

  • Summer Stock Shawlette

    Summer Stock Shawlette

    Summer Stock Shawlette is a fluttery little thing—easy-breezy and perfect for cool nights or over-air-conditioned spaces. I love my version in Nettle Grove by Plymouth Yarn (a blend of cotton, linen, silk, and nettle in a sport weight yarn), but it’ll look great in all sorts of yarn. Go ahead and stash dive on this one! The pattern includes alternative stitch counts that will work for the border, so you can make this as small or as large as you want.

    The inspiration first came from the yarn. My friend Britni and I had been talking about summery shawls when I ran across this Nettle Grove. It’s way out of my comfort zone, but that’s what I wanted. First of all, I don’t work with a lot of cotton, let alone linen or nettle (nettle?). It’s not too scratchy to work with, and as everyone says, it softens up so much. And then orange? Orange is SO not a good color for me, but somehow, this muted orange works. It looks great with gray, blue, purple, raspberry—all my cool-colored t-shirts. The color wheel in action! (more…)

  • Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas November 2017: Quick Knits

    Bronwyn’s Handmade Christmas November 2017: Quick Knits

    It’s time for the final push! We only have one month until Christmas! Can you believe it?

    Every time I write about a new craft I’ve made, I feel a slight pang of guilt. I’ve always dabbled in all sorts of crafts, so it’s not like I’m a monogamous crafter or anything. Knitting is my main squeeze, though, so that is my go-to when I want to make a handmade gift. But wait a second. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to blog about knitting in, say, June when we still had several months ahead of us? Well, my favorite things to knit are accessories because they are quick and make a big impact with only a small amount of time and effort. I’m a procrastinator, and I know many of you are, too, so quick and easy are key features when you’re on a deadline.

    [It just occurred to me that knitting is a little like childbirth. Yeah, of course, you created this thing of beauty and the knitting project is your baby and all that, but I’m thinking about the effort you put in. You always hear moms bragging about how many hours they labored. It seems like the most dramatic stories come at the extremes: “I pushed for FOUR hours!” but also, “I only pushed for 22 MINUTES! I guess he was in a hurry.” (True story. 22 minutes for me. Not bragging at all.) So when it comes to knitting, we’re especially proud when we finally complete a sweater or afghan that took 2 years to complete but also when we whip up a cowl in only a few hours. Or is it just me?] (more…)

  • 7 Years a Knitter

    7 Years a Knitter

    Today marks my 7th anniversary on Ravelry. It also marks the approximate date I started knitting. The specifics are a little fuzzy about when I cast on my first stitches, but I know that I started my first project, this pair of shorties for a cloth diaper cover, on June 20, 2009. I watched videos on knittinghelp.com to learn everything I needed to know. I remember researching diaper cover patterns online before buying yarn at Ewe-Nique Yarns in Morton, IL. When I was in the shop, I saw a sign about joining Ravelry; I signed up as soon as I got home. Of course, back in those days, Ravelry was still in beta testing, so I had to wait a day or so to get my approval email. The agony! I had no idea seven years ago just how much that simple sign-up form would change my life.
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