My family and I are in Brooklyn for a couple days, staying with good friends and celebrating the coming new year.
While I'm here, I thought I'd take advantage of their apartment and use it as a location for a photo shoot. A friend's daughter lives here and she is going to model the knits...she's coming later this morning--very exciting!
I've been working for the last several weeks on these new patterns, I'm so looking forward to sharing them with you.

Happy New Year, everyone! Cheers to 2014!

xo
c

"I do it my own self," says Imogen (several times a day for the past 8 months or so).  I'm so proud of her independence!

Well, now I am doing it my own self, too.  I've been feeling quiet about the decision, but I'm ready to share that I have left my full-time position at Quince as Art Director to stay home and have more time with Imogen. Saying it was not an easy decision is an understatement. But I know that it was the right one. My little goose is only little once.

I'll still be working with Quince freelance; we remain best friends forever! But, I'll now have a little time (a little while Immie is at pre-school) to work on Madder and other various projects. So stay tuned!

Hoping this will be a sweater in less than two weeks. Hmm....

yarn: swans island, merino/alpaca

advent

If anyone missed out on the sale the other day, you can check out A butterfly in my hair. Enter to win a free copy of the pdf by commenting on day 15's post! Plus you'll see lots of other goodies in the advent offering—a cashmere hat by Nicole being one of them. So pretty.

12 for 2013: One-day-only pattern special!

Hello, knitters! Last year I offered a pattern package to celebrate 12/12. Well, this year, I thought I'd do the same. I put together a pdf that includes 12 patterns for $20.13.  Offer expires at the end of the day.

Family mittens
Two lights blanket
Lottie cardigan
Lottie beret
Lottie cowl
Mia cardi
Mae shrug
South Paris
December booties
Shipyard mittens
Bergen cowl
Benedetta (pattern includes instructions for long body and cropped body, long sleeves and 3/4 sleeves)

Enjoy!
xo
c

Taproot tunic pattern and miscellaneous projects in the works.

hats for all

Introducing Hats for All, a project published in the latest issue of Taproot Magazine, Issue 8::Reclaim.

All the hats have the same gauge and were worked in Quince's Lark, a worsted weight yarn. It's one pattern with several variations—a good staple recipe to have on hand, is how I see it.

I'd like thank all my lovely models:
Imogen in the Peacock earflap hat with her friend, Oliver ("Obiber" as Immie says) wearing the Carrie's Yellow basic cap.

Oliver's baby brother, Forrest, in the Snap Pea basic cap.

Imogen's friend, Zineb, in Parsley double-brim.

Senetra in Sorbet basic cap.

Lily, Oliver & Forrest's mama, in Kittywake slouchy cap.

Nyanen also in the slouchy cap.

And last but not least, Ryan, in Sabine deep rib cap.


If you haven't seen this issue of Taproot yet, you'll be so excited when you do. It's my favorite yet—I can't wait to sew the Taproot tunic by 100 Acts of Sewing! And also make some of the yogurt recipes; they look delicious. And...more....

OH...and speaking of knit patterns from Taproot, my Fawn Hoodie pattern is now for sale on Madder and Ravelry.

xo
c

Shipyard mitten pattern is now in the madder shop!

Mittens were knitted in Quince & Co. Owl / Elf—isn't that alpaca halo pretty? 

Ooh, it was a bitterly cold day when I photographed these mittens! The model (Dana) and I rushed outside to take these quick shots. Unfortunately, myfrozen  brain forgot to photograph the mittens un-bunched, to show their length and fitted shape.

I kept meaning to photograph them again, as still lives, but continued to put that off while continuing to wear them. A big no-no. I soiled them with soot while making a fire in my barn-studio. So now these light gray mitts are speckled with spots of black. Guess I'll just have to knit a pair in a dark shade—perhaps Huckleberry? Barred?

Here's a shot below where you can kind of see the soot on the ribbing of the palm. Boo. They are still warm, though!!

This weekend there will be knitting and a little reading, too.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I did some local shopping last weekend—wool yarn and wool fabric.

Karen Templer of Fringe Association invited me to be apart of her Our Tool series. Thank you! You can check the interview out here if you're interested.

I hate being in front of the camera, but Karen asked me to provide a photo of myself. And for Karen? Anything. So, I just had to sneak Imogen into the photo with me, makes me more relaxed. Here's an outtake. Goof ball. (Thanks Gigi, for taking our picture!)

Imogen is wearing her Fawn hoodie. I'm wearing a new design in Owl, which I will (hopefully) release in a few weeks. Stay tuned!
And have a great weekend,
xo
c

finch: honey, slate, and sedum.

road to china / rashida coleman-hale koi fabric

maude, elena, and brigitte!

Perhaps you've already seen (I'm a little behind the times), I have a few new patterns—Maude cardigan, Elena cowl and Brigitte bonnet.

Maude is a comfy, cozy grampa-style cardigan with garter stitch pockets(!) knitted in Owl. I love this yarn—have you worked with it yet?

 Elena is a textured cowl worked in Chickadee / Carrie's Yellow (aka one of my favorite colors).

 And, Brigitte, from Wool People 6, is a silly, fun, pretty Lady bonnet in Shelter (also worked in one of my favorites shades —Soot).

swatches in finch.

A sweater finished and photographed for next Fall!

yarn: owl / quince
color: papuan

leaf details

I've had some emails requesting me to indicated each of the yarns and projects in the book.

Here goes:

Above: Beret / Lark in Bark (modified Lottie beret) also shown with South Paris cowl / Finch in Marsh

Liesl cowl / Lark in Peacock

 Odette pointy cap / Lark in Pomegranate

Imogen Wool / Finch in Peacock

Benedetta / Finch in Honey

Owl in Cinnamon

I'm pretty sure the above is Blue Sky Alpaca. It was in my stash without a label (bad!). I remember buying it at Loop in Philly a few years ago.

This is Sanguine Gryphon lace weight yarn (also, no label). I'm not sure the color name. It's a gorgeous deep, dark evergreen.

A work in progress, Chickadee in Gingerbread

leaf

Introducing Leaf, my latest swatch diaries ebook.

I hope you enjoy it. And just so you know, I have about 800 photos of leaves, so maybe you'll see this theme again someday...

happy friday,
xo
c

ps: Oh, I almost forgot to thank the lovely models: Imogen and my new friend Dana!

pps:And, inside Leaf you'll see the sweater below, which I'm really excited about. It's a Benedetta in Finch/Honey with modified three-quarter sleeves! Loving it.

flash sale

 Happy Halloween! I'm having a last-minute one-day sale on the patterns in my Ravelry shop. Enter spooky for 20% off (coupon expires at 11am tomorrow).

Enjoy!
xo
c

sherwood mitts

A gift for a friend.
yarn: owl
color: chamomile

marina

Marina, swatch diaries/volume two, is live.
Have a great weekend,
c

family mittens

Getting ready for late Fall with Family mittens.
infant: egret / chickadee
toddler/younger child: twig / lark
women: chanterelle / osprey

The infant size is a gift for a friend's new baby, the other's are for me and Immie. 

pictures again, mama?

Here's Immie after I asked her if I could photograph her: Bored...so she found some leaves, started dancing....back to serious. That all took place in under a minute, I'd say. Then she was off, no more pictures for mama.

She's wearing the Ice Cream Dress blouse that I made for her a few weeks ago. It's funny, I was so excited to have a day in my studio just for sewing, but I found I was very tense making this top. Every little detail that wasn't perfect bugged me. But I've learned that it is just like knitting—when you take a step back, it's not so bad. I need to give myself some slack and enjoy the process, and not get so hung up on trying to sew perfectly. Otherwise, I'll never get back on my machine again!