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Post Mortem Part 1: Octopodes Socks

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Back about a year and a half ago I had an idea for a pair of mittens – a cute little pair with an octopus on them.  So I printed out some knitting graph paper and sketched out a design.  I thought I wanted to either self-publish these or submit them to Knitty (because what other publication would want octopus mittens? – they seemed pretty niche), and then I wrote a proposal for yarn support and sent it to Dragonfly.  It went like this:

I could have fallen over when Kate, from Dragonfly, said yes.  Since Dragonfly is not even a 10 minute drive away, I went to them to pick the yarn up.  When talking to one of Kate’s employees (who were helping me with the color choices), she advised me toward the Silver Fox and Poseidon.  I’d been looking at Kelpie and an Orange that I liked – and she mentioned that it might not be such a good idea, as there was already a pair of blue and orange octopus mittens on Ravelry… which were also done in similar yarn.
I quickly settled on the Silver Fox and Poseidon after that.  And then I went home to Ravelry to look up the mittens – titled Octopus Mittens.  They were lovely.  Amazing.  And I couldn’t believe that Emily Peters had gotten to the idea first.
I was devastated.  I’d really loved my idea of Octopus Mittens, and I didn’t want to give it up… but I was so rattled by the similarities I didn’t know what to do.
That evening I told Michael (now Mr.Turtle) about my dilemma.  His response?  “Put them on a pair of socks.  Socks are the same as mittens, right?  I mean, one has thumbs, the other has heels.  Both only have one hole.”
That bit of common sense broke my panic.  Emily’s octopus was completely different from mine.  Mine was a little cutesy, and hers was definitely more tentacle-ly.  Hers had bubbles and the design moving onto the palm, mine did not.  And now we were even working in different colors.
And I had chosen sock yarn for the mitten pattern – so no problems there.  Socks they would be then!  So I began knitting on the socks – not realizing there’d be a lot more to this design.  Stay tuned tomorrow for Post Mortem – Part II!
Did you know that Dragonfly and I are running a KAL, starting on the 24th?  Pick out your yarn and get your needles ready (or even get a head start!) for an epic KAL.

It’s Official: Octopodes, my pattern in Knitty, is out!

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I can finally share the exciting news!  Octopodes is my latest pattern, published in Knitty.  I am so excited to share the news – I’ve been holding onto it for what feels like forever!
As a thrilling addition, there will be an Octopodes KAL starting on March 24th, hosted in Dragonfly Fiber’s Ravelry Group (they’re the ones who provided the delicious yarn!).  There are going to be prizes!  I’ll be doing a series of blog posts and tutorials to go along with the KAL (and there may be some other exciting things in regards to the KAL coming up)!  Stay tuned for more information, or sign up for the newsletter and get the information delivered straight to your inbox.
If you love the design, please share it on Facebook, Ravelry or Twitter – spread the word!
The Details:
Octopodes
by Jennifer Raymond
Published in: Knitty, Spring + Summer 2014
Craft: Knitting
Category: Feet / Legs → Socks → Mid-calf
Published: March 2014
Yarns suggested: Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock
Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi) Information on yarn weights
Gauge: 36 stitches and 36.5 rows = 4 inches in In Stranded Colorwork
Needle size: US 1 – 2.25 mm
Yardage: 226 – 442 yards (207 – 404 m)
Sizes available: XS[S, M, L, XL]
 This pattern is available for free.

PPST…. it’s almost time!

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This weekend I was kept hopping with exciting stuff in the background, and a set of really

wonderful classes both Saturday and Sunday.  So much fun!

This week some exciting things are happening (I want to share more, I really do, but you’ll have to wait with me – so hard!), and I’m nearly beside myself with anticipation.

So, for those of you who are up late, you’ll get a special treat: a little sneak peek.

Because I can never resist giving hints!

Post Mortem: Larkin

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Larkin is the story of the design call that could.  Just like the iconic train saying “I think I can,” Larkin was a design I believed in from the beginning, but one that just had to keep plugging along until it got accepted. Larkin started out as “50’s Flame” – a vintage inspired top for a design call for Three Irish Girls nearly 4 years ago.  It looked like this:

It got rejected.  I also submitted it to Knitpicks, Interweave Knits, and a handful of other design calls.  Each time it would come back, a few months later, unchosen.  Which happens.  I knew the design was a good one, but it just never was quite what the editing team was looking for.
So I’d wait until another design call came along where this pattern would fit, repackage the pattern, and submit again.
Until last year, with Classic Elite.  Over time the design layout had been updated, I’d gotten a new logo and a new company name. The wording had changed (a little) and the name had changed.  It was now called Flaming Mamie, after a great swingy song I used to sing at camp.
Let’s be frank – not much changed.  But this time it was the right time, right place, right design, and CEY picked the design up.
So let’s compare the sketch to the finished product:
Puffed sleeves, flame motif, same neckline, scoop neck and false neckline.  The flames in this yarn are a little squatter and slimmer- I made them slightly smaller to accommodate sizing.  The ribbing along the neckline went away, because I thought the more rustic neck matched the yarn, and I wanted to keep that area a little less busy.  But otherwise?  Not much changed.  The things that made me believe this design was a keeper in the first place remained the things that I love in the finished product.
I love how the sleeves are slightly pleated.  I love how the ribbing runs seamlessly into the pattern.  I love how the design is slightly retro and oh-so feminine.  I love the figure-complimenting look.
I just kept pitching the design until someone saw it’s potential.  Thank-you CEY!
Love the design – like it on Ravelry or Facebook!  Want to know when others come out – sign up for our newsletter!

New Pattern: Larkin

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Larkin

by Jennifer Raymond

Published in:  Homestead by Classic Elite Yarns
Craft: Knitting
Category: Sweater → Pullover
Published: March 2014
Yarns suggested: Classic Elite Yarns Meadowlark
Yarn weight: Worsted / 10 ply (9 wpi) Information on yarn weights
Gauge: 17 stitches and 25 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette stitch
Needle size: US 8 – 5.0 mm
Yardage: 550 – 990 yards (503 – 905 m)
Sizes available: XS (S, M, L, XL)

This pattern is available for $6.00 USD
 buy it now or   visit pattern website
A pullover with lace patterning on the front, pleated sleeve caps, and a no-finish round neckline.

Skill Level: Experienced

Sizes: XS (S, M, L, XL). Shown in size XS.

Finished Measurements: Bust: 32 (36, 42½, 45, 48)”
Length: 23 (24, 25, 25¾, 26¾)”

Yarn: Meadowlark by Classic Elite Yarns (50% silk, 30% linen, 20% viscose; 50 g = 110 yards) 5 (6, 7, 8, 9) hanks 1554 Aquamarine

Other Materials 
Stitch markers
Removable markers or safety pins
Sewing pins

Gauge
17 sts and 25 rows = 4” in St st and Flame patt from
charts. Take time to save time, check your gauge.

For more information, see: http://www.classiceliteyarns.com/pattern_detail.php?patternID=283

Snowday, again.

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We got about 5 or 6 inches of snow today.  Needless to say, everything was pretty much shut down.  Mr. Turtle and I stayed holed up in our apartment.  Mr. Turtle was recovering from a cold, and every time he coughed the cats got startled.  For once in my life (shockingly!) I was the preferred human to cuddle, which was a little awkward as I was working on an upcoming pattern.

At one point both cats were poured into my lap, a rather startling feat.

Michael snapped a picture.

Me, lovely in my “Knitter” Sweatpants and Penguin Sweatshirt;
the cats, keeping my lap warm.

The pattern was giving me fits today.  It’s a new sock pattern, and the heel took three tries to get right.  It’s a perfect fit now, but I had to try out everything that didn’t work before I settled on a shape that worked.

Stay tuned – next week I’ll be announcing some exciting news!

Breaking Down Blocking Knit and Crochet Items

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The other day I got a question in my inbox, and I got permission to post it in its entirety, because I thought it was such a good question!

I got some blocking mats, pins, and wires and have been
experimenting with blocking some smaller things that I made, like
scarves.  I recently finished a crochet project that I’ve been working on
for a while (Daisy Wrap) and I don’t know where to start with blocking
it….well, after I soak it in water for a while anyway.  The blocking
instructions say to pin each picot and there are a lot of them.  What would
you recommend for blocking?  Fold it in half?  I have enough blocking
mats to block it full length.  I don’t know where to start with this! Thanks,An Overwhelmed Student

Blocking shawls with lots of points can be a particularly daunting task – and I’ve been known to futz around with a project to get them all exactly right for the better part of an hour.  This is what I wrote back to Sue:

I’d would fold
it in half, just because it’d reduce the amount of pinning I’d have to do by
half.  There’s no two ways around it… if you want to have all those picots
standing out the way they look in the pattern, you need to pin them out. I’d probably
take a blocking wire and run it through the two or three picots that are at the
point of each of the arches, and pull those out on each side, just so I didn’t have to pin all of the picots.  I’d pull those out, and then just pin out
the picots that didn’t get picked up by the wire.

My own Freshly Blocked Firefly Shawl
That was my answer to Student, but I wanted to expand upon it here.  Blocking lace (especially shawls) can be one of the most important steps of finishing a project!  It can truly transform the results.  The Designer, Kristen TenDyke, was blocking Daisy Wrap had a particularly striking picture of the shawl half-blocked, and I love how you can see the difference between the two sides.  Another Ravelry user has a great picture of the effect blocking out each of the picots has on the final product.
Since blocking is so important in this case, it’s a question of how to block the shawl, not if.
If you have the space and the blocking matts, blocking it out as the designer did is not a bad idea.  I love the blocking mats that have a grid on them – they make it much easier to evenly space pins.  If you are squeezed for space, you could fold the shawl in half and block the same way – with just two layers of fabric instead of one.  My caution would be to make sure you are always pinning out both layers of fabric – so all the picots stand out evenly!
One of the things I love most about blocking is how reversible it is – if you block the piece out and you don’t like how it turned out; wet it and try again!  It’s a lot easier than picking back stitches.

Visiting Atlantic Beach

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I wrote this post once already, hit save, went to do something else, then went back to edit it and it was gone.  I did everything right and I’m still having to rewrite it.  *Grumbles*

I’m catching up on things that happened while I was super busy and couldn’t keep up with everything.  One of the things I wanted to share was a trip Michael and I took with his parents to Atlantic Beach.  It’s become a tradition for them to visit the beach in the off season – when the rates are cheap, the beaches are empty, and you can have the ocean all to yourself.  I have to admit I probably like the beach better this way.  I don’t mind the cold, particularly.  In fact, when you are bundled up there isn’t really a chance of getting sunburned, which is what I’ve done every time I’ve went to a beach in the summer.

Unfortunately for me it was a working vacation – I had a number of designs due at the end of January and beginning of February and I couldn’t just not work on them.  But I only did the essentials – so no email or answering the phone.

The unit where we stayed had a GIANT easychair, which I took possession of early in the weekend, and worked on most of my crochet/knitting there.  It was an amazing chair.

The lovely lovely easy chair, where most of my knitting or crocheting took place.
beach vegetation against sunset
Me, watching sunset (Michael can’t seem to get a horizon line straight)
Michael, looking picturesque.
more vegetation
And all along, I stitched away.

I shrunk my socks in the wash – now what?

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I’ve been winding down from a mad sprint that began shortly after Thanksgiving and wrapped up this past week.  It’s been several months of multiple deadlines every week, and staying on top of all the personal and professional obligations has been difficult, to say in the least.

For the first time in what feels like forever Mr. Turtle and I got chores done on Saturday instead of Sunday. It’s our habit to do grocery shopping and laundry on the weekend, and over the last few months laundry has been done on Monday or Tuesday night (or even there’s been weeks skipped), and grocery shopping late on Sunday when we get home.  While it seems like a small thing, being able to get our chores done not at the last minute has been wonderful – once the chores are done I can relax into the weekend.

Since laundry had been skipped last week, there was a plethora of hand-knit socks that needed to get washed.  I like knitting my socks in superwash wool – they go into the washer with the rest of the clothes (cold or warm cycle) and then get pulled out to hang dry.  The rest of the clothes go in the dryer.

My highly technical way of drying socks – over the edge of the sock drawer.

Well, we missed a sock… which made it into the dryer.

Now, this is no great tragedy – I’ve had socks go into the dryer before, but I don’t particularly like it because in the dryer my row gauge shrinks. (I’m not sure why – perhaps because when they are hang drying the weight of the socks keeps the row gauge stretched out?)  Still, it was an interesting comparison between the line dry sock and the hand-dry sock.

Line dry sock left, dryer sock right.

This is a quick snapshot from the ipad – not particularly well exposed, but you can see the difference between the line dried sock (on the left) and the dryer sock (on the right).  The dryer sock is a good inch and a half shorter, and while the ribbing is pleasantly snug, the heel is nearly too small and if I put the sock on… my toes would be quite squished.

Luckily there’s an easy way of fixing the situation.  Now, let me make it clear – the sock on the right did not felt.  It just shrunk a bit – and got blocked in a particularly enthusiastic way.

So I dunked both of the socks in the sink filled with water, blotted them dry with a towel, and then hung them damp on my sock blockers – by tomorrow afternoon latest, they’ll be as good at new.

My socks, looking particularly nice on my sock blockers.

Technology and Organization: How to stay on top of your files.

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This is the next edition of a semi-regular series From the Business Desk I am writing to look at some of the important factors in running a Small Fiber Arts Business.  This month’s feature revolves around using some technology solutions to manage the data and documents your business creates.
In today’s technological age, more and more business documents are being created, transmitted, and stored solely in an electronic format.  Gone are the days of massive file rooms and large physical filing cabinets full of records; for small businesses in particular, digital storage is a booming need.  Being able to store and organize documents smartly is a crucial aspect of any business operation, and the time and effort saved through organization can make a real difference for a business of one or two employees.  This is especially true for fiber arts design shops, where the products, patterns, and media being created comprise the bulk of the value for the business.
For the small business today, there are a wealth of resources available, ranging from free to very cost effective.  These resources are able to store documents in a manner where they can be easily accessible to the business, yet secure and organized to protect the data.  Cloud storage, available through Google, Apple, or Dropbox, to name but a few, can initially be used for free.  This online storage can be accessed anywhere that you have an internet connection.
More locally is the emerging concept of a Personal Cloud.  A personal cloud is a hybrid setup of storage; a cross between an internet based Cloud Storage service and a personal hard drive attached to a computer.  Also known technically as Network Attached Storage (NAS), this technology solution allows you to create, save, and share documents locally within your own business or home network.  
Tinking Turtle’s Personal Cloud looks like any Windows file structure, and
is organized and accessible across multiple computers.

Tinking Turtle has recently set up our own Personal Cloud system to store all of our business data including design information, contracts, and other important documents, in one simple, easy to access location that any computer on our business network can connect to.  This allows us to categorize and file designs and other business documents in an organized, hierarchical manner, while still preserving the ability to share these among members of the business.

Personal Cloud providers such as Western Digital or Seagate now offer affordible data storage solutions with a wide range of features, including automatic backups, audio and video streaming services, and even the ability to access documents anywhere across the internet.  This functionality offers small businesses a key competitive advantage, as by being organized with your company data, you are better able to use your available resources.

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