Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe Retreat!

This past weekend, I attended a day retreat sponsored by one of my local yarn shops, Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe. What fun we had! The retreat was held at Les Bourgeois, a local vineyard, and I was just blown away by their beautiful grounds! We had a casual get-together with food, wine, and knitting, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. I even won the grand prize in the door prize giveaways! Scroll through for a bit of a photo recap:

 

The drive to the bistro takes you right past the vineyards

 

I hear the A-frame is a great place to picnic!

Getting to the bistro requires a lovely stroll down a scenic outlook hill.

The view from our attic room!

Hillcreek's owner, Karen Cox, and I took a moment to enjoy the view from the sunny porch

The gang's all here, and knitting away!

 I've never seen such a fancy presentation for french fries before! The burger was delicious.

 

I won the grand door prize with this lovely Nantucket Bagg filled with goodies!

All in all I had a great time and was definitely glad I was able to go. I hear Rocheport also has a terribily cute downtown with restaurants and antique shops, so I'm planning another trip out that way very soon!

Craftsy Course Review: Rigid Heddle Weaving

 

Angela Tong's Craftsy class has changed the way I weave!

Have I told you I own a loom? Weaving isn't something I've talked about a lot, mostly because I don't have a whole lot of time to actually weave. A little over a year ago, I was able to purchase a used, 18" Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom from a fellow patron of my LYS. Now when I say "used", what I really mean is that she had warped the loom and never, ever used it. In fact, when I bought it from her, the first project I made was a lovely little novelty yarn scarf with the warp that was still on the loom:

Diane's Scarf - woven with fuschia mohair

I won't tell you how much I paid for the loom and extra heddle, because it would make you sick. Let's just say that I DID pay for it, and it was not free, but I don't think it could have been much cheaper without her just deciding to gift it to me. Anyway, I digress. So, I've had this loom for about a year, and I've woven maybe five scarves on it, but haven't invested the tiniest bit of effort into actually learning how to do the thing properly.

One of my more recent efforts, and the only scarf I've woven for myself

I've had the usual problems that beginning weavers have, mostly struggles with keeping the edges straight and how to keep the warp evenly taut so the middle doesn't go all screwy. And then along came Angela, with her lovely class on rigid heddle weaving over at Craftsy.com! Just what I needed. All of the information I'd been missing about how weaving works, right in one place, from beginning to end? I was all over it. And let me tell you - this class was AWESOME. Not only did I learn how to get my edges straight (it's easier than you think!), I also learned how to properly wind yarn onto my shuttle, how to keep my warp ends evenly taut, how to change colors, how to properly weave in all my ends, how to hemstitch, and how to weave multiple projects (like dishtowels or placemats) without having to rewarp the loom. Basically, I was taught how to weave by a professional, in the comfort of my own home, on my own timetable (I think I took this class at 2 in the morning one night). Genius, right? As someone who has been involved in all types of craftsy things for almost 20 years, it's not often that I get to see things through the eyes of a beginner. Weaving was a horse of a different color for me, and while I was able to muddle through on my own with decent results, I am incredibly happy I sat through this class. I am really looking forward to getting my next project on the loom so I can implement all of the things Angela taught me here! I think the difference is going to be night and day.

This project was a nightmare! Angela will explain why you should never warp with hairy novelty yarn, and boy is she right!

If you're brand new to weaving, or think you might be interested in learning more, I'd highly recommend this class. If you've been weaving for a few years and worked out some of these kinks on your own, this class might be a bit beneath your skill level. I'm really hoping that Angela will have the opportunity to teach a more advanced weaving class, because I'd be interested in learning how to do some things like patterning and multiple-heddle weaving. In the meantime, if you want to enroll in this class, you can take the course for HALF OFF when you click on the banner at the top of the post or this link. That makes this class just $30 for almost 3 hours of video included in the course! If that isn't enough for you, the platform allows you to ask Angela a question at any time throughout the course. She's super speedy with those replies, too! 

So, I'm curious to hear from you. Are you a weaver, as well? Have any nightmare stories about projects you attempted after teaching yourself the basics?

Why "The Sexy Knitter"?

Hey everybody! This is long overdue, but I've finally filmed a little video about how I became The Sexy Knitter. Hopefully, this will clear some things up:

If you're interested in hearing more, I get a bit more indepth about my own past and the reasoning behind The Sexy Knitter in my podcast chat with Marly Bird of the Yarn Thing podcast. You can hear that episode here!

I invite you to come back to the blog, because I'm going to be sharing some tips and tricks for achieving the confidence that I talk about in the video. There's a lot of information out there, but sadly more often than not it makes us feel even worse about ourselves. I'd like to share some of these things in a way that will empower you to find the happiness and joy that you deserve. So stay tuned, because in this place, you are allowed to be free. You are allowed to be sexy. You are allowed to be YOU.

Getting to Know You #7: Ann Kingstone

This feature is back! Today I'm interviewing Ann Kingstone, who I had the delightful pleasure of meeting at last year's TNNA in Columbus, Ohio. (I've since found out that Ann is a hugger, like me, so if you ever get to meet her, just go ahead and give her a big squeeze - you won't be able to resist, anyway!) Today's post is a stop on the Novel Knits blog tour, and Ann was gracious enough to give me a mini-interview to go along with my gushing over the new book.

Ann's first book Novel Knits, is inspired by characters in British literature

I met Ann in a dark corner of a restaurant in Columbus while attending Marly Bird's Yarn Thing Designer Dinner. Ann's outgoing personality and infectious laugh put me right at ease in a room where I knew hardly anyone, and when Marly announced that we would all be receiving a Namaste bag at the end of the night, Ann and I were both jumping up and down in excitement and disbelief (seriously, you had to be there - from all the squealing going on, you would have thought Oprah had just told an audience they were all getting new cars)! When I met Ann, her first book, Novel Knits, had just been released. This book features fifteen showstopping patterns based on the works of Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling and JRR Tolkien. That's a pretty rich set of inspiration, and Ann doesn't disappoint, providing the book with a full range of patterns from lace to cables to fair isle. There are sweaters! There are shawls! There are socks! There are housewares and accessories! And each is beautifully executed with the flair and technical skill that only Ann can give.

Chaussettes de Beauxbatons

TSK: I love the idea of this book. It's like...knitwear based fan fiction! As I flipped each page, I could envision a little story to go with each project. The French mother, sending a pair of Chausettes de Beauxbatons socks in a care package for her daughter at Hogwarts who didn't get the champion spot in the Triwizarad Tournament, or Galadriel, donning Lanthir Lamath for a walk through her wood on a chilly day. Clearly you're an avid reader; do you have plans for more book-based knitwear designs?

AK: I do!! I'm especially keen to get to work on some Brontë-themed knits as I live in Brontëland (the West Riding of Yorkshire).

The actual Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station has a half-trolly lodged in the wall for passerby to take Hogwarts photos!

TSK: I simply MUST ask you this. Have you been to King's Cross Station, and stood at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10? Does such a barrier actually exist, as depicted so clearly throughout the Harry Potter films? I'm curious to know whether this has become a popular tourist spot.

AK: LOL - yes I have!! The metal barrier that the books describe isn't there, but there is a stone walkway between platforms 9 and 10 where the station has placed a tribute - a luggage trolley apparently disappearing into the wall. There is invariably a queue of tourists waiting to be photographed pushing the trolley! Alas, my siter's photos of me pushing it didn't come out very well (it's a dark spot, and the photos were taken with her Blackberry). Maybe another time swith a better camera we'll get some good shots of it?

Hartfield Shawl

TSK: Tell me about your design process. When you read through these books, did you picture each character in a specific piece of knitwear? I do that sometimes...  Or would you say you were designing for the spirit of the characters you love so well? I know some books specifically refer to knitwear (in fact, I'm currently designing a 4-piece collection based around the knitwear mentioned in The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern); were the knits in your book literal interpretations, or loosely inspired by?

AK: The designs were mostly 'inspired by' or 'named for' rather than being literal interpretations. For example, in 'Northanger Abbey' Jane Austen parodies the 'Gothic romance' literature that was very popular at the time she wrote, so I endeavoured to give my 'Northanger' gloves a gothic feel. Similarly, the hooded scarf 'Lanthir Lamath' is deliberately elvish in appearance. However, many of the designs were already pretty well formulated before I realised they were appropriate to a particular literary theme. For example. the Durmstrang socks were so named because they had such a Nordic feel (Rowling presents Durmstrang as a school in a very Northern sea-faring and mountainous land...).

Pemberley

TSK: Pemberly is hands-down my utter favorite from this collection. The brilliance of this design, the flattering quality of the undulating center panel, the clever monochromatic nature of the original sample, it all combines for one magnificent piece. Did you have a clear favorite in the collection? If so, what made it stand out to you?

AK: For me it's the hooded scarf, Lanthir Lamath (pictured on the book's cover). I love the way the pattern develops from the drops of water at the bottom of the tails, through the intertwined rivulets further up, to the separation of the cascades to frame the celtic knot on the hood. The design began as a way to make sense of the pattern for embossed circles that I had come up with by using them to represent droplets of water. When I started out I didn't know it would end up being so very glorious! And it seems other knitters agree with me; although Pemberley is very popular too, Lanthir Lamath is currently winning on Ravelry in terms of numbers of projects and favourites. 

Tess Slippers, Hogwarts Bookscarves, and Sylvana Beret

TSK: What's up next for you? Tell us all about your latest collection, plans for your next book (if any?), knitting events you plan to attend this year, teaching engagements, etc.

AK: Currently I'm working on a collection of seasonally-themed knits, 3 designs for each season of the year which together form a book I intend to publish in late May/early June. I'm also working on developing the 'Knitting School' at my website where I'm slowly building a library of lessons for advanced knitting techniques. It is important to me to help knitters develop the advanced knitting skills that are used in many of my patterns. That's why I'm also workshops in yarn shops around the UK. Next weekend (28th January) sees me signing books and teaching stranded knitting techniques at The Sheep Shop in Cambridge, then 23rd February sees me signing books at the new season yarn launch at Baa Ram Ewe in Leeds. I have a wonderful knitter friend contacting other yarn shops around the country to set such engagements up for me, with the intention of having at least one teaching engagement a month.

And... I'm coming to America again for the TNNA trade show in June. I hope to see you there again Sarah?

Be sure to visit Ann's blog to keep up with her newest designs! 

TSK: Squeee! I would absolutely love to see you again. If you need a roommate, look no further! I'll be looking forward to that. Okay, one last question for you. With so many creative outlets for crafty people (especially literature & movie fans it seems), why choose knitting?

AK: Knitting is about so much more than creating warm and flattering garments. It truly is an expressive art form, articulating feeling, culture, themes, ideas, interests, wishes, etc. I love the term 'knitting voices', so prosaically communicating that knits are expressive of the knitters who produce them. Obviously, my particular interest is in how knitters express literary interests in their stitches. Just how much knitters love to do that is shown in the abundance of literary-themed groups and patterns in Ravelry; for example, there are 89 Harry Potter themed groups and over 300 Harry Potter themed patterns! So when I had the idea for a literary-themed knitting book, I knew that it would appeal to a lot of knitters.

******************
I'd like to thank Ann for stopping by and sharing a little bit about her book with us. You can check out the other stops on her blog tour through Woolly Wormhead, The Knitting Goddess, MaryJane Mucklestone, Carol Feller, and Anniken Allis' websites.Forthcoming blog spots in the tour include Stephen West, The Yarn Yard, Ruth Garcia Alcantud, and Franklin Habit, so keep your eye on their blogs, as well!


As a special thank you to my readers, Ann is offering a digital copy of Novel Knits to one lucky commenter! To enter, simply leave a comment below telling Ann how fabulous the new book is. I'll announce a winner by the end of next week. If you're on Twitter and would like an extra entry, simply tweet the following:


"@TheSexyKnitter and @AnnKingstone are giving away a copy Ann's book, Novel Knits! Visit Sarah's blog to enter: http://tinyurl.com/novelknits"


Looking for the winner of the last giveaway? It's Andria (Adia on Ravelry)! Congrats Andria! I'll be in touch to get your address. 

________________________

Picks of the Day:

Want your Etsy Mini in this spot? Click here!

Coming Soon: Principesa Dress

If you'll be at TNNA this weekend, you won't want to miss the fashion show. The Principesa Dress is currently being tech edited and will be available for purchase very, very soon! Details and additional photos will be posted when the pattern goes live.