Yarn Thing Designer Dinner Recap!

Whew! I've just returned from The National Needlarts Association's semiannual meetup for professionals in the industry, and what a trip it was! Later this week I'll be posting about some of the fabulous designers & yarnies I met for this first time, but today I wanted to tell you all about one of the most coveted events of the weekend: The Yarn Thing Designer Dinner, hosted by Marly Bird! If you haven't heard of Marly Bird yet, y'all seriously have to check out her website and podcast. Wherever Marly is, there's a party, and this weekend's soiree was no exception!

I won't bore you with loads of wordy details except to tell you that this party is an event for professional knit & crochet designers to get together and mingle, as well as receive tons of swag from generous sponsors! (You can see my video reviews of this event from last year here and here.) This year was a masquerade, and this group of creatives really went all out!

My getup. A bit hard to see in this photo, but my "mask" consisted of outrageous eye makeup in turquoise, green and purple, along with some shiny crystals on my face. I designed and sewed the dress as well, which is silk shantug. Johnny Depp graces my Mad Hatter fascinator, because let's face it: you can never go wrong with Johnny. Or anything purchased from Disney World, for that matter.

Great minds think alike! Annie Modesitt and I together formed the Tiny Hat Brigade.

  

Roomie photo! In the middle is Stacey Trock of FreshStitches sporting an owl mask, and on the right is Alex Tinsley of Dull Roar with a fabulous sequined-y getup!

This is Marly, doing her thing. Apparently her thing at that moment was scaring the crap out of me in the buffet line! It should be noted that she is basically on her knees in this photo. She is way tall like a supermodel! I am, uh, not.

Dinner buddies! My roomies and I, with Gwen Bortner, Edie Eckman, and my LYSO, Bex. Good times!

The swag! OMG you guys, the SWAG. There's about 15 skeins of yarn here, along with too many needles and notions to count, a Namaste needle case, and a couple of books. Wowie wow wow!

Sincerest thanks to all who decided to sponsor the event this year! Your generosity is astounding and you all went out of your way to make sure that each designer had a fantastic evening. We appreciate you!

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Works in progress...

I've got a few things on the needles these days, getting ready for knitting's big industry tradeshow, TNNA, later this month. I generally have at least one new pattern debuting at the show, and this time, I'll have three. I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek at them!

Above you'll see the pile of gorgeous Artyarns that I got during the course of the last TNNA in January. After being introduced to Iris by Teva Durham at the June show last year, Iris and I came up with a plan for me to design a lovely two-piece, vaugely wedding ensemble in her glorious yarns. You'll see the beginnings of the skirt, which will be a high-waisted pencil skirt with teensy purl stripes. The top, which will be in Artyarns' ethereal Rhapsody Light, Beaded Silk Light and Ensemble Light, will highlight my new obsession, the high-low silhouette. I'll be wearing this duo around the show floor, and when it's not on me you'll be able to stop by the Artyarns booth (#639) and see it there. Trust me, this stuff has to be felt to be believed. Luxury at its finest! I simply cannot wait to drape myself in these yummy cashmere & silk yarns.

Up next is a tiny peek at this year's showpiece for Anuzla Luxury Fibers. This is my third time designing a showpiece for Anzula (previous designs were Miss Brooks and Principesa), and I absolutely love collaborating with them. Sabrina and I think similarly regarding the purpose of design, and she pretty much allows me free reign in her booth during the show. A designer's dream come true! This year's showpiece will not become a written pattern, as the intent was to show off something spectacular in Anzula's amazing yarns, and neither Sabrina nor myself wanted me to feel restricted by what I would be able to translate into a written pattern. I'm pretty excited about this one! It was inspired by Downton Abbey...but that's all I'm saying! If you follow me on Twitter, you've most likely picked up on some of the clues, but this is one of those pieces that people will either find ridiculous or fantastic. ;) I'm hoping to wear this around the show floor on Saturday after the fashion show, if I can get my hands on it. If you miss me in it, stop by the Anzula booth (#763) after Saturday to see it up close and personal!

The third pattern will be available from the Cooperative Press booth (#554) during the show, and it's called the Chi-Chi Cowl. It's also worked in an Anzula yarn, Oasis, and works up quite quickly on super large needles. It's a little bit lacy and a little bit cable-y and just an all-around go to piece for all seasons. This piece will also be on displaly in the Anzula booth, and you can nab the pattern for free at the Cooperative Press booth. So don't miss out!

Oh! Before I forget, we have a winner for Kristin's giveaway! It's Elizabeth Kelly! Congrats, Elizabeth! If you'll PM me your regular email address over on Ravelry (I'm TheSexyKnitter, natch), I'll make sure you get your digital copy of the Complements Collection from Kristin.

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Sexy Tip 001: Wear the right size!

I'm introducing a new feature to the blog today, and it's one that I've been wanting to do for a long, long time. I'm calling it "Sexy Tips", and it'll be a place for me to share about things that I believe will boost your confidence and enable you to step out into the world feeling happy in your own skin! Future Tips might include style advice, links to makeup tutorials, or musings on how to keep your confidence up in a society that wants you to beat yourself down, but today I wanted to start with something simple:

Wear the right size.

Can we all just go ahead and admit that at some point in our lives, we've smooshed ourselves into ill-fitting clothing because the minuscule print on the itty-bitty tag that no one but us can see bears the number what we want or believe it ought to say? Come on, don't be shy, go ahead and raise your hand. Yeah, me too.

Can we also admit that there is almost nothing that destroys our self-confidence and positive body image faster than trying to zip up a pair of pants that's two sizes too small? There's an easy fix for this, gals, and in case you didn't see it the first time, the answer is:

Wear the right size.

Think about it. When you stand in front of the mirror wearing that pair of premium denim jeans that you can only just barely zip up, what do you see? Most likely, you see a giant muffin top. I used to work in a big box retail clothing store famous for its jeans, and the muffin top phenomenon was one I heard about a lot. And you know what was ridiculous about it? What I was hearing from the women staring in the mirror was that it was their bodies causing the muffin top. WRONG! Ladies, absolutely anyone will get that look by wearing pants that are too small. So why are we blaming ourselves? Here's the thing. The size on your clothing tag is there to help give you a rough idea of which of the 38 pairs of pants on the rack that all look exactly the same you might want to try on first. They are not there to dominate your life, to bring sadness into your heart or to make you judge your body. Really! The sooner you can move past the idea that those tiny little tags "ought to" bear a certain number, the better. So here's another tip:

If you don't like the number on that size tag, REMOVE THE FLIPPING SIZE TAG.

In my own closet, I have clothing that fits my body in sizes that range from a little girl's size 12 to a ladies' size 8. That's a span of roughly 7 sizes. Because the clothing industry has no enforceable sizing standards for ladies' clothing, sizes can vary greatly from one shop to another (and sometimes, even within the same store). Most likely, if you're shopping by fit and not by what's on the size tag, you'll wind up with a large span of sizes in your wardrobe, too. And if you FEEL like you "shouldn't" be that size 16 that looks great in the mirror, then just snip that little tag right out! In a few weeks, you'll have forgotten all about what the tiny little number used to say, and you'll have played a really useful trick on your brain to help you filter out allllll those negative body image things and focus on building a positive body image for yourself. Because really, you look amazing. ;)
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Free glasses!

Yep, you read that right, and nope, I'm not running another giveaway! Right now on Coastal.com, you can get a pair of prescription glasses for free. Just pay shipping!

I snagged a pair of these Joseph Marc glasses in a brown tortoiseshell for $12. Regular price? $98

Geek chic!
I ordered my glasses on the 18th and they arrived five days later, on the 23rd. I have to say, I'm as pleased as punch with my purchase! I don't wear glasses that often but it's definitely nice to have an extra pair laying around; plus, I've been wanting a kind of nerdy-looking pair anyway.

Seriously, if you wear glasses you should definitely give Coastal a try, before they stop running this promo. Can't beat a pair of brand new, prescription glasses for under $15! ______________________________________________

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Getting to Know You #8: Kristin Omdahl

Oh boy, I'm so excited to introduce you guys to a crochet designer! This week I'm interviewing Kristin Omdahl, as part of her blog tour for her newly released Complements Collection, designed for Bijou Basin Ranch.

This collection features 6 knit designs and 4 crochet designs
  

TSK: Kristin, you are such a prolific designer! The Ravelry database currently shows a whopping 266 patterns created by you in just the last seven years. That's an incredible 38 patterns per year! As a fellow designer, I've just gotta ask: How do you find TIME for it all? What's your secret to staying efficient with you design time?

Starry Night Wrap and Blue Skies Chunky Cowl show off the wearability of Kristin's crochet designs. 

KO: Thank you for sharing my pattern statistics with me! I never figured an annual average before. Wow, it makes me tired just thinking about it. But if averages around 3 per month, that sounds about right, I guess. I am a single mom whose only source of household income is designing knit and crochet patterns. While this is a labor intensive job, you can imagine the hours I put in. BUT, I have the freedom and luxury of being a mom who works from home, gets my son ready for school every morning, picks him up at the school bus stop every afternoon, makes & eats dinner together, and tuck him into bed at night. HOWEVER, that also means I work from the time he leaves for school in the morning. Stop when he gets home from school to do homework, make dinner, clean up, play outside with him, get him ready for bed, THEN go back to work until midnight or 1 AM most nights. It is the only way I can keep up with the hours requires to produce enough patterns to keep the roof over our heads! I love what I do and feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful creative outlet for my income and it absolutely thrills me that my schedule is so flexible for my mommy time.

Willow Bag and Petals Wrap Cardigan, both from Kristin's book, Crochet So Fine

TSK: Many knitters are biased against crochet, because crocheted fabrics can often be bulkier and less fluid than knitted fabrics. You, however, have managed to breathe new life into crochet, designing relevant, fashionable garments and accessories for today's woman, many with exquisite draping. Do you have any words for knitters who are interested in crochet, but still hesitant to take the leap and try it out?

KO: I think crochet has an incredibly easier learning curve when it comes to fixing mistakes. A beginner at anything is going to make mistakes, and lots of them, and crochet is far easier to fix than knitting. Also it is about 30% quicker if you compare apples to apples (yarn, hook & gauge, of course). There are things I prefer to do in knitting more than crochet, and vice versa, and many things I think can be equally beautiful in either craft. I have done a lot of exploring in lacework and tiered edgings in both crafts. The secret to many mysteries is BLOCKING! I believe in blocking your swatches to get accurate gauge. Also very important is blocking lace to get the most beautiful drape and blossoming of your stitch patterns.

Stepping Stones Cardigian and Lace Motif Cardigan

TSK: With so many hours in the day devoted to working, do you ever have time to do anything else? What do you enjoy doing when you're not slaving away with the pattern-writing math?

KO: Oh boy, this is a tough one! My hobbies (because although knitting and crochet are hobbies, they aren't mine because I work in them) are piano, guitar, weight lifting, kayaking, barefoot running (sometimes in the rain), reading historical fiction and non-fiction and creating my own healthy recipes.

My two favorites from Kristin's Complements Collection, Tulip Tiered Crochet Cowl and Aster Tiered Knit Cowl

Kristin has generously offered a digital copy of her new Complements Collection to one lucky commenter! To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment stating which of the patterns in the collection is your favorite. That's it! If you're on Twitter, you can gain an extra entry by tweeting the following (but note that you must also leave a comment):

I just entered to win a copy of @KristinOmdahl's Complements Collection! Stop by @TheSexyKnitter's blog for more info: http://tinyurl.com/gtkykristin

I'll announce a winner on  June 1st! See you then!

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