Midwest Fiber and Folk 2011, Bubble Wrap, and more

I had a great time, as always, at Fiber and Folk last weekend. Sales were good, perhaps a little too good. I was there by myself, and I was so busy on Friday and Saturday I had trouble keeping up with the pace at times. I apologize to my customers out there who had to wait. Sorry, sorry, sorry!

Some of the excitement in my booth was generated by my new shawl pattern: Bubble Wrap, that you see above. I love this pattern! Except for the fan border, which I admit is a tad difficult (but beautiful!) the pattern is easy to memorize and fast to knit. I love the texture and the fact that it is totally reversible.

The sample that you see here was knit in Blue Heron Rayon Metallic--absolutely gorgeous yarn. The pattern worked great with the handpainted yarn, but I think it might look even better on a solid yarn or kettle dyed semi-solid. I plan to start a knit along for the shawl soon and I will be curious to see it in different colors.

Bubble Wrap is just one of several new patterns and kits that I am planning to introduce. I have new patterns and kit ideas at various stages of development for:

a cute cell phone holder
women's gloves
a dressy summer top
a viking knit bracelet kit

Hopefully, at least one of these new kits/patterns will be ready for my next show, which is just around the corner at the Knit and Crochet Show in Minneapolis at the end of July.

Yikes! I'd better get knitting!

I'm Back!

Okay, this is kind of embarrassing. I've been MIA for (yikes!) 10 months.
I have lots of excuses for this:

1) life intervened -- lots was going on in my nonknitting life. For a while there I wasn't knitting much, and since I would like this blog to stick to my knitting, there were times when there wasn't much to say.

2) I was rebelling a little bit against blogging. Admit it fellow bloggers, after much blogging without comment, don't you start to wonder, is any one out there? Blogging sometimes feels like talking to myself, so is that therapy or is it insanity?

3) I have been keeping a few secrets (which I am about to reveal). For the last 5 months or so, I have been working on new designs and I have been contemplating trying to get at least one of them published by a print or online magazine. Most magazines require that patterns for submission not be published elsewhere, including on blogs or Ravelry, so I have been holding back, but I think I can tell you that since January I have designed the following:

* A new Knitter's Journey necklace kit. (Actually it is a necklace/bracelet--it's convertible!)
* A lovely shawl that uses Blue Heron's gorgeous Rayon Metallic yarn.
* Some very clever gloves that I have already knit up three times with two different yarn weights and 3 color variations, but I am not quite satisfied that I have found the best yarn for the pattern.
* A cardigan using Knit Picks yarn -- this is completely planned out, but as I have only knitted the back thus far, I have a long way to go before this one will be finished.

I am racing to finish as many of these projects as I can before I start the summer show season. My first show is June 3rd and 4th at the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival in Franklin, Indiana. It will be my first appearance there, and I am excited for a new venue.

---Watch this space, and my Ravelry page-- Secrets to be revealed in the near future!

Fiber and Folk 2010

I'm packing the car and heading to Grayslake for Midwest Fiber and Folk. This is my 3rd appearance at this festival and I'm so happy to be back. I love the folk music and the mix of vendors. I suppose its because of the music, but I've noticed that this is the one fiber festival with a significant number of men in attendance, with a male to female ratio of something like 1:3 instead of 1:100.

I am bringing some goodies with me that aren't listed on my website and may never be due to their limited availability or one of a kind nature, in particular the Heart of Stone kits and Flower Pin/Earring kits. I almost hate to part with some of the Heart of Stone kits that I put together -- each stone is unique and I put careful thought into the complimentary bead combinations. The Flower Pin and Earring kits will only be available while supplies last. I expect they will go quickly at just $9 for pattern, beads, wire, and findings to make 2 flower pins and 2 sets of earrings. Do check come and check it out this weekend at the Lake County Fairgrounds. I'm booth 203. Hope to see you there!

A Haul of Hearts

I went to the Bead and Button show last weekend and I scored a haul of hearts! I've been desperately searching the internet for more gemstone donut hearts to use in my Heart of Stone necklace kits, and I was worried that I would never find more. I found 35 hearts in a variety of colors at the Eclectica booth, and I snatched them up. I think I have now cornered the world market in 42mm stone hearts. Now that I have a somewhat larger, albeit still limited, supply, I will be adding Heart of Stone kits to my web store. Of course, I will continue to sell them at the knitting/jewelry shows that I do. I will be sure to have a nice selection on hand when I go to Giralte Beads and Yarn this Friday and Saturday. It will be interesting to see how long it will take before they are all gone.

Trunk Show

I have some exciting news! Knitter's Journey will be hitting the road this summer, with Trunk Shows at local yarn shops.  The first such event will be at Giralte Beads and Yarn in Cedarburg, WI.  If you're in the area (Southeast Wisconsin), Stop in at the store Friday, June 18 between 1 pm and 8 pm or Saturday, June 19th between 10 am and 4 pm to say Hi!

I'm so excited about this event. Giralte is one of my favorite LYS, especially because they offer both of my craft addictions --beads AND yarn!  I have a feeling I may be doing as much shopping as selling while I'm there, because the selection is irresistible.  I will be doing in-store demonstrations of knitting and crocheting with wire on a continuing basis. It will be a great opportunity for crafters to learn all the tips and tricks for knitting and crocheting with wire without having to pay extra for a class. I'll have a huge selection of kits, including many bead and color combinations that are not on my website because they are limited edition.

I love meeting my customers, and I love teaching even more.  What could be more fun than meeting my customer's and teaching my favorite subject all day long?

Barcelona

Well, it's about time I told you a little more about Barcelona. What can I say except LOVED IT! DH and I both enjoy city vacations, especially cities with unique culture, entertainment and street life. Barcelona has it all.

For unique culture --there is the fact that it is Catalonia and not Spain!
(A sign that we saw grafittied on a wall, by the way). Barcelonans are proud of their culture. I was a little surprised to find more people speaking Catalan than Spanish. That really was OK, everyone understood me when I tried to speak Spanish, not because my Spanish is any good, but because my college French kept getting in the way of my High School Spanish and the words that I kept coming up with were a strange half-breed Franglish which were actually more like Catalan than Spanish!

I loved that we came upon Catalan folk dancers and some sort of Saint's Day parade, complete with giant fairytale parade people. Neither of these were staged for the tourists, but seemed to be sincere celebrations by everyday Barcelonans--The folk dancers were everyday people dressed in jeans who met every week at the square in front of our hotel to practice traditional dancing. The giant statues were, well, we never quite figured it out, but it was obviously some sort of tradition for families to enjoy with their children because whereever we saw them there were families with children parading behind.

Barcelona celebrates its unique history and architecture,especially Gaudi.
We visited Parc Guel, La Sagrada Familia, and La Casa Mila and loved them all.

We saw lots of other tourist sites including several good museums, a beautiful downtown park, the seafront, Montjuic, and the Gothic cathedral but my favorite thing about Barcelona has to be the street life. People walking everywhere all day, all night--late night shopping and window shopping,street entertainers on the Ramblas and in the squares.

Barcelona is a great place to visit, and from what I can see, a great place to live.

Knitting Here and There--from MSN to BCN

Hola! Were you wondering where I've been? After all, it's been almost a month since I last blogged. Well, I've been busy keeping true to my name--knitting and embarking on some wonderful journeys.

My first journey was a quick trip to Madison, where I was a vendor at the Madison Knitting Guild's Knit-in. The Knit In is a great little event that I was lucky to be a part of--vendors are drawn by lottery, and I was fortunate to get in for the second year in a row. It was a long day, but thoroughly enjoyable. While there, I obtained some lovely handpainted yarn from Sandy of Sandy's Palette--I swapped with her for a sale kit, and I think each of us went away happy and thinking we had gotten the better deal. I couldn't wait to start knitting up my new acquisition, so even though I already have a pair of mittens on the needles, I started another pair with my swap yarn. It would be a perfect small project for my next journey--a week in Barcelona!

There is so much to tell you about Barcelona! For today's post, I'll stick to the knitting, but watch for another post in the coming days for a strictly touristy take on the city. My knitting adventure in Barcelona started on the plane. My DH admitted to accidentally pulling out one of my "sticks" when he picked up my project from the seat pocket where I had left it. We searched deligently, but the needle was nowhere to be found. I wasn't upset though. The loss of my needle simply meant that I HAD TO visit a yarn shop in Barcelona.

On arrival in Barcelona, we made our way to our hotel, checked-in, and immediately set out for the nearest yarn shop, All You Knit is Love. The shop name reflects the warm and friendly nature of the shop owner, Jennifer, an American ex-pat, and her Catalan spouse, Miguel.

Jennifer quickly helped me find replacement needles. I enjoyed a quick tour of the tiny store, and took special note of the lovely locally produced roving. Unfortunately, I don't spin, so I passed up the roving for a European (Norwegian?) yarn in a beautiful teal shade for more mittens as a souvenir. My husband enjoyed a lengthy chat with Miguel about business and European Cup soccer while Jennifer and I talked knitting. We enjoyed our visit so much that I decided to return for the shop's S&B knitting the following evening. The knitting ladies (and one knitting man) welcomed me with a Catalan kiss on both cheeks.

I cannot say enough about the friendliness at All You Knit is Love. The shop never lacked customers during the two days that I visited, and although I don't speak Catalan and my Spanish is both limited and rusty, I could tell that the customers were loyal and felt a sense of community towards each other and the shop. I was pleased to hear the owner's good news that they will be moving to a bigger location in a busier street nearby. They are moving just two blocks over to Barra de Ferro 8--a great location, just off of Princesa and around the corner from the Textile and Picasso Museums. If you are a knitter and a visitor to Barcelona, a stop at this shop really must be added to your itinerary.