Gifts Ahoy!

I love gift knitting more than I like knitting for myself. This past holiday season, in the midst of all the crazy hours I pulled to fulfill some of my knitting orders, I was able to squeeze in some gifts for my son's teachers at his former school. They were a great bunch, and the care and love they showed my little poopoola left a lasting impression on me. I wanted each scarf to be a different design for each teacher (since they work in the same school). Armed with my all-time favorite superbulky yarn, Loops & Threads Cozy Wool, I set out to craft individual gifts for these rockstar teachers. Let's take a look.

I knit this first one using the Mid-December Easy Knit Infinity Scarf pattern from A Crafty House in a rich, Forest Green color.

I went with my trusty Procragratification Infinity Scarf pattern in Sapphire Blue for the second scarf (you guys aren't tired of seeing it yet, are you? :P )

For the third scarf, I went with a recently discovered pattern that I've fallen in love with - the Columbia Cowl by Cirilia Rose.

I chose the simple but always stunning Drop Stitch Cowl by Abi Gregorio for the fourth scarf, knit in an alluring Velvet Purple colorway.

And last but not least, the scarf that I knit last, late at night, and which I call the ToNoRi LaNiLaMi...for...Totally Not Original Late Night Night Last Minute scarf. Teeheehee. I originally started out knitting the original cowl version as outlined in the Katy Cowl pattern, but changed my mind halfway through and added buttonholes and large, coconut shell buttons. I fell in love with the finished product, knit in the breathtaking Thunder colorway, and wanted to write up the pattern and share it with other knitters. Then I discovered that I would be reinventing the wheel if I did so, because there's already a gorgeous version of it written up - The Woodland Cowl by Kalurah. I guess great minds think alike? :P I still love the pattern though, and might end up making a few more of them.

So, what do you think? I loved knitting each one of these scarves, and from the reaction of the recipients, I think they liked them too! Which scarf is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below.

Have a lovely week!

Prepping for the holiday season: A photoshoot teaser

I cannot believe that it's already October! This year really just seems to be galloping along at breakneck speed, and I find myself barely managing to keep up with it. That said, I applied for and got into the Bazaar Bizarre Holiday Fair again this year (woohoo!!), to be held in San Francisco on Dec 7-8. Please save the date so you can come hang out with me, if you are in the Bay Area! I'll have chocolates! :)

In preparing for the fair, I worked with my friend Kwaku of Nkadu Photography to get some update photos of some of my yarny lovelies, and I am so excited to tease you with a couple of these photos!

I write a lot about the Procragratification Infinity Scarf, but I have a secret love affair with it's cousin, the Pompom Hurrah Scarf that I'm happy to reveal today. How beautiful is this scarf on my stunning model?

Now I have a question for you. What other color combinations should I make the Pompom Hurrah scarf in? It's such a pretty scarf design that I want to play around with even wilder color combos! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. And to help, here's the color palette that I currently use for my chunky scarves.

I'm so excited to hear your color combo suggestions, and see how many of them I can actually make! Let's do this! :)

Hope you enjoy the rest of your week.

Color Flow Chunky Cowl Giveaway Ends Tonight, 11:59PM PST

I hope you are all enjoyed the long weekend and are having a great week back on the daily grind. Just in case you forgot, here's a quick reminder that the Color Flow Chunky Cowl Giveaway ends tonight, 11:59PM PST. There are many ways to enter, so go ahead and enter via the Rafflecopter widget in the Color Flow Chunky Cowl Giveaway post or the Rafflecopter giveaway below. There will be 3 winners, and each person will receive one of these cowls pictured below! So go ahead, leave me a comment on how you'll style the Color Flow Chunky Cowl, or what other colors you'd like to see them in. All the best and have fun!!

A NiseyKnits giveaway

Studio Re-organization, and giveaway update

Hi everyone, While this giveaway is ongoing, I took the opportunity to do some reorganization of our study/my "studio". Ok, I'll be honest. I planned and started this reorganization in May, but I was not able to work on it as much as I needed to, until the past week. It's been in flux for a long time, but I got the energy and motivation to work on it last week.

I have mostly the "before" and "in progress" photos. I'll update this post with some "after photos" soon. In the meantime, the Color Flow Chunky Handknit Cowl Giveaway has been extended till 9/4/2013, so please enter, get your friends and family to enter, and share with your colleagues. LOL! You want them to look stylish AND stay warm during this winter, don't you.

I have to admit that I've had a knitting mental block the past few months because everything was everywhere in the study. It has really affected my designing mojo, and I just knew that I had to clear, clean and reorganize this creative space so the creative space in my brain would also get cleared.

Anyway, while you wait to see the "after photo" (I think you'll like it a lot!), don't forget to enter the Color Flow Chunky Cowl Giveaway. I'm loving the various styling and color suggestions, and I can't wait to read more of them!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

It is...hand knit cowl giveaway time!!

I've been playing around with ideas for new collections this fall, and I think I've found one that I like. I've been wanting to create a quick accessory where I get to use a lot of different colors in my work. I'm quite excited at how this initial sample turned out. This chunky cowl slips over your head very easily, and keeps you warm and cosy without requiring multiple wraps. The color flows and changes add a touch of fun and versatility to the cowl. I'll provide the option for users to pick what three colors they'll want in their cowl. If you have a few minutes, I would love your input on this new line.

GIVEAWAY

So what do you get for sharing your thoughts with me? Once you participate, you'll be entered into a giveaway to win one of 3 prizes!! Oh yeah!! To enter, follow the instructions below. You can enter as many times as you want from 8/22/2012 to 9/04/2013. The 3 winners will be chosen randomly and informed within 48hrs after the end of the giveaway.

PRIZES

• The first sample of this new collection (pictured above), which I'm tentatively calling the "Color Flow Cowl Collection". (If you have a better name, please feel free to suggest it in the comments below.
• One of my drop stitch cowls (they are very warm, ultra-stylish, and add very little bulk to your wardrobe). One winner will get the Aster-colored cowl and another winner will get the Thunder (Teal)-colored cowl.

Thank you so much, and I can't wait to read your comments and ideas. Enjoy the rest of your week!

To enter to win this great giveaway I’ve included a Rafflecopter form below.  Give it a couple of minutes to load up if you don’t see it right away.  You have a variety of options to enter…do one or all it’s up to you.  Any extra entries simply give you more chances of winning. Thank you so much and good luck!

NOTE: You have to choose your entry option (i.e. Comment, Facebook like etc) to get entered.

A NiseyKnits giveaway

The Fisherman's Rib (knit 1 below stitch) - A video tutorial

It's really cold here in the Bay Area (and looks like it will be still chilly for the rest of the week). The Procragratification Scarf is a fast, easy infinity scarf pattern that will definitely keep you warm during this cold spell.

This pattern uses the fisherman's rib stitch pattern, which requires you to knit and/or purl into the stitch below. I was asked a few weeks ago about how to knit this particular stitch. I thought I'd post this video tutorial that I found on YouTube which does a great job of showing how to work this stitch pattern.

How to Knit the Knit One Below Stitch (K1B) by newstitchaday

http://youtu.be/_g_E31DnTUg

The Purl Bee, one of my favorite knitting websites, also has a photo tutorial of how to work this particular stitch, with two accompanying patterns for a scarf and cowl here. Enjoy and stay warm!!

PS:If you aren't a knitter, I have these chunky, ultra-warm infinity scarves for sale in my Etsy shop!

And the winner is...

This is sooo hard because....well...I only had 3 people comment on last week's giveaway post, and one of the commenters wasn't entering the competition. I can't pick, I can't. Soooooooo...both Pious and Nik are going to get copies of the book! Yay!! Please email niseyknits@gmail.com with your mailing addresses so I can get the books to you, Pious and Nik. In other news, I'm running a week-long 25% off sale on a few items in my Etsy shop right now. Take a look at the items and snag something warm and cosy for yourself or a loved one.  Visit the sale section in my Etsy shop here.

And finally, I'm going to slow things down a bit here on my blog for the next couple of weeks - a month. I'm taking a bit of a vacation, meaning that my blog posts for the next few weeks is going to be full of pictures, with no real theme. I need a bit of a breather, but I also don't want to lose touch with you all. So, if you see mostly pictures in my blog posts, please do not fret. I hope you'll like the pretty pics all the same.

To end, here's a quick roundup of items I've worked on recently.

Some Procragratification Scarves...

And a few Scrunchable Scarves...

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone! :)

Off to a running start!

2012 is gone and we are already 9 days into 2012. I have a sinking feeling that this year is going to just run past me and come December I'll be left standing, wondering where all the time has gone. :( I come bearing good news though! I have 3 designs in a new pattern book published by F+W Media. The book is titled "Quick & Simple Knit Hats & Scarves: 14 Designs from Up-and-Coming Designers!", is pretty self-explanatory. (And I'm getting quite a kick out of being called an up-and-coming designer. I hope I get to "be" a designer. )

Here is a cover of the book (I love the cute hat with the pompoms):

And the back cover, which has one of my scarves.

My patterns in this book are the Nautical Scarf (a whopping 9ft long! Huzzah!),

the Nautical Cowl,

and the Twisted ZigZag Scarf.

The lovely team at F+W Media gave me 2 copies of this book, so guess what? It's giveaway time!! What a fun way to start the year off, right? (by helping you break all your knitting/yarn-related resolutions. Muahahahahhaha!). I'm joking...sort of. :P

Please leave a comment about this post here on my blog, on my Facebook page or send me a tweet(@NiseyKnits) with the hashtag #Quick&SimpleGiveaway for your chance to win the second copy of this book. Fun comments will be highly valued. :)

Have a great week everyone, and Happy New Year!

Working hard for Christmas

I am so sorry this blog post is a day (or two) late. I've been working really really hard to finish the custom orders I received at the Bazaar Bizarre Fair two weekends ago. All the members of my family are also either sick or recuperating, which has made my work go slower than expected. For this I sincerely apologize. However, I thought I would duck in here quickly and share some of the things I've been working on for the custom orders. Here they are.

There's a couple of Procragratification Infinity Scarves...

... a few chain scarves

    

...and my newest, the Fibonacci-inspired chunky cowls.

      

 Remember, the 15% off coupon (SFETSYHOLIDAY2012) is still active. And if you order now, you will definitely get it before Christmas (no custom orders though, sorry). Visit my Etsy Shop here for more knitted goodness!

Have a wonderful week!

Prepping for the Bizarre Bazaar Fair

Hi everyone, I've been busy fighting off a terrible cold and prepping for my first major holiday fair, the Bizarre Bazaar Fair. It's quite hectic here so I'm just going to leave you with some pretty photos from a photoshoot that my friend Sam Kessie did for Eden's Corner Hair Salon (in Atlanta, GA), using my scarves.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!