Designer Spotlight: Circles + Dots by Olga Buraya-Kefelian

I have wanted to feature this pattern collection on my blog since it came out, but it never seemed like the right time. Well I think this week's post is just the right time to highlight Olga Buraya-Kefelian's "Circles + Dots" pattern collection from Quince & Co. (who make such beautiful yarns! Oh, and I have a crush on their website!). The designs are classic and stunning, and all those circles and dots make me giddy with joy. There are 5 patterns in this collection: a pullover, a cardigan, a hat, a scarf and a pair of mitts. Just a little of everything for every kind of knitter, right? First up is the Effervescence Cardigan, which is the first of the collection that caught my eye. I love the front detail in this pattern and can very well see myself knitting this cardigan.

The Compass Pullover is my second favorite in this collection. (For someone who rarely knits clothing, it's interesting that I was drawn to these pieces in the collection. Maybe it's a sign to take a step of faith and start knitting some sweaters? Hmmm.) This top is just sleek and eye-catching, and I could immediately see myself rocking it with some fun jewelry and a pair of jeans during the fall.

Next up are the accessories!! Woohoo!! You all know how much I love my accessories. The Cowry Hat is a sexy, little slouchy hat that makes me so happy. I'm slowly but surely venturing into hat knitting and design, and the level of detail on this hat makes my little knitterly heart sing. The ebb and flow of the design as it snakes along the hat is quite hypnotic. I'm going to stop talking now, and show you the hat. :)

Then there's the Gyre Scarf, a simple, straight-to-the-point stockinette stitch scarf that has some garter chevron action and little open "dots" at the edges to add a little spice. I love, love, love it!

And last but definitely not least, the Flotilla Mitts. Who doesn't love some flirty little mitts covering up their hands and wrists? These mitts are a little longer than usual, with a few dots breaking up the stockinette stitch used.

I love Olga's design style, and I think this collection is just stunning. Which of these is your favorite? Which of these would you wear? Do let me know in the comment sections, and have a wonderful weekend!

Quince & Co's Scarves Etc. 2013

I am quite excited for this week's post. I have a small crush on Quince & Co: their yarn, their website, and their photography all make my little knitting heart sing! And just this week they came up with their newest pattern collection, Scarves Etc. 2013. There are some gorgeous scarves in this collection, and I couldn't wait to share them with you (and ogle the photos too!) NOTE: All photos are by Carrie Bostick Hoge

There are so many lovely scarves in here that I'm having a hard time picking my favorites. I'll share a few that caught my eye almost as soon as I saw them.

My first love from this collection is Netty, designed by Ien Sie. It uses stranded colorwork to create a bubble pattern that just looks striking, especially in the colors chosen for this design.

My next favorite is Isleif by Rachel Coopey. I don't know what it is about me and colorwork this time, but I was taken aback by this scarf because the colorwork in it looks printed, not knitted. How cool is that!!

Now this third one is a scarf after my own heart - Ebb by Susan Anderson! It's an infinity scarf, chunky, and full of texture! And that color! It's the Peacock colorway of the Quince & Co. Lark line. I just love it! And it looks super squishy! Oh goodness I am filled with startitis right now! I want to knit this cowl in this exact color!! Somebody stop me!! (or help me with a few skeins of this beautiful, squishy, bouncy yarn!)

I bet you can't wait to cast on one of these scarves for yourself if you are a knitter! And do you see what I mean by the photos? They have this hazy, dreamy quality that just invites you in. I love all of it! And these are only 3 of the 17 scarves in this collection! What are you waiting for? Go grab your copy now! Also, Quince & Co is having a special offer - The first 50 people to purchase the Scarves Etc. 2013 ebook as well as 3 skeins of yarn will get a free tote bag to carry all that goodness in!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

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!

What am I up to? - February WIP roundup

It's the first week of February, so I thought it would be a great time to take stock and share with you the projects I currently have on my needles.

First up is a remix of the Scrunchable Scarf pattern which I LOVE! I've knit 13 scarves with this pattern. :) These 2 are the newest ones I've been working on. In December I got an order for an infinity scarf with buttons. The person (lovely Karin B.) had seen a similar scarf here (http://psheart.blogspot.com/2012/09/diy-buttoned-up-infinity-scarf.html) and wanted me to make one. I did, and got another order for that same scarf.

Someone else saw Karin's scarf and now I have to more orders for them. So cool right? So here they are, one in oatmeal heather and the other in hot pink (squeee!! so pretty). I'm using a chunky weight yarn (Oatmeal is Universal Yarns Classic Chunky and pink is Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky) on US #11(8mm) needles. To make this regular scarf into an infinity scarf, you just need to add a few buttonholes and sew on some buttons. I'll make another post later about how to make the modifications so you have your own DIY handknit infinity scarf.

And how cute are these buttons? I can't wait to finish the scarves and add the buttons.

Some of you may already know that I'm a wee bit addicted to Korean dramas. Well, since it's also winter over there, the dramas I've been watching recently are chock full of awesomely colorful, huge scarves that make me giddily happy each time I see them. I've been wanting to launch a kdrama-inspired accessories line for so long that I finally took the plunge and swatched for one of the scarves. Here's a sneak peek of that scarf.

I absolutely love how the different shades of red play on each other and add a hint of depth to the scarf. I can't wait to be done and outdoor this scarf. :)

If you are a crafter, what are you currently working on? Feel free to share your works in progress and project ideas, and pictures (I love pictures!). And whether you are a crafter or not, I would love to hear your thoughts/ideas on other colors/color combinations I can work these two different scarf patterns in.

Have a wonderful week and see you next week! 

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!

New Pattern: The Lacy Cables Scarf and Hat set

Just in time for Christmas, I have a new pattern out! The "Lacy Cables Scarf and Hat" set was published by Tangled online magazine just last week. I'm so excited for it! It is a simple scarf with left and right leaning cables, with a bit of lace added for a light touch.

The hat was my first attempt at designing a hat. I really labored over it, even making two different samples of the hat to make sure that it looked good and made sense to whoever bought the pattern.

The scarf and hat samples were knit in Berroco Vintage Chunky, and I have to say that I  love this yarn! I've worked with the worsted weight Vintage, but this was my first time knitting in the Chunky weight. In fact, I just ordered the yarn in the Mistletoe colorway, which is this vibrant rich green color (almost like emeralds). I'm going to knit a set for myself! Yay!

Here are the specs for the pattern. Head over to the Tangled Website and snag a copy of the pattern for your own Christmas knitting deliciousness! Happy Knitting!

Materials: Yarn:

Berroco Vintage Chunky (50% acrylic, 40% wool, 10% nylon; 130 yd [120 m]/100 g [3.5 oz]): #61104,

Scarf, 3 skeins

Hat, 1 skein

Needles:

Size 8 (5 mm) 32” circular needle

Size 10 (6 mm) 32” circular needle

Size 10 (6 mm) straight needles

Notions:

7 Markers (m) (optional)

Cable needle

Tapestry needle

My first holiday fair with Bazaar Bizarre

I am back from the Bazaar Bizarre Fair up in San Francisco this past weekend, and it was the bomb!! So many people, so many lovely vendors! It was wonderful...except for the rain. It rained nonstop on Saturday, making the drive up to the city and back quite scary. In fact, on Sunday morning my booth mate was worried for our safety and left me a message that she was taking a local road (El Camino) instead of the highway (101) because there were so many accidents. However, after we arrived at the fairgrounds on Sunday morning, the sun came out and shone the rest of the day! SMH! I loved the rain on Saturday because I felt it made people more willing to look at handknitted scarves and cowls. One customer actually came in and bought a hat because it was cold outside (and also because the was wearing this beautiful cobalt blue blouse and the hat matched it perfectly! LOL! )

I shared a booth with the awesome Amy of Jumbo Jibbles, the designer and creator of "whimsical plush and personalized jewelry". (I bought a giant blueberry from her for my son...that's my word and I'm sticking to it! :P).

This is what our booth looked like on Saturday morning - my half...(notice the yarn shop that had the booth right next to ours! So wrong! I was sooooo good though. I bought no yarn...but I did get some stitch markers. :) )

...and here is Amy's half of the booth:

The first couple of hours on both days was slow, but traffic picked up steadily and we made some sales. I also got quite a few custom orders. All in all, this was a great fair and I'm glad I got the experience. It's killer on your feet though, with all the standing around and walking. On Sunday my friend Alisa graciously agreed to come along and help us, so we could take a few breaks here and there. Thank you so much Alisa! I also have to thank the SF Etsy team, who had a booth at the fair manned by volunteers. These volunteers came around periodically and also watched our booths so we could take bathroom breaks or find something to eat. That was just super helpful.

As you can probably guess, I'm still exhausted from the fair but...A luta continua (as one of my middle school teachers used to say). I'm starting to work on the custom orders as well as on stocking my Etsy shop for the holiday season. Do take a look as I have a few new items on there. One of them (which was a big hit at the fair), is this chunky necklace scarf.

Let it hang long and it works as a statement neck piece. Double it up and your neck is kept warm from any sudden cold chills. Hand knit in a 50% wool - 50% acrylic chunky yarn, this scarf-necklace twists up prettily so you can hide it in your handbag and pull it out whenever there is a sudden drop in temperature. It's available in various colors and you can also customize it by choosing up to 3 colors to make the scarf you want. Get adventurous and try this scarf! :) Plus, the 15% off coupon (SFETSYHOLIDAY2012) is still active till the 14th of this month!

I hope you all 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!

A sneak peek, and fundraising for Hurricane Sandy survivors

I can't believe it's November already! Where is the year galloping off to? Frankly I'm a little frightened at the speed with which the years are passing by. Plus it means I have less time than I think I do for knitting. Oh well... For the past two weeks I've been super busy working on a pattern for a scarf and a matching hat. I have never designed a hat before, and it's been quite daunting. Figuring out the math for the hat was challenging, mainly because I wanted to keep the pattern on the hat even while shaping the top of the hat. Anyway, here's a sneak peek of this pattern. It should be out soon, just in time for Christmas gift knitting!

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Fundraising for Hurricane Sandy survivors

Please help me support those affected by Hurricane Sandy by purchasing something from the NiseyKnits shop. I will donate 25% of all proceeds from this month to the Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse to help in rebuilding affected places in New York and New Jersey.