Showing posts with label A knitting wrapsody. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A knitting wrapsody. Show all posts

Spring has Sprung!

by : MarinadeDesigns
The front view of our
new-old little house!
It’s true! Spring is here in the High Desert, and we are racing to wrap up winter knitting and crocheting projects in order to begin planning out our warm weather activities-- which in my case means gardening! I may have mentioned this back in the fall, but my husband and I bought a house last September and went to work preparing for the impending cold months.  We didn’t have a chance to put a winter garden in our hoop house before the holidays, so we just decided to wait until spring. 


You can see the plastic hoop house
in the background and the messy
overgrown garden in the foreground.
Oh garden-I have big plans for you!
Now that spring is here, I am busy crafting a massive plan! Pinterest, my go-to place for inspiration, has been a big help in the planning process.  Even though we Nevadans experienced an exceptionally mild winter, local Native American legend doesn’t recommend planting here until after the last bit of snow is off of Peavine mountain (a local peak). So with that in mind, I am going to wait to plant at the end of May which gives me plenty of time to turn our already designated garden plot into several big raised beds!  


In the meantime, I’ll be planting greens and root veggies in our hoop house.  (We were so lucky to already have this hoop house on the property when we moved in.  Although not very pretty, it allows us to grow our own food year-round, kind of like a greenhouse but much more cost-effective.)  For more info on building hoop houses, check out "The Door Garden" Blog. 

I am aiming for our new raised beds to look something like this (thank you Pinterest!):

How to build these raised garden beds at:
http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-build-raised-garden-beds/ 

Enid!
Chicken House!


Last on the big garden plan for the year is to acquire some more chickens.  We have this beautiful little coop and run that can house up to six feathered ladies but we only have one currently residing inside (a Plymouth Rock named Enid, shown in my arms, at right).  She keeps us in eggs, about 6 per week, but we’d like to have enough to share with friends and family so 6 chickens it is!  Luckily, another family friend is going to get a whole bunch of chicks this spring, and she offered to raise them until they are large enough to integrate with our older bird.  Apparently the older ones sometimes beat up on the little guys so we have to make sure they are able to hold their own before we introduce them. 



Wallace likes Chicken eggs too!
With a little bit of hard work and strategic planning, we should have our best garden year yet!  I am so excited!  I love eating the food that I have grown and harvested myself.  It feels so good to be just a little bit self-sustaining and be able to grow all of the vegetables we need on our tiny little plot of land.




Hopefully at the end of it all, I’ll get to preserve a bunch of it for next winter!  Remember when some of us ‘lil beans made pickles last year?  The hubby and I have been enjoying those all winter—so good!



Well, happy spring everyone! Feel free to leave a comment and tell us all about your garden plans or your favorite spring activity!



And of course, happy knitting and crocheting!!!
Kristen


PS.  If you haven't heard of Pinterest yet--it's awesome!  Basically, it's an online Pinboard where you can save images and links in one place for all kinds of inspiration!  Check out the Jimmy Beans Wool Pinterest Boards and let me know if you'd like to be a contributor to our JBW Knits or LLE Knits boards!  Happy pinning!


PPS.  Stitch Red is close to our hearts...and yours too!  Find out more about our campaign to bring heart disease awareness--the #1 killer of women in the US--to the whole needle arts industry by going to www.StitchRed.com  

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FO Friday/ WIP Weekend

by : MarinadeDesigns
Happy Friday, everyone! We've made it to the end of another awesome week! I've got several new FO's to share with you from this week, as well as some WIP's here at the shop. But first I'd like to announce the winner of the signed edition of A Knitting Wrapsody from Tuesday's contest!

Drumroll please....

And the winner is: Commenter #12 Julie who said: "I love all of Kristin Omdahl's crochet projects and I can't wait to check out her knit ones, too! I love to crochet and knit equally and trade off on most days also, so I know I will want to make many things out of her knitting book, as with her crochet books! Great job, Kristin!"

Congratulations!!! Julie, please contact Bethany at: giveaway@jimmybeanswool.com to redeem your signed copy of Kristin's book! (Winner was determined using a random number generator.)

Thanks to everyone who read Kristin's interview and left comments! I hope you all enjoy the book!


Alright...now onto this week's FO's. First up, I was so thrilled last Friday when Ailene came in
to work with this big giant treat! She had just finished casting off on her beautiful afghan that she has been working on for close to a year! It turned out just beautifully in the Seaside color of Lorna's Laces. This particular version is in a discontinued Lorna's yarn called Swirl Chunky but a similar effect can be achieved with Lorna's Shepherd Worsted. We are all so impressed by Ailene's perseverance! She put countless hours into this afghan but now she has a beautiful heirloom blanket to show for it! Nice work, Ailene!

Our next FO this week is Jeanne's lovely Autumn Leaves Beret. She finished it a few weeks ago

and I was just finally able to snag some photos of it! It's so lovely! This pattern is such a pretty one from Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting. I can hardly wait to do one myself; although, I must say that I also like the new Cloudy Day Beret just as much! I guess I'll just have to do both! :) Jeanne's beautiful version is knit in Isager Alpaca 2 , a yarn that she absolutely loved to knit with. Every time I see Jeanne wear this around the shop, I get a little green with envy! I just love it!


Finally, I have this lovely Waves of Leaves shawl (a freebie on Ravelry) that Victoria knit in the February color- Festival of Love. Victoria fell in love with this color immediately, as she said it
reminds her of tropical fruits. She used 2 skeins of the Lorna's Laces Honor yarn and it turned out beautifully. Leanne was kind enough to model it for us after Sandy helped block it. It's amazing how blocking transforms your piece! Victoria did such a wonderful job knitting up this lovely shawl! Seeing all of the different shawls that everyone around here is knitting these days is so inspiring! I work with such an amazing group of knitters!


Sharon is just about to finish a Springtime Bandit Shawl in the
Berroco Remix yarn. It is knitting up so neat in this yarn! The Remix is Berroco's recycled yarn that came out last year and is
surprisingly soft when knit up. Sharon is using just two skeins of
the Remix to complete this project and it is really turning out great!

She's also been working on this lovely Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West for her mom in a new shade of Tosh Merino Light. I think this color is called "Nebula." She is knitting the optional
version with YO's in the middle instead of M1's. I think its really looking great!

As Leanne mentioned in her post earlier this week, we just got a bunch of Stephen West's patterns and books in at the shop and we are all just thrilled! I immediately snapped up the "Herbivore" and "Clockwork" shawl patterns and Sharon nearly fell out of her chair when she heard his books- WestKnits 1 & 2 were finally in! I think out of all of us, she was the most excited!



Finally, I am just 10 or 12 rows away from being finished with my Mara Shawl in Tosh Merino Light "Posy." Although I am thoroughly excited by all of the new patterns in the shop at the moment, I am going to try and restrain myself from starting yet another new project, once I'm finished with my Mara Shawl. I have so many to finish and I'd like to do that before taking on anymore! I'm sure many of you know how that goes. :P




Anyway, thank you all of you for popping in to see what we've been knitting this week! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy knitting!
Kristen


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A Knitting Wrapsody- Interview With Kristin Omdahl and a Giveaway!

by : MarinadeDesigns
Hello and Happy Tuesday everyone! We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin Omdahl about her beautiful new book, A Knitting Wrapsody, as the first stop on her Blog Book Tour! So exciting! Thank you Kristin for letting us be the first!

We've had this book in the shop for a few weeks and, so far, it's been a hit! Here's what she had to say about her new book:

1. JBW- Tell us a little bit about A Knitting Wrapsody.

KO- A Knitting Wrapsody is my debut knitting book. My vision for this book was to take inspiration from other crafts and apply it to knitted shawls, wraps, scarves and skirts. I took inspiration from crochet, weaving, embroidery, fishing, seashells, an oil painting, and more. I also wanted to create garments that can be worn in multiple ways. Most of the pieces in the collection can be worn in a variety of ways. My favorite surprise was that the Arcelia Wrap Skirt looks wonderful as a halter top. I can't wait to wear this top this summer!

2. JBW- What was the most challenging project for you in the book?


KO- The most challenging project in the book was the Sand Dollar Cape. Inspired by sand dollars at the beach, I thought it would be interesting to make a circular cape with overlapping ovals around the outer perimeter to easily weave a belt in and out to cinch the waist while keeping the "sleeves" wide and loose. It is a flattering
silhouette. The challenge is that I started this project at the neckband, and increased outward to the lower edge of the cape. Due to the fact that there is overlapping fabric, the yardage is quite large for this project. And, I was trying to create a fabric and a garment without knowing whether it would work, or even look nice, until it was finished. I was sweating bullets for over 1,800 yards! It wasn't until I bound off that I realized it was a success.


3. JBW- You are a big time crocheter- why did you switch to knitting?

KO- Actually, I taught myself to knit 1 month after teaching myself to crochet, 9 years ago while pregnant with my (now 8 year old) son. I have been publishing knit and crochet patterns for the last 6 years. I think because my first 2 books were crochet, the misconception is that I am only a crocheter. I actually like to do both every day. I work long hours, and think I use different muscles when knitting than crochet, so by switching crafts, my muscles get a break.

4. JBW- I love your DVD's. Is that an important element to the book? If so, why?


KO- For A Knitting Wrapsody, the DVD is a great value ad component of the book. There are some unusual techniques in the projects, and I thought it would be really helpful to offer my help, tips and tricks on the 1-hour DVD workshop to complement the patterns in the book. I love teaching and sharing my love of knitting and crochet with my customers. The DVD workshops are a great way for me to share my crafts more personally with my customers.

5. JBW- What's on your needles (or hook) now?

KO- Well, as far out as I work, I can't give you detailed information on my current projects, but I am working on a new crochet book, so lots of crochet swatches are in my office right now and yarn for a dozenor so projects. I am also working on 2 knit magazine projects -- bothlace -- and due to 2 different magazines for their Fall 2011 issues next week. If I had time to make something for myself right now, I would like to make a beach cover-up and beach tote bag, for this summer, in either hot pink or turquoise blue.

Thanks to all of you for stopping by reading about Kristin's new book today! Kristin has graciously given us a signed copy of her book to giveaway to one lucky reader! If you'd like a chance to win, please leave a comment in this post (one entry per person please) by midnight on Thursday and we will use a random number generator to select the winner! Check back here on Friday to find out who won!

Thank you again, Kristin, for letting us kick off your blog tour for A Knitting Wrapsody- it has been such a pleasure! For those of you interested in hearing more about A Knitting Wrapsody, don't forget to check in on the next several stops on Kristin's Blog Book Tour this week:

3/2- Tune into Knitting Daily TV at Knitting Daily.

3/3- Planet Purl Party Line Live Webchat with Kristin at Planet Purl.

3/4- Smokin' Hot Needles at http://yarnloopie.blogspot.com.

Kristin Omdahl designs knit and crochet garments and patterns under her label KRISTIN, and is the author of "A Knitting Wrapsody" (Interweave, January 2011), "Crochet So Fine" (Interweave, July 2010) and "Wrapped In Crochet" (Interweave, 2008). She appears in every episode of Knitting Daily TV on public television as the show's "Crochet Corner" expert, and she conducts seminars around the country on crochet and in her new DVD workshops, "Crochet Basics and Beyond with Kristin Omdahl" (Interweave 2011) and "Innovative Crochet: Motifs" (Interweave, 2009). Kristin's work has appeared in Interweave Crochet, Interweave Knits, Knitscene, Vogue Knitting, plus books including "Crochet Gifts" (Interweave, 2009) and "Crochet Me" (Interweave, 2007). She enjoys knitting and crocheting in her orchid garden in sunny, Southwest Florida. Check out what's new with Kristin at www.StyledbyKristin.com
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Kristin Omdahl: Self-Taught Master Crocheter

by : Bethany



Hello there! We are excited to have Kristin Omdahl posting here at Jimmy Beans Wool! Not only is she an amazing designer, she's also a good friend! Please enjoy her post and free pattern below!


I taught myself to knit and crochet while living overseas and pregnant with my son 8 years ago. I made many baby layettes and blankets for him during my pregnancy. When he was born, I had an incredible desire to continue knitting and crocheting, but had to find a different outlet - he had more baby blankets than days of the week!

Because I didn’t have access to patterns back then, I had to design my own creations from the very beginning. It was such a blessing in hindsight, because I began my designing career without even knowing it! I submitted 2 designs to magazine publishers and yarn companies shortly thereafter and both were accepted (1 knitting and 1 crochet). Since then, I have published over 200 patterns, 2 crochet books (Wrapped In Crochet, Crochet So Fine), 1 knitting book (A Knitting Wrapsody), 3 DVD workshops and I’m just getting started!

One of the challenges I impose on myself during a new design is how to interpret a texture or beautiful object I find. I live in Southwest Florida and spend a lot of time outdoors, (running and fishing with my son), so my inspirational textures are often the tropical foliage of this area. Palm trees, orchids, waves, birds, alligators, and clouds are some of my muses, to name a few.

The Crochet Flower Shawl is an example of how I challenged myself to recreate a flower garden in a crochet lace shawl. I love the flower motif you see running down the center back of the shawl. I converted these pretty flowers into half-flowers to make a beautiful scalloped, floral border without compromising the flat edge of the side triangles. The shawl is crocheted in separate pieces. The side triangles are really easy and you will memorize the pattern quickly. The motifs are made individually and joined to the triangles’ edges. In the current season of Knitting Daily TV, I demonstrate how to make and assemble this shawl.

The Crochet Flower Shawl can be made with any laceweight yarn. Silk, bamboo, wool, alpaca, and cashmere would all be great choices. I chose a solid color for my project, but the construction of this project would complement a variegated yarn, too. With all the beautiful, hand dyed yarn options available, I think your choices are endless!

While gauge is not critical for this project, if you want your shawl to be close to the size of the sample in the pattern (60” x 25”) you should make a gauge swatch. However, to achieve the gauge of the pattern, please block your swatch. You can wet it down, stretch, pin and let dry. Or, you can steam it, stretch, pin and let dry. The dried measurement is your blocked measurement. Besides achieving gauge, this will also give you a good indication of how the finished fabric will look. If you are happy, continue. If you are not, adjust for a fabric you will love to wear!
Please enjoy this pattern with my compliments! Crochet Flower Shawl Free Pattern
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The above is a guest post from Kristin Omdahl. Kristin designs knit and crochet garments and patterns under her label KRISTIN, and is the author of A Knitting Wrapsody, Crochet so Fine and Wrapped In Crochet. She appears in every episode of Knitting Daily TV on public television as the show's "Crochet Corner" expert, and she conducts seminars around the country on crochet and in her new DVD workshops, "Crochet Basics and Beyond with Kristin Omdahl" and "Innovative Crochet: Motifs". Kristin's work has appeared in magazines such as Interweave Crochet, Interweave Knits, Knitscene, Vogue Knitting, plus books including Crochet Gifts and Crochet Me. She enjoys knitting and crocheting in her orchid garden in sunny, Southwest Florida. Check out what's new with Kristin at www.StyledbyKristin.com.

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