Complements Collection by Kristin Omdahl

Compliments Collection is yet another beautiful collection of knit and crochet designs by Kristin Omdahl.  This book offers large and small accessories all worked in an exquisite yarns of Bijou Basin Ranch, ranging from one to three skeins of yarn. The techniques in this book are from beginners to intermediate.

I picked a few of these projects you see here to show you my favorite ones in the book. You can see the rest of the projects in a Ravelry gallery. 

What are your favorite? Leave me a note in the comments. 

Since like Kristin, I also do both knit and crochet design,  I wonder what you readers think about a book that combines both of these crafts. As for me, I love it. For those of you who master one craft over the other, what are your thoughts on the books/magazines that combine these two crafts. Let me know in the comments. 

FREE eBOOK GIVEAWAY

Bijou Basin is offering a free eBook to one of you readers. To enter the drawing, please leave a comment by Tuesday, May 22, midnight EST. I will draw a winner on Wednesday. Good luck!

Tulip Lace Tunic & Hat

 I had added a new pattern to my store.

It's a girl's cardigan tunic paired with a matching hat worked in a Stockinette stitch and fairly simple Tulip Lace pattern. Both pieces are worked seamlessly. The sweater is worked top down seamlessly in rows and the hat is worked in the round.

The pattern offers both written instructions as well as charts for those who prefer.

The tunic is written for girl's size 2 (4, 6, 8, 10) yrs; and the hat is in two sizes S (M). The sample sweater is shown in size 4 for and the hat is shown in size M.

I offer this patter either as a separate hat pattern and the tunic pattern. For those who would like to make both I combined both of the patterns and offer it at a special price. You can find more about the patterns in my Craftsy store. 

I loved pairing the sweater with a spring dress as you see in the pictures here, a look I really like. Though you can have your girl wear it in much more casual way. She can wear it over a long sleeve shirt paired with jeans.

Do you have more ideas on which other way your girl could wear this? Leave me your ideas in comments. :)

Happy Knitting!

Free Knitting Pattern: Hers Jeweled Vest Top

I had designed Hers Jeweled Vest Top for Cascade yarns collection.

The vest it worked in a simple Stockinette stitch with nearly seamless construction. It has a slight waist and bust shaping so it will produce nice hourglass contour for a flattering fit.

This vest is worked in Cascade Jewel (100% Peruvian Wool, hand dyed), bulky yarn that knits up really quick. Each skein is a generous 100g (3.5 oz), 142 yds (130 m) skein.  The sample shown here is worked in #9947 color.

The pattern is written in a wide range of sizes: XS - 4XL.  It requires between 5 - 8 skeins of yarn.

The sample shown here is a size Small.








Best of all, you can download this pattern for FREE.

Happy Mother's Day!

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2012

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is one of the yarn festival events I like to go to every year if I can. It offers a great spectrum of yarn related festivities: from showcasing plentiful indie yarn companies, different breeds of sheep and other "yarn producing" animals to a variety of crafts and entertainment.

This year is the first year I was able to take all my girls with me. They were quite excited about that. Last year I took only the youngest one and the older ones did not want to miss out this year. They are quite the knitters themselves with a great sense for design if I say so myself. :)

YARNS

First and foremost I go to the festival to see all the new and out of the ordinary yarns. And yet again I was not disappointed.

Bijou Basin Ranch

My first stop I had made at Bijou Basin Ranch booth. The owners Carl and Eileen are great, fun people who happen to produce gorgeous quality yarn. As I had mentioned many times before, my favorite yarn is Lhasa Wilderness and all my designs for them so far were made in this yarn.  Some of those designs were there on display.

Spirit Trail Fiberworks

Miss Babs

Tess' Designer Yarns

Tess' Designer Yarn

Tess' Designer Yarn

Tess' Designer Yarn

 I cannot leave the show without seeing Tess' Designer yarns. Their yarns are so luxurious, heavenly soft and unbelievable colors... You've got to touch it and see it in person to believe it. 

Imperial Yarns

It was nice to see another client of mine having their yarns and designs on display here at the festival. They also had the new Spring 2012 Imperial Knit Collection there.

ROVING

CRAFTS

The sheep and wool festival is not all about fiber arts. There are many other crafts that are on display at this festival. Crafts ranging from pottery, basket weaving, broom weaving, bee's wax creations, wood working, jewelry making, you name it, it was there.












































My younger ones fell in love with a wool felted project of 2 mice. I have never done this technique; but the mice were so cute they want to learn how to make them. So we got the beginners kit and as we walked over to another booth to buy the felting needles needed to do this technique we bumped into the designer of that kit! What a coincidence! Of course we had to take a picture with her. Here is a link to the company's Etsy store. They definitely have some cute projects there. 




ANIMALS

And of course animals are a huge part of this festival. Besides sheep, an obvious source for yarn material, there were goats, bunnies, alpacas, dafis.

Dafi

Dafi

This bunny even had its own fan to keep him cool!

ENTERTAINMENT


And of course, we could not leave without the girls having some cotton candy and ice cream. It was a highlight of the event for them. :)

They all each got some goodies though. The younger ones got themselves the felting kit. The middle one got herself a felted sheep shaped pencil holder. They of course each got some yarn. Now I just have to wait to see their creativity blooming. I can't wait.











As we were leaving I had noticed this interesting sign for sock lovers... very clever.

Diamond Shawl Jacket

I'd like to announce a new addition to my pattern line, the Diamond Shawl Jacket. This knitting pattern is a great introduction to a Japanese lace knitting since the jacket requires minimal shaping. 

This easy, yet dramatic look of the diamond lace pattern is complimented with clean lines of 3x2 rib pattern at the collar, giving it a modern fresh twist on lace knitting. The diamond pattern shows beautifully in Bijou Basin Ranch's Lhasa Wilderness and will keep you interested from start to finish. You will be awarded with a garment suitable for multiple use and wear: It can be dressed up with with pair of slacks or dress for work or dressed down with jeans for a weekend stroll.

You can omit the ribbon and use a belt for closure for yet another look.

This knitting pattern is written in a wide range of sizes from XS - 3XL. Both written and chart instructions are included.

You can find more information on this pattern on Craftsy, Ravelry, and in my Etsy store.

Price: $7.50

Favorite Knitting Book of 2011 Readers' Choice Awards

As I am nearing the finish line with my big project, I don't find too much time for posting. Though I wanted to share this link with you, so you don't miss out on this.

Reader's Choice Awards for 2012 has announced the finalists. The finalists for Best Knitting Book of 2011 are:

Finishing School by Deborah Newton.
A Knitting Wrapsody. by Kristin Omdahl.
Knit, Swirl!  by Sandra McIver.
Sock Knitting Master Class. by Ann Budd.
Vintage Modern Knits. by Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn

All these books are very, very good, so the choice will be difficult. You can VOTE, once per day, through March 21, 2012.  If you have more than one favorite, being able to vote multiple times makes it a bit easier.

The Readers' Choice Awards for 2012 also highlight the best in knitting yarn, needles, bloggers and websites.

Here you can see the finalists and vote for your:

• Favorite yarn company
• Favorite needles brand
• Favorite Knitting Blogger/Website
• Favorite Knitwear Designer

I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

And the Winner is...

My apologies for not making official announcement blog post until today. Yesterday my Internet connection was down. :(

Nonetheless, congratulation to Vivid13 for winning Kristin Omdahl's Seamless Crochet ebook. Vivid13, please provide me with your e-mail address.

Copacabana V-neck Top

Copacabana V-neck Top

I've been so incredibly busy... who isn't, right? Besides working on 3 rather large knitting projects, in addition to couple of tests I need to study for (and have not started yet!!?), plus a Czech & Slovak event I am helping to organize for our Slavic association for the next month, I've been also wanting to list a few of my patterns on my websites that I had been putting off on a back burner. To list a pattern up for sale is a bit more time consuming than the time I have available right now, but I just wanted to do it. Maybe I can commit myself to listing one every month? Hmmm. I'll try. :)

Front

So here's the first one. Originally designed for Bijou Basin Ranch line for Spring/Summer 2010 collection, Copacabana V-neck Top was one of the two first designs I did for this awesome company. If you have not gotten a chance, check out their website for they have just released new yarns for Spring/Summer 2012.

This Copacabana V-neck Top makes me think of summer, sand and pretty beaches. Vertical stripes from a simple lace and cable pattern create the sought-after illusion of a slimming silhouette that flatters any figure.

Side detail

The nature of this lace and cable pattern makes contours curves beautifully without having to work waist shaping.

The piece is worked in Bijou Spun, Lhasa Wilderness yarn that makes this top very light weight, soft and luxurious. It can be worn casual, or paired with slacks for work, or worn with a wide belt and skirt for a night out. So jump in and create something that will give you lots of wear for years to come!

 You can get this pattern in my new on-line store on Craftsy.

Back detail

Back