The first mag was Inside Crochet, a UK crochet magazine that has a good mix of garments, home decor and other stuff to crochet (I like a good mix!). My design is the Summer Picnic Wrap, an airy wrap worked with join-as-you-go motifs. My inspiration for this motif started with a granny square, but I wanted to make it lacy and modern, so what I came up with is the very-simple-to-work  hybrid of geometry and lace. The sample is worked in a DK weight organic cotton yarn (a light one at that) but I also think this would be gorgeous in a worsted weight yarn with nice drape and tonal color variations, so I can’t wait to see if people make it. This is my first contribution to the mag and there are more on the way!

The second envelope I opened contained Knit Simple’s Fall 2010 issue. Y’all –I can say that, now that I’m back in Texas– this is a really great magazine. Although I admit they don’t have a ton of crochet designs–mine is the only one in this issue–the designs on these pages have a truly classic and simple style. I think I may even knit one of them! And I know their editor does try to include crochet designs, so the more we speak up the more we might see them.  My contribution was this layette set–pullover, hat, booties and blanket. I worked each piece with slightly different stripe widths, because I wanted them to go together without being overwhelmingly matchy. Handy tutorials on working bobbles, decreases, and changing colors seamlessly are included. I think any little boy–or girl–would look cute in this, and of course you can change the colors to your liking. I worked the sample  in Paton’s Grace (DK weight), so you can even size it up for older kids by using a worsted weight yarn and a larger hook, if you like. There’s a great article on the Lion Brand  Notebook about just how to do that, if you’re interested.

In other crochet news, I was on Mary Beth Temple’s Getting Loopy podcast last night. We talked about Crochet Adorned, how hot it is in New Jersey, and other fun stuff. Go have a listen, and during the podcast we’ll reavel the top secret information you need to know to enter to win a copy of the book  for yourself.

Also, I can’t remember if I mentioned it here, but I started a group on Ravelry for my designs called Happy Crocheting with Linda Permann,  so please join and introduce yourself. And for the last time, join Ravelry already!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I know my feet were happy to rest, but it’s back to the Yarnivore trenches tomorrow. First, to tackle the box of yarn the UPS man just brought me. Happy crocheting!

Chris, who said:

“Those slippers are so sweet! Kristin is one of my knitting heros. Her new book looks fantastic. I would love to see more patterns for boys. Currently knitting for friends with new babies, boys. Have been knitting from Itty Bitty Hats/Susan Anderson – love her work! I started crocheting first, because I thought knitting was too hard, “back in the day” —- now I do both and love all the new fibers!”

I’ve already emailed her for her address.

For some reason (that may begin with a p and end with rocrastination) I felt compelled to do an old-school style drawing instead of using the random number generator, so I printed out the comments on the reverse side of some scrap paper.  There were a lot of comments (77) to cut up and in retrospect, I probably should have gone to the kitchen for the bigger scissors.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment–I wish I had more books to give away! I was really taken by the thought all of you put into your comments (which is why I love to ask a question when I do a drawing), thank you! I have some new projects to try and I loved reading all of your stories.

If you didn’t win the book, I hope you’ll seek it out anyway. It is really not that hard to do Fairsisle knitting. In fact, as Kristin mentioned on her blog today, it’s easy, because for many of the projects, you work in the round and never have to purl a stitch. My gauge gets really wonky when I throw purls into the mix, so you know I love that! I hope you’ll adopt her “Farmgirls Just Do It” attitude and give it a try.

I’ll be back tomorrow (I hope) to show you some of my recent crochet and kniting projects. I seem to be making gifts now that it’s NOT the holiday season. It is much more lovely to make them because I want to and not because I feel like I have to. Oh yes.

What I love about Kristin’s work  is that she’s not afraid to use color- and lots of it. Whereas other designers might shy away from the amount of yarn needed, or all the tails to weave in, Kristin goes for it. Of course, it probably helps that she was able to create her own yarn line with all sorts of great colors to mix and match. (Finding several colors that go together within one line of yarn is much harder than it sounds!)

She’s also not afraid to combine crafty techniques (swoon- a woman after my own heart)– and throughout the book, illustrates ways to combine surface embroidery with fairisle knitting to create stunning effects that even advanced beginners can achieve! Plus,  Kristin gives you information on how to be your own designer. The book comes with a glossary of colorwork stitch patterns, and each project gives you instructions on which designs you can pick and substitute easily in the project. She even goes so far as to do the math for you–ie, if you have 60 stitches in which to work, she’ll lay out the multiples you can use (2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 20, etc), to correspond with the glossary of color charts that is  also set up by number of stitch repeats. Grand!!

I decided that I wanted to make a project from the book for my review, because as you may know, I’m not a terrific knitter. I like to knit, but I hardly have the time for it (and if I get too good at it, I might start to mix it in to crochet designs!). There were many doable projects in the book that didn’t seem like a huge time investment- such as mittens, hats, socks, and pillows. A lot of the items are for cold-weather wear (naturally), so I settled on something small and cute for instant gratification.

I picked a set of slippers from the Family Slippers, and I started with the infant size, figuring it would be good practice in case I decide to make the larger sizes. They booties are adorable, and all told, took me about 5 hours to knit (I made some silly mistakes- I’m still learning!). Since I happened to have some of her lovely Julia yarn on hand, I went ahead  and used it. As I’ve said, the colors and tones are just amazing, and the bit of  alpaca makes the yarn luxurious to work with . All of the designs in the book are made with Julia yarn, and when you think about it, that’s kind of great because once you get gauge, you can jump into all of the projects. Of course, any worsted weight yarn will do–and that combined with the colorwork aspect makes this an excellent book for stash-busting.

If you’d like to be entered to win a free copy of Color by Kristin, leave a comment here by Tuesday at 12 noon central time. Please throw out some ideas of cute beginner/advanced beginner knitting projects for me (as in, specific patterns you’ve worked and enjoyed) in your comments, or tell me how long you’ve been knitting and what got you started. Good luck!

If you ever read Adorn (RIP),  you probably know the work of Kayte Terry (or, perhaps you know her blog, This is Love Forever). I’d known Kayte for a long time via my crafty internet circle, and then had the chance to work with her as the stylist for many a photo shoot. Kayte has a great eye for color, display, and, well, just putting things together. Which is why it makes perfect sense that she would write a book all about embellishing: Appliqué Your Way

applique (noun) ornamentation, as a cutout design, that is sewn on to or otherwise applied to a piece of material

In this book, Kayte explores the myriad ways to accent your home and wardrobe, using all sorts of techniques including sewing, gluing, and even pasting things to your wall. The book contains several contributions by crafty ladies, and with a quick flip of the pages you can probably tell which project was mine…

This crocheted applique tee came out of my idea to do a crocheted mesh piece covering a deep V neckline and add floral elements to that mesh. Of course, it can be difficult to find a deep V-neck t-shirt when you need one, so the result was slightly less dramatic (but more wearable, which is a good thing). I love to apply crochet to garments, and this design definitely lets you decide where you want to put all of the piecces.

There are lots of cute and clever projects in this book– I wish I had taken more photos to show you. (For more project peeks, head over to Craftypod or The Constant Gatherer.) Think of it as a guide to making your own clothes like those you’d find at Anthropologie, using your own stash of fabrics, bits and bobs. These projects are great because you can start with something that fits–whether you made it yourself or bought it– and go to town decorating it in your own style. Kayte also designed the most adorable home projects, including ornaments, hanger covers, trivets, coasters, cozies and more. It’s definitely worth checking out and there are a couple I have my eye on for when I get back into “crafting for me” time.

If you’d like to be entered to win a free copy of Appliqué Your Way (courtesy of Chronicle Books), leave a comment here by Sunday, December 20th at 12 midnight. In your comment, answer this question: “What’s your favorite way to use applique designs?” Your answer can be a certain thing that you like to decorate, or a certain technique you use, but you must answer the question in order to be entered to win. Good Luck!

This time I chose the winners based on the traditions I liked and may want to try, which- hey, is pretty close to random, right?

First up is Ruth, who commented:

So many traditions in my family and all are loved!
Christmas morning we would get up early and climb in bed with Mommy and Daddy to sing every carol we knew until they were ready to get up and start the day. My daughter and I have continued that except now it is us singing until we hear that the extended family visiting us wakes up (or the ones who’s home we are staying at – we swap who has to travel ever other year). Advent calendars, cookie baking, sleeping under the tree the night it is first brought into the house, decorating with ornaments made and ones received as gifts thru the years… Oh, that is a good one too! We tie each ornament on the tree with a red ribbon. As each bow is tied we are tying up the challenges and our problems from the year. When we un-decorate the tree and untie the ribbons there is a fresh start to the new year.

I love the idea of untying the ribbons to start a new year. 2009 was a challenge for  my family, to say the least. Hopefully 2010 will be much better.

I also just loved reading this next comment, and then I realized it’s from my friend Nancy! I never really had a dollhouse as a kid, but I love this idea anyway, and it’s a new one to me!

When I was little, I must have been a sound sleeper because my mother would sneak into my room Christmas night while I was asleep and decorate my doll house for Christmas! I’d wake up and there’d be a little tree and presents in there, and little dollhouse boughs of holly, and always one or two new dollhouse things I’d have to hunt around in there to find. Whenever my girls are old enough for a doll house, I’d like to make it a tradition in our house too!

And I’ve decided to give away a third copy to Julie, my friend in Bozeman. Because what am I really going to do with a box of copies? I know she’ll use and enjoy it since she already bought the yarn. (You really only need a scrap amount, so you can knit or crochet an entire other thing and have earrings to  match!) Plus, she recently wrote this lovely post that  mentions my book. What can I say, flattery works!

I just bought some of that yarn the other day and Barb and I were talking about the possibilities!

Beautiful and congrats!

um, let’s see…my favorite holiday traditions are **pie** and the annual discussion that my man and I have about the perfect way to brine a turkey.

Thanks to everyone who shared their holiday traditions in the comments- there were definitely some goodies in there!! I hope to incorporate some new traditions into our holidays and these will give me a starting point–that is, if I can get around to Christmas this year (I feel so busy!!). And if you didn’t win this time, worry not– I have more things to give away just as soon as I can write the blog posts!!

Now, I’ve had my work in many magazines but I don’t believe I’ve ever had my name on the cover– and this gave me quite a thrill. The editor of Living Crafts asked me to contribute a project a few months ago and I am so glad I made the time to squeeze it in, the entire process was so enjoyable–every magazine does things a little differently, but this was a true collaboration of ideas, which was fun. I designed another set of crocheted earrings (2 pair), and I have to admit that these are my favorites. I used Habu Textiles Stainless Steel yarn for these, which was awesome because it not only comes in lovely jeweled colors, but it has stainless steel mixed into the blend, which helps these earrings to keep their shape on their own. It’s also great because the yarn is teeeeeeny tiny! but if your hook happens to slip out as you are working, it holds the shape so you don’t lose your stitches as easily. (I’m knitting something with the leftover amounts, and it’s helpful for that, too!)

I also added some crystals to one of the pairs for extra sparkle and weight. I’m thrilled with how they came out and was actually pretty sad to send them away. I’m used to not keeping my projects, but I might make these again. They’re easy in terms of pattern, but they do require a bit of focus because, did I mention that the yarn is teeny tiny? Once you get the hang of them, though, you could easily make a dozen pairs to hand out as gifts.

The rest of the issue is packed with great projects for the holiday season, especially if you have young children in your family. There’s a great feature on ornament exchanges with several ornaments to make and give, and I love the sentiment behind the story–which shares the tradition of giving a set of ornaments to a new couple or baby. There are gorgeous holiday crowns, an extra special needle-felted advent calendar, a knitted child’s sweater and more.  What I love about this magazine is they don’t dumb it down– each craft is given space to breathe and they allow plenty of room  to explain each step. And– all kinds of fiber crafts are included- knitting, crochet, felting, sewing, embroidery and more.  I just get a warm feeling looking through the pages, the projects are truly heartfelt.

I’m giving away TWO copies of the mag to a couple of lucky blog readers. Leave me a comment with a few sentences about your favorite holiday traditions by Thursday, November 27th, 2009,  and I’ll draw names . If I don’t blog again before then, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Wrapagami Winner: Virginia, who said:

Oh pick me. I’m happy to hear you are moving back home.

Magazines & Wee Wonderfuls Patterns Winner: Malinda,who said:

ooo – those all look neat!! I love wee wonderfuls stuff!

Amy Butler Softwares & Crochet Jewelry Winner-Kim, who said:

i love amy butler! i hope to win!

Scrap Bonanza Winner: Ashley Ann, who said:

Wowza! I love scraps. I wish I had a scrap room like Scrooge’s money room. I would spend all day swimming in scraps. *sigh*

And now, I’m kinda sorta in moving hell. All of the craft supplies are packed up and I just keep thinking I need to do more, more more before we move. So it might be radio silence on this end for a while. Keep crafting!

In addition, I’ll throw in my choice of some crocheted jewelry — a granny square necklace for sure, and a pair of earrings and hair clip too (see my etsy shop for examples). If you have a favorite color let me know in the comments, although I can’t promise anything. Leave your comment by Monday, Sept. 14th at midnight mountain time for your chance to win!

Let’s start with the magazines. First up is a new-to-me magazine called Living Crafts. The editor contacted me because they reviewed my book, and sent a few free copies my way. This is a great little magazine, especially for those crafters with kids, and I like that they go into detail on a few big projects rather than throwing in a zillion projects. Step by step photos are included for many of the projects in this issue, and a few of my favorites projects are the kitted gnome hats (on the cover), a needle felted playscape, and a patchwork weekender tote bag. I love that this magazine plays to more than one type of craft (knitting, sewing, felting)!

The second magazine is the newest issue of Sew Stylish, to which I contributed a simple t-shirt re-do project. I was given the same t-shirt dress as Erika Kern and Kayte Terry and we all did a spin on it– mine was to shorten the dress and use the excess to add a ruffled collar, an idea which I’ve been seeing a lot of lately. Some of my favorites from this mag are an article by Cal Patch on replacing the lining of a coat, tips on how to sew with fall fabrics such as metallics and brocade, and a skirt story with a very simple-looking yet stunning pleated skirt.

And finally, I have a set of Wee Wonderfuls Patterncards. These self contained cuties have all of the templates and instructions you’ll need to sew up a set of felt friends: butterfly, snail, turtle, birdie and bunny. Each can be made from small pieces of felt and scrap fabric, and they’d make a great on the go project.

To win all three things, leave a comment here by next Monday, September 14th at midnight mountain time. Good luck!

(Almost) All of the wraps in the books are secured with knots, and she guides you through each step with helpful diagrams (think origami books). She covers everything from basic shapes to wrap, such as wine bottles, books, and boxes and gives tips on variations that can make your gift unique. As a bonus, fabric wrap is much easier to use on odd shaped items that are typically hard to cover with paper.

I think these ideas would work well for gifts to your sewing and quilting friends, who might have more fun with the wrap than the gift itself. My favorite project has to be the Repurposed Wrap, where she shows you how to use an old long-sleeved dress shirt for the wrap.

I have one copy of this book to give away, so please leave a comment here if you’d like to win a copy! Comments will close next Monday, September 14th at 12 pm Mountain Time.