I’ve been thinking a lot about what this means for the other places where my patterns are for sale, and have decided to leave the pricing (which is more than $1.99) the same. I realize this means I probably won’t ever sell another of these hat patterns on Ravelry (because I have made it clear in the pattern listings that it is available cheaper elsewhere), but I’ve done this for several reasons.

• I actually get all $1.99 from each pattern sale at KnitPicks. It’s equivalent to what someone would pay me to buy the patterns wholesale, but Knit Picks is passing on the savings to their customer. When I list my items at Etsy and the like, it takes time and effort, plus transaction fees that add up to about a dollar each time. (Hey, that’s a lot when the item is only $4!). Stores that sell my patterns have to put up the space, pay the rent, provide crochet support,etc–  and it just wouldn’t be fair to expect them to sell it for less–but I also wouldn’t want to not be able to sell the patterns in-store.
• It wouldn’t make sense for me to list the items at $1.99 because frankly, it’s not worth my time. (Knit Picks has enough volume that they can do the work for me, but when I’m doing it myself, no thanks!).  Some people might not want to create a whole new account just to buy one pattern, or they might like the feature that Ravelry has, of storing the PDF in your library, so I am leaving the option to buy these patterns on Ravelry and other sites open.
• So, think of the patterns as being “on sale” at Knit Picks. Savvy shoppers, you will get a good deal! And I am totally happy for you to purchase my patterns there if it makes you happy! It works out great for me too.

This is basically an experiment, because Knit Picks has such a large customer base and I do feel that patterns get “lost” on Ravelry becuase there is so much content–and so much free content! As a designer, there are only so many magazines to submit to, and this program lets me design things as I want them and when I have down time, and I don’t have to sign away any of my rights. Plus, they give me an advance which means I can have the patterns professionally edited. Plus, when I get around to designing garments, you’ll even get to see them on models other than myself–hooray.

At first I was apprehensive, but now I am hopeful that this program will help get crocheting into the conversation for so many people who already love working with yarn.

I hope you understand, and am happy to answer any questions you might have. I also reserve the right to change my mind about the pricing thing in the future.

P.S.  Thanks to Kim Guzman, who is doing the same thing and gave me the confidence to give it a go.

Just a really quick note before I rush off to work at the yarn shop to let you know that some of my hats are available over at the Craft Hope etsy shop. All proceeds will benefit Doctors without Borders in Haiti, and shipping is included within the United States. Read more about Craft Hope here. I haven’t had time to change my etsy page, but for this weekend, $10 of any purchase over $20 will go to the Red Cross (you can even buy a copy of my book over there), and I’ll even throw a free little goodie in your package- something like  earrings, a brooch, or a hairclip (my choice).

You could definitely make a nice something or other from all of these scraps, and it makes me happy to send them to another sewer rather than toss them or hoard them (cause I don’t have time to arrange another Patchwork Swap at the moment!).

Enter to win by leaving a comment here by next Monday, September 14th at midnight mountain time, and don’t forget, there’s still time to enter the other three giveaways. Have a great weekend!

We’re still in Portland, getting ready to drive back to Bozeman today. We’re thinking it’ll be a slow drive, since, let’s face it, we’ve been enjoying our time away from our real lives. We had so much fun hopping around Portland and hanging out with Susan and her family. Here’s a pic of the adorable Pearl and Andrew at a BBQ they had for us.

And here’s another favorite photo of Susan, Diane, Lee and I after hanging out for a crafty/shopping day. I’ve had an unspoken rule that I won’t buy any fabric because I haven’t been sewing at all lately (too much work to do!), but I lifted it for Portland. There were so many great fabrics to look at and I gave in at Bolt and Cool Cottons (my favorite fabric store yet!!)- I’ll have to show you some of them when I get back.

Check out my flickr page for the complete photo set. We’ll be on the road after this (if anything exciting happens, I’ll tweet), but the scheduled post for tomorrow is at Craftstylish, so be sure to check it out. Susan will probably do a round-up of my events, too. We’ve simply been having too much fun for scheduled blogging!

While we’re at it, here’s another project sneak peek: The Pretty Petals Tank Top!

For this one, I crocheted many motifs and used them to make new “straps” for a tank top. Very pretty for summer outings, and you could also apply them to a shirt with sleeves if you prefer. Or, you could applique the motifs on a skirt or bag, if you wanted to forgo the tank idea all together– there are endless options as this is yet another starting point.

Today also marks the first stop on my blog book tour with the lovely Tricia Royal of Bits and Bobbins. Since I’m posting this yesterday (magic!), her post might not be up just yet, but check back if not (ETA: it’s up!). She has some great sneaks of the inside of the book over on her flickr page, and she’ll probably mention the lovely Mod Cross Pillow that she contributed to the book as well. Thanks Tricia!

You might also enjoy this interview with me on the Oregonian’s Knit 2 Together Knitting Blog.

In case I can’t pop in every single day to update, here’s a link to the schedule for my Blog Book Tour. Oh, and I also gave in and joined Twitter, you can follow me there as well.

This is a great, simple pattern that will help you bust through your stash like whoah.  You can also work it with just one color if you want to try out a new summery yarn (I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease for the sample, but anything worsted weight will do). I just have to mention that if you pull the hat down that nub on top doesn’t show. Maybe I just have a big head, but on me, there was no nub.

I also have a couple of cute (if I do say so myself) projects in the latest issue of Crochet Today.

This doily tablecloth would look nice on your patio for a summer picnic. I used sock yarn to make it, which gave the doilies an instant color-changey-fiesta feeling.  You can also just make the doilies to use as doilies, and not go to the trouble of sewing them down, which would probably make the tablecloth easier to clean (I was sewing for a long. time. to complete this. Hand. Sewing.). The pattern is a shell repeat that gets slightly wider as you go, and I found it really fun to work. I am really into patterns you can memorize after a few rows.

My other project was this cute daffodil and rosette bouquet (ravelry link), complete with stems. These flowers will stand up in a vase and will never leave that nasty flower funky smell, which is a plus. I think they’d be extra dreamy if you used a nice cotton yarn with good stitch definition. For this design, I had fun coming up with a solution to inserting the stem in such a way that you wouldn’t see it from the flower front. If you want to know my crafty stem secrets, you’ll have to pick up the magazine.

Crochet Today has a new look and a new publisher- so this issue is definitely worth checking out. And for the record, I’m in love with that Doris Chan sweater on the cover. I’d love to make it, but then it would remind me that there’s no beach nearby. Sob.

Brett (from Crochet Today) and I were working on this around the same time a while back and had challenged each other to race to the finish, but she won. Technically, anyway. It took me over a month just to weave in the ends and photograph this. A lot of customers tell me that happens to them too- they’ll stop a project when they’ve only got 2 inches of an i-cord left to knit. My theory is that projects like that are virtually finished in our brains so we want to move on to the next new and exciting thing. I am glad to finally be able to wear this though.

Nikki said “I have a lot of stickers. So many that I’m constantly trying to give sheets of them away. But my favorites are these awesome 80’s phrase stickers. They’re turquoise & hot pink with sayings like: Totally Radical, Awesome!! & Cowabunga. I don’t think I ever used too many of them, so I still have most of the sheet left over.”

I loved reading about all of your stickers- thanks so much for sharing!

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First up is the quick and simple Lacy Shells Hat. Above is another version I made for moi- from Cascade Pima Silk. I have received lots of compliments on this one and it’s come in handy to keep my head warm this week, since the temperatures dipped into the 40s again. (You know how it is– you just can’t go back to that winter gear. Can’t. Go. Back.) I made at least 6 or 7 of these- they are fun and quick and therefore addictive. I was using my stash so many are in wool, and I’ll be selling them (in fact, the very hats  in the pattern photos) later, when people start thinking about wool hats again. But let’s not go there right now.  Think of lacy summer toppers that’ll work up in a night from your favorite cotton or cotton blend.

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And here’s my second pattern, the quintessential hat for summer-introducing the Summer Sun (raffia) Hat! I always see crocheted raffia sun hats but I wanted to make one my way. I had to order the raffia online at papermart.com (here’s the link, please note that I used the “Raffia Ribbon”), but you may be able to find it locally. You can also use worsted weight cotton, which one of my testers did– you can see the cotton version on Ravelry. This pattern comes with lots of step-by-step photos to make it easy, which is why it costs an extra 50 cents (a steal, I tell you!).

If you’d like your pattern(s) super quick, I recommend you purchase through Ravelry since they’ll send you a download link and I don’t have to be there for that to happen. Otherwise, I promise to email you the PDF within 48 hours –although it will likely be much sooner than that. Happy crocheting!