A New Pattern, Recent Trunk Shows and Hooping a'Plenty!

I'm back! Finally...whew...I think once a month posts are all I can possibly get in at the moment. If you're on Facebook or my SleepyHeads group on Ravelry, that's a MUCH easier way to see what I'm up to and see pictures of my latest designs/trunk shows.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd update now before another month goes by without a post. I'll start with the smaller, personal stuff and then end with my NEW PATTERN! Yay!

FAMILY

The past month or so, it's been constant work helping my oldest, Tim, get his college applications sent in, essays written and portfolios created. He's intending to go into Game Programming/Design and has 5 colleges in mind. I thought that the Common Application would be so much easier, but really, it wasn't. Two of the colleges Tim was interested in weren't accepting the Common App and seeing how easy those were to fill out made me think, "Why the heck isn't the Common App set up like THAT!" The CA website is just not that user friendly at all and there is little room for change or being able to add things that aren't listed as options. Ugh. But, at least there'll all in and now Ian and I just have to focus on the horrors of the CSS Profile and the FAFSA. (please kill me now)



This is his senior picture, which I think is very handsome ; )

HOOPING

As some of you know, I got addicted to hooping last December and I've been loving it. Now that I can actually keep the hoop around my waist for more than 5 seconds, I love grabbing my hoop whenever I have a free minute. The best part is, I don't have to change into any fancy clothes or make sure I have an hour of allotted time to work out. You can work out with this slightly weighted hoop for only 30 minutes and burn over 300 calories! I'm having such a fun time with this that I've decided to get my Hoopnotica Teacher Training certificate so I can teach hooping next summer. I'll be taking that weekend intensive in March 2011. I've been practicing every day for my training....well, mostly hitting my head with my hoop and banging the hoop on my legs, but I still keep at it. LOL! I even thought of incorporating the hoop into my yoga class routine. As long as I have enough space and some interested yogis, I think it might be awesome! Check out Hoopnotica's website for more information, pictures and videos on hooping, weight loss, teacher training and to buy their stuff (adorable hoops, dvds, cds, etc.)

TRUNK SHOWS

I'm delighted to say that BOTH of my recent trunk shows were a HUGE success! As of this moment, I have absolutely NO Dreamscape books to sell -only PDFS. That's amazing! (There are still a few Dreamscape books available online to purchase - either at Coveted Yarn or Willowgate Yarn - see links on right sidebar...so hurry before those are sold out, too!)

Tonia Barry of the Classic Elite Design team, was wonderful and asked me to have a show at the Hub Mills Yarn store in Lowell, MA. The day went by so quickly and I loved looking at all of the gorgeous yarn in the store. It was lovely meeting so many people who came to look at my knitted samples and buy my book. I'd definitely visit that store again : )



Bernadette Vaughan of the Slater Mill Guild Studios, went out of her way to make my day fantastic. She organized this wonderful Knitting/Spinning/Quilting event at the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI and I thought it was amazing. There were not only vendors but, also my trunk show, presentations on spinning, beautiful quilt samples, and hot cider and goodies to munch on. The space was so beautiful - bright, light, roomy and felt so good to be there.



I was there for 5 hours and it seemed like just one! I sold ALL the rest of my Dreamscape books and had a large number of people interested in my designs - trying them on and complimenting them. I felt like someone important for that little while! : D



I'm happy to say that I've been asked back in January for their annual Knitting Weekend - where I'll be able to teach an Amanda Hat class and a Yoga/Knitting class during the weekend. Woo-hoo! I can't wait!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for Tonia and Bernadette!!

FINISHED KNITTED PROJECTS

1. A Blanket for my Mom (I knit 3 of the squares and my friends knit the others):



2. The Harriet Cardigan from "A Fine Fleece" in Jaeger Pure Merino DK in blue:



3. Two Cowboy -themed washcloths for my sister's bathroom: (the other is a brown cowboy boot)



4. Another Persephone Beret in white for my mom's friend

5. A pair of Garter Stripe Baby Socks to go with the EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket in my handpainted sock yarn



6. And Gun Shy toy for Ben - who is obsessed with anything like laser guns and such.



Currently, I'm finishing up my friend Libby's scarf (in new pattern!) and the Fylindales Cardigan, also from "A Fine Fleece" in an imported 100% Scottish Wool aran yarn in the colorway, Blossom.

NEW PATTERN!



My newest pattern, called "Bobbi's Birthday Scarf", is now available for purchase! Yay! This scarf is a classic, cabled, unisex scarf with a twist - you add fabric to the back! If you're a quilter, you can even line the scarf with one of your gorgeous quilted creations. Depending upon the yarn and fabric you choose, this scarf could be made for anyone in your life...family, friends, teacher, bus driver, etc. The pattern is $5.00 and you can purchase the pdf here on my blog (see right sidebar of homepage under "Patterns for Purchase" or on Ravelry.



Well, I think that's about all that's new at the moment. As you know, I'm going to begin working on my newest Sleepy Eyes Knits book in January 2011 in hopes that it will be published by December 2011. This book will include baby, toddler and child patterns in a readable and colorful format. I'll be using the spiral bound format again and I'll also be offering a set of BOTH Sleepy Eyes Knits books for a great price around the holidays.

MY PATTERNS IN OTHER BOOKS

By the way, have you seen all of the Amanda Hats in the new book, "1000 Fabulous Knit Hats" by Annie Modesitt? Check out the TEXTURED HATS section. Most of those hats were knit by me or friends of mine. Soo cool!

Also, my OTHER new pattern in finally out in the new book, "101 Sock Skein Wonders" by Judith Durant. My "Ericka Scarf" is on page 94. The scarf is named after one of my close knitting friends, Ericka, and is knit using only ONE SKEIN of Noro Kureyon sock yarn, though you could use any sock yarn for this project. It would look best in a semi-solid or striping yarn, though. Take a look at both books and let me know what you think!

Hope you're all doing well and thanks so much for staying loyal to my blog.

Hugs and Happy Knitting!! xoxxo