Virtue Radio Network interview!

I think you will enjoy listening to a new interview with me on Virtue Radio Network for a show called “Women Create.” In the interview I describe my design process, how I funded my business, and what it’s like to publish a book with Random House. My feature runs for the next two weeks, so be sure to take the time to check it out here

The show will be archived after that, so if you miss it, you can always catch it later. Please feel free to pass the link along to knitters, teens, aspiring designers, or anyone else who may enjoy hearing about my fashion design business.

Still here….

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and blog for quite a while. I have been swamped with projects and deadlines, and it seems that there are quite a few things I have not gotten around to doing. Not enough hours in the day I suppose.

Anyway, I realized today that I haven’t told you that the top I’m wearing in this photo is the Halter Top design from my book, just knitted in black Bamboozle instead of blue (as seen in my book). I think it really changes the vibe of the garment.

New Review of It Girl Knits

Look at this new review of It Girl Knits on Access Fashion! Jillian Rueter, owner of Access Fashion, dovetails fashion and knitting in her unique blog. Check it out.

Book Review

Continuous Cables: An Exploration of Knitted Cabled Knots, Rings, Swirls, and Curlicues
Melissa Leapman
20 Designs plus an all-original stitch dictionary

Though the projects are not terribly exciting and some of them are somewhat un-attractive, seeming to be just a blank canvas for the cabled techniques, they are not the focus of the book. The real focus of this book are the amazing cables. All of the projects and and instructions come together very nicely, and the instructions are simple and easy to follow. Definately not too intimidating.

I already have a couple of cabled garments that I am working on using cables from Leapman’s book. There are definately other books out there that are more technique-driven if you are wanting to learn how to knit cables, but this book is cute. I like this book.

New Magazine Pattern!

Knit Simple Winter ‘08/09

Knit Simple Winter ‘08/09 is on newsstands now and it features my new pattern, Plush Sweater. It’s a comfy boyfriend sweater made with Universal Yarn’s Rebecca.

Very easy to knit. I knit it in the round and the sleeves are worked in the round, too. It’s a great beginner sweater since the bulky yarn knits up very quickly.

Strawberry Milkshake Hat

This is my Strawberry Milkshake hat. Actually, it’s a hat and glove set but I’m just going to talk about the hat today.

Now that it is  colder,  it is the perfect time to make this hat. It is very comfortable, made out of Tilli Tomas Aspen and Flurries, which has little beads strung on the yarn. The pattern is simple and the hat is very easy to knit. It is perfect as a quick-to-knit gift (maybe for Valentines).

If you are wanting this hat but don’t want to make it out of Tilli Tomas yarns, you can just substitute any yarn of the same gauge (worsted weight).  I also made a red one and a black one with some wool I found in my stash box. Then on another hat that I made with this pattern, I just followed the pattern but changed it a tiny bit. I kept on knitting the top (before the 2×2 rib) so that it was a lot taller, thus making a smurf hat.

Book signing at Ewe Knit kits

On the 7th I had a book signing at Ewe Knit Kits  in Virginia Beach, VA. This is a very nice shop with really nice people and a great selection of yarns. A lot of people came. I think that there were almost more people to this one than some of the other ones. Bobbi, the owner is very nice and accommodating. The set-up she had for me to display my trunk show was huge, and there was plenty of room for knitters to look at everything. My hand began to hurt after a while from all of the signing: )

These are photos of the event:

In this one I was signing a book for this lady and her daughter while they looked through my pattern book.

In between signing books I taught these two ladies, Wanda and her friend how to do magic loop. Wanda is a crochet designer, and she’s learning to knit.

I suggested she learn magic loop instead of using double pointed needles.

They were pretty excited about learning magic loop…

They all seemed to really like the boots…

This is what part of the display looked like.

NEW FREE PATTERN!

Check out my new sock pattern called Vortical. It’s available on Knotions, Winter ‘08 and features Socks That Rock Superwash sock yarn, plus instructions for making the socks in white Panda Cotton and painting them with Jacquard Dyes.

VORTICAL SOCKS

I first made Vortical in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, and I love the way the solid color shows off the 2 yarn over lace stitches – a different one for each leg and they both wrap around the leg!

Don’t be afraid to substitute your favorite yarn when you make Vortical.

More Fashion Show

My aunts, Jennifer and Heather came to the Fashion show. Aunt Heather drove two hours to get there and Aunt Jennifer came an hour and a half to see both me and my work in the show, and they stayed from 1:00 – 8:00. They both most definitely won the Best Aunt Award: ) I was really glad they were able to make it to the show.

Blessing Leji interviewed me for Teen News Now, and this was taken of me on my way back to the dressing rooms after talking to my aunts. Teen News Now is a television show that is produced and hosted by teens, and it airs in the Hampton Roads to North Carolina area.

VA Fashion Week

I’ve got pictures from Virginia Fashion Week. I showed ten garments in the show as a designer, and I modeled for other designers.  I can’t show you the pics of my collection yet because I haven’t gotten them from the photographers yet, so until then…

Here are some pics of me and my friends back stage at the show.

I modeled for Johnathan Kayne. He was on Project Runway’s 3rd season.

All of his dresses were a size 8, so Kayne had to pin the waist to fit me.

This is Kayne’s line of dresses.

Here I was modeling for another designer, Dee’s Couture.