New Design: Men’s Crochet Mock Cable Sweater

About three years’ ago, I was contacted by Joanne Seiff, asking whether I would like to contribute to a book. I absolutely jumped at the opportunity! I was so excited about the concept. Joanne researched and visited fiber festivals. She researched the history, the yarn, the fiber. Everything. She picked yarns specifically from these festivals. Then, she picked designers for these yarns. And, you put ‘em all together and what’ve you got? Con-fi-dence. Oh, wait. You’ve got a book! An extraordinary book filled with lush photos. And, lots and lots of fiber!

Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 20 Projects Inspired by America’s Festivals

I’m really looking forward to getting my copy of the book. I know I’m going to love browsing through it at leisure. If you want to take a look at the photos of the patterns in the book, they are available on Ravelry here.

And, of course, the reason I’m writing this post is because I want to show you the design I did for the book!

This design is for a men’s sweater. Because of the uniqueness of the book, I had a lot of free liberty to do what I wanted with the sweater. And, I DID! The most important thing to me was to provide a large size range: S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXXL. This is 36″ through 56″ chest. Next, I wanted to jump a little outside the box in my actual designing of it.

As you can see, this is a drop shoulder design. But, I really didn’t want to have all that extra fabric under the arms I usually see in drop shoulders. So, I decided to tread on ground I had never tread on. Using my geometry skills from high school, I designed the sleeves to be more of a cross between set-in sleeves and drop shoulder. The slope at the top of the sleeve is all it took to remove all that extra fabric. So, what we have here is the comfort of a drop shoulder with more of a fit like a set-in sleeve. Yay for high school geometry!

And, there you have it! Enjoy!

Vote for the Best in Crochet for 2008!

Here is YOUR chance to let your voice be heard! A couple of days’ ago, the voting began for the 2008 Crochet Liberation Front’s Best in Crochet Awards. If you haven’t voted, please take a few moments to give it a go. It’s a short one-page survey and I’m sure you will see many of your favorites listed.

I’ve been nominated in two categories. Really cool! I’m so honored to have been nominated. And, to my mother, OF COURSE you can vote! And, also to my mother, your second favorite designer, Margaret Hubert, has been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award.

To go directly to the voting, click here. Have fun!

Crochet to Save the Planet and More

Simply Soft Eco

And, yes, now that you ask, I HAVE been busy! One of the projects I needed to get in the mail today was actually 12 smallish projects. Each one was made with one skein of yarn. So, 12 skeins. And, why am I being so exact, you ask?

I used a new product on the market called Simply Soft Eco. This product has been introduced by Caron International Yarns and includes a percentage of yarn made with recycled bottles saved from landfills. Each skein saves .6 bottles from landfills. So, by my calculations, in one week, I was able to keep 7 bottles out of the landfills! Yay! Very exciting stuff!

Like some of you, I have been concerned about some of the posts I’ve read about this new yarn. But, I must say that I am definitely pleased with it. My projects included colorways of Wine Country, Ocean and Plum Perfect. If you look at the website link above, you will see all the colors and there are some real beauties there.

To be honest, if I had received this yarn, without the ball bands, I would have thought it was the regular Simply Soft. Just as soft. No white fuzzy bits in these*, the way I’ve heard. No tangles. And, there wasn’t even a single cut and tie in any of the 12 skeins I used.

*It appears that the heather-y looking colors have little white fuzzy bits. I’ve seen them. And, I wasn’t sure how I would like them. Brianna completed a scarf using a couple of the heather-y colors. And, I have to admit that I really liked the character given to the projects with these bits. It gave sort of a rustic appearance. I love the scarf she made.

Given my schedule right now of writing this book, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to be able to complete these projects so quickly. I thought I might be hindered by the things I had heard. But, nope! Everything went smoothly and I was able to get this box right out the door as planned.

Crochet-Along

Next on the agenda is a crochet-along. A crochet-along has been planned for the Guatemalan Surprise Afghan from my new book, Tunisian Around the Home.

Anyone interested in joining this crochet-along should post in comments or email me at crochetkim2 at yahoo.com. I can then add you to the YahooGroup I’ve started for it. We plan on starting shortly after March 15 to give everyone a chance to obtain their yarn and the pattern book.

The New Book

Don’t worry. I’m working on the new book and I’m still on schedule, although it’s a little tight until I can get some of these projects out of the way and get a better feel for how much time I’ll need. But, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we are on schedule.

More on Christian

For the longest time now, Christian has been counting to 10, backwards and forwards. He loves to share this new skill with anyone at all who will listen. But, he’s recently taken an interest in Sesame Street. I previously tried to get him interested in Sesame Street, but he wasn’t interested. About one week after watching Sesame Street pretty regularly, he started trying out the skill of counting to 20. And, this week, he’s started learning his alphabet in order. He really hasn’t shown an interest in learning them in order. He’s known the letters for a LONG time, but this week he started pretending to sing them. So, that will be the next thing we practice.

More on Brianna

Brianna has really taken an interest in knitting. She has an ear flap hat pattern which is worked flat and seamed up the back. I believe she has now made this hat 5 times. Each time didn’t produce an entirely successful hat for her (read that as “she is a perfectionist just like her mother” LOL), which is why she has continued to make it. With this hat, she has really expanded her knowledge of knitting. She can now knit, purl, cast on, bind off, knit in the front and back (increase), k2tog, k3tog, CO extra stitches at a position other than the beginning and join two pieces together after putting one of them on a stitch holder. Whew! This hat has taught her so much that she might be ready for a sweater soon. And, she has picked out 3 patterns from Stephanie Japel’s Fitted Knits. I’m not sure when she will want to start a sweater since she’s still working on hats. But, at least she’s thinking about it! Yay!

I have more things I’d like to write about, most importantly I wanted to share some photos which have been emailed to me of finished projects. But, I’ll need to wait a couple of days because I should really get back to work so that I can stay on schedule!

Afghan Variegations! New Book, Soon to be Available!

I’ve been stalking the Annie’s Attic site to check the status of my next book. And, I just saw it pop up on the website today! Woo hoo!

This book is called Afghan Variegations. It is a book for those of you, like me, who absolutely love those variegated yarns, but find a hard time finding stitch patterns that work with them. Please note that none of these afghans are in Tunisian crochet. Traditional crochet for all of them.

You can’t yet order it. But, Annie’s Attic has the page set up so that you can be sent an email once it’s ready.

I hope you like it!

Let the Crocheting Begin

Welcome to what looks to have turned into the busiest 6 weeks of my life. I envision crocheting for 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, for an entire 6 weeks. I made the mistake today of actually counting the number of projects I now have to finish in that time. You see, immediately after my book proposal was accepted, I had other projects come up. And, they’ll be worked in. Oh, the count? 25 projects! I guess I’ll be staying out of trouble for awhile.

I am so glad that I got the last two projects mailed out already. But, I still need to finalize those two patterns. Goodness! I’m on the verge of feeling overwhelmed. But, I know I can do it. I’ve even estimated the time I’ll spend on each project. I just have to take it a day at a time. But, I’ll get there!

I wish there was more to say. But, I’ve been crocheting so much that I can’t even think of anything right now. I just want to make sure that I get enough finished between now and the start of my March classes so that I can feel less stressed. I’m still excited, though. You are all going to LOVE this new book! I can hardly wait!

The Yarn Parade Has Begun!

Yesterday, I received yarn for one of the projects in the new book. It’s so pretty! I can’t hardly wait to get started on it. But, I have two projects which absolutely must be done before I can get started. Fortunately, one project is finished and one project is almost finished. (I’m actually waiting for it to dry from blocking before I do the finishing.) We’re very close! And, it couldn’t be too soon since I’m expecting the rest of the yarn parade later this week. Fun!

Christian’s Aunt Jeannine bought him a big box of Lincoln Logs yesterday. I didn’t have Lincoln Logs as a kid. But, I remember having friends who did. That didn’t really help me much when trying to help Christian put some buildings together. He, of course, wanted the fancy buildings on the front of the box. And, fortunately, this isn’t one of those boxes where you have to buy more in order to make the things in the photo. But, there ARE instructions for making each structure. It took some time, but I did it! All three were made from the same box. Very cool! It looks like I’m going to have to become a Lincoln Logs pro since Christian will need some practice in making them.

So, I’ll be finishing up this project shortly. I’m hopeful to get both of them mailed out tomorrow. All pattern writing also finished tomorrow, if I’m lucky. Then, by Tuesday, the book shall begin!

New Online Classes Posted!

The following is my March 2009 class schedule at Crochetville. As more information comes in about my class proposals, I will post in my blog. You can also check my current class schedule at any time by clicking “Classes” in the top bar of the page.

	Drop Stitch Ripple Shawl Using a broomstick lace variation, developed by Kim Guzman, students will learn this easy technique to make a beautiful ripple shawl. It’s quick, easy, and fun! You’ll love the results produced in this new technique. Students will be provided with the complete pattern to make the shawl with the alterations for a scarf. Class begins March 6, 2009, one week, $10 For more information, visit Crochetville
	Learn to Make an Extra Wide Cro-Hook Scarf Cro-Hook is the Tunisian crochet technique using a double-ended hook. Students will learn up to three Tunisian crochet stitches to make a scarf as long as they like! There are no limits with this special technique! Beginning students will learn the basics of Tunisian crochet and using the double-ended hook. Advanced students will enjoy learning to use a cro-hook with a solid color project, which isn’t normally seen in cro-hook projects. Class begins March 13, 2009, one week, $10 For more information, visit Crochetville
	Learn Broomstick Lace Called “jiffy lace” for a reason, you’ll quickly find that broomstick lace is a fast and fun new project! You can use the techniques learned in this class for a scarf, shawl, or throw. Don’t let broomstick lace scare you anymore! Students will learn all tlhe tips and tricks to make their own special project whether they choose to do a scarf, shawl, or throw. Class begins March 20, 2009, one week, $10 For more information, visit Crochetville

A New Book! Yay!

Okay, my friends, it’s time to start gearing up for a new book! No, I can’t tell you the topic. I really wish I could because I feel that this will be one of those “must have” books that you will enjoy so much! I can’t wait to get started on it. I’ve already been instructed by my editor to get everything finished that I’m working on because there’s a tight deadline. This is terrific for you because it means that it will be that much sooner that you can get your hands on it! Very, very exciting, folks!

And, of course, this means that the next six weeks will be extremely busy for me. And, I’ve got two projects to finish before the yarn arrives for the book. So, we might as well say that I’ve got less than two months of busy, busy, busy. Busy is GOOD!

And, let’s not forget that I still have another book which I worked on last year. It should be available very soon. I’m sure you’ll see a blog post about it before too long.

Wow! What a fun time!

#1 on Ravelry!

With this being a new month, and the “changing of the guard” at Ravelry, the Sweetheart Ripple Afghan is the new #1! Yay!

You too can be a part of the crochet-along at Crochetville. And, there’s still time before Valentine’s Day!  You can purchase the automatic download of the magazine at e-patternscentral.com.

ETA: The Sweetheart Ripple is now also available in a book with the other afghan designs I made to go with it. Go to the Annie’s Attic site here to see my new book called “Reversible Ripple Afghans”.