Here is my leaflet, published by Annie’s Attic.
It recently sold out at the website. And, I even remember a time when it was being sold at Annie’s Attic for 99¢.
But, now, you can get it for the “bargain” price of only $44.94 at Amazon. Yikes!
ETA: Well, either these were purchased or the sellers decided to remove them. But, still! 
Things have been really jumping around here. Last week, I mailed in two new designs. They are both knit and I’m working on another knit design now. I have to admit that I’m really enjoying the challenge of working on knit designs and I’m very excited about my introduction into a new needlework genre.
For those of you who don’t knit, though, there is no need for concern. I’m still working on crochet designs. I promise! Actually, I can look right across the room at one finished crochet design which I need to mail in. See! No need to worry!
This month, two new crochet-alongs were started with my designs. (If you know of a crochet-along with one of my designs, don’t hesitate to let me know about it.)
The first is for the Simple Tunic from the Caron Yarns website. The crochet-along is in the Obscurity Group on Ravelry.
The second is for the Mens Mock Cable Sweater from Fiber Gathering. This crochet-along is also on Ravelry.
For those unfamiliar with crochet-alongs, it is a wonderful way to work on a project, especially if you feel a bit nervous about it. With several people working together, any problems can be solved together. The beautiful part of a crochet-along is also that there is handy information available on the project right at your fingertips should you want to do the project at a later time.
In October, I’ll be starting a crochet-along for the Denim Ripples Afghan from Tunisian Around the Home in my own crochet-along group. (This is a YahooGroups-based forum and you can email me at crochetkim2@yahoo.com if you are interested in participating.)
Those interested in this crochet-along will need to purchase the book. I’ll be providing information on stitch counts so that the pattern can be adapted to a scarf for anyone not interested in making a full afghan, or those interested in trying it out first before committing to the full afghan. Please stay tuned for further details.
Tunisian Lace How-to Book and DVD
I hate to be such a tease. But, I’m getting so excited about this project. I believe we may see it surface on the Annie’s Attic website in November. It must be getting close to completion because I actually received a DVD in the mail last week for my review. Oh, it looks so terrific! I can hardly believe that it’s me. LOL I sent back my edits on Monday morning. So, I can only imagine that it’s getting very close to being finished. Woo hoo! The amount of work that has gone into the production of this book and DVD has been enormous and I hope it does well.
Canning Foods
I’ve been following some of my “yarning” buddies on Twitter and I must say that it has definitely renewed my interest in learning to can foods. All the pretty jars of different colors of jellies and jams really did me in. It will have to wait until I have more room, though. And, I will have to buy a book…. and supplies. LOL
My Mother Visited
My mother visited me last week and I always hate to see her go. But, she has a full calendar and needed to get back home.
While she was here, I introduced her to Facebook. We even had a quick little photo shoot so that she could get a current photo up there. So, if you see this lady, she’s my mother.
I’m also very sad that my older son, Derek, had to move. He was only here for 3 and a half months. But, there were simply no jobs available for him here and he needed to move away in order to find a job. He left on Saturday morning and has already started a new job. Woo hoo!
Teaching Crochet
Due to my schedule, I was unable to teach any classes in the September term on Crochetville. But, I DO have a live teaching gig in October. Yay! And, I hope to have a new schedule of classes ready for the November term at Crochetville. I just needed a short break.
In Closing
I believe that’s about it for now. I’ll be updating with more information as I receive it. Enjoy!
I’ve just downloaded the new internet browser offered by Google, called Chrome. It was a quick download and it started automatically.
So far, I love the looks of it. So very much cleaner looking than other internet browsers I’ve used.
I still need to confirm that it will do the tasks I have to do in Ravelry. That one is a bit touch-n-go with some browsers. Hopefully it will work because I really like the looks of this so far.
Did you notice the Featured Designer in the October 2009 issue of Crochet World magazine? I am so honored to have been chosen. Thank you to the editor, Michele Maks, and DRG Publishing for this opportunity!
This morning, I had to get up early to ensure that I caught the postman. Usually, when I get up, Christian is still sleeping.
This morning, though, he got up at the same time as me (with only about 6 hours of sleep) and, all sleepy-eyed, he said “I love you, Mommy”. Then, he said “We get up together” and he grabbed my hand to walk into the kitchen together.
The only thing is…when I came into the living room, expecting to see him sitting at his computer and playing, I saw him fast asleep in his chair.
As many of you know, I didn’t try Tunisian crochet for many years. When I was in my 20s or early 30s, I remember flipping through Crochet Fantasy magazine. I was one of those people who went straight for the more advanced projects and the magazine had numbers for experience level. I specifically remember seeing some really neat projects but I would flip to the instructions and immediately become disappointed because it required an afghan hook.
Now that I know just exactly how easy Tunisian crochet really is, I am frustrated that I didn’t try it back then. But, then again, if I had tried it, there’s a chance that I may never have advanced in Tunisian crochet as far as I have. Would I have been stunted if I had tried patterns back then? I guess it’s possible. It’s harder to think outside the box when you’ve already been exposed to a technique.
But, what it took for me to really design in Tunisian crochet was to teach myself to knit. Now, when I decided to start teaching myself to knit about 10 years’ ago, I had no idea of the affect it was going to have on my crochet. I just taught myself. Then, I tried Tunisian crochet. Once I got thoroughly immersed, I realized that there were so many things in knitting that can be applied to Tunisian. And, I think that my book that will be available soon from Annie’s Attic is a culmination of what I have learned so far in applying knitting techniques to Tunisian crochet. I think you’ll be surprised by some of the things that can be done, without learning to knit!
This weekend, though, I’ve taken on a role reversal and I’m applying techniques I learned in Tunisian crochet to my knitting!
A few years’ ago, I was working on Tunisian cabling.
Now, I’m working on a knit design with cabling. I never thought I’d be doing cabling because it was too fiddly. I tend to drop the cable needle or drop the stitches. Just too frustrating. Leaning on the techniques I learned in doing cables in Tunisian, I find myself knitting cables without a cable needle. Wow! So much easier!
In Other News
Here is little Christian with the first tomato (from his HUGE harvest of 3 teensy weensy tomatoes).
Have you ever stitched up a crochet garment pattern in cotton and you were disappointed after wearing it because it grew too much? The growth is a natural process with cotton and you really have to pay attention to not only the size/weight of the yarn but also its contents when you are choosing a fiber for the pattern you would like to make.
When I designed Evalise, for instance, the bodice was 40″ around and the armholes were only about 5.5″ high. This would never have fit Brianna. But, I had to design it this way because, once you immerse it in water and allow for the natural growth of the cotton, it decreased in width by 8″ and the armhole height increased by 2″.
As a designer, it’s my responsibility to ensure that this growth is taken into consideration when designing. It takes longer, but the results are so worth it.
On the other hand, if someone were to take the Evalise pattern and stitch it in a man-made fiber, they may find themselves with a garment that didn’t stretch in the same fashion and wouldn’t fit properly. Alterations would need to be made to the pattern when stitching in order to get the correct size and fit.
In the end, yarn substitution for crochet and knit patterns is more than just the size/weight of the yarn. Always take into consideration the fiber itself as well.
I must say that August was probably the longest month EVER. Most months are only eventful with the number of projects I get finished. It doesn’t make for a very exciting month!
August was filled with all kinds of excitement. The conference in Buffalo was a lot of fun. But, the aftermath was quite exciting as well. As it stands right now, I will be extremely busy with projects between now and the new year. VERY busy! And, it seems that I will be making quite a bang with my knit designs as well. It’s a lot of fun to be branching out in a new direction. I’d say that about 50% of the commissioned designs are knit. Fun fun!
With the amount of commissioned work on my schedule, the only way I’ll be able to get new designs available for Kimane Designs is if Brianna stitches them up. She started on one and it’s almost finished. I just need to do the trim, buttonband and pattern. Hopefully I’ll have enough time for that next week.
I currently have two projects going. One of them has been giving me troubles and I had to give it a time-out in order to clear my head. I took that time to work on something else. But, now I’m back to it. I’ve never met a project that was so incredibly easy to stitch yet almost impossible to design. The ratio is very dramatic and it’s never happened before to this extent. Very strange.
It seemed like everywhere I turned, it was impossible to get the shape I wanted and I found myself repeating it over and over. The last thing to do was the sleeves and I ended up having the same problems with them. However, after about the seventh try, I seamed one of them this afternoon and boom! Perfect!
No, I really don’t know why I do this to myself. Why do I come up with these designs that are going to be almost impossible to design? The answer is easy. I thrive on challenges. I need them. So, even if I have to do it seven times before getting it right, I still keep going. Going and going until I finally have it where I want it.
The last three or four designs coming out of my apartment and going to publishers have been really incredible, if I do say so myself. I can’t wait until they’re published so that I can share them with you. They’ve taken me longer to design because they have all been in natural fibers. Sometimes, I can’t exactly predict what is going to happen to a design when it’s done in natural fibers. So, there has been a lot of ripping out and re-starting. But, the end results have been pretty incredible. I believe that these designs will start popping up in November.
And, it’s back to the sleeve seaming for me! Have fun!
