Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..

Did you ever purchase something, say something like a DVD player or television? Did you ever notice that same item on sale later, perhaps 5 months later? Do you write to the company and ask them to honor the discount because you paid full price almost half a year earlier? Just curious….

Do you get angry and demand a refund when you purchase a pattern leaflet from a company like say, Annie’s Attic, when you discover that they have cut the price in half and put the item up at a sale price 6 months later? Just curious….

Or, do you withhold your anger at such “atrocities” of offering sale prices only for the solely-owned, barely-making-it businesses, owned by single mothers who work 15-18 hours a day, 7 days a week?

I’m just curious.

March Online Classes

My online classes have been posted and are now available for registering.

	Learn to do a Dropstitch Ripple 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. This photo has been provided by a former student, Karen Drouin.
	Beginning Knitting There are times when a little knitting is desired and will make a crochet project look really sharp! The most obvious use of knitting would be ribbing. Knitted ribbing is perfect for so many crochet projects! And, why not add a nice rib around the neck? Perhaps a turtleneck? Learning a few handy knitting skills will help add just the right finishing touch to your crochet. Learn directly from a crocheter, in the style most popular for crocheters. Learning to knit doesn’t mean that you’ll need to hold your yarn any differently. You can learn in the Continental style and still be able to hold your yarn in your non-hook hand. Business as usual. See step-by-step how this is done. Learning directly from a crocheter makes it so much easier to learn. See what others have said about this class.
	Learn to do Tunisian Short Rows Self-striping yarn and Tunisian crochet join together for the perfect combination of color and texture in this Tunisian Short Row Scarf. I have designed this scarf to avoid the annoying curl so often associated with Tunisian crochet. It’s perfectly adaptable to any yarn. And, students are encouraged to try out the technique with a solid yarn of their choice in the class when learning. It’s not necessary to use self-striping yarn in the learning process. Once the technique is learned, you’ll have the pattern to begin working on this beautiful scarf in the yarn of your choice.

Exhaustion

I have been working like a fiend for so long now that I am not sure what to do with myself in the immediate time right after a project has been completed. LOL So, I’m blogging.

To say that I’m exhausted today is an understatement. In less than 3 days, I went through just over 3000 yards of worsted yarn to make an afghan. It was marathon crocheting at its best. I knew that I had a short deadline. But, I just couldn’t “bond” with the proposed stitch pattern. Time was ticking away and I was having problems designing it.

While working on other tasks, I was trying to design it in my head. The stitch pattern simply wasn’t cooperating. Finally, with just three days before I had to pop this afghan in the mail, it was do or die. I finally got something worked out. The afghan had to fly off the hook and I had a few 18-hour marathons. It’s sitting here, in a box, waiting to be picked up. I fully believe that it will still be smoking once it reaches its destination.

While I was waiting around for inspiration to hit, I was working on other things. One of them was quite time-consuming. I gave Kimane Designs a face lift. It has been many months since I’ve been able to get in there and work on the coding for the site. Not so funny was to discover that some things on the site hadn’t been linked to catalog pages. Apparently, I had been too busy to get to them at the time and had forgotten. But, everything appears to be running smoothly now. Lots of changes which I hope will make the site easier to navigate.

One thing I did this weekend is to purchase two new (extra) domain names. http://www.crochet-site.com and http://www.kimguzman.com I was reading an email about someone losing their domain name of their actual name. It would have cost them several thousands of dollars to purchase it from the domain name grabber. It occurred to me that I had never purchased my own name in a domain name. So, I snatched it up immediately. It’s quite the bargain to purchase domains for under $10 per year in order to save yourself the grief later. Crochet-site was just a fluke. It was available. I took it. LOL Right now, they are both redirecting to my Kimane Designs site unless and until I find a better use for them.

With all the marathon crocheting I’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks, I really need to take it easy for a bit. I can feel the tiredness in my neck and shoulders. My muscles ache and my hands are a little shaky. For today and possibly tomorrow, I think I’ll devote myself to paperwork and some long over-due de-stash cleaning. Things like going through Christian’s clothes to pull out things that no longer fit. Going through the closets, cupboards, etc. These things really need to be done after the last 6 months of working at a crazy pace almost non-stop. There is still a long list of designing to be done, but it’s really going to have to wait so that I can take a sanity break.

Shout Out Birthday Greetings

A shout-out to my mother:

Photo Op

Recently, in a Facebook conversation, Susan Huxley recommended that I use some sort of white board in order to get better photos when there isn’t a lot of light.  Considering that it’s not the best time of year for light, I thought I would give it a go today. It’s really cloudy outside….and cold.

I just happened to have this white board backing that was supposed to be used on a bookshelf. Christian broke the bookshelf because it really wasn’t very sturdy and Christian is VERY sturdy! Thankfully, I saved the pieces because this is what I came up with this morning on my coffee table.

And, here is the photo I got by standing on the couch. hahahahaha

And, it was really easy to cut out the image because of all this white.

Looks pretty good to me. What do you think?

Knit Picks Independent Designer Program

I have decided to place 4 of my self-published designs in the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program (IDP).

The first to be placed is Liana.

I gave a lot of thought about how I would do this. The patterns on my website have a base rate of $4.99 for garments. However, the patterns in the program are $1.99.

What this means is that Knit Picks is essentially purchasing my patterns at their wholesale rate then passing these savings on to you, without a mark-up. This isn’t unusual. If you will look through the books offered at Knit Picks, you can get them at a lower cost than other sites, even Amazon.

For the Knit Picks versions of the patterns, the pattern is for a similar version. Due to the substitution of yarns, it was necessary to make some changes to the patterns.

The patterns are substantially similar, but you’ll be getting them at a discount (if you choose to purchase through Knit Picks). Think of it as a group discount, like you would get for health insurance in a group.

The links to my original pricing will remain. Ravelers can still purchase patterns on Ravelry so that the pattern can go in their libraries. But, the price will still be $4.99 for those.

My purpose isn’t to offend anyone. I am making it very clear that similar versions of the patterns can be purchased on the Knit Picks site for a lower price.

This goes back to basic purchasing practices. When you purchase items elsewhere, you usually shop around for the best price for the item you want. Shopping for patterns and books is the same.

For those of you who have already purchased these patterns from me at $4.99, this would amount to the same thing as placing a sale price on my patterns. In the past, I have placed patterns on sale as well. I usually have my annual Easter sale, but with the program, it will be all year. I hope you won’t begrudge me that $3 extra. I appreciate all of your purchases and hope this will make more patterns available to you.

Now, why am I doing this?

I thought a lot about the exposure I may receive from such a huge audience. This Liana pattern in particular hasn’t received a tremendous amount of exposure because it’s my only knit pattern and I’m not very well known for my knit patterns. I need to find a venue where I can try to get more sales and I felt Knit Picks was perfect for it.

Second, many of you may know that Brianna is now graduated from high school and has moved out into her own place. I’m very happy for her! But, it left me without a model. Not wanting to have all my photographs on a mannequin, the option of having photos taken by Knit Picks was very appealing.

There are three more designs coming soon. I’ll post them here as well. I just wanted to be very clear about my intentions and hope to answer any questions you may have.

New Design: Andante Throw

I am honored to have been in the new Caron Connections newsletter this week. The Andante Throw made from NaturallyCaron Spa, a beautiful bamboo blend, has now been published and is available on the NaturallyCaron website. Enjoy!

Clarification: Empire Swing Jacket

As you know, the Empire Swing Jacket is available in the Web Bonuses for the March 2010 issue of Crochet! magazine.

The stitch gauge for this pattern is closer to 14 stitches per 4 inches. Note that this is the actual gauge of the stitch pattern. You’ll need to get past a few rows before you achieve this gauge, however.

The first row of this pattern is wider than the remainder. As you move up, the gauge will reduce in width.

This is what caused the controversy for the tech editor when the initial schematics were drawn and overall gauge was revised. The lower hem is the part that has approximately 13.5 stitches per 4 inches. But, it changes once you are a few inches into the project.

You may think that 1/2-inch difference isn’t that much. But, if you have a 1/2-inch stitch difference every 4 inches and you have 135 stitches, that’s a difference of a little more than 4 inches in overall width, which would actually mean the difference of two sizes!

It’s taken me several months to figure out why my calculations and that of the publisher were so different. It was only until I tried using the stitch pattern for another design that it occurred to me what had happened.

Because of the misunderstanding of how this gauge is determined, the initial schematic was drawn incorrectly. Below is a correct schematic. (Just click on it to get the larger version.)

Never Say Never

That’s right. Never say never. I am currently stitching up a new design. And, it’s in Tunisian crochet. I’ve designed many things in Tunisian crochet. And, I have NEVER designed anything using the Tunisian Purl Stitch, as being defined as the stitch where you hold your yarn to the front and work in a side-to-side motion in the front vertical bar. I’ve always preferred the look of the Tunisian Reverse Stitch, which is the side-to-side motion through the back vertical bar. But, wouldn’t you know it? This design just screamed for a Tunisian Purl and so that’s what it’s getting.

I guess this means that I will need to add the Tunisian Purl to my list of videos I’d like to get finished. Unfortunately, I had to take down my video set-up since I needed to bring out the swift and ball winder. There’s only so much space here. But, I’ll be making some videos later. There are still several I’d like to get finished.

Learn to Do Tunisian Lace Stitches

I’ve been asked about this book and I probably haven’t given enough details in the past. But, it’s such a cool book that I’d really like to tell you some more about it.

You can see more photos from this book at Annie’s Attic or on Ravelry. On Ravelry, you’ll see only the finished projects, but there are also 10 stitch patterns (which aren’t shown on Ravelry).

This book includes 10 stitch patterns and 11 projects. You can make the projects I’ve made, or you can create your own one-of-a-kind project using the stitch patterns.

Unlike my other books, this one includes a DVD. The DVD is just like any other DVD movie. You can play it in your DVD player, or on your computer. It includes a menu of the stitches and stitch patterns so you don’t have to watch the entirety of it in one sitting. You can focus only on the parts that interest you at the time.

In addition to the actual stitches being shown on the DVD, you will have the benefit of being able to view each individual stitch pattern right there on the screen. Since there were no limits to the length of the DVD, I didn’t need to show you only portions of a stitch pattern. I was able to stitch them in full. Imagine a one-on-one class with me right in your living room! That’s how the DVD is set up.

The book also covers some interesting techniques including making Tunisian short rows, making Tunisian drop stitches, using a provisional cast-on (like in knitting) and increasing/decreasing.

It’s really the most fascinating book I’ve ever done and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning Tunisian crochet. It will help you master Tunisian crochet and will be your go-to resource for ANY of my prior or future Tunisian crochet books.

Luna Sweater

This sweater has really gained in popularity since its release in the Winter issue of Interweave Crochet.

There is even a crochet-along for it on Ravelry! So, if you’re interested in making the sweater, be sure to check out the crochet-along and also my Ravelry Group for assistance, help, or just browsing the projects made in the crochet-along. And, don’t forget that I’ve made two video tutorials to help on my YouTube channel.

Last week, Toni Rexroat posted a new blog entry about the Luna Sweater on CrochetMe. I really did get a bit teary-eyed upon reading it. Thank you, Toni!

Now, it’s back to work for me. I need to get this project out of the way so that I can start working on my taxes this weekend! Yikes!

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New Design: Shell Shell

You have to really appreciate the pun in that name, right? A garment made of crocheted shells, and it’s a garment called a shell. Very clever. I didn’t come up with it. Just sayin’.

This design is made in Rayon Petalspun in a gorgeous hot pink color. I made the size medium here, and used less than 1000 yards. You can find this design in the April 2010 issue of Crochet World magazine.

4/13/2011 ETA: I recently noticed that this design is available as a free download here.