Marie Grace Designs

Dots and threads...

Lately... I've been spending time in the early hours before anybody else gets up ironing dots and pulling threads... pleating with no pleater and planning with no pattern. 

Here's to quiet, productive mornings and pretty smocked dresses.

Obligatory Maryland Sheep and Wool post...

So I managed to haul 2 friends and 2 kids to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend. The weather was lovely, the fries were yummy, and a great time was had by all.

I'm totally relying on MS&W action shots taken by The Llama Lady because I didn't even take my camera out once the entire day. Weird, huh?

Bubba's perch...

Tater chowing some cheeeeeeese fries!

The highlight of my day was getting to meet up with Amy and Susie and some of the JMF cyber crew... 

I picked up a few things the kids wanted. The girls wanted some more fiber for needle felting so Tater picked out some colorful stuff and we stopped by The Mannings in the Main building to get some spindles for the Fiber Arts classes at 4H this summer. 

Note to self... kids need spindle bags.

You'd think I'd have come home with some crazy amount of yarn but truth be told this is all I brought home yarn-wise...

I'm not really sure what that says about me but I'll tell ya I've got lots of Green Mountain Spinnery stuff here already and yet all day the only thing I really wanted was more. So at the end of the day that's where I went to load up. GMS yarns have been one of my very favorites for a long time. I normally just order from them online but standing in that booth with all their yarns right in front of me is a dream come true and yarny-overload all at the same time. I sort of talk to myself as I pick up and put down every other hank of everything and then just stand there all dazed trying to decide what to keep.

Its just a no-brainer really... an awesome company with a range of perfect fibers for anything you could possibly want to knit and all in beautiful colors. And Maureen. I love Maureen.

 

 

Knitcircus Giveaway winners...

Time to pick some winners!

I'll be using my favorite winner choosing method as always.... Tater and hat full of names on little pieces of paper!

Don't mind the fact that she's still in her jammies and has cocoa on her shirt... she's still an awesome winner picker.

First up is a winner for a full years subscription to Knitcircus...

The next 3 winners will each receive a complete pattern collection for the Summer 2011 issue. The final of these 3 winners will also receive the yarn prize... enough Blue Sky Alpaca Skinny Dyed to knit one of my designs from the issue...

Pattern collection 1...

Pattern collection 2...

and Pattern collection 3 plus yarn...

Congradulations to the winners!

I'll be in touch with you all sometime today.

And yes, that curly font still entertains me to no end.

Happy knitting!

Knitcircus Giveaway Monday...

As promised... its Knitcircus Giveaway Day!

This issue is loaded with beautiful summer knitting and lots of other goodies like interviews and reviews.

So here's what's up for grabs...

- 1 winner will receive 1 full years subscription to Knitcircus, that's 5 issues.

-3 winners will each receive 1 full pattern collection, that's all 21 patterns, from the 2011 Summer issue

Here's how its gonna work...

-If you want to be entered to win any of the above you need to leave me a comment on this post telling me what pattern(s) in the summer issue have you all excited about summer knitting. You also must leave contact information so I can get in touch with you if you win.

But there's more!

To celebrate my favorite knitting... knitting for kids... and my 2 adorable designs in the summer issue I'm gonna foot the bill for some yarn for 1 lucky winner who wants to knit for a kid!

Winner will receive 1 of the above pattern collections AND enough Blue Sky Alpaca Skinny Dyed Cotton to whip up one of my kids' designs from the summer issue. To be entered to win you just need to mention in your comment which of my kids patterns you'd like to knit, The Girly Gansey or The Hooded Gansey Vest, AND what color Skinny Dyed you'd like to knit it with! 

Sign-ups are open until midnight EST Tuesday May 10. I'll use some really sophisticated method of choosing random winners and post those winners on Wednesday.

Good luck!

 

In 24 hours...

We'll be in Maryland for the Sheep and Wool festival. Can you tell he's excited?

Well he might not be all that excited but I am and so is Tater. Her and Bubba are both tagging along for the day.

Tater's a pro at the whole MS&W thing. A real veteran. She's got a backpack ready to go, a few stuffed sheep friends, and a note on the counter reminding me to pack granola bars.

We'll be wandering around fondling yarn, slurping down root beer, and munching on those potato ribbon thingers.

Bubba will be sporting his new hat... its the Bucket Hat from the "Oliver and S" book Little Things to Sew. I love that book. I love this hat. I need to make a million more.

This one is a size X-small. Fabric is some cotton from my stash and though you can't really see it very well there's sheep on there. Little bitty sheep.

The only thing I did differently than the pattern, and this won't make any sense unless you've read the pattern, is to make basically 2 complete hats, one of main fabric and one of lining fabric, and sew the 2 together around the brim. This means no hand stitching on the outside and I really like the clean finish. Plus its technically reversible.

Keep on the lookout for a chubby little guy in a sheep hat and we'll see ya in Maryland!

And don't forget that on Monday I'll be posting details about how you can score some hot Knitcircus stuff!

Knitcircus... live!

Grab your coffee and head over to Knitcircus where you can leisurely leaf through the Sumer 2011 issue.

Check out my Hooded Gansey Vest for the little guys and the Girly Gansey for the wee girls. 

There's lots of other awesome stuff as well including patterns, interviews, reviews, and from what I've heard a video or 2.

Don't forget to stop back here for your chance to score one of 3 Summer 2011 pattern collections or a full year's subscription to Knitcircus magazine. As a bonus one lucky winner will even be gifted enough Blue Sky Alpaca Skinny Dyed Cotton to complete one of my designs from the magazine!

Details for giveaway will be revealed on Monday May 9, 2011.

Ya know, I'm really excited to be getting back to some design work after taking some down time with the new baby. Things have been hectic in a good way and its a daily challenge to fit in some work time with all the baby and kid time and school time and all the rest. A welcome challenge, indeed.

A big thanks to the lovely folks at Knitcircus for including my designs in this issue!

Quick...

Before I get overpowered by a bunch of baby drool and little kids with glue and scissors here's a tasty morsel for ya...

We're just 2 days away from the May 4th release of Knitcircus Summer 2011!

 

Here's a little shameless self-promotion. I've got 2 ridiculously cute designs in the issue. 

To celebrate my return to the land of the living designing since Bubba entered the world I'll be giving away a few Summer 2011 pattern collections. One lucky winner will even be gifted with enough Blue Sky Alpaca Skinny Dyed cotton to make their choice of my designs in the issue. I'll even let ya pick the color.

Details soon!