Marie Grace Designs

Gone fish'in...

Recent discussion among some knitter-types on Facebook brought up the needle storage dilemma. Jovita mentioned she'd like to see my needle collection after I confessed to still using a fishing tackle bag to keep all my knitting stuff together. While I'm afraid she may be a little disappointed in my collection I'm happy to share. 

I've never been one to collect fancy needles and I gave up my straights a long time ago for circulars. Circulars are dual-purpose... you can use them as circulars for knitting in the round or you can use them as straights. So instead of having all different lengths and sizes of straights and circulars I just go all circular. Granted, I have a ridiculous number of circulars, but I have everything I need with just them and a few random DPNs. I also tend to use a long circular for small circumference knitting, like sleeves and mittens, and use the "magic loop" method so my need for DPNs is pretty minimal as well.

Just about every needle I own is Addi, either Turbo or Bamboo. I swear by them. I've never broken one and all the circular joins are perfect. I've just never bought into the fancy needle thing... I just want a good needle that will get the job done and still be in one piece after a million sweaters. Somebody should tell Skacel I love them. Really.

So my storage dilemma meant figuring out how to store a ton of circulars without them getting all tangled.

I found bag this while poking around Bass Pro one day years ago (and yes I do poke around fishing stores every now and then). As soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for knitting needle storage.

It came loaded with pockets that zip shut at the top. I simply wrote a needle size on each pocket with a sharpie. That's it. Organization done! I know it looks a little messy but its actually easy to deal with. I just coil the cable once or twice and slide them in the pocket. I do have to do a little searching if I'm looking for a particular length but more often than not I just need either a "shorter" one or a "longer" one and that's easy enough to see quickly and just pull out the one I need. The ones that are still in the package are specialty lengths like 60".

There's also little pockets behind the... well... pockets. Just perfect for bobbins, scissors, post-y notes, stitch markers, anything else you could possibly want to keep with your knitting supplies.

Its a double-sided bag and honestly, all my circular needles fit in the pockets in one side. The other side I use for my DPN roll and a few other odds and ends.

I made this simple DPN roll myself because I just wanted something simple. This is my entire DPN collection. Mostly Addis. One set of rosewood and one set of ebony which were gifts to myself with some of the money I earned teaching classes at a local yarn shop. Truth be told, I wouldn't bother with expensive needles like that again... I mean, they are really nice but they aren't any better for knitting than the Addis so why bother to spend the extra?

I've been using this same bag and these same needles for years. Its all still together and perfectly functional. If I'm heading out somewhere I just grab the bag. I know everything I need will be in there and safe and the bag is small enough to not be an inconvenience. Even loaded with all this stuff I can still fit a ziplock bag of yarn balls in there too.

So there ya go... the country girl's answer to knitting needle storage.

The best (not chicken) soup in the universe...

As if there isn't already enough to juggle around here I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been run over by a truck in the night. I guess I've finally succumbed to the kid-cootie-germs that have been bouncing around the house.

When someone is sick my first instinct is to make a giant pot of nice hot soup, typically chicken soup. The thing is... back in the summer when I started getting more serious about running I also finished making the switch to a vegetarian diet... so no chicken soup for me. But I feel awful and I really, really want hot soup with lots and lots (and lots) of garlic. Boo.

Now, I'm very happy with my decision to go vegetarian but I hate to miss out on things, especially good food, so recently I've been a little more adventurous with customizing what would normally be meat based recipes and tweaking them to fit my vegetarian diet. This seemed like a great opportunity for a little tweaking.

 I used the recipe for The Best Chicken Soup in the Universe from over at JMF and simply substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth and replaced the actual chicken with cannellini beans. There's even a vegetable version of the Better Than Bouillon. 

It turned out great! Super simple, satisfies my craving for hot garlic-y soup while I'm sick, and keeps me on the vegetarian wagon. 

Pattern debut...

I recently partnered up with good folks at Green Mountain Spinnery. I've been a fan of the yarns (and the good folks) there for years so I'm really excited to be working with them.

You can see some of my other designs using GMS yarns  here and here.

This weekend at Vogue Knitting Live GMS will be debuting a new pattern designed and knitted by me, and modeled by Bubba himself!

Its a quick to knit vest for the little ones in Capricorn GMS's bulky yarn. 

Hard copies of the pattern will be available at Vogue Knitting Live in the GMS booth and shortly thereafter as downloads on the GMS site.

Sizes

Children’s 2 (4, 6, 8, 10, 12) years.

Finished Measurements

Chest: 25.75 (28, 29.25, 31.5, 32.5, 34.75)"
Length: 12.5 (13.5, 14.5, 16.5, 17.5, 19)"

Yarn 

Green Mountain Spinnery
 Capricorn

35% Mohair / 65% Wool

3.5 ounces / 100 grams per skein

112 yards / 102 meters per skein

3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6) skeins.

Sample shown in color “Natural Dark”.

Needles

US #9 (5.5 mm) needles.

US #8 (5 mm) needles.

OR the size needle you need to obtain appropriate gauge.

Extras

Stitch holders, 5 buttons.

Skill level

Easy +

Skills Needed

Reading a simple chart, shaping within a texture pattern.

Gauge

14 sts / 21 rows = 4 inches over stockinette stitch with larger needle.

 

 

Nightlife...

So... this morning started out with a 2 hour snow delay. By the time I got my truck cleaned off, the driveway shoveled, the animals fed and the barn cleaned up it was time for the kids to catch the bus. Bubba stayed home with me for the day and I left him in his flannels until luchtime while I got some work done and he played nearby. The rest of the day was pretty much status quo... kids home from school, homework done, dinner made-eaten-cleaned up, slight evening chaos through baths and showers and a little TV... laundry put away and tomorrow's lunches packed... a toddler trantrum, a bedtime story, a snack... kisses all around and Tater reappearing twice before she settled into bed to stay.

Tomorrow morning once the kids are off to school and Bubba's dropped at daycare I'll go for an early run and then head into town to get the truck inspected and the oil changed. Small-town life makes it possible for me to walk to the library while my mechanic friend takes care of the truck business and he'll call me when its done. He's pretty cool because he says things like "I ain't do'in the paperwork now... stop one day next week and I'll have a bill then." Then it'll be work stuff and studying for a quiz and other various chores until its time to fetch everybody again and start the routine again.

Tonight I'm writing and knitting and thinking about how today went and the things I need to do tomorrow. As silly as it is to be up this late there's some sort of contemplative element that I can only find in these specific hours and I'm finding this to be a nightly occurance.

Its not really a negative insomnia sort of thing but more a nightly meeting with myself that can only take place once everything is quiet and really, truly done for the day. Quiet if you ignore the smoke detector in the basement that beeps occasionally because it needs a new battery. Quiet if you ignore the cat that's snoring on the sofa behind me (Toby). Quiet if you don't count the voice in my head that's already going over tomorrow's list of things to do which includes picking up some 9 volt batteries so that damn smoke detector can stop beeping late at night while I'm knitting and writing.

Gratuitous yarn shots...

Gawd I love Instagram but it has made me so lazy! I thought I'd dust off the Sony and admire my current project a bit. And a cat. Cuz what good is yarn without a cat, right?

A to B...

I have this thing I say to the kids when they're trying to deal with something difficult...

"Life isn't about getting from Point A to Point B.... its about all the stuff in between."

Trying to take my own words into consideration lately has been a little tough to say the least but really.... its true, isn't it? I mean, if it was all about just blazing the straightest trail possible to the end of whatever things may be a whole lot simpler but I'm thinking they'd be a whole lot more bland, too.

Or maybe this is just something I say to them, and to myself, in an effort to not lose my mind when bad shit happens. Either way... we're just rolling with it over here. So far, so good. 

And big thanks for all the good words here and in my email. Really. You guys have no idea how much it helps.

So now segue from that to crafting somehow.... if there's one thing that has been consistent for most of my life its been the crafting. Talk about your A to B. The past few years crafting has gone from a hobby to an obsession to a job but there's been a shift there, too. I used to find it difficult to put any real effort into projects if there was stress in my life or some big decision looming or whatever. For me, sewing and knitting were a celebration of good things in my life.... new babies, birthdays, sunny Sunday afternoons. Even when I started crafting as a job I would have a hard time focusing on specific designs if things here were off in some way which made for some interesting scrambles to meet deadlines from time to time.

I've talked to other crafters who say that its the stressful times that they most appreciate their craft... that having something to turn to and focus on was a relief. I never really understood that until recently.

Now, not only am I more than happy to bury myself in design work for as many hours as I can squeeze out of a day but I also have a pile.... a literal pile... of smocked panels I've been stitching my way through. 

All those little stitches, knit-wise and other-wise, have become so precious to me. Something to keep my mind and my hands busy. A way to support my family (in part). A method by which I continue to present the kids with little things made especially for them. Small things I can begin and finish and recognize as an accomplishment in what has become a slurry of unease at times.

After all these years... this far into my A to B... little stacks of fabric and perfectly twisted hanks of yarn still give me butterflies like nothing else can. They embody beauty, potential, productivity, a chance for a small success amongst whatever else may be going on.

And right now... I can leave all of them laying all over the place and there's nobody to say a damn word about it :)  

Here we go...

So... Its 2013. Every blog in blog-dom has already made resolutions and brave proclamations for the coming 12 months. Except this one. Which has set idle for much too long. So I suppose its my turn to fess up and get this show back on the road. Hold onto your hats.... this is gonna be a doozy.

I’m a little ashamed of myself for allowing this space to sit quiet for so long. I’d like to say I’m ashamed of myself for not keeping up with new projects and new tutorials to share and giveaways and crafty news but really thats not the reason at all. I’m ashamed of myself for keeping quiet when things here, at home, starting looking not-so-good. Its difficult to blog those pretty pictures and new projects when the life behind them is falling apart and instead of saying so I kept quiet.

There was a time when I blogged not just for the pretty pictures. I used to write about whatever I felt like writing about even if it had nothing to do with kids or crafting or being a mom and even if what I had to say pissed some people off. Somewhere along the line I got sucked into trying to keep up with those uber-perfect crafty-mom blogs and I quit writing what I wanted to write. I started wondering if the things I had to say might impact pattern sales or readership partly due to some dealings I had with publishers and agents... seems the first things they want to know are blog stats and what you’re doing to up your readership. 

Truth is... I’ve never been very good at that part of designing and blogging. All I now is that I like to make stuff and I pay Typepad a chunk of change every year so I can have this space to say whatever I want and the best times I’ve had here have been long before I was worried about my stats. And ya know what... that’s when I had the best stats, the highest readership, and the most unique visitors (whatever that means).

Over the past year or so I quit writing. I quit enjoying photography. I struggled to even finish the projects I started. And I sure didn’t feel like blogging about that and the reasons behind it.

But its a new year. And I am not into resolutions. But I’m not into sitting here quietly for another year either. So here’s the rundown in my very favorite not-grammatically-correct fashion...

- The Man moved out.

- Its just me and the kids and the critters here.

- The kids have started public school and Bubba is in daycare so I can work (that one really hurts).

- I’m going to try to support us with design work among other things (stop laughing).

- I’m starting classes next week. On top of designing deadlines (stop it).

- I have the best friends ever.

- I had to go back and rewrite this post twice to get all the swear words out of it.

So you see... not pretty. But since I’m one of the first people to complain about those uber-too-perfect blogs I guess I should put my mess where my blog is. 

Now, part of getting back to what I know and love means getting back into the design gig full swing and that’s already rolling. I’ll share more details about that when I can.

Oh, and the pictures up there? Right before Christmas. The kids and I made cookies all day. Best. Day. Ever.

2013... here we go.

 

 

Its flannel-ish season, apparently...

 So its flannel season. I know this because A) Its cold and B) everybody has been sick.

Its high time for some new warm pajamas here so let's get to it.

3 full sets of pajamas for Bubba...

Pants

Pattern: Oliver + S Sleepover Pajamas

Size: 3T

Fabric: Oliver + S, (Flannel-ish) Combed Cotton, From the Cape Ann collection.

Modifications: Decided against the cuffs, lengthened the legs to compensate, deep hem for letting down later as I'm sure he'll get taller before he gets much rounder.

Shirts

Pattern: Made by Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee

Size: 3T

Fabric: Craptastic cheap cotton knit from Joann's. Not my favorite, gets pilly, but it'll work for pajama shirts. I'm trying to use it up so I can get to the good stuff I ordered from Spoonflower with a clear conscience.

Modifications: None. Shocking, I know.  

Little Buffalo Arts Festival 2012

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally...

So today is the first day of school around here or at least that's what we're supposed to be doing. I mean we sort of are but.. after such a long silence here I decided to post this morning and broke the blog. Its fixed now. Obviously. But still. Wasn't really how I planned to begin a "productive" day.

So me being me and things being what they are I fixed the stuff I broke, rounded up the Littles, and headed for the lake. It had rained part of the morning but current weather radar showed a few hours in the clear so off we went until lunchtime.

The leaves are already changing and all the main trails are sprinkled with quite a few that have found their way to the ground already. The end of summer. The start of school. My worst-favorite time of the year to any of you who have hung around here long enough to know that September is tough. But hang around, there is mischeif afoot.

~ The fence still isn't done. F$%*&^# fence. 

~ I took up running. Quit laughing. I really did. And now I totally get that thing that runners say... how once you start running you feel this weird urge to run every day and you miss it if you don't. Totally. Get it. Three miles a day people. Every. Day.

~ I'm addicted to Instagram. I haven't even gotten the Sony out of its bag in weeks. Don't judge. You already know my name so you can find me there, if you want. 

~ The garden is pretty much empty except for a few of Tater's carrots, some huge kale, and the sweet potatoes.

~ I have a stack of, wait for it... Riley Blake fabric just waiting. For fall. Which it almost is so, yea.

~ Knitting? Don't even get me started. I was lucky enough to spend some time in Vermont this summer with the unbelievably awesome folks at Green Mountain Spinnery. That's all I'm say'in.

~ Rhinebeck is coming up soon. Ya'll go'in?