Fibrations 2012

Fibrations 2012 was held on Sunday. It happened to be my very first event as a vendor. I've been quietly prepping for it for months now not really knowing what to expect but wanting to be well prepared. I thought I had far too much stock and even brought my knitting thinking I would be bidding my time between passers by...

Boy did I ever underestimate the traffic that my booth would receive and the overwhelming response to my patterns. I ran the booth by myself and literally went non-stop from start to finish, I didn't even have enough down time to scan my surroundings let alone walk the grounds to check out the other vendors. I ran out of business cards, sold out of many designs, and was cleaned out of my free pattern handouts only hours into the event. It was overwhelming and at the same time so completely wonderful. I met so many kind and enthusiastic knitters, I was able to enjoy people trying on my samples, I had endless talks about fit and how to choose your size when embarking on a garment project. It was everything I am so passionate about and I was in heaven.

 Thank you Shannon for spending endless nights chatting about booth ideas with me and for snapping some photos of my booth!!! Nook for using precious cargo space to make sure I had a table at the event, Amy for jumping in to allow me 5 minutes to eat my Quinoa Salad!!! Knotty by Nature and volunteers for organizing an amazing, inclusive, fun-tastic event. Thank you to the number of LYSes and event coordinators who stopped by the booth, your positive response to my work is hugely encouraging. And last but not least, an enormous and heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who stopped by the booth to say hello, purchase a pattern, try on a sample, or simply chat about knitting. I left the orchard on cloud nine because of your overwhelming support and am doubly revved up for Knit City in October! 

Canadian Living // Duly Noted

August has been an absolute blur. It's been so jam packed full of fun, all of which I've been wanting to post about but haven't had a moment to do so. 

Hands down the most exciting moment this month was seeing my name in print in the September issue of Canadian Living. I was over the moon when Austen wanted to host a Classic Raglan Pullover Knit Along but when she asked me if I could provide a quote for an upcoming issue of the magazine I nearly fell off my chair! ...and the topic of conversation was right up my alley...

Where do you jot your notes?

Just like my works-in-progress I also have a bit of a system when it comes to my note taking, are you surprised? I'm a little methodical about my where I jot my notes. 

Sketches for new designs are done in a custom notebook made by a dear friend who works at a print shop.  This spiral bound notebook is filled with heavy cardstock and it's the perfect size to carry in a purse without being too tiny to be useful. Of course I had to tag the cover with a yarn ball. 

I also have a zillion Clairfontaine notebooks in all shapes and sizes, they are my mothers go-to gift for me. Most of them are filled with pencil drawings I've done over the years. 

But the workhorse of my notebook arsenal is my trusty clipboard. It's old and beat up and to be honest I can't even remember how I acquired it. I load it with scrap paper and use it for everything, note taking, quick sketches, crunching numbers and pattern drafting. All of my pattern sizing and calculating happens in Excel but every once and a while I'll take my clip board, calculator, pencil and eraser and just sit in a comfy spot with my numbers and a cup of strong coffee. ...sigh, I love math. 

So, where do you jot your notes?

Spud & Chloë for Vogue Knitting | Rosie

After putting together the Dogwood Set for Spud & Chloë, Katie asked me if I could design a little something for a collaboration with Vogue Knitting. I was given the Fine to work with and I suppose it was the silk content or the summer weather that inspired me to design something sweet and feminine. 

- Rosie -

I often wear a vintage bandana tied in the front when I'm at home or in the garden, it makes me feel like Rosie the Riveter. Originally I had picked up a skein of Red Hot to swatch with, trying to recreate the look with an open stitch pattern and fun little ties to imitate the ends of the knotted bandana. My second sample was knit in the vibrant Goldfish colourway, I think it brings a modern fresh feel to the classic style I was inspired by.

Rosie is a perfect summer knitting project, it's very portable and super fast. Find this pattern and two other freebies from Spud & Chloë over on Vogue Knitting's website. For more on this fun collaboration hop on over to Spud & Chloë's blog!

Happy Knitting!