New Year, New Resolutions, New Me

For my followers, this post details why it has been a while since I have blogged.  I hope to continue this year about once a week.

So for the past couple of years,  the knitting and crochet business has slowed down, but orders have snowballed.  By that I mean that I haven't sold a great deal at craft shows, however, people have been keeping me busy with repairs, orders, and other things yarn related.  I am not sure when I have completed something for myself.  So I had to make some decisions, since I stopped taking requests/orders and have almost completed the items owed.  

1.  This year, 2015, is the year of knitting for me.  I may still make something for friends, but it will be my choice of pattern, yarn, skillset.  This way I can learn some things I want to learn and I don't feel obligated because I am on a deadline and getting paid.   I also get to knit some things for myself that I have been hoarding for several years. (And find time to blog about what I am making.)

2.  NO MORE ORDERS.  Knitting is not as much fun when you feel the pressure to complete something because you are getting paid to make a beautiful shawl, but in department store acrylic yarn.  (For those of you who are non knitters, to me it is like making a ball gown out of burlap.)

3.  I also needed to make time in the mornings for myself.  I wake up at least an hour before everyone else in my house.  With all the orders and repairs,  I had been using that hour to work on projects and fill orders.  Now that I am (almost) done, I hope to return to my routine of exercising to get back in shape.  It takes a lot less yarn to knit a medium size sweater, than a large or XL.  

All this being said I want to leave you with my crowning achievement this year.  It is called the Robin Hood Jacket and was my first seamed sweater.  I learned a great deal while making this sweater.  The biggest lesson was sometimes you have to rewrite the pattern to get each section pattern stitches from different pages.  A chart for this sweater would have been invaluable, since the patter was made up of cable sections which were on 2-3 different pages of the pattern.  All in all it was a great knit and I can't wait to make a grown up sized sweater.

Close up of cable details.

Back of sweater.

Front of sweater.

Teaching Gig, a hat, and a pig....and announcing a Knitting Retreat

So last weekend I went to Crafting Stop in Franklin, VA to talk to them about teaching knitting.  My wife and children went with me along with a laundry basket full of FO's (finished objects).  We discussed knitting and crochet for an hour and by the time I got home that evening I found out that they liked all my work and set up their first knitting class.  It will be held March 26, teaching How to knit, with a dishcloth as the project (scarves are easy but take longer than a 2 hour class can sustain).  Today I finished the model washcloth and will type out the pattern for the store this weekend.  I also found great knitting instructions that show an easy way to do the long tail cast on (I think it is one of the hardest parts to teach).   Things are looking up in my knitting world.  My first pattern to be published, the Reversible Men's Hat, Scarf, and fingerless Mitts Ensemble, will hopefully come out next month.  Design number two went out in the mail on Monday.  I don't want to jinx it but I am very proud and excited with the design. (The drawing was even good, and I am not an artist.)  There is another call for designs for Interweave Knits mid March, and I am buying yarn for that design this weekend when my wonderful wife, a good friend, and I go to Coordinated Colors Yarn Shop to take an Entrelac knitting class.

On to the hat.  My daughter loves Taylor Swift.  Over the Christmas holiday, she watched a special and saw a slouchy beret/tam/hat that Taylor loves to wear.  She said "Daddy will you make one for me?" and I of course could not say no.  So I set out to find a pattern and quickly found the pattern by another blogger on the web.  The hat was cabled and I went in search of yarn for it.  My daughter loves blue and picked electric blue Charisma yarn from Michael's.  This yarn is super soft and worked up great for the cables.  I will post a picture here later.  She loves the hat and wears it daily now, which is a good thing because I was the mad knitter Friday night trying to finish it.  When I finished it at 10:30 pm Friday, my hands were raw and sore.  The look on her face Saturday morning was worth the pain in my hands.  Thanks for loving my work, Eleanor.

And the pig...My son is 5 and still in preschool (Thanks NC for pushing back the Kindergarten entrance date so I have to pay for an additional year of daycare on my teacher's salary).  Last week he found a set of phonics readers we bought for my now 8 year old daughter and asked to be taught how to read.  I am very proud to say that he can pick out and sound out quite a few of the words.  He likes the short i story "Pig Jigs."  The pig jigs in a wig and the pig is big.  You get the idea.   I am very glad he has taken an interest in reading at such a young age.  Not sure what they will do with him in Kindergarten next year if he comes in reading, already knowing his colors, and recognizes numbers up to 20 (he can count much higher than that).  Maybe I should start a knitting commune and home school my kids.  Just a thought.

Finally...Announcing the first (annual) Keeping You in Stitches Knitting Retreat.  It will be held in Beautiful Downtown Murfreesboro, NC.  The Barnes House Bed & Breakfast will be the venue for our Retreat hosted by Heather Boyd, my wife and avid crocheter/knitter, Claudia Morris, owner of Southern Purls in Ahoskie, NC, and myself, Rusty Boyd aka Small Town Knit Guy and published knitting designer.  There will be classes in Magic Loop, Felting, Broomstick Lace, and a sock done toe up/magic loop.  We will take a field trip to Three Hawk Alpacas, have several Sit & Stitch sessions to share and talk, and prizes donated by several LYS's.  If you are interested in more info or registration details email me at smalltownknitguy@gmail.com.

Well I have rambled on now for quite a while tonight.  Hope you enjoyed reading.   Pics of finished objects coming soon. 

Fiber Beat, Hat, and Bazaar

Here I am blogging again.  As I write this I am waiting for my wife to finish a workshop so I can go home but wanted to share all that is going on this week.  Today on my lunch break I had the chance to listen to Fiber Beat, episode 12.  This episode contains an interview with Kathy Hattori who led the indigo dyeing workshop I attended in Seattle.  I learned even more about dyeing than on the day I participated.  The episode also contains an interview of yours truly, Rusty Boyd , the Small Town Knit Guy.  It chronicles the winning of the XRX, inc. scholarship and knitting facts about me.  If you are interested go to Itunes, podcasts, and search for Fiber Beat.  It is episode 12 which has these interviews.

As I listened today, I remembered that I took my birthday yarn and a hat pattern to Seattle with me.  While, I was there, I completed what is my favorite hat.  The yarn is a bulky wool and mohair blend.  The colorway is Tropical Punch.  The pattern I used is from Pie Knits (free download) called Subtle Cables.  My daughter is modeling the hat for me in the pic.  I call mine Sunburst.  The yarn was from a local farm in Tidewater Virginia, hand spun and hand dyed,  and I loved it the minute I picked it up out of the bargain basket.  I have since purchased two more hanks of similar yarn from the same yarn shop, Knit Wits of Virginia Beach.  I already have a pattern picked out to work them up after I finish the pattern publishing work.  They are a lovely deep wine color and I will enjoy working with the yarn.

This Thursday I am doing my first Bazaar.  My wife has more in the show than I, due to my recent publishing work.  I just want to see what people will say about my work and if they will buy it.  In the area which I live there are not many who appreciate the work that goes into a hand crafted item.  The Bazaar is only a 2 hour event in the middle of the day so I won't have a lot of time invested.  If things sell well, I will have something to look forward to next year and will be able to keep a stock of items made up for such occasions.  I have 3 scarf commissions through my work that I will begin in December.  I will also take orders if necessary to make up some items (after Christmas).  Well that is all for now.  I will let you all know how the Bazaar goes and hope that I will be able to post some pics of the Design and publishing work if Skacel says it is a go.  The said I could post to Ravelry but I would love to post here and on Facebook too.  Wish me luck.

Seattle-Day 2- More Knitting

Me-Knitting my hat

the needle room

Orange yarn, my favorite

the doors to yarn heaven--Skacel

So, I think that I forgot to tell you that on Wednesday when I left, I was so very worried about my knitting needles getting through security.  Well my knee replacement set off the sensor and they ran all my stuff through the machine twice I think while I was getting the pat down.  Knitting and needles made it through safely.  On to day 2.   Breakfast was French Toast, bagels, bacon, sausage, cereal, and the list goes on.  My first class that morning was Photographing your Fiber with the very knowledgeable Franklin Habit (whom I have been waiting to meet since I saw his picture in an Addi Turbo needle ad).  I learned a great deal from him and was able to take some of the best pictures ever after his class.  Immediately following his class I took Nigel's sock class.  He taught us the yarnover increase, which I need to practice because I ended up with some holes.  I think I will be able to figure it out and use it on some socks in the future.  We had a quick lunch then were off to "Yarn and Needle Heaven," the Skacel office and warehouse.  We took a tour of the facility, warehouse, offices, needle room, and were able to see samples of yarns knitted and crocheted.  It was fantastic.  I think we scared the UPS delivery guy, he just had a look on his face like, "do you need me to call someone for help?"  They assured him it was alright and we went into the warehouse to shop.  Yarn bags were flying everywhere.  Several people shared bags.  I could have bought more yarn, but opted for the ultimate Addi Turbo Click interchangeable needle set.  We then went back to Dumas Bay and had dinner before a wonderful party.  Karin Skacel invited us over to her house for dessert and drinks.  I had the most wonderful gourmet cupcakes and a "blueberry tea" which was warm and had liquor in it (must look up the recipe for that one).  We all had a great time at her beautiful house overlooking the water.  Then it was back to Dumas Bay for more knitting and sharing.  Two more days to come.