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.

My Mountain Hat Contest

So about a month ago I noticed on Facebook that there was a contest for hats.  I love to knit hats.  So I asked for the yarn to be sent and this is what evolved.  The idea is to knit a hat which will convey an idea about "Your Mountain" (something you have to overcome in life).  Each hat has some meaning for me.  I will tell you about each one.

This is the Spiral Cap.  It reminds me of the times when I am running from Soccer to Volleyball to work to church to...

(you get the idea).  To recenter myself and stop the spiral I just look at that cute face under the cap (my son Avery is 

modeling).

Next up is the Slalom Cap.  The cable pattern of this hat symbolizes when I am dodging all that life is trying to throw at me at one time.  Fortunately I have a loving an supportive family to help get to the bottom of the slope.  My very crafty daughter, Eleanor is modelling.

This is the Super Stripey Slouch.  It reminds me

of those days when you just need to be lazy.  I love a rainy, slouchy day when all I want to do is knit and get caught up on projects.

Finally we have the Life's Ups, Downs, and Rounds Hat.  Just like my unconventional life, I constructed this hat in an unconventional way.  The secret will be given away in the pattern (it is quite easy).  It is my favorite of the 4 hats and I will enjoy wearing it this winter.

All the patterns for the hats will be coming soon.   Wish me luck in the contest!  

Men Who Knit on Dr. Oz

So a couple of weeks ago after a long, not so great day at work, I came home to an odd message on my answering machine.  The long and short of the message was that the Dr. Oz show was doing a segment on Men Who Knit and they wanted to use some of my photos and information.  I spent the evening emailing pictures and talking back and forth with Hali in NY, one of the shows producers.  I sent her pics of the Southeast Men's Knitting Retreat, finished projects, and contacted a few friends to send pics as well.  (The segment was taping on Friday and this was late Wednesday evening, so I could not get in touch with as many friends as I wanted.)

So today I get an email from Hali and the segment will air on Wednesday, October 3rd.  Set your DVR and call your friends to see about the health benefits of knitting and to see a bunch of men who love to knit.  Hope this gets the knitting world and the male knitters a lot of positive press!

Going Back in Time...

So I see that my last post was 3 months ago and I need to tell you that Heather and I have done quite a few things since then.  I will begin with the wonderful Soxperience on Chincoteague Island.  We spent a wonderful camping weekend on the island and had a great time learning new sock techniques with Wendy Johnson.

I have often avoided socks due to the complexity of the heel, picking up stitches, and holes that always seem to show up at the joins.  Well I can safely say now that I will be making more socks, am working on a pair currently (pics coming soon), and designed a pattern at the retreat (pattern coming soon).  Thanks to Wendy for a wonderful weekend and thanks to Caroline, Dan, and Melissa with Carodan Farm Wool Shop for hosting Soxperience.

While on the island the kids enjoyed lots of fun days with Heather's mom and dad.  They earned their Ranger Badges, held whale bones, and got to see the cowboys round up ponies for vet checks: 

Wendy also indulged my "fan-ness" by allowing Eleanor to have her picture taken with her.  

The hotel on the island had no recycling (which we thought was unusual).  Wendy asked us to take her bottles home to recycle (we were collecting to take home with us as we discussed the islands commitment to renewal and clean living).  Here are the bottles:

I wonder if there are any Wendy groupies who would buy these on ebay?

Trying to boost my popularity.....

So a couple of sites that promote my free patterns are having a contest.  All I have to do is post links to their site and they will promote my blog and site.  So I am posting here and at my business site:

www.stitchingforewe.com

I am also adding these sites to the favorites at the side because they truly are great sites to find patterns.

The first is:

They have featured several of my patterns and there are quite a few great patterns organized by type for you there.

The next site is:

For those of you who don't knit, this site has plenty of other crafts for you to enjoy.

So if you are crafty, check out one or both of these sites.  I'm sure you'll find something that you will enjoy!



Way too long....

I know you are probably wondering where has Small Town Knit Guy been? 

Why have his blog posts been so few and far between? 

I am going to try to answer these questions and elaborate on the past 5 months over the next few blog posts.  To start with here is a question for you:

Have you seen one of these?

Or one of these?

If you knit or crochet chances are you probably have.  I have been "tangled up" in the latest scarf craze.  On November 17, 2011, my wife and I took all our knit and crochet "wares" to the annual Bazaar at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ahoskie, NC.
Since then we have had non-stop orders for scarves, baby buntings, baby sweaters, and more.  Our "on the side" business has made us enough money to attend a weekend Knitting Retreat and purchase the kind of yarn with which we like to knit things for ourselves.  We have also started our own website:
Stitching for Ewe .  We have been teaching regularly and I have not designed anything in months. (I still have several ideas in my head, I just have to get them down on paper.)  There have also been several other things going on. 

In November I coordinated the first ever South East Men's Knitting Retreat.  I plan to write about those three wonderful days over the next week to let you all know what a wonderful time we had and to share pictures.

So between knitting orders for people, teaching, knitting very little for myself, and working my full time job, I almost forgot about this blog.  I hope this will help me get back to my blogging.

Next week is Easter/Spring Break for those of us who chose to be teachers.  I am hoping to get in a lot of knitting, blogging, and designing while I am resting and taking a week off.  If you get some time off, I hope you enjoy it immensely and check out our new website above. 

I'll return soon with an entry about the SEMKR (South East Men's Knitting Retreat).


Take some time to knit today.

All shook up, first day, and Irene

So yesterday I experienced an earthquake for the first time in my life. It was only 15 seconds but a scary 15 seconds. There was no damage in my area, but some of my friends in the Fredericksberg, VA area had minor damage (Knicks knacks & pictures). There was enough damage to close some schools in that area on opening day.

So tomorrow is the first day of school for us in NC. I am returning to teaching Language Arts and Social Studies after spending 3 years teaching Saxon Math. Our school is also implementing the new common core standards which seems to be a nationwide movement. I have a lot of work to do over the next few weeks which means less knitting time. :(

Finally, after the stress of getting my classroom set up, returning to teaching a subject I haven't taught in a few years, and a minor earthquake, we are also preparing for a hurricane.
Irene is scheduled to make landfall late Friday-early Saturday. School systems are already closing on the Carolina Coast. Wow! I think I am ready for Labor Day/long weekend and the kids are not back yet.

While we wait out the storm this weekend, I will post some pics of my latest knitting. (Lord willing, the creek don't rise, and the power stays on.) I finished my first Westknits pattern, a cowl, and a few more objects of late. Check back soon!

Free Pattern as Promised

As promised I have posted the pattern for the Fuzzy Braided Cable Scarf.

I am going to update it soon to include a cowl version in gray.  I got the yarn on Friday to complete this.  I also have added a new link box to the side which includes my first two patterns for sale on Ravelry.  The first is a pattern I wrote about in January, the Clydesdale Cowl.  I have included a picture of the finished project below.

It is a quick and easy knit and very dramatic worn with white as shown or a black coat.  It is also large enough to wear loose around the neck with a little drape.

The next pattern for sale is a Stole I created for a friends retirement.  She is hopefully going to get it today.  It is called the Walk on the Beach Stole.  It is also a quick and easy knit and makes great use of thick and thin yarn.

I hope you enjoy all my patterns.  I also have two being published this winter.  Love Of Knitting magazine will be publishing a men's winter set in their winter issue.  Their first issue of 2012 will feature a belt I created for spring inspired by the "distressed look" of things we consumers seem to be buying lately.    Well more about my summer adventures coming soon.  Thanks for reading.

Where Have I Been?

You may be asking yourself that question since it has almost been 2 months since my last post.  The picture on the left will answer part of that question.  This is our new "home away from home."  It is not our first.  We upgraded from a hybrid (part travel trailer-part fold out/pop up) to this 31 foot travel trailer.  It takes less than half the time to set up as our old camper and is very nice.  It has a slide out on the other side that contains the kitchen and sofa (not huge but adds a great deal of room).  The nice thing is that I don't have to climb over the dinette to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  We have taken it out on 2 trips and are planning a 3rd soon.

A few months ago (March to be exact) I taught my first "learn to knit class" at the Crafting Stop in Franklin, VA.  With the warm weather there has been a lull in knitting so I haven't had any more "gigs."  Last week I got an email requesting my teaching services again at the Crafting Stop.  In just one evening I created, wrote the pattern, and knit the scarf you see on the left.  I call it the "Fuzzy, Braided Cable Scarf"  and the pattern will be available soon.  Check the blog again soon for the pattern.  I will be teaching how to knit cables using this pattern.  The yarn, Lion Brand Quick & Cozy, is awesome for this type of pattern.  It is soft, fluffy, and works up so quickly you will be done before you know it.  On another note, the valet you see the scarf wrapped around is a new purchase for my photos and display.  My wife found it at Goodwill for $7.50, a steal I think.  This is the first time I have used it and it seems to work very well.

To the left you see a stole I have been meaning to block for almost 2 months.  It is a retirement gift for a friend and she will hopefully get it Tuesday.  It is modeled after the "Scribble" shawl from Mason Dixon Knitting.  I hate the idea of  changing yarn every 2 - 4 rows so I created my version.  The yarn is "Tides" from Universal (discontinued I think), but any thick and thin yarn would do for this shawl/stole.  The pattern for this will also be coming soon.  Please look for it on Ravelry.   It is to be named "Evening Walk on the Beach Stole."  It will be an inexpensive pattern and the drape is wonderful.


I have more to share, but will save for another day this week.  Enjoy!

Published Finally!

To have closure is a wonderful thing!  Late Thursday evening I received word that the Simplicity Volume 3 Men's pattern book was back from the publisher.  Skacel emailed each of the designers who had patterns published in the book.  They also attached a copy of the cover (I wish I could post that but cannot) and my pieces made the cover!  I was so excited I cried.  My first design made the cover of a book!  I have been awaiting word so I could post my pics of the pieces.  So here they are.  The set is completely reversible with a Wavy Rib on one side and a basket weave on the reverse side.  I will include pics to show each side.  You can check with your LYS to order the book and the yarn.  There are also some great colorwork patterns and a couple of great sweaters by my friends Frank Wilmott and Kurt Fausset, both of whom I met at the Men's Fall Knitting Retreat in Seattle last September.   So enough with the chit/chat, bring on the pics!

Wavy Rib side of mitts

palm side of wavy rib

Wavy Rib Side of Scarf

Wavy Rib side of Beanie

Top of wavy rib side of beanie

Basketweave side of beanie

Basketweave side of mitts

palm side of basketweave

Basketweave side of scarf

Basket weave side of beanie

Top of Basketweave beanie

 All of the pics are pre-blocking. I just did not want to try this after blocking.  I can't wait to get the book.  It should delivered this week.  I will get my wife to take a pic of me holding the book so you can see the cover next week.  Enjoy the pics!

Men's South East Knitting Retreat

After several months of hard work I have finally organized my planning and have recruited several men to join me in the first ever Men's South East Knitting Retreat.  I have included a poster below with all the details.        

South East Men's Knitting Retreat

Please feel free to print and share with your LYS.  I have lots of FOs that I will try to take pictures of this weekend to show off.  I am very proud of these items.

On the needles right now I have, a stole for a friend, a design that has to be finished and in the mail by Friday, the Miley Tee (for my daughter), and numerous other items that I hope to finish soon.  School finishes for teachers (me) on Tuesday, June 14th.  I am very excited to get some knitting done.  

I am also hosting a World Wide Knit in Public Day on June 18th at the Hertford/Northampton Farmer's Market.  It is located just outside of Murfreesboro on HWY 158.  I hope to have lots of knitters and crocheters to participate.  

Finally I am going to rant a little.  A certain magazine I submitted a design to has not contacted me.  I sent the design in several months ago (March 15 to be exact) and still have not heard from them.  I would love for them to accept the design, but if not just let me know.  The pattern is already written and I could sell it on Ravelry.  Maybe I will hear back from it soon.  I keep hoping that because I have not heard from them it is good news and they want to use the design in something.  I will keep holding out hope that they are going to accept the design.  You keep hoping for me too! 

More to come this weekend!

Keeping You in Stitches Retreat

Practicing Magic Loop knitting

Well folks, like my fellow blogger WillyG, I am a bad blogger.  It has been quite a while since my last blog and I have been quite busy with gift projects, a retreat, and a design to be published.  This entry will be about the retreat.  On April 29th and 30th we held the first annual (hopefully) Keeping You in Stitches Retreat.  To say it was a blast would be an understatement.  To prepare for it I have been emailing and writing to some of my Knitting Contacts for several months to get ready.  Claudia Morris of Southern Purls in Ahoskie, was our yarn and notions enabler.  Heather, my wife, and I were the teachers/planners. The Retreat was held at the Barnes House Bed & Breakfast in Murfreesboro.

My wife bought and made crowns for us to wear in honor of the Royal Wedding which took place that morning.  We felt like the princes and princesses of knitting.  I was in my element as knitting teacher.  we began with a Cabled Coffee cozy designed by me.  Click the name to get the pattern.  Some of the attendees had not done cables before, so I chose a stitch pattern which had twists in both directions.  We worked on those for a couple of hours, then retired to the parlor for some sit & stitch time.  Around 11 pm we left for the evening  to get some rest.

Blocking our coffee cozys.

The next morning Craig, our host with the most, treated us to breakfast before our knitting began.  After breakfast we felted our cozys in the washer and set them up to block. Then it was off on a field trip to the Alpaca Farm.  Three Hawk Alpacas is less than 5 miles from Main Street in Murfreesboro.  Anita our host was kind enough to give us a tour, answer questions and let us interact with Callie, the friendliest Alpaca I have met.  (I have blogged about her before when we visited with my kids.  After our Q & A session we visited Anita's shop and several attendees purchased some lovely alpaca fiber to take home and work up.  Claudia even bought a cone of brown &                  natural/white.  We are dying to see this worked up.

Callie enjoying attention.

The afternoon brought us a great lunch from Tavern 125 in Mufreesboro.  We had placed our orders the night before and Heather picked up lunch for us to enjoy after the Alpaca Farm visit.  There were Reubens and Salads, fries and more.  Lunch was wonderful.   After lunch we were joined by another participant and began our Entrelac class.  We began a scarf, Basic Entrelac Scarf, from a pattern by Lisa Shroyer.  She very graciously gave us permission to use her pattern for our retreat.  Everyone caught on quickly and was amazed at the results.  It was a fun class and easy to teach with skilled knitters.

Tom practicing Broomstick Lace.

We took a break from Entrelac and Heather tried her hand at teaching with Broomstick lace.   Again we were making a scarf, in cotton,  with a pattern from Naztazia, Broomstick Lace Scarf.  Check the link for pattern and you tube tutorials.  I decided to try my hand at this technique as well (I can crochet, but prefer knitting).  It is working very well and will be a late Mother's Day Gift for my mom.  We all finished up around 5 pm.  Some had to say good bye for the evening.  Tom, Ilene, and I went to dinner at Napoli's Italian restaurant.  I tried the Portabello Ravioli for the first time.  It was fabulous.  We all knitted until 9 and retired to our homes, agreeing that the first retreat was a success. 

My cousin's wife makes cakes.  Her business is called, "The Icing on the Cake."  Well we had this made for the retreat (we ate on it all weekend).  The icing on our retreat was coming back to the B & B for breakfast with Tom and Craig on Sunday morning before seeing Tom off to the Triangle area of NC.  We are already brainstorming ideas for next year and hope to have more goodies, students, and knitting fun! 





A special thank you goes out to the following Donors for our Retreat: 

Skacel Collection, Inc
Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs -- Goth Socks Yarn
Love of Knitting Magazine
XRX, Inc.
Southern Purls
Yearning for Yarn
Beech Springs Alpacas
Three Hawk Alpacas

Each of the above companies donated prizes, patterns, or other items so that each participant left with a "swag" of items to enjoy their knitting.  Thanks for your donations.  Well, that is my update for now.  I plan to let you know about a new knitting shop and show off some Finished Objects in the next couple of Blogs.  Happy Knitting!

Turning a Frown Upside Down

Me "roping" an Alpaca's legs

shearers working on front legs

Show Blanket Fleece

This one was quite rowdy

Getting his teeth filed

Nails being clipped

More fleece

my new cell phone

                                                                           Last week I wrote about the disappointment from a design that I had returned to me from a major knitting magazine.  It hit hard for a few minutes, and then I went back to work.  The weather was beautiful last Monday afternoon, so I sat in the screened area of our deck, while the kids played with our neighbor in the back yard.  After a few minutes of drawing and reworking the design, I worked up the ideas for another magazine editor that a friend had introduced me to via email.  I scanned in the drawings to my family's ancient laptop, and took a couple of pictures of the swatch with my new phone (see the pic above).   I then typed up an email to the editor of the magazine and submitted the drawings, pics, and design idea.  Then the waiting began.  Finally on Thursday, I decided to drop a note to the editor, just to check in with her.  She, as it turns out, had been swamped at the magazine, but was thrilled with the design and offered to publish it in an issue  later this year!  In order to do this, I changed the cowl to a scarf and added fingerless mitts.  I know that I would wear a cowl but it seems a scarf would be a bigger selling point for most men.  All in all I am a happy designer again.  I still haven't heard from design number 3 which I submitted to Interweave for their winter issue.  If it is rejected, I will post the pattern for that design on Ravelry.  It seems that lace will be in fashion this year and chunky lace is a focus for this trend.
Several weeks ago I was given a brochure by my pastor's wife about shares for Alpaca yarn from this years shearing at a local farm.  As a result of getting this brochure I have made a new friend, Kate Brown.  She is the owner of Beech Springs Alpacas, just outside of Ahoskie, NC.  I took my family for a visit, which I blogged about just a few weeks ago.  Kate had her annual shearing yesterday, and invited me to come and participate.  The shearers came from Indiana, and it seems travel a total of 15,000 miles during a season.  They make appointments and map out their route, a large loop it seems that takes them from farm to farm until they get back home.  They started shearing about 7:45 yesterday morning and finished at 3 yesterday afternoon.  To get the Alpacas ready to be shorn, this is where all the other hands are needed.  I discovered yesterday that the animals must be stretched out with cords, to avoid clipping injuries, prevent flailing (which could injure the animal or helper), and allow the shearers to clip nails and file teeth if necessary.  I helped with putting on the cords and pulling the ropes yesterday.  It was not hard work but, I am a little sore today.  My wife and children came out for a couple of hours and watched the whole process.  My daughter was fascinated and ended up staying through the afternoon.  She took lots of pictures with her own digital camera.  She has a bag of Alpaca fleece to take to school with her pictures for show and tell.   My wife and I, sometime in the near future, will have our own show and tell of  6 hanks of alpaca sportweight yarn, our share in this year's shearing.  I can't wait to see what we get!

So excited about this fiber life I am living.  It gives me great satisfaction to share it with my family and friends.  I promised a free pattern and I am working on it.  I made a cell phone holder earlier this week.  I used some leftover acrylic and it is beautiful to look at but not very sturdy.  So I am working one up to felt.  As soon as it is finished and written I will post the free pattern.  Look for it later this week.  I will also be posting a new coffee cozy pattern, this one is felted, after the knitting retreat.