A Llama Wedding Weekend!

So my co-worker got married this weekend in Massachusetts on a llama farm. Yes, a llama farm! How cool is that?!

Saturday started off with a huge rainbow that went from one end of the sky to the other. The rain from the previous day had finally begun to break, so good news for an outdoor wedding.

Later that morning, we took a llama hike on the property which was a working farm for 200 years. The farm is long gone, and the trees have grown in, but portions of the very old stone walls used to keep the Merino sheep inside were still visible. This is Tanner, the leader of the pack who kept me company on the hike. He was part llama and part alpaca (and so very cute!)

The bride was beautiful, the groom was happy, and the rain managed to stay away til we were all tucked safely under the reception tent. Here we have the wedding party posing with the llamas.

I was also able to see a few yarn stores in the area and walked away with some goodies. We stopped at Wonderful Things in Great Barrington on the way up. Very nice selection of yarns and the friendly cat kept my husband busy while I browsed.

On Saturday, before the wedding, we took a short drive to Lenox where we visited Colorful Stitches. It had a wonderful selection, the staff was very pleasant, and I got to see the St. Denis yarns trunk show (which I just found out will be at Knitty City on Oct 12th & 13th).

While we were at Coloful Stitches, we also got to witness the annual tubs parade. We had seen flyers, but had no idea what this meant. Well, it was a parade of horse drawn carts, carriages, coaches, fire "engines", and delivery trucks. It was certainly a site to see! Sadly, I forgotten my camera back at the farm, so couldn't take any pictures.

On Sunday, as our stay was wrapping up, we took a trip over to The Mount - Edith Wharton's estate and gardens. This is where she wrote her most famous book, The House of Mirth. The house and gardens have been under serious restoration work since 2002 and they have made tremendous progress. The house was lovely and the gardens were so beautiful. The estate is one of the mere 5% of historic landmarks dedicated to women.

We will definitely have to return to the Berkshires soon! There is so much we were not able to see in the short 3 days were were there. Also, Webs is about 45 minutes away from where we stayed, so we'll definitely be back!

Knitty City Recap

Check out the knitscene blog today for a recap of the event I did at Knitty City last Thursday. It was so much fun! Big thanks go out to Knitty City for inviting me and to everyone that stopped by!

Knitty City - September 10th!

For those of you that live in New York City, I'll be doing an event at Knitty City next Thursday, September 10th. Interweave was kind enough to lend Knitty City my four Knitscene designs for a mini trunk show and I'll also have a few of my neoknits designs with me as well. I'll be discussing my collection for Knitscene, talking about designing, knitting, and whatever else you guys are interested in (you get extra credit for coming prepared with questions!).

Hope to see some of you there!

Details:
Thursday, September 10th from 6-8pm
Knitty City
208 79th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
Closest subway: 1 train to 79th street

A Small Diversion

This past week between a deadline project (or two or three) I managed to sneak in some personal knitting time. A few weeks back Connie gave me some leftover Shepard Sock in Echo from her gorgeous Mountain View Cardigan and I knew it was destined to become a second Bliss shawlette.

I cast on last Monday, had a finished little shawlette by Friday, and it was all dry by Saturday. Bliss then took a little tour of Astoria, mainly to Martha's Country Bakery. Mmmm, best cupcakes ever!

I really like the way it turned out in the fingering weight yarn, definitely a bit more lacy. The shawl did end up blocking out to the correct size, but the length shrunk up slightly since the original Seasilk has a bit more weight to it. As far as yardage goes, I used a little over 1 skein, about 270 yards total of the Shepard sock with a US size 7 needle.

Ok, now it's back to the deadline knitting!

Back in One Piece

Just got back from a trip to Minneapolis to visit Target HQ with my company. I'm not much of a flyer, well, traveler for that matter, but I somehow managed to make it back in one piece. The first class seats my co-worker negotiated on the way there didn't hurt much either. Although I could have done without a tornado touching down a few blocks from where we were staying - luckily we were already at the airport waiting for our much delayed flight by the time it happened though. Oh, the excitement.

Tonight when I got home and checked in to Ravelry, I had such a sweet surprise waiting for me. kls1004 started a group for fans (it seems so strange to say that!) of my patterns/designs today. I'm such a shy, low key kinda girl and I have to admit I'm really blushing over here. If you're interested in joining, it's called Wehrle Birds. Love the name and it's so funny because Wehrle Bird has been my dad's nickname for years :)

On the knitting front, much more deadline knitting is on the horizon. Therefore making this a pretty boring place to be at the moment. Maybe the blog needs a few more tutorials, like the one row buttonhole I did a little while back. If so, is there anything you guys would like to see?

Vintage Buttons

There is just something about old buttons that make me so happy! There is a store here in NYC called Tender Buttons that I just adore. It has the most interesting old buttons and is heaven for someone who adores to design and wear cardigans - although I've been know to put a button onto a garment just for the sake of putting a button on a garment.

A few weeks ago, DH and I took a trip up to Lambertville, NJ to peruse a few antique stores and I came across these great finds. There was a whole basket full of vintage buttons calling, no screaming, out to me and at $3 a card, who could resist?

Love the tiny redish/pink ones!


Various jet black buttons. Some mixed designs.


These are my favorite and the most special of the bunch. We estimated these were pretty old - maybe 30s or 40s.

So now I need to decide or design what sweater to put them on. Only a very special sweater will do, but for now they'll need to be put aside til all the deadline projects are done. They won't be very far though, the more I think about designing something for them, the faster that deadline knitting will go. They'll act as my knitter's "carrot"!

Fall 2009 Interweave Knits Preview

So I really did not expect the Interweave Knits Fall 2009 preview to be up this week too! Time to introduce Angelica's Coat:

When I designed this coat, I had something earthy and cozy in mind. Something that would be perfect to wrap yourself up in as the fall chill moves in, but could easily carry you into the colder winter months too. I added a belt to give the coat a little more fitted shape if desired, but it can certainly be worn without.

I've been a busy little knitter the past few months, that's for sure. Remember when I was having problems with the wrists? Well this was one of the projects I was working on at that time. Normally, it wouldn't have been a problem, but a blanket coat in Aran weight yarn was really a challenge for hands that were already hurting! I just hope it's well received to make it all worth it :)

Knitscene Fall 2009

Today the official preview went live on the Knitscene website! I know that a few knitters have already snagged their copy of the magazine early (official newsstand release is July 21st), but for those who haven't been so lucky, take a look here if you haven't seen already!

This project was a huge undertaking for me, but I loved every minute of it. As the featured designer, I was given the task of designing a 4 piece collection along with choosing the yarn and color story. I loved being able to start from the ground up, selecting particular yarns for the vision I was after. The color story started out as a basic idea, but in the end, it was sort of dictated by which colors were available in the yarns I chose. You have NO IDEA how hard it is to select matching colors when you are dealing with different yarns and companies plus choosing them from a computer screen!

For this collection, I was inspired by a few different things. I wanted nice yarns that enhanced an otherwise plain stockinette stitch body. I wanted the bodies to be simple to knit, but still be able to teach a more experienced knitter a few tricks. And even though they were simple to knit, I wanted to add little details here and there to make them contemporary and fashionable, yet classic - something that you'll still be able to wear and cherish a few years down the road.

And now I leave them with you! I think the best part of designing a hand knit pattern is seeing how the knitter takes the original idea and expands upon it. Whether it be a different yarn choice, adapting or changing the fit, or changing the colors - the choice is yours.

Introducing the Bliss Shawlette

Bliss
by Melissa Wehrle

A delicately stitched shawlette perfect for all seasons. Worked in a DK weight yarn, it knits up very quickly and without much fuss.

Difficulty
Intermediate

Materials

• Handmaiden Fine Yarns Double Sea Silk (70% Silk/30% Seacell; 273yds/250m; 100g): Topaz, 2 skeins
• OR 360 yds/329m DK weight yarn
• 1 US size 7 (4.5mm) 24" or longer circular needle or size needed to obtain gauge
  
• 1 stitch marker
• Size E/4 crochet hook
• Waste yarn in contrasting color
• Tapestry needle

Gauge
14 sts and 25 rows = 4"/10cm in Lace Pattern with US size 7 (4.5mm) needle, blocked

Techniques used in pattern

• Crochet Chain Provisional cast on
• Decreasing and increasing
• Following a lace chart

$5.50

And The Winners Are........

I received so many great names, it was so hard to choose just one! I really enjoyed reading how you came up with them too, I could see a lot of thought went into your choices.

And the winners are.....

#1 Bliss - the knitrider
#2 Artemis - harper
#3 Océane - maryse
#4 random choice from number generator - skaro964

I'm working on the finishing touches now and the pattern should be ready by tonight or early tomorrow. When it's ready, I'll email the PDF to all of you lucky winners :)

(I've managed to contact everyone but harper. Harper, if your out there, please drop a line at neoknits AT yahoo DOT com and I'll get your pattern out to you!)

Please Help Me Name this Shawlette

The pattern writing for the new shawlette design is well on it's way, but an interesting name for it is eluding me. So who wants to help me name it and win a shawlette pattern in the process?

Name that tune

I'll pick the top 3 name choices and throw in a 4th winner at random. Just leave a comment below and please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you. I'll leave the naming open until Monday 7/13 8pm EST. Thanks everyone!

New Pattern Preview: Shawlette

This weekend we were blessed with such beautiful weather! So I gathered up the camera, my trusty photographer DH and headed out to Fort Mott, an old military fort along the Delaware River. There he snapped some pictures of my newest design for neoknits: a shawlette.

The pattern is not written yet, but it should be ready in a week or two. More info soon!

Finally Can Spill the Beans - Sort Of

Do you subscribe to the Knitting Daily emails? Did you happen to notice anything about the email that went out today about the next issue of Knitscene? I'll give you a clue, it's the last headline on the cover.

I've been dying to share this news with everyone since I was contacted by Lisa Shroyer way back before Thanksgiving, but I figured I'd keep it mum until the issue was about ready to go live. So I finally feel I can spill the beans! I am the featured designer for the Fall/Winter issue of Knitscene!

For the issue, I had to design a mini collection of 4 sweaters and was interviewed for a little article about me and my designs. The preview still won't be up for a few weeks though, so can't quite spill all the beans yet! I will tell you that if you got the Knitting Daily email, one of my designs was at the bottom of the page: a grey doleman pullover. The model is wearing a yellow long sleeve t-shirt underneath.

Preview goes live the week of July 21st and it should be in knitting shops and newsstands the same week. So keep your eyes peeled!

A Proper Photo Shoot

I took advantage of the small glimmer of sunlight we had on Saturday night to finally have a proper photo shoot for my Desert Sun shawl. I really, really, really love the way it turned out and have worn it at least once a week since I finished it up. Luckily (or unluckily) it has been very nice shawl weather.

I've also been working on a little shawl design of my own. More details to come!

It's Done!

My Desert Sun shawl is finally done! I cast on way back in November of last year and had to put it down for awhile, but it's finally finished. [Details on Ravelry]

This shawl tested my patience, but I think the result was worth it. I dropped stitches at least twice on one of the beginning stitch patterns and had to rip back about 10 - 15 rows each time. Then when I was nearing the end, I was afraid that it would not be large enough. Then I was not sure I liked the hand dyed yarn colors with the stitch pattern.

But in the end all was well and I really, really love it. With the nippy mornings we've been having lately, I might even get to press it into service before the fall!

Former Occupations

Believe it or not, I haven't always been a knitter. Gasp! I know! Growing up, I used to enjoy all sorts of different arts and crafts. Some of my favorites included beading, jewelry making, bookbinding and drawing.

In an attempt to revive my former creative times, I dug a few of my beaded jewelry pieces out of my jewelry box to share.

My favorite piece is the washer bracelet with red Swarovski crystals which I probably made about 15 years ago. The hardware store was one of my favorite places to go for jewelry components. While my Dad was looking for something important, I would keep myself busy in the nuts and bolts aisle. I think what interested me the most about hardware components was the combination of something so hard, but pairing it with delicate crystals and beads - combining the unexpected. Although at the time, I probably just thought it was neat.

Yay for Long Weekends!

While most people in the NY/NJ area could probably be found at the beach this weekend, the hubster and I don't really enjoy the crowds, preferring a quiet setting instead. When I hopped off the train on Saturday, we decided to take a short drive over to DB's old stomping grounds - Princeton, NJ.

First we had a nice picnic lunch in a quiet park with tons of shade and beautiful landscaping.

Then we drove down the road a little bit to Princeton University. DB went to Princeton for a year or two during his college years, so he took me on a little tour of the campus. Most of the students were already gone for the summer with a few still moving out, so it was a great opportunity to get some photographs.

The architecture was just absolutely boggles the mind beautiful. I could not imagine being in such an environment everyday for school. Beats the crappy dorms at FIT hands down, but I guess you get what you pay for.

Rest of the weekend was spent watching a marathon of the Dukes of Hazzard (gotta love those Duke boys and the car stunts) and cooking and baking up a storm. Probably not the most conventional Memorial Day weekend, but for me, it fit the bill!

Slowly, Slowly

Do you know when you air a problem to the wind, how much it helps to just get it off your chest and move on? That's how I feel today, like I can finally start fresh and begin again. While I'm certainly not back up to speed overnight, I think I'm making progress.

Photo credit: Alvesgaspar Umbela of a wild carrot (Daucus carota)

I saw this picture today on wikipedia and it got the pencil moving. I am also going to possibly look into taking a digital photography class. Can anyone in the NYC area recommend a good one that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg?

Looking forward to a long weekend of relaxation and knitting. Also going to bring the camera along and see if it helps inspire a little.

And as always, thank you for your comments. You have no idea how much your encouragement and suggestions help at times like these. Thank You!
Umbella.jpg

Seven Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today, I graduated from FIT with my BA in Fashion Design, and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

I've been doing a little bit of reflecting back on my experiences this week. Thinking about the things I've accomplished, the things I would love to accomplish, and the things that have fallen by the wayside - or should have anyway. Even though I've been in a creative environment for seven years, sometimes the well just runs dry. I've found that creativity isn't something that you can take for granted. You need to nourish it, stimulate it, and constantly renew it. And when you have a bit of burnout, it's so hard to just take a step back and be patient while the well replenishes itself.

Sigh. Burnout. I think I've been experiencing this for the past few months since I haven't been very productive, but I was pretending the reason was to rest my wrist and hands. Slowly, ever so slowly I'm realizing that might not be the case.

I'm trying my best to turn it around, take a step back, and look at things in a new light. What I really need is a nice, long, really long vacation but this whole work for money thing kinda sinks that idea! Instead, I can do things like drag out my old portfolio, snap tons of pictures and collect tear sheets until I'm bitten by the bug again.

Speaking of my old portfolio, just for fun, here are some shots of the stuff I used to do. After looking back at my idea book and portfolio, it makes me miss school a little....

Round and Round and Round

Just wound up my final skein of Double Sea Silk for the secret project. I'm soooooo close to being finished I can taste it! The hand has even behaved well for most of it, so I'm more than happy/relieved about that. Sorry I can't post an updated photo, but can't give away the secret! The rules are the rules.

As this project winds down, I need to start thinking what I want to do next. So many options! My yarns of choice will be either Sheep Shop 3 or Be Sweet Bamboo. Anyone out there have a preference? Both yarns are so pretty, it's so hard to choose! I guess whichever one inspires first gets the nod.