An exciting announcement!

Friends,

What a great day today is. Here in Newfoundland the sun is shining brightly and its quite warm out for the middle of September. As a teacher, these are things that make our days even better. Well, that and coffee. I'm quite addicted to the stuff again (I normally take the summer off from coffee drinking and stick to colder drinks) and that morning routine of standing in line at Tim Horton's seems to set everything right before I step into school. Even the smell of caffeine brightens my spirits these days.

On another, non-caffeine note, I have an exciting announcement to make. I'm participating in my very first giveaway, right this very minute! The lovely Alyssa over at Sugar, Spice, and a Dash of Advice has started the giveaway on her blog and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Head over to the site to see what I'm giving away and get your chance to enter.

Also, if you haven't had the chance to yet, check out the new idea board on Tumblr. I'll be filling it with lovely pictures in the coming days. You can find it HERE.

Have a great Friday!

An idea board...

Friends,

I've been absolutely inspired. During a evening of pinterest perusing, I stumbled along a beautiful Tumblr theme and just had to start an idea board with. I collect pictures I think are beautiful and inspiring, so I thought this would be a great way of sharing those with you, without bombarding the blog. Of course I'll still be sharing my favourites here though.

So if you're a part of the Tumblr community, or just love beautiful pictures of a little bit of everything, come share the love at The Rural Knitter's Idea Board.

Interview with a Designer: Nikki Van De Car

Friends,

I'm a knitwear designer wannabe. I'd love to be able to design my own patterns and create something other people can make. So when I discovered some wonderful new designs on Ravelry from designer Nikki Van De Car, I just had to find out what her inspiration for designing was (and if she had any tips for those of us who want to walk in her shoes). She's been designing the most adorable clothes for newborns and toddlers and I can't wait to knit some of these garments for all the babies people keep having around here.

_____________________________________________

Nikki Van De Car was born in Hawaii and now lives in New Jersey. Her blog, What To Knit When You're Expecting, chronicles her day-to-day life with her daughter Maile and all the crawling, teething and knitting that goes on. She also has a significant following on Ravelry. Her book, What To Knit When You're Expecting is named after and based on the blog, and is a collection of 27 knitting patterns for babies ages 0-12 months.

What’s your name?  Nikki Van De Car 

Where are you from? I’m originally from Volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, but I’m now living in Jersey City, New Jersey. 

How long have you been designing knitwear? I designed my first pattern, Autumn Leaves, in 2008, as a gift for a friend’s baby, and I continued to dabble in designing for a couple of years after before really diving in. 

What made you want to start designing? I think I saw it as the next obvious challenge—I taught myself various different knitting techniques through trial and error (though colorwork scared me for a long time!) and I wanted to see if I could design, too. There’s also something extra special about giving somebody that you have not only knit for them, but have designed specifically for them. 

What inspires or influences the pieces you design? I draw a lot of inspiration from place—Hawaii, most often, but also from people. My Maile Sweater pattern, for instance, is named after a vine that is worn traditionally as a lei, but it also happens to be my daughter’s name, and I designed the sweater for her when she was two months old. For my book, I continued to think about children I know—nieces, nephews, the children of friends—and I designed sweaters specifically for them. 

 

What is the most fun and most challenging aspects of pattern design? Oh, lord, the math. There is knitting software that I could buy and use, but I’m afraid that it might make me a little less creative (I would also feel like maybe the program was designing instead of me—I live in fear of The Matrix). On the other hand, it might keep me from making so many mistakes! I am not very good with math, and so often I have to turn to my husband for help—I’ll sketch a diagram and have him help me fill in the blanks. 

What yarn do you prefer to knit with? Oh my, how to choose. I love Malabrigo Worsted, I love anything by Madelinetosh, a lot of Rowan (though they keep canceling my favorites!) I also really like a lot of Knitpicks yarns. 

Do you look up to any other designers? Who doesn’t want to be Kim Hargreaves when they grow up? I also love Kate Davies, Ysolda Teague, Heidi Kirrmaier, Anna and Heidi Pickles…the list goes on and on. 

When did you first fall in love with knitting? I was taught to knit by the owner of a shop I worked at in college—Shar Jacobsen was sort of knitting guru in town, and her teaching methods were very hands-off. She taught me to cast on, she taught me to knit, purl, and cast-off, and then she left me to it. My first project was a little dog blanket that I kept accidentally increasing—it was extremely lopsided. 

What is your favorite type of project to knit? Somebody else’s design! I love knitting my own designs, but sometimes it’s nice to let somebody else drive the car for a while—and I always learn something new. 

What’s on your needles right now? Now that Maile’s almost three, I’m working on a bunch of toddler-sized sweaters. I also have a Paper Dolls languishing in a closet somewhere that I really want to finish. 

Do you do any other crafty things in your spare time? I would love to learn to spin! But I haven’t been able to tackle it. I’d also love to sew, to quilt...someday. 

Any advice for new or aspiring designers? Well, this is what worked for me: start with free patterns. My learning curve was a bit high, and there were a number of things I would have gone back and done differently with some early designs (and I got to!) But knitters can be very forgiving if your pattern is free, and they’re happy to give feedback—and it’s a good way to build an audience. Who doesn’t like free?

What’s coming up for you that you’re most proud of (or that you’d like to highlight)? In case I didn’t mention it earlier, I have a book! What To Knit When You’re Expecting is a collection of 27 patterns for babies ages 0-12 months. The patterns range from first trimester projects (which are moderately advanced, since there are months to finish) to second trimester (when most parents can determine the baby’s gender and prepare for a boy or girl), to third trimester quickies, when time is short. It’s available in the UK here and will be coming out in the US in October. There will also be editions coming out in Finland, France, and a French Canadian edition as well, though I’m not sure when exactly those will be available.

Thanks, Nikki! All the best luck in the upcoming book launch. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy! 

You can find Nikki on RAVELRY and at her blog What To Knit When You're Expecting

        __________________________________________

So, what do you think? If you're a knitwear designer, do you have any advice for knitters who aspire to design? If you're in my shoes, what do you think of Nikki's advice?          

I dream in floral

 

Friends,

 

Yesterday I shared some amazing (and one quite frightful) vintage patterns with you from Mary Maxim. When I went back to look further through the lot, I found a beautiful cover for a Bernat magazine/catalogue that I thought I'd share with you as well. I'm a massive fan of anything foloral and this reminds me of my grandmother and Cath Kidston.

I love the white, offset by the floral wallpaper and the pink of the afghan. This just really embraces the feel of the 60's for me.

On another note, I have something exciting to post for you later this afternoon. I recently did an interview with a knitwear designer and I'll be sharing that with you in a few hours. Stay tuned!

Vintage pattern finds

Friends,

All your positive thinking has paid off. Hurricane Leslie has left us unscathed here in my hometown and I couldn't be happier. I was lucky to have the day off work because of the storm and while Leslie was quite ferocious in the wee hours of the morning, by the time I awoke, the sun was shining. Thanks to all of you who sent positive thoughts our way. I like to think they really made a difference. 

On a different note, while my sister and I have were relaxing this afternoon, watching Modern Family, I decided to go through a stack of vintage patterns and magazines I was given by a fellow knitter some weeks ago. Oh boy, what fun I had! Most of them were from the 60s and 70s and I was in my glee seeing what was in style at that time. Especially amusing were the Canadiana themed jackets that I will share with you below. 

I think this pattern is especially awe-worthy. Who else thinks this was originally knit for Hitler? 

I want a sweater like this for myself so every week can be Shark Week.

Is there a correlation between Rockets and assault rifles? I didn't think so until now.

And finally, I leave you with the scariest knitted sweater ever created. I think Phil Dunphy would agree. I apologize if you wore something similar as a child.

For me, I'm going back into the pile. Hopefully I can find some more patterns to share with you tomorrow. 

There's a storm a-brewin'

Dear friends,

It's been quite the hectic day here. I got an early morning call for a substitute day (yay!) and spent the day teaching Art at my favourite school. Work wise, it was a great day. However, there is a storm brewing in the Atlantic ocean and it has most of us here in on the peninsula very shaken up.

In just a few short hours Hurricane Leslie is expected to hit us directly. Packing wind of 120 km/h and a warning of 70-100mm of rain, things will not be pretty in my hometown for the next day or two.

Hurricanes don't hit here often. By the time they reach this little neck of the woods (the northern most shores of the Atlantic ocean), hurricanes have normally downgraded to Tropical storms or tropical depressions and their wind and rain is nothing unlike what we see every few weeks. But in 2010, Hurricane Igor struck the peninsula with so much force that it washed out the main roads here in 5 different places, stranding us from the rest of the island of Newfoundland. 129mm of rain fell in 8 hours and while some families struggled to bail out their homes, some struggled to reach each other.

[NOTE: There is some foul language in this video. I post it only to highlight how the hurricane affected the area of Newfoundland where I live.]

No one expected Igor. No one was prepared. The peninsula ran out of gasoline and we soon ran out of certain provisions such as milk. With one road connecting us to the rest of the island, it was impossible to get trucks here with food. A few days after the hurricane, the government was forced to send a boat with provisions to provide us with the goods we needed until the highway could be fixed.

An image of the dam overflowing in my grandmother's community of Lawn, Newfoundland in Sept. 2010. Photo found on thecoaster.ca

And this all could happen again tomorrow. Needless to say, I'm a little stressed out.

I just got home from the grocery store and it was complete madness. All the water was completely sold out. With better warning of what is coming, everyone is better prepared this time. But the panic is new.

As I drove home from the store, the gas station I passed was full, with a line of cars backed up down the street, hoping to get gas before Leslie hit. I am very thankful I had a full tank already.

And now I'm getting ready to prepare the house. With winds in excess of 120km/h the big worry with this storm is not washed out roads, but falling trees and flying debris, so we need to get everything out of the garden and off the deck before the wind picks up. Losing power is also a serious worry. Luckily my sister (who has recently moved home) has emergency preparedness training so she has everything under control. The only thing we are worried about in this household now is the force of mother nature.

So, if you're reading this, please think positive thoughts for us here tonight. We may not have it as bad as we did two years ago, but any good thoughts can't hurt.

I'll post again soon and let you know how we all fair, given that I have power and internet access.

Longing for London

Friends,

I'm ridiculously homesick today. I'm sitting in front of my computer trying to do something productive, but all I can think about is London. Sure, my "real" home is right here in Newfoundland, but god, I left a piece of me in London when I left.

For those of you that are just tuning in, or simply have no idea about my life pre-blog, I used to live in London, England. The big metropolis, the land of Big Ben and Harry Potter, of tea and crumpets. Yeah, I called that place home for a brief period of my life. 

It all started when a friend, who was sick of hearing me whine about how much I missed studying in England, told me to man up and do it. Move there he told me. So I did. It was the most impulsive thing I ever did with my life, but it was the best. I arrived at Heathrow with nothing but the obscenely large suitcase I could barely drag and a promise of teaching work in the city. I lived in a glorified shoe box deep in the city centre and I mastered the Underground. I would spend my free time sipping an Americano at a coffee shop or reading a book while picnicking in Regent's Park. I had a library card for The British Library (my all-time most prized possession) and lived only a few blocks from the British Museum. I had conversations with A.S. Byatt about the state of the British education system and was hit on by Martin Amis. I spent an entire month of my life in a pub with Canadian teaching friends watching the World Cup. I spent my 25th birthday at a little pub in Dublin. I even got to work at a Bed & Breakfast in the Scottish highlands. 

These were some of the greatest experiences of my entire life and now I'm missing the place deeply. So, in celebration of all things British, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite English things with you.

(From left to right) Wading in the fountains in Trafalgar Square, the food stalls at Camden Market, Foyles Bookstore (my favourite bookstore of all time), and Yumchaa Tea Shop in Soho.

I can't wait to go back. Even just for a week. 

Where would you like to revisit if you had the chance?

Addicted to organizing

Friends,

Do you like organizing and planning? If so, we'll get along just fine. If not, let me plan for you! Since I've started posting daily here on the blog, it's been a great excuse to print off some adorable printable blog planning sheets to keep myself on task. I found these beauties (see picture below) on Pinterest. Really, what did I do for hours of my day before Pinterest? If you'd like to have some of these wonderful printables for your very own, look no further!

1. Colorful 2012 calendar from TomKat Studios (here)
2. Days of Fun blank calendars (here) Note: most of this .pdf is meant for primary aged children, but the weekly calendar is quite cute and ageless!
3. Make Time for Fun printable calendar set from The English Pea (here)
4. Sunday planning - a collection of weekly planner, meal planners, blog planners etc. (here)
5. I Heart My Blog planner by The Flourishing Abode (here)

Enjoy!

Friday finds

The best new Ravelry patterns (Aug. 31st - Sept. 7th)

Every Friday I will be highlighting my favourite new patterns that pop up around the web. As a knitter, electronic patterns from Ravelry and Etsy have let me create beautiful knit-wear that I normally wouldn't be able to make in a bookstore-less town. I might not have a bookstore at my disposal, but I have a printer! So all the patterns I will include in this weekly feature will be downloadable (for free or a fee according to the designer) from one of the great knitting pattern sites on the web.

I hope you enjoy :-)

1. Driftwood by Julie Hoover (find it here). This pattern is featured in the Brooklyn Tweed fall look book. If you know of Brooklyn Tweed, you'll know how popular this pattern will become.

2. Kerfuffle Cowl by Michele Bernstein (find it here). The colorwork on this cowl looks beautiful!

3. Seed Stitch Winter Cowl by Ellie Fitzpatrick (find it here and here). It looks so warm and cozy.

4. Gelsomina Aran by Veronik Avery (find it here). Another gem from the BT Fall look book. My personal favourite.

Which pattern is your favourite? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Stay tuned to next week's picks!

My knitting playlist

Friends,

Everyone has a different knitting routine. A friend of mine loves to sit on her couch and knit in solitude. Another can't knit unless she's on her porch in the fresh air. But me? I'm not the person that can sit silently and knit. My mind is too active and for some odd reason I feel very insecure about that. So something needs to be happening in the background to keep my mind occupied.

I have two different routines, or ideal situations, which I love to knit in. Both involve sitting on my couch, with my coffee on the end table and normally with the TV on. I'm addicted to television shows. You name a series, I've seen it at least once. What else am I going to do while I'm knitting?

But recently, during a long summer of road trips and mindless driving, I've become very inspired by music. There are certain bands or artists I'll listen to and instantly want to pick up my needles to knit. I'll throw on my earphones and I'm calmed.

So if you're the kind of knitter that needs or simply enjoys listening to good music while you're in the act, I thought I'd share my favourite knitting music with you.

1. Ben Howard - Every Kingdom (UK)
2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver (US) 
3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes and Helplessness Blues (US)
4. Matthew and the Atlas - To the North (UK)
5. Daughter - The Wild Youth EP (UK) check out the song "Youth
6. James Vincent McMorrow - Early in the Morning (IRL)
7. Marcus Foster - Tumble Down and Nameless Path (UK)
8. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You (US)
9. Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again (UK)
10. Boy & Bear - Moonfire (AUS)
11. The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart (US)
12. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin and Infinite Arms (US)

SONGZA!

I'm also crazy about this new radio station type website/OS app called Songza. They have all kinds of playlists you can listen to that are catered to your mood or the genre of music you'd like to listen to. My two new favourite lists are Harvest Moon and Communion Records (a playlist of all the artists on Ben Lovett's record label -- yes, the guy from Mumford & Sons). 

What music do you listen to while you knit? Or even if you don't knit, what's your new favourite album? I'd love to hear what everyone is listening to!

Back to school

Friends,

Tomorrow I go back to school. It's the first day back for students here in the province and I'm lucky enough to be filling in for a teacher in the 4th grade. I haven't had a "first day" since I started teaching, so I'm quite excited.

The day will be filled with tiny children, smiles and new school supplies. There is nothing better than the first day of school.

In other news, I've been seeing a lot of great photos and links around the interwebs lately dealing with knitting, so I thought I'd try to do a weekly round up of these to share with you. This will be my first attempt.

• Born in the 70s or 80s? You'll most likely remember the original Nintendo game system. Supposedly they meant to start a knitting revolution with a electronic knitting device. Move over Duck Hunt gun, I want to knit with this! 
• This picture of the COOLEST BRO EVER has been circling twitter lately. I think we should be knitting buds. This also makes me want to move to a larger city again so I can be surrounded by knitters like him.

• A group of women in Alberta, Canada are knitting up replicas of female reproductive organs and sending them to Parliament in Ottawa in hopes to draw attention to a new anti-abortion motion. Read this article to learn more about Womb Swarm Parliament – Textile Artists United Against Motion M-312.

If you find any fun or interesting (or both!) articles about knitting in the social media sphere or the news, I'd love to hear about them so I can feature them next week. You can always email me at theruralknitter (at) gmail (dot) com.

Command central

1. This is where I work. It's been a dream of mine for years to have a white office with a beautiful, large white desk and recently that dream was realized. As a teacher, a great work space is a must and I think I accomplished that. I have space for my computer (I'm using an external monitor to run my macbook pro), a pen organizer, my planner and my iPad
2. No trip to Staples is ever complete without me spending loads of money on stationary. My most recent trip saw the purchase of this amazing Martha Stewart binder organizer which I'm using for my knitting patterns and blog planning. AND, there's an adorable picture of my sister and I at Peggy's Cove, NS where we were younger. (The picture frame is one of my favourite Dollarama finds for $1.)
3. My iPad. As a blogger, this gadget really comes in handy. I can use it as an extra computer screen or for photo editing. 

What do you think?

On my needles

I'm trying my hand at another Le Petit Artichaut. The yarn I'm using this time, Classic Elite's Wool Bam Boo in Peach, is much softer and the solid colour really lets the seed stitch pattern show.

I've been using this organizer all the time since I bought it a few weeks ago from Michael's craft store. It was meant to be used for scrapbooking, but I thought the pen holders on the left would be great for storing 6-8" dpns. And there is a handy zippered pouch in it too. It's an ideal spot for storing a circular needle or crochet hook!

Last but not least, I'm trying out an altered pattern for the Eyelet Slippers. The two pairs I've already made have started to stretch a little already, so I've tried to change the pattern to see if that will help. I've also attempt to make these slippers using double stranded worsted weight yarn. I'll post pictures of that soon. 

It's knitting season!

Friends,

I woke up this morning to a thermometer that read 7 degrees Celsius. For you American readers, that's extremely cold for September -- 44 degrees Fahrenheit, I believe. So while everyone mourns the passing of the first real summer Newfoundland has ever received (seriously! One day it was 37 degrees here with humidex -- our norm is 15-20 degrees), I am celebrating knitting season.

This is one of my favourite times of the year. I'm finishing projects that I can actually wear, I get to start work again as a teacher and my beloved sweaters come out of hibernation. There is nothing better to me than Fall.

So with the start of knitting season, I thought I'd share with you some of the projects I hope to tackle over the coming months. I'd love to see what you're creating too. Find me on Ravelry and we can share! I'm 'theruralknitter'.

From left to right

• The Marian Cowl by Jane Richmond
• Emma's Mittens by Minh Hoang
• Bunny Beanie by Noe Knit
• Paulie Cardigan by Isabell Kraemer
• Gwen Stacy's hat by Hailey Knits
• Orchids & Fairy Lights by tiny owl knits
• Hello New York Hat by Anna & Heidi Pickles
• Moss Stitch Bow Headband by Stefanie Fail
• Salt Water House Socks by Christine Mills
• Mug Cozy by Twisted Fibers
• Levenwick Cardigan by Gudrun Johnston
• Seamless Slippers by Jade Lee

New design and the future!

Folks, I want to thank you for sticking with me yesterday. If you visited the site, you most likely found it struggling with an identity issue. That's because I've decided to go with a new, more feminine and less cluttered look and feel for the blog. A huge thanks and round of applause goes to Kate over at 17th Avenue Design who has made this lovely template. I feel it really represents my own personal style and I couldn't be happier.

The new design overhaul also means that I'm getting more serious about the blog. I love writing and sharing various knitting ideas with you all, and I plan to do so more frequently. I'm thinking bigger and better things for The Rural Knitter -- guest posts, giveaways, tutorials, etc.

I plan on offering Sponsor packages to get involved with the knitting and blogging communities out there. It's such a great method of spreading the word and I can't wait to get involved. So look out for opportunities to advertise on my blog and vice versa.

I'd also love to increase my readership. That seems to be the whole idea behind blogging, eh? In light of that, I always subscribe to the "follow me, I'll follow you" policy. I absolutely love discovering new blogs and learning about others! So, feel free to follow the blog and we can become blogging friends.

Now, this is where you all come in. Are any of you readers avid bloggers? Do you have any tips on how to make a blog more 'visible'? As a newbie, I'd love to hear any advice you may have!

Thanks for checking out The Rural Knitter.