US Made Hooks and Needles

With the talk of tariffs be placed on various countries by the US, my desire to buy things made in the US went up. I have planned a couple of stitch alongs for later this year and want to advise the stitchers on hooks and needles that are good choices for the items we willContinue reading “US Made Hooks and Needles”

Hat Grading

I love designing hats and grading them too. I only have a handful of hat designs, with a new one coming out later this year. Hats are for everyone, not just one age group. They make great gifts, are usually practical, unless you live where the temp never dips below 50F or there is aContinue reading “Hat Grading”

Even After All That, Sometimes Swatches Lie…

I got my sweater edit back from the grader, but I’ll talk about that in a bit. Before I opened that file I used an old trick I have to see how well the clothes I’m making are going to for the size I’m making them for. I took my partially finished sweater to theContinue reading “Even After All That, Sometimes Swatches Lie…”

My First Grading Adventure

I know I have shared the difference between tech editing and grading before, so I’m not going to do that too much here, if you are interested jump over HERE for more. What I want to share with you in this post is my first actual grade of a pattern. A few years back IContinue reading “My First Grading Adventure”

Blocking Day!

I recently shared a video on YouTube about a blocking day I had this past summer where I blocked three shawls at one time, on the same table and a project that I never show in the video. I’m here to follow up and share how each of those pieces turned out and where theContinue reading “Blocking Day!”

Cost of Pattern Publishing

Currently to buy one of my patterns costs the purchaser $6 US. Of that I receive about $5.50, sometimes less because of the different fees involved. Let’s say I sell 100 copies of that pattern and I received $5.25 for each copy. For a total of $525. Sounds pretty good for a four page patternContinue reading “Cost of Pattern Publishing”

Not on your first try!

That is close to a one-liner from an old 1980s movie, but that has nothing to do with what this post is about. Just a peek inside my head. I have often started a project, crochet, knit or weave, only to put it away shortly after, for different reasons; too difficult, not enough time, bored…Continue reading “Not on your first try!”

Ball, hank, skein… What’s the difference? Does it Matter?

Yarn comes to us in many different forms. Some of them are easier to work with for crocheting or knitting than others. Some require a bit of work and another person or a tool or two to make them user friendly. Why does yarn come to us in so many different ways? Do the namesContinue reading “Ball, hank, skein… What’s the difference? Does it Matter?”

From Idea to Publication

This is the first entry that I am sharing about this project, that will probably become 2 shawl patterns. As you can see by the date below these thoughts are about a month old. I will add more thoughts as new posts as things keep developing. 02/28/24 I recently had the itch to design anotherContinue reading “From Idea to Publication”

How many repeats?

One of the most difficult things when working a pattern that contains repeats, either within the row or round or as a set of rows or rounds, is figuring out how many times to work them. A set of directions can feel clearly written and even make it through tech editing. If a pattern isContinue reading “How many repeats?”