biddeford cowl + quince & co.

I’m beyond excited to share a secret I’ve been keeping for a few months now: this morning, my Biddeford cowl was released as part of Quince & Co.’s yearly publication, Scarves, etc. 7!  

When Quince sent out their call for submissions last year, I had just finished knitting a cowl in their Lark yarn for my sister’s birthday. Reluctantly, I decided to take a chance and send it in. A few weeks later, I squealed with delight when an email arrived from the Quince team letting me know that it had been selected. It was one of those true, joyful moments in life.   

Biddeford is the piece you’ll reach for time and again when you want a bit of comfort and warmth around your neck. When knitted in a neutral colorway, like this creamy Lark Canvas, it’s equally at home when worn over a blouse at work, layered over a flannel for pumpkin picking, or as a wool coat topper for date night with your partner.

The project uses just three skeins of Lark - a smooth and bouncy worsted-weight wool, and the lace pattern is perfect for both beginning knitters looking to expand their skills, as well as advanced knitters who want something interesting, but meditative on the needles.

I’m over-the-moon honored to be a part of this gorgeous collection, and hope this sweet and simple knit will help keep your necks warm and cozy all winter long. Get the Biddeford pattern here. Be sure to tag your projects with #BiddefordCowl!

You can view the full collection here: @quinceandco on Instagram | the Quince & Co. website | on Ravelry

Thank you, Quince!

creativity in progress

The past few months have been full of behind-the-scenes creativity, and I'm finally starting to make a bit of progress towards my long-term goals. Each morning, I awake at 5:15am, make myself a cup of coffee, then sit at my dining room table to work on something knitting-related before heading into the office. Whether it's pattern writing, swatch knitting, perfecting a call-for-submission, notion designing, or knitting a few rows on a personal project, I've grown to love this quiet and productive creative time. 

There are three main projects I'm focusing on right now, each with it's own special significance. I'm excited to eventually share them with you!  

Since tomorrow’s a holiday, I plan to spend my day pattern writing and knitting the front gansey on my Willow sweater. I hope you all have a wonderful Fourth of July!

beginnings

Last week was the best mail week ever. I received not one, but two packages from Quince & Co. The first contained four skeins of Tern sock yarn in springy shades of pale blue and lavender (Oyster, Mist & Dusk). These are for a new lace sock design I've been tinkering with over the winter, and it will be hard to decide which color(s) to use! I also splurged on a bottle of Twig & Horn's Wool Soap in Rosewood. I'm a sucker for good packaging, and I love the minimalist label and how you can see the milky soap through the clear glass bottle.

The second--and most important package--contained three simple skeins of Lark worsted-weight wool in the Canvas colorway. As is tradition, they came snuggly wrapped in Quince's classic brown paper bag, tightly sealed with the bright-white, circular Q sticker. Opening a Quince package is always like opening a Christmas present, however, this time, peeling back that sticker and opening that brown paper bag had a whole new meaning to me. You see, these three skeins mark a big first step forward in my knitting journey. And while I can't reveal the project yet, I will say that I did not expect an opportunity like this to come along so soon!

december

It's hard to believe we've reached the final month of the year. Fall flew by way too fast--it was all just a blur, really. From August to late November, work kept me moving at a steady pace. For those of you who don't know, a big of my job is to oversee the production of all the marketing and advertising content that goes into hiring Amazon.com's seasonal workers, so they can pick, pack, and ship all of your holiday orders. As you can imagine, this is quite a feat! We're starting to wind down now, so I'm beginning to shift my focus back to all things knitting. 

Somehow through all the chaos, I've started to combine my love of knitting with my passion for marketing and branding. I released my very first pattern for sale, The Giving Mitts, which was both extremely nerve-wracking and exciting. After dozens of hours fretting over making sure every detail was perfect, pushing the 'publish to Ravelry' button felt exhilarating! The #knitstagram community has been so supportive and it's been so much fun seeing everyone's posts. 

I also sent in two design submissions--a pair of lace socks to The Fibre Co.'s YSP 2 collection, and a worsted-weight cowl to Quince & Co.'s Scarves, etc. 7. The Fibre Co. ended up passing on my design, but I really enjoyed the whole process of coming up with the design concept, knitting a prototype, and branding the submission PDF. Actually, if I'm being honest, while I love the challenge of knitwear design, the best part of a submission is the pattern branding. I have so much fun staging the photos, setting the PDF layouts, choosing the fonts, writing the copy, and sharing glimpses on social media. 

All of this, I hope,  is good practice for down the road. My son graduates high school next year, so the question of  what's next has been a common theme around our home. Lately, we've been obsessively looking at real estate in Maine and are seriously considering a move up North. It would be a dream to move to small, coastal town and provide marketing support to a fiber company. In January, we're thinking about heading Down East to check out some of the small towns we've been researching. We hope that seeing them in winter will provide us with a realistic view of what it might be like to live there. If you have any suggestions on where to look, I'd love to hear them!  

hello, friday!

I decided to ease into this morning with a little knitting, coffee, and a quick tarot reading. I pulled The Star, which (according to the book) means I need to focus my conscious intention so that my creative dreams can be realized...this is particularly interesting considering the week I've had! 

What's everyone up to this weekend? When I get home from work today, I'm going to stalk the mailbox for the Swan’s Island Organic Washable Wool that I ordered for a new, super-secret project! I'll also spend some time finishing up the final paper for my Berkeley class. Thankfully, this is the last class for the year! We're heading into our busy season at work, so I like to take the Fall semester off to focus on the business; I'll resume school in January once things are calmer. The good news is that I get a few extra hours back during the week to focus on my knitting...

Here are some fun things from around the web to help you kick off your weekend:

• Amanda over at Soule Mama has been experimenting with natural dyes—this week, she used avocado pits and skins which resulted in the loveliest dusty rose-hued yarn.
• Jared Flood is getting ready to release his latest book, Woolens. Wednesday can’t get here fast enough!
• Leave it to Quince & Co. to release the most perfect collection of shawls to help us transition into Fall…the Butterfly pattern in the Fox colorway is particularly exquisite.
• I’m planning on mixing up a couple of these Sazerac cocktails post-paper writing—cheers!

Have a great weekend!

weekend #knitspiration

What's everyone up to this weekend? My sister and I are taking a road trip up to Long Island for our cousin's bridal shower! We're excited to spend the night with our youngest sister, her husband, and our two little nephews. We're going to drink wine, eat pizza, and do a little swimming with the boys!

I can't decide what I want to knit on the car ride up...the Topiary shawl is way too complicated for car conversations, so I'm thinking about getting a head start on my Christmas knitting and casting on a new hat or cowl. Any pattern suggestions?

Whatever you're doing this weekend, I hope it involves some knitting! Here's a little #knitspiration curated from our little fiber community this week:

No. 1 :: In case you guys haven't heard (wink, wink), Brooklyn Tweed released three marled color ways into his worsted weight Shelter line this week. Shelter Marls comes in three gorgeous colorways: Narwhal (shown), Newsprint, and Caribou. For a limited time, Jared's offering a free copy of his new Mawson Hat pattern when you purchase 1 or 2 skeins of the new yarn!

No. 2 :: Pam Allen has done it again with her new Andromeda Sweater pattern. Part of Quince's new collection, Tern 2016, this lightweight, open cardigan is the perfect piece for layering over summer dresses as we head into the cooler weather. 

No. 3 :: Now that I've learned my swatch lesson, I think Twig & Horn's Square Gauge Ruler is in order. The clever square design will ensure I'm hitting both stitch and row gauge. Check out the #twigswatching hashtag on Instagram—the ruler makes swatches look like framed pieces of art!

No. 4 :: I'm about to start a new counted cross-stitch sampler, and Never Not Knitting's Ornate Sewing Scissors might be the perfect way to snip away all of those tiny threads.

Have a lovely weekend! 

Photos courtesy of Brooklyn Tweed, Quince & Co., Twig & Horn, Never Not Knitting