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Searching for the perfect Baby Shower or First Birthday Gift to knit? Your search has just lead you to Erika Flory’s Kidknits where you’ll find your next baby Hat & Pullover project among her many adorable choices! Fortunately Erika has allowed me to add her designs as both PDF Patterns and Kits.
Meet Erika Flory: “Kidknits grew out of my life-long passion for knitting and my desire to work from home to be with my children when they were young. Read “My Career in Knitting” in the June 2006 issue of knitnet.com for the full story. I’ve also recently become an Associate Member of The Association of Knitwear Designers .
Fifteen years of designing, making and selling baby sweaters, hats, blankets, and toys on the craft show circuit finally took its toll, and kidknits.biz was born: kits and patterns for the same popular designs I had been selling as finished items.
Knitting for your baby or someone else’s baby should be fun. It shouldn’t be so costly or complicated that you’re afraid to have the item worn or used, so I’m dedicated to offering high quality materials at affordable prices combined with clear instructions.”
Kidknits’ Kits include everything you need to knit your little masterpiece! The Pattern, printed on card stock with a color photograph, and enough Peaches n Creme 100% cotton worsted weight yarn to complete the largest size, plus buttons & trim when applicable and a graphed design chart with row by row instructions.
Erika has many whimsical designs to choose from, the Car, Watermelon, Sunflower, Strawberry, Sheep, Penguin, Snowflake, Dinosaur, Sweetheart and Flag Pullover & Hat Sets and the Calypso, Pumpkin, Fruit, Corkscrew Tassel, Sunflower, Strawberry and Peapod Hats.
Sometimes all it takes is a new Pillow or Throw to liven up an already comfortable room. Decorative pillows & throws offer infinite opportunities to embellish any decorating scheme by introducing color, texture and pattern. Rich colors create warmth while cooler colors can instantly freshen up a room. Easily changed to suit your mood & the seasons, the best thing about these decorative touches is they’re an affordable way to put the finishing touch on your home decor or to change your look completely.
And Maggie Pace creator of Pick Up Sticks Felted Knit Designs brings us some fresh lively cushion ideas! Knit and felt her Plum Blossom Pillow in colors to suit your taste. Or line your couch with a row of the playful circular shaped Aqua Swirl Pillows for a fresh modern look. And introduce both warmth and minimalism into the room with the Metroline Pillow.
For a special young lady’s room brighten up her bed with La Lana Wools’ romantic Striped Pillow or the soft Dream Pillow, sweet dreams!
Add a blast of color to any room by draping an afghan or throw over a couch or tossing one on a guest bed for inviting charm. Shcaefer’s Combination Designer Throw and Quick & Easy Multi Textured Afghan are two beautiful choices. Berroco has some easy and quick throws to knit up, the wavy Maranda and honey combed patterned Komb. And La Lana Wools’ Creative Knit Afghan will add a touch of the southwest to your decor.
And once you’ve made your private space perfect you’ll want to sit and relax with your favorite cup to tea and of course your knitting. Keep you pot warm with Oceanwind Knits’ special Posie Tea Cozy.
In the past few months I’ve added 12 new Indie Designers to the site. The next talented fiber artist to join is Lori Law of Oceanwind Knits. Oceanwind Knits showcases and publishes Lori’s knit design work. Lori is a designer and artist, formerly located in British Columbia, recently moved to southwestern Ontario, Canada.
Meet Lori Law…
I have been creative since birth. Well, maybe not quite, but, I can’t remember a time when creative activity wasn’t part of my nature [and I know it drove my mother crazy ;)]. I’m generally not one to go on about who I am, preferring, instead, to let my work do the talking, but, folks seem to like a little background. So here you are.
Who do you think you are, anyways?
I think of myself as creative. [Some would call me a creative fusspot].
Over the years, I have directed a naturally (obsessive?) creative inclination into many forms, including music, painting, writing and designing clothing and artwork and accessories, both with fabric and with sticks and string. I have a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Guelph. I spent many years working as a professional pianist and pipe organist [now that’s an instrument to have fun with] as well as retail design. I’ve also developed a web design background working primarily with CSS [CSS are my friends!], XHTML, bits of Flash and ASP.
All of these things + a zest for getting ideas into concrete form [+ a knitting addiction obsession], go into Oceanwind Knits.
I have been knitting for over 30 years [I can’t remember who taught me, but it was so long ago that I don’t remember a time when I was not knitting], and for many of those years, I was unable to stop myself from designing knitted things. I tried, for a time, to just stop [after all there are already a zillion patterns in the world by many fabulous designers, why do we need any more?]. But, I couldn’t.
So, after years of [compulsively] designing gifts for friends and family and things for myself, and with much encouragement from recipients and onlookers (thanks, Debbie!), I formed Oceanwind Knits.
I hope my designs speak for themselves. I focus on clean lines with definitive detailing. I love felting which just brings on a whole new level of design possibilities. I like a single motif or detail to make a design ’sing’ and I like to try unexpected colour combinations. I want to design something you can sling around your hip and feel good wearing about town. :) And, I like things to be fun.
I have a strong desire to bring out details and poke about getting a certain feel and fuss over ‘little things’, right down to the placement of each and every little stitch and its influence on the rest of the design. This is part of each design and pattern I publish.
I love love love how the Internet has opened up so many opportunities. The knitting culture online is so amazing.
Bits and Pieces
Extraneous info you might like to know…
Knitting method: ‘uncrossed Eastern’ [I’ve only recently discovered the actual term for how I choose to knit; for years I just told folks I knit ‘weird’ since it’s a fairly uncommon way of knitting here in Canada… it’s also difficult to explain on a technical level since it involves some particular maneouvers to created decreases, since the stitches are mounted with the leading leg at the back of the needle… some day I will put up a little demo ;)… I am however, very tuned into each stitch, which is probably why I have ingested so much knitting information over the years, being sure I execute things correctly when most knitting books show ‘Western’ methods of manipulating stitches]. I also knit primarily on circulars since I have small hands. I can also throw (western), do Norwegian purls and knit continental, if requested. I have tried just about every knitting style out there.
What don’t I like about knitting?
Not much… bobbles drive me a bit crazy, as does Entrelac and multimulti-coloured intarsia [although I love stranded and Fair Isle work]… and fiddly things which involve a lot of little bits which need to be pieced together afterwards. Most of my work has minimal seams and details are often knitted on as you work.
Preferred yarns to work with:
Merino and other wools, silks and soft cottons. I love to add in novelty bits for a bit of zing.
Who has influenced me?
Fassett, Bliss, Lavold, Paden, Philosopher Wool, Koigu, Avery… Annie Modesitt and many many other contemporaries; Dawn Brocco, Janet Szabo, ChicKnits, Jackie E-S and Jenna Wilson stand out, particularly.
What do you do to relax?
Knit other designers’ patterns. :)
Anyways, that’s it, in a nutshell, pretty much.
If you’d like to read a bit here and there about my daily life, visit my blog, Musindigo.
Lori Law
Oceanwind Knits
I’ve been so busy with all of the new Indie Designers who have joined my team (I’m in the process of adding 3 more right now) that you may have thought I stopped knitting altogether! Not true, well almost not true. I did take a break in June but its July and I’m back in full force. Remember my Karabella Aurora Bulky Round Neck Sweater!? Well that’s it below, yes, getting blocked! Hurray! I never thought I’d see the day I’m getting it ready to be sewn up. Hip Hop Hurray. I can barely contain my excitement over the prospect of actually being able to try it on. And I may have to wear it to the coldest movie theater in town for that first experience, we’ve hit over 95 degrees here already and 100+ is just around the corner.
So what’s next?! I’ve already cast on Fathom Harvill’s sexy little number Coachella! A free pattern from Knitty.com I may add. Gotta love free. I do carry the Kit though, pattern not included. Its knit with only 4 balls of Berroco Suede, Tri Color Abilene Mix is what I’m knitting mine in.
PATTERN NOTE: I cast on for the neckline on size 29″ circulars like the instructions stated and they are too big to knit in the round so I had to switch to size 24″.
Introducing Maggie Pace of Pick Up Sticks Felted Knit Designs! Maggie is the next Independent Knitwear Designer to join Sandrasingh.com Enjoy Pick Up Sticks’ patterns as instant PDF Downloads and as Kits which include their wonderful Pick Up Sticks 100% Wool For Felting Yarn.
Meet Maggie Pace: Maggie Pace started Pick Up Sticks! in 2003, when she was five months pregnant with her second child, Callum. After working as an editor for 10 years, Maggie was ready for something new. She had just discovered felting, and she found herself madly knitting gigantic, grocery-sized bags and shrinking them down into exciting smaller shapes. What she loved most was the transformation of the fibers: she could take a standard-looking wool handknit and turn it into a brand new textile, stiff, yet soft to the touch, with all the colors blending as if they had always been a single material. She was hooked, and literally felted everything that wasn’t pinned down. This was the career she had been searching for, so she marched down to the city and got herself a business license.
Two weeks later, fate dealt a surprising blow: Maggie was hospitalized due to complications with her pregnancy. There, doctors told her if she wanted to save the baby, she had to lie flat on her back for the next four months. No sitting, no working, no running after her daughter, Kendal. It was from this mandatory confinement that Pick Up Sticks! patterns were born—right along with Callum, who entered the world June 14, 2003, full term, and perfectly healthy. (He arrived just in time to model Ball Cap, a design inspired by his birth.)
Today, Pick Up Sticks! patterns and kits are sold at stores nationwide and Maggie has expanded the company. Enjoy her exquisite and exciting Hat, Bag and Accessory designs! Maggie hopes you enjoy her patterns and that you get as much pleasure out of knitting them as she did out of creating them!
Katherine Lee of SweaterBabe.com and author of Fabulous & Flirty Crochet is the next talented Indie knitwear designer to carry her stylish & sexy garments & accessories on my site.
Meet Katherine Lee: SweaterBabe.com patterns are designed by Katherine Lee, author of the bestselling crochet book, SweaterBabe.com’s Fabulous & Flirty Crochet. Katherine also runs the popular SweaterBabe.com website, where knitters and crocheters everywhere can find great knitting and crochet tips and advice; free and exclusive patterns; a huge, easily searchable yarn store directory; and much more.
Her designs have been featured in magazines as well as several of the highly successful Vogue Knitting on the Go titles, Greetings from Knit Cafe, Fabulous Crochet Ponchos, and The New Crochet. She was a Guest Expert on the DIY show Uncommon Threads, in an episode called “Crochet Class”, where she taught knitters how to crochet a simple triangular shawl.
Katherine pattern designs are inspired by her California lifestyle, as well as the cool, hip trends that surround her in Hollywood, where she is based. All of the patterns are very well written and available to you in instant download format!
Enjoy Katherine’s Cables & Lace Kimono Wrap, Romantic Cable & Lace Vest, Kimono Wrap Lace Top, Charming Shawl-Collared Cardigan, Turtelneck Capelet, Handsome Basketweave Crocheted Scarf, Fabulous Lace Inset Cardigan and more!
