Halloween Party Photo Post

Our Halloween party was Saturday night and it was a smashing success!

I was Fionna from the gender-swapped episode of Adventure Time. Super easy costume, just had to make the skirt and the hat (which has two ears, one is folded down in the photo.) I also helped make Erik's costume:

He was a dead version of Nibbler from Futurama, hence the limp eyestalk. I helped him make his headpiece and made the cape and shirt. I have to say, I was probably more excited than one should be about their boyfriend wearing a diaper. I was happy that he went all the way and got into character! Halloween is important, yo!

We had a bevy of jello shots, including ones that glowed under black light thanks to this awesome site.

The night also included: homemade cupcakes, mini tacos, a bonfire with s'mores, face painting and lots of music and dancing! It was the perfect mix of new friends and old, everyone mingled with ease and there were no cliques. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I'm glad we celebrated it with style! Now the weather just needs to behave so I can go to another party tomorrow night!

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Since Webs is so graciously giving away the yarn to make my Wallpaper Cowl,  I thought I'd post a few other color combos I picked out to give you some ideas! Photos by Lindsey Topham for Webs/Valley Yarns.

Northfield in Camel & Deep Water, Huntington in Arctic

Northfield in Natural & Avocado, Huntington in Harvest Orange

Northfield in Stone Blue & Chestnut, Huntington in Mustard

Northfield in Mauve & Haze, Huntington in Porcelain Blue

Rhinebeck Recap

Saturday was my first time ever at Rhinebeck! I went as part of the Webs bus trip and I'm glad I got to FINALLY see what everyone raves about each fall. Want to see what I scored?

A sweater's worth of Miss Bab's Yowza Whatta Skein in Coral

Gorgeous porcelain buttons from Melissa Jean

I gave myself a decent (but strict) budget since I'm trying to keep my stash under control. Especially with designing, I don't get as much time to knit for myself so I feel a little guilty whenever I bring more yarn home! I've been a fan of Miss Bab's yarn for a while and wanted to see it in person and decided it was worth a splurge. I am IN. LOVE. with those buttons, I think they look like little waffle cones! I also got a nice brick of Emmentaler cheese. All in all, I stayed under my budget including buying food there so I was a happy camper. I hit the artichoke stand as soon as we arrived since I had heard about it on Ravelry and that was the best thing I ate there! I got to meet several lovely Ravelry/twitter friends which was really cool. And I got to see this guy:

Giant bunneh!!!!

I used my time on the bus wisely and knit this hat out of Berroco Lodge:

I made up the pattern on the fly and I'm pleased with how it turned out! It has a cabled brim and some tucks in the back to encourage slouchy-ness. I've been a little preoccupied with Lodge after seeing Crosstrail and actually bought two balls of it during Stitches East from our own booth. I loved seeing the color changes in action and it knits up fast--even with ripping out my progress I still managed to finish the hat before we got back home. Erik tried it on and it looks good on him too, so it might wind up being a shared hat!

Giveaway Winner

Thank you all for entering the Wallpaper Cowl giveaway. The winner is Brenda--check your email for the pattern! I finished my pullover juuuust in time for Rhinebeck. Blocked it yesterday and have to sew my buttons on tonight. If you happen to spy me in the crowd on Saturday, please say hi! I love meeting internet friends.

For the dreamers

Remember the sneak peek I showed you a few days ago? The Dreamer's Braided Pullover is here!

All photos by Lindsey Topham for Webs/Valley Yarns

I am super excited that this pattern is finally released since as you can see, I was able to do a really gorgeous photoshoot wearing it! All the clothes and styling choices are my own so this is truly how I would wear it--I wanted to show an option aside from jeans which (as we know) go with everything, and I love this look.

I had a dream about this design several months ago (hence the 'dreamer's' part of the name!) My dream was about a pullover sweater with a colorwork yoke flanked by Latvian braid details. Hmm...where have we seen those recently? :P I wrote down the idea when I woke up and filed it away for when the time was right. The yoke pattern in my dream was more geometric, but didn't look right when I swatched it and I really liked the look of this curved stitch pattern. It's actually straight knitting with slipped stitches, so the only time you're knitting with two colors in the same row is when you're working the braids and the corrugated ribbing. The body is worked in one piece to the yoke, then set aside as the sleeves are knit. Once sleeves and body are joined you work the yoke and are done! My favorite element is the few rows of raglan shaping I did in the yoke before the colorwork section is started--it snugs up the underarm area to eliminate too much bunching from extra fabric and gives it a really clean fit.

We also decided to do something different and I hooped for some funky action shots!

Valley Yarns Sheffield is a cozy, snuggly, shut-the-world-out blend of merino, silk and angora with just enough of a halo to soften the edges of the colorwork without completely blurring out the design. I think it's warm enough to warrant the cropped sleeves, especially in transitional fall weather, but it would look super cute layered over a long sleeve shirt in the middle of winter. All you have to do is dream up your favorite color combination and cast on!

Holla Knits Accessories Blog Tour

Holla Knits Accessories is finally here! Introducing my Wallpaper Cowl:

Gynx Yarns DK & Sock

Like the majority of my design ideas, I thought of this funky cowl while at work and did what I always do: scribble it down on a post-it and stash it in my design folder to marinate for awhile. (Seriously. That thing is FILLED with post-its, and I know I have at least one new idea floating around in my purse right now!) The HK call for accessories was super timely and since Allyson loves color as much--if not more!--than I do, I knew the cowl would be well received. It's a great introduction to stranded colorwork and working from charts, plus you get to try out a fun new technique with the Latvian braid details. The lining stops any annoying floats from catching as you pull the cowl on and off, which is especially perfect for anyone like me who wears glasses!

Valley Yarns Northfield & Huntington

When you send a pattern off to a magazine, you have to be willing to give up control of styling and photography. Allyson is great with both so I trust her 100%, but I was surprised when I got the results of the photoshoot and saw that she was wearing the cowl "upside down"! And then immediately realized it doesn't matter--the wallpaper design looks AMAZING no matter which way you wear it! Just make sure to pick up stitches for the lining at the side you want to be 'up,' since that way the neatest edge is closest to your gorgeous face, like so:

The "good side" of the lining

To share the love, I'm giving away a PDF copy of my pattern! To enter, leave a comment on this post OR mention @welforddesigns on Twitter. (You could even tweet "I hear that @welforddesigns likes to suck eggs" so get creative!) You can of course get two entries by tweeting and commenting, but make sure to use your email address if you comment so I can get in touch with you. The deadline to enter is October 18th at midnight EST and I will announce the winner here as well as contact them directly!

HK Accessories Collection--the gang's all here!

Don't forget to follow the rest of the tour! I can personally vouch for the stop on the 22nd....or maybe they can vouch for me? We kinda have a Monday through Friday thing going on. ;)

October 8: The Sweatshop of Love October 9: Under the Red Umbrella October 10: Rohn Strong October 11: Emma Welford Designs October 12: Knits in Class

October 15: Bumblebirch Designs October 16: Audrey’s Teashop October 17: Gynx October 18: Adaly Myles Place October 19: Canary Knits

October 22: Webs Yarn Store Blog  October 23: The Sweatshop of Love Hosts Homestead Heirlooms! October 24: Knitted Bliss October 25: Stash, the Knit Picks Staff Blog October 26: Holla Knits hosts Tara Shade!

Let there be sleeves!

One down, one to go! I'm aiming to have it finished, blocked and dried by next Saturday so I can wear it to Rhinebeck. It's my first time going so OF COURSE I have to have a Rhinebeck sweater. And why not make it one that I designed?

I'm extremely pleased since it's coming out exactly how I pictured it when I first thought of these mods. Obviously I've modded other sweater patterns before when I knit them, but nothing to this extent. I had to:

1. Calculate a new size based on my different gauge with this yarn (6sts/1" instead of 7sts/1") and because I wanted a 34" finished bust size.
2. Adjust the instructions for working in the round (not that hard.)
3. Do fewer decreases at the neck and armhole so I would have wider straps and so the body would be shaped more like a pullover. I kind of winged this part but my instincts turned out to be perfect, no frogging required.
4. Work short row sleeve caps for the first time! My first attempt was too big so I had to rip it out and start again

I've got a week and a few days left, then yarn heaven! I'm also working at the Webs booth at Stitches East this Friday, which is definitely a change of pace from my office. I did a stint there last year and managed to meet a lot of the suppliers I work with, so I'm looking forward to catching up with some of them and maybe finally meeting some others. If you happen to be attending, stop by and look for me!

I also did a photo shoot for work a few weeks ago. Here's a sneak peek...

Photo by Lindsey Topham for Webs/Valley Yarns

I wonder who designed that lovely sweater I'm wearing....? ;)