Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A New Year

We have passed through a season of holidays and now are already in 2012.  I have been busy with family and also designing since my last post.  My newest design - Candy Cane (Red) Ruffles Scarf is posted for sale on Ravelry and Etsy, and there have been some sales.  I just found out that Craftsy is beginning a sales area for independent designers, so I will soon be able to sell patterns from their site as well.  I am hoping to add a pattern or two to Knit Picks also but have some work to do on this.

I am excited about a baby shawl pattern that I entered into the Lion Brand contest sponsored by Vanna White, using her Vanna's Glamour line of yarn.  I also have another line of ruffled scarves to publish soon which will have multiple options to it.  This is very exciting to me.  I want to give as many options as possible to each pattern and make it a versatile pattern to use.

On a personal note, I spent the last week caring for my 90-year-old mom who is battling Alzheimer's and Parkinsonism.  It is a great challenge to work with her.  She is the one I have to thank though for teaching me to knit and crochet.  She was a great seamstress, making my wedding dress, and most of my clothes when I lived at home.  Many times I have thought that she could have been a fashion designer or at least an assistant in the fashion industry.  I hope that I will in some way be able to fulfill that desire through my personal designing in knit and crochet.  To help me do the best job and further my advance in the fiber arts, I have signed up to audit an art class at U.W.-Stout, which has a fashion design and merchandising program.  I'm excited about the possibilities and the skills this will open to me in designing.