Moving Up

I finally have an actual website so I won’t be continuing to update this wordpress hosted blog.

You can find out the latest of what I am doing as well as some other nifty things at my new website

http://tabithasheart.com

Hats a-plenty

I have a couple of hats I forgot to introduce you to. These are easy-to-knit hats that don’t take a lot of yarn so they are perfect for quick gifts.

First, is Georgie.

Georgie

This sweet little moss stitch hat is reminiscent of the one worn by Lucy in the Narnia movie. It is a close-fitting textured beret that is suitable for a variety of yarns, including variegated colors.

 

Suitable for the advanced beginner to intermediate knitter, the pattern is knit in the round using basic knit and purl stitches and simple decreases. Pattern comes in two sizes to fit head circumferences of 20 – 24 inches/51-61 cm, which is suitable for older children and teens through adults. Available as a download through Ravelry.

 

Georgie

$5.00

 

 

Next, Hidden Gems.

Hidden Gems

This reversible toque/beanie is a winter time essential. It looks good on guys or girls, making it a great quick-to-knit gift. Worked in DK weight, it is warm but still fast to knit.

 

Pattern suitable for advanced beginner to intermediate knitters. Skills needed – knitting small circumference in the round, increases and decreases and basic stitches, chart reading recommended but not required. Pattern comes in three sizes for head circumferences from 14 – 16 in/36 – 41 cm through – 21-23 in/53 – 58 cm, which is suitable for older children and teens through adults.

Hidden Gems

$5.00

 

Now through 29 February 2012, you can use the code TH-BeMine to get 50% off the price of either hat. Or both. You can redeem the coupon here.

 

And those of you who took part in the treasure hunt will be receiving a code later today via email for a free copy of one of my newest patterns. Thanks to all who played.

Treasure Hunt – Clue 3

Your treasure hunt is nearing its conclusion. Unfortunately, the you may find the clues to be a little tougher. Here are this weeks clues.

Happy Hunting

Clue 3

(26 November 2011)

1. What caused the foot injury that required the application of a Ratatouille Tattoo bandage ?
2. What was the unfortunate consequence of my Kool-aid dyeing experience?
3. What character trait gives a person the most points on the “Knit worthiness” scale?

When you have found all the answers click this link to enter your responses.

If you missed Clue 1 or 2, go to this post for details.

Tam with a Name

Mermaid Coin

Here is my latest adventure in stranded colorwork. This faux Fair Isle hat, that almost didn’t have a name, is created using variegated sock yarn along with a coordinating solid. This is a great pattern for that beautiful skein of hand-painted yarn that is uncooperative with most stitch patterns.

The pattern requires knowledge of knitting in the round, double decreases and basic stranded colorwork, as well as reading color charts. Colorwork is fully charted with written instructions for basic techniques.

Introductory Special – Through December 31st, buy this pattern together with Fire & Water Beret and get a $3.00 discount using coupon code TH-Stranded at checkout. Use the redemption link below for this offer.

Redemption Link

Fire & Water

I just listed my 48th design on Ravelry. Fire & Water Beret

This colorful stranded colorwork beret was inspired by the Aztec art of Mexico. Doubly warm because of the stranding, this colorful hat will cheer the coldest winter day.

Pattern is suitable for intermediate knitters. Skills required: knitting small circumference in the round, stranded colorwork, chart reading. Charts are in color. I purchased Loopy Ewe Solid Series yarn for this pattern but the contrast colors can be worked easily with scrap yarn from your stash. All together I used approximately 90 – 100 yd of the blue, and approximately 20 – 25 yd of each of the three contrast colors.

 

$5.00

Be watching for matching pieces for this hat.

Treasure Hunt – Clue Two

Hope you had fun finding last week’s treasure hunt clues. Thanks to all of you who have participated and given me feedback on the game. If you missed last week’s clues, you can find them along with the game rules in the Saturday Surprises post.

Here are you next clues.

Clue Two
(12 November 2011)

1. Find the Tutorials page on my website and tell me the name of my Kool-aid dyeing tutorial.
2. Find the What’s Cooking? page and tell me the name of the friend who gave me the Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy recipe. /li>
3. Find the Newsletter Archive page and tell me what month featured the Chickpea and Feta Salad recipe.

Bonus Points: Answer this question for an extra entry in the drawing for the yarn gift certificate.
Find the Gulf Breezes post and click on the link for the website for the yarn used for shawl sample then tell me the name of your favorite colorway of Amanda’s wonderful yarns.

When you have found all the answers, click this link to enter your answers.

Happy Hunting.

Saturday Surprises

I have had an idea for a game bouncing around in my head for a while. Something that would be fun, a bit silly and where everybody wins. It is also the time of year when I start thinking about a holiday gift for my loyal fans. So why not combine the two??

May I present my first every Holiday Treasure Hunt.

Here’s how it works:

Each Saturday for the next four weeks (throughout the month of November), I will post a list of things you need to find on my website. There will be three questions to answer each week regarding those three things that you find. At the bottom of the post will be a link to click to enter your answers for the treasure hunt for that week. The links to all for clues will stay active until mid-December so if you are doing holiday things and miss a clue, you can always fill it out later.

After the last clue is posted, those who have solved all four clues will receive a download link for a new pattern that has not yet been released. In addition, one name will be drawn at random from among those who completed the treasure hunt to win the yarn to complete the design. You will be given a gift certificate from WEBS for the yarn so you can pick your favorite colors.

Ready for your first clue?

Clue One
(5 November 2011)

1. Find the post about blocking felted hats and answer this question:
What unusual supplies were used in the blocking of the Lily Alexania hat?

2. Find the From the Heart page on my website and answer this question:
What is the name of the recipe page on my website?

3. Find the Resources page on my website and answer this question:
Which is NOT a section of my Resources page? (multiple choice)

If you think you have found all the answers, click this link to enter your answers.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Next clue will be posted on 12 November 2011.

Finally Fall

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, so you all know what that means. It is officially fall. Fall here is a little less pronounced than in other parts of the country. Here, our summer gradually blends into winter and fall is that blending period. It means that the high temperatures are in the mid-80s instead of high-90s. It means that is is cool enough to sleep without the air conditioner and the leaves start changing. Here, they don’t all seem to change at once. You see a tree here and a tree there but often we don’t get that blaze of color typically associated with autumn. Also, there are lots of evergreen trees here so even in the dead of winter, there are still plenty of patches of green.

We have a few flowers that only bloom here in the fall, like the spider lily

and the confederate rose. My confederate rose hasn’t bloomed quite yet this year but that first bloom of the year is always reason for celebration. It tends to get featured in a knitting pattern.

I also still have azalea blossoms. Our mild climate is suitable to a variety of azalea that blooms in the spring and fall. I rather like this particular plant.

With the temperatures not being so miserably hot, I have renewed creative energy so my knitting and designing tend to kick into high gear. This year is no exception. Here is my latest design.

Debbie’s Diamonds Shawl

I have been working on this pattern for a while. It was my first attempt at a fully charted lace design. This shawl was designed for my friend Debbie of Dodge Creations. The sample is knit in her lovely hand-dyed yarn – Dodge Creations Dye Works.

This lovely rectangular shawl featuring a bold diamond motif will be a versatile wardrobe addition. It looks as fabulous with eveningwear as it does with jeans. Shawl is knit in one piece using basic lace techniques. Design is fully charted, and no line by line written instructions are included. Pattern is suitable for Intermediate to Advanced knitters. You will need to know basic lace techniques as well as chart reading.The pattern file is quite large (over 3Mb in size) so please contact me if you have trouble downloading it and I can send a multiple file version of the pattern.

$7.00

Before I shut up, I need to announce the winner for my “The Thing about Summer” contest. The winner is Joyce. I will be sending your patterns to you through Ravelry later today. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who played.  The next contest will be in October – it will be a scavenger hunt.

Until next time, happy knitting.

Paint Chips and Socks

We have finally gotten to the stage in rearranging where it’s time to do the fun stuff. Time to pick the paint. So which color do I want on my walls?

And when I am not working on getting everything in the house back in order, I am knitting socks.

That’s about all for this week. Don’t forget to enter the contest from the last post and the contest on my Ravelry group. Winners for both contests will be chosen on 10 September 2011.

The Thing about Summer (Contest)

…is that it gets away from you really quickly. This summer is no different. It has zoomed by a light speed.

Here is a quick update on what’s been going on this summer.

Summer Reading Program
Everyone in the family, except Mr H, took part in a summer reading program. With all the other stuff going on none of us read an astronomical number of books but we still won some prizes. SmallFry won a game, Buttercup won a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant and I got tickets to a play. Plus we all tried out some new authors and have a list of books to read for the rest of the year.

Gardening
We tried but the weather just didn’t cooperate much. It was exceptionally dry this spring so the plants just didn’t do much. We did get some fresh veggies but not as many as we would have liked. We are hoping for better luck with the fall garden.

StarFleet Fiber Arts Corps
I mentioned this group in my last post. I am still knitting away for Starfleet. I should have at least one more promotion by the end of the summer but I am hoping to jump two ranks.

Home
The house has tied up a lot of my time this summer. First, there was the series of appliance failures and car woes to deal with. And then we turned the house totally upside down to create an office space for me and a more functional school space. When all is said and done, there will probably only be one piece of furniture in the entire house that didn’t get moved. On the bright side, I love my new bedroom and office. I think this new arrangement, once everything finally returns to its proper place, will be more conducive to creative work.

Designing
I’ve been working away on a number of designs but I haven’t quite got them ready to show you yet. Just know that there will be a lot of new things to see for fall.

Contest
Finally, a contest since I haven’t given away anything on the blog lately. Many of you who read this will be aware with my family’s fondness for the TV show Doctor Who. In celebration of the start of Season 6.5, how about a chance to win my Doctor Who-themed patterns? Just post a comment about your favorite Doctor Who moment. Please include your Ravelry ID, an email addy or some way to contact you if you win. One winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator and will receive a copy of the following patterns – Medusa Cascade Shawl, Medusa Cascade Socks, Time Lord Socks and Sprinkles Socks which are affectionately known as TARDIS socks because the lace looks like little TARDISes hurtling through time and space. In the event that the winner already owns some of these pattern, he or she will be allowed to choose a different pattern or even gift the duplicate pattern to a friend.

For more chances to win, join my Ravelry group, like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter and then post another comment for each social outlet to let me know you are following me and you will receive an extra entry. So that is four chances to win per person. As an bonus prize, the winner will also receive the Who-themed pattern that I am secretly working on as soon as the pattern is released. That is a total of 5 patterns! All in time for holiday knitting.

There is also another contest going on my Ravelry group so if you join that group, make sure you play the game.