Best meet-up in Orlando

I have been part of Ravelry for over 5 years now (WOW! Can you believe it?), and I have been blessed (like the rest of us) with many, many friends.
Those who live near me, in Buenos Aires, have become some of my greatest friends, and very important people in my life, but I was also lucky to find many new friends around the world that I never thought I would be able to meet.

10 days ago, when we were still on holidays in Orlando, I had the privilege to meet 3 girls who make my designing job really fun: Maggy (Mswnnola), Shannon (Knitwit41) and Carol (Cdncarol).

These girls met while testing one of my patterns, and soon became close friends.  They kept on testing for me (thank you!), so they would end up always knitting the same sweaters at the same time... And one day they decided to meet up (the live far away from each other) and model these sweaters together.

From left to right: Maggy, Shannon and Carol, modelling their Jenica Hoodie

From left to right: Maggy, Carol and Shannon, modelling their Dragonflies Jumper

I owe them so much for helping me out with such a tedious job as testing is... They would find mistakes which meant they had to rip out a sleeve... Or would find out that the measurements are wrong and adjustments need to be made...  However they seem to enjoy it for some strange reason, and for that I am forever grateful.
But they also offer me the gift of their friendship, and when they found out I was coming to the US on holidays, they decided to make a trip to Orlando so that we could meet on my Birthday.
Of course, a visit to a theme park was the obvious hang-out date, so we met at Universal Studios.

I finally made it to their group shots!!!

We had so much fun!  And I got to understand why Carol gets so many knits done.  She even knits when waiting to ride a roller-coaster.

I cannot tell whether she was actually knitting while on the ride, but I suspect she actually did...  I wish there was an "Extreme Knitting" attraction somewhere.
They also took care of our boys so that my hubby and I could ride the big big roller coasters!  That was a Birthday gift on its own, but they surprised me with another awesome gift, spun by Shannon herself:

At night we went for dinner, and got to chat about life and future projects.  They were all wearing Window to my Soul, the latest test knit they did all together (more on that design on a future blog post).

Yes, I am having a mojito.  They told me this was the "small" one.

So even though I was not dressed up for the ocasion, I wore mine too and we took some pictures the 4 of us together (sorry, taking pics at night with a flash is not easy...).

These girls are awesome, and I am so happy that we could meet in "real life"!!!  I'll remember this Birthday forever!  THANK YOU!!!

-Joji

Our NYC holidays

So last Tuesday we came back home after spending a 20-day holiday in the US.  We had the chance to spend a whole week in NYC, and the rest of the time in the amazing Disneyworld, where the whole family had a fantastic time.  Such a wonderful holiday!!!

Even though one would think I would go straight to all the yarn stores there are to be seen, I was travelling with 4 men: my husband, my brother and my 2 sons.  So there was very little time for window shopping and the only time there was we spent it at Toys R Us or The Foot Locker....

But they were nice and came with me to the 2 stores I wanted to know the most:

Purl Soho:
On our second day in New York, on a rainy day, we came to this fabulous, stylish shop!  And I was in very good company...

It was the first time in my life entering a yarn store where I could see the yarns I work with before buying them.  I don't usually work with the products we have available in Argentina.  We do have awesome, awesome products, but I try to work with yarns that other knitters can also get for their projects. 
I must admit I was even a little bit shy before going in... I had been waiting to know this store for such a long time!

The first impression was amazing.  I had never seen shelves like these back at home.  Oh boy! What to buy?  So many lovely yarns... And I got to touch yarns that I had seen on the internet many times without being able to touch them...
I must say it was too overwhealming, and after putting several skeins in my basket and then returning them to the shelves, 2 of them decided to come home with me as gifts for my most loved ones: these 2 skeins of the OH SO FABULOUS Anzula.

Of course, since I had been so good to my boys, I got this handsome hubby to pay the bill ;)

Knitty City:
During our last day in New York, I was not feeling too well, so we decided to do something relaxed.  Perfect excuse to insert a visit to another yarn store! 

This store was not as chic as Purl, but I felt the true "artisan look" all over.  And let me tell you that the variety of yarns they carry is UNBELIEVABLE!  I felt I was in Wonderland.  This was the place where my wallet was actually shaking, and I did some damage to it for sure.

  There were so many delightful yarns tha tI had never seen live before, and the colors in each shelf were magical and mesmerizing...  However, this little shelf hidden in the bottom really took my heart: It was a big batch of Studio Worsted, from Neighborhood Fiber Co.

The skeins were really big (200g-400yd), but they only had 2 of them available in the color I chose, so I'll have to knit something tight!
Look at these beauties, I couldn't leave them at the shop:

And of course, I was in very good company, so the visit was delightful!

I hope you are not bored already, since I have the nicest story to tell you on a later post about some wonderful ladies I met in Orlando, after we left NYC!

-Joji

Imagine when...

I have an exciting new pattern to show you! 

I have been working on this project together with Sundara Yarns, and the whole process was pure bliss.  I enjoyed every minute of this project, too bad it was such a quick knit!

The construction is so simple, yet intriguing, using chained triangles to achieve an elongated shape, while still getting a very wearable piece (I love asymmetrical shawls, but I also like to show them off, so sometimes odd shapes are not my favorite).

I hope you like it! If you are looking for a quick, relaxing, but still interesting project to showcase 500 yards of some special yarn, then Imagine When is for you ♥

This simple yet elegant shawl was worked using Sundara's Fingering Merino Cashmere, available in 150g/500yd skeins of exquisitely dyed luxury.

The colorway is magical, but I'll let Sundara introduce it, since it is one of her new colorways.  All I can say is that photographs don't do justice.  It is too beautiful!

PS: Leaving on vacations tomorrow towards NYC... Pictures of Purl Soho coming as soon as I'm there!

-Joji

Neon - a collaboration with The Plucky Knitter Yarns!

I am so excited to share with you my latest news and pattern!
I have been working with The Plucky Knitter yarns in a collaborative design since the end of last year.  Pattern and yarn will be sold as kits tomorrow Monday February 4th on The Plucky Knitter's website, and the pattern will be also available as a Ravelry download in its own this week.

Scroll down to see the amazing color options Sarah has ready for us!

So I proudly present you my Neon.

Spring is just around the corner. What better way to welcome the change in seasons than with a darling little cardigan! I’m very excited to introduce this lovely little sweater designed with the amazing yarn by The Plucky Knitter. It will be just right for the surprises that spring weather always brings. Neon is designed in Plucky Sweater and features a top down construction, using the contiguous method. That means that there is no need to worry about seaming!

Neon has just enough textured stitch pattern to keep this charming cardigan interesting for the more advanced knitter, but is not too complex for an advanced beginner. The all over textured lace pattern, called the tulle stitch, is simple to work, but gives the finished sweater a very complex look. Plucky Sweater, with its subtle shading, is the perfect yarn for Neon, giving fantastic stitch definition and allowing your stitches to pop.

I believe my patterns are complimentary to women of all sizes. With just enough waist shaping and some deep ribbing, this sweet sweater will help to awaken your feminine side. Knit it in an intensely bright color to create a modern gem, or achieve a soft delicate heirloom piece by using a gentle neutral.

This sweater is here to help you prepare for those cooler transitional days as we gracefully move into Spring. Wear it over your favorite pair of jeans with a pair of sexy heels or slip it on over a cute summer dress. Neon will help break the chill of office air conditioning and will keep you cozy under the stars at a late night dinner.

Get ready to pamper your feminine side with a luxurious yarn and a charming design. We hope you love this pairing as much as we do.

Colorway shown: Hotsy Totsy

Sizes
To fit bust: 28/30 (32/34, 36/38, 40/42, 44/46, 48/50, 52/54, 56/58) inches. Shown in size 32/34, with 2” of negative ease.

Materials:
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Plucky Sweater (90% Merino/10% Nylon – 270 yd – 100g) 4 (5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8) skeins
Needles: US 6 (4mm) circular needles.
Other Notions: 8 (8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9) 15 mm buttons.
4 Stitch markers.
Waste yarn or stitch holders.
Gauge: 18 st and 24 rows to 4 inches on US6 (4 mm) needles, in tulle stitch, after blocking.
Pattern contains written instructions, schematics, video tutorial.

Colorways available ~

Please note: The kits will go live on the Plucky Knitter website Monday, February 4th at 9:00 a.m. Eastern and will remain open while spots remain. They have worked diligently to ensure they are able to fill the shop with as many kits as possible.

All sweater kits will ship the week of March 4th.

Thank you so very much from Joji and The Plucky Knitter!!!

www.thepluckyknitter.com
www.sjdimond4437.etsy.com
thepluckyknitter@gmail.com

A very productive year...

If you have been following me soou mewhere else than my blog, then you probably know about all this...  But unfortunately, my blog got very neglected this year.  And it was a very fantastic one!  So I thought I could write a post to catch up and tell you all about it.

It started while I was writing my very first (and only) ebook: April Showers.

 

This ebook was a comission from Malabrigo, as a part of their Freelance Pattern Project.  It was the first time someone from a yarn company contacted me to work for them.  It included 4 patterns, and I loved every single one of them.  It was A LOT of work, more than I expected.  Suddenly, I realized that writing an ebook required more than just writing 4 patterns and publish them at the same time!! Hahaha...

After starting to work on this, Malabrigo asked me to contribute for their new book (coming in November to your LYS): Malabrigo Book 4.  This was huge for me.  It was and still is the first time a pattern of mine was published in print.  Malabrigo was quite specific with the request: It needed to be a pullover and I needed to use one of their most lovely colorways: Cumparsita, a deep red with black spots.  And this was my design:  Alcazar.

This became even more exciting when I discovered who the other designers featured in the book were... Imagine my suprised when I learnt I was going to be published in a book together with Gudrun Johnston, Stephen West, Kirsten Kapur...

At the middle of the year, we decided to remodel our house.  This took a big part of my day and for some months there was not much designing done over here...  But just before Fall (I mean Fall in the northern hemisphere) I could release some of my favorite sweater patterns so far, on which I had been working for quite some time:

Boxy, which soon became a favorite among my friends:

Dragonflies Jumper:

Lemongrass:

Meridien:

 And 2012 was a year of collaborations too!  I had the pleasure of working with 2 amazing dyers for 2 different projects: a Shawl Kit, and a Yarn Club.  My designs were:

The way from Brighton: offered as a Kit in Lioness Arts Etsy shop.

 Autumn Blush: Part of Sundara’s Yarn Lovers Luxury Yarn and Pattern Collection.

As you see, it was a very productive year!  I couldn't be more happy with all the support I have received from all my ravelry friends.  I created my group last year, and this one it has over 1000 members!
Go check it out here if you like, to read about my work more often... This blog is not properly taken care of by this designer ;)

-Joji

New (free) Pattern and KAL time!

download now

This little knit just happened to be on the needles while I worked other more complicated things.  I worked on it every now and then, without paying much attention to it... Until one day I realized I was knitting the last row!  And that's when the pattern was born.

For me, this cowl was a very enjoyable knit for many reasons.
- The yarn.  Oh my God the yarn!  It's called String Theory Caper Sock, and the colorway is Didgeridoo.  The yarn was "borrowed" to me.  My friend Jenny sent me this skein and I was supposed to knit something for her with it.  So this cowl has already an owner.  I just feel lucky that I was able to know this yarn, which I would have not chosen myself.  It is beyond gorgeous!
- The size.  You have no idea how awesome it felt for me (who always has a huge sweater project in her bag) to be travelling around with this tiny project!  And I was sure that I'd have lots of fun without running out of yarn...
- The stitch pattern.  It has it all: cables and lace.  I am a lover of simple knits, but for some reason I always tend to choose intrincate stitch patterns.  This one was super fun to make, but easy to memorize. 

download now

We'll be having a KAL (knit-along) during the month of June in my Ravelry group forum.  There will be prizes!  Come join the party if you like, we'd love you to share your progress with us.  Hope to see you there!

KAL Thread

New pattern: Tourist Sweater

Wow, it's almost June!
I am very happy to be able to show you my latest pattern: Tourist Sweater.

This tunic is the perfect go to pullover when you need something simple yet stylish. It’s a simple and quite quick knit, with a few twists that will keep the process of knitting it interesting, starting with knitting the collar in one direction, and the rest of the body in another.
Since it was designed to be the perfect traveling sweater (I made this specially thinking of our trip), it has a kangaroo pouch where you can put what you need to keep most at hand at all times. Finding the perfect buttons for the pouch adds the last touch of fun to the process of making the sweater.
It is designed for bust size ranging from 28/30 to 56/58 inches or 70/75 to 140/145 cm.
You can read more about it here.
Or buy the pattern here:

My sister took these pictures of me while we were visiting her in The Netherlands.  The daffodil gardens were perfect for a backgroud with this awesome yellow yarn.
The yarn I used is Malabrigo Merino Worsted, one of my favorite yarns ever, in colorways Frank Ochre.  A perfect shade of yellow.  Just perfect!

And just because I love this little guy so much and we aunties are like this....  Here is another piture of my Tourist sweater in action, the moment I met my Godson: Noah.

Hope you guys like it!

Travelling again... to Uruguay!

I was so lucky last weekend to be able to visit my great friend Veronica, who lives in Uruguay.
Charly and I went there for a weekend getaway... Alone!  The kids stayed with their grandparents for 2 nights, so we had kind of a honeymoon in Montevideo.

We had a fabulous time, Vero took us sightseeing to many places.  To the rambla besides de beach, Mercado del Puerto and Ciudad Vieja.

I am not particularly a fan of architecture... But the buildings in Montevideo are really amazing!

 

Then we met Hannah, who I've been wanting to meet for months, and we got to see some really interesting photoshoot...

But one of the best parts of the trip was being able to go here:  MALABRIGO FACTORY!!

 
The three of us had an awesome time there, and I bought some goodies.  Well, more than goodies, this would be a haul... But it was all for work's sake!
After all... What would you do being surrounded by all this yarn?  The place was ridiculous!!
Well, I had to come home with this:

And before coming home, I got to see Manos del Uruguay's exhibition about sheep:

Hannah took more pictures of this, you can check out her blog too...
Have a great weekend!