The logo

I have always had a lot of respect for what I do, but I guess I started designing and selling my patterns in an unexpected way...

Maybe that is why whenever someone asked me if I had a logo, it took me by surprise.  The same thing happened when someone asked for a bio, or a portrait.  It probably meant that if I actually worked on creating these things, I would become a real designer...  And what if then nobody liked what I did?
Have you ever felt this insecure?

After almost 3 years since I published my first seriously written pattern (hey, remember Pole?), I am more confident about what I create.  I have found my style.  And by style I mean many things: I have found which lines I love, which designs are the most satisfying to make, I've become obsessed with my favorite materials and colors, I have a voice in some social media, and most importantly, I have a working style.

As I tried to work towards this direction, and as I realized that people actually read some of the things I write, it became quite obvious that I needed a logo that I could identify myself with, and this one, clearly wasn't it...

It does look sweet, but come on...

Oh, this old thing that I called a "logo", was something that I just put up in a rush for my wholesaler's website.  Then I needed a badge and banner for Ravelry.  And why not, let's use it for my blog too...  So it has stuck with me all this time.


But now, as you can see in my much cleaner blog banner now, I have a new logo, and I proudly present it to you:

It was not an easy task to find it, but I got help from the awesome Jill, from Knitterella.  I think I might have driven her crazy with my back and forths, but we finally nailed it.  Hope you guys like the new look, as I think it represents me much better.  Get ready, cause you might start seeing the little "j" everywhere...

I am already playing with it, and it's so strange to actually see a logo in my prints!

Have a great week!

~Joji

The knits I love

Hello there!
It's been a while since my last blog post, and I believe I haven't shown much about my knitting lately...  I have been mostly focusing on writing and getting some patterns ready, so my knitting time has been somewhat reduced.


But I have been making some small stuff and nice plans!
One of the projects I finished is a hat I made for my brother Marco.  If you follow me on Facebook, you've probably seen me post about him every now and then.  I have 3 siblings, but Marco is the only one who still lives in Buenos Aires, so he's the one I hang out with all the time.

Marco has a great personality and he does wear the handknits he gets from me and from Mom with great pride, so he's one of the only people I knit especially for...

When he requested that I made him a hat, my first instinct was to design one, since this is what I do for a living after all...  But then I remembered I have wanted to knit a design from Veera's for a long time!  Veera is a good friend of mine, and she makes the most awesome stuff ever.

So with not much planning, I cast on for a Pewter and Pink hat, using some Noro yarn I had in stash (I used 1 full skein of Noro Kureyon in colorway 170) and some leftovers of Shetland wool for the top.  The yarn was scratchy as hell when knitting it up, but as you must have probably read, it does soften up a great deal after washing, just as any carded wool does.

Still, if you are spoiled with good merino fibers, you will find this a little bit rough against the skin.   But Marco is so awesome that he doesn't seem to mind wearing even the most coarse fibers, so all is good...  And after all, you can't beat the beauty of Noro's colors.  As you probably have seen if you read this blog, I have a crush on it, and use it whenever I can if it's not for designing work.

The pattern is written for a finer yarn, so I used the child's instructions and bigger needles to achieve this slouchy version.  Also, I added 2 stitches to the CO number and worked it flat on straight needles, to ease the tension on my tired hands (circulars are a pain to me!).

I really enjoyed this project, and I look forward to knitting more... My kids seemed to like this one a lot, so I see more colorful hats in my near future.

As for plans, I have finished the drafts for some patterns I cannot wait to share with you!
One of them is my Boxy and Buttony, worked in Tosh Merino Light in colorway Ink.  I'll just show you my WIP pics, I want to save the good pics for the release date (at least I think they are good, the new camera is still a bit of a mystery to me).

I am so happy with it!  If you liked my Boxy pattern, then you'll love this one.  It has the same awesome main element: the boxy fit, but a completely different construction and some details here and there that will make this new pattern even more fun to make.
I hope I'll be able to release this one by mid-August.

And also, for that date, I have prepared a beautiful pattern in collaboration with one of my favorite dyers...  You know I have had the good fortune to work with the most wonderful artisans in the world, so I am especially proud of this one.  You will not believe the color this dyer has created for the pattern!  But let's keep that a secret for now...

More knits and patterns are being cooked... But I want to save some for some for later!

~Joji