Etsy Featured Seller!

I'm so honored to be the Etsy Featured Seller this weekend!

Please check out my interview here...

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/featured-shop-neeka-knits

Knit Chandelier Necklace in Creative Knitting Magazine

Meet my new necklace design, just released in the summer issue of Creative Knitting Magazine!  

One of my favorite design challenges is to think of cool necklaces made from typical jewelry materials like beads and chains and translate them into knitted form. As in this bright statement necklace below inspired by vintage-esque costume jewelry....

For the necklace in Creative Knitting, I wanted to do something more feminine and delicate, and so I decided to do a riff on chandelier necklaces and earrings with drooping crystals. 

The yarn (Berroco Seduce) has a great silky sparkle reminiscent of metal, and I love the way the grey blue green color plays off the metal chain. Even better, this design is super fast to knit and great for busting through scraps in your stash. It would make a great little handmade gift. The pattern in the magazine is called "Hint of Decadence," and who doesn't need a little extra decadence now and then? 

Creative Knitting July 2012 is available for purchase here, and at knitting shops and newsstands. 

5 Tips for Organizing a Knitting Studio

This spring I've been transitioning into a new studio space. I say "transitioning" because the new space is smaller and it's going to require a lot more organization on the intake to prevent it from turning into a giant yarn ball come fall. 

For any knitters out there looking to reorganize their craft materials, here are five tips I've already incorporated into my new studio that I think are great for everybody, no matter how big your stash.

Tip #1: Box It Up!

Divide up your stash into boxes based on fiber, weight, or by project, but keep your boxes small! Don't overstuff them. Take it from somebody who knows -  if you dig into a stuffed container full of yarn, crazy knots and yarn messes WILL occur, no matter how neatly wound it all was to begin with. Using lots of easy-to-peer-into, small boxes, like the boxes arranged below in a dresser with the drawers removed, will save you time in the long run. 

Organize Yarn Boxes in a Drawer less Dresser (from Sew Many Ways) 

Using boxes to divide up your stash not only keeps things organized, but it keeps your yarn safe from "outside elements" (aka. dust, pet hair, odors etc). Wool especially has a tendency to absorb odors, so throw in a sachet of baking soda in each box.

Tip #2: Pin Down Your Scraps!

I've wound and rewound countless small mini-balls of yarn leftover from projects. The reason I keep rewinding them? Small balls of yarn are like small children, they're cute but tend to throw temper tantrums if not handled properly. This ingenious idea of winding your small leftover balls of yarn around clothespins works wonders. Why? The end of each yarn ball gets pinned tight, so you can group them together without them falling apart like a playground full of sugared up toddlers. Bonus, the clothespins make them look even cuter.

Use Clothespins for Yarn Scraps (from Cornflower Blue Studio)

Tip #3: Mind those Ends!

The biggest culprit in yarn messiness can often be those little tiny snippets of yarn that are too short to wind into anything. They might seem like trash to you, but they are actually a treasure trove to the birds outside your window. Keep a pretty bowl or vase wherever you do your knitting or finishing and fill it up with your baby scrap ends (cotton or wool, 3-8 inches long works best). Leave your scraps outside in the winter and spring for birds to use in their nests. I'm not sure if it was the yarn scraps that did it, but I have 2 birds nests in my backyard right now! The little chirps are the cutest!

Tip #4: Look Your Needles in the Eye

If you have the wall real estate, hanging your needles is a great idea. They take up less space that way and something about having them at eye level feels really motivating, like you are picking out tools from a tool shed. Maybe that's not the best explanation, but feel free to give it a try and see if it makes more sense. If you do, I recommend the wall organizers below, especially the easy-to-make circular needle hanger!

Circular Needle Organizer DIY from Craftster

Organizer from Dapper Toad

Tip #5: Create Stations!

I think I mostly cribbed this idea from a non-knitting-related self help book, but making "stations" for different activities translates really well to the knitting process. 

As a high volume knitter, I've created a knitting "inbox" for yarn for upcoming projects, a "works-in-progress" area for casted on stuff, and an "outbox" for knit up items that need to be finished. Each "box" gets its own station with the appropriate materials. For example, there are patterns and needles with the inbox, markers and scissors and measuring tapes with the works-in-progress, tapestry needles and buttons and such with the outbox. 

If you are a more casual knitter, why not just make one knitting station for all your knitting related goodies? The knitting cabinet below is a great example!

Making Portland Awesome!

Alison at the House of Moss blog (and creator of these adorable felted seedlings) asked me to be a part of a great series showcasing Portland's creative community. I was so honored to be included and share some of my thoughts about our lovely city.

You can check out my interview on her blog, along with the full series of posts with other awesome, inspiring Portland artists.

Grey Lacefield Knits back in stock!

Grey is always a very popular color in the Neeka Knits shop. And I know why! Of all the neutrals, it's my fave - not quite as sleek as black but not as earthy as brown - it looks great with all the bright colors in your wardrobe. And I think we all know how I feel about bright colors.

I've been out of grey yarn for quite a while now, but I finally have some back in stock. Just in time for some lacey knit legwarmers....

Conceptual Knitting

I've been running into some cool conceptual knits online recently. Like this awesome Sky Scarf project by Leafcutter Designs. It's made by knitting the color of the sky each day for a year! I have a feeling I would end up with a very grey scarf.

Slightly less cozy is this giant knit credit card by Dimitri Tsykalov that is slowly unraveling. If only debt, like knitting, could be erased by frogging.

These projects definitely make me think about what I would knit if I saw knitting as a way to communicate ideas rather than the usual cute, cozy, fun wearables. Maybe upcoming International Yarn Bombing Day would make a good debut for a little knitting installation art!

Circle Time...

With the warm weather a-coming, it's time to start knitting pretty little headbands again. I'm looking to get a good color palette going for summer. Let me know if you have any color favorites!

Happy Love Letter Day

I'm not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day - a fact I commemorated in video last year. I think it's silly to devote only one day of the year to loving somebody. So while I've long ago removed the pressure or need to be romantic on February 14th, I've decided it's not a bad idea to use today to celebrate things I actually have taken for granted the rest of the year.

While I'm not a fan of heart-shaped chocolate boxes (really, those chocolates are so nasty!), I am a huge fan of love letters. In the age of Facebook and texting, the love letter might quickly become a lost art, so why not celebrate today with a love letter, a written by hand on actual paper love letter. It can be written to anything that you love but take for granted. In fact, I've chosen a rather unconventional recipient for my love letter today and wrote it in my journal for safe-keeping. I've transcribed the letter below because I'm thinking there might be other recipients out there to whom it applies. Enjoy!

To my sweet and lovely Hands,

I am so grateful for everything you do for me.

I love the way you squeeze exactly the right amount of toothpaste on the brush in the morning, and how quickly and effortlessly you circle a spoon in my mug to stir my tea, or pinch the edge of a book to turn the page.

With you, I can cook dinner for a friend, or plant a tree in the garden, or draw a silly picture, or knit a scarf to keep me warm. You don't just make all these things easier, you make them possible. So thank you.

I promise to protect you from the cold and wind, to keep you safe from knives and scratchy things when I can, and nurse your wounds when I can't, to wash you with sweet smelling soap and pay extra money for the good moisturizer instead of the cheap kind, and to give you breaks and let you rest when you are tired. Mostly, I promise to stop taking you for granted and to tell you more often, as I'm telling you now, how amazing you truly are....

Love,
Your Brain

Webbing a Web

I've been working on a spiffy new official website for Neeka Knits!

The kind with the plain old www.neekaknits.com thing going on, instead of a www.neekaknits.blog.etsy.tumblespot.sortofthingy. You know what I mean. 

Because I'm always up for a challenge, I'm creating it myself! Yay for skill acquisition! So far, this is what you see on the home page. I think it does a good job of explaining where I'm at....

Lacefield Boot Toppers

Remember when I said I had some new designs to share? Well, this isn't quite a new design, as much as it is a new addition to an already existing design family. But I love them nonetheless. Please welcome the Lacefield Boot Toppers, a new member of the Lacefield Collection!

In addition to mitts and headbands, the "lacefield" pattern has now found itself on these cute little legwarmers, perfect for peeking out of your nicest pair of boots, like the lovely Frye Veronica Shorties I have on in the picture above. As a fellow Shorty, I feel a lot of love for these boots, even if I don't wear them as much as I should in the winter.  So I knit up some extra special friends to go with them! 

These leg warmers keep your calves cozy, while the tight fit shows off the pretty lace. I especially love the contrast of the feminine lace with some nice rugged worn leather. 

If you're interested in knitting up a pair of these for yourself, you can find the pattern on the Neeka Knits Etsy Shop....

And as part of their coming out party, readers of my blog can use the coupon code "LACELOVE" when you checkout to get all 3 Lacefield knitting patterns (headband, mitts and boot toppers) for the price of one!

Happy Daylight Savings Day!

Today is my favorite day of the year. Strange but true. And it's not just the whole extra hour that I love. For some reason, Daylight Savings Day always brings with it gloriously breathtaking fall weather. Sunshine. Crisp Air. Leaves crunching underfoot. And today is no exception. I consider today my own special holiday, complete with gifts and rituals and a coziness all its own. So I present to you my Daylight Savings Day traditions:

Tradition #1

Take a nice lazy autumn walk somewhere with pretty trees and a nice view and a yummy snack. 

Tradition #2

Don't turn your clock back the night before!! I treat my extra hour a little differently. I pick something that I have to do that I really don't want to do - when I was young it was homework, now it is cleaning my house - and I spend one hour doing it. Only then, as a special reward, do I get to turn the clock back. Poof!!! It's like I never did it at all! So magical.

That's it for the traditions, I guess. Maybe I need to do a little more work on the holiday before it'll take off. But it does always make me think about time and how strange it is, this collective agreement of ours. Most days, I never pay attention to the time.  I don't have a watch, my clocks are always wrong, and I hardly ever know what time it is, and this makes me feel much more lost and disorganized than it should. Sometimes I think Time is a big, mean teacher and I'm just a really bad student. Which brings me to this knitting clock from Norwegian designer Siren Elise Wilhelmsen.  

This ingenious clock actually marks time by knitting. It will knit a 2 meter long scarf over the course of a year, and the unknitted thread shows you how much time is left to knit in the year. This makes more than total sense to me. This is the form of time I've been living under! No wonder I'm such a bad student. I live in a totally different time world, and judging by my yearly knitting output, it's a warp-speed, light-speed, crazy fast kind of dimension. In fact, even though I do feel like a knitting clock most of the time, honestly, no matter what dimension I'm in.....I'm completely cuckoo....

Autumn is here, and I am back!

Wowsers! It's been quite some time since I've posted here. The cold weather showed up and Knitting Season 2011 took off with a vengeance! I've been a little more obsessed than usual this year, but I've still managed to get out and enjoy my favorite season...

The leaves are turning bright and fiery...

The boots and cozy knits are coming out again...

And Halloween was particularly festive...

Here's my pumpkin interpretation of my family (you can see who takes dominance in my house!)
I actually wore a costume this year too! My sister, husband and I went as cute cold weather animals, a polar bear, seal and a penguin. I would provide a picture, but I don't think that kind of black mail material really needs to be out there. You can just use your imagination as to which one I was - hint, I was rather soft and cozy :), which I think might just be my goal for the rest of the autumn too....

Museum of Contemporary Craft

First off, I must apologize for disappearing for so long. I've had one of those months where all kinds of things, good and bad, have conspired to keep me away from the computer. Which isn't really all that terrible, if it weren't for the fact that I have so much to share with you!

I'm going to start with another Portland related post, but only because it's a little time sensitive. The lovely gals at Crafty Wonderland are joining forces with the Museum of Contemporary Craft this month, and have created a small temporary store in the museum's gallery space. Included in the store are some of my knit necklaces, including the special new design shown above!

The gallery is filled with all kinds of gorgeous artsy crafts, so it you are downtown this month, do go check it out. Especially since this week is also the start of the new Nikki McClure exhibit and, personally, I have quite the hankering to see her intricate papercuts in person. And I thought my hands had it bad....

My necklaces will be available in the gallery through the end of August. The Nikki McClure exhibit goes through October 29th.

I'm feeling like quite the Portland travel guide these days. I promise more posts soon for my out of town friends!

High Tech Handwarmers

Okay, so these handwarmers don't actually look all that high-tech. In fact, they look like pretty basic little mitts, the kind I made six years ago when I was just getting into knitting. But, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Depending on how much of a hardcore knitter you are, this secret might potentially make you lose respect for me, but here goes.....

These handwarmers were knit on a MACHINE.

That's right. My knitting has gone robot style these days. I've been taking a Machine Knitting class over at Portland Sewing and, I have to say, these machines have surprised me. I thought using one would feel all factory-ish and industrial and totally separate and alienated from the cozy feeling you get from something handmade. But really, using one feels kind of like using a sewing machine. Sure, there's a big crazy machine helping you out, but it's still ultimately all about craft - about your hands, your materials and your desire to make something. Just like a sewing machine, the knitting machines can't knit all on their own, and even if there are big, fancy ones out there that can, they still need someone to tell them what to knit.

Still, what really amazes me is just how big and complicated these basic machines are. There are all these elaborate tools and needles and carriages just for some plain old stockinette. When I sit down to knit, I hardly ever think about what my hands are doing. It's like breathing. They just lift and lower and follow the rhythm. Spending time with these machines has made me appreciate just how brilliant and amazing my hands are. When I'm struggling with all the strange tools you need to use - needle pushers and transfer tools and claw weights - my hands get all annoyed and haughty. They sigh and say, "I could do this soooo much better....." And they're probably right. I'm biased, but I do still think knitting by hand is better. It is certainly SIMPLER. However, machine knitting is easier and FASTER, two things which, unfortunately, are the most valued in these modern times.

These handwarmers are what came off the machine. Basic stockinette, seamed up with a hole for the thumb. They were INSANELY fast to make. And they are functional. They work. But still, there was something missing, some kind of specialness.  So I let my hands take over. I gave them some yarn, a crochet hook, a sewing needle and thread, and stood back in awe watching them do what they do best. They are HANDwarmers after all.....

Knit Outta the Box!

 

It's official! Two lovely ladies from Knit Outta the Box contacted me awhile back and very sweetly told me how much they loved my Necklace Cowl pattern. So, we've decided to collaborate! 

If you haven't heard of Knit Outta the Box, they are a new company that sells awesome knitting kits as well as their own line of exclusive yarns.  The blue necklace cowl above is knit with their KB Cotton Tweed. Lovely, eh? A match made in heaven.

They are going to help me distribute the pattern to new and fun places. To start off though, a  jazzed up version of the pattern is available on their website or over at Ravelry.

In more fun news, I will also be receiving my very own stash of KB Cotton Tweed, as well as their mohair yarn. Why, you ask? To invent some brand new patterns for them! Yay! It's a total dream come true. Normally with patterns, I come up with the things I want to knit and the yarn is an afterthought. So, I'm really excited to get my hands on some lovely new yarn and see what sweet things it whispers in my ear.......Ah, yarn, so flirtatious. 

I'll keep you updated on my progress, so stay tuned for more! And Thanks again to Knit Outta the Box for your support!

Yarn Bombs - Part 2!

Yesterday was International Yarn Bombing Day! And boy oh boy was it fun! I think I'm on a fast route towards becoming a yarnie delinquent. After decorating the tree in my front yard, I decided to take my yarn with me on our usual weekend dog walk.  Our chosen yarn bomb sites:

THIS UNASSUMING LITTLE BENCH:

AND ONE OF THE THESE TREES.....

HERE ARE THE PICS:

YARN BOMB GANGSTA HANDS!

I probably should be more "anonymous" about this, but it's Portland and I seriously doubt anyone is after me. In fact, while we were yarn bombing plenty of people came by to talk to us and not one of them asked a single question about what we were doing with the yarn and the scissors and the camera. Nope. All they were interested in was our dog, Annie. Oh Dog-loving Portlanders. I think yarn bombing is pretty darn cool, but I suppose Annie can be cooler. Especially when she decides to drink bomb water fountains.....