Continuing on with my recent yarn shipment, now I am working with a skein of Baah Aspen yarn. This is a 75% merino, 15% silk, and 10% cashmere yarn blend. 

Risking sounding like I just LOVE every yarn that comes my way... this yarn is pretty spectacular! I am actually thrilled that I love two new yarns in the same shipment. Honestly that doesn't happen often for me. I am very very particular about what my yarns feel like. Any roughness at all is simply not tolerated by my skin. So I have hit the jackpot with another fabulous yarn! 

Here it is: (yes, already half gone...)

Faced with this ONE skein of great yarn... I didn't know what to do! I really didn't want another cowl. They are great... but I feel like those and hats are all I do with these one-skein-wonders. So I decided to pair it up with another yarn I had waiting in my stash.  

Enter Quince & Co. Finch (in color Carrie's Yellow - seen the background of the above photo). I had a very generous supply of this (14 skeins!) and so decided to do a sweater with the Baah Aspen yarn as an accent. I just love the color combo of blue and yellow --- so vintage!

Now that I am about 3/4 of the way through this sweater... I am loving it! And the Aspen yarn is really making me want to order a whole lot more... enough for a sweater all on its own! And look at all these colors to choose from:

Aspen is a great sport weight yarn - just right for lighter weight sweaters. And honestly one of my favorite weights to work with for sweaters! Not too thin, not too thick, juuuuust right! 

The silk in the blend gives the yarn a nice drape and smoothness in the hand. While the cashmere lends the extra softness that you would expect. All in all a great yarn for just about any wearable project. 

Between the Aspen and the Classy with Cashmere - the Classy takes the cake for softness. But is going to give you more bulky squooshiness (yeah that's a word! haha) whereas the Aspen will give you the nice drape for a more elegant sweater. 

Here's a shot of it worked up in the pattern that I am using in the sweater - nice stitch definition and very silky when blocked. This was worked on US size 6 needles (as the yarn label suggests). It's very drapey at this size needle - you would definitely need to size down your needles if you wanted the garment to have more structure. 

And here is the label for you:

So far, I am giving this yarn an A - for feel, wearability, and stitch definition. 

I will post more on the sweater that is in the works - but will tell you that the Aspen is doing a marvelous job on the cowl neck and the pocket inserts. So pretty and soft! 

Let me know if you have worked with it before and your thoughts on it. Especially how it wears over time. I am always interested to see how the yarns do after many wears! 

It's Here! The pattern is finished and posted... finally! You can check it out at any of my storefronts:

www.anaiddesigns.com HERE
on Ravelry HERE
on Etsy HERE

This is a super basic triangle shawl pattern. But the yarns... oh the yarns! I used the Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere for the first time in this pattern. And I am a HUGE fan already. It feels amazing, it works up beautifully, great stitch definition, and is just a joy to wear next to the skin! Win, win, win, win! I will definitely be designing with this gorgeous yarn again in the near future. 

Well, I say near future but in reality I have so much stashed yarn to work through it will probably be a year! Which is really a great problem to have, right?! 

Back to the shawl pattern, I do hope you will give it a try. I believe it to be a pattern that you will come back to again and again over the years. It's just so nice to work up and perfect for in-the-evening knitting. A no-brainer! Which is exactly what I love in the evenings. Around 3 pm my brain shuts off for things such as math, counting, deciphering patterns, etc. I need something that I can just pick up and GO! 

Let me know what you think about the pattern! Here are some more photos for you....

Yes, I am still here! WOW how did 10 days go by so so fast? 

I've promised you the Apple Picking pattern... and it IS coming. I promise. In the last 10 days I have made progress. The video tutorial for how to make tassels is done and you can see that here. I'm trying out a new video set up. It seemed to work pretty well. My lighting is not the best so everything looks yellow-y. But that's a cool vintage look right? Right?! It was fun messing with closeups and splicing them in with the wide shots. I'm learning so cut me some slack! :) 

I have also managed to write the pattern. So now... I just need to take the photos. Sometimes that is THE hardest part of making a pattern. And yes, I am including actually making the garment! First off, I have no extra money for hiring of models. And strangely at 39 I have no super attractive 20-something friends... weird. SO I have to model all of my own stuff. UGH. And you know how difficult it is to 'like' a photo of yourself. Basically every time I do a photo shoot, it's torture. I will take upwards of 100 photos and maybe, MAYBE I'll get 5 decent shots. Not even good... just good enough. I need models!!!! If you happen to live in the greater Oklahoma City area and are just drop dead gorgeous in that cool earthy way... please contact me! :) I'd love to have you. I can't actually pay you... well maybe minimum wage. haha!

Stay tuned... I'll be tackling the photos SOON and will get the pattern up quick. Also, I've started working on TWO more of the yarns in my last shipment, so I will be posting about those in the very near future!

There's something about this color combo that makes me think of Apple picking. So why not name it the Apple Picking Shawl? Makes sense to me! And it's the perfect fall weight! 

I am in love with this combo of yarns. The Dream Classy with Cashmere is so lofty and squishy soft while the Knit Picks Palette is thin and smooth. They play off of each other beautifully and lend a perfect weight to the shawl. Not too heavy but still soft and snuggly! 

I choose to work up just a basic triangular shawl with alternating stripes of garter stitch and stockinette stitch. And with the alternating yarns as well. Well. I love it. It's very simple but just so wearable! Add a couple of tassels at the ends for a little 'ta-da' finish and this is a piece that I know I will grab-on-the-go over and over this fall. 

And I've got to say.... the Dream Classy with Cashmere is one of my new favorites. Trying new yarns doesn't always work out so well. You know what I mean. I find that there really are precious few (so far) that I keep going back to. I am thrilled to be expanding my resources! And you will definitely get to hear about the rest of the Dream line in the future. Can't wait to try them all! 

Have you worked with any of the Dream yarns? What are your thoughts? Leave your experiences in the comments section! I'd love to hear from you! 

Keep an eye out for the Apple Picking Shawl pattern! I'll be writing it and taking photos asap. I will let you know as soon as it is ready to publish! 

A few days ago, I received my newest shipment of yarn - which I shared here. And I chose this one to be my first victim. Um, inspiration. 

This is Dream Yarn's Classy with Cashmere in color Chinatown Apple. I've never worked with any of the Dream yarns in the past so this was all new to me. And I have to say... I will DEFINITELY be a repeat customer for this yarn! And am now pretty excited to try their other lines as well.  Here's their yarn lineup (captured from their website):

You can see they have a nice comprehensive selection of weights... and all those drop dead hand dyed colors. YUM. I'm pretty sure I need every. single. one. of them! 

I have only one skein of the yarn so my options for design are limited. But when ordering a new yarn online I always just get one skein to 'test'. Good to know I like it before spending oodles of moola on enough yarn for a sweater or what have you. 

Here is the label from the yarn - so you can see yardage, gauge, etc. for yourself. It's a standard worsted weight. 

Yes, there is a pretty famous song that says it's about the bass... but in my world it is ALL about that YARN! 

OH look at the loveliness! I've got TWO kinds of sweet, sweet Madelinetosh - tosh vintage and pashmina. A skein of Swans Island, a skein of Dream Classy with cashmere and a skein of Baah Aspen. Besides the Madelinetosh pashmina, these are all new yarns for me to work with. And I am excited!!!! 

I will be doing a show and tell on each of the yarns and my own personal review too. Plus you'll get to see what new designs I'm working on with each! 

Stay tuned! :) 

Yes, I dumped the bag of yarn in my lap to snuggle and fondle! And Yes, I do have green hair in this picture. It happens. :)

The story begins like this: You make something handmade for someone. And they truly love it. Wear it everyday. Isn't that the BEST feeling?? What more can a knitter/crocheter ask for? 

Well, I recently had that happen to me. My nephew (age 19) asked for a beanie for Christmas. Of course I was thrilled to oblige. I mean, that is like the easiest handmade gift ever! Low cost in yarn and not a ton of time involved. Win Win. 

Needless to say... he LOVES it and indeed has been wearing it everyday. At least as far as I know since I am in another state! 

So what happens next? OH YEAH... now everyone that has seen the beanie wants the beanie. YEP. Now it's all about turning out that next beanie! How did a one-off Christmas present turn me into an assembly line? 

Of course it's for people I know and love so it's ok. But I am now on my sixth and am vowing that this is the end of it!  

This little lovely will be going to my brother-in-law (aforementioned nephew's dad). 

So tell me - Do you have a great story of having to mass produce some lovely that you made? Put your story in the comments section! 

I've finally done it. Sat down at the computer... stared at my screen for a bit... and started to blog. It's a daunting task. If you have your own blog you know what I mean. Of course this is the first paragraph of the first post. So I have to keep heart that this process will get easier as time goes on. But for the moment... It's a daunting task.

It's not that I don't have anything to share. I have tons of things in my brain that I would love to chat about. It's that feeling of... is this worthy? Is this something that people will like to read about? Or am I just selfishly putting out all these thoughts that are just taking up space in the recesses of the internet? And is that maybe ok? 

I'm going to try to convince myself that it is ok. And that maybe, possibly, my ramblings will be of interest to someone. Hopefully you, since you seem to be reading this! And I'm going to assume that the best place to start blogging is to introduce myself. Which let's be honest is really the hardest thing to do. Deep breath.... here we go...

Why does it always feel so awkward to give your personal resume - so to speak? I feel like I'm 8 standing in front of the class on the first day of school introducing myself. "I'm Diana, I just moved here from blah blah, this summer I went swimming a lot, I like to read and play with my friends." I guess it was a little easier then than now, huh? 

So who am I? My name is Diana. I have a pretty traditional story on the surface. I'm a mother of two - a boy and a girl! I got lucky with one of each. Although I was completely nuts-o and their age spread is 6 years! Gads! I never knew how difficult that would be. Trying to find a family activity that everyone likes and can participate in can be something of a logistical nightmare! And don't even get me started on picking a movie! They are super awesome kids (what? I'm going to say anything else??) And we have a blast. My husband is hilarious and sometimes really amps up the atmosphere in the house. But that keeps us all entertained and basically on our toes! Who knows when the next practical joke will happen!?? He's also very ambitious and creative and motivated and brilliant. He's my sounding board. Well more than that, he's the one that pushes me to get off my tush and do things that are scary to me. Like blog. 

My entire growing up life I was a musician. Classical musician, not a cool drummer or anything! I played clarinet and loved it. I went to university on a music scholarship and was majoring in music education. Because let's face it, a degree in music performance doesn't give you much to fall back on! Halfway through my first semester I realized I could NOT teach other people how to play music. Especially children. So I had to rethink my entire plan of the previous 5 years... in about a month. I ended up switching over to Graphic Design. With the thought that I really wanted to do Interior Design. But of course my school didn't have a program of study for that. Since I was on a full paid scholarship... I was not about to change schools! And so that is how I ended up with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design. 

In my life I have had a slew of really interesting (and some terrible) jobs. They range from working at a zoo (yes, really), a coffee shop, an interior design house, graphic design for several different companies, and even worked with a historic preservation league! Every job has taught me something. Sometimes just actual knowledge. But sometimes something about myself. What I personally like, enjoy, or hate. I have learned about my ideal working environment. My ideal co-workers. My ideal job. 

Which leads us to now. 

What's my ideal working environment? MY HOUSE! 

Who are my ideal co-workers? My family, my friends, my dog (she likes to hide my supplies to liven up my day a bit).

What's my ideal job? Designing. Working with my hands to make something. Creating something from nothing is amazing. Awe inspiring. Frustrating at times. Downright impossible at other times. But always interesting. Always exciting. Every morning I wake up excited about what I will be doing today. This day. I no longer work for the weekend! What an exhilarating feeling! 

Now with all this love fest for my 'job', I do have to be realistic. It's barely a job - hence the quotes. I make tiny amounts of money in return for all the work. I would say I typically work around 60 hours a week. WAYYYYY more than any other job ever. AND I don't even make minimum wage - far from it. This is a labor of love. And hope. Hope that one day all of this work with culminate in a self sustaining business that is (gasp) profitable!? 

Dare I hope? Yes, yes I do. And in the meantime, I get to have flexibility with my young children. Sick a school... no problem Mom is there. Gotta do extra practice after school? NO problem I can pick you up anytime! Special program at lunchtime? I'll be there! I honestly never thought that I would be so lucky to have such an amazing life. To be able to do exactly what I am doing at this exact moment. I spent years 22-30 waiting for greatness. I wanted every day to hurry up so I could get to the weekend, get to the special summer vacay, get to the winter break at Christmas. Just hurry up time! My favorite part of my work day was marking off the previous day on my calendar. SIGH. What a sad, sad way to live. I wasn't happy. And I knew it. But what to do about it? You have to make money to live. You have to get up and go to a job. You have to. You have to. 

Now I realize some things. About myself. This definitely isn't the truth for everyone. I don't need a lot of money. I don't need a fancy car. I don't need a gazillion square foot house. Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE nice things. Aesthetically  speaking, I want my 'stuff' to be just right. It just doesn't have to be THE MOST EXPENSIVE. I don't need a fancy Audi. I like my Explorer just fine. I don't need thousands of dollars in jewelry. I like my handmade items the best. My house is brand new and I love it. I love the granite countertops and the beautiful moldings. But it's 1700 sq ft. Big enough for our little family and just right not to get lost in! My husband and I no longer strive to keep up with the Jones'. We strive to live simple and live happy. Spend our time not on the pursuit of wealth but on the pursuit of happy. It works for us. 

And that, my new friends, is my life and me in a nutshell. I hope that you will stick around to journey down this exciting path with me. I'd love to chat with you, I'd love to design for you.