Happy Holidays

To all of my readers and visitors, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with love, kindness, and generosity.

Poor Felines

After a very successful week with Gift away extravaganza I offer you a clearance sale on my patterns
From today, until the end of this year, December 31st 2017, midnight of EST (Eastern Standard time) I have a Buy One and Get One pattern free promotion.

Use the Coupon Code Sale during the checkout in my Ravelry store.

Stana's critters etc.

Enjoy the rest of this year, and join us at the beginning of next year for a brand new toy mystery KAL
hosted in my group on Ravelry.

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Pattern for Poor Felines

Poor Felines

A tiny whimsical cats in two shapes worked in fingering weight are great to use as Christmas decoration or as a gift for any cat lovers.

Poor Felines

The pattern is available in my Ravelry store or by clicking on this button:






Thank you for visiting.

Gift away 2017

For the fans of my patterns I have a gift away for the next seven days.
If you are on Ravelry and member of my group you have seen the post about it by now.

For those who are not on Ravelry and still would like to have the freebies, the rules are very simple.
Starting at midnight (EST time zone) and ending 24 hours later a selected pattern is free with a coupon code.
For those who needs to check out the time zones:
https://www.worldtimezone.com/

Day One:
It's all about Huggalufs.
You can get the pattern for free on December 12th 2017, starting 0.00 (EST) and ends 23.59 (EST) Eastern Standard Time 
Coupon Code is Huggaluf 

Huggaluf

Day Two:
Lily of the Valley is my favorite flower and it's winter, therefore it's the Lily of the Valley hat.
You can get the pattern for free on December 13th 2017, starting 0.00 (EST) and ending 23.59 (EST)
Eastern Standard Time
Coupon Code is Lily

Lily of the Valley

Day Three:
It was cold this morning while I was hiking with the puppy, and all I could think about was big and soft and squishy and warm cowl to wrap my face to keep the blistering wind away, therefore it's Chunky Cabled Cowl.
You can get the pattern for free on December 14th 2017, starting 0.00(EST) and ending 23.59(EST) Eastern Standard Time
Coupon Code is Cozy

Chunky Cabled Cowl

Day Four:
Yesterday I was baking cookies and also I was decorating our Christmas tree, therefore it's Gingerbread Hearts.
You can get the pattern for free on December 15th 2017, starting 0.00(EST) and ending 23.59(EST) Eastern Standard Time.
Coupon Code is Xmas

Gingerbread Hearts

Day Five:
It's still cold outside and just for fun, I was thinking about Icicles and how much joy they can bring. Therefore it's Icicles.
You can get the pattern for free on December 16th 2017, starting 0.00(EST) and ending 23.59(EST) Eastern Standard Time.
Coupon Code is Ice

Icicles

Day Six:
It snowed last night. Outside the ground is covered with snow, the sky is blue and the sun is out. Just a perfect setting for snuggling under a warm blanket and read some books. Therefore Heavenly Soft Blanket.
You can get the pattern for free on December 17th 2017, starting 0.00(EST) and ending 23.59(EST) Eastern Standard Time.
Coupon Code is Warm

Heavenly Soft Blanket

Day Seven:
As I am thinking about my upcoming toy mystery KAL and holiday gifts, the pattern for Snowman and Penguin comes to my mind.
You can get the pattern for free on December 18th 2017, starting 0.00(EST) and ending 23.59(EST) Eastern Standard Time.
Coupon Code is Snow

Snowman and Penguin

I hope everyone will have a safe and happy holidays.

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Pattern for Comfy Pillow

Comfy Pillow

This intriguing and elegant, yet simple comfy pillow is knitted in the round.
Simple cables are separated by sections of seed stitch columns. Three colors create an interesting element to the columns, working from darker shades of grey through lighter grey to add a burst of color in yellow. To allow the pillow cover to be washed, the zipper is sewn on the bottom part of the pillow case.
Finished Size:
Pillow is 20” / 51 cm wide and 20” / 51 cm long.

Yarn:
KnitPicks Color Mist, worsted weight (75% Pima cotton, 25% Acrylic; 219 yards/100 g)
27465 Tidewater (1 skein) – MC
27466 Foggy beach (1 skein) – C1
27464 Sunshower (1 skein) – C2

You can purchase the pattern in my Ravelry store or by clicking on this button:

Thank you for visiting.

Attaching zippers - tutorial

Some of my knitting patterns have an option of adding a zipper. Pictured bellow as a sample is my  minion pencil box

minion pencil box

Here is a simple tutorial to make it easier for my blog readers, or visitors.

Step 1. Pin the zipper to the knitted piece, using a sewing pins.

If using a layer of fabric, pin the zipper between the two layers of fabric and knitted fabric.

Step 1 - pin together zipper and knitted fabric

Step 1 - pin together zipper and fabric and knitted fabric

Step 2. Using a needle and a tread sew together the layers with easily removable thread. The stitches can be long and slightly loose as they will be later removed. Remove the pins.

Step 2 - loosely sew together the zipper and fabric layers. 

Step 3. Using a sewing machine, or by hand,  sew the zipper firmly to the knitted fabric, and (if using) to the fabric.

Step 3 - zipper sewn by hand

Step 3 - zipper sewn on a sewing machine

Step 4. The zipper should be securely attached. Remove the loosely sewn thread from Step 2.

Finished project

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Pattern for Small Things

Small Things

Every year I try to make something for my friends. This year I have decided to create a small jar cozies with various words on them.

The glass jar that I am using for my gifts are actually recycled from a yogurt (it's the Oui by Yoplait)  and from  Bon Maman jam. They also fit on the small Mason jars.

I plan to fill the jars with variety of things tailored to the recipients of the jar.

It's a great project for small remnants of cotton yarn.
The pattern has 15 charts with words:

Love, Home, Hope, Kind, Knit, Purl, Live, Bake, Baby, Kiss, Play, Yin, Yang, Trick, and Treat.

You can purchase the pattern in my Ravelry store or by clicking on this button:



Thank you for visiting.

Knit jar cozy

Gift-a-long 2017

In just few days, fifth Gift-a-long is about to start.
A wonderful collaboration of independent knitwear and crochet designer from all over the world share their skills with the worldwide crafting community in a fun filled festivity called Gift-a-long.

The official start day is Tuesday November 21st 2017 at 8PM EST and runs through the end of the year 2017.
The games and prizes are, as always, fantastic. If you are a member of Ravelry, just check it out in here:
Ravelry group, Indie Design Gift-a-long 

Like in the previous years, the festivities start with a discount offers for selected patterns by all of the participating designers:
Sale period runs from Tuesday, November 21nd 8PM (US-EST time) through Tuesday, November 28th 11.59PM (US-EST time).
Discount is 25% off selected patterns.
The code to enter:

giftalong2017

Thank you for visiting, and please join us for some knitting and fun games. 

Work in Progress - Fall II.

WIP - beginning

Few weeks ago I have received yarn from Knitpicks, Color Mist for two projects.

Comfy Pillow

The first one, Comfy Pillow, is at the technical editing and test knitting stage and the pattern should be available later this month.

The second one, Pavo Baby Blanket is still at the stage when I work on the pattern and the sample to use for photography.

Pavo Baby Blanket - WIP

Somehow, the puppy seems to slow down my knitting time...... he loves to sit in my knitting chair and supervise my work.

Pavo Baby Blanket and the puppy

But even more he loves to go outside and take long walks in the woods. Luckily, there are plenty of nearby parks and nature preserves we can visit. The nature looks amazing this time of year.
Though I am not sure how much I will enjoy those long walks in the middle of winter..... I better start knitting some warm hats, mittens and scarves to keep me warm.

Ginkgo tree

Fall morning by the lake

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Pattern for Hexagon Owl Set

A while back I have bought a fabric with hexagon shaped owls for a project. I got inspired by the shape and created knitting pattern for Helga, the hexagon owl.

Helga, the hexagon owl

I liked the toy, and wanted to play with the hexagon shape a bit more, so I created an entire hexagon owl set. The set has a toy, a PJ bag, and a baby blanket.

This time I have used bulky yarn, particularly Knitpicks Billow yarn. By using the bulky yarn the knitting is much faster.

You can purchase the pattern in my Ravelry store or by clicking on this button:

Thank you for visiting.

Rhinebeck and life....

I have to admit, my Saturday trip to Rhinebeck was not my first one. I went there already twice in the previous years. Each trip was unique and interesting in its own way.

This year I stumbled upon the Ravelry meet on the hill by accident. I saw Jessica, one of the founders of Ravelry and spoke to her very briefly. I saw many fellow knitters and their fabulous knitted projects. I also visited the book store and spoke to some of the authors who were attending and had their books for sale. I bough few things, and returned back home with many pleasant memories.

It was a wonderful trip and the weather couldn't be more pleasant, sunny and warm, with a hint of fabulous peak colors of New England foliage. I will definitively visit the festival again, though it might be few years before my next visit.

Rhinebeck treasure 

Since one of the books I purchased is named Slow Knitting, I have decided to try to live by the words, at least for a day.....

Sunday - knitting

Sunday  - reading about knitting 

Sunday - garden, and the end of slow knitting day.

Just in case if you are wondering, the vegetable on left is kohlrabi, and we usually harvest them in the early days of spring, so it was a nice surprise to find one still hiding in our garden. This year we tried to grow cabbage, but somehow it turned out to be rather a meal for the caterpillars instead for us. This little cabbage head survived and will be served for dinner as a salad.

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Pattern for Concentrical Cowl

photo by Knitpicks 

The pattern for this cowl is part of a book named Color Shift, published by Knitpicks.
You can purchase the book on their website, here is the link: Color Shift

You can also buy the individual pattern in my Ravelry store or by clicking on this button:




The pattern for this cowl is my 200th published pattern.
I hope to publish many more in the future.

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Pattern for...Rectangle

Long Rectangle = Scarf

Short rectangle = Bag

Last week I was teaching a knitting class. The class was aimed at those who wish to learn to knit, or those who wish to refresh their rusty skills. As a project to work on I have created a rectangle.
It is how we all started when we learned to knit.

I think the class was pretty successful and hopefully those who attended will continue and keep on knitting and continue to create one stitch at the time.

The pattern is available for free in my Ravelry store or by clicking on this button:


download now

Thank you for visiting.

Life.....

Fall colors scarf

This fall I have a class at school named Anthropology: Food and Culture. The two books that are assigned reading are quite interesting. Especially the book titled Earth Knows My Name, written by Patricia Klindients. here is  The link to book on Amazon page.
I have found the book fascinating due to several reasons. I live in a country that is not my birthplace. Also my father's side of my family worked the land as farmers for many generations.
Maybe the book fascinates me due to sentimental reasons, while reading it I think of my past and the way life used to be. I do not want to say that life before was better or worse. There are always two sides of a story and we need to look at them carefully. The convenience of modern life has its advantages and I do not wish to loose them. I love having the opportunity to use Internet and talk with my mom on a daily basis, even though there is an ocean between us. My father never had that when we were growing up. He talked to his mother only when we made that all day trip across the country to visit them.
However, one thing is sure, somehow slowly and at first reluctantly I have decided to continue in that tradition and started a small garden. Though my garden is very small in comparison with what  I have seen and worked on when I was a child it still gives us some vegetables and even fruits. It's awesome to see the plants grow from seeds, and care for them throughout the growing season. And yes, the salad from our garden not only looks delicious, it tastes better than any store bought salad package.

Salad

I also use up the extras from the garden and preserve it for later times. Pickling cucumbers and other vegetables is labor intensive and takes time, but it looks great on our table in the middle of winter.

Pickling

The time I spend in garden takes away time from my knitting, but I do not regret it. When winter comes, I know there will be longer evenings which I can spend by our fireplace with knitting needles in hand.

Thank you for visiting.

Work in Progress - Fall

Somehow summer slipped into fall and it seems that even my knitting is inspired by the season.
A while back I bought fabric with a small hexagon shaped owls and created  Helga, the hexagon owl

Helga

I also created a PJ bag and a hexagon shaped baby blanket which resemble a giant owl.

Hexagon owl set

Knitting pattern for Hexagon Owl Set is at the editing and test knitting stage and will be available next month.

Another ongoing project is a knitting class that I will be teaching at our local library. We agreed that the class should be aimed at beginners and I have created a pattern for the class and named it Rectangle.
We all started with a small rectangle of knitting when we first learned to knit. Depending on the patience of the people in the class, they can create a scarf, or a bag.

Rectangle - scarf

Rectangle - bag

Thank you for visiting.